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Blog: "Report: Taliban, Not Government, Collecting Payments For Electricity Bills From Consumers In Helmand Province" SNIPPET: "The Taliban militants, not the Afghan government, are collecting payments from consumers of electricity generated from the Kajaki hydroelectric power project in the country’s southern Helmand province, according to an Afghan news website." SNIPPET: "Haji Mullah Sharafuddin, the administrative head of the Kajaki district, the Taliban have been usurping the state’s right to receive income from the huge dam in the form of bills in the Kajaki, Sangin and Zamindar districts." SNIPPET: "The Kajaki dam generates 32 megawatts of electricity, supplied not only to...

For the last month the soldiers from B (Suffolk) Company, 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, have been based in Kajaki, southern Afghanistan. Although they call it home, they have few of the comforts most people would associate with a cushy life. Report by Corporal Jon Bevan and Captain Jim Bewley. The 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, known as 'The Vikings' have been involved in operations throughout Helmand province since deploying in April 2007. The soldiers from B Company have found themselves operating in a variety of combat environments. This has included operating from Viking vehicles in the desert,...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan Feb 14, 2007 (AP)— A NATO airstrike early Wednesday destroyed a compound housing a Taliban leader blamed for a wave of violence across southern Afghanistan, killing him and at least 10 others, NATO said. NATO said the slain Taliban chief was linked to an uprising in the nearby town of Musa Qala, which the Taliban overran Feb. 1, and an attack Tuesday against a dam in nearby Kajaki. "We have removed yet another Taliban enemy leader who will no longer threaten the peace and security of the Afghan people and their future," said Lt. Col. Angela Billings, a...

Excerpt - KABUL, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Taliban fighters used children as human shields to flee heavy fighting this week during an operation by foreign and Afghan forces to clear rebels from around a key hydrolectric dam, NATO said on Wednesday. The Taliban have used human shields before, but never children, local residents say. The fighting occurred during Operation Kryptonite on Monday, an offensive to clear insurgents from the Kajaki Dam area in southern Helmand province to allow repairs to its power plants and the installation of extra capacity. "During this action ... Taliban extremists resorted to the use of...

February 13, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- The NATO-led force in Afghanistan says it has thwarted a Taliban attack on a key hydroelectric dam in the southern province of Helmand, RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan reported. The alliance says more than 300 troops from Britain and other NATO countries secured the Kajaki dam late on February 12 with support from NATO aircraft and Afghan government troops. Afghan provincial officials said at least 15 Taliban have been killed during the past three days in clashes near the dam. A spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said she could not confirm a...

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan, Feb 12 (Reuters) - At least 700 Taliban fighters have crossed from Pakistan into Afghanistan to destroy a key dam, a major source of electricity, a provincial governor said on Monday. "We have got confirmed reports that they are Pakistani, Uzbek and Chechen nationals and have sneaked in," Helmand Governor Asadullah Wafa told Reuters by telephone. The dam, Kajaki, has seen major fighting in recent weeks between the Taliban and NATO forces.