Helmand[a] (Pashto[b] andDari:[c]هلمند), known in ancient times asHermand,Hirmand, andHethumand,[5] is one of the 34provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering 58,584 square kilometres (20,000 sq mi) area. The province contains 18districts, encompassing over 1,000 villages, and roughly 1,446,230 settled people.[6]Lashkargah serves as the provincial capital. Helmand was part of theGreater Kandahar region until made into a separate province by theAfghan government in the 20th century. It is largely populated byPashtuns.
Throughout the2001–2021 war in Afghanistan, Helmand was a hotbed of insurgent activities[10][11][12] and was often considered at the time to be Afghanistan's "most dangerous" province.[13][14] The province also witnessed some of the heaviest fighting during the war, where at its peak hundreds of civilians were being killed monthly.[15] Additionally, Helmand is considered to be one of Afghanistan's most socially conservative areas.[16]
Helmand culture of western Afghanistan was aBronze Age culture of the 3rd millennium BC. It is exemplified by such major sites asShahr-i Sokhta,Mundigak, andBampur.
The term "Helmand civilization" was proposed by M. Tosi. This civilization flourished between 2500 BC and 1900 BC and may have coincided with the great flourishing of theIndus Valley Civilisation. This was also the final phase of Periods III and IV of Shahr-i Sokhta, and the last part of Mundigak Period IV.
According to Jarrige et al.,
... the pottery of Mundigak I, the earliest occupation of thecomplex, corresponds to theMehrgarh III pottery, in technique — the quality of the paste and manufacture — as well as in the shapes and decoration, probably within a phase dated to the end of the 5th millennium [BC]."[17]
There were also links between Shahr-i Sokhta I, II, and III periods, and Mundigak III and IV periods, and between the sites ofBalochistan and the Indus valley at the end of the 4th millennium, as well as in the first half of the 3rd millennium BC.
TheJiroft culture is closely related to the Helmand culture. The Jiroft culture flourished in eastern Iran, and the Helmand culture in western Afghanistan at the same time. They may represent the same cultural area. TheMehrgarh culture, on the other hand, is far earlier.
Helmand was inhabited by ancient peoples and governed by theMedes before falling to theAchaemenids.
Later, the area was part of the ancientArachosia polity, and a frequent target for conquest because of its strategic location inAsia, which connectsSouthern,Central andSouthwest Asia.
The Helmand river valley is mentioned by name in theAvesta (Fargard 1:13) asHaetumant, one of the early centers or origins of theZoroastrian faith, inpre-Islamic Afghan history. However, owing to the presence of non-Zoroastrians even though Zoroastrians being dominant before theIslamization of Afghanistan – particularly Buddhist.[18]
Grishk Dam, built by the United States around the 1960s.
After the destructions caused byGenghis Khan and his Mongol army in the 13th century, theTimurids established rule and began rebuilding Afghan cities. From about 1383 until his death in 1407, it was governed byPir Muhammad, a grandson ofTimur. By the early 16th century, it fell toBabur. However, the area was often contested by theShiaSafavids andSunniMughals until the rise ofMir Wais Hotak in 1709. He defeated the Safavids and established theHotaki dynasty. The Hotakis ruled it until 1738 when theAfsharids defeated ShahHussain Hotaki at what is nowOld Kandahar.
