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RUEHUNV/USMISSION UNVIE VIENNA 1332

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KABUL 002007 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/FO, SA/A, S/CR, SA/PAB, S/CT, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR AID/ANE, AID/DCHA/DG 
NSC FOR AHARRIMAN, KAMEND 
OSD FOR BREZINSKI 
CENTCOM FOR CG CFC-A, CG CJTF-76, POLAD 
REL NATO/AUST/NZ/ISAF 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: SNAR PREL PGOV PINR AF
SUBJECT: PRT/KUNDUZ: OUT IN BADAKHSHAN'S POPPYLAND 
 
KABUL 00002007  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  District managers in Jurm and 
Baharak acknowledge that poppy is being grown in their 
districts, but claim that the amount of land under 
cultivation is much less than in previous years.  They 
add, however, that as long as there are no other 
economic opportunities for the large number of 
otherwise unemployed people in their districts, poppy 
cultivation will continue.  Although AL programs are 
active in these districts, they complain that promised 
projects to provide alternative livelihoods have 
either not come through or are too limited to have a 
significant impact.  They worry there could be a 
significant public backlash if poppy eradication is 
carried out on a large scale.  PRT Faizabad has 
recently encountered resistance in Jurm and Baharak in 
obtaining safe houses to enable overnight patrolling, 
reflecting an apparent fear among powerbrokers that 
the longer the PRT spends in their districts, the more 
likely it will interfere in their criminal activities. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
So close, yet so bone-jarringly far away 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) PRToff traveled April 13 to Jurm and Baharak 
districts, which are best known for being two of the 
biggest poppy-growing districts in Badakhshan.  The 
district center of Baharak is only 40 kilometers 
southeast of Faizabad, but the trip there takes almost 
two hours on a severely pitted dirt road.  Baharak has 
one of the few paved district centers in Badakhshan 
(funded by USAID) and functions as a regional hub for 
travel to various parts of the province.  The district 
center of Jurm is a further 25 kilometers south from 
Baharak, requiring another hour of travel time.  The 
consolation for the bone-jarring ride is spectacular 
mountain scenery, similar to what one might see in 
western Montana, especially as one drives out of 
Faizabad along the Kowkcheh River valley toward 
Baharak. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Much of the poppy grown in Badakhshan is 
cultivated in remote locations, but during this trip, 
several poppy fields were visible from the main road, 
especially in Jurm.  Because of the later growing 
season in Badakhshan, the poppy plants were still only 
an inch or two high.  According to UNODC projections, 
the opium crop in this part of the country is not 
expected to flower until early June, with the harvest 
coming later that same month.  In one field, several 
workers were on their hands and knees, pulling weeds, 
while other workers were bringing water for the crop 
in large shallow containers balanced on their heads 
from a nearby stream or canal. 
 
District managers claim cultivation is down 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) PRToff met separately with the district 
managers of both provinces, Dr. Mohammad Masoon in 
Jurm and Mohammad Jowra in Baharak.  Both acknowledged 
that poppy was being grown in their districts, but 
claimed that the amount of land under cultivation was 
much less than in previous years, thanks to 
exhortations by various government and religious 
figures and their own actions.  Jowra boasted that his 
 
KABUL 00002007  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
police force had arrested smugglers and poppy growers 
last year, which he said had contributed to the 
alleged decline in poppy cultivation in Baharak this 
year.  However, upon further questioning, he admitted 
that no one had been prosecuted for their crimes or 
spent more than a couple of days behind bars.  All had 
been released upon request from their respective 
village elders.  (Comment:  The claim by the district 
managers that poppy cultivation is decreasing in Jurm 
and Baharak tracks with what the Afghan Eradication 
Force teams are finding.  During their initial 
reconnaissance missions in preparation for eradication, 
cultivation appears to be lower than what was expected. 
Time will tell but cultivation may not be at enhanced 
level as was originally reported in the February 2006 
UNODC Rapid Assessment Survey. End Comment.) 
 
"Still waiting for help" 
------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Both Masoon and Jowra said poppy cultivation 
would continue at some level, as long as there were no 
other economic opportunities for the large number of 
otherwise unemployed people in their districts.  They 
complained that promised projects to provide 
alternative livelihoods had either not come through or 
were too limited to have a significant impact.  Masoon 
said the alternative livelihood projects in Jurm 
employed only about 100 people at a time, which was 
far short of what was required in a district where he 
estimated 60% of the adult men were jobless.  Jowra 
claimed that there were no alternative livelihood 
projects at all in Baharak.  He complained that 
promises by visiting ambassadors from various donor 
countries to build roads, bring in electricity, and 
provide genetically-enhanced seeds and fertilizer had 
not been fulfilled.  "We're still waiting for help." 
(Comment.  USAID's spring seed program has provided 
seeds and technical assistance to 1700 farmers in 
Jurm/Khosh and 1701 farmers in Baharak/Warduj to plant 
10,200 jeribs of onion, tomato, okra, cauliflower, 
potato, and carrot.  USAID has provided 33,260 CFW 
labor days to repair 17 canals in Jurm.  A bridge to 
connect Baharak District to important market towns 
should be completed by August.  Although Alternative 
Livelihoods Provided in these two districts will not 
replace the value of poppy grown, it is clear that 
much public information work is required to ensure 
that local leaders know more about the large amount of 
Alternative Livelihoods assistance being provided. 
End Comment.) 
 
