Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams, Chapter 302
Palash Biswas
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Just remember the Fatal day when Government of India witnessed US Missiles cross Indian Air Space and hit AFGANISTAN!
Just remember the Khalistan Insurgency days fed with Taliban Arms imported from United States of America to finish Soviet Intervention in Afganistan!
Afganistan has been key of Recent history in this divided geopolitics Bleeding. Pakistan was PREDESTINED to feel the heat of Taliban versus US Military Clash transforming peaceful Indian Ocean zone the Open Battlefield and India the target of Constant Terror attacks!
But the Ruling Brahaminical Hegemonies Military or so called Democrate do NEGLECT most AFGANISTAN in foreign affairs!
The Result is we IMMOLATE ourselves in Self destructing Fire Infinite to sustain zionist post Modern Triblis Manusmriti Apartheid global Order of Mass Destruction!
Indian Ruling Hegemony enjoys the Rocketing Defence Expanditure and the Fiscal defecit meant to bail out the India Incs and Induged in Flexing Nuclear Muscles with Indo Us Nuclear Deal, Defence sacms, Zunc Soviet Technology, Failed Moon Mission, Bleeding Rural Aboriginal Indigenous and Minority communities ENSLAVED in manusmriti rule, strategic realliance in Us Isarel lead and India Inc Governace assisted by MNCS, LPG Mafia, FDI, FII and foreign Borrowing!
Meanwhile, the West palys a different ball game other than CRICKET or Indian Parliamnetary Soap Opera or Reality shows! South Block has proved itself quite INCOMPETENT to appear as Saviour for the suffering, starving People in South Asia.
If Incompetence and Inefficiency may be the cause of DISINVESTMENT and Divestment, I am afraid to suggest that this Bastardised Government of India must be DISINVESTED Immediately!
On the other hand, DESPITE launching ARIHANT with Soviet Technology, the Regional Nuclear Super Power India stand quite STRANDED to counter the Chinese Diplomacy as China and the United States shoulder important responsibilities on a host of major issues concerning peace and development of mankind, Chinese President Hu Jintao said Monday in a message to the opening session of China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue. As two countries with significant influence in the world, China and the United States also enjoy extensive common interests and broad space for cooperation, Hu said.
Meanwhile it is clear that Washington is hoping for an response by September from Tehran to overtures on its controversial nuclear drive, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday.Thus, IRAN plays its Cards more EFFECTIVELY in Middle east than India poses quite HELPLESS in South Asia! However, Hillary Clinton sought to calm Israeli fears about a nuclear-armed Iran yesterday after she appeared to suggest last week that the Obama Administration was resigned to Tehran getting the bomb. While, U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates moved to reassure Israel on Monday that Washington’s bid to talk Iran into giving up sensitive nuclear work was worth pursuing, despite Tehran’s reticence.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who VISITED India recently and Ruling Class as well as the Toilet Media had been quite GA GA with this Achievement, has opened talks with high-level Chinese officials, hailing an opportunity for better relations and saying the two countries share common interests and mutual threats.
On the other hand,Pakistan today termed the induction of an indigenously-built nuclear-powered submarine by India as a “destabilising step” and said it was capable of defending itself in the face of all such regional challenges.
“The government of Pakistan is fully aware of this issue and is prepared to counter it at all levels. Pakistan’s defence is fully prepared to face this challenge,” Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar told reporters in response to a question about India’s launch of ‘INS Arihant’.
“We don’t want any wars but we know how to defend ourselves,” he said adding, Pakistan is capable of defending itself against all such challenges.
A Pakistan Navy spokesman told reporters that India’s launch of a nuclear submarine was “a destabilising step which would jeopardise the security paradigm of the entire Indian Ocean region”.
China and the United States, in the face of the complex and changing international economic and political situation, should endeavor to expand common ground, reduce differences, enhance mutual trust and strengthen cooperation through the Strategic and Economic Dialogue, he said.
“This serves the common interests of the two sides and will help advance the positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship between our two countries,” said the Chinese leader.
“It is also of great importance for peace, stability, development and prosperity of the whole world,” he added.
Britain announced the end of a five-week offensive against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan on Monday, saying it had succeeded in driving militants out of population centres ahead of national elections next month.
Operation “Panther’s Claw”, which involved around 3,000 British troops backed by U.S., Danish and other NATO units, was the largest offensive by British forces since they took responsibility in mid-2006 for Helmand, a volatile desert-and-mountain province in Afghanistan’s south.
The offensive is part of a series of operations that Western forces have launched ahead of Afghanistan’s presidential and provincial elections on Aug. 20, designed to build security and allow as many people as possible to vote.
But 21 British deaths in six weeks of fighting have fuelled doubts at home about the overall war in Afghanistan and whether troops are receiving the support they need from the government.
“What we have achieved here is significant and I am absolutely certain that the operation has been a success,” Brigadier Tim Radford, the commander of British forces in Helmand, told reporters in London via video link.
“We have inflicted heavy losses on the insurgents, both physically and psychologically, and we have seen a number of them give up and flee the area as a result.”
He said around 500 Taliban had confronted British troops during the offensive, which focused on an area north of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, where the Taliban had infiltrated a string of towns along the Helmand river.
He would not give details of how many had been captured or killed, but said some Taliban had probably managed to escape or melt back into the local population.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown praised the “heroic” efforts of British forces in Helmand province, where the troop death toll has surged since the assault was launched late last month.
“The first phase of Operation Panther’s Claw has now ended,” a Ministry of Defence spokeswoman told AFP. “There are three phases. The first was the most heavily military phase.
“The second is a holding phase, about holding the ground, and the third is a building phase.”
Some 20 British troops have died in Afghanistan so far this month, taking the death toll since operations began in the country in late 2001 to 189, above the toll in the war in Iraq.
“The efforts of our troops in Helmand have been nothing short of heroic,” Brown said. “There has been a tragic human cost. But this has not been in vain.
“What we have actually done is make land secure for about 100,000 people.
“What we’ve done is push back the Taliban — and what we’ve done also is to start to break that chain of terror that links the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan to the streets of Britain.”
Britain has around 9,150 troops in Afghanistan, the vast majority fighting the Taliban in Helmand.
The British military insisted that the first phase of Panther’s Claw was a success, with three thousand British-led troops inflicting “significant” losses on Taliban extremists.
“What we have achieved here is significant and I am absolutely certain that the operation has been a success,” said Brigadier Tim Radford, commander of Task Force Helmand.
