Chaghcharan: Security, Development and Governance Update

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000810

DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM
STATE PASS TO AID FOR ASIA/SCAA
USFOR-A FOR POLAD

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL AF

SUBJECT: Chaghcharan: Security, Development and Governance Update


1. Summary. Ghor is relatively secure by Afghanistan standards.
Security concerns arise from anti-government elements moving into
Ghor from neighboring provinces Farah and Helmand, from drug
smuggling (and the accompanying corruption),and from violent tribal
conflicts. Ghor's new governor is saying all the right things,
lobbying Kabul personally for increased funds, but so far coming up
short on commitments. The small Afghan National Police (ANP)
presence in Ghor is generally considered corrupt and of poor quality
but may benefit from the appointment of its new police chief, who
hails from Nuristan and may be less likely to be influenced by local
tribal disputes. Though the Afghan National Army (ANA) is not
currently in the province, the current plan is to deploy ANA forces
to Ghor during the August 2009 elections and station them there
permanently. Despite its limited and declining development budget,
the Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) is working
with the Afghan government and other international donors and
organizations to upgrade the provincial airport and develop an
all-weather road from Herat to Kabul via Chaghcharan. End Summary.

Security
--------------


2. Ghor province is relatively secure by Afghanistan standards.
With the exception of 200 soldiers temporarily sent to Ghor during
voter registration and a small recruiting station, there has not
been a significant ANA presence in the province for decades, if
ever. Violence in the province is fueled by anti-government
elements escaping ISAF actions in Farah and Helmand, drug smugglers,
and inter- and intra-tribal disputes. Tribal disputes are often
negotiated among local elders, but inevitably, some action (e.g.
theft of livestock) revives the enmity. In Dolat Yar district there
are preliminary reports of increased weapons purchases by the
Baiboka and Sadar tribes (both Tajik) that signal a potential rise
in inter-tribal violence as the weather improves. The current
disagreements between them concern food distributions and the
placement of a coalition-built district center. The perennial
dispute between the Pahlawan and Chest-e tribes makes travel to
Sharak and Tulak risky, since the local leader is a Chest-e trouble
maker (Mullah Mustafa),while local police are generally from the
Pahlawan tribe.

Development
--------------


3. Development priorities are infrastructure, education and rule of
law. Governor Munib told the PRT that only ten percent of the 557
schools in the province have buildings; 80 percent of the population
engages in agriculture and livestock with little GIRoA support;
there is no sustainable source of electricity; roads need paving;
and agriculture suffered from drought. The Lithuanian military
carries out quick impact projects (QIP) consisting of small
necessities such as blankets, clothing, school supplies and tents
for schools; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs manages development
projects. While leading the PRT, Lithuania has built schools,
training centers, and conducted training for prosecutors and judges.
The PRT also is building a public park in Chaghcharan in
cooperation with the Mayor and the Department of Public Works, and
establishing a computer training center with internet connections at
the Department of Information and Culture. The financial resources
Lithuania brings to Afghanistan are modest and due to domestic
budget pressures it will reduce its development funding by almost 50
percent next year.


4. The Lithuanians seek to coordinate where they can with other
international actors in the province, and to identify other funding
sources. The PRT has good relations with all the NGOs working in
Ghor: Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, ARD, Global Partners,
Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (CHA),and Afghan Aid. Working
with World Vision, the PRT has completed fourteen school
construction projects. Together with the UN Office of Drugs and
Crime, it recently completed a series of training workshops for
prosecutors and judges. The PRT has implemented projects funded by
the Government of Japan (GOJ) contributing to the GOJ's decision to
detail three GOJ development advisors to the Lithuanian PRT
beginning in April 2009.


5. A key priority project underway is an upgrade of the provincial
airport. GIRoA secured funding from the Asian Development Bank
(ADB) for all upgrades except improvements of the runway to support
military air, and Lithuania and the Ministry of Transportation
signed a Memorandum of Understanding to this effect in early 2009.
The Lithuanians are seeking the $10 million donor support required
for the runway construction, but SACEUR told the PRT during his
recent visit that the runway is not yet included in the overall
military plan for GIRoA. A second priority development project for
the PRT and local officials is an all-weather road from Herat to
Kabul via Chaghcharan. South Korea and Japan are conducting a
feasibility study; however, SACEUR commented that other studies

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indicate such a road may cost as much as $1 million per kilometer
(it is 300 kilometers from Chagcharan to Herat). The Lithuanians
indicated they would start the project with a gravel road, with
outside funding required for paving the road. (Comment: This
project must be managed and lobbied at the national level given the
scale of the project.)

Governance
--------------


6. Newly-installed Governor Munib has been saying all the right
things. Appointed in November 2008, he returned in early March from
Kabul where he lobbied GIRoA for more funding for Ghor. He returned
with many promises of increased funding, but no commitments. By
contrast, recent Provincial Council (PC) elections saw the elevation
of General Ahmand Rahimi (a suspected drug-smuggler and food-convoy
looter with ties to local troublemakers Ammadullah Beg, General
Morghabi, and Mullah Mustafa) to the post of PC President. Rahimi
is implicated in the recent theft of 1,600 bags of food from a
humanitarian convoy in Char Sadeh District. The former district
administrator from Chard Sadeh was arrested in connection with the
theft, and Rahimi has fled back to his home village in Char Sadeh
presumably to escape a similar fate.


7. Ghor has only 700 police for an area the size of Belgium and a
population of between 800,000 and 900,000. The quality of police in
the province is very low. The U.S. military and EUPOL at the PRT
provide police mentoring, but there is a need for an Afghan army
presence in the province. The RC-West Commander, BG Serra, said the
current plan is to deploy ANA forces to the province during the
August 2009 elections and assign them there permanently. The police
chief was recently replaced and it is hoped that his replacement,
Abdul Baghy, who is from Nuristan and the nephew of Herat Governor
Nuristani, will be less susceptible to local tribal pressures.

Comment
--------------


8. Ghor's challenge is to attract more attention to what is a
relatively peaceful area under the responsibility of a PRT with a
relatively low budget. However, if the Lithuanians can secure
donors for the airport and the road project gains traction, Ghor
would see immediate and significant progress.

WOOD