Paktia Province

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Loya Paktia پکتیا

Capital • Coordinates	Gardez • 33.600° N 69.229° E
Population (2002) • Density	~415,000 • /km²
Area	6,432 km²
Time zone	UTC+4:30
Main language(s)	Pashto

Paktia (Pashto: پکتيا) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, in the east of the country. Its capital is Gardez.

1 History
2 Governance
3 Security Situation
4 Geography
5 Important geographical features

[edit] History

Najibullah Ahmadzai, the former president of Afghanistan, was from Paktia province, in particular the Melan Valley area. Paktia used to be a unified province with Khost and Paktika, these three provinces are now referred to as Loya Paktia which means The Greater Paktia.

[edit] Governance

The uncertain security situation and remoteness of the province has led to many provincial Governors being appointed in the short time since the fall of the Taliban. After the assassination of Hakim Taniwal in September 2006, Rahmatullah Rahmat was appointed as provincial Governor.

Paktia has a strong Pashtun tribal identity, and Pashtun nationalists in the province have expressed a desire to reunite the province with Khost Province and Paktika province, forming an ethnic Pashtunistan.

Despite the many problems facing the province, it is one of the more stable in the southeast of the country and there has been a concerted effort to improve the civic infrastructure, giving Paktia a reasonable rate of reconstruction [1]. The first American Provincial Reconstruction Team base was established in Gardez to supply security and reconstruction, and has funded several successful projects.

[edit] Security Situation

In September 2006, Governor Hakim Taniwal was killed by a Taliban suicide bomber as he left his office in Gardez [2]. At the time, Taniwal was the highest-ranking post-Taliban official to be killed by insurgent forces in the country.

Paktia is one of the most politically complicated provinces in the country. Militia commanders are a strong presence in the province, and their shifting allegiances and violent tendencies make governance of the region problematic. The province also has the difficult mountainous and cavernous terrain typical of the Hindu Kush range, providing armed groups ample cover from which to conduct guerillia operations.

Immediately after the fall of the Taliban, Paktia was one of the most chaotic regions in the country, as a small civil war broke out between rival militia commanders for control of the province, and Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters gave occupying U.S. troops some of their heaviest losses in the cave complexes south of Gardez [3].

[edit] Geography

Paktia borders the Pakistani-ruled tribal areas of North Waziristan and Kurram. Like most of the traditional Pashtun eastern areas of Afghanistan, the Durand Line that marks the border with Pakistan is "drawn on water", and residents move freely between the two countries.

Major tribes in the province include the Zazi, Mangal, Zadran, Wazir, Ahmadzai, Gurbaz, Niazi and Kurram.

Paktia is made up of 12 districts (District Centers are given in parentheses):