Wardak Province
Encyclopedia
Maidan Wardak Province (also spelled Wardag, or Vardak, , warˈdak) is one of thirty four provinces of Afghanistan
located in the central east region of Afghanistan. It has a population of approximately 540,100. The capital of the province is Maidan Shar. The majority of the population is Pashtun
.
.
to the east, Ghazni
to the south and Bamyan to the west. The capital of Wardak province is Maidan Shahr, which is located about 35 km from Kabul
. Wardak province covers an area of 9,934 km2. The majority of the provincial population (527,750 people) live in rural areas. The most heavily populated areas are along the Kabul – Kandahar
Highway. The rest of the province is thinly populated, with villages concentrated in areas with available irrigation and water sources (CSO and UNFPA, 2003).
, the major ethnic group in the province. Pashtuns of the Wardag tribe inhabit the following districts: Chak, Sayedabad, Jaghatu
and Day Mirdad
(65%). Pashtuns of different tribes (Andar, Sheenzi, Autmanzi), inhabit Nirkh district
. In Jalrez district
about 45% of the population are Kharoti Pashtuns, and 65% of the population in the provincial capital Maidan Shar are Pashtun, the majority of which are Amarkhel. Kuchis
migrate across parts of Sayadabad, Daymirdad and Nerkh between April and September. There are ongoing conflicts between settled and nomadic groups in the Behsud districts, regarding access to pastureland.
27% of the people in the province are Persian or hazaragi-speaking Hazaras and Tajiks. The two Behsud districts in the western part of Wardak are predominantly populated by Hazara.
in July 2008. He was born in Paktika province and holds a masters degree in Public Relations.
(HiG), one faction of the former Hizb-i Wahdat, Hizb-i Wahdat-i Islami-i Mardom-i Afghanistan, and the Taliban. Government appointments were contested after the fall of the Taliban government in 2001 (see above), but have settled into a pattern in which Hezbi Islami related actors have been given significant positions in the police and governor's office.
This is in contrast to the Hizb-i Wahdat-i Islami-i Mardom-i Afghanistan, which has done better at the ballot box and is linked to a number of the elected MPs and Provincial Councils members (though officially in both elections parties did not stand, only candidates).
The Taliban exercise both military and political presence in the province. Taliban forces in Wardak have been estimated at about 800 lightly armed men, split into dozens of different factions (Burke, 2008). However, a Taliban Commander, active in Wardak province, claimed having 6,000 fighters, and claimed that the Taliban controlled three quarters of the province. Although these figures are likely exaggerated, the Taliban are reported to have been freely moving at night, which gives the impression to local people that there is a high level of Taliban presence in the province (BBC, 2008).
The Taliban in Wardak kept a low profile during 2002, and many fled to Pakistan
. By 2005, Taliban forces started to return to the province, focusing on reactivating old networks and exploiting the situation: there were a range of factors favourable to the Taliban, for example anger about civilian casualties caused by the military actions of the international forces, anger of the villagers at the corrupt government, and overall insecurity. The Taliban started preaching against the international forces, and by end of 2007 the Taliban started their recruitment process among the Wardak population (Burke, 2008). The Provincial Governor has denied that the Taliban have influence in the province, claiming that the government has absolute control and the Taliban do not have the support of the people (Leithead, 2008).
Wardak has 5 representatives in the Wolesi Jirga: two independent, two from the Hizb-i Wahdat-i Islami Mardom-i Afghanistan party, and one member is from the Hizb-i Harakat-i Islami Mardom-i Afghanistan. Interestingly, although the majority of the population of Wardak are Pashtun, three of the elected representatives from Wardak are Hazaras. The Wardak Provincial Council has nine members, eight of whom declared that they were independent. The ninth elected member is Mohammad Hussain Fahimee, who is Hazara from the Hizb-i Wahdat-i Islami Mardom-i Afghanistan party.
In the 2004 presidential elections, Hamid Karzai (Pashtun, Independent), received 60.8% of the vote of the province; Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq (Hazara, Independent) received 32.7%; and the Tajik Yonous Qanooni from Hizb-i Nihzat-i Milli Afghanistan received 2.7%. These results reflect some of the ethnic composition of Wardak. Significantly, 42% of voters in Wardak were women.
