Tarin Kowt

Tarin Kowt, capital of Oruzgan (also Uruzgan) province.

Security

Patrolling the Afghanistan frontline, Nick Butterly, The West Australian, 21 March 2010

Tarin Kowt is the centre of Australian efforts in Afghanistan. It’s a sprawling base housing a vast mix of troops from many nations. Though Australian and Dutch troops account for the majority on base, there is also a big group of Americans, as well as some British and a smattering of French and Slovenians.

The Australians are pushing slowly north from Tarin Kowt through the Chora and Baluchi valleys and east through the Mirabad valley as they attempt to widen their security footprint.

General

Tarin Kowt, Wikipedia.

Basic information.

Social and political

The Smart Money in Afghanistan, Anne Applebaum, NYT, 24 September 2008.

For once, the solution lies not in greater funding but in more intelligent use of the massive resources available. It may partly lie in smaller Afghan charities such as Afghan Health and Development Services, which sends family doctors (without security teams) out to the provinces, where they work in conjunction with the Ministry of Health; or with less demanding foreigners such as the Filipino aid workers who have set up a credit union– following Islamic banking practices, of course — in the provincial city of Tarin Kowt. They lack qualified staff, and they don’t like the gunfire they hear at night. But, with the advantage of “looking Afghan” (“people think I am Tajik,” one of them told me, laughing), they soldier on: Their credit union has 467 members and has made 83 loans. A little bit of money goes a long way in Afghanistan, they tell me. Too bad so many in the aid community still haven’t learned this, after all these years.

Shopkeepers strike over Digger raids, Tom Hyland, The Age, 5 August 2007.

“Tarin Kowt’s bazaar was closed in protest at the “unbecoming conduct” of foreign troops, which local merchants said was damaging their business, an Afghan news agency reported. The strike happened on July 26, the day Australian troops fired on a vehicle that refused to stop, wounding two children, aged five and two. Two days earlier they fired on another vehicle, killing the driver. The independent Afghan news agency said shopkeepers complained that security operations by foreign troops were obstructing their businesses. One shopkeeper said foreign troops were pestering merchants for no reason. Another said his business was being damaged by frequent searches by Australian and Dutch troops. An official of the Uruzgan provincial government was quoted as saying an official delegation had lodged a strong protest with the Dutch-led provincial reconstruction team ‘over the harassment of the common people'”.

Maps

Source: Tirin Kot, District Map, Afghanistan Information Management Services

Tirin Kot, District Map, Afghanistan Information Management Services

Detailed map, large file.

Tarin Kowt, Google Earth image

Tarin Kowt, Google EarthTarin Kowt – military bases and activities

Airport

Tereen (Tarin Kowt) Airport, Afghanistan Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation.

Basic technical airport information, map and photo. “The airport is located in the southeast section of the country, one mile south of the village of Tori, 60 miles north of Kandahar, and 205 miles south southwest of Kabul.” Location: N32° 36′ 45.56″ E65° 51′ 59.01″

List of airports in Afghanistan, Wikipedia [accessed 2007-03-16]

Useful list, with brief, incomplete information on Tarin Kowt Airport.