Kunduz is one of the provinces of Afghanistan

Provinces of Afghanistan

The provinces of Afghanistan are the primary administrative divisions of Afghanistan. As of 2004, there are thirty-four provinces in the country. Each province is further divided into smaller districts....

, centered on the city of Kunduz

Kunduz

Kunduz also known as Kundûz, Qonduz, Qondûz, Konduz, Kondûz, Kondoz, or Qhunduz is a city in northern Afghanistan, the capital of Kunduz Province. It is linked by highways with Mazari Sharif to the west, Kabul to the south and Tajikistan's border to the north...

, in northern 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...

, with an area of 8,040 km square, and a population of about 820,000.

The Kunduz River

Kunduz River

The Kunduz River is a tributary of the Amu Darya in northern Afghanistan. It rises in the Hindu Kush, and in its upper reaches is known as the Surkhab River.-Course:...

 valley dominates the Kunduz Province. The river flows from south to north into the Amu Darya

Amu Darya

The Amu Darya , also called Oxus and Amu River, is a major river in Central Asia. It is formed by the junction of the Vakhsh and Panj rivers...

 or Oxus river which forms the border between Kunduz province and Tajikistan. A newly constructed bridge crosses the Amu Darya at Sher Khan Bandar. The river, its tributaries and derivative canals provide irrigation to the irrigated fields that dominate land usage in the province. There are also rain-fed fields and open rangeland.

Pashtuns and Tajiks

Tajiks

Tajik is a general designation for a wide range of Persian-speaking people of Iranic origin, with traditional homelands in present-day Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan...

 are the major ethnic groups in Kunduz followed by a minority of Uzbeks

Uzbeks

The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...

, Hazara, Turkmen

Turkmen people

The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...

, and other.

Afghanistan War

During the war against the Taliban and Al Qaida in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Kunduz was the location from where thousands of Pakistani military personnel, Afghan sympathizers, and some members of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda were airlifted to safety within Pakistan. This airlift also known as the Kunduz Airlift of the Airlift of evil

Airlift of Evil

The Airlift of Evil refers to the evacuation of thousands of top commanders and members of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, their Pakistani advisors including Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence agents and military personnel, and other Jihadi volunteers and sympathizers, from the city of Kunduz,...

 took place during a period in November 2001.

In 2008, more details emerged in Descent into Chaos by Ahmed Rashid

Ahmed Rashid

Ahmed Rashid is a former Pakistani revolutionary, a journalist and best-selling author of several books about Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia.-Biography:...

:

One senior (U.S.) intelligence analyst told me, "The request was made by Musharraf to Bush, but Cheney took charge—a token of who was handling Musharraf at the time. The approval was not shared with anyone at State, including Colin Powell, until well after the event. Musharraf said Pakistan needed to save its dignity and its valued people. Two planes were involved, which made several sorties a night over several nights. They took off from air bases in Chitral and Gilgit in Pakistan's northern areas, and landed in Kunduz, where the evacuees were waiting on the tarmac. Certainly hundreds and perhaps as many as one thousand people escaped. Hundreds of ISI

Inter-Services Intelligence

The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...

 officers, Taliban commanders, and foot soldiers belonging to the IMU and al Qaeda personnel boarded the planes. What was sold as a minor extraction turned into a major air bridge. The frustrated U.S. SOF who watched it from the surrounding high ground dubbed it "Operation Evil Airlift."

Another senior U.S. diplomat told me afterward, "Musharraf fooled us because after we gave approval, the ISI may have run a much bigger operation and got out more people. We just don't know. At the time nobody wanted to hurt Musharraf, and his prestige with the army was at stake. The real question is why Musharraf did not get his men out before. Clearly the ISI was running its own war against the Americans and did not want to leave Afghanistan until the last moment."

Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 has 4000 soldiers stationed in the NATO-ISAF

International Security Assistance Force

The International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution 1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement...

 Kunduz province Provincial Reconstruction Team

Provincial reconstruction team

A Provincial Reconstruction Team is a unit introduced by the United States government, consisting of military officers, diplomats, and reconstruction subject matter experts, working to support reconstruction efforts in unstable states. PRTs were first established in Afghanistan in late 2001 or...

