saddam's village was bombed

NATO set a search and destroy operation in the Tagab valley, 70 km from the capital. The battle broke out while an alliance convoy was attacked during the insurgents’ hunt in the area.
According to the primary reports there are more than ten dead. NATO planes were called in to support the ground troops at the height of the fighting, which continued as evening fell. This is the first time villagers die in Tagab in the last five years. More than 3,100 people have been killed so far this year.
I was in Tagab two years ago to set up a community radio station. it’s a beautiful valley with a lot of water and fruitful orchards. There is very little sign of reconstruction. The 70km road takes four hours. There is one high school for a population of 70000 stretched across several long valleys. It’s the destination of choice for newly graduated medicine students; they get to do a lot of practice on patience since there is hospital.
Dawlat khan and his wife, both former nurses in Kabul, has returned and set up a clinic in Tagab. They business is blooming.
I went to tagab with a good friend Hugo. We were received very warmly. An old man in a very sincere voice told us “radio is not what we need, but we appreciate your good intentions” after doing some research we found out he was right.
We spent the night in a pomegranate orchard, surrounded by five meter high mud walls. The cranky big wooden door couldn’t stop playing the sound. Our hosts were constantly checking on so we are comfortable.
They had very simple life and nothing from the government. Justice is enforced by tradition.
UK defence chiefs have sent a parachute regiment battalion to Afghanistan. this is the first time that British paratroopers have jumped into action since the Suez conflict 50 years ago.
Top British diplomats warned last week that a planned assault on opium producers was likely to result in heavy fighting.
Therefore, military planners have drawn up a contingency plan in which a parachute battalion would jump from six Hercules C-130 transport aircraft to reinforce British Royal Marines in Afghanistan.
Saddam is my cousin and he is 13 years old (see the photos below) he is from Tagab. There are 12 people in his family including two aunts whose husbands died in the wars. To be frank one of them is still alive and in jail. He was trafficking drugs to iran ten years ago when he was caught and sentenced to life time jail.
The grandpa is old and spends most of his time in the orchard, but the trees are dieing out because of the drought. He practically almost produces nothing. Saddam’s grandpa is deaf, he lost his hear when a soviet artillery shell his room.
Saddam’s dad is in Iran trying to make a living. In the last five years he has returned several times in the hope to find something to do in Kabul or Tagab, but luck didn’t come with him.

Saddam decided to make things a little bit better for his family. He cut off the orchard and started growing poppy. This went really well and he made some money. Saddam has a serious problem now, NATO has bombed his village and they are planning to return to destroy his crop.