Afghan National Army prepares for life after Nato

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Source: The Guardian

In many ways the platoon of soldiers heading into the fields of Zhari, near Kandahar city, could have been on one of the hundreds of patrols Nato forces conduct every day in Afghanistan. Nothing about their behaviour was exceptional. In an area thick with IEDs, they kept apart from each other. The captain leading the patrol kept in constant touch by radio with his colleagues near the town of Sanzeray. At several points, he ordered his men to drop to one knee and scour nearby tree lines through the sights of their brand new M16 rifles.

In fact, these men tramping around the sweltering countryside were something very rare indeed: an entirely Afghan unit operating completely independently of foreign forces.

Captain Halim Khan did not even bother informing his US colleagues that he was taking his men for a march into the surrounding countryside. The only thing out of the ordinary was the fact that Khan, a hardened former mujahideen who fought against the Russians, had not felt the need to put on any body armour or a helmet.

"It is good for officers to show they are not afraid of the enemy," he said.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/20/afghan-national-army-prepares-nato