Nimroz province has a population of approximately 184 000, mainly Baluch. It is located in the south-west of Afghanistan and borders Farah and Helmand, as well as Iran and Pakistan. Nimroz is divided into six districts. The province is an important smuggling and trafficking route because of its vicinity to Iran, Pakistan and Helmand. The city of Zaranj hosts a domestic airport.

The influence of Iran in the province is high. In the context of ‘the worst drought in living memory’, Iran was accused of sabotaging an important water dam project in the province. The Taliban are very active in most parts of the province. It is reported that they set up checkpoints to charge taxes on vehicles carrying goods. In-fighting for control of drug-trafficking routes has been reported between Taliban and fighters loyal to Mullah Rasul.

According to the LWJ, most areas in the province were controlled by Taliban, apart from the district centres and the province capital, Zaranj, which were under government control.

ACLED collected data on 142 violent events in the period from 1 March 2019 to 30 June 2020 (average of 2 incidents per week), of which 109 were coded as ‘battles’, 30 as ‘explosions/remote violence’ and three as ‘violence against civilians’.

Examples of incidents include a campaign of strikes by US forces against Taliban drug labs in the province, sometimes resulting in civilian casualties. According to sources, clashes erupted between Taliban and Afghan security forces, mainly in Kashrod and Delaram districts. The Taliban also often attacked military and police checkpoints in the province.

UNAMA documented 62 civilian casualties (30 death and 32 injured) in 2019, representing 34 civilian victims per 100 000 inhabitants. This was a decrease of 24 % compared to 2018. The leading cause for the civilian casualties were airstrikes, followed by ground engagements and explosive remnants of war.

RS ranked Nimroz in the category of provinces where the number of civilian casualties was between 0 and 25 for the first quarter of 2020; between 0 and 25 civilian casualties were also recorded in the second quarter.

In the period 1 March 2019 – 30 June 2020, 2 557 persons were displaced from the province of Nimroz, all of them relocating in the provincial capital Zaranj. In the same period, 597 were displaced to Nimroz’s provincial capital, Zaranj, from Farah province.