Tarin Kowt
Encyclopedia
Tarinkot or Tarin Kowt is the capital of Orūzgān
Oruzgan Province
Orūzgān or Urōzgān , also spelled Uruzgan or Rōzgān , is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the center of the country, though the area is culturally and tribally linked to Kandahar in the south. Its capital is Tarin Kowt...

 (also written "Uruzgan") province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...

 in southern 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...

 in Tarin Kowt District
Tarin Kowt District
Tarin Kowt District is a district of Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan. The capital of the district and the province is the town called Tarin Kowt....

. It is a town of about 10,000 people, with some 200 small shops in the city's bazaar
Bazaar
A bazaar , Cypriot Greek: pantopoula) is a permanent merchandising area, marketplace, or street of shops where goods and services are exchanged or sold. The term is sometimes also used to refer to the "network of merchants, bankers and craftsmen" who work that area...

. In Tarinkot district, two Pashtun tribal confederations are represented, Tarin (Tareen
Tareen
The Tareen are a prominent Sarbanri Pashtun tribe residing in Afghanistan and in Pakistan. They are one of the largest Pashtun tribes.-History:...

) or Durrani tribes: Popolzai, Barakzai, Achakzai; and the Ghilzai tribes: Tokhi, Hotak, Suleiman-Khel. There are no medium- or large-scale economic enterprises in the city. The provincial governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

, currently Asadullah Hamdam
Asadullah Hamdam
Assadullah Hamdam is a politician in Afghanistan politician who was appointed as Governor of Oruzgan Province by President Hamid Karzai in September 2007, to replace Governor Maulavi Abdul Hakim Munib who had become ineffective. Assadullah is an ethnic Pashtun of the Ghilzais and is originally from...

, lives and works in a compound adjacent to the bazaar. There is also a population of about 2000 Arabs mainly of Iraqi origin in the town.

History

Tarin Kowt is isolated: its only airstrip is on the military base of 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...

-led 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...

 on the outskirts of the town. Tarin Kowt's only ground access to the outside is a road to the regional center of Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...

 to the south, which can be subject to Taliban attacks and washouts.

This town in southern Afghanistan was of significant strategic value to the Taliban in 2001. On November 16, the citizens here rose up against their Taliban governor
Battle of Tarin Kowt
The Battle of Tarin Kowt took place in 2001 during the War in Afghanistan. In Early November, Hamid Karzai had entered Taliban-controlled eastern Afghanistan with a small force of guerrillas, accompanied by American special forces soldiers. In response to the approach of Karzai's force, the...

, which marked the first organized Pashtun resistance against the Taliban. Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...

, then an obscure statesman, was in the region at the time trying to build an insurgency/army while accompanied by an 11-man U.S. Special Forces team, known as ODA 574. The Taliban launched a counterattack, confronting Karzai and his militia who dug in to defend the town. With the help of U.S. air power, the U.S. and militia force drove the Taliban back from Tarin Kowt. This victory is regarded as the turning point for Karzai— the single battle which gave him credibility in Afghanistan's southern provinces, and among the Taliban opposition forces (including the Northern Alliance) as a credible war leader.

The defeat of the Taliban at Tarin Kowt was an important victory for Karzai, who used the victory to recruit more men to his fledgling guerrilla band. His force would grow in size to a peak of around 800 men. On November 30, they left Tarin Kowt and began advancing on Kandahar.

An American base called FOB Ripley, named after U.S. Marine John Ripley
John Ripley (USMC)
John Walter Ripley was a United States Marine Corps officer who received the Navy Cross for his actions in combat during the Vietnam War. On Easter morning 1972, Captain Ripley, repeatedly exposed himself to intense enemy fire over a three hour period as he prepared to blow up an essential...

 was built in Tarin Kowt in 2004.
It was established by a Joint Task Force made up mainly of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit
22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit
The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit is one of seven Marine Expeditionary Units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Expeditionary Unit is a Marine Air Ground Task Force with a strength of about 2,200 personnel...

 (Special Operations Capable) (22ndMEU SOC), US Army Civil Affairs, and the Iowa National Guard Task Force 168 in May 2004. In autumn 2001, the region was the last stronghold of Taliban regime.
Subsequently other foreign military forces have operated at the base outside Tarin Kowt.

After the 22nd MEU SOC led Operation Mountain Storm
Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
Since October 7, 2001 following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States has been engaged in a war in Afghanistan.-Background:From May 1996, Osama bin Laden had been living in Afghanistan along with other members of al-Qaeda, operating terrorist training camps in a loose alliance with the...

, most of the Taliban forces moved to the mountainous region between Afghanistan and 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...

