Afghan Biographies

Nawa-i-Barakzai District Helmand Province


Name Nawa-i-Barakzai District Helmand Province
Ethnic backgr.
Date of birth
Function/Grade District Chief
History and Biodata

Nawa-ye Barakzai District Nawa-I-Barakzayi District Naway District Chief:
Mohammad Nabi Khan (2002)
Abdul Manaf, Father: Nik Mohammad, (20100706)
Abdul Aziz, Acting administrator of Nawa district,was gunned down by two motorcyclists in front of his residence in Lashkargah (20120329)
Haji Abdul Manaf was travelling on Kabul-Kandahar highway and was killed in the vicinity of Moqor district. He travelling in his own vehicle and was on his way to Kandahar province when he was ambushed by militants.(20111004, 20120403, 20150518)
Mohammad Takra (20170720)

District Police Chief:
Ahmad Shah Khan (20161003 killed)


Background:
Nawa-I-Barakzayi is located on a flood plain that had been farmed for centuries, with farmers taking water from the river via locally built canals. In the 1950s and 1960s the United States sponsored the Helmand Valley Authority, a desert reclamation project to help turn parts of the Helmand River Valley into fertile farmland. In Nawa, the Shamalan canal, a branch of the Boghra canal, was built by the Helmand Valley Authority. It replaced the old system, increased the water supply, improved water distribution and brought new lands under irrigation. Additional irrigation in the 1970s brought more water into the southern reaches of Nawa, more land under cultivation, and allowed new land settlement.
It is bordered by the districts of Lashkar Gah, Nad Ali, Garmsir, and Rig, as well as the provinces of Nimruz and Kandahar. It falls within the area known as Pashtunistan, (land of the Pashtuns), an area comprising most of southeast Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan. The dominant language is Pashto and many of the 89,000 residents practice the traditional code of Pashtunwali. Nawa-I-Barakzayi's name reflects the dominant Pashtun tribe in the district, the Barakzai. Prior to the 1970s, it was called Shamalan after a small village at the south end of the district. It is one of the top opium-producing districts in Afghanistan with 6% of Afghanistan's total crop being grown there. This has made the Nawa-i-Barakzayi district a central hub in the opium and heroin trade. The district has also been the scene of heavy fighting during the Helmand province campaign. It was a Taliban stronghold until the summer of 2009, when United States Marines were deployed there as part of Operation Strike of the Sword. In January 2010 ISAF chief Stanley McChrystal and the country's prime minister Hamid Karzai visited the district to assess the ISAF's work in combating the insurgents.


 

 

Last Modified 2017-07-20
Established 2012-04-15