​Musa Qala is a strategically important district north of Lashkargah, the capital of southern Helmand province. Recently, it was captured by the Taliban Mohammad Rassoul Akhundzada and Mullah Ghaffar Akhundzada.

Mullah Naseem was a well-known commander of the Islamic Revolution Movement (Harakat-i-Inqilab-i-Islami) during jihad. He was originally from Kajaki district but chose Musa Qala as his bastion, where he had been locked in intense clashes with the Hizb-e-Islami Party. After a while, he was murdered in Pakistan, who originally hailed from Kajaki.

Mullah Mohammad Rassoul Akhund was a brother of Mullah Mohammad Naseem, and father of Mullah Sher Mohammad and Mullah Amir Mohammad. He was the governor of Helmand and deputy defense minister in the Prof. Rabbani administration. He was killed in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province.

Mullah Abdul Ghaffar Akhundzada was another brother of Mullah Naseem who took power after the death of Mullah Mohammad Rassoul. He was Helmand’s governor, having fought against the Taliban. After leaving Helmand, he joined forces with Masoud; He was also killed in Quetta.

At the beginning of the Karzai administration, when the Taliban left Helmand, Mullah Mohammad Rassoul Akhund’s son Sher Mohammad Akhundzada was appointed as governor. He performed his duty as governor for some years but was eventually opposed by British forces. Karzai was trying to have Helmand controlled by Mullah Sher Mohammad, but the British did not want him. The Britons told Karzai they would withdraw their forces if Mullah Sher Mohammad was made Helmand’s governor.

Subsequently, Karzai invited Mullah Sher Mohammad to Kabul and appointed him as a senator, a slot that he holds to date. Mullah Amir Mohammad, the younger brother of Sher Mohammad, was named Musa Qala district governor by Karzai.

Some international soldiers were later killed during an incident there, and the foreigners had doubts about Mullah Amir Akhundzada’s involvement. Amir Mohammad escaped to Nimroz, but he was cleared as a result of Karzai’s intervention. Later, he was named governor of Uruzgan and Nimroz.

At the beginning of President Karzai’s first term, the British pushed for dividing Helmand into two parts, North and South. Musa Qala was proposed as capital of Northern Helmand. The administrative control was supposed to be given to Mullah Abdul Salam. But Helmand’s division did not happen for several reasons.

Mullah Abdul Salam became district governor for Musa Qala, coming under attack from the Taliban, who killed his family members some years ago. Salam was so disappointed that he left Musa Qala and is currently living in Kabul.

A lot of British soldiers lost their lives trying to protect Musa Qala. The British forces entered district in the middle of 2006 after heavy fighting with the Taliban. But due to frequent attacks from the militants, they handed control of Musa Qala back to the Afghan security forces on October 17, 2006. The Taliban brought Musa Qala under their control on February 2, 2007.

NATO and Afghan security forces launched an operation in Musa Qala against the Taliban on December 7, 2007. After three days of intense fighting, the Taliban retreated into mountains. The district was captured on December 12, with Afghan Army troops pushing into its centre.

The siege of Musa Qala took place between July 17 and September 12, 2006. A number of British troops and Afghan security forces were besieged by the Taliban inside the district centre. After suffering much causality, British troops returned to Camp Bastion based on the Musa Qala Agreement with the Taliban on October 13, 2006.

On June, 2015, reports surfaced about Taliban aggression and fighting near Musa Qala. On June 13, reports about the killing 17 Afghan police officers and wounding of two others by the Taliban were released. Four days later, the Telegraph reported that the Afghan town bathed in British blood once again at Taliban’s mercy.

On August 23, the governor of Musa Qala warned the Taliban were closing in on the district centre. He urged the government to immediately send reinforcements or Taliban could overrun the town. Two days later, it was confirmed that NATO had bombarded the Taliban to prevent the fall of Musa Qala.

Musa Qala had been under siege for several days. With air support from NATO troops, the Afghan government could not protect it. A day later, the government confirmed that Musa Qala is not under its control. The Taliban also announce fully seizing the district and some military equipment.

If the Taliban strengthen this rifle pit, entire northern Helmand, including Kajaki, Sangin and Washer districts, will be threatened by the Taliban, who have gained control of Baghran and Nawzad districts. Uruzgan could also come under threat, which will pave the way for the militants’ advance toward Ghor province.

Perhaps, the Afghan government would exercise all its power to retake Musa Qala district. If at all the Taliban withdraw, only the district centre will rest with the government. As a result, the fighters will remain in a position to threaten the northern parts of Helmand and certain areas of Uruzgan province.

The Taliban’s seizure of the restive district is seen as their biggest military achievement in the past 14 years. If they are able to retain control of the town, the militant group will score a huge victory. The Taliban had also overrun the Baghran district of Helmand some time back. But the fall of Musa Qala and Nawaz a few weeks ago and continued influence in Washer will boost the rebels’ morale.

Capturing Nawzad and Musa Qala districts will have an impact on Taliban’s political disputes; The Taliban’s military wing does not have any problems with the appointment of Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour. Only some political figures in the movement, whose names have already surfaced in media reports, have raised objections to Mansour’s nomination.

Now that the Taliban commanders have achieved success on the battlefield and Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri has pledged allegiance to Mullah Mansour, political disputes within the militant outfit would be pushed to the back burner. With this in mind, one can presume efforts at dividing the Taliban will be considerably undermined.

View expressed in this article are of the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Pajhwok’s editorial policy

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