Farah

the border leads through militant-controlled areas.¹²⁴⁴ In April 2020, UNODC cited [drug] traffickers in Farah province confirming Taliban presence on the trafficking route between Farah and Nimroz, between Farah and Helmand and between Farah and Iran.¹²⁴⁵

According to the 2018 UNODC Opium Survey, Farah is one of the main opium poppy-cultivating provinces in western Afghanistan.¹²⁴⁶ Regarding the size of poppy cultivation in hectares, Farah ranked 5^th among all Afghan provinces in 2018, with a decrease of poppy acreage by 15 % compared to 2017¹²⁴⁷, after opium-poppy cultivation had increased by 41 % in 2017 compared to 2016.¹²⁴⁸ In 2020, UNODC indicated that ‘some traffickers believed that there might be nearer 20 or 30 [illicit opium manufacturing] laboratories in Farah’.¹²⁴⁹ According to AAN, in 2019, opium poppy cultivation in the western provinces including in Farah has decreased by 23 % compared to 2018.¹²⁵⁰

2.8.2 Conflict background and actors in Farah

According to AAN, the Taliban were never fully defeated after 2001 and kept a strong presence in the province – especially in Bala Buluk.¹²⁵¹ In February 2018, the Washington Post stated that approximately 60 % of Farah was controlled by insurgents, while the government controlled only the provincial capital and 10 district centres, some of which are allegedly too dangerous for district officials to visit.¹²⁵² In August 2019, Etilaatroz cited a former local commander indicating that the Taliban have a widespread presence in the remote areas of Farah province. The source also cited Shah Mahmood Naimi, member of provincial council of Farah province, stating [informal translation] ‘Taliban maintain entire control over Khak-e Safed, Shib Koh, Bakwa, Gulistan, Bala Buluk districts including all highways, and in the remaining districts, the government control is limited within 3 kilometres (from the capital of the districts).’ Naimi further stated ‘currently, the Taliban commute even during the day in the remote areas of the city.’ According to the source, Farah police confirms Taliban’s presence in three districts and government’s control over Highway One, and Taliban’s control over certain roads due to the lack of security forces.¹²⁵³ Another source indicated that Taliban operate in a number of districts of Farah province.¹²⁵⁴

In September 2019, Ariana News cited a local official in Farah province stating that ‘Taliban militants captured the center of Anar Darah district.’¹²⁵⁵ In October 2019, the same source cites the Afghan government indicated the presence of a Taliban prison in Pur Chaman¹²⁵⁶ and in September 2019 in Bakwa districts.¹²⁵⁷ On 7 January 2020, Afghanistan Times reported that the government claimed having cleared several villages from Taliban presence ‘in outskirt of Farah City and in Bala Blok and Qal-e-Kah districts’.¹²⁵⁸ While on 20 January 2020, Kabul Now news cited Abdul Sattar Hussaini, a Member of the Afghan Parliament, stating the Taliban established a Friday black market in Farah province where

1244 Tolonews, Import Ban Affects Business In Farah Port, 21 September 2018, url

1245 UNODC, OAPT update, ‘voices of Quchaqbar’, understand the opiate trafficking in Afghanistan from the perspective of drug traffickers, 22 April 2020, url, p. 16

1246 UNODC and Afghanistan, MCN, Afghanistan Opium Survey 2018, November 2018, url, p. 16

1247 UNODC and Afghanistan, MCN, Afghanistan Opium Survey 2018, November 2018, url, p. 17

1248 UNODC and Afghanistan, MCN, Afghanistan Opium Survey 2017, November 2017, url, p. 16

1249 UNODC, AOTP update, voice of “Quchaqbar” understanding opiate trafficking in Afghanistan from the presective of drug traffickers, 22 April 2020, url, p. 25

1250 AAN, New world drug report: opium production in Afghanistan remained the same in 2019, 25 June 2020, url

1251 Ruttig, T., Why Farah? A short history of the local insurgency (II), AAN, 7 June 2018, url

1252 Washington Post (The), Outgunned in urban centers, Taliban wages fierce fight in remote western Afghanistan, 26 February 2018, url

1253 Etilaatroz, هورگ نیا نیگنس تافلت ات نابلاط تاکرحت شیازفا زا ؛روشک برغ یتینما عاضوا یسررب [informal translation: ‘security assessment of the west of the country; from the increase of Taliban’s mobility to heavy losses of the group’,], 30 August 2019, url