The government of Afghanistan in a bid to enable Afghans to use their franchise in the coming election in troubled areas struck ceasefire deal with Taliban insurgents in northern Badghis province, a spokesman in Presidential Palace Siamak Herawi said Monday.
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Afghan forces patrol on the outskirts of Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, July 27, 2009. The government of Afghanistan in a bid to enable Afghans to use their franchise in the coming election in troubled areas struck ceasefire deal with Taliban insurgents in northern Badghis province, a spokesman in Presidential Palace Siamak Herawi said Monday. (Xinhua/Zabi Tamanna) |
“The truce reached on Saturday between government and local opposition commanders with the efforts of elders and influential figures in Badghis province,” Herawi told Xinhua.
The spokesman added that the truce had three clauses which include opening the offices of election commission to facilitate people to vote, resuming the work for construction of ring road in Balamirghab district and allowing administration to take on the development projects in the district under the National Solidarity Program (NSP) run by government.
This is the first time since the collapse of Taliban regime in late 2001 and resuming militancy in 2003 that ceasefire is held between government and Taliban militants formally.
“This ceasefire is a people-motivated movement for strengthening peace and holding election and we hope it would prove as a model for other areas to enable people use their franchise on Election Day,” Herawi further stressed.
However, military and police officials in southwest region have ruled out any peace deal with Taliban militants in the Balamirghab district.
“We have no ceasefire with Taliban, our troops are present in Balamirghab, implementing government rule and control the situation,” commander of military Corps in the region General Jalandar Shah Behnam told Xinhua.
However, Behnam admitted that the troops have evacuated from some places captured last month on the directive of Defense Ministry. Police also gave similar expression and rejected any ceasefire with militants in Balamirghab district.
“No, there is no ceasefire as police are capable enough to ensure security for the coming election,” police spokesman in the region Abdul Rauf Ahmadi told Xinhua.
Several districts are said to be in the control of Taliban militants particularly in the southern region as the government launched a massive operation against Taliban in parts of Helmand province on July 2 to ensure security for the election.
Defense Ministry has announced that the security forces would restore government control in all areas held by Taliban before theelections.
Afghanistan’s second presidential and provincial council election were scheduled to be held on Aug 20 amid tight security.
The Afghan government must exploit the opportunity presented by the allied military surge to reconcile with moderate Taliban guerrillas willing to take part in the political process, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Monday.In a wide-ranging speech at NATO headquarters outlining the allied strategy in the war, Miliband also called for greater burden-sharing among nations contributing troops to the war effort.
Miliband said that while hard-line fundamentalist commanders committed to a global jihad must be pursued relentlessly, ordinary rank-and-file Taliban should be given the opportunity “to leave the path of confrontation with the government.”
He said Afghanistan’s government must develop “a political strategy for dealing with the insurgency through reintegration and reconciliation” and an “effective grass-roots initiatives to offer an alternative to fight or flight to the foot soldiers of the insurgency.”
Meanwhile,the first phase of a bitterly fought British military operation in southern Afghanistan is over and has succeeded in driving the Taleban out of a former stronghold, senior officials said today.
Three thousand UK-led soldiers inflicted “significant” losses on insurgents in Helmand province during the five-week Operation Panchai Palang, or Panther’s Claw.
But the gains came at a high cost, with nine British servicemen killed in action and several others still recovering in hospital from wounds sustained in the fighting. Twenty soldiers have died in operations in Afghanistan this month, taking the toll to 189 since British forces first landed eight years ago.
The Ministry of Defence today named the latest casualty as Bombardier Craig Hopson, from 40th Regiment Royal Artillery, who was killed by a roadside bomb on Saturday morning as he travelled in a lightly armoured Jackal combat vehicle.
The U.S. military in Afghanistan has stopped releasing body counts of insurgents believed killed in operations because the tolls distract from the U.S. objective of protecting Afghans, a spokesman said Monday.
The number of insurgents killed in Afghanistan has provided a bloody scorecard for the deteriorating conflict. Attacks by Taliban fighters have risen steadily the last three years, and militants now control wide swaths of countryside.
Nearly 3,800 insurgents were killed in 2008, based on figures collected by The Associated Press. Some of those numbers came from U.S. military statements; others came from Afghan authorities. So far in 2009, more than 2,310 insurgents have been killed, according to the AP count.
The U.S. military policy on releasing insurgent body counts has changed several times during the eight-year conflict, depending on the commander in charge.
The latest decision to stop releasing body counts was made in mid-June when Gen. Stanley McChrystal took command of all U.S. and NATO troops in the country, said spokesman Col. Greg Julian.
The militant death toll “distracts from the real objectives and isn’t necessary to communicate what we’re trying to achieve,” Julian said. “We want to separate the people from the insurgency by improving their quality of life and opportunities.”
Since taking command in Afghanistan, McChrystal has said repeatedly that the military needs to protect Afghan villagers instead of chasing and killing insurgents.
Civilian deaths caused by U.S. and NATO military operations have long been a source of friction between President Hamid Karzai and the international force. Such deaths alienate Afghan villagers, causing a loss of support for the international mission and the U.S.-backed Afghan government.
The U.S. military hopes to focus more on spreading the word about military efforts to help Afghans rebuild their lives by improving access to government and economic resources, Julian said.
In northwestern Afghanistan, meanwhile, the government and a local Taliban commander agreed to a cease-fire that will allow a road construction project to move forward and presidential candidates to open offices ahead of the country’s Aug. 20 election, said Seyamak Herawi, a spokesman in Karzai’s office.
The agreement covers the Bala Morghab district of northwestern Badghis province, an area where the Afghan government has little or no control. The cease-fire was agreed to on Saturday and was reached with the help of tribal elders, Herawi said.
However, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said no such agreement has been made.
“This is all propaganda by the Afghan government,” he said. “We will continue our jihad and will not accept the request of the government for negotiations and cease-fire.”
U.S. and NATO officials have said they expect negotiations to one day help bring about an end to the Afghan war, but that conditions are not yet right for talks to take place.
Miliband cited Taliban members who have returned to the fold.
“Former Taliban sit in parliament. And Mullah Salam left the Taliban in late 2007 to become district governor of Musa Qala,” said Miliband. “So there is no reason why members of the current insurgency cannot follow — if they are prepared to be part of a peaceful future and accept the Afghan constitution.”
Twenty British soldiers have died in Afghanistan in July, igniting a debate in Britain about its role in the war and the quality of its military equipment.
