British troops in southern Afghanistan are battling to break the will of the Taleban by splitting hard-line commanders from their troops.

The psychological warfare, or “psy-ops”, experts work alongside the SBS and American special forces. During a recent operation to retake Taleban strongholds in Kandahar they preyed on the insurgents’ worst fears — such as being captured — to make them abandon strategic positions.

Major Kirsty McQuade, the top Nato psy-ops officer in southern Afghanistan, said: “We exploit psychological vulnerabilities. Being captured is a big fear for the Taleban. Most of them want to live to fight another day. But they would rather die than be captured.”

Psy-ops are normally shrouded in secrecy, but Major McQuade gave The Times an insight into Nato tactics.

Commanders believe that there are two types of Taleban insurgents in the war-ravaged south: Tier 1 Taleban are the leaders, some of whom are foreign; Tier 2 are the rank and file.

Major McQuade said that Tier 1 wanted to regain control of the country. “Some of them have power and prestige and they like that. Some of them are just psychopaths.

“Tier 2 are often motivated by factors such as debt. Some are very poor and uneducated and they do as they are told.”

In Operation Baaz Tsuka, in which Canadian, British and American forces routed hundreds of Taleban from two districts that they had been using as platforms for assaults on Kandahar, the psy-ops troops targeted the two groups with separate messages.

Leaflets showing the bloody body of a dead gunman and a hooded prisoner of war warned Tier 1: “Enemies of Afghanistan leave now. Capture and death await you.” The footsoldiers were told: “Choose peace, return to your homes and meet with your elders.” More than 88,000 leaflets were dropped.

In a separate operation in Helmand province, Royal Marines hauled a loudhailer into battle to talk to the Taleban. “We explain to Tier 2 that their commanders don’t care about them, they are just using them for their own aims,” Major McQuade said.

“If you can clear the debt or give them an alternative way of making money they are often willing to give up.”

A day after the leaflet drops Canadian forces took control of Howz-e Madad, a former Taleban-held village, without firing a shot. However, analysts suspect that many fighters fled to Pakistan to prepare for a spring offensive.

Fear is the key

Genghis Khan, 13th-century leader of the Mongols, would leave a few people in each village he attacked alive to allow them to tell stories about his ferocity to other villages and create an atmosphere of fear

Source: Times archives

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