Rare security deal sealed in southern Afghanistan: Officials

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - International forces have brokered a rare deal with elders in an area of southern Afghanistan to keep the Taliban out in return for commitments on patrols and development, officials said Tuesday.

The agreement was struck in a part of the Sangin district of Helmand province, one of the bloodiest battlegrounds of the nine-year battle between Taliban militants and NATO-led troops, who now number around 140,000.

The pact, thought to be the first of its kind for several years, covers Sarwan Qala, one of the biggest villages in Helmand and its surrounding rural area, where around 4,000 families are thought to live.

Under its terms international forces will only conduct operations in co-ordination with Afghan troops, local officials said.

"The elders will not let foreign Taliban enter the area, Afghan Taliban will not be allowed to conduct attacks in the area," Helmand provincial spokesman Daud Ahmadi said, describing the deal.

"Government will launch uplift projects like clinics, schools and road construction in the area.

"ISAF (the International Security Assistance Force) will not conduct any arbitrary operations in the area. If there is a need for an operation, ISAF will only conduct operations in co-ordination with Afghan security forces."

The agreement is thought to be the first of its kind since a controversial deal struck by British forces with insurgents in nearby Musa Qala which broke down in 2007.

The new agreement was also confirmed by coalition forces in Helmand, although a spokesman for the mainstream Taliban strongly dismissed the announcements, calling them "propaganda".

Major General Richard Mills, ISAF's commanding general in the region, said he was "cautiously optimistic" it could succeed.

"The tribal elders presented the Afghan government and coalition leaders a document signed by seven Taliban commanders who agreed to follow the direction of the elders (to stop fighting)," an ISAF statement said.

"In exchange, the elders asked that Afghan forces lead searches of area compounds, that all patrols in the area are partnered and for commitments for short-term and long-term reconstruction and development projects."

(source:.vancouversun.com)