Taranaki Daily News

The village NZ troops left behind

- EUGENE BINGHAM AND PAULA PENFOLD

It is a place whose name is tragically familiar.

A small village about as far away from New Zealand as could feel possible, a place synonymous with tragedy.

Baghak, in the Bamyan province of Afghanista­n, was the location of the fiercest firefight New Zealand regular forces had been involved in since the Vietnam War.

In August 2012, two Kiwi and four Afghan soldiers died in the Battle of Baghak.

In April this year, elders from the notorious village drove the dangerous and rough road through the Shikari Valley to meet with Stuff Circuit in Bamyan town.

Hajji Bismila, head of the village shura (council), and fellow shura members Mohamad Umar and Meralam, remember that fateful day in 2012 well.

But their main reason for meeting us now is to thank New Zealand for the protection offered by the Provincial Reconstruc­tion Team, which was based in Bamyan from 2003-2013 - and to plead for on-going help.

‘‘We were happy that the foreigners were here bringing us security, because maybe if they weren’t, others would have come to fight us,’’ says Bismila.

Baghak is in a precarious part of the province, in the dangerous northeast where most of the 10 New Zealanders who lost their lives in Afghanista­n were killed.

Just across the border in the neighbouri­ng Baghlan province is a nest of insurgents, responsibl­e for many of those attacks.

On the day of the battle, Afghan authoritie­s had gone to arrest a suspected bombmaker, Hajji Abdullah, who, it was alleged, had connection­s with the insurgents.

His house was on the road through the valley, near to the village. Somehow, he knew the Afghan soldiers were coming and he attacked them as soon as they arrived in the early hours of the morning.

The village elders say that before the battle Abdullah was not known by them as an insurgent, although he was famous as a crack shot. ‘‘He was good at hunting and firing,’’ recalls Mohamad Umar. If he was shooting a bird, to avoid destroying the meat, he could shoot the beak off the bird.

On the day of the battle, Abdullah kept the Afghan and New Zealand forces at bay, with help from others suspected to have come from over the border.

He escaped alive, although he sustained injuries, writing in blood on a rock he hid behind ‘‘God is Great’’, say the village elders.

Baghak is home to 700 families who get by tending gardens and agricultur­al crops. Life is tough.

A hydro-power generator installed in the village broke, so there is no electricit­y. Parts necessary to fix it are too expensive, they say. And so, each night, the families sit in darkness.

Even more worrying is the situation for women in labour - there are no maternity services in or near the village.

The closest are in Bamyan town, about 80km away, a journey that takes four hours because of the bad condition of the roads and carries the risk of insurgent attacks.

Women have died giving birth, both in the village and on the journey, says Bismila.

The village elders say they never spoke to the New Zealand PRT about the need for a clinic.

Instead, they were grateful for the roads, bridges and other infrastruc­ture which the PRT built or provided in and around the village during the decade-long deployment.

‘‘We did not ask for clinic because our need was too much,’’ says Bismila. In other words, they felt too embarrasse­d to ask because they were already getting so much.

But, if New Zealand wanted to provide maternity services now, they would certainly be welcome, he says. ‘‘It’s very hard for us.’’ Rollie James Heke has been remanded without plea at the Rotorua District Court on eight charges, including three of attempting to murder police officers. Four accomplice­s also appeared yesterday, facing charges of accessory to attempted murder after the fact. All appeared via audio visual link and were remanded in custody. Heke, 36, spent 12 days on the run after allegedly firing at three police officers with a semi-automatic, military-style weapon on the outskirts of Morrinsvil­le, in the Waikato, in the early hours of August 13. Heke’s expartner, Irene Scanlon, 43, was taken into custody in Te Awamutu yesterday. Police found Heke in Kaingaroa about 1.30am yesterday.

New Zealand will send a further three non-combat troops to Afghanista­n after a United States request. The request came on behalf of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisati­on (Nato) in May for two additional personnel for ‘‘intelligen­ce and support’’. The 10 troops currently in Afghanista­n are based in Kabul at the Afghan National Army Officer Academy. Two of the extra personnel will go to mission headquarte­rs in Kabul, and one will go to the academy as a physical training instructor.

Before dawn broke yesterday, two Waikato men set off for work, one in a silver hatchback, the other in a latemodel ute. As one drove east and the other drove west along a rural road on the outskirts of Morrinsvil­le, one vehicle slipped across the centre line and slammed into the other. The driver of the hatchback died at the scene. The ute driver suffered moderate injuries. Both men, aged in their mid-40s, were the drivers and sole occupants. It was the 23rd fatality on the region’s roads this year. The region’s road toll is currently 12 fatalities fewer than the same time last year.

A 22-year-old man appeared in the Auckland District Court yesterday charged with manslaught­er following the death of Reginald Sharma on August 19 in the suburb of Three Kings in Auckland. Police found Sharma, 25, lying in a critical condition outside a house last Saturday morning.

A man has been arrested in Hawke’s Bay over $40,000 worth of allegedly stolen honey. Police searched the man’s Hastings house yesterday, also finding beeswax, a shotgun, and ammunition. James O’Keefe, 41, appeared in court later on charges of burglary and receiving stolen property in relation to the large-scale theft of honey and associated products.

 ?? PHOTOS: PHIL JOHNSON/STUFF ?? The town of Bamyan and the site of the famous Buddha statues, destroyed by the Taliban.
PHOTOS: PHIL JOHNSON/STUFF The town of Bamyan and the site of the famous Buddha statues, destroyed by the Taliban.
 ??  ?? Members of the Baghak village shura. From left, Mohamad Umar and Hajji Bismila and Meralam.
Members of the Baghak village shura. From left, Mohamad Umar and Hajji Bismila and Meralam.
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