The Conservative opposition has lashed out at Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Labor government for allegedly underfunding Britain’s 9,000-strong contingent and not providing sufficient helicopters or armored vehicles. The government has dismissed those accusations, saying its forces are properly equipped.
Since the start of the war in 2001, 189 British service personnel have died in the conflict. Last week the head of the armed forces warned that British troops faced more combat and more casualties in coming days.
NATO has nearly 60,000 troops in Afghanistan, about half of them American. The United States maintains a separate command numbering about 10,000 soldiers, and nearly 20,000 more are on their way to the war.
The Afghan security forces, which number about 160,000 members, also are being expanded.
In contrast, Taliban guerrillas are said to number just 10,000 to 15,000 fighters.
Theo Farrell, professor of war studies at King’s College, London, said Miliband is urging Afghan President Hamid Karzai to used the reconciliation model with former insurgents that worked for U.S. forces in some areas of Iraq.
But Farrell questioned Karzai’s willingness to do that, saying he would probably demand former militants surrender unconditionally to be readmitted to “society” and bar them from his government.
“The major obstacle to any real reconciliation is Karzai himself,” the analyst said in a telephone interview.
During this speech, Miliband reiterated a call for greater burden-sharing between the allies, some of whose contingents — including those from Germany, Italy, Spain and Turkey — are based in the relatively safe north and west of the country. Their governments have refused to allow the troops to be deployed to the much more dangerous southern and eastern provinces.
“People in Britain … want to know that all the members of our alliance are ready to give it the priority it deserves,” Miliband said. “Burden sharing is a founding principal of NATO, and it needs to be honored in practice as well as in theory.”
Related articles
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The Associated Press – 1 day ago - Afghan Government Agrees to Truce with Taliban Insurgents
TransWorldNews (press release) – 48 minutes ago - Afghan reconciliation the key to victory, Miliband says (Extra)
Monsters and Critics.com – 5 hours ago - More coverage (2143) »
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| British Foreign Secretary David Miliband gestures while speaking during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Monday July 27, 2009. Miliband said Monday that the Afghan government must use the opportunity created by the allied military surge to reconcile with moderate Taliban guerrillas willing to join the political process. Twenty British soldiers have died in Afghanistan in July, the deadliest month of the war, setting off a heated political debate about Britain’s role in the war and raising doubts over whether the military has the proper equipment. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) | ||
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By SLOBODAN LEKIC (AP) – 26 minutes ago
BRUSSELS — The Afghan government must exploit the opportunity presented by the allied military surge to reconcile with moderate Taliban guerrillas willing to take part in the political process, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Monday.
In a wide-ranging speech at NATO headquarters outlining the allied strategy in the war, Miliband also called for greater burden-sharing among nations contributing troops to the war effort.
Miliband said that while hard-line fundamentalist commanders committed to a global jihad must be pursued relentlessly, ordinary rank-and-file Taliban should be given the opportunity “to leave the path of confrontation with the government.”
He said Afghanistan’s government must develop “a political strategy for dealing with the insurgency through reintegration and reconciliation” and an “effective grass-roots initiatives to offer an alternative to fight or flight to the foot soldiers of the insurgency.”
Miliband cited Taliban members who have returned to the fold.
“Former Taliban sit in parliament. And Mullah Salam left the Taliban in late 2007 to become district governor of Musa Qala,” said Miliband. “So there is no reason why members of the current insurgency cannot follow — if they are prepared to be part of a peaceful future and accept the Afghan constitution.”
Twenty British soldiers have died in Afghanistan in July, igniting a debate in Britain about its role in the war and the quality of its military equipment.
The Conservative opposition has lashed out at Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Labor government for allegedly underfunding Britain’s 9,000-strong contingent and not providing sufficient helicopters or armored vehicles. The government has dismissed those accusations, saying its forces are properly equipped.
Since the start of the war in 2001, 189 British service personnel have died in the conflict. Last week the head of the armed forces warned that British troops faced more combat and more casualties in coming days.
NATO has nearly 60,000 troops in Afghanistan, about half of them American. The United States maintains a separate command numbering about 10,000 soldiers, and nearly 20,000 more are on their way to the war.
The Afghan security forces, which number about 160,000 members, also are being expanded.
In contrast, Taliban guerrillas are said to number just 10,000 to 15,000 fighters.
Theo Farrell, professor of war studies at King’s College, London, said Miliband is urging Afghan President Hamid Karzai to used the reconciliation model with former insurgents that worked for U.S. forces in some areas of Iraq.
But Farrell questioned Karzai’s willingness to do that, saying he would probably demand former militants surrender unconditionally to be readmitted to “society” and bar them from his government.
“The major obstacle to any real reconciliation is Karzai himself,” the analyst said in a telephone interview.
During this speech, Miliband reiterated a call for greater burden-sharing between the allies, some of whose contingents — including those from Germany, Italy, Spain and Turkey — are based in the relatively safe north and west of the country. Their governments have refused to allow the troops to be deployed to the much more dangerous southern and eastern provinces.
“People in Britain … want to know that all the members of our alliance are ready to give it the priority it deserves,” Miliband said. “Burden sharing is a founding principal of NATO, and it needs to be honored in practice as well as in theory.”
