VZCZCXRO9225
RR RUEHDBU RUEHPW
DE RUEHBUL #0906/01 1021242
ZNR UUUUU ZZH (CCY PARA'S AD0520C8E MSI6614 508)
R 121242Z APR 09 ZDS
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8340
INFO RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 000906 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM 
STATE PASS TO AID FOR ASIA/SCAA 
USFOR-A FOR POLAD 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (PARA 9 MARKING) 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL AF
SUBJECT: Paktika: Remote Gomal District Faces Security, 
Economic, and Governance Challenges 
 
KABUL 00000906  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Gomal District Administrator Musa Jan 
is concerned that lack of Afghan National Security Forces 
(ANSF) or Coalition Forces (CF) control of roads passing 
from South Waziristan through Gomal allows Taliban forces 
free access to the district and points north and west. 
Some villages are reportedly standing up to the Taliban; 
however, the brother of a Paktika parliamentarian was 
recently killed in a Taliban-related incident.  Schools are 
functioning but without adequate textbooks and possibly in 
collaboration with the Taliban. There is no public health 
clinic and only one private doctor. Residents rejected voter 
registration, the district administrator reported, but the 
Independent Election Commission (IEC) may provide a second 
opportunity to register following his engagement with the 
people.  Increased ANSF attention to Gomal could bring security 
benefits that extend well beyond the district, but Gomal is 
likely to remain isolated and underdeveloped for the foreseeable 
future. 
End summary. 
 
Rare PRT Visit to Isolated District 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The PRT Paktika (Sharana) command team visited 
Paktika's Gomal district, bordering Pakistan's South Waziristan 
tribal agency March 25-27 to meet with District Administrator 
Musa Jan and assess recent developments in security, governance, 
and development.  The PRT reached Gomal overland from Bermel 
district after an eight-hour drive that punctured four tires 
on three of the convoy's four mine-resistant ambush-protected 
(MRAP) vehicles and illustrated the difficulty of maneuvering 
in Paktika's rugged and mountainous terrain in such vehicles. 
Gomal, along with Paktika's southern border districts Wor 
Mamay and Terwa, receives few visits and little development 
assistance from the PRT (and almost none from the international 
community) owing to challenges of security and accessibility. 
Upon reaching Gomal's district center, the PRT saw that the 
solar panels had been stolen from all street lights previously 
provided by Coalition Forces, and only a handful of shops 
appeared to be operating in the small bazaar across from the 
district center. 
 
Patrolling Roads Key Measure to Improve Security 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶3.  (U) Musa Jan, who was appointed district administrator 
three months ago following a long vacancy in this position, 
is a Gomal native whose cousin has served as district 
administrator in several other districts of Paktika.  His 
father was the leader of a larger regional jurisdiction 
before the creation of the current provincial administrative 
boundaries.  Musa Jan said patrolling Gomal's roads, all 
of which are unpaved, was the most needed step to improve 
security. The road leading from Angoor Ada, straddling the 
border with South Waziristan, and passing through Shkin to 
Gomal, was key, he said, as Taliban use this road to pass 
unimpeded through Gomal to points north and west.  Musa Jan 
complained that local ANSF and U.S. forces based at Forward 
Operating Base (FOB) Curry were not taking measures to secure 
the road.  He added that enemy use of the road feeds insecurity 
in neighboring Sarobi and Charbaran district, and Omna district 
to the north.  (Note: Charbaran and Omna district centers 
were overrun by enemy forces in September and November 2008, 
respectively.  While the Afghan National Police (ANP) has made 
a tenuous return to Omna and a new district administrator was 
appointed, the Charbaran district center remains destroyed and 
abandoned.) 
 