WhenAhmad Shah Durrani came to power in 1747, afterNader Shah was assassinated, he began redistributing land grants that had been given by his predecessor. At that time, the area of what is now Helmand province was part ofKandahar Province (which continued until it was split off into the newFarah Province during the reign ofSher Ali Khan), and it was known asPusht-e Rud, or "across the river", reflecting how the region was viewed fromKandahar, which was Ahmad Shah's capital. Pusht-e Rud traditionally consisted into four districts:Zamindawar,Now Zad, Pusht-e Rud proper, andGarmsir. Ahmad Shah's land redistribution legitimized existingAlizai influence in Zamindawar, while the powerfulBarakzai received Pusht-e Rud proper, and the district of Garmsir in the south was granted to theNoorzai to protect againstBaluch raids. Now Zad was divided between the Noorzai and the Ishaqzai. This arrangement has survived, with a few exceptions, until the present day.[20]
Then, as now, relatively few members of thePopolzai tribe (to which Ahmad Shah Durrani belonged) lived in Helmand. The Durrani monarchs were thus ambivalent towards the area's tribes and didn't favor any one tribe over the others. Rather, they treated the tribes according to their relative power. Thus, the powerful Barakzai tribe received a hereditary position as ministers to the crown, as well as some of the most valuable land in Helmand: the alluvial plains around present-dayMalgir,Babaji, and Spin Masjid, as well as the strategically importantGereshk.[20]
That changed in 1826, whenDost Mohammad Khan, himself a Barakzai, seized power. Dost Mohammad increased taxes on non-Barakzai tribes in Helmand, especially the Alizai of Zamindawar. When the Alizai didn't pay taxes, a Barakzai punitive expedition was sent to Zamindawar, and in Alizai clan chiefs were executed. During this period, the Alizai began to view the Barakzai as enemies, creating the Alizai-Barakzai dynamic that still heavily influences Helmand politics.[20]
At this time, the area around Garmsir was effectively independent, and ignored by the monarchy in Kabul.[20]
In 1839, the British deposed Dost Mohammad Khan in favor of the PopolzaiShah Shuja Durrani. In doing so, they hoped to limit Russian influence in Afghanistan. Hoping to secure the loyalty of Helmandi tribal leaders, Shah Shujah reinstated the titles they had previously enjoyed under Popolzai rule, and he also held off on taxing them until his position was stronger. However, he kept the Barakzai tax collectors in office, and they resumed collection in 1840. When a Barakzai tax collector was killed at Sarwan Qala that year, the British sent in troops to enforce collection, a political blunder leading to open rebellion by the Alizai. It is not known if the British were aware of the political ramifications of Shah Shujah's decision to retain the Barakzai tax collectors, but they were completely bewildered by the ensuing rebellion, reflecting a clear lack of understanding of local dynamics on their part.[20]
The leader of the rebellion was Aktur Khan, who had risen to prominence during this dispute. His invocations of Alizai honor and appeals to group identity had resulted in him attaining chieftainship of the Alizai. After some skirmishes, the British offered to remove the Barakzai tax collectors in return for the dispersal of Aktur Khan's 1,300 followers. This soon broke down, and by May 1841, Aktur Khan led a force of 3,000 men to capture Gereshk. The British retook Gereshk at the beginning of June and then led punitive expeditions into Zamindawar, and eventually the rebellion was defeated and Aktur Khan fled toHerat.[20]
British-backed Barakzai horsemen were sent to reinforce Gereshk in November 1841. The Alizai repeatedly tried to capture it, but the Barakzai were able to maintain control until August 1842 because the other Barakzai who lived there kept them well-supplied.[20]
Dost Mohammad Khan was reinstalled for a second reign when the British withdrew from Afghanistan, but he ran into financial difficulties and sought a subsidy from the British in 1857. He distributed money from this subsidy unevenly among Helmandi tribes, favoring the Barakzai over the others, which upset the balance of power between the tribes. The subsidy also divided Afghanistan into British and Russian spheres of influence, with Gereshk and the Helmand river being on the border between them, increasing the area's strategic importance. The subsidy ended in 1862 when Dost Mohammad died and a succession crisis broke out between his sons. Helmandis fought asmercenaries on the side of one of them,Sher Ali Khan, playing a role in his eventual victory. The deciding battle was fought at Gereshk in 1868.[20]
