Wardak

Background on the conflict and actors in Wardak

In 2014, according to Landinfo, rebels consisted of local and regional Taliban groups, Hezb-e Islami and international groups of fighters (⁴³⁷). The main jihadi party in the 1980s and 1990s was Hezb-e Islami and most Taliban fighters in Wardak are former Hezb-e Islami members (⁴³⁸). In June 2015, the US Department of Defense reported that Al Qaeda fighters, pushed out of their safe havens in Waziristan by a Pakistani military operation, surfaced in Wardak, among other places, in the spring of 2015 (⁴³⁹). These reinforcements led to renewed fighting between Taliban and Hezb-e Islami fighters in Nirkh district in the summer (⁴⁴⁰).

According to a BBC report from October 2014 on Sayadabad’s Tangi valley, this area is firmly under Taliban control. It collects taxes, runs the schools and maintains a rudimentary court system (⁴⁴¹). Chak, also known as Chak-e Wardak, was considered the insurgent headquarters for the past 13 years. The Taliban had set up several checkposts in the district and ran a parallel judicial system until it was ousted by ANSF operations in January 2015 (⁴⁴²).

According to Landinfo, since 2008 the Taliban has significantly destabilised the province, resulting in several areas becoming inaccessible to government officials. As of autumn 2015, it was difficult for provincial government officials to travel from Maydan Shahr, the provincial capital, to any of the district centres (⁴⁴³). According to UNHCR, in September 2015 Wardak was in a state of permanent instability. The security situation in the summer of 2015 was tense with several security incidents, including IED attacks and explosions, targeting military forces and government institutions. Civilian property was destroyed, which was, according to UNHCR, a violation of the principle of distinction in International Humanitarian Law. Killing of civilians in confrontations between AGEs and ANSF was reported in several districts, such as Chak, Sayadabad and Nirkh (⁴⁴⁴).

In August 2015, the provincial governor labelled Daymirdad, Jaghatu, Nirkh, Chak and Jalrez as volatile districts of the province. He also stated ‘although Behsud is a relatively calm district, there are disturbing questions about the rule of law there’ (⁴⁴⁵). These Hazara districts were de facto under the control of the political party Hezb-e Wahdat.

However, AREU stated that some Hazara areas in the province, without specifying which, were affected by Taliban presence (⁴⁴⁶).

The US Department of State also stated that the Taliban remained active throughout 2015 in what it called their

’traditional stronghold’, Wardak (⁴⁴⁷). After Jalrez saw heavy fighting in the previous reporting period (⁴⁴⁸), the government created a pro-government militia outside the ALP, under the ‘National Uprising Support Strategy’ in 2015 (⁴⁴⁹).

The provincial governor said the security personnel in August 2015 in Wardak numbered 5,000, compared with up to 1,500 AGEs. He also regretted the province had no independent army battalion. The four ANA battalions in Wardak are operating under the Gardez-based brigade (⁴⁵⁰). Since October 2008, the province experienced a series of local security initiatives (⁴⁵¹). The ALP, like earlier initiatives, was plagued by ethnic and political problems, inadequate vetting procedures and accountability. As a result, 258 ALP were dismissed in March 2012. According to the same source, there seems to be an improvement since but issues of corruption and criminality among the ALP still need a lot of effort to eradicate (⁴⁵²). In 2014, ALP staffing levels were reduced from 1,650 in seven districts to 975 in five

(⁴³⁷) Landinfo, Temanotat Afghanistan Sikkerhetsoppdatering, 9 January 2014, p. 21.

(⁴³⁸) AREU, The Political Economy Of Education and Health Service Delivery In Afghanistan, February 2016, pp. 37-38.

(⁴³⁹) US Department of Defense, Enhancing Security and Stability in Afghanistan, June 2015, p. 25.

(⁴⁴⁰) Pajhwok Afghan News, Scores of dead, wounded in Hizb-e-Islami, Taliban clash, 17 June 2015.

(⁴⁴¹) BBC, Afghanistan conflict: Life Inside a Taliban Stronghold, 20 October 2014.

(⁴⁴²) Tolo News, ANSF gain control of district Chak after 13 years, 28 January 2015.

(⁴⁴³) AREU, The Political Economy Of Education and Health Service Delivery In Afghanistan, February 2016, p. 35.

(⁴⁴⁴) UNHCR, Conflict-induced Internal Displacement – Monthly Update, September 2015.

(⁴⁴⁵) Pajhwok Afghan News, Effective security uplift plans drawn by Wardak governor, 8 August 2015.

