Word: britishers
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...scraping opium sap from their ripened poppies near the lush bank of the Helmand River are counted as a success story by Major Mike Shervington. They may be feeding the global drug trade, but at least they're here. Most locals had fled the village of Kajaki Olya when British forces took on the Taliban in 2006, and today their orchards, spilling with grapes, pomegranates, almonds and apricots lie untended. But the farmers have lately trickled back to tend crops of poppy and wheat - the wheat will feed their families, the opium will provide their income for the year. Shervington...
...wouldn't it be safer to move here?" the British officer asks...
...gathering, Shervington encounters another farmer tending to his opium harvest. "Last time you brought us shoes as gifts and it made big problems for us," Ghulam Madin tells the major. "The Taliban came and took them away. We had to promise not to take anything from the British forces. This time if we take the gifts, the Taliban will finish us for sure. Give us security first...
...clearly frustrated British officer knows Madin has a point - he doesn't have the troop strength to provide the security the farmers demand...
...with a long white beard responds. "I have heard from the Taliban commander that you British soldiers have come to kill civilians." Before Shervington can answer, a rocket-propelled grenade whistles over the gathering. He dives to protect Raziq, while the soldiers take cover. The villagers, unperturbed, gather around the flour-laden truck to get their rations; then they disappear. The RPG had come from a compound further south, aimed not at the shura, but at the British forces waiting on the road. Unable to spot the insurgents, the soldiers are prevented from returning fire...