Kapisa

moving deeper into Afghanistan from the border area (³²²). Infiltration through this ‘Tagab-Surobi corridor’, but also resentment at the dominance in provincial politics and security organs of northern Tajiks, fuelled the insurgency in Kapisa (³²³). The Taliban was said to control a crucial stretch of a highway leading into Kabul (³²⁴).

In recent years the Taliban was said to be a disciplined force that has been able to operate freely and with an exacting ability to issue and execute orders in southern Kapisa (³²⁵). In 2014 and early 2015, it was reported that in Tagab and Alasay, the Taliban control was such that ANSF were allowed by the Taliban to go out of their bases only one hour a day to go to the bazaar, unarmed (³²⁶). In April 2015, Obaid Ali stated that the Taliban had established an administrative system governing Alasay district, including a military council, a finance department and even a detention centre (³²⁷).

In Tagab, Alasay and Nejrab, the government was said to ‘operate in the shadows’ (³²⁸). Tagab and Alasay judiciary moved to the provincial capital because of security risks (³²⁹). Instead, the Taliban was running courts in mosques or private houses (³³⁰). Insurgent presence and security problems in Tagab, Alasay and parts of Nejrab also prevented humanitarian access to the population (³³¹). Residents of Tagab and Alasay complained about the lack of medical facilities, posing serious problems, especially for pregnant women (³³²). In 2015, the 201^st ANA army corps was also active in Tagab, according to Pajhwok Afghan News (³³³).

In Alasay, powerbrokers linked to the Jamiat-e Islami staged an uprising against the Taliban in July 2014 but without support from the government or the ANSF, this uprising failed. The Taliban took control over the villages where the uprising started and burnt the houses of the families of the commanders (³³⁴). A tashkeel of 700 ALP was allocated to Kapisa, 300 to Tagab and Alasay each and 100 to Nejrab. There were concerns about accountability and the capture of the ALP programme by particular strongmen and political factions. In Alasay, the ALP remains cantoned in the ANA base in the district centre because of security fears (³³⁵).

After Islamic State fighters came under increasing pressure in Nangarhar, rumours spread about an IS presence in Tagab in of December 2015. Government sources said IS was distributing night letters and an IED carrying the flag of IS was defused in the bazaar (³³⁶).

Violence in the northern districts is more linked to political tensions between Hezb-e Islami and Jamiaat-e Islami (³³⁷).

Kohband, despite not hosting many supporters of the Taliban, is also said to host a variety of illegal armed groups that carry out assassinations and targeted killing on a daily basis, according to Obaid Ali. Commanders affiliated to Hezb-e Islami and Jamiaat-e Islami continuously fight each other. In the Durnama valley of the district, a lasting feud between competing commanders has disrupted people’s lives. Girls are said to be kept at home from school because parents fear they might be get caught in fire fights and schools often close altogether (³³⁸).

Recent security trends

From 1 September 2015 to 31 May 2016, Kapisa Province counted 126 security incidents. The following table provides an overview of the nature of the security incidents (³³⁹):

(³²²) Foschini, F., Classics of Conflict (2): Reviewing some of Afghanistan’s most notorious hotspots, 9 July 2015.

(³²³) International organisation, e-mail, 15 September 2015. The local contact is an international organisation active in the province. The organisation wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.

(³²⁴) NY Times (The), Hour’s Drive Outside Kabul, Taliban Reign, 22 November 2014.

(³²⁵) NY Times (The), Hour’s Drive Outside Kabul, Taliban Reign, 22 November 2014.

(³²⁶) Ali, O., Fire in Pashai Hills: a two-district case study from Kapisa, 6 April 2015; NY Times (The), Hour’s Drive Outside Kabul, Taliban Reign, 22 November 2014.

(³²⁷) Ali, O., Fire in Pashai Hills: a two-district case study from Kapisa, 6 April 2015.

