| Isolation, pride could see Panjsher left behind Reuters
02/10/2005
By Jon Hemming
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BAZARAK - Its high peaks and proudly independent people protected Afghanistan's Panjsher Valley from the Soviets and the Taliban, but this very isolation and pride could see it left behind in the race for development. The men of the valley were the vanguard of the mujahideen forces who helped U.S.-led troops topple the Taliban as punishment for protecting al Qaeda after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Now they feel they are owed a reward. "We helped the Americans get rid of the Taliban, but what did we get in return?" asked former mujahideen fighter, Mirbaba, voicing the resentment felt by many ethnic Tajiks in the north for the majority ethnic Pashtuns of the south. "In the south, they supported the Taliban and al Qaeda," he said. "They kill U.S. and Afghan soldiers and make drugs -- and they get all the aid." The rusting hulks of tanks and armoured vehicles litter the side of the dusty potholed road that snakes along the valley northwest of Kabul between steep cliffs ideal for ambushes. Neither Soviet troops, occupying Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989, nor the Taliban militia, in power from 1996 until late 2001 penetrated far into the Panjsher. Two days before the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, the legendary Panjsheri commander Ahmad Shah Masood was assassinated by al Qaeda militants allied to the Taliban. Soon mujahideen forces found the world's biggest military power seeking their aid to overthrow the Taliban. "The people of the Panjsher were the first to help the international coalition to fight the Taliban, they believe they should be the first to be helped, but we have received very little," said Mohammad Wasil, governor of the province. "It is like we were the best student and now we have been sent to the back of the class," he said. GUNS AND ROADS Many Panjsheris feel they have been marginalised since Afghanistan's first presidential election in October. Of 48,000 registered voters in the ethnically Tajik Panjsher, only 367 voted for the U.S.-backed winner Hamid Karzai, who is from the traditionally dominant Pashtun ethnic group. Pashtuns, mostly in the south, formed the backbone of Taliban support. While there are still a number of Tajiks in the government, Pashtuns control the key ministries of defence and interior. The United Nations and many aid organisations have been frustrated by the slowness of the Panjsheris to give up the weapons that served them so well in the past. The Panjsheris argue that they fear further loss of influence. The Panjsher is last area of Afghanistan to have significant numbers of heavy weapons in the hands of local militia forces. While most fighters elsewhere have been disarmed, some 3,000 mujahideen in the valley have yet to be demobilised. And while programmes to build roads, schools and hospitals financed by international donors are springing up all over Afghanistan, reconstruction and development in the Panjsher has been slow to get off the ground. "The international community isn't going to go in there until they disarm," said Peter Babbington, acting head of the U.N.'s Afghanistan New Beginning Programme that oversees disarmament. "It is time for them to catch up. "They all recognise it has to be done, but you have got to overcome local reluctance," said Babbington. The Panjsheris last month began to hand in heavy weapons -- tanks, artillery and even four Scud missiles -- but the process was halted after two cranes and a lorry were burned and three explosive devices were found on other trucks. The U.N. disarmament programme has so far collected 62 of the 110 heavy weapons thought to be in the Panjsher, but it now needs a new haulage contractor willing to take away the rest. DISTRUST Distrust of outsiders has been a survival skill for Panjsheris for generations. "They survived because they were obstinate, but now they are falling into the trap that if they continue in that fashion, they will be left behind," said Babbington. Locals want the international community to take the first step. "First they should do something for us to show they are sincere," said Mirbaba, a mujahideen fighter for 15 years. "Then we will help them by disarming." Other men standing with him as he warmed himself over a stove nodded in agreement. Their chief concern was to have a new road that would bring trade and better access to health care and the outside world. Work to clear mines for a road to the head of the valley has already begun, but the government has yet to award a contract for the second phase of construction -- a paved road into the Panjsher. Locals suspect a deliberate delay. The reason may be more mundane. "The problem with the Panjsher is they have become isolated. They are only just beginning to realise they won't get a new road unless they enter the disarmament process," said Babbington. "Their view is put the road in and then we'll enter the process." The U.N. department working with the government on the road project says there are no delays. Locals are not convinced. "The government thinks it has to direct aid to the south because otherwise people there might cause trouble again," said Mirbaba. "If that is the case, we can cause trouble here too."
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