Public backlash against eradication? 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Both district managers thought that there 
could be significant public backlash if poppy 
eradication were carried out in on a large scale in 
their districts, since, as they claim, the poor have 
no other way of supporting their families.  But they 
denied that there were any armed groups in their 
districts who might try to prevent the poppy fields 
from being eradicated, with Jowra claiming that such a 
scenario was impossible since all the illegal weapons 
in Baharak had already been collected.  Both 
acknowledged that their police forces were not large 
 
KABUL 00002007  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
enough or properly equipped to deal with a major 
security challenge.  Jurm DM Masoon reported that for 
his district of 60,000 inhabitants, living in 68 
different villages, he had a police force of just 60 
and only one police vehicle.  Baharak DM Jowra said 
his police force of 85 also had just one vehicle at 
its disposal, to cover a district of 46,000 people in 
86 villages. 
 
Eradication in Kishim: A sign of things to come? 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Governor-led eradication in Badakhshan began 
April 11 in Kishim District, the main entry point into 
Badakhshan from neighboring Takhar Province. 
According to reports received by PRT Faizabad, 
eradication was initially halted after three days due 
to peaceful resistance by local farmers and their 
families.  Some reportedly stood in front of the 
eradication tractors to stymie the operation.  The 
Ministry of Counter Narcotics in Kabul acknowledges 
that there was some local opposition to the operation, 
but claims that it was not significant and that it did 
not stop eradication.  The ministry reports that 
eradication was only stopped for a short period due to 
a lack of funds for fuel, and that it continued once 
funding was provided to the governor.  Local officials 
have told PRT Faizabad that eradication was conducted 
in several areas of Kishim District up until April 20, 
but the amount of eradicated farmland remains to be 
confirmed.  The governor has plans to pursue 
eradication in other districts, but those operations 
had not yet begun as of the end of April. 
 
Minimizing RPG attack on PRT patrol 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) PRToff asked Masoon whether there was any 
further information about who was responsible for the 
April 5 midnight RPG attack on a Faizabad PRT patrol 
overnighting at the Jurm district police station. 
Masoon, pointing out the impact points of the two RPGs 
on the police station next door, visible through his 
office window, was at pains to emphasize that it was 
still not clear who was the target of the attack.  He 
thought it was possible that the police station itself 
was the target -- even though the German soldiers were 
alone at the site and no Afghan police officers were 
present.   In a later meeting, Gulalai Akbari, a 
Provincial Council member from Jurm, also claimed to 
PRToff that the German patrol may not have been the 
target of the April 5 attack.  But she then quickly 
added that PRT patrols should avoid overnighting in 
villages in any case because they could potentially 
put civilians in harm's way. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Like in Jurm, the PRT has also encountered 
negative attitudes toward its overnight patrols in 
Baharak, where local elders recently vetoed an 
agreement for the PRT to rent a piece of property in 
the district center as a safe house.  The fear among 
powerbrokers seems to be that the longer the PRT 
spends in their districts, the more likely it will 
 
KABUL 00002007  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
interfere in their criminal activities -- although the 
excuse given is that the foreign troops will not 
respect Afghan culture and sensitivities.  In regard 
to the April 5 attack in Jurm, officials seem to be 
avoiding any admission that might lead the PRT to 
respond by increasing its presence in the district. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) NGOs and IOs have been generally welcomed 
throughout the province for the aid and development 
they provide, as long as their activities have not 
challenged or undermined the existing corrupt power 
structure.  However, owing to the extremely poor 
communications within the province, there is a general 
misperception, as reflected in the comments of both 
the Jurm and Baharak district managers, that the 
international community has done little for the 
province and that Badakhshan has ironically suffered 
by being the only province which was not conquered by 
the Taliban during their rule.  Meanwhile, governor- 
led poppy eradication has been carried out peacefully 
thus far (in Kishim district), but that seems to 
reflect the fact the effort has been small-scale and 
has not posed a strategic threat to the poppy growers 
or drug smugglers.  End Comment. 
 
Bio note: Dr. Mohammad Masoon 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  Dr. Mohammad Masoon, 42, was chief of social 
affairs in the provincial government in Faizabad 
before becoming Jurm district manager in late March. 
With self-described "intermediate" medical training, 
he served previously as chief medical officer of the 
29th AMF Division, which was responsible for the nine 
eastern districts of Badakhshan and was a part of 
General Daoud's 6th Corps in Kunduz.  He is a long- 
term resident of Baharak district, where he has a 
family house.  He spends the work week in Jurm and 
commutes to Baharak on weekends. 
 
¶12.  Mohammad Jowra has been Baharak district manager 
since 2003, but PRT Faizabad reports that Jowra spends 
so little time in the district that Chief of Police Lt. 
Col. Qari Wadud effectively acts as district manager 
much of the time.  Jowra has a family home and farm in 
Darayeen district, where he was formerly district 
manager.  Jowra said his family had been living in 
Baharak, but has since moved back to Darayeen, where 
he himself now spends weekends. 
 
NEUMANN