Indebted to the Helmandi tribes for their contributions during the war, Sher Ali scaled back tax collection in the area and reduced the allowances to the Barakzai khans. Because of this, the Alizai did not rebel during his reign. Another key development for Helmand (Pusht-e Rud) during Sher Ali's reign was that he moved its four traditional districts into the newly createdFarah Province, moving it out of Kandahar's sphere of influence and meaning that he could influence the Pusht-e Rud area without going through a relative in Kandahar.[20]
In November 1878, the British invaded Afghanistan again. They occupied Gereshk until February 1879; an Alizai force of 1500 attacked them as they withdrew. Sher Ali died soon after, however, and the British wanted to again occupy Gereshk as a forward outpost against Sher Ali's sonAyub Khan. Perhaps realizing that the presence of their troops garrisoning Helmandi forts upset locals, the British sent a proxy Barakzai force to occupy Gereshk.[20]
Ayub Khan found ample support from Helmandis in his subsequent campaign against the British: three or four thousand Alizai tribesmen, led by a man namedAbu Bakr, had joined his army by October, as did a smaller contingent of Noorzai. Doubting the Barakzai's loyalty, the British sent some of their own troops to reinforce Gereshk in July 1880, led byGeorge Burrows. The Barakzai promptly mutinied and went over to Ayub Khan's side — a rare Barakzai-Alizai alliance, joining against a common enemy. The British withdrew and Ayub Khan's army pursued, leading to a major Afghan victory at theBattle of Maiwand on 27 July. Having achieved their main goal of defeating the British, the Alizai then left and returned to Zamindawar.[20]
The British later defeated Ayub Khan, but they ended up withdrawing from Afghanistan altogether, installingAbdur Rahman Khan as the new ruler and giving him a subsidy. Abdur Rahman Khan was a strong and intelligent state-builder who used the subsidy to finance a professional army. He defeated Abu Bakr of the Alizai and had him exiled, after which the Alizai cooperated with paying taxes. He used a combination of incentives and force to move the Ishaqzai and Noorzai to the northwestern part of Afghanistan, away from the lands along the Helmand they had been granted by Nader Shah. Their relocation was a disaster and many ended up returning to the Helmand area.[20]
When they came back, however, they were only given scattered, less-productive lands. This dramatically changed the power dynamic of the Helmand area, marking the beginning of Ishaqzai and (to a lesser degree) Noorzai disenfranchisement from government that has continued into the 21st century. The Noorzai would occupy marginal lands until the late 20th century, and the Ishaqzai population remains dispersed and scattered throughout Helmand today.[20]
The weakening of Helmand's non-Barakzai tribes, combined with a policy of non-interference with the tribes, led to stability in the region throughout Abdur Rahman's reign. This continued during the rule of his son Habibullah, who died in 1919.[20]
An important development was the re-construction of the Nahr-e Saraj canal, beginning in 1910. Newly irrigated areas that had previously been desert were now populated with ethnic and tribal groups who were not originally from Helmand, including refugees from Central Asia fleeing Soviet rule. Many of the villages along the canal therefore are named after these groups, such as Uzbek, Turkmen, and Popolzai. The government had originally planned to continue developing the Helmand area during the 1920s, but ended up shelving that project due to unrest over Amanullah's social reforms. In 1936, after the Musahiban dynasty had come to power, the government began construction of another canal in Helmand, the Nahr-e Bughra. The Afghan government originally sought out US financial and technical assistance, but the US refused, so instead it was the Germans and Japanese who contributed. The Nahr-e Bughra project employed up to 7,000 workers, and there were also other small-scale development projects in the area at the same time. Roads, bridges, and telephone wires were built to connect the major settlements. This was the first externally supervised development project in Helmand. However, whenWorld War II broke out, the British requested that the German and Japanese engineers be expelled from Afghanistan, and the government had to continue on its own.[20]
Helmand was the center of theUSAID program in the 1960s to develop theHelmand and Arghandab Valley Authority (HAVA) – it became known locally as "little America". The program laid out tree-lined streets in Lashkargah, built a network of irrigation canals and constructed a large hydroelectric dam. The development program was abandoned when pro-Soviet Union forces seized power in 1978, although much of the province is still irrigated by the HAVA.
