Pre-Modern History Nawa-I-Barakzayi is located on a
flood plain that had been farmed for centuries, with farmers taking water from the river via locally built canals. In the 1950s and 1960s the United States sponsored the
Helmand Valley Authority, a
desert reclamation project to help turn parts of the Helmand River Valley into fertile farmland. In Nawa, the
Shamalan canal, a branch of the
Boghra canal, was built by the
Helmand Valley Authority. It replaced the old system, increased the water supply, improved water distribution and brought new lands under irrigation. Additional irrigation in the 1970s brought more water into the southern reaches of Nawa, more land under cultivation, and allowed new land settlement. The Russians also had a major operations base near Lashkar Gah with at least 2500 soldiers, including the 22nd
Spetznaz Brigade. The main Russian strategy in central Helmand was to cut a deal with the main mujahideen commander,
Mullah Mohammad Nasim Akhundzada which divided the province into the Soviet areas (
Lashkar Gah and
Gereshk) and the mujahideen areas (everywhere else). After repeatedly taking
indirect fire from mujahideen units operating in the Nawa area, the Soviets launched a clearing operation there in 1987 and set up a Sarandoy (Armed Police) Battalion. The Soviet occupation also saw the rise of poppy growing in Nawa District. During the Eighties the Akhundzadas gradually consolidated power over most of Helmand, eliminating other Mujahideen factions.
Operation Enduring Freedom (2000–2010) In July 2006 the
Taliban chased out the police and seized control of the town of Nawa-I-Barakzayi. They held it for two weeks before being driven out by NATO and Afghan soldiers. In 2007, Nawa was described as "relatively peaceful". In 2008 the Taliban launched their spring offensive,
Operation Ebrat, aimed at isolating Lashkar Gah, using Nawa-i-Barakzayi as a staging area for men and equipment coming north from
Garmsir. In October 2008 the British launched a series of unsuccessful sweeps aimed at driving the Taliban out of Nawa. That same year there was one Afghan
NGO working on an irrigation intake off the Helmand River with some 700 men and vehicles at work. In 2009 the Taliban began moving even more men into Nawa, possibly for additional attacks against Lashkar Gah. On May 13, they launched an attack against the
Afghan National Police in the district, that overwhelmed several posts. By late spring they had established a solid foothold in the district. On October 20, 2009, Lance Corporal David R. Baker with 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment was killed by an IED in the district. On November 10, 2009, Corporal Justin J. Swanson with 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment was killed by an IED in the district. In November 2009, 1/5 was replaced by
1st Battalion, 3rd Marines. In the late summer and early fall the Marines detained Haji Adam, one of Nawa's main drug lords, and turned his house into
Combat Outpost (COP) Sullivan. In November two local officials were assassinated. Several weeks later Afghan President
Hamid Karzai and
ISAF commander General
Stanley McChrystal also visited Nawa on January 2, 2010. On January 10, 2010, Lance Corporal Jacob A. Meinert with 1st Battalion 3rd Marine Regiment, Bravo Company was killed in action in Nawa, Afghanistan. On January 24, 2010, Lance Corporal Timothy J. Poole Jr. with 1st Battalion 3rd Marine Regiment, Bravo Company was killed in action during a patrol in Nawa, Afghanistan. [https://archive.nytimes.com/atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/taps/ On February 16, 2010, Lance Cpl. Noah M. Pier, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii; died while supporting combat operations in Nawa, Afghanistan. On April 2, 2010, Lance Cpl. Curtis M. Swenson with 1st Battalion 3rd Marines, was killed after a Humvee in which Swenson was riding hit a roadside bomb that flipped the vehicle in Nawa, Afghanistan. [https://thefallen.militarytimes.com/marine-lance-cpl-curtis-m-swenson/4570034 , conducting a dawn patrol in Nawa District.
Operation Strike of the Sword (2009) By the spring of 2009 Helmand was perceived as being one of the key centers of the Taliban movement. By early June 2009 over 10,000 Marines had poured into southern Afghanistan, the first wave of what
President Obama promised would be a 21,000 strong surge. The Marines planned a series of operations to assault Taliban strongholds and then consolidate the Afghan government's position in the region. The first was
Operation Strike of the Sword, which would target Taliban positions in Nawa-i-Barakzayi and Garmsir. According to Marine Brigadier General Larry Nicholson, the operation was aimed to improve security ahead of presidential elections, allowing voter registration where before there was none. The BBC said that while that was the official goal of the operation, the real goal was the change the momentum of the war, which had previously favored the Taliban, and create the perception that security in Afghanistan was improving. Taliban forces withdrew to Marjah while observing the Marines.
Operation Enduring Freedom (2010–2014) In mid-May 2010 1st Battalion 3rd Battalion was substituted by
3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines. Partnering with
Afghan National Army soldiers from the
215th Corps, the battalion found itself in an area awash with money as the
U.S. Agency for International Development was in the process of spending $30 million in an attempt to increase agricultural production (and create jobs for thousands of otherwise-potential
Taliban recruits), but was also resulting in tensions between the local community council and tribal elders. In-mid June, Lima Company took part in Operation New Dawn, establishing observation posts in southern Shorshork, an area in between Nawa and
Marjeh. In late July, the battalion suffered the loss of Corporal Joe Wrighstman, who drowned in the
Helmand River while attempting to save the life of an
Afghan National policeman. Just days later they had to secure the crash site of Dealer 54, an
HMLA-369 helicopter which had crashed near
Lashkar Gah, killing the two pilots. Around this time, India Company conducted Operation Thresher and later Operation Mako in areas of Nawa District under heavy Taliban influence, finding several cache sites and taking some detainees. Nevertheless, on election day Nawa District was the one location in Helmand Province with no reported Taliban attacks. Residents claimed that the Marines from 3rd Battalion had implemented good security measures and encouraged the people to cooperate with the government, preventing the Taliban from firing a single shot. By the end of 3rd Battalion's deployment in the fall of 2010, Nawa was regarded by many as "a model of counterinsurgency operations and the most stable district" in southern Afghanistan. The success of 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines redirected OEF's focus to the hostile Nawa-I-Barakzayi District and the city of
Marjah. ==Economics==