Kunar Province
Kunar
کنر | |
---|---|
Pashto |
Kunar (Pashto: کونړ; Dari: کنر) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. Its capital is Asadabad. Its population is estimated to be 508,224.[2] Kunar's major political groups include Wahhabis or Ahl-e- Hadith, Nazhat-e Hambastagi Milli, Hezb-e Afghanistan Naween, Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin.[3]
It is one of the four "N2KL" provinces (Nangarhar Province, Nuristan Province, Kunar Province and Laghman Province). N2KL was the designation used by the US and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan for the rugged region along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border opposite Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (merged in 2018 with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). Kunar is the center of the N2KL region.
Geography
Kunar province is located in the northeast of Afghanistan. It borders with Nangarhar Province to the south, Nuristan Province to the north, Laghman Province to the west and has a border with Pakistan in the east. The province covers an area of 4339 km2. Nearly nine tenths (86%) of the province is mountainous or semi mountainous terrain while one eighth (12%) of the area is made up of relatively flat land. The primary geographic features of the province are the lower Hindu Kush mountains which are cut by the Kunar River to form the forested Kunar Valley. The river flows south and southwest from its source in the Pamir area and is part of the Indus River watershed via the Kabul River which it meets at Jalalabad. The Kunar is a primary draining conduit for the Hindu Kush basin and several tributaries, including the Pech, which form distinct and significant valleys in the area. The mountains, narrow valleys with steep walls, and rivers present formidable natural obstacles and have historically constrained all movement through the province. Even in the early 21st century, movement on foot, with pack animals, or with motorized vehicles is extremely limited and channeled due to the significant geographic restrictions.
History
History of Afghanistan | |
---|---|
Timeline | |
410–557 | |
Nezak Huns | 484–711 |
Early history
The region has been part of many empires in the past, from the
Walter Hamilton's writing in 1828 mentions that the padishah of Cooner was joined in alliance with the neighboring Kafirs (non Muslims) of Nuristan in battles against Muslim invaders.[6] The Kafirs were forcibly converted by Abdur Rahman Khan in the 1890s.[7]
Some British sources from the Great Game period (1800s) go into more detail about Kunar. For example, one from 1881 describes the various Kunar chiefs and their internecine wars, the conflict with Dost Mohammad Khan and their relations with the British.[8] Names vary greatly, with Kunar sometimes being called Kama, or Kashkote, and the capital being listed as "Pashoot", which is not on modern maps.
An 1891 book described the Kunar region as split between the lower river area, controlled by Afghan chiefs, and the upstream area, where the Kunar river was actually referred to as the
20th century
According to a US Army paper, the Pashtuns of Kunar and the Kafirs of Kunar/Nuristan eventually joined in the 20th century. Fundamentalist religion came to the region in the 1950s but the heavy unification happened during the Soviet–Afghan War (1979–88). Some of the first anti-government forces (lashkar) rose in the Kunar region.[10]
Kerala, a town near Asadabad, was the site of the 1979 Kerala massacre, where the male population of a village was allegedly murdered by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan and its Soviet advisors.[11][12][13]
Later, over ten-thousand Soviet and Afghan communist troops invaded the region, resulting in a massive
Eventually one of the Mujahideen leaders,
When the Soviets left in 1988, the leader of the Mujahideen group
21st century
After the
During the 19th century British military expeditions, the 1980s Soviet occupation, and the latest conflict, Kunar has been a favoured spot of insurgent groups. Its impenetrable terrain, cave networks and the border with the semi-autonomous Pakistani Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provide significant advantages for unconventional warfare and militant groups. The province is informally known as "Enemy Central" and "Indian Country" by Western armed forces serving in Afghanistan. Between January 2006 and March 2010 more than 65% of all insurgent incidents in Afghanistan occurred in Kunar province.
Like many of the mountainous eastern provinces of Afghanistan, the groups involved in armed conflict vary greatly in strength and purpose. Native
The province which is relatively small, was occupied by one of the highest concentrations of both US and Afghan security forces during the
As of September 2015 the United States has awarded twelve Medals of Honor for actions in Afghanistan. Six of these have been awarded for actions in Kunar Province, and an additional four have been awarded for neighboring Nuristan Province.
