Alan Fisher's World

Afghanistan
Ghosts of Korengal

It’s now almost three years since I visited the Korengal Valley in eastern Afghanistan. The only way to get there safely was with the Americans. The safest way was flying in a Blackhawk helicopter, swooping low through the valleys. The side door was open to allow us to film. It was exciting and dramatic. It felt like the opening scene of a big budget movie. Suddenly in the middle of nowhere, a small house would appear perched impossibly on a hill and it made me think not just who lived there but what sort of life they could possibly have and how different it was from my existence in London.
     We arrived at a small forward operating base but as we left the helicopter, we came under sustained fire. Apparently the shooting had been going on for some time. We had to run for cover. I remember the soldiers were resigned to what was going on: 'Just another day' they told me.
     Soon we were on our way again, to one of the FOBs, or forward operating bases, in the Korengal. This was part of the plan to place American troops deep in 'hostile' territory, to show the Taliban they were there and reassure the local community. The Taliban didn't want them there, and that soon became very clear. 
     As we were setting up to do some filming, the firing started. This time it was close. Very close. We dived for cover and stayed pinned to the ground as the Americans fired back. As we picked ourselves up, there was a hurried shout. One man – a civilian contractor who was there to give advice on perimeter security – was telling us that the sergeant who was with him hadn't made it back behind the safety barrier. He had been hit. Medics worked on him, an air ambulance was called and he was whisked away. We were less than a minute in the air when the word came through. He hadn't made it. The soldier died.
     I still remember the faces of his colleagues, the mixture of anger and shock. And the words of one: 'Every one of us knows, that could have been me. And every one of us is glad it isn't'.
     I thought of the Korengal today and that bloody day on the base, because the forward operating base has now been abandoned. It will lie desolate and forgotten. And I thought of the dead soldier and his friends. The Taliban say the US withdrawal is a victory, that the camp and the area is now completely under their control. They say they will use it to launch more attacks and capture more ground.
     The Americans have abandoned the place as a 'repositioning of forces', a change of tactic in Afghanistan. It's a decision taken by General Stanley McChrystal – the top US and NATO solider in Afghanistan who wants to concentrate his resources in urban areas, and in particular more troops in and around Kandahar.
     The Americans left behind fuel and many other remnants of life on the front line. It's become a source of local curiosity. People who live nearby are turning up, sifting through the detritus, taking what they can, destroying what they can't. And few will think of the deaths on both sides that the base brought, the families grieving still and ghosts left on the Korengal.

Alan Fisher is an Al Jazeera correspondent