D-10: Warlordism in Northeast Afghanistan

I found an old IRIN article in the ariana website on the warlords in the northern region of Afghanistan. Nothing new, but it stresses in an useful way some facts: Even if Badakhshan in considered to be the safest place in Afghanistan and even if the PPR program (Disarmament Demobilisation and Reintegration) is present in Feizabad, the warlordism is still present, not suprisingly connected to the drug production. The article refers to a clash between two such warlords in April 05 which involved heavy weapons and to some nice officials asking for more weapons to get ride of the evil warlords. But I would not be surprised to hear that even the nice officials are in some way warlords. The weapon they want would just allow them to be even stronger warlords.

For a traveler, the article is an useful recall. It recalls that even if the situation in Northern Afghanistan could seem to be quieter than the south, the tensions and the potential for an eruption of violence is still present. But newsarticles are like vaccine. It needs to be refreshed.