General says Taliban have lost control of terrain

FORT DRUM — The commander of the 10th Mountain Division said Friday that the Taliban have lost control of the movement's birthplace to U.S. and Afghan forces.

"They no longer have that terrain," Maj. Gen. James L. Terry said. "If they want to come back in and contest it, they have to fight for it, which is quite different from last year."

Gen. Terry updated reporters via video teleconference from Kandahar Airbase. He said he expects the Taliban to try to regain control this year, in the early months of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team's deployment there.

There likely will be ambushes by improvised explosive device that can be detonated safely from a distance, he said, as well as attacks on infrastructure and key government officials.

"I think you'll get into some intimidation and I think perhaps you might see some spectacular attacks, because that may be what they're limited to," he said.

Since November, Gen. Terry has commanded Regional Command South. He is in charge of nearly 23,000 coalition soldiers from about 16 countries. His team is partnered with about 29,000 Afghan National Army soldiers.

About 800 division soldiers support the general, and the 3,500 soldiers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team will begin operations next month, he said.

Southern Afghanistan is considered the birthplace of the Taliban, but the coalition has made gains since he took command, he said. In the past three weeks, about 54 insurgents laid down their arms.

The Afghan National Police has recruited about 1,200 members. And one battalion of the Afghan National Army has been designated as being able to conduct missions on its own.

The Afghan unit independently has seized about 20,000 pounds of explosive materials used in improvised explosive devices, as well as several heavy machine guns and one homemade bomb mounted on a vehicle.

In addition to security gains, there has been economic progress. The coalition turned on 10 megawatts of power each in two parts of Kandahar city.

"Where they turned it on, there is more business activity," Gen. Terry said.

Commanders are confident that progress influences Afghans to reject the Taliban.

"As the economy starts to kick in, you will see more insurgents silently reintegrating" into civilian society, he said. "Inside the city, it's about business development."

In rural areas, where the 3rd Brigade Combat Team will operate, progress comes in the shape of increased agriculture, he said. In both areas, the coalition wants to make government leaders stronger and more trusted by the people.

In the months before deploying, the brigade learned about governance and infrastructure from local officials and also created a team devoted to agricultural development

The brigade will arrive in Zhari district, an area that already has a framework of governance.

"Third brigade won't fall into anything totally new in terms of connecting with people in Zhari," Gen. Terry said. "It's the people that the Taliban want to control."