Badakhshan

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan reported in August 2015 that Mawlawi Aminullah was the jihadi in charge for Takhar province and Qari Muhammad Ishaq was formerly in charge of Takhar and Baghlan provinces. (¹²⁷⁸)

In May 2015, some public uprisings against the Taliban were organised by local residents. (¹²⁷⁹)

Violence targeting individuals 12 Armed confrontations and airstrikes 90

Explosions 2

Security enforcement 12

Non-conflict related incidents 4

Total security incidents 120

Table 26: Security incidents by type, Badakhshan (Jan - Aug 2015)

The map in figure 28 presents the number of security incidents per district in Badakhshan province. (¹²⁸⁵)

Figure 28: Badakhshan, security incidents (Jan - Aug 2015)

Foreign troops transferred security responsibilities to ANSF in January 2012. (¹²⁸⁶) In Badakhshan, the German Provincial Reconstruction Teams’ (PRT) troops never covered the whole of this vast and remote province, with its dozens of rival commanders and drug smugglers. (¹²⁸⁷) The province had been a relatively peaceful province until several years ago, but has become a battleground for the Taliban and its allies. The districts of Jorm, Warduj, and Yamgan shifted between government and Taliban control several times during 2014. The Taliban has taken advantage of the government’s inability to maintain security in this remote mountainous province. (¹²⁸⁸) The casualties among civilians increased in the first 6 months of 2015. (¹²⁸⁹)

Badakhshan province is known for its natural treasures, such as gold, lapis lazuli, ruby and other precious minerals.

The province borders both China and Tajikistan and is a key link in the chain expected to be developed as part of the new Silk Road trade initiative between Afghanistan and China. Some analysts have suggested the recent insecurity in Badakhshan could be an attempt by the Taliban to prevent the project from succeeding, as it would give Afghanistan greater economic leverage among its neighbours, especially Pakistan. According to residents, independent political analysts and journalists, MPs and government officials from the province should be blamed as they have deliberately allowed or facilitated security problems in the province in order to pursue their own political and economic objectives. This has resulted in increased clashes between security forces and insurgents, violence by local powerbrokers associated with organised crime, more roadside bomb incidents and an overall lack of government services. (¹²⁹⁰)

Over the past four years, insurgents have taken root in 12 of Badakhshan’s 28 districts: Jorm, Warduj, Yamgan, Tagab, Koran wa Monjan, Argo, Shuhada, Shahr-e Bezorg, Arghanjkhwah, Yaftal, Raghestan and Keshem. (¹²⁹¹)

(¹²⁸⁵)  For more information on the source and the methodology of the maps, see introduction.

(¹²⁸⁶)  UNAMA, Articles, 24 January 2015.

(¹²⁸⁷)  Foschini, F., One Year of Transition: a Look Back (2), Afghanistan Analysts Network, 18 March 2012.

(¹²⁸⁸)  Roggio, B., Taliban overrun base capture and release 100 afghan security personnel, 26 July 2015.

(¹²⁸⁹)  Monde (Le), En Afghanistan, les froides statistiques des victimes civiles, 5 August 2015, accessed 22 September 2015.

(¹²⁹⁰)  Tolonews, Badakhshan Residents Blame Government, MPs for Deteriorating Security, 14 May 2015.

(¹²⁹¹)  Obaid, A., The 2015 Insurgency in the North (2): Badakhshan’s Jurm district under siege, 14 September 2015.

Scores of insurgents were killed in operations led by ANSF in 2015 (at least 17 in April 2015, 63 in May in Badakhshan and surrounding provinces, 96 in June (¹²⁹²)).

The Taliban targets mainly security forces. It overran a military base in Badakhshan, capturing more than 100 police and tribal fighters before disarming and freeing them. Taliban fighters began their assault on the Qala base in the embattled district of Warduj on July 24, according to the jihadist group and Afghan press reports. The Taliban claimed it detained 110 ANA soldiers, police and Arbaki militiamen and that it seized 6 checkpoints. The fighting in Badakhshan almost backfired on the Taliban after fighters beheaded seven Afghan soldiers. After widespread condemnation in the media, the jihadist group felt obligated to issue an official statement admitting the beheadings were wrong, but then placed the blame for the acts on the Afghan military, claiming its forces executed Taliban fighters and civilians. (¹²⁹³) Earlier in the year, the Taliban killed 18 soldiers. Among the victims, eight soldiers were beheaded. (¹²⁹⁴) In August 2015, the Taliban killed a policewoman and her husband in front of their children. One week before these murders, they threw a woman in a river for allegedly having links with the government. (¹²⁹⁵) In the same month, they judged, raped and killed women in various localities of the province. (¹²⁹⁶)

