Nangarhar

[Main COI reference: Security 2022, 4.23, pp. 156-162]

The UN Secretary General identified Nangarhar Province as one of the four most conflict-affected provinces in Afghanistan in the period between 19 August and 21 May 2022.

According to an independent Afghan analyst consulted by EUAA in December 2021, ISKP continued to have its strongest foothold in Nangarhar and Kunar provinces. In February and April 2022, Nangarhar Province was referred to as being the group’s stronghold. The Swedish Migration Agency, with reference to an interviewed analyst, reported in April 2022 that TTP and recently the Haqqani network in particular were assumed to be present in Nangarhar and Kunar provinces.

During the reference period, ACLED recorded 214 security incidents in Nangarhar Province (average of 3.5 incidents per week) of which 80 were battles, 89 cases of violence against civilians and 45 explosions/remote violence.

Most incidents were attributed to ISKP and Taliban forces, with several incidents also attributed to unidentified armed group(s).

According to ACLED, the security incidents in the province resulted in 369 fatalities, which included combatants and non-combatants.

UCDP recorded 160 security incidents in the period between 16 August 2021 and 22 October, resulting in 69 civilian deaths. Compared to population data from UNOCHA, this represented 3 civilian deaths per 100 000 inhabitants.

Examples of incidents included arrests, killings and forced disappearances of suspected ISKP collaborators by the Taliban, targeted attacks of civilians by ISKP militants, ISKP attacks on mosques and Taliban targets, IED explosions by unidentified armed groups with civilian casualties, an unknown gunmen attack on a wedding, shooting of Afghans trying to enter Pakistan by Pakistani forces, and businessmen kidnappings. For instance, on 18 and 19 September 2021, several blasts in Nangarhar Province targeting Taliban forces reportedly carried out by ISKP, resulted in 5 deaths and 15 injuries. Another explosion in a mosque on 12 November 2021 claimed by ISKP was reported in the Spin Ghar area during Friday prayers, resulting in 3 deaths and 15 injuries.

According to UNOCHA, Nangarhar is one of the eight provinces ‘with the highest priority’ for UNMAS survey, as an area ‘where threats of improvised mines have been reported as a result of recent conflicts’ and it is among the provinces with the highest numbers of trauma-related injury cases. Sources reported about civilian casualties, including the death of children, caused by unexploded ordnance in the reference period.

70 persons were displaced due to conflict from Jalalabad District to Herat Province in October 2021. No displacement has been registered between mid-August and the end of November 2021 and from January to the beginning of May 2022. IOM identified 153 799 IDP arrivals in Nangahar Province in the period between August 2021 and December 2021. In the same period, 165 243 IDPs returned to Nangahar. IOM identified Nangarhar Province as the Afghan province with the largest proportion of IDPs arriving since August 2021.

Focus on the provincial capital: Jalalabad

Jalalabad was the most affected district within the province, with 92 security incidents recorded by ACLED (1.5 incidents per week), of which 42 were battles, 35 cases of violence against civilians, and 15 explosions/remote violence.

ISKP has a strong presence in Jalalabad City. Reportedly, 111 of 200 attacks carried out by ISKP in Afghanistan in the first half of 2021 occurred in Nangarhar Province and 80 of them in Jalalabad City alone. BBC News further reported extra-judicial killings of alleged ISKP members in Jalalabad, for which the Taliban forces were ‘widely assumed to be responsible’ although no one claimed responsibility. As stated in the article, the Taliban and ISKP were ‘now engaged in a murky and bloody battle’ with Jalalabad as the frontline. According to an assessment made by the Taliban in February 2022, the ISKP were weakened in Jalalabad, but still present in the province.

According to an independent Afghan analyst interviewed by EUAA in November 2021, there were also reports of ISKP abducting Taliban members in Jalalabad City and beheading them.

In the beginning of November 2021, an IED explosion caused by an unidentified armed group in Jalalabad City killed three persons.

70 persons were displaced due to conflict from Jalalabad District to Herat Province in October 2021. No displacement has been registered between mid-August and the end of November 2021 and from January to the beginning of May 2022.