Talk to Taliban, Miliband urges |
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David Miliband has called for a change of emphasis in strategy in Afghanistan, urging the country’s government to talk to moderate members of the Taliban. In a speech to Nato, the foreign secretary said a political coalition, including current insurgents, must be built to secure Afghanistan’s future. Those now fighting UK and US troops who were willing to renounce violence should be reintegrated into society. He also urged other Nato members to contribute more to the military effort. July has been the deadliest month for the UK and Nato since operations began. ‘Significant gains’ Mr Miliband said the fight against the Taliban in the south of the country had caused a “heavy toll” in British deaths. However, he said Operation Panther’s Claw had made “significant gains” in taking and securing land ahead of this month’s presidential elections. Mr Miliband said the objectives of the UK’s mission was clear but that the public “wanted to know whether and how we can succeed” in Afghanistan. He said a viable political solution, alongside the military offensive, was essential to securing Afghanistan’s future. As part of this, Mr Miliband said current insurgents should be re-integrated into society and, in some cases, given a role in local and central government. He made a distinction between “hardline ideologues” and Jihaddists within the Taliban and other groups who must be fought and defeated from those who could be “drawn into a political process”. Those who had either been coerced or bribed into joining the insurgency could be engaged with if they disowned violence and respected the Afghan constitution, he said. “These Afghans must have the option to choose a different course,” he said. Public awareness Earlier, International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander compared the move to the talks which brought an end to the conflict in Northern Ireland. Mr Alexander, who is in Afghanistan, conceded that it was a “challenging” message for politicians to suggest when British troops were being killed in action. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he had “confidence in the good judgment of the British people”. Mr Alexander added: “I think people recognise from the experience of places like Northern Ireland that it is necessary to put military pressure on the Taliban while at the same time holding out the prospect that there can be a political process that can follow.” On Sunday, the UK pledged £225m in aid to the Afghan government, to try to undermine the heroin trade. Announcing the package in Kabul, Mr Alexander said the UK was committed to securing a “stable and democratic future for the people of Afghanistan”. He added that the military operation against the insurgency was “only part of the solution”. Wave of attacks Mr Alexander is now visiting Helmand province, where UK soldiers have been engaged in Operation Panther’s Claw to capture and hold land previously in Taliban hands. The operation has led to the deaths of 20 British soldiers in the past four weeks. US troops have also seen a rise in casualties, while parts of Afghanistan that have been mostly peaceful have seen an upsurge in violence. Other Nato forces such as German troops – mainly engaged in training and reconstruction – have been drawn into offensive action. But Mr Miliband has called for other countries to do more, saying the policy of burden-sharing must work in “practice” not just in theory. A wave of Taliban attacks over the weekend left 22 dead, including insurgents, a foreign soldier and two Afghan soldiers, authorities said. The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said a Nato soldier “died of wounds suffered in a hostile incident” on Saturday, but did not confirm his nationality. Meanwhile a roadside bomb in the Herat province wounded four Italian soldiers. There are about 90,000 foreign soldiers currently deployed in Afghanistan. Large numbers are being moved to the troubled south of the country ahead of the elections on 20 August. So far in July, 67 international troops have been killed, bringing the total number of coalition deaths in 2009 to 223. Print Sponsor Ads by Google
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Israel, U.S. discuss Iran nuclear threat
- Story Highlights
- Mideast envoy George Mitchell to meet Israeli President Shimon Peres
- Mitchell will also meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
- Mideast peace, Iran nuclear question on agenda
JERUSALEM (CNN) — A week of U.S. diplomatic maneuvering continued Monday with special envoy George Mitchell and Defense Secretary Robert Gates visiting Israel.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, left, shakes hands with his Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak.
Mitchell will meet with Israeli President Shimon Peres and travel to Ramallah for a face-to-face with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
He will try to downplay tensions that have erupted publicly over U.S. President Barack Obama’s demand that Israel freeze settlement in the occupied West Bank.
Some 300,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank, a presence that Palestinian authorities say impedes peace talks.
“Our governments are friends and allies,” Mitchell said Sunday after meeting with Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
“These are discussions among friends, both personal and public. These are not disputes among adversaries.”
For his part, Gates will meet with Barak and Netanyahu. He is expected to talk about the American strategy in dealing with Iran’s alleged nuclear program and the perceived threat it poses to Israel.
On Wednesday, U.S. National Security Adviser James Jones and Special Mideast Adviser Dennis Ross will also arrive in Israel for meetings.
The flurry of activity is intended to jump-start the stalled Israel-Palestinian peace process.
On Sunday, Mitchell met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad before heading to Israel and Egypt.
He told journalists the talks involved not only prospects for a comprehensive regional peace agreement, but also bolstering U.S. ties with Syria.
Next, he heads to Jordan to meet with King Abdullah.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/07/27/gates.mideast/
Afghanistan ‘agrees Taliban deal’ |
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The Afghan government has agreed a truce with Taliban insurgents in the north-western province of Badghis ahead of elections next month, officials say. The Taliban have pledged not to attack voting centres and to hand key areas to government forces, officials say. There has been no word from the militants. The government says it hopes to replicate the deal in other provinces. The moves comes as the UK is emphasising that more must be done to engage moderate members of the Taliban. Foreign Secretary David Miliband announced the shift of emphasis in the UK’s Afghanistan strategy in a speech to Nato. He stressed the Afghan government must do more to talk to moderate members of the Taliban as part of a broader political process. Violence in Afghanistan has escalated in recent months as UK and US forces launched a full-scale offensive against Taliban militants in the south of the country. Taliban engagement But Badghis has seen comparatively little violence in recent months. The BBC’s Bilal Sarwary in Kabul says the province, which borders Turkmenistan, has been a launching point for attacks in the nearby provinces of Ghor and Herat. 
Cannot play media.You do not have the correct version of the flash player. Download the correct version UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband: ‘We need to deny insurgents the space to operate’ In November 2008 about 200 militants attacked an Afghan army convoy in Badghis, killing at least 13 Afghan soldiers and policemen. Presidential spokesman Siamak Hirawi told the BBC the agreement in Badghis also stipulated that the Taliban would allow the reconstruction of the main highway. If the Taliban confirm they have agreed to the terms of the ceasefire and if the deal is repeated in other provinces, then it could mark a significant new stage in the conflict, correspondents say. But it would not be the first time the Afghan government has tried to engage the Taliban. In October 2008, President Hamid Karzai’s brother confirmed a BBC report that he had met former members of the Taliban in Saudi Arabia as part of a first step towards peace talks. There are grave concerns about security across the country ahead of presidential and provincial council elections on 20 August. Mr Karzai faces about 40 challengers for the post of president. Print Sponsor Ads by Google
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Three convicted for Mumbai blasts
The blasts caused devastation in Mumbai
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A court in India has convicted three people of carrying out bombings that killed more than 50 people in the city of Mumbai (Bombay) in 2003.
Haneef Sayyed, his wife Fahmeeda and Ashrat Ansari had pleaded not guilty to murder and conspiracy charges.
The explosions at the famous Gateway of India landmark and a busy market shocked the country and caused carnage.
They were said to be in retaliation for the deaths of Muslims during riots in Gujarat state the year before.
Hundreds have been killed in attacks in Mumbai in recent years.
‘Links with militants’
The double car bombing in August 2003 left devastation at the Gateway of India and the Zaveri Bazaar market near the Mumba Devi temple in central Mumbai.
About 180 people were injured.
The three defendants, all of them from Mumbai, were charged under India’s Prevention Of Terrorism Act, which has since been repealed.
Two others were accused – Mohammed Ansari and Mohammed Hasan. They were discharged after a review by the special court last year.