In February 2015, a freelance reporter was killed in his home in Faizabad. (¹²⁹⁷)

The Taliban abducted NGO workers in the province. World Food Program (WFP) vehicles were stopped by armed men, and drivers were briefly taken hostages while the militants destroyed the vehicles. (¹²⁹⁸)

Casualties among civilians increased from 311 in the first 6 months of 2014 to 545 in (the same period in) 2015. (¹²⁹⁹)

Displacement

According to UNOCHA, about 2,000 families were displaced in May 2015 within the Jorm district. 474 families were reportedly displaced from Baharak, Jorm and Warduj districts due to conflict as of 27 May 2015. (¹³⁰⁰) In July 2015, nearly 300 families were displaced and more than 100 houses were washed away as a result of flash floods. (¹³⁰¹)

Actors in the conflict

In May 2015, the Taliban released a propaganda video containing an interview with Qari Fasehuddin, the Taliban shadow governor for Badakhshan, who is reportedly about 30 years old and commands an insurgent force of nearly 1,000 fighters located in seven of Badakhshan’s districts, according to Afghan officials. (¹³⁰²)

In July 2015, the Islamic Jihad Union, an al Qaeda and Taliban-linked group, said it had deployed fighters to the province as part of the Taliban’s Azm offensive. (¹³⁰³)

Badakhshan Governor Shah Waliullah Adeeb said that some 200 fighters, some of them with their families, are based in the Dara-e Khustak area and identified them as being from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Chechnya and other countries.

In Jowzjan’s Aqcha district, officials said there were at least 300 ‘foreign’ fighters among enemy forces. Civilians in the region claim these foreigners are speaking Uzbek and Tajik with accents that reveal they are originally from Central Asia, not Afghanistan. It is very difficult to say who the militants are and where they are from. Some Afghan officials have mentioned a militant group called Jamaat Ansarullah, which is the Tajik wing of the IMU, while other officials have used the term Jundullah, a combination of Jamaat Ansarullah and the IMU. (¹³⁰⁴)

(¹²⁹²)  Afghanistan News Centre, 17 Afghan Taliban militants killed in Badakhshan, 27 April 2015; Tolonews, 63 insurgents killed in ANSF operations, 27 May 2015.

(¹²⁹³)  Roggio, B., Taliban overrun base capture and release 100 afghan security personnel, 26 July 2015.

(¹²⁹⁴)  Monde (Le), Afghanistan : 18 soldats tués par les talibans, 13 April 2015.

(¹²⁹⁵)  Khaama Press, Couple brutally killed in Badakhshan, 15 August 2015.

(¹²⁹⁶)  Khaama Press, Taliban hang woman to death in Badakhshan over adultery charges, 9 August 2015.

(¹²⁹⁷)  Khaama Press, Freelance Reporter Brutally Killed in Badakhshan Hand Grenade Attack, 18 September 2015.

(¹²⁹⁸)  Triple Canopy, Afghanistan weekly security Report, 17 September 2015.

(¹²⁹⁹)  Monde (Le), En Afghanistan, les froides statistiques des victimes civiles, 5 August 2015.

(¹³⁰⁰)  UNOCHA, AFGHANISTAN: Conflict-Induced Displacement (as of 27 May 2015).

(¹³⁰¹)  Tolonews, Hundreds Displaced, Houses Washed Away in Badakhshan Floods, 10 July 2015.

(¹³⁰²)  Long War Journal (The), Former Taliban Shadow Governor appears in New Propaganda Video, Depicts Recent Combat in Badakhshan Province, 25 May 2015.

(¹³⁰³)  Roggio, B., Taliban overrun base capture and release 100 afghan security personnel, 26 July 2015.

(¹³⁰⁴)  RFE/RL, Closer To Home, Islamic Movement Of Uzbekistan May Renew Original Goals, 21 May 2015.