The Taliban commander as of December 2008 was Qomendan Hemmet who took over when the previous commander died in 2005.
cleaning and repair and go to other parts of the country for this purpose. In Wardak, there are many natural resources like petroleum, iron, rubies, and many historical artifacts that have been found by the people, but have been kept secret.
Agriculture is a major source of revenue for 43% of households in Wardak province. Four fifths (79%) of rural households own or manage agricultural land or garden plots in the province. However, nearly a quarter (24%) of households in the province derive income from trade and services, and around half (45%) of households earn some income through non-farm related labor.
occurred.
Members of I Corps Artillery (deactivated and is now 65th Fires Brigade) of the Utah National Guard
served on Police Mentor Teams (PMTs) with the Afghan National Police
throughout Wardak Province.
Provinces of Afghanistan
The provinces of Afghanistan are the primary administrative divisions of Afghanistan. As of 2004, there are thirty-four provinces in the country. Each province is further divided into smaller districts....
located in the central east region of Afghanistan. It has a population of approximately 540,100. The capital of the province is Maidan Shar. The majority of the population is Pashtun
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
.
History
During the communist times, the people of Maidan Wardak never gave significant support to the communist government. Maidan Wardak Province was significant during the Civil War in Afghanistan, due to its proximity with Kabul and its agricultural lands. Hizb-e Islami, Ittehad-i Islami and Hezb-e Wahdat all had significant presence in the area. Most of the area was captured by the Taliban around winter 1995, and after the capture of Kabul, Maidan Wardak Taliban were significant in the fight for Parwan Province and KapisaKapisa Province
Kapisa is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the north-east of the country. Its capital is Mahmud-i-Raqi, and other districts include Kohistan, Nijrab and Tagab. The population of Kapisa is estimated to be 364,900, although there has never been an official estimate...
.
Geography
Maidan Wardak province is located in the Central (or Central East) region of Afghanistan; bordering Parwan to the Northeast, Kabul and LogarLogar
Logar may refer to:* Logar Province, Afghanistan* Logar River in Afghanistan* Logar Valley, Slovenia-People:* Eva Logar , Slovenian ski jumper* Lojze Logar, Slovenian artist* Tine Logar, Slovenian linguist...
to the east, Ghazni
Ghazni
For the Province of Ghazni see Ghazni ProvinceGhazni is a city in central-east Afghanistan with a population of about 141,000 people...
to the south and Bamyan to the west. The capital of Wardak province is Maidan Shahr, which is located about 35 km from Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
. Wardak province covers an area of 9,934 km2. The majority of the provincial population (527,750 people) live in rural areas. The most heavily populated areas are along the Kabul – Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
Highway. The rest of the province is thinly populated, with villages concentrated in areas with available irrigation and water sources (CSO and UNFPA, 2003).
Demographics
The provincial population is approximately 540,100. 70% are PashtunsPashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
, the major ethnic group in the province. Pashtuns of the Wardag tribe inhabit the following districts: Chak, Sayedabad, Jaghatu
Jaghatu District
Jaghatu is a district in Wardak province, Afghanistan, 40 km northwest of Ghazni. In 2004 it was shifted from Ghazni province to Wardak. According to 2005 data, the population is more than 27,000, most of whom are Hazara...
and Day Mirdad
Day Mirdad District
Day Mirdad is a district in the south of Wardak Province, Afghanistan. The capital of the district is Miran city. The district was previously known as Jilga.-Demographics and population:...
(65%). Pashtuns of different tribes (Andar, Sheenzi, Autmanzi), inhabit Nirkh district
Nirkh District
Nirkh is a district of about 480 square kilometres in the east of Wardak Province, Afghanistan. Its population was estimated at 57,000 in 2002, consisting of about 80% Pashtuns, 15% Tajiks and 5% Hazara...
. In Jalrez district
Jalrez District
Jalrez is a district in the east of Maydan Shahr, Wardak Province, Afghanistan. The district center is the village of Jalrez.-External links:...
about 45% of the population are Kharoti Pashtuns, and 65% of the population in the provincial capital Maidan Shar are Pashtun, the majority of which are Amarkhel. Kuchis
Kuchis
Kuchis , are Afghan Pashtun nomads, primarily from the Ghilzai, Kakar, Lodi, Ahmadzai as well as some Durrani tribes, but occasionally there may also be some Baloch people among them that live a nomadic life travelling between pastoral lands in Afghanistan and in Pakistan...
migrate across parts of Sayadabad, Daymirdad and Nerkh between April and September. There are ongoing conflicts between settled and nomadic groups in the Behsud districts, regarding access to pastureland.
