Paktia Province
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UNHCR BACKGROUND REPORT PAKTIA PROVINCE Prepared by the Data Collection for Afghan Repatriation Project 1 September 1989. PREFACE 'lhe following report is one in a series of 14 provincial profiles prepared for the United Nations.High Ccmnissioner for Refugees by the Data Colloc: tion for Afghan Repatriation Projoc:t. 'lhe objoc:t of these reports is to provide detailed information on the conditions affoc:ting the repatriation. of Afghan refugees in each province so that UNHCRand its inplementing partners may be better able to plan and target progrannnes of relief and rehabilitation assistance. Each of the provinces featured in this series is estimated to have at least 35 percent of its pre-1978 pc::>J;Xllationliving as refugees. Together, these 14 provinces - Baghlan, Farah, Ghazni, Helmand, Herat, Kandahar, Kunar, Iaghman, u:,gar, Nargarhar, Nimroz, Paktia, Paktika and Zab..11-- acx::ount for ninety percent of the Afghan refugee population settled in Iran and Pakistan. '!he Data Colloc:tion for Afghan Repatriation Projoc:t (DCAR)was :fumed by UNHCRto develop a database of information on Afghanistan that would serve as a resource for repatriation planning. Projoc:t staff based in Peshawar and Quetta have corxlucted interviews and surveys in refugee camps through out NWFP,Baluchistan and Punjab provinces in Pakistan to carpile data on refugee origins, ethnic and tribal affiliation and likely routes of refugee return to Afghanistan. In addition, the projoc:t field staff undertake frequent missions into Afghanistan to gather specific infonn ation on road conditions, the availability of storage facilities, trans portation and fuel, the level of destruction of housing, irrigation systems and fannland, the location of landmines and the political and military situation at the district (woleswali)and sub-district (alaqadari) levels in those provinces of priority concern to UNHCR. Where possible, written sources, including the Afghanistan gazetteers edited by L. Adamec, NGOfield reports and bilateral/multilateral agency reports have been consulted to corroborate field data. Projoc:t staff also interview Afghan resistance leaders, journalists and ot;her non-Afghan visitors to the region as sources for information arrl corroboration of information gathered in the field. All survey data and other related information has been stored in the DCARdatabase. Only sununary infor mation has been included in this report. More specific information can be obtained from the DCARmain office at the UNHCRSUb--Office Peshawar. Where locations are known, the activities of different NGOs have also~ identified. 'lhis information has been provided in order to irdicate the types of resources existing in a particular area, and to identify sources of potentially far nore detailed information than this report can offer. However, NGOactivities in Afghanistan are rapidly evolving. A nore current profile of activities can be obtained frcm the offices of the two NGOcoordinating conunittees, ACBARin Peshawar arrl &'WABACµi Quetta. Both maintain a database on the geogra:Eilic coverage arrl ~ral activities of their member agencies. · UNHCR/PA!cr'IABACl<GroUND REPORr i ).i: . ·-' 'Ihese provincial :r:~ do not claim to be exhaustive. Ra:ther, they are interned as a reference fc::irthe targeting Of assistance programmesI arrl as guides for those agencies that require general backgrourrl infonnation on target areas, includirg the major ol:stacles that may be encamtered to the planning arrl i.nplementation of assistance projects in those areas. Much of the IOOSt timely arrl relevant infonnation is derived fran eyewitness accounts, which often defy the nnst painstaking efforts to rerx:ier them consistent with existing knowledge. Nanes of villages, evaluation of road con:litions arrl travel distances, arrl the identification of influential in1ividuals take on a remarkably subjective character when :mre than one Afghan source is consulted. '1hese reports, then, cannot sul:stitute for first-ham investigation of local oon:litions. Ten years of war am social 1.ll;i"leavalhave led to the dramatic deterior ation of imividual security arrl piysical subsistence throughout Afghan istan. 'lhe rapidly evolving political corxlitions that will affect the return of refugee am internally displaced pcpll.ations, as well as the effectiveness of international assistance efforts, are beyon:i the capacity of even the IOOSt experienced oooervers to predict. 'Ihese backgrourrl reports represent UNHCR'sattenpt to develop a cdlerent response to these potentially chaotic oon:litions. ii 640 36° '- n c:-··. ~ ,....'.) ~le:.• ...... c:iT \ . Islamabad Ia~mu -..-c"'+ ) · apd \ K~shmir \ ·.. ·: ~---'--==Ji / ./'./. AFGHANIS'FAN'"· Cielaram 32° -·-·-· ·-i International boundary Dasht-e Khash Province boundary /< .\o - 0 National capital . .