In 2005,
According to Pakistan's
On 16 April 2022, Pakistani airstrikes and rocket attacks targeted the Chogam village of Shultan District, killing three girls, two boys, and one woman, and wounding one man.[20][21][22][23]
Healthcare
The percentage of households with clean drinking water increased from 24% in 2005 to 55% in 2011.[24] The percentage of births attended to by a skilled birth attendant increased from 3% in 2005 to 13% in 2011.[24]
Kunar province had 24 health clinics and a 123-bed hospital in 2008. According to data from 2008, the Ministry of Health employs 38 doctors and 121 other health professionals in the province. There are 93 pharmacies in the province. The majority of villages do not have a permanent health worker. Nearly a quarter of the population must travel more than 10 kilometers to reach the nearest health center.[25]
Education
The overall literacy rate (6+ years of age) fell from 32% in 2005 to 20% in 2011.[24] The overall net enrollment rate (6–13 years of age) increased from 43% in 2005 to 44% in 2011.[24]
In Kunar province, the general literacy rate is 21%; however, although 47 percent of men are literate, only 18 percent of women are. Between the ages of six and thirteen, 43 percent of children are enrolled in school. In 2008, there were 129,661 pupils enrolled in the province's 332 primary, intermediate, and high schools. Boys made for 63 percent of students, while boys' schools accounted for 33 percent of all schools. In the schools, there were 3,268 teachers, with 5% of them being female. There is only one vocational school in the higher education sector that caters only to men.[26]
Demographics
As of 2021, the population of the province is around 508,224 people.
Around 96% of the population of Kunar lives in rural districts while 4% lives in urban areas.[28]
11.8% of the population lived below the national
Kunar has a population of around 401,000 people in 2008. The province has 64,588 households, with an average of eight individuals per home. Rural districts are home to 96 percent of the population. Pashtun, Ashkun, Gawar-Bati, Gujari, Pashayi, and Waigali are the major ethnic groups of Kunar. Major tribes such as the Safi, Salarzai, Mashwani, Mamon, and Shinwari are included. More than 90% of the population speaks Pashtu, which is spoken in 705 villages out of 771. Dari and Uzbeki are spoken in two villages each, Pashaie in fifteen, and Nooristani in thirty-five. Kuchis (nomads) live in Kunar province, and their numbers fluctuate with the seasons. In the winter, 13,200 people, or 0.5 percent of the
Districts
The districts in Kunar Province as of March 2009 are:[31]
District | Capital | Population[28] | Area[32] | Pop. density |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Asadabad | Asadabad | 38,374 | 84 | 455 | 100% Pashtun.[33] Is the Capital of Kunar Province, which includes Asadabad and adjacent towns, immediately surrounding the confluence of the Pech and Kunar Rivers |
Bar Kunar | Asmar | 24,844 | 187 | 133 | 100% Pashtun.[34] Formerly known as Asmar District. |
Chapa Dara | Chapa Dara | 35,074 | 417 | 85 | 100% Pashtun.[35] |
Chawkay | 40,389 | 245 | 167 | 100% Pashtun.[36] Also known as Sawkai District. | |
Dangam | 19,132 | 176 | 109 | 98% Pashtun, 2% Tajik.[37] | |
Dara-I-Pech | 61,779 | 418 | 148 | 100% Pashtun.[38] Commonly known as the Pech District or Manogai District | |
Ghaziabad |
Ghaziabad | 21,124 | 578 | 37 | 100% Pashtun.[34] Formerly northern Bar Kunar District. |
Khas Kunar | 39,592 | 209 | 190 | 100% Pashtun.[39] Khas Kunar District is the largest district in the Kunar Province. | |
Marawara | 23,118 | 147 | 157 | 100% Pashtun.[40] | |
Narang Aw Badil |
34,145 | 187 | 183 | 100% Pashtun.[41] | |
Nari | 31,222 | 305 | 103 | 60% Pashtun, 40% Nuristani, Gujar and Kohistani (Pashai).[42] | |
Nurgal | 35,739 | 302 | 118 | 100% Pashtun.[43] | |
Shaigal | 13,585 | 336 | 40 | 100% Pashtun.[37] Formed from northeastern Dangam District. | |
Shultan | 19,497 | 93 | 209 | 100% Pashtun.[37] Formed from northeastern Dangam District. | |
Sirkani |
30,823 | 320 | 96 | 100% Pashtun.[44] | |
Wata Pur |
30,956 | 215 | 144 | 100% Pashtun.[45] Formed from northwestern Asadabad District | |
Kunar | 499,393 | 4,926 | 101 | 97.9% Pashtuns, 0.7% Nuristanis, 0.7% Pashayi, 0.7% Gujars, <0.1% Tajiks.[note 1] |
- ^ Note: "Predominantely" or "dominated" is interpreted as 99%, "majority" as 70%, "mixed" as 1/(number of ethnicities), "minority" as 30% and "few" or "some" as 1%.