27% of the people in the province are Persian or hazaragi-speaking Hazaras and Tajiks. The two Behsud districts in the western part of Wardak are predominantly populated by Hazara.
Religion
The province is recognized for its strong religious sentiment. Between the 1950s-1970s over 30 study centres were active in the area, run by Deoband graduates.Politics
The Provincial Governor, Muhammad Halim Fidai replaced Abdul Jabbar NaeemiAbdul Jabbar Naeemi
Abdul Jabbar Naeemi is an Afghan diplomat and politician. He is the current Governor of Khost Province in Afghanistan. At one time he served as a representative from Kandahar Province to the Loya Jirga...
in July 2008. He was born in Paktika province and holds a masters degree in Public Relations.
Political parties and actors
There is a wide range of political actors operating in Wardak province. The three key parties are Hezbi IslamiHezbi Islami
Hezbi Islami , meaning Islamic Party is an Islamist organization commonly known for fighting in the Marxist Government of Afghanistan and their close ally the Soviet Union. Founded and led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, it was established in Pakistan in 1975...
(HiG), one faction of the former Hizb-i Wahdat, Hizb-i Wahdat-i Islami-i Mardom-i Afghanistan, and the Taliban. Government appointments were contested after the fall of the Taliban government in 2001 (see above), but have settled into a pattern in which Hezbi Islami related actors have been given significant positions in the police and governor's office.
This is in contrast to the Hizb-i Wahdat-i Islami-i Mardom-i Afghanistan, which has done better at the ballot box and is linked to a number of the elected MPs and Provincial Councils members (though officially in both elections parties did not stand, only candidates).
The Taliban exercise both military and political presence in the province. Taliban forces in Wardak have been estimated at about 800 lightly armed men, split into dozens of different factions (Burke, 2008). However, a Taliban Commander, active in Wardak province, claimed having 6,000 fighters, and claimed that the Taliban controlled three quarters of the province. Although these figures are likely exaggerated, the Taliban are reported to have been freely moving at night, which gives the impression to local people that there is a high level of Taliban presence in the province (BBC, 2008).
The Taliban in Wardak kept a low profile during 2002, and many fled to Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. By 2005, Taliban forces started to return to the province, focusing on reactivating old networks and exploiting the situation: there were a range of factors favourable to the Taliban, for example anger about civilian casualties caused by the military actions of the international forces, anger of the villagers at the corrupt government, and overall insecurity. The Taliban started preaching against the international forces, and by end of 2007 the Taliban started their recruitment process among the Wardak population (Burke, 2008). The Provincial Governor has denied that the Taliban have influence in the province, claiming that the government has absolute control and the Taliban do not have the support of the people (Leithead, 2008).
Wardak has 5 representatives in the Wolesi Jirga: two independent, two from the Hizb-i Wahdat-i Islami Mardom-i Afghanistan party, and one member is from the Hizb-i Harakat-i Islami Mardom-i Afghanistan. Interestingly, although the majority of the population of Wardak are Pashtun, three of the elected representatives from Wardak are Hazaras. The Wardak Provincial Council has nine members, eight of whom declared that they were independent. The ninth elected member is Mohammad Hussain Fahimee, who is Hazara from the Hizb-i Wahdat-i Islami Mardom-i Afghanistan party.
In the 2004 presidential elections, Hamid Karzai (Pashtun, Independent), received 60.8% of the vote of the province; Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq (Hazara, Independent) received 32.7%; and the Tajik Yonous Qanooni from Hizb-i Nihzat-i Milli Afghanistan received 2.7%. These results reflect some of the ethnic composition of Wardak. Significantly, 42% of voters in Wardak were women.
The Taliban commander as of December 2008 was Qomendan Hemmet who took over when the previous commander died in 2005.