(⁴⁴⁶) AREU, The Political Economy Of Education and Health Service Delivery In Afghanistan, February 2016, p. 38.

(⁴⁴⁷) US Department of Defense, Enhancing Security and Stability in Afghanistan, December 2015, p. 1.

(⁴⁴⁸) EASO, Country of Origin Information Report. Afghanistan. Security Situation, January 2016, pp. 53-54.

(⁴⁴⁹) UNAMA, Afghanistan Annual Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict: 2015, February 2016, p. 65.

(⁴⁵⁰) Pajhwok Afghan News, Effective security uplift plan drawn, Wardak governor, 8 August 2015.

(⁴⁵¹) HRW, “Just Don’t Call It a Militia” Impunity, Militias, and the “Afghan Local Police”, 12 September 2011; Goodhand, J. and Hakimi, A., Counterinsurgency, local militias and statebuilding in Afghanistan, January 2014, pp. 19-25.

(⁴⁵²) International organisation, e-mail, 26 October 2014. The local contact is an international organisation active in the province. The organisation wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.

districts, due to budgetary considerations, according to a source in Kabul (⁴⁵³). According to a US Department of Defense report from April 2014, ALP is active in the districts of Sayadabad, Chakh, Nirkh, Jalrez and Maydan Shahr (⁴⁵⁴).

International Crisis Group reported about abusive behaviour by ALP and the total absence of complaints mechanisms and accountability, e.g. in Chakh district (⁴⁵⁵).

According to UNICEF and UNAMA, in 2015 there were three incidents at health facilities and between 10 and 15 conflict-related incidents against schools (⁴⁵⁶).

Recent security trends

From 1 September 2015 to 31 May 2016, Wardak Province counted 359 security incidents. The following table provides an overview of the nature of the security incidents (⁴⁵⁷):

Violence targeting individuals 28 Armed confrontations and airstrikes 277

Explosions 33

Security enforcement 21

Non-conflict related incidents 0

Other incidents 0

Total security incidents 359

The following table presents the number of security incidents per district in Wardak Province (⁴⁵⁸):

Jalrez Sayadabad Nirkh Chak Daymirdad

117 74 51 38 34

Maydan Shahr Jaghatu

Hisa-i Awali Bihsud Markaz-e Bihsud

26 18 0 0

In October 2015, government officials claimed Taliban had wanted to (re)take the Chak district centre and several security posts but failed because of an ANSF ambush. ANSF claimed it killed a dozen AGEs and injured 18 more in the clash (⁴⁵⁹).

In Sayadabad civilians regularly became victims when caught in crossfire or ground engagements, often on, or around Highway 1. On 16 October 2015, during a clash between the Taliban and Afghan security forces in Sayedabad district, a Taliban-fired mortar hit the Kabul-Ghazni highway, killing two civilians and injuring nine others as they were travelling in buses (⁴⁶⁰). The clash involved heavy weapons on both sides and the highway remained closed for more than a day (⁴⁶¹). In December 2015, ANA fired two explosive recoilless rifle rounds that hit a mosque in Sayedabad district, killing nine civilians, including four boys, and injuring three others (⁴⁶²). In February 2016, a child was shot by a soldier firing from his security post on the main Kabul-Ghazni road (⁴⁶³). In March 2016, a Ghazni judge was killed while passing with his vehicle over the same highway (⁴⁶⁴).

(⁴⁵³) International organisation, e-mail, 26 October 2014. The local contact is an international organisation active in the province. The organisation wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.

(⁴⁵⁴) US Department of Defense, Report on Progress toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan, April 2014, p. 55.

(⁴⁵⁵) ICG, The Future of the Afghan Local Police, 4 June 2015, p. 10.

(⁴⁵⁶) UNAMA, Education and Healthcare at Risk: Key trends and incidents affecting children’s access to healthcare and education in Afghanistan, April 2016 p. 2.

(⁴⁵⁷) For more information on the source of the data and the methodology, see introduction.

(⁴⁵⁸) For more information on the source of the data and the methodology, see introduction.

(⁴⁵⁹) Pajhwok Afghan News, 13 rebels killed, 18 wounded in Wardak clashes, 8 October 2015.

(⁴⁶⁰) UNAMA, Afghanistan Annual Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict: 2015, February 2016, p. 30.

(⁴⁶¹) Pajhwok Afghan News, Clashes Taliban block road near Maidan Shahr, 15 October 2015; Pajhwok Afghan News, Clashes erupt in Wardak, Kabul Ghazni highway closed, 16 October 2015.

