Travel Guide Faizabad

Faizabad means "the blessed". The city took this name in 1691, when it was housed in the mantle of the Prophet Mohammed and was made capital by Mir Yar Beg. A few years later, in 1768, the mantle was resumed in the city by Ahmad Shah Durrani, who gave it to Kandahar. Located in a valley, Faizabad is a pleasant city crossed by a large river, the Kokcha, which makes it a cool and resting place, but also rather muddy… In times of flood, the river takes the bridges and stops the road. Around the city, mountains and hills share the landscape. Animals, cows and donkeys, wander in the streets.The history of Badakhshan and Faizabad is one of the most complicated in the country. Undoubtedly, its hostile geography, its rugged terrain and the spirit of independence of its inhabitants have made this region a stronghold. It has always been resisted and many invaders have described it as imprenable. The capital of Badakhshan, Faizabad was also that of the Northern Alliance, when the Taliban mastered almost all of the country. During the war, it was the only part of the country that had not been taken by the Taliban. Some years ago, this region was one of the quietest in Afghanistan, but it is now affected by violence. Badakhshan is one of the centres of the opium industry and traffic is going well along the border with Tajikistan.Today, several ngos are based in Faizabad. The Provincial Reconstruction Team (more known under the acronym TRP, Provincial Reconstruction Team - the tool for military-civilian cooperation at the level of Afghan communities-is managed by the German army.