Dara-I-Pech District (also known as Manogay District or Pech District) is located in western-central

Kunar Province Kunar (Pashto: ; Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. Its capital is Asadabad. Its population is estimated to be 508,224. Kunar's major political groups include Wahhabis or Ahl-e- Ha ...

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 ...

, 30 km west of Asadabad. The population was 48,400 in 2006. The district is governed from Mano Gai. The governor is Mohammad Rahkman. While the bulk of the population is Safi

Pashtun 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 re ...

, who are mostly settled along the

Pech River The Pech River ( ps, پېچ سيند) is located in eastern Afghanistan. Course The Pech River system is fed from glaciers and snow from the Hindu Kush range to its north. The river rises in central Nuristan Province and flows south and southe ...

, the district also includes the Pashai-speaking Korengalis in the southern portion of the Korengal Valley. There are several large capillary valleys, such as the Korengal and Shuryak. There are 13 big villages, most of them in the valleys of the mountainous district. There has been a timber market. People are generally poor. Farming and animal husbandry are the main sources of income. Health care and education need improvement. Pech River, Kunar, 2009-04-19 -b

Nangalam, at the junction of the Pech and Waygal rivers, is the largest town in the district. Formerly inhabited by speakers of a Pech Valley Dardic (Indic) language called Nangalami, the village was destroyed by Afghan troops in 1978. When it was rebuilt, the inhabitants were predominantly Safi Pashtuns. The major coalition base of Camp Blessing is located near Nangalam to the west. In 1999 the area was affected by extensive fires which burned through thousands of acres of forest in the Dara Pech Valley, displacing some 300 people. The

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...

in power at the time appealed to the UN for assistance. On 13 November 2003, an explosive device was detonated in a bus in the area, killing four people, two of them children. The Korengal Valley has been the scene of sustained fighting between U.S. forces and insurgents. ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

'' ran a story by contributing writer Elizabeth Rubin entitle
"Battle Company Is Out There"
on February 24, 2008. The book ''Siren's Song: The Allure of War'' by Antonio Salinas was published in 2012. The book depicts the experiences of an American platoon at COP Honaker Miracle in the Dara-I-Pech District.

References

External links

AIMS district mapUNHCR district profile
Districts of Kunar Province {{Kunar-geo-stub

See also

References

External links