Nika District

Nika District, also known as Naka, is one of the most remote districts in Paktika Province, Afghanistan. It lies in a bowl-shaped valley and is only accessible by a few rocky river beds and a single dirt road, the latter of which is not passable in winter. The valley's economy is rudimentary and relies on wood cutting and subsistence farming. The area is both Pashtun and heavily tribal, dominated by four major tribes: the Turikhel, Janikhel, Spykhel and Sadak tribes. It was, until the US invasion 2001, a bastion for the Taliban, with mid-level and a few senior Taliban commanders spending time there, including Jalaluddin Haqqani, who has since taken up a prominent role in Al Queda and is rumored to be one of Osama bin Laden's senior advisors.