Kunduz Province

Kunduz كندز
Province
The location of Kunduz Province within Afghanistan
Country	Afghanistan
Capital	Kunduz
Area
• Total	8,040 km2 (3,100 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate  (2002)	820,000
Main languages	Dari Persian Pashto Uzbek

Kunduz (Pashto/Persian: كندز) is one of the provinces of Afghanistan, centered on the city of Kunduz, in northern Afghanistan, with an area of 8,040 km square, and a population of about 820,000.

The Kunduz River valley dominates the Kunduz Province. The river flows from south to north into the Amu Darya or Oxus river which forms the border between Kunduz province and Tajikistan. A newly constructed bridge crosses the Amu Darya at Sher Khan Bandar. The river, its tributaries and derivative canals provide irrigation to the irrigated fields that dominate land usage in the province. There are also rain-fed fields and open rangeland.

Tajiks (ca. 45%) and Uzbeks (32%) are the major ethnic groups in Kunduz followed by a minority of Pashtuns (12%, mainly in Chahar Darah), Hazara (8%) , Turkmen and other (ca. 3%). However, some other sources claim Uzbeks as the dominant group in Kunduz, followed by non-Uzbek people.

Afghanistan War

During the war against the Taliban and Al Qaida in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Kunduz was the location from where thousands of Pakistani military personnel, Afghan sympathizers, and some members of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda were airlifted to safety within Pakistan. This airlift also known as the Kunduz Airlift of the Airlift of evil took place during a period in November 2001.

In 2008, more details emerged in Descent into Chaos by Ahmed Rashid:

One senior (U.S.) intelligence analyst told me, "The request was made by Musharraf to Bush, but Cheney took charge—a token of who was handling Musharraf at the time. The approval was not shared with anyone at State, including Colin Powell, until well after the event. Musharraf said Pakistan needed to save its dignity and its valued people. Two planes were involved, which made several sorties a night over several nights. They took off from air bases in Chitral and Gilgit in Pakistan's northern areas, and landed in Kunduz, where the evacuees were waiting on the tarmac. Certainly hundreds and perhaps as many as one thousand people escaped. Hundreds of ISI officers, Taliban commanders, and foot soldiers belonging to the IMU and al Qaeda personnel boarded the planes. What was sold as a minor extraction turned into a major air bridge. The frustrated U.S. SOF who watched it from the surrounding high ground dubbed it "Operation Evil Airlift."

Another senior U.S. diplomat told me afterward, "Musharraf fooled us because after we gave approval, the ISI may have run a much bigger operation and got out more people. We just don't know. At the time nobody wanted to hurt Musharraf, and his prestige with the army was at stake. The real question is why Musharraf did not get his men out before. Clearly the ISI was running its own war against the Americans and did not want to leave Afghanistan until the last moment."

Germany has 4000 soldiers stationed in the NATO-ISAF Kunduz province Provincial Reconstruction Team, along with Regional Command North. The province was largely peaceful until Taliban militants started infiltrating the area in 2009.

Main article: Kunduz Province Campaign

On 4 September 2009 the German commander called in an American jetfighter, which attacked two NATO fuel trucks, which had been captured by insurgents. More than 90 people died, among them at least 40 civilians, who had gathered to collect fuel.

Main article: Kunduz airstrike

It was reported that on 21 November 2009 a bomb going off along the Takhar Kunduz highway killed a child and injured two others.

The governor, Mohammad Omar, was killed by a bomb on October 8, 2010.

On 10 February 2011, a suicide bomber killed a district governor and six other people in the district of Chardara in Kunduz Province, where the insurgency is well entrenched.

Politics

Further information: List of governors of Kunduz

Districts

Districts of Kunduz.

Districts of Kunduz Province

District	Capital	Population	Area	Demographics	Notes
Ali Abad		45,851		47% Pashtuns, 45% Tajik, 20% Hazara, 18% Uzbek
Archi		99,000		40% Pashtuns, 35% Uzbek, 15% Tajik, 10% Turkman
Chahar Dara		69251		55% Pashtuns, 25% Tajik, 12% Uzbek, 8% Turkmen
Imam Sahib		250,000		45% Uzbeks, 25% Pashtuns, 25% Tajiks, 5% Turkmens
Khan Abad		110,000		40% Pashtuns, 25% Tajik, 20% Hazara, 25% Tajik, 10% Uzbek, 5% Pashai
Kunduz		259,497
Qalay-I-Zal		120,000		90% Turkmens, 10% Pashtuns

Sport

The province is represented in Afghan domestic cricket by the Kunduz Province cricket team. National player Mirwais Ashraf is from Kunduz and currently represents Afghanistan in international cricket.