The three defendants were convicted of plotting the bombings in co-ordination with the Pakistan-based Islamic militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
LeT is also accused of carrying out other attacks in India in recent years, including the gun and bomb assault on Mumbai last November.
The judge said all three defendants were members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which they denied.
Sentencing is due on 4 August and the prosecution is expected to demand the death penalty. The defence plan to appeal.
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Uproar in Indian Kashmir assembly
The alleged rapes and murders have generated much anger
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Opposition MPs in Indian-administered Kashmir have been evicted from the state assembly after protesting at the rape and murder of two women in May.
There was uproar when People’s Democratic Party (PDP) members demanded those responsible be held to account.
Four policemen have been arrested in connection with the murders, charged with destroying evidence in the case.
The discovery of the young women’s bodies led to weeks of protests and strikes in the Kashmir valley.
Microphone snatched
The BBC’s Altaf Hussain in Srinagar says there were noisy scenes as the state assembly held the first day of a month-long budget session.
Without having received permission to speak, PDP members demanded the rapists and killers of the two women be brought to justice.
The presiding officer then ordered them and their leader Mehbooba Mufti to be thrown out of the chamber.
Ms Mufti snatched the Speaker’s microphone and threw it to the ground before being evicted.
The women’s bodies were found in a canal in the town of Shopian on 30 May.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said initial findings did not suggest either rape or murder.
But he later ordered a judicial inquiry following protests and police registered a case of both rape and murder.
The four policemen and a laboratory official remain suspended while investigations continue.
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Afghanistan offensive ‘a success’
Around 3,000 forces personnel have taken part in Operation Panther’s Claw
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The commander of UK forces in Afghanistan has hailed their latest operation a success, as its first stage draws to a close.
Brig Tim Radford was “cautiously optimistic” about the future but said there was “a long way to go” to improve security in time for elections.
Nine UK soldiers died during Operation Panther’s Claw, which has involved 3,000 troops since its launch in June.
Troops will now focus on holding ground won from the Taliban in recent weeks.
The latest soldier to die has been named as Bombardier Craig Hopson, 24, from Castleford, west Yorkshire.
He was serving with 40th Regiment Royal Artillery, when he was killed in an explosion as the offensive neared completion on Saturday.
‘Difficult summer’
It ended as UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband urged Afghanistan’s leaders to build a political coalition which included some of the country’s more moderate insurgents.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said it had been “one of the most difficult summers” since UK forces entered Afghanistan in 2001.
He said the offensive had secured land for around 100,000 people and had started to break the “chain of terror” linking Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan to the UK.
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 Paul Reynolds, BBC world affairs correspondent
The military view of the Miliband proposal to talk to moderate Taliban is that nobody in the Taliban will talk unless it is significantly beaten on the ground.
The military priority right now is to clear ground, hold it and develop its civilian and governmental structures. This is why Operation Panther’s Claw, to clear the Taliban from populated areas in north central Helmand (and a similar offensive conducted by US marines in the south), is seen as so important. Lt Gen Simon Mayall, British deputy chief of operations, said: “The Taliban is really worried about our policy of clear and hold. “It gives us the chance to get ’second-tier’ Taliban to re-engage with the government and this is at the heart of our policy.” So the success of the “Talk to the Taliban” approach much depends on there being military progress. But, equally, military success will not last unless political progress is made. |
“It’s time to commemorate all those soldiers who have given their lives and to thank all our British forces for the determination and professionalism and courage that they’ve shown,” he added.
The Ministry of Defence said the first stage of Operation Panther’s Claw, which focused on an area the size of the Isle of Wight, was the most heavily-militarised of the offensive.
It ended with a final armoured thrust into former Taliban territory by The Black Watch and 2nd Battalion the Welsh Guards.
Nine soldiers have died during the operation, and another 11 were killed on unrelated missions during the last month.
Brig Radford said the casualties had not been in vain.
“I am absolutely certain that the operation has been a success,” he said.
“We’ve had a significant impact on the Taliban in this area – both in terms of their capability and their morale.”
British commanders estimate there were up to 500 Taliban in the area before the start of the operation and say most have now fled, given up arms or been killed.
Brig Radford said Afghan nationals had moved back into the cleared areas and had been warning them about roadside bombs and helping them plot safe routes.
These good relations meant some reintegration with current insurgents was “not beyond the realms of possibility”, he said.
The operation’s second and third stages will aim to hold ground taken by forces during the offensive and work towards the elections in late August.
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“We have started to break the chain of terror that links Afghanistan to the streets of Britain”
Brig Radford said morale was “extremely high” among British troops, adding that he did not feel his forces had been short of helicopters during his three months leading them.
The high casualty rate among British troops, with roadside bombs proving particularly deadly, had provoked debate over whether forces were properly equipped to deal with the threat.
Much of it had focused on a perceived lack of helicopters, with Conservative leader David Cameron attacking ministers over the “scandal” of shortages.
Military commanders said using more helicopters would save lives by keeping troops off the roads and making their movements less predictable.
However, Mr Brown has insisted troops had the resources “to do the job” and that lives had not been lost during the operation because of a lack of helicopters.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/8170432.stm
Afghanistan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Afghanistan (pronounced /æfˈɡænɨstæn/),[4] officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country that is located approximately in the center of Asia. It is variously designated as geographically located within Central Asia[5][6] or South Asia.[7][8] It is bordered by Iran in the south and west, Pakistan in the south and east, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast.
Afghanistan is a crossroads between the East and the West, and has been an ancient focal point of trade and migration. It has an important geostrategic location, connecting South and Central Asia and Middle East. Because of this, the land has been a target of various invaders and conquerors, as well as a source from which local powers invaded surrounding regions to form their own empires. Ahmad Shah Durrani created the Durrani Empire in 1747, which is considered the beginning of modern Afghanistan.[9] Subsequently, the capital was shifted to Kabul and most of its territories ceded to former neighboring countries. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a buffer state in “The Great Game” played between the British Indian Empire and Russian Empire.[10] On August 19, 1919, following the third Anglo-Afghan war, the country regained full independence from the United Kingdom over its foreign affairs.
Since the late 1970s Afghanistan has suffered continuous and brutal civil war in addition to foreign interventions in the form of the 1979 Soviet invasion and the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that toppled the Taliban government. In late 2001 the United Nations Security Council authorized the creation of an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). This force is composed of NATO troops that are involved in assisting the government of President Hamid Karzai in establishing the writ of law as well as rebuilding key infrastructures in the nation.
