Helmand, one of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, is in the southwest part of Afghanistan. The Helmand River region provides water for irrigation, and Helmand has become the world's largest opium-producing region, responsible for 42% of the world's production. The town of Sangin (population 30,000), an important trading center, boasts the biggest opium market in the region. Accordingly, it is an important objective for both Taliban and coalition forces. The population in Sangin is largely poor poppy farmers, who are largely sympathetic to the Taliban, so a victory there would strengthen the Afghan government and possibly push the Taliban into a negotiated settlement, allowing the US to withdraw its troops by the 2014 target set by the Obama administration.

 

 Marjah is another key city in Helmand Province, and another major source of opium, producing about 10% of the global supply.  A series of ISAF offensives there in 2009 and 2010, however, appear to have forced a Taliban retreat, as the population provided tips about Taliban movements and improvised explosive devices. Recently, schools for girls shut down by the Taliban have reopened there. 

 

Helmand has sometimes been called "Afghanistan's Fallujah," because it is such a deadly place.  Before 2006, the Province was controlled by the Taliban, and the Helmand Campaign was initiated to oust them. Led by the British, who lost more than 100 soldiers and were reinforced by a battalion of US Marines in 2008, the campaign continued as 11,000 more Marines joined them in the first wave of the 21,000 Afghanistan "surge" a year later. Unfortunately, as the fighting has intensified, 42 Marines have been killed, including the son of Lt.Gen. John Kelly, USMC.