Already about a quarter of the way through their one-year deployment in Afghanistan, the soldiers of Fort Richardson's 4-25th airborne brigade are deeply involved in their mission, dividing their time between "tough-guy work" and helping local farmers, their commander said Friday.

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Col. Michael Howard, commander of the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division.

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In his first teleconference with reporters back in Alaska, Col. Michael Howard of the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, acknowledged that security threats from the Taliban continue to plague Afghans in his region.

Howard spoke from his headquarters at Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khost, a provincial capital of about 600,000 people near the Pakistan border.

In the three months since his soldiers began arriving from Alaska, some 200 civilians have been killed by insurgents and jihadis in the three eastern border provinces of the 4-25th's operations area, Khost, Paktia and Paktika, Howard said. Those victims included a judge and a popular, moderate mayor. The Taliban and its allies often target civilians who have a connection to the United States or the national government, he said.

Just this week, an old man who works in one of the brigade's bases was killed as he bicycled to work. Someone appeared to have set off a remote-controlled roadside bomb as he peddled by, Howard said.

"This was a kind, gentle, old man that was absolutely harmless," Howard said. "He picked up trays in the mess hall."

The Taliban's strategy of instilling fear in the population may be effective in the short-term, Howard said, but it doesn't win them friends. But Howard conceded that his soldiers and their Afghan allies have a ways to go before achieving the first goal of counter-insurgency -- establishing security.

On May 12, three teams of suicide bombers -- 10 in all -- were sent by the Taliban into Khost, Howard said. While that fact was widely reported, most of the attackers were stopped by Afghan forces before they could detonate themselves in crowded locations, he said.

The next day, a man in a parked car packed with explosives detonated himself near the gates of FOB Salerno. The car bombing seemed to target civilians coming to work, not American forces, Howard said. Seven Afghanis were killed and 21 injured. About 1,000 local residents work at the huge base each day, he said.

The 4-25th has lost one soldier since its forces began arriving in Afghanistan Feb. 12, Howard said. Pfc. Patrick A. DeVoe II of Auburn, N.Y., 27, died when his humvee was struck by a roadside bomb March 8. Two other soldiers in the vehicle were severely injured, Howard said.

In all, 45 soldiers have been hurt badly enough to be hospitalized since the deployment, but 39 have recovered enough to return to duty, Howard said.

By contrast, the brigade's 14-month deployment to Iraq in 2006 and 2007 during the height of sectarian violence there cost the lives of 53 soldiers.

Aside from bringing the fight to the Taliban, the 4-25th also hosts several teams of reconstruction specialists, some from farm-state national guards, others from the State department and aide agencies. A military police battalion assigned to the brigade is training local and national police forces.

"The true battle is for the hearts and minds," Howard said, and provincial reconstruction teams are carrying out that mission, building roads, irrigation systems and health care facilities.

"Iraq's economy was oil-based, so there we focused on rebuilding the oil industry," Howard said. "In Afghanistan the economy is agricultural based. Now, after 30 years of war, the agriculture systems are in terrible shape."

The 4-25th's operations area borders Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Area, a region with a large Taliban presence. Howard said the Taliban frequently cross the border. Though his troops have not, his artillery has returned fire into Pakistan when attacked from there, in coordination with the Pakistan military, he said.

Find Richard Mauer online at adn.com/contact/rmauer or call 257-4345.

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