(³²⁸) NY Times (The), Hour’s Drive Outside Kabul, Taliban Reign, 22 November 2014; Ruttig, T., The Second Fall of Musa Qala: How the Taleban are expanding territorial control, 3 September 2015.

(³²⁹) International organisation, e-mail, 15 September 2015. The local contact is an international organisation active in the province. The organisation wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.

(³³⁰) Ali, O., Fire in Pashai Hills: a two-district case study from Kapisa, 6 April 2015; NY Times (The), Hour’s Drive Outside Kabul, Taliban Reign, 22 November 2014.

(³³¹) UNOCHA, Afghanistan: Kapisa Province Humanitarian Profile, June 2015.

(³³²) Pajhwok Afghan News, Alasai, Tagab residents desperate for health facilities, 17 December 2015.

(³³³) Pajhwok Afghan News, 13 Taliban, 2 ANA troops killed in Tagab offensive, 3 October 2015.

(³³⁴) Ali, O., Fire in Pashai Hills: a two-district case study from Kapisa, 6 April 2015.

(³³⁵) International organisation, e-mail, 15 September 2015. The local contact is an international organisation active in the province. The organisation wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.

(³³⁶) Pajhwok Afghan News, 10 Daesh fighters dead in airstrike, clash with Taliban, 28 December 2015.

(³³⁷) International organisation, e-mail, 15 September 2015. The local contact is an international organisation active in the province. The organisation wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.

(³³⁸) Ali, O., Fire in Pashai Hills: a two-district case study from Kapisa, 6 April 2015; Pajhwok Afghan News, Civilians suffer from fight between illegal armed groups, 24 April 2015.

(³³⁹) For more information on the source of the data and the methodology, see introduction.

Violence targeting individuals 6

Armed confrontations and airstrikes 96

Explosions 16

Security enforcement 8

Non-conflict related incidents 0

Other incidents 0

Total security incidents 126

The following table presents the number of security incidents per district in Kapisa Province (³⁴⁰):

Tagab Nejrab Mahmud-e Ragi Alasay

57 38 16 10

Hisa-I Duwum-e Kohestan Koh Band

Hisa-i Awal-e Kohestan 4 1 0

In the provincial capital, ANSF defused a car bomb in January 2016 (³⁴¹) and a bomb exploded in May 2016 in front of a teachers’ training centre, wounding 6 civilians (³⁴²).

In the rest of the province in September 2015, two Taliban commanders from Tagab who had travelled to Nangarhar to fight the Islamic State were killed. The ALP commander for the district stated that the security had improved since (³⁴³). Nevertheless, in October 2015 the situation in both Tagab and Alasay became very unstable. At the start of the month, the 201^st ANA army corps conducted a large-scale operation in Tagab district, called ‘Khanjar 13’.

Several AGEs and two or three ANA soldiers were killed in the fighting that lasted for at least four days. A provincial council member quoted by Pajhwok stated local residents suffered material loss (³⁴⁴). A few days later, AGEs staged a large-scale attack on the Alasay district centre. The attack was repulsed by ANSF and AGEs suffered heavy losses.

According to local residents quoted by Pajhwok, about 12 civilians also suffered casualties. In an incident where rockets hit a residential house, two family members were killed and three, including a woman, were wounded (³⁴⁵).

A few days later fighting erupted again in Tagab, when AGEs captured and torched several checkpoints. About 130 local families fled the conflict to Kabul (³⁴⁶). In the subsequent operation to retake their positions, ANSF killed several AGEs (³⁴⁷). In the fighting that followed for days, a rocket hit a mosque during Friday prayers and several civilians were injured by shrapnel (³⁴⁸). In the following days AGEs staged another attack on the Alasay district centre but were repelled again. Local officials claimed the attack was staged by 2,000 Taliban and that they killed at least 30 of them (³⁴⁹). After weeks of fighting, the government claimed to have killed 60 AGEs and wounded 120 more. Hundreds of families were displaced by the violence (³⁵⁰).

