Afghan Biographies

Jurm District Badakshan Province


Name Jurm District Badakshan Province
Ethnic backgr.
Date of birth
Function/Grade District Chief District Police Chief Taliban Shadow Dist Chi
History and Biodata

Jurm District Badakhshan Province District Chief:
Daulat Muhammad Khawri (20100831),
Jabar Musadiq (20130311)
Noor Aqa Nadiri (20140722)
Abdul Wadood Sayedi (20160411)

 

District Police Chief:
Col. Habibullah Farooqi Faruqi Faroghi (1999)
Col. Mirza Karim (20100831)
Col. Amanullah (20110303)
Shaqar Khan (20150915)
Mohammad Amin (20151121)

Taliban Shadow district governor chief:
Qari Wasel (201106, 2012, 2013, 2014, 20150915)

 

Background:
The district capital is a town named Jurm. The district is located near the center of the province and is home to approximately 3,000 residents, making it one of the most sparsely populated portions of the province. The highest point of the Afghan Hindu Kush is located in Jurm District - at 6729 meters altitude.

 

Local officials in Badakhshan province said that militants were controlling only two areas in Jurm district.(20140127) In the past three years 2013-2015, the Taliban have gained control of about 70 percent of the Jurm district, which is home to more than 35,000 people. There are several reasons for that, including the presence of lapis lazuli mines that have at times been a focal point of fighting. The remote province’s mountainous terrain and limited road network have made it difficult for the Afghan military to respond quickly to Taliban attacks. In the past two years, the Taliban have on at least three occasions overrun a district center in Badakhshan, before being fought off or quickly retreating.

(20150414)

Khostak valley, still the main base of the Taleban in Jurm district today, consists of around 30 villages scattered throughout the main valley and the five sub-valleys that encircle it. The valley connects four Badakhshan districts: Zebak and Keran Wa Munjan in the south, Warduj in the east and Yamgan in the west.

According to several residents, the complicity in the Jurm attack may have gone even further. They related how the Afghan Local Police (ALP) commander Abdul Mulik, who commands a large militia, supposedly paid ANA commander Raufi millions of Afghani to let the bases fall to the Taleban (one million Afghani is almost 20,000 US dollar). Others said Mulik paid the Taleban who then bought the bases from Raufi and other check post commanders. Some argued that the deal – if there indeed had been one – was related to Abdul Mulik’s involvement in the illegal mining business (as a former district police commander he had in fact fought the Taleban in the past). Ahmad Javid Mujahiddi, the deputy head of the provincial council, said that the ANA base had probably been impeding Mulik’s illegal mining business, as its location was hampering access to the mine.

Whatever the case, the latest developments seems to have caused the government to not only shelve the operations it had planned to counter the growing militancy in Badakhshan, but also to halt its attempts to set up a permanent base in Faizabad. The base was meant to house the new 4th brigade and was supposed to have been completed before the last winter set in.

It seems fair to say that what appeared to be one of the insurgency’s main objectives of 2015 – creating unchallenged safe havens in Badakhshan – has indeed been achieved. Out of Badakhshan’s 28 districts, three are more or less under Taleban control as of early April 2016 – Jurm, Yamgan and Warduj – with some areas being contested due to the presence of ANSF bases, which the Taleban are trying to attack and overrun. Looking at the military’s plans or lack thereof for Badakhshan at the moment; it seems unlikely this situation will change.(20160411)

Supporters of Taliban Commanders Qari Matiullah and Qari Ashor clashed among each other in Gharmi village, Jurm District. at least 17 militants were killed during the infighting in Jurm district of Badakhshan. (20180929)

Last Modified 2018-09-29
Established 2010-09-01