Paktia province is located in southeast Afghanistan and shares borders with the provinces of Logar, Ghazny, Paktika and Khost. Paktia is a province and mountainous and rugged terrain with the exception of its capital Gardiz and the Zarmut and Said Karam directorates. Forests of oak and pine cover most of its mountains, and it therefore represents one of the best spots in Afghanistan in terms of natural beauty. The famous Suliman mountain chain extends east and west through the province and covers most of its area.

The standard of living of residents in this province in terms of poverty does not much differ from the remaining Afghan provinces. They do not own spacious lands for farming, so its people live on what they can get from lumber, fruits and other produce of the mountains.

Paktia is one of the provinces whose people were greatly damaged in the days of the Russian occupation when their homes and villages were destroyed by heavy bombing in the long battles which went on for more than ten years. Its people were forced to leave their homes and migrate to other areas because their districts - like Zadran, Jaji and Zarmut - were among the most important areas of Mujahideen influence and there the Russians sustained great losses.

When America attacked Afghanistan, Paktia was once again the province from which was launched the spark of resistance against the Americans face-to-face. American forces encountered their most fierce resistance in the mountains of Shahi Kut in the Zarmut directorate. The Americans sustained great losses there and the American generals admitted that the American army had not encountered such resistance in forty years since its battles in Vietnam.

That momentous battle is considered the first opening in the path of the resistance against the American Crusader forces, vanishing from the minds of the people the terror planted there by the American propaganda war. After that violent resistance, Jihadist opposition spread in other areas of Paktia and it did not take a long time to pass before secret, scattered resistance transformed into open and organized opposition.

In view of the strategic military importance of this province, the enemy has established strong military bases and dispatched large forces there with the intent of weakening Jihadist resistance. Through the grace of Almighty Allah, however, they have not been able to achieve their goals there and their forces have become confined to their military bases.

As for the Mujahideen, they control 80% of the area of this province and the enemy is not able to move freely in the region except for some special areas. For example, the districts of Chawani, Ibrahim Kheil and Sada Kula and the neighboring villages around the provincial capital Gardiz are all under the control of the Mujahideen. Enemy convoys encounter Mujahideen opposition by merely trying to leave the city center.

The Arma directorate west of the city was completely conquered by the Mujahideen four years ago and there is absolutely no enemy presence there. As for the Zarmut directorate, despite the presence there of four alleged reconstruction units called P.R.T.s and a large number of barracks for Crusader troops and their agents from the lackey army, the enemy controls nothing except the district center. The remaining wide areas of this directorate, including the famous Wadi Shahi Kut, are all under the control of the Mujahideen and enemy forces and convoys are not able to pass from Gardiz in the direction of Ghazny and Paktika.

On the other side, in the directorates of Shawak, Karda Chiri and Waza Zadran situated on the road between Gardiz and Khost, the enemy controls nothing except for the district centers and some checkpoints on the public highway. The remainder of the area is generally under the influence of the Mujahideen. The areas between Jani Kheil and Mungal are considered areas of Mujahideen control, where they have an open presence and strong military bases in addition to a civil administration for local affairs in these districts. Rarely does the enemy travel on the road stretching between Gardiz and Khost without suffering losses in lives and equipment.

On top of the above-mentioned districts, the directorates of Jani Kheil, Gamkani, Dandabatan, Jaji Aryub, Sayyed Karam and Ahmad Kheil are also areas with organized units of Mujahideen in which they openly conduct their activities. In most of these areas there is no enemy presence for the Mujahideen to target. On the other hand, most of the areas of these directorates are rugged and mountainous and it is difficult to move from one place to another. This causes a delay in the arrival of news and reports of Mujahideen operations. Perhaps news of some operations does not reach media agencies until after it has lost its informative and media value.

Ahmad Aba and Laja are considered the sole provinces under enemy control. However, even they are not completely devoid of Mujahideen activities.

Meanwhile, Jihadist officials plan to escalate Mujahideen activity in eastern Paktia province to the level it is in the south and west of the province. There are Mujahideen efforts to sever the supply road for enemy bases located in the Chiminki and Jaji Aryub directorates in order to occupy the enemy in more than one place at once.

Weather conditions also impact Mujahideen activities. With the coming of spring, we are seeing an increase in Mujahideen operations to grant Paktia a place at the top of the list of Mujahideen operations. It is not far-fetched that soon we will see burning columns of Crusader tanks and transports on the streets and in the valleys of Paktia just as we saw Russian tanks in the recent past. This is up to Allah.


This artcle by Qari Habib was translated from the Islamic Emirate Of Afghanistan: Al-Somood Monthly Magazine, Issue 47

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