Reconstruction and international assistance
In media
The opening scenes of Marvel Cinematic Universe 2008 film Iron Man as well as S1E6 of What If...? take place in Kunar Province.
The 2010 documentary
The book Siren's Song: The Allure of War was published in 2012. It depicts the story of an American platoon at COP Honaker Miracle, Pesh valley, Kunar Province.
The movie Lone Survivor starring Mark Wahlberg was based around "Operation Red Wings" in 2005 which was near Asadabad.
Documentary author James F. Christ has published numerous titles about the fighting in Kunar and Nuristan provinces, mainly from 2005 to 2007 with the 10th Mountain Division and Afghan National Army ETT advisors.
Journalist Wesley Morgan's 2021 book The Hardest Place: The American Military Adrift in Afghanistan's Pech Valley is a detailed history of American military operations in Kunar, specifically the Pech River Valley, from 2001 through 2020.
See also
- Arandu
- List of bridges in Konar Province
- Kabir Stori
References
- ^ a b "د نږدې شلو ولایاتو لپاره نوي والیان او امنیې قوماندانان وټاکل شول". 7 November 2021.
- ^ a b c "Estimated Population of Afghanistan 2021-22" (PDF). nsia.gov.af. National Statistic and Information Authority (NSIA). April 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
- ^ "Kunar - Program for Culture and Conflict Studies - Naval Postgraduate School". nps.edu. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
- ^ Cultural Property Training Resource, Afghanistan Significant Site 32 Archived 2015-07-17 at the Wayback Machine US DoD Central Command, from Colorado State, citing Source: Warwick Ball, Archaeological Gazetteer of Afghanistan, 1982, n. 154
- ^ Baburnama, translated by Annette Susannah Beveridge, 1922, 1979, from [1] at archive.org
- ^ The East Indian gazetteer: containing particular descriptions of . . . – Volume 1 – Page 30, Walter (M. R. A. S.) Hamilton – 1828
- ISBN 978-1-85109-402-8
- ^ Selections from the Calcutta Review – Volume 1 – Page 464 1881
- ^ The Earth and Its Inhabitants ...: South-western Asia – Page 47, Elisée Reclus, Ernst Georg Ravenstein, Augustus Henry Keane – 1891
- ^ West Point, Brian Glyn Williams (copied from the original Archived 2016-03-13 at the Wayback Machineon 2010-06-11)
- ^ Girardet, Edward (3 November 2015). "Arrest in the Netherlands: How an Afghan war crime came to light". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- ^ "The Kerala massacre". The Christian Science Monitor. 4 February 1980. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- ^ Girardet, Edward (2011). "Killing the Cranes". Chelsea Green.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
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- ^ MacMannis, Andrew; Scott, Robert, Operation Red Wings: A Joint Failure in Unity of Command, Pages 14–20, Marine Corps Association / Marine Corps Gazette, archived from the original on 28 October 2007, retrieved 5 February 2012
- ^ ISBN 978-0-425-23259-0.
- ^ Darack, Ed (January 2011), "Operation Red Wings: What Really Happened?", Marine Corps Gazette: 62–65, archived from the original on 19 January 2011, retrieved 13 June 2011
- ^ Christina Lamb, "Stop bombing us: Osama isn't here, says Pakistan" The Sunday Times, July 12, 2009
- ^ "Airstrikes by Pakistan Army on Kunar Province Kill Five Members of a Family". Hasht-e Subh Daily. 16 April 2022. Archived from the original on 16 April 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
- ^ Mal, Qazafi (16 April 2022). "Casualties as Pakistan pounds civilian homes in Khost, Kunar" – via pajhwok.com.
- ^ "Afghan officials confirm Pakistan airstrikes in Khost, Kunar provinces". Asian News International. 16 April 2022.
- ^ "Taliban warns Pakistan after alleged rocket attacks kill children, woman". TRT World. 16 April 2022.
- ^ a b c d Archive, Civil Military Fusion Centre, "Pages - Kunar". Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
- ^ "Afghanistan Provincial Reconstruction Handbook": 120.
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(help) - ^ "Kunar - Program for Culture and Conflict Studies - Naval Postgraduate School". www.nps.edu.
- ^ a b "Kunar Provincial profile" Afghanistan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), as of 7 October 2010
- ISBN 9781849042260– via Google Books.
- ^ "Afghanistan Provincial Reconstruction Handbook": 110.
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(help) - ^ "Afghanistan Administrative Divisions" Archived 2010-09-23 at the Wayback Machine map, March 2007, Afghanistan Information Management Services (AIMS)
- ^ "FAO in Afghanistan – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations". www.fao.org. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
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