Contents[hide]
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Etymology
The name Afghānistān, Persian افغانستان [avɣɒnestɒn],[11] means “Land of Afghans“, from the word Afghan.
Origin of the name
The first part of the name, “Afghan”, is an alternative name for the Pashtuns who are the founders and the largest ethnic group of the country. They probably began using the term Afghan as a name for themselves since at least the Islamic period and onwards. According to W. K. Frazier Tyler, M. C. Gillet and several other scholars, “The word Afghan first appears in history in the Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam in 982 AD.” Al-Biruni referred to Afghans as various tribes living on the western frontier mountains of the Indus River, which would be the Sulaiman Mountains.[12]
A Moroccan traveller, Ibn Battuta, visiting Kabul in 1333 writes:[13]
We travelled on to Kabul, formerly a vast town, the site of which is now occupied by a village inhabited by a tribe of Persians called Afghans.
In this regard the Encyclopædia Iranica states:[14]
From a more limited, ethnological point of view, “Afghān” is the term by which the Persian-speakers of Afghanistan (and the non-Paštō-speaking ethnic groups generally) designate the Paštūn. The equation [of] Afghan [and] Paštūn has been propagated all the more, both in and beyond Afghanistan, because the Paštūn tribal confederation is by far the most important in the country, numerically and politically.
It further explains:
The term “Afghān” has probably designated the Paštūn since ancient times. Under the form Avagānā, this ethnic group is first mentioned by the Indian astronomer Varāha Mihira in the beginning of the 6th century CE in his Brihat-samhita.
This information is supported by traditional Pashto literature, for example, in the writings of the 17th-century Pashto poet Khushal Khan Khattak:[15]
Pull out your sword and slay any one, that says Pashtun and Afghan are not one! Arabs know this and so do Romans: Afghans are Pashtuns, Pashtuns are Afghans!
The last part of the name, -stān is an ancient Indo-Iranian suffix for “place”, prominent in many languages of the region.
The term “Afghanistan,” meaning the “Land of Afghans,” was mentioned by the sixteenth century Mughal Emperor Babur in his memoirs, referring to the territories south of Kabul that were inhabited by Pashtuns (called “Afghans” by Babur).[16]
Until the 19th century the name was only used for the traditional lands of the Pashtuns, while the kingdom as a whole was known as the Kingdom of Kabul, as mentioned by the British statesman and historian Mountstuart Elphinstone.[17] Other parts of the country were at certain periods recognized as independent kingdoms, such as the Kingdom of Balkh in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.[18]
With the expansion and centralization of the country, Afghan authorities adopted and extended the name “Afghanistan” to the entire kingdom, after its English translation had already appeared in various treaties between the British Raj and Qajarid Persia, referring to the lands subject to the Pashtun Barakzai Dynasty of Kabul.[19] “Afghanistan” as the name for the entire kingdom was mentioned in 1857 by Friedrich Engels.[20] It became the official name when the country was recognized by the world community in 1919, after regaining full independence over its foreign affairs from the British,[21] and was confirmed as such in the nation’s 1923 constitution.[22]
Geography
Topography
Afghanistan is a landlocked and mountainous country in South-Central Asia, with plains in the north and southwest. The highest point is Nowshak, at 7,485 m (24,557 ft) above sea level. The climate varies by region and tends to change quite rapidly. Large parts of the country are dry, and fresh water supplies are limited. The endorheic Sistan Basin is one of the driest regions in the world.[23] Afghanistan has a continental climate with very harsh winters in the central highlands, the glacierized northeast (around Nuristan) and the Wakhan Corridor, where the average temperature in January is below -15°C, and hot summers in the low-lying areas of Sistan Basin of the southwest, the Jalalabad basin of the east, and the Turkistan plains along the Amu River of the north, where temperature averages over 35°C in July. The country is frequently subject to minor earthquakes, mainly in the northeast of Hindu Kush mountain areas. Some 125 villages were damaged and 4000 people killed by the May 30, 1998 earthquake.
At 249,984 sq mi (647,500 km²), Afghanistan is the world’s 41st-largest country (after Burma).
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan border Afghanistan to the north, Iran to the west, Pakistan to the south and the People’s Republic of China to the east.
The country’s natural resources include gold, silver, copper, zinc, and iron ore in the Southeast; precious and semi-precious stones (such as lapis, emerald, and azure) in the Northeast; and potentially significant petroleum and natural gas reserves in the North. The country also has uranium, coal, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, and salt.[1][24][25][26] However, these significant mineral and energy resources remain largely untapped, due to the effects of the Soviet invasion and the subsequent civil war. Plans are underway to begin extracting them in the near future.[27][28]
History
For many centuries, the region that is now Afghanistan was the eastern part of the Persian Empire. Ever since, it forms the eastern periphery to the Iranian Cultural Continent.
Though the modern state of Afghanistan was founded or created in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani,[9] the land has an ancient history and various timelines of different civilizations. Excavation of prehistoric sites by Louis Dupree, the University of Pennsylvania, the Smithsonian Institution and others suggests that humans were living in what is now Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago, and that farming communities of the area were among the earliest in the world.[29][30]
Afghanistan is a country at a unique nexus point where numerous Indo-European civilizations have interacted and often fought, and was an important site of early historical activity. Through the ages, the region has been home to various people, among them the Aryan (Indo-Iranian) tribes, such as the Kambojas, Bactrians, Pashtuns, etc. It also has been conquered by a host of people, including the Median and Persian Empires, Alexander the Great, the Seleucids, the Indo-Greeks, Turks, and Mongols. In recent times, invasions from the British, Soviets, and most recently by the United States and their allies have taken place. On the other hand, native entities have invaded surrounding regions in Iranian plateau, Central Asia and Indian subcontinent to form empires of their own.
In 2000 BC, Indo-European-speaking Aryans are thought to have been in the region of Afghanistan. It is unlikely[31] that the Aryans themselves originated in Afghanistan although they did migrate from there south towards India and west towards Persia, but they also migrated into Europe via north of the Caspian. These Aryans set up a nation which became known as Airyānem Vāejah. Original homelands of the Aryans have been proposed as Anatolia, Kurdistan, Central Asia, Iran, or Northern India, with the directions of the historical migration varying accordingly.[32][33] Later, during the rule of Ashkanian, Sasanian and after, it was called Erānshahr (Persian: ايرانشهر – Īrānšahr) meaning “Dominion of the Aryans”.