, along with Regional Command North. The province was largely peaceful until Taliban militants started infiltrating the area in 2009.
On 4 September 2009 the German commander called in an American jetfighter, which attacked two NATO fuel trucks, which had been captured by insurgents. More than 90 people died, among them at least 40 civilians, who had gathered to collect fuel.
It was reported that on 21 November 2009 a bomb going off along the Takhar Kunduz highway killed a child and injured two others.

The governor, Mohammad Omar

Mohammad Omar (Afghan governor)

Engineer Mohammad Omar was the Governor of Kunduz Province, Afghanistan. He was an ethnic Andar Pashtun from Baharak District of Afghanistan....

, was killed by a bomb on October 8, 2010.

On 10 February 2011, a suicide bomber killed a district governor and six other people in the district of Chardara

Chahar dara District

Chahar Dara District is one of the seven districts in Kunduz Province in northern Afghanistan...

 in Kunduz Province, where the insurgency is well entrenched.

Districts

align=center style="background:#BFD7FF"| Districts of Kunduz Province

District	Capital	Population	Area	Demographics	Notes
Ali Abad Ali abad District The Ali abad District is situated in the southern part of Kunduz Province, Afghanistan. It borders with Baghlan Province to the South, Chahar dara District to the West, Kunduz and Khan Abad districts to the North and Takhar Province to the East...		45,851		47% Pashtuns, 45% Tajik, 20% Hazara, 18% Uzbek
Archi Archi District The Archi District is situated in the northwestern part of Kunduz Province in Afghanistan. It borders with Khan Abad and Kunduz districts to the South-West, Imam Sahib District to the North-West, Tajikistan to the Nort and Takhar Province to the East. The population is 74,900 - 40% Pashtun, 15%...		99,000		40% Pashtuns, 35% Uzbek, 15% Tajik, 10% Turkman
Chahar Dara Chahar dara District Chahar Dara District is one of the seven districts in Kunduz Province in northern Afghanistan...		69251		55% Pashtuns, 25% Tajik, 12% Uzbek, 8% Turkmen
Imam Sahib Imam Sahib District Imam Sahib District is situated in the northern part of Kunduz Province, Afghanistan. It borders with Qalay-I-Zal District to the west, Tajikistan to the north , with Archi District to the east and Kunduz District to the south. The population is 204,300 - 25% Pashtun, 25% Tajik, 45% Uzbek and 5%...		250,000		45% Uzbeks, 25% Pashtuns, 25% Tajiks, 5% Turkmens
Khan Abad Khan Abad District Khan Abad District is situated in the eastern part of Kunduz Province, Afghanistan. It borders Kunduz District to the west, Archi District to the northeast, Takhar Province to the east and Ali abad District to the south. The population is 140,600 : 40% Pashtun, 20% Hazara, 25% Tajik, 10% Uzbek and...		110,000		40% Pashtuns, 25% Tajik, 20% Hazara, 25% Tajik, 10% Uzbek, 5% Pashai
Kunduz Kunduz District Kunduz District is situated in the center of Kunduz Province in Northern Afghanistan, around the provincial capital - the city of Kunduz. It borders Chahar dara District to the west, Qalay-I-Zal and Imam Sahib districts to the north, Archi and Khan Abad districts to the east and Ali abad District...		259,497
Qalay-I-Zal Qalay-I-Zal District Qalay-I-Zal District is situated in the western part of Kunduz Province, northern Afghanistan. It borders Balkh Province to the west and Tajikistan to the north along the Panj, Vakhsh and Amu Darya rivers. To the east it borders Imam Sahib District and to the south Kunduz and Chahar dara districts....		120,000		90% Turkmens, 10% Pashtuns

Sport

The province is represented in Afghan domestic cricket

Cricket in Afghanistan

Cricket in Afghanistan is a sport growing in popularity, which is represented internationally by the Afghanistan national cricket team. Afghanistan's proximity to the test playing nation of Pakistan has helped the game to take root....

 by the Kunduz Province cricket team. National player Mirwais Ashraf

Mirwais Ashraf

Mirwais Ashraf Khan is a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler who plays for Afghanistan.Ashraf made his ODI debut against the Netherlands at the VRA Cricket Ground on 30 August 2009...

 is from Kunduz and currently represents Afghanistan in international cricket

International Cricket

International Cricket is a cricket video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System that was only released in Australia in 1992. Developed by Melbourne-based Beam Software, it was the only cricket game released for the NES. There were no attempts to release a cricket video game to the North...

.