Security
The security situation rapidly deteriorated in Wardak in 2008 and 2009. According to a report by Mohammad Osman Tariq Elias, both Logar and Wardak, by the end of 2008, were under de facto Taliban control. As of April 2009, the Ministry of Interior had listed the entire province except hissa awal e Behsud districts as "High Risk." A report from the New York Times in October had changed this to describe the entire province including Behsud as "Taliban Controlled."Economics & Industry
In terms of industry, one marble factory is working in the province, and there are marble mines in the provincial centre and Sayed Abad District although no mining is currently undertaken there due to the government ban. The majority of commercial activity in Wardak is related to trade in agricultural and livestock products, although stone quarrying is also a growing business in the area. The people from Wardak are also expert in karezKařez
Kařez is a village and municipality in Rokycany District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic.The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 570 ....
cleaning and repair and go to other parts of the country for this purpose. In Wardak, there are many natural resources like petroleum, iron, rubies, and many historical artifacts that have been found by the people, but have been kept secret.
Agriculture is a major source of revenue for 43% of households in Wardak province. Four fifths (79%) of rural households own or manage agricultural land or garden plots in the province. However, nearly a quarter (24%) of households in the province derive income from trade and services, and around half (45%) of households earn some income through non-farm related labor.
Education
The overall literacy rate in Maidan Wardak province is 25%. There are around 251 primary and secondary schools in the province catering for 105,358 students. There are 2909 teachers teaching in these schools.Districts
| District | Capital | Population | Area | Ethnical data(%) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chak Chaki Wardak District Chaki Wardak or Čak-e-Wardak , literally : The Head of Wardak , is a district in the south of Wardak Province, Afghanistan. Its population was estimated at 83,376 in 2005, the last year for which figures are available... |
83,376 | 1,273 | |||
| Day Mirdad Day Mirdad District Day Mirdad is a district in the south of Wardak Province, Afghanistan. The capital of the district is Miran city. The district was previously known as Jilga.-Demographics and population:... |
28,865 | ||||
| Hisa-I-Awali Bihsud Hisa-I-Awali Bihsud District Hisa-I-Awali Bihsud District is a district of Wardak Province, Afghanistan.The district has a Hazara majority resident population, but the district is also used as grazing ground by nomadic Pashtun Kuchis.... |
25,079 | ||||
| Jaghatu Jaghatu District Jaghatu is a district in Wardak province, Afghanistan, 40 km northwest of Ghazni. In 2004 it was shifted from Ghazni province to Wardak. According to 2005 data, the population is more than 27,000, most of whom are Hazara... |
46,667 | Shifted from Ghazni Province Ghazni Province Ghazni is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. Babur records in his Babur-Nama that Ghazni is also known as Zabulistan It is in the east of the country. Its capital is Ghazni City... in 2005 |
|||
| Jalrez Jalrez District Jalrez is a district in the east of Maydan Shahr, Wardak Province, Afghanistan. The district center is the village of Jalrez.-External links:... |
44,873 | ||||
| Markazi Bihsud Markazi Bihsud District Markazi Bihsud District is a district of Wardak Province, Afghanistan.The district has a Hazara majority resident population, but the district is also used as grazing ground by nomadic Pashtun Kuchis.... |
94,328 | ||||
| Maidan Shar | 35,008 | 85% Pashtuns, 14% Tajiks, 1% Hazaras | |||
| Narkh | 56,354 | 80% Pashtuns, 15% Tajiks, 5% Hazaras | |||
| Saydabad Saydabad District Saydabad District is a district of Wardak Province, Afghanistan. The district is known for its pleasant climate, including hilly vegetation, streams, and orchards... |
114,793 | 1,163 |
In war
Wardak Province was where the 2011 Chinook shootdown in Afghanistan2011 Chinook shootdown in Afghanistan
On 6 August 2011, a U.S. Boeing CH-47 Chinook military helicopter was shot down while transporting a quick reaction force attempting to reinforce an engaged unit of Army Rangers in Wardak province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan...
occurred.
Members of I Corps Artillery (deactivated and is now 65th Fires Brigade) of the Utah National Guard
Utah National Guard
The Utah National Guard consists of the:* Utah Army National Guard**19th Special Forces Group **85th WMD CST**97th Troop Command**115th Engineer Group **211th Aviation Group**300th MI Brigade **640th Regiment...
served on Police Mentor Teams (PMTs) with the Afghan National Police
Afghan National Police
The Afghan National Police - ANP - is the primary national police force in Afghanistan. It serves as a single law enforcement agency all across the country. The Afghan police force was first created with the establishment of the Afghan nation in the early 18th century...
throughout Wardak Province.
External links
- http://www.mwardag.gov.af