U.S., Afghan troops retake key bridge

[unhappycamper]

Two Afghan men and a group of boys gather at the Gowerdesh Bridge after U.S. and Afghan government troops had taken control of it. The bridge controls a key border crossing with Pakistan, only a few kilometers away, and had been in enemy hands since last August.


U.S., Afghan troops retake key bridge
By Drew Brown, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, April 25, 2008

NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan — U.S. and Afghan troops have secured a key bridge in volatile northeastern Afghanistan, a move U.S. military officers say will allow Afghan border police to return to the area and help quell the insurgency there.

The seizure of the Gowerdesh Bridge on Tuesday will also allow U.S.-funded efforts to widen and improve the main road into Nuristan province to resume. U.S. officers say this will bring badly needed economic development to the remote mountainous region.

“This road is important,” said Maj. Nathan Springer, a staff officer for the 173rd Airborne Brigade’s 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, also known as Task Force Saber. “Where the road stops is where the insurgency starts.”

The region around the Gowerdesh Bridge had been under insurgent control since last August, when border police abandoned the checkpoint after anti-government fighters threatened to kill them if they did not leave.

The border station controls a crossing point into Pakistan, which is just beyond the next mountain range.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54306