Tagab District, Kapisa


The Tagab District is situated in the eastern part of Kapisa Province, Afghanistan. It borders with Parvan Province to the West, Mahmud Raqi and Nijrab in Nijrab is to the North, Alasay District to the East and Kabul Province to the South-East. The population is 71,700 - Pashtun and some Pashai. The district center is the village of Tagab, located in the western part of the district.
The area received considerable damage during the Soviet invasion. Besides the destruction of local homes, public properties such as schools and hospitals were also destroyed.

Economy

The main source of income is agriculture, with 90% of usable land under cultivation. However, the poor state of roads throughout the district causes difficulty in marketing food outside of the local area. Animal husbandry is also common, especially sheep herding.
Currently, plans are in the works to build a north-south road connecting to the Kabul-Jalalabad Road, which will allow goods to move from Tagab to the northern city of Maz-el-Sharif, and from there into Tajikistan.
Health care and educational facilities are limited and are in need of improvement.

Security and Violence

On 15 November 2009 Taliban militants fired rockets on a bazaar in Tagab district where French Forces were meeting with Tribal elders. killing 10 Afghan civilians and wounding 28. All of the casualties were brought to nearby FOB Kutschbach where French and Army Special Forces medics evacuated the wounded. Days later the Afghan civilians blamed the US in the Tagab Bazaar instead of the Taliban. "If the US and French soldiers weren't here, the Taliban wouldn't fire rockets".
In response to this attack, in late November 2009 the French ISAF forces launched a new offensive against the forces of the Taliban and Hizb-e Islami in Operation Avalon. The 700 plus forces from the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment and 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment attempted to clear the area where a new road was being built to help supply NATO forces in Afghanistan.