In December 2015, the violence spread to Nejrab, where ANSF and ALP staged several clearing operations against the AGEs. In return, AGEs burned the houses of certain ALP members, causing many of them to flee the district (³⁵¹).

In January 2016, the fighting resumed in Tagab when dozens of AGEs stormed several police posts but were repulsed by the army. Both sides suffered casualties (³⁵²). In February 2016, Afghan Special Forces, backed by air support of the Afghan Air Force, held a clearing operation in Tagab. According to residents, some houses were damaged (³⁵³).

(³⁴⁰) For more information on the source of the data and the methodology, see introduction.

(³⁴¹) Khaama Press, Police prevent terrorist attack in Kapisa, 13 January 2016.

(³⁴²) Pajhwok Afghan News, Blast hits Kapisa teachers training centre, 6 injured, 25 May 2016.

(³⁴³) Pajhwok Afghan News, 2 notorious Taliban commanders eliminated, 14 September 2015.

(³⁴⁴) Pajhwok Afghan News, 13 Taliban, 2 ANA troops killed in Tagab offensive, 3 October 2015.

(³⁴⁵) Pajhwok Afghan News, 14 rebels dead, attack on Alasai district repulsed, 9 October 2015.

(³⁴⁶) Pajhwok Afghan News, Taliban torch 3 checkpoints in Kapisa’s Tagab, 14 October 2015.

(³⁴⁷) Pajhwok Afghan News, Security forces retake some areas in Tagab, kill 9 rebels, 15 October 2015.

(³⁴⁸) Pajhwok Afghan News, 6 worshippers wounded when rocket hits Tagab mosque, 17 October 2015.

(³⁴⁹) Pajhwok Afghan News, Taliban suffer losses, attack on Ala Sai beaten back, 19 October 2015.

(³⁵⁰) Pajhwok Afghan News, 60 militants killed, 120 injured in Kapisa clashes, 23 October 2015.

(³⁵¹) Pajhwok Afghan News, Taliban torch houses of ALP members in Kapisa, 16 December 2015.

(³⁵²) Pajhwok Afghan News, Casualties as forces and rebels clash in Kapisa, 25 January 2016.

(³⁵³) Pajhwok Afghan News, Commander among 4 insurgents killed in Kapisa operation, 15 February 2016.

In March 2016, security forces held a large clearing operation in Nejrab, called ‘Khanjar 21’. Government sources claimed to have killed between 23 and 30 AGEs and injured 27 more during the 18-day operation. Local sources quoted by Pajhwok claimed the violence killed four civilians while 14 were injured. According to these sources, the violence displaced 1,500 families (³⁵⁴). Simultaneously, the Taliban launched an attack on several ALP positions in Tagab (³⁵⁵).

In April 2016, there were heavy clashes in Alasay (³⁵⁶) and Tagab, where AGEs again stormed an ANA security post (³⁵⁷).

In these contested districts, AGEs also regularly targeted government officials or civilians over allegations of spying for the government. These include an attack on a former advisor to president Karzai, targeted with explosions in Tagab district in September 2015. His son and brother were wounded in the attack (³⁵⁸). A doctor was killed by gunmen in Tagab in February 2016 (³⁵⁹). In February 2016, a MIED attached to a Ministry of Justice vehicle exploded and injured one boy and four men (³⁶⁰). In April 2016, local residents of the Nejrab district claimed that the Taliban had executed 25 civilians in the past five years over charges of spying for the government. Apparently, they mainly target village elders for supporting the government (³⁶¹). Also in April 2016, a Taliban member accused of spying for the government was executed in Tagab district (³⁶²). In August 2016, Pajhwok reported the targeted killing of a religious leader in Hisa-e-Awal-e-Kohestan (³⁶³).

