UNHCR BACKGROUND REPORT KUNAR PROVINCE Prepared by the Data Collection for Afghan Repatriation Project 1 September 1989 PREFACE '!he following re:port is one in a series of 14 provincial profiles prepared for the United Nations High Connnissioner for Refugees by the Data Collec­ tion for Afghan Repatriation Project. '!he object of these reports is to provide detailed information on the conditions affecting the repatriation of Afghan refugees in each province so that UNHCRru:rl its implementing partners may be better able to plan and target progranunes of relief and rehabilitation assistance. F.ach of the provinces featured in this series is estimated to have at least 35 percent of its pre-1978 :population living as refugees. Together, these 14 provinces -- Baghlan, Farah, Ghazni, Hel.mam, Herat, Kandahar, Kunar, Laghrnan, I.agar, Nangarhar, Nimroz, Paktia, Paktika and Zabul -- account for ninety percent of the Afghan - refugee :population settled in Iran and Pakistan. 'Ihe Data Collection for Afghan Repatriation Project (DCAR)was furrled by UNHCRto develop a database of information on Afghanistan that would serve as a resource for repatriation planning. Project staff based in Peshawar and Quetta have conducted interviews and surveys in refugee camps through­ out NWFP,Baluchistan and Punjab provinces in Pakistan to compile data on refugee origins, ethnic and tribal affiliation and likely routes of refugee return to Afghanistan. In addition, the project field staff urrlertake frequent missions into Afghanistan to gather specific information on road conditions, the availability of storage facilities, transportation and fuel, the level of destruction of housing, irrigation systems and farmland, the location of land.mines and the :political and military situation at the district (woleswali)and sub-district (alagadori) levels in those provinces of priority concern to UNHCR. Where :possible, written sources, including the Afghanistan gazetteers edited by L. Adamec, NGOfield re:ports, and bilateral and multilateral agency re:ports have been consulted to corroborate field data. Project staff also interview Afghan resistance leaders, journalists and other non-Afghan visitors to the region as sources for information~ corroboration of information gathered in the field. All survey data and other related information has been stored in the DC.ARdatabase. Only summary information has been included in this re:port. More specific information can be obtained from the OCARmain office at the UNHCR Sub-Office Peshawar. Where locations are known, the activities of different NGOshave also been identified. 'Ibis information has been provided in order to irrlicate the types of resources existing in a particular area, and to identify sources of :potentially far more detailed information than this re:port can offer. However, NGOactivities in Afghanistan are rapidly evolving. A more current profile of activities can be obtained from the offices of the two NGOcoordinating committees, ACBARin Peshawar and SWABACin Quetta. Both maintain a database on the geographic coverage and sectoral activities of their member agencies. UNHCR/KUNARBACKGROUND REPORI' i 'Ihese provincial reix>rts mainly cover non-government controlled areas ard do not claim to be exhaustive. Rather, they are intended as a reference for the targeting of assistanc..o programmes, and as guides for those agencies that require general background information on target areas, including the major obstacles that may be encountered to the planning and implementation of assistance projects in those areas. Much of the ll'DSt timely and relevant information is derived from eyewitness accounts, which often defy the most painstaking efforts to render them consistent with existing knowledge. Names of villages, evaluation of road conditions am travel distances, and the identification of influential individuals take on a renarkably subjective character when more than one Afghan source is consulted. Party affiliations and leaderships can be fluid. Some of the NGOprograms are listed as claimed by the agencies and have not been verified by other sources. 'Ihese reix>rts, then, cannot substitute for first-hand investigation of local conditions. This provincial profile is ll'DStly based UlX)nmaterials gathered prior to June, 1989 and the first publication of this material occurred September, 1989. There have been some additions and corrections included in this second publication in February, 1990. Ten years of war and social upheaval have led to the dramatic deterior­ ation of individual security and physical subsistence throughout Afghan­ istan. The rapidly evolving political conditions that will affect the return of refugee and internally displaced populations, as well as the effectiveness of international assistance efforts, are beyond the capacity of even th~ most experienced obsavers to predict. These background reix>rts represent UNHCR'sattempt to develop a coherent response to these ix>tentially chaotic conditions. UNHCR/KUNARBACKGROUND REP'JRI' ii I\____ _ r~· ,;;;,\ /~\ /: Ff/---· o~~-""'-.r· ..... \ ..: -.