Thanks in part to the irrigation projects, the Pusht-e Rud area had become more important, and the government recognized this by splitting it off from Farah Province to create a newGereshk Province in 1960. Gereshk was made the capital to reflect the historical importance of the Barakzai, which had been diluted by the influx of outside settlers in the province. The US, however, cared more that the HVA headquarters was in Lashkar Gah, and they successfully lobbied the Afghan government to relocate the provincial capital there. This happened in 1964, and the province was renamed "Helmand Province".[20]
For the first time since 1826, the Helmandi Barakzai were no longer dominant in the region. To compensate for this, the government completelty redrew the district boundaries in Helmand. The four traditional districts were abolished and replaced new districts. These new districts, greater in number than the traditional ones, were each assigned an "order", which determined how much resources would be allocated to each district. Additionally, since the1964 constitution introduced voting, the new districts were drawn in a way allowing the government to maintain influence and control.[20]
The former Barakzai-dominated district of Pusht-e Rud proper, or Gereshk, was split into Nahr-e Seraj (the only 1st order district in the province), Nawa (4th order), andLashkar Gah (which, as the capital, had its own resourcing protocol). Lashkar Gah district wasgerrymandered to give the Barakzai a majority over the mixed tribes in the urban area: a slice of Barakzai-dominatedBabaji was included, and the boundary withNad-e Ali district was drawn on the border of Barakzai territory inBolan. This way, the Barakzai central government was able to retain control of even the new capital of Helmand.[20]
Meanwhile, the Alizai district of Zamindawar was split intoMusa Qala (2nd order),Baghran (4th order), andKajaki (sub-district status). Now Zad, with its mixed Noorzai and Ishaqzai population, was split intoNow Zad (2nd order) andWashir (sub-district status).Garmsir district was the only one of the traditional districts to remain intact; it was given 3rd-order status. The 37 different tribes and ethnicities who had immigrated to Nad-e Ali and Marjah were lumped into a single 3rd-order district. Finally, the sub-district ofSangin was created to separate theAlikozai tribe, closely related to the Barakzai, from the Alizai.[20]
DuringOperation Enduring Freedom, theUnited States Agency for International Development program contributed to a counter-narcotics initiative called the Alternative Livelihoods Program (ALP) in the province. It paid communities to work to improve their environment and economic infrastructure as an alternative toopium poppy farming. The project undertookdrainage and canal rehabilitation projects. In 2005 and 2006, there were problems in getting promised finance to communities and this was a source of considerable tension between the farmers and the Coalition forces.[citation needed]
After it was decided to deploy British troops to the Province,PJHQ tasked22 SAS to conduct a reconnaissance of the province. The review was led byMark Carleton-Smith, who found the province largely at peace due to the brutal rule ofSher Mohammad Akhundzada, and a booming opium-fuelled economy that benefited the pro-government warlords. In June he reported back to theMoD warning them not to remove Akhundzada and against the deployment of a large British force which would likely cause conflict where none existed.[21]
In summer 2006, Helmand was one of the provinces involved inOperation Mountain Thrust, a combined NATO-Afghan mission targeted at Taliban fighters in the south of the country. In July 2006, this offensive mission essentially stalled in Helmand as NATO, primarily British, and Afghan troops were forced to take increasingly defensive positions under heavy insurgent pressure. In response, British troop levels in the province were increased, and new encampments were established in Sangin and Grishk. Fighting was particularly heavy in the districts of Sangin, Naway,Nawzad andGarmsir. There were reports that the Taliban saw Helmand province as a key testing area for their ability to take and hold Afghan territory from NATO-ledAfghan National Security Forces.[22] Commanders on the ground described the situation as the most brutal conflict theBritish Army had been involved in since theKorean War.
A U.S. Marine greeting local children working in an opium poppy field in 2011.
In Autumn 2006, British troops started to reach "cessation of hostilities" agreements with local Taliban forces around the district centers where they had been stationed earlier in the summer.[23] Under the terms of the agreement, both sets of forces were to withdraw from the conflict zone. This agreement from the British forces implied that the strategy of holding key bases in the district, as requested byAfghan PresidentHamid Karzai, was essentially untenable with the levels of British troop deployment. The agreement was also a setback forTaliban fighters, who were desperate to consolidate their gains in the province, but were under heavy pressure from variousNATO offensives.
News reports identified the insurgents involved in the fighting as a mix of Taliban fighters and warring tribal groups who are heavily involved in the province's lucrative opium trade.[24] Given the amount of drugs produced in the area, it is likely that foreign drug traffickers were also involved.
Fighting continued throughout the winter, with British and allied troops taking a more pro-active stance against the Taliban insurgents. Several operations were launched includingOperation Silicone at the start of spring. In May 2007,Mullah Dadullah, one of the Taliban's top commanders, along with 11 of his men were killed by NATO-led Afghan forces in Helmand.
In April 2008, about 1,5002nd Battalion 7th Marines occupied over 300 square miles (800 km2) of Helmand River valley and neighboringFarah Province. The operation was to set up forward operation bases and train theAfghan National Police in an area with little or no outside support.
Locals drive on the new 12-kilometer road built by Afghans partnered with Marine and British engineer mentors. The new road was completed five months ahead of schedule and built entirely by Afghans.
In June 2009,Operation Panther's Claw was launched with the stated aim of securing control of various canal and river crossings and establishing a lasting ISAF presence in an area described by Lt. Col. Richardson as "one of the main Taliban strongholds" ahead of the 2009 Afghan presidential election.
