Markazi Bihsud District
Markazi Behsud District (Dari: ولسوالی مرکزی بهسود; also spelled as Behsood) is a district of Wardak Province, Afghanistan.
The district has a Hazara majority resident population. The population of Markazi Behsood is estimated at more than 250,000 people. The Markazi Behsood is the biggest district with large localities in Maidan Vardak Province.
For many years, there has been a flare-up in ethnic violence in the district. Local Hazaras accuse Pashtun nomads of destroying their crop fields, burning their homes and killing civilians. Pashtun nomads, locally known as Kuchi, enter the area every year in late spring, and allow their animals to graze on crop fields. Local Hazaras claim that Kuchi militias being armed with heavy weapons are supported by the Taliban and elements of the Afghan government. According to some latest reports, several villages have been burned and thousands of local villagers have had to flee the area in May–June 2012. The clashes reportedly resulted in the death of six local villagers on June 8, 2012. Pashtun nomads have also burned copies of Qur'an, the Muslim holy book. President Karzai's spokesman has accused the Taliban of being involved in the attacks against the villagers and their property.
