Goshta District is located in the northeast of Nangarhar Province

Nangarhar Province

Nangarhar is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan in the east of the country. Its capital is the city of Jalalabad. The population of the province is 1,334,000, which consists mainly of ethnic Pashtuns with a sizable community of Arabs and Pashais....

, Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 and borders Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. The district

Districts of Afghanistan

The provinces of Afghanistan are divided into Wolaswalei or districts. The number of districts in Afghanistan has fluctuated over the years, with new districts created by splitting or merging parts of others. Prior to 1979, there were 325 districts. This was increased to 329 and, in 2004, a major...

's population is 100% Pashtun

Pashtun people

Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...

 and was estimated at 160,000 in 2002, of whom 30,000 were children under 12. The district centre is the village of Goshta, on the Kunar River

Kunar River

The Kunar River is about 480 km long, located in eastern Afghanistan and north-western Pakistan. The Kunar river system is fed from melting glaciers and snow of the Hindu Kush mountains....

.

Location and Economy

The Goshta district is located on the border between Afghanistan and the North-West Frontier Province

North-West Frontier Province

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province and various other names, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan, located in the north-west of the country...

 of Pakistan. From the highlands that define the border, dry hilly country with seasonal streams slopes down to the flat land along the north side of the Kunar river valley where most of the people live, at an elevation of about 540 m. Average temperatures in the valley range from 3^o in January to 27^o in July. Precipitation is low, perhaps 150mm per year, mostly falling in the spring.

Agriculture is the main source of income. Crops include wheat, corn, sugar cane and rice. At times, opium poppies have been an important crop. Goshta's residents do not have a modern water supply system for their crops. They traditionally drain water from the Kunar river, which flows along the south of the district, using hand pumps and shallow wells. Floods often destroy valuable fields. In the hill country, water must often be carried long distances by pack animal. Most villagers do not have access to potable water.

Villages and tribes

Goshta is the home to the Khwaizi and Baize tribes, related Mohmand

Mohmand

The Mohmand are a clan of Sarban Pashtuns, living primarily in the FATA & Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan & northeastern Afghanistan.- Demographics :...

 Pashtun tribes. There are many sub tribes. In the past, the Kunar (Chitral) valley that runs through the Goshta district was an important trade route from the Pamir Mountains' passes, Kabul

Kabul

Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

 and Jalalabad

Jalalabad

Jalalabad , formerly called Adinapour, as documented by the 7th century Hsüan-tsang, is a city in eastern Afghanistan. Located at the junction of the Kabul River and Kunar River near the Laghman valley, Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province. It is linked by approximately of highway with...

 down to the plains of the Punjab

Punjab region

The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...

. The people of Goshta have strong cultural and historical links to the people of Peshawar

Peshawar

Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....

, further down the valley in Pakistan.

Large villages include Goshta, Khwaizi, Arkhai, Warsak, Ragha, Dawar khel, Khoga Khel, Mama Khel, Ala Khail, Tootkai and Bachahe Ghondey. In 2002, the UNHCR reported that the head of the District controlled only 18 major villages. The remaining 32 small villages, which are closer to the border of Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, were beyond the control of the head of the district. The Pakistan Government exercised significant influence in these areas and provided some facilities such as roads and electricity.

Education

Literacy is poor. According to a survey held by Saanga, a local magazine, in 2003, 7% of the population is educated. The UN estimated that only 2% were literate. Goshta has only one high school for boys (Abdul Hameed Momand High School) and 15 primary schools, only three of which are for girls. There are also two religious schools (Madrassa).

Politics

The majority of the people of Goshta are members of the Millat Party. However, there are followers of Khalq

Khalq

Khalq was a faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. Its historical leaders were Presidents Nur Muhammad Taraki and Hafizullah Amin. It was also the name of the leftist newspaper produced by the same movement. It was supported by the USSR and was formed in 1965 when the PDPA was born...

 Communist Party as well as Mujahedeen political movements. The local shura

Shura

Shura is an Arabic word for "consultation". The Quran and Muhammad encourage Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with those who will be affected by that decision....

 is consulted on occasion by the head of the district to share information and participate in decision-making.

Sports

The main sports are cricket, volleyball, swimming, wrestling, and local games called Khusay and Dabee Toona (a game similar to baseball). And this district also has a good cricket team which had participated in many of matches the bring lost of honors to this district. Name of the players:The Team Coach Is Inamullah MOmand and Ajre Khan Zarand . khalid mohmand captain of the team,Farhd karim voice captain, and a good all rounder player Amber momand,Qari Zaiurahman strike boller of the team,Hejrat a good batsman of the team, omaid batsman,Bakhtawar a good fielder, Qamarzaman good batsman, allahdad a hitter batsman,pamer khan a magnaficiant opener batsman and a retired player of the team is Pamer Momand that the team proud of him.

History

In a strategic location, Goshta has witnessed many invasions

Invasions of Afghanistan

Afghanistan has been invaded many times, its boundaries and governments almost always in dispute. Invaders include the Mughal rulers of South Asia, Russian Tsars, Soviet Union, British Empire, and currently a coalition force of NATO troops with UN-backing led by US armed forces.-Purpose of...

. For much of its history under Persian control, it has been invaded by Greeks

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

, Bactrians

Bactrians

The Bactrians were the inhabitants of Bactria.Several important trade routes from India and China passed through Bactria and, as early as the Bronze Age, this had allowed the accumulation of vast amounts of wealth by the mostly nomadic population. The first proto-urban civilization in the area...

, Chingisids and others. It was a field of war against British Raj

British Raj

British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

 during nineteenth century, starting with the First Anglo-Afghan War

First Anglo-Afghan War

The First Anglo-Afghan War was fought between British India and Afghanistan from 1839 to 1842. It was one of the first major conflicts during the Great Game, the 19th century competition for power and influence in Central Asia between the United Kingdom and Russia, and also marked one of the worst...

 (1839 to 1842), with several later conflicts. During the "Mohmand Disturbances" of 1937-1938 British Forces were thrown back by the army of local people who voluntarily participated in war under the command of Chaknawar Mullah Sahib there is a shrine of Shaheed Kharoot who was khowaizi belonging to Mir Qala fought against British soldiers under the command of Chaknawar Mullah Sahib and got martyred(Shaheed)after killing few British Soldiers.

Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviets in the late nineteen seventies. In the Soviet war in Afghanistan

Soviet war in Afghanistan

The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...

, local people took up their weapons to defend their homeland against the Russians

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

. The signs of the battle can still be seen in the form of ruins left behind: clinics, mosques, bridges, roads, schools and houses were destroyed in Goshta, as throughout Afghanistan. The war left many dead, disabled, widows and orphans.

Current Issues

More recently, Goshta has been afflicted by the war on terror against Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...

 and the Taliban since 2001. In addition to the presence of Afghan government troops, NATO forces and Taliban fighters, various Saanga magazine and IWPR

Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Institute for War & Peace Reporting is an international media development charity, established in 1991. It runs major programmes in Afghanistan, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Iran, Iraq, the Balkans, Congo DRC, Tunisia and Uganda...

news agency's reports in 2003-2005 indicate that troops from Pakistan have made incursions into the province. NATO troops are assisting government forces in attempting to improve the situation, but face major problems. And nowadays the local peoples are with government. As the security the most peaceful district in all Afghanistan because here is just one tribe living and the unity is still here.

External links

• http://www.sada-e-azadi.net/Joomla/index.php?lang=en Important local news source
• Map of Goshta district (PDF)
• AIMS Nangarhar Province Land Cover Map