1254 Ariana News, Afghan forces retreat from Anar Darah district of Farah province, 7 September 2019, url

1255 Ariana News, Afghan forces retreat from Anar Darah district of Farah province, 7 September 2019, url

1256 Ariana News, 7 civilians rescued from Taliban prison in Farah, 7 October 2019, url

1257 Ariana News, Afghan forces rescued 13 people from Taliban prison in Farah, 6 September 2019, url

1258 Afghanistan Times, Several villages of Farah purged of Taliban presence, 7 January 2020, url

the group sold weapons seized from the ANDSF.¹²⁵⁹ According to information by LWJ collected and presented in a map, Gulistan, Bala Buluk, Saheb Koh, Anar Dara and Khak-e Safed districts of Farah province were under Taliban control, and Qala-i Kah, Posht-e Rod, Bakwa districts and as well as Farah City were contested.¹²⁶⁰ In March 2020, Taliban reportedly closed the Farah-Herat Highway.¹²⁶¹ On 10 May 2020, local media reported that former chief police of Farah province joined the Taliban.¹²⁶² According to the UN Security Council report, as of 27 May 2020, the Taliban shadow governor for Farah was Mullah Mashar. The source also indicated that the former shadow governor for Farah province, Mullah Abdul Bari, was killed in an air strike in early August 2019.¹²⁶³ A local news also reported on the incident.¹²⁶⁴

In terms of government presence, the 207^th Zafar Corps is in charge of the ANA operations in the province of Farah.¹²⁶⁵ As part of the RS Mission, Italian forces provide ‘functionality-based’ security assistance to ANA 207^th Corps and ANP in Farah province.¹²⁶⁶

2.8.3 Recent security trends and impact on the civilian population

2.8.3.1 General

In 2019, UNAMA documented 147 civilian casualties, including 87 killed and 60 injured in Farah province, which represents 47 % decrease compared to 2018. The leading causes of casualties were Non-Suicide IEDs, ground engagements and air strikes.¹²⁶⁷ According to SIGAR, RS (Resolute Support) recorded between 26 and 50 civilian casualties in Farah province during the first quarter of 2020¹²⁶⁸, and the mentioned source recorded the same number of civilian casualties (between 26 and 50) during the second quarter of 2020.¹²⁶⁹

According to ACLED data, between 1 March 2019 and 30 June 2020 there were 441 security incidents recorded in Farah province, of whom 277 were coded as battles, 148 remote violence and 16 incidents of violence against civilians.

Figure 10. Farah - Evolution of security events coded battles, explosions/remote violence and violence against civilians from 1 March 2019 to 30 June 2020, based on ACLED data¹²⁷⁰

1259 Kabul Now, Taliban retail weapons of Afghan forces in Farah, 20 January 2020, url

1260 LWJ, Several Districts Change Hands as Fighting Rages in Northern Afghanistan, 6 July 2020, url, however the source does not specify when and which information of the aforementioned map was last updated

1261 Pajhwok Afghan News, Militants close Herat-Farah highway for traffic, 19 March 2020, url

1262 Pajhwok Afghan News, Former police chief joins Taliban in Farah, 10 May 2020, url; Khaama Press, Interior minister reacts to as former chief of Farah joins Taliban, 10 May 2020, url

1263 UN Security Council, Letter dated 19 May 2020 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011) addressed to the President of the Security Council, S/2020/415, 27 May 2020, url, pp. 10 and 27

1264 Ariana News, 103 militants including Taliban shadow governor killed in Farah, 4 August 2019, url

1265 Afghanistan, MoD, 207 Zafar Corps, n.d., url

1266 USDOD, Enhancing Security and Stability in Afghanistan, June 2020, 1 July 2020, url, p. 14

1267 UNAMA, Afghanistan Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Annual Report 2019, 22 February 2020, url, p. 94

1268 SIGAR, Quarterly Report To The United States Congress, 30 April 2020 , url, p. 69

1269 SIGAR, Quarterly Report To The United States Congress, 30 July 2020, url, p. 72

1270 Filters applied: Central Asia & the Caucasus; Afghanistan; Farah; Event types: Battles; Explosions/Remote Violence;

Violence against Civilians; 1 March 2019 - 30 June 2020, url

In September 2019, Ariana News indicated that Farah province was one of the insecure provinces in the west of Afghanistan.¹²⁷¹ According to UNAMA, at the end of August and beginning of September 2019, the Taliban carried out extensive attacks against three provincial capitals including the capital of Farah province.¹²⁷² Several news sources reported that throughout 2019 and the first half of 2020, several armed confrontations between the Taliban and the ANDSF took place in Farah province¹²⁷³, including intense fighting in parts of Farah province in June 2020.¹²⁷⁴

In December 2019, Tolonews cited a member of the People’s Peace Movement (PPM) who stated that 27 members of PPM have been abducted by the Taliban. The source quoted Dadullah Qani, member of the Farah provincial council, confirming the incident and stating that the group was kidnapped on Farah road while travelling from Herat to Nimroz province.¹²⁷⁵

