ALISON CAMPSIE
Musa Qala, Afghanistan

A former Taliban warlord, now trying to secure peace in one of the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan, told The Herald why he had switched sides in the conflict.

Abdul Mullah Salaam Mujahid, now governor of Musa Qala, is the key link between old Afghanistan and a new direction for the country without the Taliban.

But yesterday Scots soldiers in the Musa Qala area were involved in fierce fighting. Members of D Company 5 Scots returned to base after a 48-hour patrol during which they were engaged in a firefight. One soldier, David Poderis, from Wishaw, and a member of TA 7 Scots who are serving with the unit, emerged relatively unscathed even though his helmet deflected a bullet.

Yesterday Mullah Salaam sought to distance himself from his former links with the Talibs.

Expressing his disillusionment with the group, he said: "It the Taliban was a new group in the name of Islam. I thought they would be good people to make our Afghanistan better. But they are a lot of the groups who have destroyed our country," he said.

"They were killing the people and doing every bad things. That was the reason that I joined this government and try my best for this country."

Mullah Salaam was placed in power after British forces retook Musa Qala from the Taliban.