(⁴⁶²) UNAMA, Afghanistan Annual Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict: 2015, February 2016, p. 58.

(⁴⁶³) Pajhwok Afghan News, Afghan soldier accused of shooting a child detained, 20 February 2016.

(⁴⁶⁴) Pajhwok Afghan News, Ghazni urban court judge shot dead in Maidan Wardak, 26 March 2016.

In February 2016, two separate ANSF operations in Nirkh resulted in firefights with the Taliban. According to government sources, two commanders and a Taliban fighter were killed in these operations (⁴⁶⁵). Government forces held a major clearing operation in the district a few days later, resulting in heavy fighting. The government claimed to have killed a dozen Taliban fighters in the operation that lasted for days (⁴⁶⁶). It claimed to have cleared several villages that were under Taliban control for many years (⁴⁶⁷).

On 18 February 2016, Afghan Special Forces and the IMF conducted a joint operation in the Tangi Sayedan area of Daymirdad district and entered a government health clinic funded by the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan. Two patients and a 15-year-old boy on a visit were taken to a nearby shop and summarily executed (⁴⁶⁸). Later, IMF were accused of complicity in the raid (⁴⁶⁹).

In May 2016, the Ministry of Defense announced it had killed the first commander of Islamic State in Wardak in an airstrike (⁴⁷⁰).

In April 2016, during fighting as a result of an attack on an Afghan security forces convoy, crossfire injured six civilians in Sayedabad district (⁴⁷¹).

In its mid-year report of 2016, UNAMA documented 12 abductions in Wardak Province in the first half of 2016 (⁴⁷²).

As of June 2016, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), most of Sayadabad, including the district centre, and parts of Chak, Nirkh and Jalrez are under control of the Taliban. The rest of Chak, Maydan Shahr and parts of Jalrez are considered ‘high confidence Taliban support zones’, while the rest of Nirkh and a small stretch in Hesae Awale Behsud are considered ‘low confidence Taliban support zones’ (⁴⁷³).

Also in August 2016, there were reports of several Taliban attacks in the province (⁴⁷⁴).

Displacement

A tense security situation and permanent instability continued to force people out of their homes. The majority of the conflict-induced IDPs in Wardak originate from different districts around Wardak and settle in the provincial capital Maidan Shahr (⁴⁷⁵). Kabul also continued to receive IDPs from Wardak, following large counter-insurgency operations in 2015 (⁴⁷⁶). In an overview of the first four months of 2016, UNHCR mentions only small displacement from three southern districts to Ghazni (⁴⁷⁷).

(⁴⁶⁵) Pajhwok Afghan News, 2 Taliban commanders eliminated in Wardak firefights, 7 February 2016.

(⁴⁶⁶) Pajhwok Afghan News, Offensive against Taliban launched in Maidan Wardak, 10 February 2016; Pajhwok Afghan News, Dozen Taliban eliminated in Maidan Wardak operation, 14 February 2016.

(⁴⁶⁷) Tolo News, 12 insurgents killed in Wardak operation, 14 February 2016.

(⁴⁶⁸) UNAMA, UN calls all parties to respect health facilities, 23 February 2016.

(⁴⁶⁹) Pajhwok Afghan News, Foreign troops involved in Wardak clinic raid, SCA, 24 February 2016.

(⁴⁷⁰) Pajhwok Afghan News, Daesh commander among 4 rebels dead in airstrikes, 30 May 2016.

(⁴⁷¹) UNAMA, Afghanistan Midyear Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict: 2016, July 2016, p. 41.

(⁴⁷²) UNAMA, Afghanistan Midyear Report on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict: 2016, July 2016, p. 66.

(⁴⁷³) ISW, Afghanistan partial threat assessment as of April 12, 2016, 12 April 2016; ISW, Afghanistan partial threat assessment as of February 23, 2016, 23 February 2016; ISW, Afghanistan partial threat assessment as of June 30, 2016, 14 July 2016.

(⁴⁷⁴) Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, 21 killed, 13 vehicles destroyed in Wardak, 21 August 2016; Bakhtar News, Armed Insurgents Sustained Heavy Casualties In Maidan-Wardak, 21 August 2016.

(⁴⁷⁵) UNHCR, Conflict-induced Internal Displacement – Monthly Update, September 2015.

(⁴⁷⁶) UNHCR, Conflict-induced Internal Displacement in 2015: the Year in Review, 28 April 2016, p. 9.

(⁴⁷⁷) UNOCHA, AFGHANISTAN: Conflict Induced Displacements - Snapshot (1 January - 31 April 2016) [map], 16 May 2016.