Surobi, Sarobi, or Sarubi District ( ps, سروبي ولسوالۍ) is a district of
Kabul Province
Kabul (Persian: ), situated in the east of the country, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. The capital of the province is Kabul city, which is also Afghanistan's capital and largest city. The population of the Kabul Province is ...
,
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
. Its capital,
Surobi, lies about 60 kilometres east of
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
along the
A01 highway, although much of the district lies northeast of Kabul. Surobi is famous all over Afghanistan as it is birthplace to Faisal Babakarkhail a well known Jihadi commander famous for his bravery and courage against Soviet Troops.
Its principal river is the
Kabul River.
History
In the 1990s, the
Khalid Bin Whalid training camp
The Khalid Bin Whalid training camp was an Afghan training camp providing military training in the 1990s.
Muslim convert Aukai Collins described his stay in the camp in 1993. Collins said he befriended Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh there. Sheikh was ...
was situated in the district.
In 1998, the camp was leveled by U.S.
cruise missiles
A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhe ...
in retaliation for the
1998 United States embassy bombings.
On July 23, 2007, an improvised explosive device detonated near a
US vehicle in the district, killing four soldiers: 1st Sgt. Michael S. Curry Jr., Sgt. Travon T. Johnson, Pfc. Adam J. Davis and Pfc. Jessy S. Rogers.
"One of the last reports of
Uzbek IMU (
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU; uz, Ўзбекистон исломий ҳаракати/Oʻzbekiston islomiy harakati; russian: Исламское движение Узбекистана ) was a militant Islamist group formed in 1998 ...
) fighters active inside Afghanistan" came from Surobi District in October 2007.
Surobi was the site of a major action by the
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...
in December 2009.
Demographics
![GIs return to their landing zone, to return to their base in Kabul Province, Afghanistan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/GIs_return_to_their_landing_zone%2C_to_return_to_their_base_in_Kabul_Province%2C_Afghanistan.png)
The Afghan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) along with UNHCR and Central Statistics Office (CSO) of Afghanistan estimates the population of the district to be around 44,871. According to AIMS and UNHCR,
Pashtuns
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...
make up over 90% of the total population, while ethnic
Pashais make up the remaining 10% of the population.
Geography
Surobi District borders
Bagrami
Bagrami is a village situated in the eastern fringes of Kabul at and 1797 m altitude, part of municipal District 12 and partly in District 22. The population is 31,680 (2007 calculation). Downtown Kabul can be reached in 30 minutes. The Bagrami ...
and
Deh Sabz districts to the west,
Parvan and
Kapisa provinces to the north,
Laghman Province
Laghman (Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. It has a population of about 502,148, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a rural society. Laghman hosts a large number of historical landmarks, m ...
to the east, and
Nangarhar Province and
Khaki Jabbar District to the south.
There are 130 villages in Surobi District. The
Kabul River travels through the centre of the district and keeps the two sides of the district quite green. Three
dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
s are in the district —
Naghlu Dam
The Naghlu Dam ( ps, نغلو برېښناکوټ) is a gravity dam on the Kabul River in Surobi District of Kabul Province in Afghanistan. It is located east of the nation's capital Kabul. The primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectricity produ ...
,
Mahipar Dam
Mahipar Power dam is located 40 km from Kabul city. This dam was built in 1952 with the cooperation of Germany and has 3 turbines with a power of 66 MW. Currently, one of its turbines is active with a capacity of 19 megawatts, the rest is worn o ...
and
Barqi-Surobi Dam — which generate electricity for Kabul and the district itself. However, due to lack of water, Mahipar Dam is out of order for now. Each village has its own governor or leader.
References
External links
Surobi District Map (Source: AIMS)Kabul province map (AIMS) with Surobi corrected
{{coord, 34.63, N, 69.73, E, source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title
Districts of Kabul Province