Baraki Rajan
Baraki Rajan | |
|---|---|
  Baraki Rajan Location in Afghanistan | |
| Coordinates: 33°56′0″N 68°55′0″E / 33.93333°N 68.91667°E | |
| Country |  Afghanistan |
| Province | Logar Province |
| Population | |
• Total | ~15,000 |
| Time zone | UTC+4:30 |
Baraki Rajan (Pashto and Dari: برکی راجان) is a town within the Baraki Barak District of Logar Province, Afghanistan. Baraki Rajan lies approximately 3 km south of the town of Baraki Barak, the capital of the Baraki Barak District. Baraki Rajan is the location of the largest bazaar in the Baraki Barak District, with over 1,200 shops and businesses, with a 50+ bed hospital near the town center, making Baraki Rajan an important center for commerce within the district.
The population of mainly Tajiks and Pashtuns is estimated at 15,000.[1] The town is named after the historical Ormur tribe, also locally known as Baraki.
History
Baraki Rajan experienced some of the heaviest clashes between the Soviet forces and Afghan Mujaheddin fighters throughout the Soviet–Afghan War. Baraki Rajan based Mujaheddin would launch attacks on Soviet convoys traveling on the nearby Kabul-Gardez and Kabul-Kandahar highways, which would result in harsh reprisals from the Soviet military. Throughout the Soviet–Afghan War, the area remained an active battle ground between the Mujaheddin and the Soviet military and the Soviet-backed military of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
According to a report by a Swedish committee in July 1982, in a massive operation by Soviet forces in Baraki Rajan, numerous war crimes were committed. In a three-day-long operation, villages were bombed, shops burnt and hundreds of people, including 208 resistance fighters and 25 children, were killed.[2] Following this operation, Soviet-backed government control was never restored, not only in Baraki Rajan but the entire Baraki Barak District.
Baraki Rajan sits on a faultline between ethnic Tajiks and Pashtuns.[1] There are also political factions active in the area, notably Jamiat-e-Islami and Hizb-e-Islami, with histories of mutual antagonism dating back to the Afghan civil war of the early 1990s.