It has been speculated that Zoroastrianism might have originated in what is now Afghanistan between 1800 to 800 BC, as Zoroaster lived and died in Balkh.[34][35] Ancient Eastern Iranian languages, such as Avestan, may have been spoken in this region around the time of the rise of Zoroastrianism. By the middle of the sixth century BC, the Persian Empire of the Achaemenid Persians overthrew the Median Empire and incorporated Afghanistan (known as Arachosia to the Greeks) within its boundaries. Alexander the Great conquered Afghanistan after 330 BCE. Following Alexander’s brief occupation, the successor state of the Seleucid Empire controlled the area until 305 BCE, when they gave most of the area to the Hindu Mauryan Empire as part of an alliance treaty. During Mauryan rule, Hinduism and Budhism became the dominant religions in the region. The Mauryans were overthrown by the Sunga Dynasty in 185 BCE, leading to the Hellenistic reconquest of Afghanistan by the Greco-Bactrians by 180 BCE. Much of Afghanistan soon broke away from the Greco-Bactrians and became part of the Indo-Greek Kingdom. The Indo-Greeks were defeated by the Indo-Scythians and expelled from most of Afghanistan by the end of the 2nd century BCE.
The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom at its maximum extent, circa 180 BCE
During the first century, the Parthian Empire subjugated Afghanistan, but lost it to their Indo-Parthian vassals. In the mid to late 1st century AD the vast Kushan Empire, centered in modern Afghanistan, became great patrons of Buddhist culture. The Kushans were defeated by the Sassanids in the third century. Although various rulers calling themselves Kushanshas (generally known as Indo-Sassanids) continued to rule at least parts of the region, they were probably more or less subject to the Sassanids.[36] The late Kushans were followed by the Kidarite Huns[37] who, in turn, were replaced by the short-lived but powerful Hephthalites, as rulers of the region in the first half of the fifth century.[38] The Hephthalites were defeated by the Sasanian king Khosrau I in AD 557, who re-established Sassanid power in Persia. However, the successors of Kushans and Hepthalites established a small dynasty in Kabulistan called Kushano-Hephthalites or Kabul-Shahan/Shahi, who were later defeated by the Muslim Arab armies and finally conquered by Muslim Turkish armies led by the Ghaznavids.
Islamic and Mongol conquests of the region
Afghanistan was the eastern frontier of the Islamic Caliphate by 750.
In the Middle Ages, up to the nineteenth century, Afghanistan was part of a larger region known as Greater Khorasan.[39][40][41] Several important centers of Khorāsān are thus located in modern Afghanistan, such as Balkh, Herat, Ghazni and Kabul. It was during this period of time when Islam was introduced and spread in the area.
The Persian scholar Avicenna. His father was from Balkh, an important city of the Persian Empire, in what is today contemporary Afghanistan.
The region of Afghanistan became the center of various important empires, including that of the Shahis, Samanids (875–999), Ghaznavids (977–1187), Seljukids (1037–1194), Ghurids (1149–1212), Mongol Empire, Ilkhanate (1225–1335), and Timurids (1370–1506). Among them, the periods of the Ghaznavids[42] and Timurids[43] are considered as some of the most brilliant eras of the region’s history.
In 1219 the region was overrun by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, who devastated the land, including, for example, exterminating every human being in the ancient cities of Herat and Balkh.[44] The destruction caused by the Mongols depopulated major cities and caused much of the population to revert to an agrarian rural society.[45] Their rule continued with the Ilkhanate [one of 4 Subordinate Mongolian Khanates], and was extended further following the invasion of Timur Lang (“Tamerlane”), a ruler from Central Asia. In 1504, Babur, a descendant of both Timur Lang and Genghis Khan, established the Mughal Empire with its capital at Kabul. By the early 1700s, Afghanistan was controlled by several ruling groups: Uzbeks to the north, Safavids to the west and the remaining larger area by the Mughals or self-ruled by local tribes.
Hotaki dynasty
In 1709, Mir Wais Hotak, a local Afghan (Pashtun) from the Ghilzai clan, overthrew and killed Gurgin Khan, the Safavid governor of Kandahar. Mir Wais successfully defeated the Persians, who were attempting to convert the local population of Kandahar from Sunni to the Shia sect of Islam. Mir Wais held the region of Kandahar until his death in 1715 and was succeeded by his son Mir Mahmud Hotaki. In 1722, Mir Mahmud led an Afghan army to Isfahan (Iran), sacked the city and proclaimed himself King of Persia. However, the great majority still rejected the Afghan regime as usurping, and after the massacre of thousands of civilians in Isfahan by the Afghans – including more than three thousand religious scholars, nobles, and members of the Safavid family – the Hotaki dynasty was eventually removed from power by a new ruler, Nadir Shah of Persia.[46][47]
Conquest of the Afghan Durrani Empire at its greatest extent
First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–42). William Brydon was the sole survivor of the invading British army of 16,500 soldiers and civilian camp followers.
Durrani Empire: beginnings of the “Afghan state”
In 1738, Nadir Shah and his army, which included four thousand Pashtuns of the Abdali clan,[48] conquered the region of Kandahar; in the same year he occupied Ghazni, Kabul and Lahore. On June 19, 1747, Nadir Shah was assassinated, possibly planned by his nephew Ali Qoli. In the same year, one of Nadir’s military commanders and personal bodyguard, Ahmad Shah Abdali, a Pashtun from the Abdali clan, called for a loya jirga following Nadir’s death. The Afghans gathered at Kandahar and chose Ahmad Shah as their King. Since then, he is often regarded as the founder of modern Afghanistan.[1][49][50] After the inauguration, he changed his title or clans’ name to “Durrani”, which derives from the Persian word Durr, meaning “Pearl”.[48]
By 1751, Ahmad Shah Durrani and his Afghan army conquered the entire present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, Khorasan and Kohistan provinces of Iran, along with Delhi in India.[20] In October 1772, Ahmad Shah retired to his home in Maruf, Kandahar, where he died peacefully. He was succeeded by his son, Timur Shah Durrani, who transferred the capital from Kandahar to Kabul. Timur died in 1793 and was finally succeeded by his son Zaman Shah Durrani.