In July 2009, around 4,000 U.S. Marines pushed into the Helmand River valley in a major offensive to liberate the area from Taliban insurgents. The operation, dubbedOperation Khanjar (Operation Dagger), was the first major push sinceU.S. PresidentObama's request for 21,000 additional soldiers in Afghanistan, targeting the Taliban insurgents.
In February 2013,BBC reported thatcorruption occurs in Afghan National Police bases, with some bases arming children, using them as servants and sometimessexually abusing them;[25] in early March 2013, theNew York Times reported that government corruption is rampant with routine accusations against the police of shaking down and sexually abusing civilians causing loyalty to the government to be weaker.[26]
On 13 August 2021, the capital of the province Lashkar Gah fell to the Taliban after weeks of fighting in theBattle of Lashkargah. Around 1,500 Afghan soldiers were said to have surrendered, leaving the province in Taliban hands.[27] According toThe Washington Post, the US withdrawal and Taliban victory was mostly met with relief in Helmand; the province had suffered through some of the deadliest battles of the war from 2001 to 2021[28] and heavy US-led bombardments.[29]
Bost Airport serves the population of Helmand for domestic flights to other parts of the country. It is designed for civilian use. NATO-led forces heavily used the airport atCamp Shorabak, formerlyCamp Bastion.Camp Leatherneck, which used to be the main British base in Afghanistan during the occupation, is also adjacent. All sites were claimed by the Taliban on 13 August 2021.
There is no rail service. Primary roads include the ring road passes through Helmand from Kandahar to Delaram. There is a major north–south route (Highway 611) that goes from Lashkargah to Sangin. About 33% of Helmands roads are not passable during certain seasons and in some areas, there are no roads at all.
Farming is the main source of income for the majority. This includes agriculture and animal husbandry. Animals include cows, sheep, goats, and chicken. Donkeys andcamels are used for labor. The province has a potential for fishery. The region produces the following:opium, tobacco, cotton, wheat and potato.[citation needed]
The percentage of households with clean drinking water fell from 28% in 2005 to 3% in 2011.[30]The percentage of births attended to by a skilled birth attendant increased from 2% in 2005 to 3% in 2011.[30]
An Afghan police officer giving a book to schoolgirls during the opening of a new girls' school in Helmand
The overall literacy rate (6+ years of age) increased from 5% in 2005 to 12% in 2011.[30] The overall net enrollment rate (6–13 years of age) fell from 6% in 2005 to 4% in 2011.[30]
As of 2020, the population of Helmand Province is about 1,446,230.[6] It is mostly a tribal and rural society, with the ethnicPashtuns being predominant; there is a significantBaloch minority in the south, and there is small minority ofTajiks, and a significant minority ofHazaras in the far northern regions of the province.[31] The Pashtuns are divided into the following tribes:Barakzai (32%),Nurzai (16%),Alakozai (9%), andEshaqzai (5.2%).[9] All the inhabitants practiceSunni Islam except the small number of Hazaras who areShi'as and the Sikhs who followSikhism. Of the population, 53.5% lived below the nationalpoverty line.[32]
^Note: "Predominantely" or "dominated" is interpreted as 99%, "majority" as 70%, "mixed" as 1/(number of ethnicities), "minority" as 30% and "few" or "some" as 1%.
^Pat McGeough (2007-03-05)."Where the poppy is king".Sydney Morning Herald.Archived from the original on 2011-06-05.More than 90 percent of the province's arable land is choked with the hardy plant. A 600-strong, US-trained eradication force is hopelessly behind schedule on its target for this growing season in Helmand - to clear about a third of the crop, which is estimated to be a head-spinning 70,000 hectares.
^"Afghanistan still the largest producer of opium: UN report".Zee News. Archived fromthe original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved2007-06-26.She said opium cultivation is concentrated in the south of the country, with just one province 'Helmand' accounting for 42% of all the illicit production in the world. Many of the provinces with the highest levels of production also have the worst security problems.
^ab"Helmand"(PDF).Program for Culture & Conflict Studies. May 1, 2010.Archived(PDF) from the original on 2012-10-08. Retrieved2012-12-28.
^Kochhar, Rajesh, 'On the identity and chronology of the Ṛgvedic river Sarasvatī' in Archaeology and Language III; Artefacts, languages and texts,Routledge (1999),ISBN0-415-10054-2.
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