VZCZCXRO7140
RR RUEHDBU RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #0810/01 0920434
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 020434Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8079
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000810 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS TO AID FOR ASIA/SCAA 
USFOR-A FOR POLAD 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL AF
 
SUBJECT:  Chaghcharan: Security, Development and Governance Update 
 
¶1. Summary.  Ghor is relatively secure by Afghanistan standards. 
Security concerns arise from anti-government elements moving into 
Ghor from neighboring provinces Farah and Helmand, from drug 
smuggling (and the accompanying corruption), and from violent tribal 
conflicts.  Ghor's new governor is saying all the right things, 
lobbying Kabul personally for increased funds, but so far coming up 
short on commitments.  The small Afghan National Police (ANP) 
presence in Ghor is generally considered corrupt and of poor quality 
but may benefit from the appointment of its new police chief, who 
hails from Nuristan and may be less likely to be influenced by local 
tribal disputes.  Though the Afghan National Army (ANA) is not 
currently in the province, the current plan is to deploy ANA forces 
to Ghor during the August 2009 elections and station them there 
permanently.  Despite its limited and declining development budget, 
the Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) is working 
with the Afghan government and other international donors and 
organizations to upgrade the provincial airport and develop an 
all-weather road from Herat to Kabul via Chaghcharan.  End Summary. 
 
Security 
-------- 
 
¶2. Ghor province is relatively secure by Afghanistan standards. 
With the exception of 200 soldiers temporarily sent to Ghor during 
voter registration and a small recruiting station, there has not 
been a significant ANA presence in the province for decades, if 
ever.  Violence in the province is fueled by anti-government 
elements escaping ISAF actions in Farah and Helmand, drug smugglers, 
and inter- and intra-tribal disputes.  Tribal disputes are often 
negotiated among local elders, but inevitably, some action (e.g. 
theft of livestock) revives the enmity.  In Dolat Yar district there 
are preliminary reports of increased weapons purchases by the 
Baiboka and Sadar tribes (both Tajik) that signal a potential rise 
in inter-tribal violence as the weather improves.  The current 
disagreements between them concern food distributions and the 
placement of a coalition-built district center.  The perennial 
dispute between the Pahlawan and Chest-e tribes makes travel to 
Sharak and Tulak risky, since the local leader is a Chest-e trouble 
maker (Mullah Mustafa), while local police are generally from the 
Pahlawan tribe. 
 
Development 
----------- 
 
¶3. Development priorities are infrastructure, education and rule of 
law.  Governor Munib told the PRT that only ten percent of the 557 
schools in the province have buildings; 80 percent of the population 
engages in agriculture and livestock with little GIRoA support; 
there is no sustainable source of electricity; roads need paving; 
and agriculture suffered from drought.   The Lithuanian military 
carries out quick impact projects (QIP) consisting of small 
necessities such as blankets, clothing, school supplies and tents 
for schools; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs manages development 
projects.  While leading the PRT, Lithuania has built schools, 
training centers, and conducted training for prosecutors and judges. 
 The PRT also is building a public park in Chaghcharan in 
cooperation with the Mayor and the Department of Public Works, and 
establishing a computer training center with internet connections at 
the Department of Information and Culture.  The financial resources 
Lithuania brings to Afghanistan are modest and due to domestic 
budget pressures it will reduce its development funding by almost 50 
percent next year. 
 
¶4. The Lithuanians seek to coordinate where they can with other 
international actors in the province, and to identify other funding 
sources.  The PRT has good relations with all the NGOs working in 
Ghor: Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, ARD, Global Partners, 
Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (CHA), and Afghan Aid.  Working 
with World Vision, the PRT has completed fourteen school 
construction projects.  Together with the UN Office of Drugs and 
Crime, it recently completed a series of training workshops for 
prosecutors and judges.  The PRT has implemented projects funded by 
the Government of Japan (GOJ) contributing to the GOJ's decision to 
detail three GOJ development advisors to the Lithuanian PRT 
beginning in April 2009. 
 
¶5. A key priority project underway is an upgrade of the provincial 
airport.  GIRoA secured funding from the Asian Development Bank 
(ADB) for all upgrades except improvements of the runway to support 
military air, and Lithuania and the Ministry of Transportation 
signed a Memorandum of Understanding to this effect in early 2009. 
The Lithuanians are seeking the $10 million donor support required 
for the runway construction, but SACEUR told the PRT during his 
recent visit that the runway is not yet included in the overall 
military plan for GIRoA.  A second priority development project for 
the PRT and local officials is an all-weather road from Herat to 
Kabul via Chaghcharan.  South Korea and Japan are conducting a 
feasibility study; however, SACEUR commented that other studies 
 
KABUL 00000810  002 OF 002 
 
 
indicate such a road may cost as much as $1 million per kilometer 
(it is 300 kilometers from Chagcharan to Herat).  The Lithuanians 
indicated they would start the project with a gravel road, with 
outside funding required for paving the road.  (Comment: This 
project must be managed and lobbied at the national level given the 
scale of the project.) 
 
Governance 
---------- 
 
¶6. Newly-installed Governor Munib has been saying all the right 
things.  Appointed in November 2008, he returned in early March from 
Kabul where he lobbied GIRoA for more funding for Ghor.  He returned 
with many promises of increased funding, but no commitments.  By 
contrast, recent Provincial Council (PC) elections saw the elevation 
of General Ahmand Rahimi (a suspected drug-smuggler and food-convoy 
looter with ties to local troublemakers Ammadullah Beg, General 
Morghabi, and Mullah Mustafa) to the post of PC President.  Rahimi 
is implicated in the recent theft of 1,600 bags of food from a 
humanitarian convoy in Char Sadeh District.  The former district 
administrator from Chard Sadeh was arrested in connection with the 
theft, and Rahimi has fled back to his home village in Char Sadeh 
presumably to escape a similar fate. 
 
¶7. Ghor has only 700 police for an area the size of Belgium and a 
population of between 800,000 and 900,000.  The quality of police in 
the province is very low.  The U.S. military and EUPOL at the PRT 
provide police mentoring, but there is a need for an Afghan army 
presence in the province.  The RC-West Commander, BG Serra, said the 
current plan is to deploy ANA forces to the province during the 
August 2009 elections and assign them there permanently.  The police 
chief was recently replaced and it is hoped that his replacement, 
Abdul Baghy, who is from Nuristan and the nephew of Herat Governor 
Nuristani, will be less susceptible to local tribal pressures. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. Ghor's challenge is to attract more attention to what is a 
relatively peaceful area under the responsibility of a PRT with a 
relatively low budget.  However, if the Lithuanians can secure 
donors for the airport and the road project gains traction, Ghor 
would see immediate and significant progress. 
 
WOOD