Barmal District

Barmal District (Pashto: برمل ولسوالۍ‎, Persian: ولسوالی برمل‎‎) is a district of Paktika Province, Afghanistan, near the border with North Waziristan, one of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The population of Barmal is Pashtun, predominantly from the Kharoti and Wazir tribes.

According to Syed Saleem Shahzad writing in the Asia Times Online Birmal lies in an area of particularly rugged terrain:

Some of the world's most difficult terrain starts at Urgon and continues to Barmal and then Shawal (part of which is in Afghanistan and part in Pakistan). It is wholly pro-Taliban. Guerrillas carry out attacks and then melt into the local population, either in Birmal or in the thick forests of North Waziristan across the border. Recent US bombing in North Waziristan followed guerrillas being chased by US gunships and fighter aircraft - some stray bombs and missiles landed in Pakistani territory.

Security and Politics

A private T.V. station reported that NATO troops killed 23 Taliban insurgents in Barmal District on 18 November 2009.