Shkin, Paktika

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Shkin
Shkin Location in Afghanistan
Coordinates: 32°31′40″N 69°15′55″E / 32.52778°N 69.26528°E / 32.52778; 69.26528
Country	Afghanistan
Province	Paktika Province
District	{{{subdivision_name2}}}
Time zone	UTC+4:30

Shkin is a scattered village in Paktika Province, Afghanistan located about a kilometer west of the newer, much larger, and border-straddling village and bazaar of Angoor Adda. Angoor Adda is controlled by the Pakistan Frontier Guards. As with the area immediately to the north, the Bermel Valley, the region is primarily populated by ethnic Pashtuns who share many of the same characteristics of their neighbors in the South Waziristan Tribal Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.

Soil conditions near Shkin are marginal and only allow for limited agricultural seasonal use. Aside from small apple orchards/farms there is only minimal economic activity. The closest competent health care can be found in Wana, Pakistan or Kabul. Ethnic tensions between the Kharootis and Waziris remain high in this region. Until recently there were no paved roads in this Bermel Valley region. However, with the construction of the firebase, a permanent road from Orgun-E has made its way all the way to Bermel. The estimated elementary level literacy rate for males in the Bermel Valley is 60% and 10-20% for females in the Bermel Valley.

The Shkin Firebase was named after this village. This heavily fortified military base has housed mostly American special operations forces since 2002 and is located just six kilometers from the Pakistani border. It is considered the most dangerous location in Afghanistan. ^{[1] [2]}

In an article in Time Magazine, the base was described as:

"The U.S. firebase looks like a Wild West cavalry fort, ringed with coils of razor wire. A U.S. flag ripples above the 3-ft.-thick mud walls, and in the watchtower a guard scans the expanse of forested ridges, rising to 9,000 ft., that mark the border. When there's trouble, it usually comes from that direction." ^[3]

Americans at the Shkin firebase in Afghanistan live at the front of the front line in the War. They are constant targets for al-Qa'ida and Taliban fighters who launch frequent strikes from nearby Pakistan. This border area is an unforgiving landscape, where the enemy can hide at close range while remaining invisible. When the US operators venture out in patrols along dusty tracks they have dubbed Chevy, Pontiac and Camaro, they know how easily a hunter can become prey. As U.S. Army Colonel Rodney Davis puts it, "Shkin is the evilest place in Afghanistan." ^[4]

On October 25, 2003, paramilitary officers Christopher Mueller and William "Chief" Carlson from the CIA's Special Activities Division were killed while conducting an operation to kill/capture high level al-Qa'ida leaders. On 21 May 2004, these Officer's were honored with Stars on the CIA Memorial Wall at their Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. ^[5] "The bravery of these two men cannot be overstated," Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet told a gathering of several hundred Agency employees and family members of those killed in the line of duty. "Chris and Chief put the lives of others ahead of their own. That is heroism defined." Mueller, a former US Navy SEAL and Carlson, a former Army Special Forces soldier, Delta Force operator, and member of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana, died while on a covert operation near Shkin, Afghanistan. Both officers saved the lives of others, including Afghan soldiers, during the engagement with al-Qa'ida forces. ^{[6][7] [8]}

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• [1] Licensed to Kill, Hired Guns in the War on Terror by Robert Young Pelton (Crown, Sept 1, 2006)
• Map location
• http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,526466,00.html

Coordinates: 32°31′40″N 69°15′55″E / 32.52778°N 69.26528°E / 32.52778; 69.26528

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