. As NATO's ISAF mission assumed responsibility for security in Afghanistan's south, Dutch NATO troops built Kamp Holland
Kamp Holland
Kamp Holland is the main Dutch military base on the outskirts of Tarin Kowt, the provincial capital of Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan....

 in August 2006.

Beginning in March 2007, the United States Army Corps of Engineers began construction of a road from Tarin Kowt westward to Deh Rahwod and then to Shahidi Hassas District
Shahidi Hassas District
Shahidi Hassas District is a district of Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan....

, in the western areas of Oruzgan province. At the same time, the Corps of Engineers also started paving and bridge construction to improve the road to Kandahar.

On July 4, 2010, U.S. soldiers from 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment assumed responsibility over operations in Tarin Kowt and Deh Rahwod in the wake of the Dutch withdrawal from Oruzgan.

On March 1, 2011, U.S. soldiers from 4th Battalion, 70th Armor Regiment assumed responsibility of Tarin Kowt and Deh Rawod.

July 2011 attacks

On 27 July 2011, a Pakistani suicide terrorist from the Waziristan
Waziristan
Waziristan is a mountainous region near the Northwest of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering some 11,585 km² . The area is entirely populated by ethnic Pashtuns . The language spoken in the valley is Pashto/Pakhto...

 region 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...

 was captured by the Afghan National Army
Afghan National Army
The Afghan National Army is a service branch of the military of Afghanistan, which is currently trained by the coalition forces to ultimately take the role in land-based military operations in Afghanistan. , the Afghan National Army is divided into seven regional Corps. The strength of the Afghan...

 and ISAF
ISAF
ISAF may refer to:* International Sailing Federation, the world governing body for Olympic and other competitive sailing.* International Security Assistance Force, the NATO-led security mission operating in Afghanistan since 2001....

 forces during a raid on the house of Mullah Qasim in the Sur Marghab area near Tirinkot. The would-be bomber named Saifullah was interviewed by Pajhwok Afghan News
Pajhwok Afghan News
Pajhwok Afghan News is a news agency established in March 2004 in Kabul, Afghanistan by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. It is Afghanistan's largest independent news service, providing broad-based coverage of news in English, Pashto and Dari...

 reporter Ahmad Omaid Khpalwak. In the interview Saifullah said he and 14 other terrorists from Pakistan spent at least two months wandering around the city to select a proper time and place for an attack. "Many times we encountered foreigners, but Mullah Qasim would escape after seeing foreigners and finally we were arrested without carrying out any attack," he said.

The next day, at around 12 pm, 28 July, three suicide attackers blew up vehicles packed with explosives at the gates of government compounds while other suicide bombers equipped with heavy weapons entered the buildings and began killing everyone inside. After the shooting ended at least 19 people were killed and 37 others wounded. The dead included Pajhwok reporter Khpalwak, 10 children, 2 women and 1 member of the Afghan National Police
Afghan National Police
The Afghan National Police - ANP - is the primary national police force in Afghanistan. It serves as a single law enforcement agency all across the country. The Afghan police force was first created with the establishment of the Afghan nation in the early 18th century...

. Khpalwak was shot 20 times in different parts of his body. By 29 July the number of dead were raised to 21. Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...

 Angus Campbell, commander of Australian troops
Australian Defence Force
The Australian Defence Force is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy , Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Force and a number of 'tri-service' units...

 deployed to the region, said "Hard-line elements of the insurgency continue to pursue their campaign through violence and attempted targeted killings. Yesterday they paid a heavy price for their ambitions with all insurgents killed while failing to achieve their mission." Afghan National Army
Afghan National Army
The Afghan National Army is a service branch of the military of Afghanistan, which is currently trained by the coalition forces to ultimately take the role in land-based military operations in Afghanistan. , the Afghan National Army is divided into seven regional Corps. The strength of the Afghan...

 spokesman Hekmatullah Kuchi said "There were two blasts at the deputy governor's office. One was detonated by a suicide bomber and the other was caused by an ANA
Afghan National Army
The Afghan National Army is a service branch of the military of Afghanistan, which is currently trained by the coalition forces to ultimately take the role in land-based military operations in Afghanistan. , the Afghan National Army is divided into seven regional Corps. The strength of the Afghan...

 (Afghan army
Afghan National Army
The Afghan National Army is a service branch of the military of Afghanistan, which is currently trained by the coalition forces to ultimately take the role in land-based military operations in Afghanistan. , the Afghan National Army is divided into seven regional Corps. The strength of the Afghan...

) soldier shooting another suicide attacker."

Geography

Tarinkot is isolated: its only airstrip is on the military base of 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...

-led 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...

 on the outskirts of the town. Tarinkot's only ground access to the outside is a road to the regional center of Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...

 to the south, which can be subject to Taliban attacks and washouts.

Climate

External links

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