A NATO Bid to Regain Afghans' Trust

Reconstruction Projects Follow Airstrikes

PANJWAI, Afghanistan -- The road to this southern Afghan farming town is wide, smooth and utterly empty, except for an occasional old man on a bicycle or a meandering herd of baby camels.

It was paved last year with Japanese funds, to help farmers send their grapes to market and to make it easier for patients to reach hospitals in the city of Kandahar, 20 miles to the east. But that was before war came to Panjwai, making its name synonymous with the physical destruction and political mayhem wrought by months of Taliban attacks and NATO bombing.

Now almost no one dares to drive on the road. NATO forces declared victory here in late September, claiming to have killed about 1,500 insurgents in a campaign named Operation Medusa. Yet Taliban fighters still linger in the surrounding orchards and launch sporadic attacks. On Monday, insurgents fired at several NATO bases in the district, although no one was injured.

Many shops in Panjwai remain shuttered, and most of the estimated 80,000 people who fled nearby villages have not returned. Some harbor bitter memories of NATO bombings that destroyed their homes and fruit crops. At least 50 civilians were killed over several weeks of bombing, and President Hamid Karzai last month ordered an investigation into the deaths. NATO officials have said the insurgents used villagers' homes as shelter, provoking the deadly airstrikes.

"I lost three of my sons, my brother, my wife, two daughters-in-law and many grandchildren," said Abdullah Shah, a white-haired farmer, wiping his eyes with a dirty shawl. "I moved the whole family into a tent for safety when the fighting started. The international forces said there were 20 Taliban in that tent, but it was not true. How could there be, when we were so crowded already?"

In an effort to regain public trust, NATO forces have moved into Panjwai with bricks, bulldozers and lots of cash. Local men have been hired to repair damaged buildings, the renovated high school reopened last week, and a new road is being laid from the town to several grape-growing villages that suffered the heaviest bombing damage.

NATO has pledged $8 million to improve Panjwai and the adjacent Zhari district, in hopes of creating a Taliban-proof development zone and a model for other post-conflict areas. Canadian troops have set up a base above the town and patrol the bazaar in armored convoys, while NATO officers meet often with local elders.

"Panjwai is a microcosm. The key is to move fast once the fighting stops, work with local institutions, get development projects going and get local people involved in their own security," said Maj. Steve Murray, deputy commander of a military reconstruction team in Kandahar. "We can fight the Taliban until the cows come home, but we can't make the area safe if we don't deal with the other issues."

Last Tuesday, a Canadian officer arrived as bulldozers were clearing land for the new road. He was soon surrounded by frowning farmers who demanded extra money to let the road cross their fields. The mayor joined the negotiations, calculating acreage on a pad of paper. The officer politely insisted on the previously agreed price.

In the chilly Panjwai bazaar, turbaned men huddling around sidewalk teapots raised more serious issues. They expressed deep ambivalence about the presence of international troops and both fear of and admiration for the Taliban insurgents.

"The coalition forces have brought us nothing but problems. They enter our houses and mosques without permission," said Abdul Jan Mohammed, a grape grower whose vineyards were damaged by NATO airstrikes. "The Taliban don't want to fight. They are just tired of all the corruption, as we are."

Bismillah, 45, whose farm is a half-hour walk from town, said his neighbors had begun to return home since the bombing ended but that insurgents were still lurking nearby. Like many Afghans, Bismillah uses just one name.