~~a"::bidl~mmd u ,,.....--- . J ,m / Rawalpindi \ K.as.hmir \ ·-.. ·:-........ ·: - iAnitr Darreh ---~--? :::, I O 1 ~}>. Farah AFGHANISTAN'"· ~' ;32"i _____ ,.,, 32" -··- International boundary . ~-;;h:~~~~:- Province boundary /~ \o O National capital .-z 0 Province capital I­ o Town, village p Main road --- Secondary road n.. bourwJMin#td,...,... &hown on tha map do not imply - Railroad ollic:ial •"""'-fflMffM •cc•Pl•M:9 bf ,;,. Unit«/ N•tion&. + Airport Dorr.d ._ ,.,_ _ rho Lino of Conwol In _.,..,.1y 0 50 100 1~ 200 250km ...,.,,..,., Mtd ~,,,.,,,, •g,e«I upon by India and lt,JustMt. T;,. ,..., 1r,,1u1 ol JMnlftlJMwl ~lhnw hn nor rwt._,. •""'1 .,,..,. 11'1,,,. PMf•S. 100 150mi MAP NO 3400 UNIIEO NATIONS NOVEMBER 1986 TABLE OF CDNI'ENTS Page Preface .............................................................. i Background & SUrrn'nary 1 Note on Population statistics 8 Woleswali & Alaqadari Profiles Asmar (Bar Kunar) 9 Bargey Matal 13 Barikot/Naray 15 Chagasarai (Asadabad) 17 Chai;:,aDara ••••••••• 21 Chowki 23 Dangam 25 Kanrlesh 27 Khas Kunar 30 Mara war 33 Narai1g 35 Nur Gul 37 Pecll •••••••••••• 39 Sarkanay 43 Annex A/Glossary of Tenns and Acronyms .............................. A-1 Annex B/Selected Population statistics for Kunar B-1 Annex C/I..ocation of Kunar Refugees in Pakistan •••••••••••••• C-1 Annex D/Kunar Administrative District Population Comparisons D-1 Annex E/ACB'Af{/fMABACDatabase Listing of Project Activities E-1 UNHCR/KUNAR BACKGROUND REPORI' iii MAPS Map of Afghanistan •.............•••••••••••••••••••••• followin3 preface Map Showing Population Density by District/1979 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• following page 8 Map Showing Projected Repatriation Density by District ...........• ........... followin3 page 8 UNHCR/KUNARBACKGROUND REFJRI' iv BACKGROUND& SUMMARY Kunar Province lies on the.no.r.:tn-eastern border of Afghanistan_~ 1:;_gkes ltsnaine trom the Kunar River which enters Afghanistan near Barf.kot.1rtJ:;be north--amjoinS'"the !@:ii! River at N~arfu:ir m'ffie'south.~·Ktrnar-has an ar~or-··nr;·ooo··sg km anct'srurres 'a neary· 200 Rin"'"13oraer"'wltli·the districts of Chitral and Dir in northwest Pakistan. The province is characterised by steep mountains and narrow valleys. The altitude in Kunar varies from 6, OOOrnin the northern parts, to 600m in the south. The areas which lie under l,OOOrn, including the Kunar valley and the lower Pech valley receive most of their precipitation in the late winter and spring. But the eastern part of the province receives the western fringe of the Indian Southwest Monsoon and thunderstonns occur during the slllTllUer. Kunar contains the largest forested areas in Afghanistan outside Paktia, principally of cedar, pine and spruce. These forests are found between l,OOOrnand 1,800m. Above this level are mountain meadows which are utilised for grazing in the summer. In many places the land is nothing short of inhospitable although at the same time possessing a rugged beauty. The population lives, as best they can on meagre resources, along the many river valleys. Making a broad generalisation it is possible to say that the lower valleys, running south of the provincial capital Olagasarai (Asadabad), are reasonably fertile (although with some obvious exceptions) but further to the north the majority of the population live at subsistence level. Kunar has been strategic for the mujahideen because of the mountain passes into Pakistan through which they move supplies, particularly to the north of Afghanistan. These passes are: Nawa; Binshai; Arandu/Barikot; Topkhana; Ghakay/Bajaur. POPUIATION The population of Kunar was estimated at 250,000 in 1979. Lower Kunar is principally inhabited by Pushtun tribes and the northern districts by the Nuristanis. In the Pech valley, and also along parts of the Kunar valley it is possible to find Tajiks (whose first language is Pushto). There are Farsi-speaking Pashai living in the lower and western part of the province. The Pushtuns are divided into a number of different tribes, particularly the Safi, Shinwari, Tarkanri, Mashwani and Mohmand. For a detailed breakdown of these there is a short paper written by Asger Christensen ("The Pushtuns of Kunar: Tribe, Class and Community Organization." Afghanistan Journal, vol. 7: 3, 1980) which is an excellent introduction. The largest group are the Safi controlling most of Southern Kunar up to Chagasarai, including the towns of Badel, Pech, and Dawagal. In south­