Paktia Province

Province of Afghanistan

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Not to be confused with Paktika Province or Loya Paktia.

33°36′N 69°30′E / 33.6°N 69.5°E / 33.6; 69.5

Province in Afghanistan

Paktia پکتیا
Pashto

Paktia (

Tajiks.^[4] Gardez

is the provincial capital. The traditional food in Paktia is known as (dandakai) which is made from rice and mung bean or green gram.

It's also significant for being the area where Operation Magistral by The Soviet Union took place. Late Nov, of 1987, to Jan, of 1988 is then it took place, when Soviet Forces retreated.^[5]

In 2021, the Taliban gained control of the province during the 2021 Taliban offensive.

History

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Paktia (pashto پکتیا - Paktya) is the land of pakthas or pakth (pashto - پکهت), According to Mandala 7 of the Rigveda (RV 7.18.7), "Together came the Pakthas (44?4), the Bhalanas, the Alinas, the Sivas, the Visanins. Yet to the Trtsus came the Arya's Comrade, through love of spoil and heroes' war, to lead them".

The Pakthas were one of the tribes that fought against Sudas in the Dasarajna the Battle of the Ten Kings (dasarajna). The battle of the 10 Kings took place before Mahabharat, so at least around 5000 BC.

Pakthas are an ancient people that find reference in Sanskrit and allegedly in Greek sources as a people living in the region which includes south-eastern province (Loya Paktia) in Afghanistan and northern parts of Pakistan. The terms Pashtun and Pashto have only been in use for the past 500 years. Prior to that Pashtuns were the Pakhtas of Rig Veda and Paktuans of Herodotus.

the word "-ia" is a Latin ending (-ia in Ancient Greek) used to form abstract nouns. In this case, the "abstract" noun referred to a nation, that is, a collection of people and the locations where they lived.

For example, the land of the Germani was Germania. so the word "ia" is a Greek word which means "land of" as Armenia, Syria, Australia.

India was known as "Sapt-Sindhu" - which means seven rivers in Sanskrit-

Persians uttered 's' as 'h' and called this land Hindu. Greeks pronounced this name as Indus and The Romans picked up the name and the "land of Indus" came to be known as "India". they were Indus and as we know the word "ia" mean "the land of" so it becomes India the land of Indus. Now we know that they did the same thing with pakthus

Pakthus pakt/pakth-ia (la=land of) = paktia, The land of pakthus.

These Pactyans lived on the eastern frontier of the Achaemenid Arachosia Satrapy as early as the 1st millennium BCE.

Herodotus - An ancient Greek historian, wrote a book 2500 years ago in 500BC. He used the word Pactyans (pashto-پاکتیان) for Pashtuns who lived in Loy Paktia (which includes modern Afghanistan and Pakhtunkhwa regions).

-Herodotus, The Histories, Book III, Chapter 102,

Section 1

Herodotus also mentions a tribe of known as Aparytai ('AntapÚtal). Thomas Holdich has linked them with the Afridi tribe.

-Herodotus, The Histories, Book III, Chapter 91,

Section 4

So what does the word "pactyan" mean !?

to understand what does it mean, we have to do the same thing that we did before. If we translate pactyan or pactian into pashto we will get the word "پکتیاوال" which we use it for a person from Loya patkia.

the word "ian" denotes the people belongs to any country or land.

So pashtuns are pactyan, pactyans are pakthas and pakth is one the oldest Aryan tribe. And their land is Loya paktia

Paktia used to be a unified province with

Between 7 and 8 January 1988, in Paktia Province, near the Pakistani–Afghan border, the Battle for Hill 3234 took place, which was a successful defensive action fought by the 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment, 39 Soviet Airborne Troops, in Soviet occupied Afghanistan against a force of up to 200 to 250 Mujahideen rebels.

Soviet commanders wanted to secure the entire section of the road from Gardez to Khost.

One of the most important points was the nameless hill designated Hill 3234 by its height of 3234 meters, which was assigned to the 9th Company of the 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment led by Colonel Valery Vostrotin.

The 39-man company landed on the hilltop on 7 January 1988, tasked with creating and holding a hilltop strong point from which to observe and control a long section of the road beneath and thus secure it for the safe passage of convoys.

Shortly after landing, the airborne troopers, who were well trained and experienced in Afghan conditions, started to take up positions which covered both the road and the uphill passages. Just as they had dug in, the mujahideen began their attack at 1530 hrs. First they fired with all possible weapons including recoilless guns and RPGs. After a few salvos, Soviet artillery replied and silenced some of the mujahideen's guns, with the commander of the first platoon, Lt. Viktor Gagarin, directing fire via radio. When rebel fire slackened, it was clear that this was the beginning of an infantry assault.

The airborne troopers were attacked by a coordinated and well-armed force of between 200 and 250 mujahideen. Attacks were made from two directions, indicating that the assailants may have been assisted by rebels trained in Pakistan by American agents. During the ensuing battle, the Soviet unit was in constant communication with headquarters and received everything the leadership of 40th Army had to offer in terms of artillery support, ammunition, reinforcements, and helicopter evacuation of the wounded.^[7]

The exhausted and mostly wounded Soviets were nearly out of ammunition but continued to occupy the hill until the last convoy passed through the road below.

The Soviet forces sustained very low casualties, with six men killed and 28 injured out of 39. Two of the soldiers killed,

According to Soviet estimates, the mujahideen lost over 200 men. And Soviets lost 70–200 men . The Mujahideen wore black uniforms with rectangular black-yellow-red stripes.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Immediately after the fall of the

In September 2006, Governor Hakim Taniwal was killed by a Taliban suicide bomber as he left his office in Gardez.^[14] At the time, Taniwal was the highest-ranking post-Taliban official to be killed by insurgent forces in the country.

On 12 February 2010, five civilians including two pregnant women and a teenage girl were killed by U.S. special forces during the

Some regions of Paktia are also believed to be a safe haven for militants from the Haqqani network, an anti-government combat organisation involved in the Taliban insurgency.^[20][21]

The percentage of households with clean drinking water increased from 30% in 2005 to 36% in 2011.^[22] The percentage of births attended to by a skilled birth attendant fell from 9% in 2005 to 3% in 2011.^[22]

The overall literacy rate (6+ years of age) fell from 35% in 2005 to 27% in 2011.^[22] The overall net enrolment rate (6–13 years of age) fell from 65% in 2005 to 24% in 2011.^[22]

Paktia shares a border with the Kurram district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Within Afghanistan, it borders Logar Province, Ghazni Province, Paktika Province, and Khost Province, in counterclockwise order.

Paktia is a largely mountainous province, with most of the population living in the central valley stretching from

The Khost-Gardez Pass area, to the south of Gardez, is mountainous with settlements limited to the main pass and smaller valleys.

As of 2005, Azra district is no longer a part of Paktya. It has been attached to Logar province to the north, to which it is much more closely connected by roadways and people.^{[clarification needed]}

As of 2021, the total population of the province is 622,831.

Gerda Serai, Ahmadkhel, and Mirzaka are unofficial districts.

• Shah-i-Kot Valley
• Tera Pass, the mountain pass linking Paktia with Logar province to the north
• Khost-Gardez Pass (K-G Pass), the mountain pass linking Paktia with Khost province to the south

• Provinces of Afghanistan
• Pakhtas

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paktia Province.

• Paktya Province by the Naval Postgraduate School
• Paktya Province by the Institute for the Study of War