·z Kadesh 0 Province capital ) - Dasht-e.;Mtirgow ·~ 0 Town, village .. HELMAND Main road Secondary road The boundar~s and names shown on rhis map do not imply Railroad official tmdorst!mant or accaptanctJ by thtJ UnittJd Nations. + Airport Dotted lintJ fflprt!sents approKimarelythe lint! of Control in Jammu and Kashmir ag~ed upon by India and PBkistan. ThtJ 0 50 100 150 200 250km final status of Jammu and Kashmir ha1 not yet betm tJg~tJd 0 50 100 150 mi upon by tht! pa,t;es. 720 I MAP NO 3400 UNtlED NATIONS NOVEMBER 1986 TABLE OF CDNTENl'S Page Pref ace . • . • . • . ~ . • . i Backgrourrl & SUmmary 1 Note on Population statistics 5 Woleswali & Alaqadari Profiles Bak •••••• ......... 6 Cllamkani ........... -....... 8 Dan:1-wa-Patan 10 Ga.rdez •••••••••••••• 12 Gurboz 14 lia.ssan l<tl.el ••••••••• 16 Jadran ••• 19 Jaji 21 Jaji Maidan 24 Jani l<tl.el 26 l<tl.c:>s,t• • • • • • 29 IajIDar¥3al 32 z..fa.rlciozai...... 34 Musa l<tl.el 36 Nader Shah Kot 39 Qalamar 41 sayed Karam ••• 43 S};:>el::"ah.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 45 Tani 47 'l'J:'ayzai ........•. 49 Zonmt ............... ...................... 52 AnneX A/Glossary of Tenns am Acron~ ............................... A-1 AnneX B/Selected Population statistics for Paktia •••••••••••••••••••• B-1 AnneX C/I.ocation of SUrveyed Refugees from Paktia in Pakistan •••••••• C-1 AnneX D/Paktia Administrative District Population Cc:lrp3risons •••••••• D-1 UNHCR/PAKTIA BACKGROUNDREPORI' iii MAPS Paktia Province ........................................ folla,/irg preface Map Shc:MirgDistrict Pop.11.ation Density/1978 follOW'irg page 5 Map Shc:MirgProjected Repatriation Density by District follOW'i.n;Jpage 5 Note: '!he districts Dara-i-Darang, Orma, Saroti, Shamal an:i Shawak are not considered in this report because of the relatively small size of their pq::ulation. 'Ihe reader seeking details on these districts can obtain them fran the DCARproject office in Peshawar. UNHCR/P~ BACKGOOUNDREJ?ORr iv BACKGROUND& SGMARY Paktia is a predaninantly rrountainous province ~ituated in east--c.entral Afghanistan. It shares a nearly 200km border with the KUrram arrl North Waziristan tribal agencies of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province. Paktia is bourrled on the south by Paktika, in the west by Ghazni arrl Logar provinces. 'lhe 1979 census of Afghanistan emnnerated 484,000 people living in 23 woleswali arrl alaqadari covering an area of nearly 10,000 sq miles. In the 1970s, the Daoud goverrnnent annexed eight of Paktia's southern districts (Sar Rawza, Neka, Zelul, Gayan, Urgun Bantlal, Sarobi arrl Ganal) to create Paktika Province. Much of the senior leadership of Afghanistan's ruling People's Den¥X::ratic Party (POPA)trace their origins to Paktia. For this reason, there are pockets of strong goverrnnent supportthroughout the province, arrl the goverrnnent has fought ruthlessly to maintain its hold on Paktia. 'lhe major towns of I<host arrl Gardez have been the focus of cx:>nsiderable fight ing during the war. Gardez, a town with an estimated pre-war pqx.ila.tion of nearly 10,000, is strata;Jically located near the centre of the province at the erd of a major spur of Highway 1, which connects it to Ka1::u1.via Pul-i-Alam. !<host is strata;Jic because of its location close to the Pakistan border along one of the major supply routes for the nujahideen. Near to !<host, the mujahideen have l:::uilt an umergrourrl stron:Jllold at Jarawar. At this writing, both Gardez arrl !<host remain in the control of the Ka1::u1.goverrnnent. roPUIATION Eighty-nine percent of the pre-war population of Paktia is estimated to be settled as refugees in Pakistan, particularly in the canp:; of North Waziri stan, Kurram, Kohat arrl Bannu. 'lhe Il'Ore than 433, 000 refugees fran Paktia represent the largest number of refugees in Pakistan fran any single Afghan province. Fourteen of Paktia's districts are estimated to have .75 percent or Il'Ore of their IX>PJlation settled in Pakistan. Paktia is inhabited predaninantly by Ghilzai Pushtuns. In the sooth arrl west are fourd the rival tribes of Jadran arrl Zonnat. In the east, the Jaji, Mangal (also traditional rivals), Tani arrl Waziri tribes predaninate as do the Mangals in the northern parts of the province. Paktia has tradi tionally been a major grazing area for Ghilzai nanads enroute to their winter pastures in the Imus Valley. Like the tribal IX)pJlations on the Pakistan side of the D.lrrarrl Line, the inhabitants of Paktia are deeply traditional in their ways, adhering strictly to the tribal cxxie of of Pushtunwali arrl finnly resisting outside interference in their affairs. Reports from a number of sources irrlicate that a large aIOOUntof housing constniction arrl agricultural rehabilitation has been un:ierway in Paktia, especially in the northern districts, since the winter of 1988. '!here is UNHCR/P.Aicr'IABACKGROUND REroRr 1 no clear irxlication whether families engaged in this activity will rerrain in the area during the winter Il'Oilths. · EXDNCMY Agriculture is the econanic mainstay of the pop.ll.ation. '!he principle crops are wheat, maize, barley an:l rice. Maize an:l rice are generally grown in rotation with an irrigated wheat crop. I.am holdings are typically small. Agriculture is supplenmted with animal husbamry an:l timber harvesting. Many nanads provide seasonal labour both for harvesting an:l ha.Jse construction.