The dramatic mountains frame the area where the village of Nuristan sits . Photo by Karin Ronnow
matullah Rashidi , provincial tribal advisor to former President Hamid Karzai . “ People in the summer take farm animals outside and stay in gardens or farmhouses . Uzra and her brother , who was local police , were in her parents ’ summerhouse . Her husband was not in the village that night . And her parents were not there .
“ Taliban had already killed her family member . So when Taliban returned , she and this brother stood in the two windows and fired guns . They fought for two hours and she killed four Taliban before Taliban fired rocket launcher and all died — Uzra , her child , and her brother ,” Rashidi said .
This 19-year-old woman did what Nuristani woman have to do , said Mohammad
Amin , Barg-e-Matal police commander .
“ All women in Nuristan are so brave ,” said Amin . “ The last time Taliban occupied that village they burned most of the houses . The people fought them . But the women were the ones who brought water and doused the fire .”
Uzra ’ s fight to her death made headlines around the world .
‘ MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE ’ A few days later , Nuristani elders reiterated their request for Central Asia Institute ’ s ( CAI ) help with schools in the Barg-e-Matal and Kamdesh districts .
Not a single school has been built in Nuristan since 2009 , Rashidi said . “ We don ’ t have a regular school in Barg-e-Matal , only ( classes ) inside homes . Before I invite media there and had press conference about no schools in Nuristan because of security problem .” But nothing changed , he said . “ Maybe now people are listening about
Nuristan ,” he added .
Education is critical for Nuristan , “ especially in the rural areas ,” Ghulam Allah , former provincial police chief , said at an August meeting in CAI ’ s Kabul office . “ If children are uneducated , insurgents hire them for fighting and it will never end .”
But the province ’ s isolation and the years of violence have made it an area where few dare to tread . Its populated areas are hard to reach , perched high in the steep , wooded mountains . The only road in the eastern third of the province is under Taliban control . Latecomers to Islamic conversion , the Nuristanis ’ homeland was long called “ Kafiristan ,” or “ land of nonbelievers ” and these independent-minded people have a reputation for impatience with outsiders .
All these things combine to create “ a certain intangible mysticism ,” Jones wrote .
“ Nuristan is the most beautiful place in the world ,” Rashidi said . “ It has clean air and good views , green mountains , forest , and clean water . Once they see it , no one will stay out from Nuristan , they will all return back .”
The area where Uzra fought to her death is “ the coldest area in the province , high in the mountains , with snow leopards , Marco Polo sheep , and ibex . Barg-e-Matal people , they keep all their animals in that area for six months because the grass is so good . It is so beautiful that at the time of [ the last king of Afghanistan ] Zahir Shah , he took all his guests to that place for sightseeing and hunting . And last year I took [ now president ] Ashraf Ghani to Nuristan in helicopter and he said , ‘ I have never seen such a natural beauty anywhere else , in any country .’”
Amin added , “ Every afternoon has rain for 20 to 30 minutes .”
Rashidi continued , “ The Kunar River starts in that area . Fish there are very tasty . All meat there — goat and sheep , all wheat , vegetables , fruit , even the milk of the animals is better . Everything is pure .”
But now the area is littered with landmines , Rashidi said , deadly remnants of some of the worst fighting between the mujahedin and Soviet Army in the 1980s .
And the entire province is “ saturated ” with insurgents , Jones wrote . In 2009 , the International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF ) turned over Nuristan ’ s security to Afghan National Security Forces ( ANSF ). Since then , “ transnational insurgent groups and international terrorist organizations have entrenched themselves and … use intimidation and taxation to both subjugate civilians and depress local economies in order to ensure haven and safe travel from their logistical supply-andcommand and control points in Pakistan .”
In 2010 , Taliban invaded Barg-e-Matal ,
Rahmatullah Rashidi , Nuristan tribal advisor to former President Hamid Karzai , said his homeland is “ the most beautiful place in the world .”
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