Watapur District

A river in the Watapur district of Kunar Province, Afghanistan
Afghan men walk through a field in Mulkanah Village of Watapur district, Kunar province.

Watapur District is situated in the central part of Kunar Province in Afghanistan. It was split from Asadabad district. The district is mountainous with 60 big and small villages. The population is around 24,300 (2006 est.). The villages are located in the valleys or in the high mountains, with difficult or no road access to the center - Asadabad, and it takes one day to reach some of them. There was a medical clinic north of Qatar Kala, built by ISAF, until local militants blew it up.

The district is bisected by the Pech (east-west) and Tregami (north-south) rivers. The district capital, the village of Watapur, lies near the junction of these two rivers. The Tregami valley is broad and agricultural in the south and narrow and mountainous in the north.

Most of the inhabitants of the district are Pashtuns. In the northern end of the Tregami valley are found three villages of Nuristanis who speak the unique Tregami Language. To the north of the district is the Waygal district of Nuristan Province, whose inhabitants speak the Nuristani Waygali (or Kalasha) Language. The village of Watapur was formerly inhabited by speakers of the Watapori Pech River Dardic (Indic) Language. The village of Qatar Kala, in the west of the district, still speaks a dialect of Watapori.

Coalition forces completed the construction of the paved Pech River road through the district in 2008. The road runs along the north bank of the Pech River.

Abdul Rasul Amin son of Mohammad Amin who was the Minister of Education of Afghan Interim Administration in 2001-2002, belongs to this district. The majority of the educated population of this district lives now in Australia, Germany and The Netherlands.

The Coalition base Combat Outpost Honaker-Miracle is located in the district next to the district center.

In 2012 the book "Siren's Song: The Allure of War" by Antonio Salinas was published. The book depicts the experience of an American Platoon operating in the Pech river valley. The platoon was based at COP Honaker Miracle.

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