# Waigal, Afghanistan: ‘This War Will Never End Here’



## Disir (Jun 16, 2019)

WAIGAL, NURISTAN, AFGHANISTAN – Nuristan means the “Land of Light.” But the poetically promising name is fallacious as the people in the center of Nuristan’s district of Waigal have not much, if any, hope left. Almost completely surrounded by Taliban, they have their weapons always ready – especially at night, as even in the “Land of Light” darkness falls and fighters from both sides try to exploit its cover. Government forces holding the line don’t believe that the war in their valley will ever end – even if current national and international efforts should result in a peace accord. And this is only one of many such examples across the country.

*The ‘Land of Light’*

Tucked away in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, Nuristan is arguably the most remote of the country’s 34 provinces. It’s so remote and difficult to access in fact that until the late 19th century Nuristan was known as Kafiristan – the “Land of the Infidels” – as its people had resisted outside control and still adhered to an ancient animist religion. This only changed in 1895, when the then-Afghan emir subdued Kafiristan, forcibly converted its inhabitants to Islam, and renamed it.
Driving up toward Waigal, one can well imagine why Nuristan had not been conquered earlier. And why – apart from some forays, including U.S. deployments to isolated outposts in the years since the toppling of the Taliban regime in 2001 – it has been mostly neglected ever since.
Waigal, Afghanistan: ‘This War Will Never End Here’

I don't think the reasons for never ending war are so different from others......it's personal.


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## Tijn Von Ingersleben (Jun 23, 2019)

Great story...good luck to them. Hope it all works out.


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