GHAZNI PROVINCIAL COUNCIL MEMBER DESCRIBES ANDAR

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000723 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM STATE PASS USAID FOR ASIA/SCAA E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/25/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM EAID AF SUBJECT: GHAZNI PROVINCIAL COUNCIL MEMBER DESCRIBES ANDAR DISTRICT Classified By: PRT and Sub-National Governance Director Valerie C. Fowl er for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (S/REL ISAF) On March 14, Ghazni Provincial Council member Dr. Mohammad Ghani gave PRT State Rep and Polish Task Force White Eagle CIMIC Officer an overview of Andar district in Ghazni province. He described the developmental needs of the district, especially in the agricultural sector, and pressed for the paving of what he described as an important road that starts at Andar's district center. Dr. Ghani detailed the nature of enemy and anti-government forces operating out of Andar district, and suggested they could be brought under control through a mix of employment opportunities and continuous, precise kinetic operations. Dr. Ghani considers himself a power broker in Andar district. Bio information is located at the end of this report. ANTI-GOVERNMENT / COALITION OPERATIONS IN ANDAR DISTRICT -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Dr. Ghani shared his views on Andar District, which has a population of more than 300,000 in 475 villages. The district contains Tajiks and Hazarans, but the majority of its residents are Ghilzai Pahtuns belonging to the Andar sub-tribe and its component clans: Bayazeed Khel, Lakhan Khel, Marjan Khel, and Ibrahimzai Khel. Ghani believes 20 percent of the district's "troublemakers" are generated by abusive activities by law enforcement and other GIRoA officials. He blamed ANP District Chief of Police Patang,s inactivity for the problems in the district. (NOTE: PC President Habiburrahman from Andar district has claimed in the past that CoP Patang is corrupt and has raped young boys. The PRT is unable to ascertain the credibility of these allegations. END NOTE.) ¶3. (S/REL ISAF) Dr. Ghani said that the anti-government and enemy forces in Andar district consist mainly of foreign and Afghan Taliban who either reside in Andar throughout the year, or migrate to and from Pakistan. They receive direction from the Quetta Shura, and receive medical treatment at a hospital the Taliban maintain in Pakistan. Dr. Ghani asserted that the Andar Taliban work closely with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI),though he offered no proof. The Taliban now intimidate many of Andar's residents into working for and supporting them. Dr. Ghani said that he is willing to cooperate with the Coalition Forces to identify key enemy and anti-government leaders and their forces in Andar district. He cautioned, however, that Coalition Forces should be alert to being manipulated by informants seeking to have Coalition Forces kill their political rivals. EMPLOYMENT AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES IN ANDAR DISTRICT -------------- ¶4. (S/REL ISAF) Dr. Ghani claimed that there were no improvements or construction projects taking place in Andar district, and complained that the road from Ghazni to Andar remained unpaved. The road contract had been given to a construction company that he said subsequently fled with the funds it had received, leaving the road in its current state. (NOTE: The Afghanistan Engineering District is cancelling this and other contracts with this contractor as a result of the contractor's unacceptable performance. END NOTE.) Dr. Ghazni added that he had proposed to Ghazni's Provincial Development Council (PDC) on four separate occasions that it pave an existing 12-kilometer road between the District Center and village of Molamababa (as heard). The people want this road, he said, adding that its construction would "solve 90 percent of the security problems in Andar district." ¶5. (S/REL ISAF) Dr. Ghani identified another problem area as joblessness. Many teenagers, he claimed, are joining the Taliban because they provide the teenagers with motorcycles, cell phones, and cell phone cards. There is a real need to create jobs. Men and women alike could be employed in carpet weaving. Professional training by international contractors could also provide the skills base to generate and sustain employment. ¶6. (S/REL ISAF) Dr. Ghani observed that Andar district is very agricultural in terms of its economy. He said that eighty percent of the underground canals (karezes) that supply water to Andar's crop fields have been dry for the KABUL 00000723 002 OF 002 past year due to drought and a falling water table, exacerbated by the over-drilling of wells. Whereas crops used to be watered only every 26 days, they now must be watered every six days. Dr. Ghani stressed that the drilling of wells must stop, and that the GIRoA should provide Andar's farmers with farming equipment. He claimed that Andar's farmers have not been able to export their crops for years. BIO INFORMATION ON DR. GHANI -------------- ¶7. (S/REL ISAF) Dr. Mohammad Ghani of Andar is Ghilzai Pashtun of the Andar sub-tribe,s Bayazeed Khel. A 1960,s graduate of Kabul University,s veterinary school, he subsequently taught himself human medicine and practiced in Saudi Arabia and Quetta, Pakistan. He was associated with Ittihad-i-Islami in the 1980s, as a doctor. Since the 1990s, he has lived in Andar and taught religious subjects to local youth. He claims to have fled the district after being taken hostage by the Taliban and then released through the intervention of local elders. Dr. Ghani said that he retains a large home and parcel of property and two vineyards in Narmee village (as heard) in Andar district. His relatives remain in Andar, his uncle lives in his home, and tenant farmers manage his landholdings. While a fundamentalist, Dr. Ghani ascribes to some of the teachings of the liberal Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence. An elder of Andar, Dr. Ghani won 6,818 votes (1.9 percent) in the last Provincial Council elections. Dr. Ghani is most comfortable speaking Pashtu, though he understands some English. COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (S/REL ISAF) Andar's location in Ghazni province, its history as a center of religious opposition to foreign occupation, its Pashtun-dominated tribal structure, and its current role as a safe haven for enemy and anti-government forces justify its strategic importance in Task Force White Eagle's Winter Campaign Plan. Andar is viewed by the Pashtuns who live in it as an artificial geographic and political entity -- only an ill-defined part of a larger territorial space reaching into neighboring Paktika province and historically called "Shelgar." Positive engagement wtih the district for these reasons alone would have a significant impact on the counterinsurgency in Ghazni province. Andar has also served in the past as a breadbasket for five provinces. Seizing and controlling the 2,500 acre Kwajanoor farms in southern Andar would be a counterinsurgency success across all lines, as the farms serve as a safe-haven and source of food for the Taliban, and a symbol of Taliban strength in Ghazni. Contrary to Dr. Ghani's understanding, there are at least 12 development projects underway in Andar, including infrastructure and road projects. At least seven other projects have already been completed. Dr. Ghani's willingness to promote Coalition success in Andar district could be of benefit and should be exploited, especially as his family's connections to and prominence in the district extend back generations. WOOD