Executive summary

Norway’s five-year experience as the lead nation of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) Meymaneh in Faryab province, north-west Afghanistan, has been marked by an increased level of violence. This violence is often attributed to the greater strength of the Taliban insurgency. But a close analysis suggests that it has other causes. They include traditional local feuds, struggles between different power structures, and competition over drug trafficking.

The nature of politics in this part of Afghanistan – where institutions are weak, parallel power systems coexist, warlords exercise personalised control, ethnicised divisions are growing, and older men dominate – underpins these conflicts. The district of Ghormach in nearby Badghis province, for which Norway took responsibility in January 2009, illustrates the problem: here, a series of military operations in an area of extreme poverty and intense ethnic rivalry seems to have caused more problems than it has solved.

This complex pattern of conflicts in and around Faryab presents Norway with an acute test, which at present PRT Meymaneh is not equipped to handle owing to weak political direction and military and civilian efforts that are not coordinated.

If this analysis is correct, Norway should refine its political approach in north-west Afghanistan. This could involve rethinking the separation of civilian and military efforts; deploying special operations forces; and acquiring deeper intelligence on the region’s political dynamics.