Urozgan Province

Urozgan (اروزګان)
Province
Country	Afghanistan
Capital	Tarinkot
- coordinates	32.8°N 66.0°E / 32.8; 66.0
Area	12,640 km2 (4,880 sq mi)
Population	314,000 (2006)
Timezone	UTC+4:30
Main language	Pashto
Map of Afghanistan with Urozgan highlighted

Urōzgān (Pashto: اروزګان), also spelled Uruzgan, Oruzgan, or Rōzgān (Pashto: روزګان), is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the center of the country, although the area is culturally and tribally linked to Kandahar in the south. Its capital is Tarinkot. On March 28, 2004, the new Daykundi province was carved out of an area in the north, leaving Urozgan with a majority Pashtun population and Daykundi with a majority of Hazaras (see map in infobox for the provincial boundaries that resulted). In May 2006, however, Gizab District was taken back from Daykundi and re-annexed to Urozgan, becoming Urozgan's sixth district.^{[citation needed]}

Geography

Urozgan province is located in the southern region of the country, having borders with Zabul and Kandahar to the south, Helmand to the southwest, Daykundi to the north, and Ghazni to the east. The province covers an area of 12,640 km² (1,264,000 ha). Nearly three-quarters (around 72pc) of the province is mountainous or semi-mountainous terrain, while a little more than one-fifth (around 21pc) of the area is made up of flat land.^{[citation needed]}

Districts

Districts of Urozgan Province

District	Capital	Population	Area	Notes
Chora		72,000
Deh Rawud	Deh Rawood	78,750
Gizab		59,000
Khas Urozgan		80,000
Shahidi Hassas (Cahar Chineh)		84,000
Tarinkot	Tarinkot	100,000

Population figures are from the Liaison Office study 2009. In addition to the above districts, it also lists Chenartu (a region in Chora district) as a separate district, with a population of 30,000.^{[citation needed]}

The population of the entire province has been separately estimated at 320,000.^{[citation needed]} The province has an estimated 45,000 households, each with six members on average.^{[citation needed]}

A large portion of Urozgan's settled population is from ethnic Pashtun tribes such as Achakzai, Nurzai, Barakzai, Alikozai, and other Durrani sub-tribes and it also has a population of Kuchis, or nomads, whose numbers vary with the seasons.^{[citation needed]}

History

Post-2001

US Marines travelling in Urozgan.

High-five, Darafshan Valley, Uruzgan Province, 2012

In June 2002, a wedding party in Urozgan was bombed by the United States Air Force, with 30 or more killed.

In the wake of the fall of the Taliban—from January 2002 through March 2006—the province was governed by Jan Mohammed Khan, a warlord ally of President Karzai, and a member of the same Popalzai Pashtun tribe. On March 18, 2006, Karzai appointed Maulavi Abdul Hakim Munib, a former Taliban official who had reconciled with the Government of Afghanistan, to replace Khan. Munib was a Pashtun from Paktia Province.^{[citation needed]}

In August 2006, NATO assumed authority for Urozgan from the United States-led coalition, as the Netherlands took command of the PRT from the US as Task Force Uruzgan. There is also an Australian element under the Dutch command.^{[citation needed]}

In the summer of 2006, insurgents in Urozgan were targeted by a NATO-Afghan military offensive called Operation Mountain Thrust.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2007, President Karzai removed Munib, who had become increasingly ineffective.^{[citation needed]}

Because of security concerns and the Taliban insurgency, no international aid agencies or NGOs have a permanent presence in Urozgan. NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operates a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), in Tarinkot, which transferred from U.S. to Dutch authority in August 2006. The 1,400 Dutch and 1,090 Australian troops in the area secured only the largest population centres in Urozgan (Dihrawud, Chora, and Tarinkot towns) under the Dutch "inkspot policy". However, the force's Area of Responsibility included the entire province, which was not been secured. For example Gizab district, Urozgan's most dangerous, had no ISAF presence. In August 2010, the 1,950 Dutch forces withdrew their forces from Urozgan province, after a political disagreement in the Dutch parliament, leaving the PRT to the U.S. and Australia to continue the mission.^{[citation needed]}

Urozgan's opium poppy crop reached record levels in 2006 and 2007, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), as no significant eradication efforts were carried out by the Afghan administration or Dutch forces.^{[citation needed]}

From 15 to 19 June 2007, Dutch and Afghan soldiers defended the town of Chora against an assault by Taliban combatants. Reports in the Dutch, Australian and US press indicated that the battle was one of the largest Taliban offensives of the year. The fighting resulted in the deaths of a Dutch soldier, 16 Afghan policemen, an unknown number of civilians, and a large number of Taliban.^{[citation needed]}

In September 2008, Rozi Khan, the leader of Urozgan's Pashtun Barakzai tribe, and a longtime rival of Populzai leader Jan Mohammed Khan, was killed in a firefight in Chora District.^{[citation needed]}

Gīzāb District was temporarily cleared of the Taliban by ISAF forces in late April 2010 and attributed to help from the uprising of the townspeople.

In 2010 February, near Khod, over ten civilians in a three-vehicle convoy were accidentally killed by a combined force of Bell OH-58 Kiowa helicopters and drones, who mistook them for Taliban. The air forces were attempting to protect ground troops fighting several km away.