Orūzgān Province

Orūzgān (اروزګان)
Province
Country	Afghanistan
Capital	Tarin Kowt
- coordinates
Area	22,696 km² (8,763 sq mi)
Population	314,000 (2006) [1]
Timezone	UTC+4:30
Main language	Pashto
Map of Afghanistan with Oruzgan highlighted

Orūzgān or Urōzgān (Pashto: اروزګان), also spelled Uruzgan or Rōzgān (Pashto: روزګان), is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the center of the country, though the area is culturally and tribally linked to Kandahar in the south. Its capital is Tarin Kowt. On March 28, 2004, the new Daykundi province was carved out of an area in the north leaving Oruzgan with a majority Pashtun population and Daykundi with a majority of Hazaras. The map at right shows the provincial boundaries that resulted. But in May 2006, Gizab District was taken back from Daykundi and re-annexed to Oruzgan, becoming Oruzgan's sixth district.

Taliban leader Mullah Omar may have been born in Singesar village, in Oruzgan province.

Geography

Oruzgan province is located in the southern region of the country having borders with Zabul and Kandahar to the south, Helmand to the southwest, Daykundi to the north and Ghazni to the east. The province covers an area of 12640 km2. Nearly three quarters of the province (72%) is mountainous or semi mountainous terrain while a little more than one-fifth (21%) of the area is made up of flat land.

Districts

Population figures are from the Liaison Office study 2009.^[3] In addition to the above districts, it also lists Chenartu district with a population of 30,000.

Another, separate population estimate for the entire province was an estimated population of 320,000. There are an estimated 45,000 households in the province, and households on average have 6 members.

Oruzgan province also has a population of Kuchis or nomads whose numbers vary in different seasons.

Recent developments

US Marines travelling in Oruzgan

In June, 2002, a wedding party in Orūzgān was bombed by the United States Air Force, with 30 or more killed.^[4]

In the wake of the fall of the Taliban—from January 2002 through March 2006—the province was governed by Jan Mohammed Khan, a warlord ally of President Karzai (they are both from the Pashtun Populzai tribe). On March 18, 2006, Karzai appointed Maulavi Abdul Hakim Munib (also spelled "Monib")("Maulavi" is a religious title), a former Taliban official who had reconciled with the Government of Afghanistan, to replace Khan. Munib was a Pashtun from Paktia Province.

In August 2006, NATO assumed authority for Oruzgan from the US-led coalition, as the Netherlands took command of the PRT from the US as Task Force Uruzgan. There is also an Australian element under the Dutch command.

In the summer of 2006, insurgents in Oruzgan were targeted by a NATO-Afghan military offensive called Operation Mountain Thrust.

In September 2007, President Karzai removed Munib, who had become increasingly ineffective, and replaced him as governor with Asadullah Hamdam, a native of nearby Zabul province.

Because of security concerns and the Taliban insurgency, no international aid agencies or NGOs have a permanent presence in Oruzgan. NATO's ISAF operates a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), in Tarin Kowt, which transferred from US to Dutch authority in August 2006. The 1,400 Dutch and 1,090 Australian troops in the area have secured only the largest population centres in Oruzgan (Dihrawud, Chora, and Tarin Kowt towns) under the Dutch "inkspot policy". However, the force's Area of Responsibility includes the entire province, which has not been secured. This includes the Gizab district, Oruzgan's most dangerous, where there is no ISAF presence.

Oruzgan's opium poppy crop reached record levels in 2006 and 2007, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), as no significant eradication efforts were carried out by the Afghan administration or Dutch forces.

From June 15 to June 19, 2007 Dutch and Afghan soldiers defended the town of Chora against an assault by Taliban combatants. Reports in the Dutch, Australian ^[5] and US press ^[6][7][8] indicated that the battle was one of the largest Taliban offensives of the year. The fighting resulted in the deaths of a Dutch soldier, 16 Afghan policemen, an unknown number of civilians and a large number of Taliban.

In September 2008, Rozi Khan, the leader of Oruzgan's Pashtun Barakzai tribe, and a longtime rival of Populzai leader Jan Mohammed Khan, was killed in a firefight in Chora District. The Dutch have not yet announced if,and how long,they will stay and in what format.^[9]

Gīzāb was taken by ISAF forces in late April 2010 and attributed to help from the uprising of the townspeople.^[10][11]

References

Provinces of Afghanistan Badakhshan · Badghis · Baghlan · Balkh · Bamyan · Daykundi · Farah · Faryab · Ghazni · Ghor · Helmand · Herat · Jowzjan · Kabul · Kandahar · Kapisa · Khost · Kunar · Kunduz · Laghman · Logar · Nangarhar · Nimruz · Nuristan · Oruzgan · Paktia · Paktika · Panjshir · Parwan · Samangan · Sar-e Pol · Takhar · Wardak · Zabul