Taliban forces reportedly attacked and beheaded 17 civilians attending a party that involved music and dancing Aug. 27 in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province. The same day, more than 100 insurgents overran a military checkpoint in the province's Washir district, resulting in 10 Afghan soldiers killed, four wounded and five to six missing, the Afghan Defense Ministry reported. Helmand and Kandahar provinces are the Taliban's traditional power seats in Afghanistan, and the region has seen intense conflict throughout Operation Enduring Freedom. The 2010 surge saw some 30,000 additional troops head to Afghanistan, with large numbers of U.S. Marines deployed to Helmand and Kandahar. Offensive operations and active patrolling by the Marines pushed the Taliban back in a number of districts and restricted the insurgents' freedom of movement. But despite considerable successes, Helmand and Kandahar provinces still rank as the most violent in the entire country. The six Helmand districts of Kajaki, Musa Qala, Nad Ali, Nahr-e Saraj, Now Zad and Sangin continue to account for at least a quarter of all insurgent violence in Afghanistan. With the remaining 10,000 U.S. surge troops slated to leave the country by the beginning of October, the Afghan National Security Forces increasingly will take the lead in operations there. The withdrawal of the bulk of the Marines and the lack of preparedness on the part of the Afghan armed forces offers the Taliban an opportunity to restore some of the control over the province it lost during the U.S. surge. Whether coalition gains made during the surge hold will be a critical test of the future of the conflict in Afghanistan.