As of June 2016, according to the Institute for Study of War, much of Tagab is under Taliban control, while big parts of Alasay and Nejrab are ‘high confidence Taliban support zones’. ‘Low confidence support zones’ connect these areas with Parwan and Baghlan (³⁶⁴).

In a clash between two villages over a long-running feud, one person died and four others were wounded in Hisa-e Duwum-e Kohestan district in April 2016 (³⁶⁵). The clash continued in May 2016, when a six-year-old girl was killed and six others, including a women, were wounded (³⁶⁶).

Displacement

The violent clashes, which lasted for weeks in Tagab and Alasay districts in October 2015 led to hundreds of families being displaced from their homes. The crossfire of ground engagements of both sides, and Taliban warnings to the population ahead of their offensives, led many in these districts to flee to Kabul, Jalalabad and other districts in Kapisa (³⁶⁷). In September and November 2015, UNHCR mentioned displacement from Kapisa to Kabul (³⁶⁸).

From January to April 2016, UNHCR profiled 5,100 IDPs from Kapisa, mainly from Tagab and Alasay. Parts of this population movement went to Kabul (³⁶⁹).

(³⁵⁴) Pajhwok Afghan News, Kapisa offensive leaves 3 dead, 7 wounded, 10 March 2016; Pajhwok Afghan News, Militant commander, woman dead in Kapisa operation, 12 March 2016; Pajhwok Afghan News, 24 Taliban militants killed in Kapisa & Ghazni clashes, 23 March 2016; Tolo News, 23 insurgents killed in Kapisa operation, 29 March 2016; Pajhwok Afghan News, 23 militants killed, 27 injured in Kapisa offensive, 30 March 2016; Khaama Press, Taliban suffer heavy casualties in Kapisa military operation, 31 March 2016.

(³⁵⁵) Pajhwok Afghan News, Taliban commander eliminated in Kapisa, 11 March 2016.

(³⁵⁶) Tolo News, Heavy fighting underway in over 10 provinces, 16 April 2016.

(³⁵⁷) Pajhwok Afghan News, 17 insurgents eliminated in Kapisa & Logar provinces, 28 April 2016.

(³⁵⁸) Pajhwok Afghan News, Kapisa blast injures family members ex-advisor, 23 September 2015.

(³⁵⁹) Tolo News, Unknown gunmen kill Kapisa doctor, 15 February 2016.

(³⁶⁰) UNAMA, Afghanistan Midyear Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict: 2016, July 2016, p. 46.

(³⁶¹) Pajhwok Afghan News, Insurgents execute 25 on spying charges in Kapisa, 6 April 2016.

(³⁶²) Pajhwok Afghan News, Militants execute man on spy charge in Tagab, 22 April 2016.

(³⁶³) Pajhwok Afghan News, Prayer leader gunned down, worshipper injured in Kapisa, 8 August 2016.

(³⁶⁴) ISW, Afghanistan partial threat assessment as of April 12, 2016, 12 April 2016; ISW, Afghanistan partial threat assessment as of June 30, 2016, 14 July 2016.

(³⁶⁵) Pajhwok Afghan News, 1 dead, 4 wounded as Kapisa villagers clash, 30 April 2016.

(³⁶⁶) Pajhwok Afghan News, Civilians among 6 dead, 13 wounded in Kandahar & Kapisa, 10 May 2016.

(³⁶⁷) Pajhwok Afghan News, Recent clashes displace hundreds of families in Kapisa, 21 October 2015; UNHCR, Conflict-induced Internal Displacement in 2015:

the Year in Review, 28 April 2016, p. 9.

(³⁶⁸) UNHCR, Afghanistan: Conflict-Induced Internal Displacement Monthly Update, September 2015; UNHCR, Conflict-induced Internal Displacement – Monthly Update, November 2015.

(³⁶⁹) UNOCHA, AFGHANISTAN: Conflict Induced Displacements - Snapshot (1 January - 31 April 2016) [map], 16 May 2016.