Uruzgan (Pashto:ارزګان;Dari:ارزگان), also spelled asUrozgan orOruzgan, is one of the thirty-fourprovinces of Afghanistan. Uruzgan is located in the center of the country. The population is 436,079,[3] and the province is mostly a tribal society.Tarinkot serves as the capital of the province. Uruzgan borders the provinces ofKandahar,Daykundi,Ghazni,Zabul, andHelmand.
Uruzgan province is located in southern Afghanistan, borderingZabul andKandahar to the south,Helmand to the southwest,Daykundi to the north, andGhazni to the east. Uruzgan covers an area of 12,640 square kilometres (1,264,000 ha). Much of the province is mountainous or semi-mountainous terrain, while the rest of the area is made up of flat land.[4]
During the 1980'sSoviet war in Afghanistan, Uruzgan witnessed fighting between pro-Soviet forces and theMujahideen. One of the most prominent local Mujahideen leaders wasJan Mohammad Khan. In late 1994, Uruzgan was captured by theTaliban.[citation needed] They were toppled by US-led forces in late 2001.Hamid Karzai and his followers arrived in Uruzgan between October and November 2001 to take over control of the area.[citation needed]
Soldiers fromAustralia's Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) in December 2009.
Because of security concerns and theTaliban insurgency, only one international aid agency (GIZ) has a permanent presence in Uruzgan. NATO's ISAF operates a PRT in Tarinkot. The 1,400 Dutch and 1,090 Australian troops in the area secured only the largest population centers in Uruzgan (Deh Rawood, Chora, and Tarinkot towns) under the Dutch "inkspot policy". However, the force's area of responsibility included the entire province. Gizab district, which was then the most dangerous of Uruzgan's district, had no ISAF presence before. In August 2010, the 1,950 Dutch forces withdrew their forces from Uruzgan province, after a political disagreement in the Dutch parliament, leaving the PRT to the US and Australia to continue the mission.
U.S. Army soldier watching Afghans pass during a logistics inspection inTarinkot.
Uruzgan's opium poppy crop reached record levels in 2006 and 2007, according to theUnited Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), as no significant eradication efforts were carried out by the Afghan administration or Dutch forces.
Between 15 and 19 June 2007, Dutch, American, Australian and Afghan soldiersdefended the town of Chora against an assault by Taliban combatants. Reports in the Dutch, Australian[6] and US press[7][8][9] indicated that the battle was one of the largest Taliban offensives of the year. The fighting resulted in the deaths of a Dutch soldier, 1 Australian soldier, 1 American soldier, 16 Afghan policemen, an unknown number of civilians and a large number of Taliban.
In September 2008,Rozi Khan, the leader of Uruzgan's PashtunBarakzai tribe, and a longtime rival of Popalzai leader Jan Mohammed Khan, was killed in a firefight inChora District.
Gizab District was temporarily cleared of the Taliban by ISAF forces in late April 2010 and this was attributed to the uprising of the townspeople who helped the ISAF forces.[10][11]
In February 2010, near Khod, over ten civilians in a three-vehicle convoy were killed by a combined force of aLockheed AC-130,Bell OH-58 Kiowa helicopters andGeneral Atomics MQ-1 Predator drones, who misidentified them as Taliban. The air forces were attempting to protect ground troops fighting several km away.[12][13]
The percentage of households with clean drinking water increased from 8% in 2005 to 27% in 2011.[14]The percentage of births attended to by a skilled birth attendant increased from 6% in 2005 to 14% in 2011.[14]
The overall literacy rate (6+ years of age) increased from 5% in 2005 to 17% in 2011.[14]The overall net enrollment rate (6–13 years of age) increased from 1% in 2005 to 49% in 2011.[14]
As of 2020, the total population of the province is about 436,079.[3] The province has an estimated 45,000 households, each with about six members on average. A large portion of Uruzgan's population is ethnicPashtun and ethnicHazara.[15] There is also a small population of the nomadicKochis, whose numbers vary with the seasons.[15]
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