Task force leader sees 'signs of progress' in Helmand
Published Date:
14 April 2008
By Katrine Bussey
AN ARMY chief who has just returned from command duties in Afghanistan today insisted there were "real signs of progress" in the conflict there.
Brigadier Andrew MacKay, the commander of 52 Infantry Brigade, is back at his headquarters at Edinburgh's Redford barracks after six months leading operations in Helmand.
He and his staff formed the headquarters of the Task Force Helmand when they were deployed to the region in September last year.
Under his leadership the Brigade HQ and the troops it commanded were responsible for recapturing Musa Qala from the Taleban. It was the biggest operation in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion and Brigadier MacKay said: "Musa Qala was iconic for all the wrong reasons, because the Taleban were in control.
"We're now trying to make it iconic for the right reasons – reconstruction and development.
"There's now a school with about 800 kids and there's not been a school in Musa Qala for many, many years. We built a road, there's a health clinic, there's a work programme that employs 400 people a day, there's a mosque that will be built.
"We're trying to show the people they have a better chance this way than with the Taleban."
The full article contains 208 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
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Last Updated:
13 April 2008 9:46 PM
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Source:
The Scotsman
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Location:
Edinburgh
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Related Topics:
Afghanistan
