Chārdara District ولسوالی چاردره | |
|---|---|
  Chārdara District Location in Afghanistan | |
| Coordinates:36°41′36″N68°48′05″E / 36.6933°N 68.8014°E /36.6933; 68.8014 | |
| Country |  Afghanistan |
| Province | Kunduz Province |
| Time zone | UTC+4:30 (Afghanistan Standard Time) |
Chārdara District (ولسوالی چاردره; also known asChahar Dara,Chahar Darreh orChar Darreh) is one of the seven districts inKunduz Province in northernAfghanistan. It is situated in the south-west part of Kunduz Province and has borders withQalay-I-Zal District to the north-west,Kunduz District to the north-east,Ali Abad District to the south-east,Baghlan Province to the south andSamangan Province to the south-west.
Most of this population lives in villages or farms in the north-west portion of the district along the south-west bank of the Kunduz River. This land is cultivated and accounts for approximately 15% of the area of the Chardara District. The remaining land in the district to the south-west comprises desert highlands that are mostly uninhabitable.
The Kunduz River valley is the dominant terrain feature inKunduz Province, and the river forms a natural north-eastern boundary between Chardara District andKunduz District. The river, along with a major tributary and derivative canals provide irrigation to the single crop cultivation fields that dominate land usage in the north-eastern portion of Chardara District. The district also has some dual crop fields.
When the Taliban were ousted from theKunduz Province in 2001, parts of the Chardara District were badly damaged. The district remained relatively peaceful until 2008, whenTaliban andAl-Qaeda-linked insurgents, includingUzbeks andChechens, began reappearing in the northern part of the country. In Kunduz Province, they established their main foothold in Chardara District and are able to operate openly for the most part.
Beginning in April 2009,German andAfghan troops based inKunduz made several attempts to combat the rising presence of militants in the Chardara District. In July 2009, German soldiers launched their biggest military operation sinceWorld War II, to displace the militants from the district. Their operations were largely viewed as unsuccessful as the militants were not ousted from Chardara.[1]
In September 2009, at least 70 people were killed near Haji Aman in Chardara District whenNATO aircraft struck two oil-tankers hijacked by Taliban insurgents.[2]
On 17 November 2009 it was reported that 4 security guards were killed in a battle with militants as they attacked Sediqi Construction Company. 1 Militant was also killed.[3]
On 10 February 2011, a suicide bomber killed a district governor and six other people in the district of Chardara, where the insurgency is well entrenched.[4]
In 2015, Chardara has been the site of heavy fighting.[5][6][7]
On 31 May 2016, the 20 remaining hostages from theKunduz-Takhar highway hostage crisis, where theTaliban held around 220 hostages (at least 23 had already been killed) were transported to the village ofOmarkhel.
As of September 25 2016, the district is controlled by theTaliban.[citation needed]