Recent security incidents with impact on civilians in Farah province include: on 5 May 2019, between 30 and 45 civilian workers were killed, including children, in clashes and air strikes by foreign troops on drug production factories in Gulistan and Bakwa districts¹²⁷⁶; on 31 July 2019, between 24¹²⁷⁷ and 34 people were killed, and around 17 were wounded when a bomb struck a bus on the highway in the Ab Khorma area, which links the provincial capitals of Herat and Kandahar¹²⁷⁸; on 1 September 2019, six people were killed, including women and children when a roadside bomb exploded in Anardara district as family members of the local police chief were heading from the district centre to their home¹²⁷⁹; on 23 November 2019, ten civilians were killed, and five wounded in an air strike in the Gajki village of Pushtiroud district¹²⁸⁰; on 21 January 2020, Shia News Association indicated [informal translation] ‘the Afghan Minister of Public Health stated that during the past year, over 50 health centres have been destroyed during the conflicts in Afghanistan and 112 others were closed down due to the conflict, in particular in Farah and Nangarhar provinces’¹²⁸¹; on 5 February 2020, two civilians were killed, and 10 others were wounded including women and children when a mortar hit Qala-i Kah and Shamalgah areas¹²⁸²; on 9 February 2020, five civilians, who were reportedly businessmen travelling from Farah City to Abu Nasar Farahi port were killed in an air strike¹²⁸³; on 12 May 2020, four children were killed by a mortar attack hitting a house in Bala Buluk district.¹²⁸⁴

2.8.3.2 Displacement

UNOCHA collected data for the period 1 March 2019 – 30 June 2020, reporting 17 830 persons displaced from Farah province, with 86 % displaced within the province itself (mainly in the provincial

1271 Ariana News, Afghan forces retreat from Anar Darah district of Farah province, 7 September 2019, url

1272 UNAMA, Afghanistan Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict Annual Report 2019, 22 February 2020, url, p. 35

1273 Ariana News, Taliban attacks border police checkpoint in Farah, 2 June 2019, url; Khaama Press, Afghan special forces storm Taliban leadership’s compound in Farah province, 31 May 2019, url; Tolonews, Taliban attack pushed back in Farah:

officials, 16 June 2019, url; Khaama Press, Afghan forces inflict casualties on Mullah Mushtaghfir, Mullah Muhajir militants in Farah, 7 August 2019, url; Tolonews, Heavy clashes ongoing in Farah: officials, 6 September 2019, url; Pajhwok Afghan News, Farah: police officer among 3 killed in insurgent attack, 20 March 2020, url; NYT, Afghan war casualty report: May 2020, 28 May 2020, url

1274 Ariana News, Taliban attacks intensified in most parts of Afghanistan recently, 15 June 2020, url

1275 Tolonews, 27 peace activists taken captive in Farah, 25 December 2019, url

1276 Pajhwok Afghan News, dozens of civilians, forces killed in Farah, 6 May 2019, url; UNAMA, protection of civilians in armed conflicts, special report: airstrike on alleged drug-process facilities, 5 May 2019, 9 October 2019, url

1277 UNAMA, Afghanistan Protection of civilians in armed conflict, Quarterly report, 17 October 2019, url, p. 5

1278 Reuters, Afghanistan highway blast kills at least 34 on bus, injures 17, 31 July 2019, url

1279 NYT, Afghan War Casualty Report: September 2019, 26 September 2019, url

1280 NYT, Afghan War Casualty Report: November 2019, 2 December 2019, url

1281 Shia News Association, [unofficial translation] ‘Health Ministry: in the past one year, 50 health centres have been destroyed, 21 January 2020’, url

1282 1TV News, mortar shelling kills two children, wounds 10 in Farah, 5 February 2020, url

1283 Tolonews, Farah officials claim civilians were killed in airstrike, 9 February 2020, url

1284 Afghanistan Times, four children killed in Farah mortar attacks, 12 May 2020, url

capital district Farah and Qala-i Kah districts), 8 % were displaced into Kandahar, 3 % were displaced into Herat and the remaining 3 % into Nimroz province.¹²⁸⁵

UNOCHA collected data for the period 1 March 2019 – 30 June 2020, reporting 15 430 persons displaced to Farah province, with almost 100 % coming from within the province itself.¹²⁸⁶

During the months of May, June and July 2019, 1 362 individuals were displaced due to conflict from Bala Buluk, Khak-e-Safed, Gulistan, Pushtrud, Shib Koh, Anardara and Qala-i Kah districts to the surrounding villages of Farah City.¹²⁸⁷ In August and September 2019, 1 287 people were displaced due to conflict from Bala Buluk, Khak-e Safed, Pur Chaman, Pushtrud, Bakwa, Lash-e Juwayn, Shib Koh, Anardara districts and villages of Farah City.¹²⁸⁸

1285 UNOCHA, Afghanistan Conflict Displacement 2019, last updated: 3 March 2020, url; UNOCHA, Afghanistan Conflict Displacement 2020, last updated: 12 July 2020, url

1286 UNOCHA, Afghanistan Conflict Displacement 2019, last updated: 3 March 2020, url; UNOCHA, Afghanistan Conflict Displacement 2020, last updated: 12 July 2020, url

1287 UNOCHA, Farah Operational Coordination Team (OCT) meeting minutes, 25 July 2019, url, p. 1

1288 UNOCHA, Farah Operational Coordination Team (OCT) meeting minutes, 3 October 2019, url, p. 1