Taliban Active, but Some Villages 
Standing up Against Them 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) Musa Jan said that Afghans from Helmand and Kandahar, 
as well as foreign fighters (including Chechens, Pakistanis, 
and Arabs), are active in Gomal and their commander is a Gomal 
native.  According to Musa Jan, Taliban have created a shadow 
government in Gomal and are paid to assassinate GIRoA workers. 
Asked whether Taliban are administering justice in Gomal, Musa 
Jan said residents close to the district center come to him 
for dispute resolution, while those farther away turn to the 
Taliban.  He noted that several villages (Khair Mindzay, 
Babu Khel, Aman Khel, and Kormakay) are standing up to 
Taliban.  The district ANP chief added that USAID-supplied 
winterization kits were distributed to the intended neediest 
recipients in Gomal, with some remaining blankets saved for 
distribution by ANSF and CF patrols. Comment: The USAID 
 
KABUL 00000906  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
-procured kits were distributed by the Ministry of Rural 
Rehabilitation and Development. End Comment.] 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Asked about a recent incident in which the brother 
of Paktika Mesharano Jirga (upper house of parliament) Member 
Mohammad Hassan was reportedly killed by Taliban in Gomal, 
Musa Jan explained that Mohammad Hassan had sold wheat donated 
by an (unnamed) NGO because it was impossible to deliver the 
Wheat to Gomal and had sent the money to be distributed by his 
representative to the people.  According to Musa Jan, when Taliban 
learned of the money, they stole it from his representative; 
Mohammad Hassan sent his brother to recover the money and the 
brother and one of his friends were killed in the ensuing 
incident.  (Note: After speaking with the PRT and Governor 
Katawazay, Mohammad Hasan traveled independently to Gomal on 
March 19 to talk with local residents about the incident and 
encourage them to stand up against Taliban harassment.) 
 
Schools Unsupplied but Functioning, 
Possibly with Taliban Complicity 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) Regarding public services, Musa Jan said 36 schools were 
expected to open for the new school year, although they had old 
textbooks for grades one through six only.  One madrassa in Khair 
Mindzay village was functioning, as well as one girls' school with 
approximately 60 students.  Musa Jan was unable to confirm, but 
considered plausible, information provided to the PRT in October 
by the provincial education director, who said that local schools 
had reached accommodation with the Taliban to teach only the Quran, 
and that Taliban had posed as teachers to collect salaries. 
There is no public health clinic in the district, although one 
doctor operates privately in the bazaar.  Most of Gomal's 
population survives on subsistence farming or woodcutting. 
He added that many men work abroad in Pakistan, Iran, Dubai, 
or Saudi Arabia.  Musa Jan named a clinic, mosques, support for 
schools, and cell phone coverage as the most important development 
needs.  He requested the PRT supply rugs, loudspeakers, and 
solar lights for many mosques in the district. 
 
¶7.  (U) Musa Jan said no line directorates (provincial-level 
ministry offices) are represented in Gomal except for an 
education director who resides far from the district center and 
whom he believes to be connected with the Taliban.  Asked about 
upcoming elections, Musa Jan said Gomal residents rejected voter 
registration in December-January because they disliked their 
elected officials.  He said he met with the shuras of Gomal as 
well as neighboring Charbaran (officially a part of Gomal) 
district and convinced the people to participate in elections. 
He said he had requested the Provincial Election Official (PEO) 
to reopen a voter registration center in Gomal so people who 
had changed their minds could still register.  (Note: PEO Taj 
Ali Waziri told State PRT Officer on April 6 that all districts 
that made such requests would have the opportunity for deployment 
of mobile registration units, with a focus on unofficial districts.) 
With the arrival of warm weather, Musa Jan was concerned security 
for voter registration would  be a bigger problem.  He noted 
that he had little ability to communicate with the provincial 
government, since there is no cell phone coverage, 
his satellite phone is broken, and there is no CODAN radio. 
He admitted that he found little profit in being a district 
administrator and was considering leaving his position to work as a 
contractor for CF. 
 
 Comment 
------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Although sparsely populated and remote, Gomal 
district has strategic importance for its long border with South 
Waziristan, across which enemy forces at present are reported to 
pass freely into Afghanistan.  The district has long suffered from 
relative neglect and little governance.  Increased Afghan Army 
presence in Gomal could bring security benefits to areas well 
beyond the district if key roads can be secured.  However, Gomal's 
remoteness will likely ensure that it continues to lag in 
Governance and development for the foreseeable future.  Until 
greater gains in governance and development can be pursued, 
identification of and support for villages and tribal groups 
that are reportedly opposing the Taliban could reinforce ANSF 
and CF efforts. 
 
¶9.  (U) PRT Sharana Commander, Maneuver Battalion commander and 
the DOS Regional Advisor for Task Force Yukon have reviewed this 
cable. 
 
RICCIARDONE