The Long Road: Uruzgan, Afghanistan, on the Path to Stability by Sgt. Jessi McCormick, 102nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.
Nestled in a valley of the northwest corner of Uruzgan a newly established Afghan National Police checkpoint provides the first line of defense to a district with a troubled history as a Taliban safe haven.
Shahid-e Hassas is one of the last districts in Uruzgan to be stabilized, but this checkpoint, manned by Afghan police is pushing the insurgency further into the rugged mountains, away from the population. Australian army Col. Simon Stuart, the commander of coalition forces in the province, says the remote district is showing the same early signs of stability that other more populous and now secure regions displayed two years ago...