
James Cowan: From Helmand to HALO - a British Commander’s Remarkable Afghanistan Story (E67)
Afghanistan with Roh YakobiShow Notes
James Cowan has seen Afghanistan at its most intense: the frozen, “medieval” Kabul he first stepped into after the Taliban’s fall in 2001, the brutal peak of the NATO campaign in Helmand, and the country’s stunning collapse two decades later. He later took on a very different mission as head of the Halo Trust, working to clear the country of the deadly remnants of its wars. In this interview, he retraces that journey — from fighting the Taliban on the front lines to now negotiating with them so his teams can clear landmines and save lives. With rare candour, he reflects on the war, its cost, and the stark realities facing Afghanistan today.
👍🏼 Support the show: Leave stars, comments, share with friends
📺 Watch/Subscribe on YouTube Producer | Host: Roh Yakobi Assistant Producer/Researcher: Sa-aadat Yakobi Music ©: Dawood Sarkhosh Email: [email protected] Instagram: @TheAfgPod & @RohYakobi Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Afghanistan with Roh Yakobi
In Part 2 of this exclusive interview with acclaimed journalist and author Jon Lee Anderson, we investigate one of the most consequential assassinations in Afghanistan’s modern history: the killing of Ahmad Shah Massoud, just two days before the attacks of September 11, 2001.
In this episode, I sit down with acclaimed journalist and author Jon Lee Anderson to trace Afghanistan’s long road to 9/11 through the eyes of someone who witnessed or followed much of it firsthand.
On 9 September 2001, two al-Qaeda operatives posing as journalists assassinated Ahmad Shah Massoud, just two days before the 9/11 attacks. But how did they manage to get so close to him?
More than two decades after helping overthrow the Taliban and witnessing the birth of Afghanistan’s new government, Don Parnell looks back at what became of the country — and the people — he left behind.
As Hamid Karzai emerged as Afghanistan’s new interim leader, the Taliban’s first regime was collapsing. But behind the scenes, the final days of Taliban rule in their Pashtun heartland, were shaped as much by negotiations as by military force.