Kapisa Province

Kapisa Province

Kapisa (Persian/Pashto: کاپيسا) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Located in the north-east of the country. Its capital is Mahmud-i-Raqi, and other districts include Kohistan, Nijrab and Tagab. The population of Kapisa is estimated to be 364,900, although there has never been an official estimate. The province covers an area of 1,842 km² making it the smallest province in the country, however it has one of the highest populations per capita spread throughout seven districts. Kapisa is seen as an important piece of property in the war against insurgency in the country, the province has been called "the gateway to Kabul", it's viewed as an important area even as small as it is. A densely-packed, multiethnic enclave in steep valleys surrounded by tall mountains. It has unique ethnicities like the Pashai and Parachi, unique Pashtuns like the Safi, and huge areas of Tajik dominance.

Kapisa has been the site of several failed attempts at counterinsurgency since 2005. There have been at least two special operations sweeps through the area, and at least three major Coalition efforts to clear and hold territory. The province of Kapisa is an area that constitutes an invisible boundary between a zone to the west and north where the population is Tajik, and generally hostile to the Taliban, and the steep-sided valleys to the south-east dominated by the Pashtun and Pashai people, where there is a lot of rebel activity. This ethnic split lies at the heart of the Kapisa insurrection. Mahmud-i-Raqi, capital of Kapisa Province is Tajik dominated, where there are more fighters who fought with Massoud than there are Taliban sympathizers. Their staunch anti-Taliban stance isn’t the norm in this province – especially in the Tagab or Alasay districts. The Province a complex political and ethnic arena, where there is a lot of ambiguity towards foreign troops. Kapisa represents an allegory of the fractured and elusive Afghanistan, a hell trap that ensnares and breaks the world’s armies.