Nuristan, also spelled as Nurestan or Nooristan, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. It is divided into seven districts and is Afghanistan's least populous province, with a population of around 167,000. Parun serves as the provincial capital. Nuristan is bordered on the south by Laghman and Kunar provinces, on the north by Badakhshan province, on the west by Panjshir province.
The Nuristani languages, also known as Kafiri languages, are one of the three groups within the Indo-Iranian language family, alongside the much larger Indo-Aryan and Iranian groups. They have approximately 130,000 speakers primarily in eastern Afghanistan and a few adjacent valleys in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Chitral District, Pakistan. The region inhabited by the Nuristanis is located in the southern Hindu Kush mountains, and is drained by the Alingar River in the west, the Pech River in the center, and the Landai Sin and Kunar rivers in the east. More broadly, the Nuristan region is located at the northern intersection of the Indian subcontinent and the Iranian plateau. The languages were previously often grouped with Indo-Aryan or Iranian until they were finally classified as forming a third branch in Indo-Iranian.
Asadabad, also called Chaghasarai (چغسرای), is the capital city of Kunar Province in Afghanistan. It is located in the eastern-northeastern portion of the country. The city is located within a valley at the confluence of the Pech River and Kunar River between two mountain ridgelines running along both sides of the valley from Northeast to Southwest.
Âṣkuňu is a language of Afghanistan spoken by the Ashkun people – also known as the Âṣkun, Ashkun, Askina, Saňu, Sainu, Yeshkun, Wamas, or Grâmsaňâ – from the region of the central Pech Valley around Wâmâ and in some eastern tributary valleys of the upper Alingar River in Afghanistan's Nuristan Province. Other major places where the language of Ashkun is spoken are Nuristan Province, Pech Valley in Wama District, eastern side of the Lower Alingar Valley in Nurgaram and Duab districts, Malil wa Mushfa, Titin, Kolatan and Bajagal valleys.
Kunar is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. Its capital is Asadabad. Its population is estimated to be 508,224. Kunar's major political groups include Wahhabis or Ahl-e- Hadith, Nazhat-e Hambastagi Milli, Hezb-e Afghanistan Naween, Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin.
Pashayi or Pashai are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group living primarily in eastern Afghanistan. They are mainly concentrated in the northern parts of Laghman and Nangarhar, also parts of Kunar, Kapisa, Parwan, Nuristan, and a bit of Panjshir. Many Pashai consider themselves as Pashtuns speaking a special language, and many are bilingual in Pashto.
The Katir are a Nuristani tribe in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Dameli (دَميلي), also Damia, Damiabaasha or Gidoj, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Dardic subgroup spoken by approximately 5,000 people in the Domel Town, in the Chitral District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
The Kūnaṛ River, also known in its upper reaches as the Mastuj, Chitral, or Kama River, is about 480 kilometres (300 mi) long, located in eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. It emerges just south of the Broghil Pass, in the upper part of Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa near the Afghan border. The river system is fed by melting glaciers and snow of the Hindu Kush mountains. The Kunar River is a tributary of the Kabul River, which is in turn a tributary of the Indus River.
The Pech River is located in eastern Afghanistan.
Tregami (Trigami), or Katar Gambiri, is a language spoken in the villages of Gambir, Kaṭâr, and Devoz in the Tregâm Valley off the lower Pech River in the Watapur District of Kunar Province in Afghanistan. The area is in the Hindu Kush along the border with Pakistan. Tregami belongs to the Nuristani group of the Indo-Iranian language family. It is spoken by approximately 3,500 people (2011). Most individuals speak Pashto in addition to Tregami.
Wasi-wari is the language of the Wasi people, spoken in a few villages in the Pârun Valley in Afghanistan. It also goes by the name Prasun or Paruni.
Asadabad district is one of 15 districts in the Kunar Province of Afghanistan. It includes the city of Asadabad - the district center, close the Kunar River. It is situated in the central part of the province. It has 12 big and small villages, which are surrounded by mountains so there is not enough land for farming.
Marawara District is one of the 15 districts in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. It borders Sirkanay District to the west, Asadabad District to the north-west, Dangam District to the north-east and the Durand Line to the south. Marawara's population is not exactly known but government figures estimate it to be around 22,270 people, all of them being ethnic Pashtuns. Marawara village is the center of the district and is located in its westernmost part.
Bar Kunar District is situated in the northeastern part of Kunar Province, Afghanistan. It borders Asadabad district to the southwest, Nuristan Province to the northwest, Nari district to the northeast and Dangam district to the southeast. The population is 19,500 (2006) - all Pashtun. The district center is the village of Asmãr at 983 m elevation in a river valley, located in the most southern part of the district.
The district is mountainous and the arable land is not enough and people are poor. It is said that the fight against the Soviet Army started in this district.
Dangam District is situated in the eastern end of Kunar Province in Afghanistan. It borders Marawara district to the southwest, Asadabad district to the west, Bar Kunar district to the north, Nari district to the northeast and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan to the east. The district is mountainous and stunning but also poor.
Dara-I-Pech District is located in western-central Kunar Province, Afghanistan, 30 km west of Asadabad. The population was 48,400 in 2006. The district is governed from Mano Gai. The governor is Mohammad Rahkman.
The Battle of Kamdesh took place during the war in Afghanistan. It occurred on October 3, 2009, when a force of 300 Taliban assaulted the American Combat Outpost ("COP") Keating near the town of Kamdesh in Nuristan Province in eastern Afghanistan. The attack was the bloodiest battle for US forces since the Battle of Wanat in July 2008, which occurred 20 miles (32 km) away from Kamdesh. The attack on COP Keating resulted in 8 Americans killed and 27 wounded while the Taliban suffered 60-150 killed.
Operation Bulldog Bite was a joint US and Afghan counter-insurgent mission in Kunar province, Afghanistan, against Taliban forces that was conducted in November 2010. The operation targeted Taliban havens in the villages of the Watapur District, which lies in the eastern region of the Pech River Valley. The region served as a transit area for Taliban and al Qaeda fighters entering from Pakistan, and is just five miles from the Korangal Valley, an area where US forces had previously shut down combat operations. In 2009, US commanders stated that the valley was strategically insignificant due to its remote location, but the Taliban and al Qaeda would later use the region to launch attacks into neighboring Afghan provinces.