European influence and the creation of the state of Afghanistan
During the nineteenth century, following the Anglo-Afghan wars (fought 1839–42, 1878–80, and lastly in 1919) and the ascension of the Barakzai dynasty, Afghanistan saw much of its territory and autonomy ceded to the United Kingdom. The UK exercised a great deal of influence, and it was not until King Amanullah Khan acceded to the throne in 1919 that Afghanistan re-gained complete independence over its foreign affairs (see “The Great Game”). During the period of British intervention in Afghanistan, ethnic Pashtun territories were divided by the Durand Line. This would lead to strained relations between Afghanistan and British India – and later the new state of Pakistan – over what came to be known as the Pashtunistan debate.
King Amanullah on a royal trip to Berlin. This trip initiated a great alliance between Afghanistan and Germany that continues to this day.
The Kingdom of Afghanistan
King Amanullah (1919-1929) moved to end his country’s traditional isolation in the years following the Third Anglo-Afghan war. He established diplomatic relations with most major countries and, following a 1927 tour of Europe and Turkey (during which he noted the modernization and secularization advanced by Atatürk), introduced several reforms intended to modernize Afghanistan. A key force behind these reforms was Mahmud Tarzi, Amanullah Khan’s Foreign Minister and father-in-law – and an ardent supporter of the education of women. He fought for Article 68 of Afghanistan’s first constitution (declared through a Loya Jirga), which made elementary education compulsory.[51] Some of the reforms that were actually put in place, such as the abolition of the traditional Muslim veil for women and the opening of a number of co-educational schools, quickly alienated many tribal and religious leaders. Faced with overwhelming armed opposition, Amanullah was forced to abdicate in January 1929 after Kabul fell to forces led by Habibullah Kalakani.
Afghan King Zahir Shah and his wife with US President John F. Kennedy (far right) and his wife Jacqueline (far left).
Prince Mohammed Nadir Khan, a cousin of Amanullah’s, in turn defeated and killed Habibullah Kalakani in October of the same year, and with considerable Pashtun tribal support he was declared King Nadir Shah. He began consolidating power and regenerating the country. He abandoned the reforms of Amanullah Khan in favour of a more gradual approach to modernisation. In 1933, however, he was assassinated in a revenge killing by a Kabul student.
Mohammad Zahir Shah, Nadir Khan’s 19-year-old son, succeeded to the throne and reigned from 1933 to 1973. The longest period of stability in Afghanistan was when the country was under the rule of King Zahir Shah. Until 1946 Zahir Shah ruled with the assistance of his uncle, who held the post of Prime Minister and continued the policies of Nadir Shah. In 1946, another of Zahir Shah’s uncles, Sardar Shah Mahmud Khan, became Prime Minister and began an experiment allowing greater political freedom, but reversed the policy when it went further than he expected. In 1953, he was replaced as Prime Minister by Mohammed Daoud Khan, the king’s cousin and brother-in-law. Daoud sought a closer relationship with the Soviet Union and a more distant one towards Pakistan.
Republic of Afghanistan
In 1973, Zahir Shah’s brother-in-law, Mohammed Daoud Khan, launched a bloodless coup and became the first President of Afghanistan while Zahir Shah was on an official overseas visit. Mohammed Daoud Khan jammed Afghan radio’s with anti-Pakistani broadcasts and looked to the Soviet Union and the United States for aid for development.
In 1978 a prominent member of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), Mir Akbar Khyber (or “Kaibar”), was killed by the government. The leaders of PDPA apparently feared that Daoud was planning to exterminate them all, especially since most of them were arrested by the government shortly after. Hafizullah Amin and a number of military wing officers of the PDPA managed to remain at large and organised an uprising.
The PDPA, led by Nur Mohammad Taraki, Babrak Karmal and Amin overthrew the regime of Mohammad Daoud, who was killed along with his family. The uprising was known as the Khalq, or Great Saur Revolution (‘Saur’ means ‘April’ in Pashto). On May 1 1978, Taraki became President, Prime Minister and General Secretary of the PDPA. The country was then renamed the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA), and the PDPA regime lasted, in some form or another, until April 1992.
Some[who?] are of the opinion that the 1978 Khalq uprising against the government of Daoud Khan was essentially a resurgence by the Ghilzai tribe of the Pashtun against the Durrani (the tribe of Daoud Khan and the previous monarchy).[52]
Kabul’s Queens Palace before the Soviet invasion, as the headquarters of the PDPA.
Once in power, the PDPA moved to permit freedom of religion and carried out an ambitious land reform, waiving farmers’ debts countrywide. They also made a number of statements on women’s rights and introduced women to political life. A prominent example was Anahita Ratebzad, who was a major Marxist leader and a member of the Revolutionary Council. Ratebzad wrote the famous May 28, 1978 New Kabul Times editorial which declared: “Privileges which women, by right, must have are equal education, job security, health services, and free time to rear a healthy generation for building the future of the country … Educating and enlightening women is now the subject of close government attention.”[53]
Many people in the cities including Kabul either welcomed or were ambivalent to these policies. However, the secular nature of the government made it unpopular with religiously conservative Afghans in the villages and the countryside, who favoured traditionalist ‘Islamic’ law.
The U.S. saw the situation as a prime opportunity to weaken the Soviet Union. As part of a Cold War strategy, in 1979 the United States government (under President Jimmy Carter) began to covertly fund forces ranged against the pro-Soviet government, although warned that this might prompt a Soviet intervention, (according to National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski).[54] The Mujahideen belonged to various different factions, but all shared, to varying degrees, a similarly conservative ‘Islamic’ ideology.
In March 1979 Hafizullah Amin took over as prime minister, retaining the position of field marshal and becoming vice-president of the Supreme Defence Council. Taraki remained President and in control of the Army. On September 14, Amin overthrew Taraki, who died or was killed. Amin’s tenure as prime minister lasted only a few months.
Soviet invasion and civil war
In order to bolster the Parcham faction, the Soviet Union—citing the 1978 Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Good Neighborliness that had been signed between the two countries—intervened on December 24, 1979. Over 100,000 Soviet troops took part in the invasion backed by another one hundred thousand and by members of the Parcham faction. Amin was killed and replaced by Babrak Karmal.
Soviet troops withdrawing from Afghanistan in 1988.
In response to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and part of its overall Cold War strategy, the United States responded by arming and otherwise supporting the Afghan mujahideen, which had taken up arms against the Soviet occupiers. U.S. support began during the Carter administration, but increased substantially during the Reagan administration, in which it became a centerpiece of the so-called Reagan Doctrine under which the U.S. provided support to anti-communist resistance movements in Afghanistan and also in Angola, Nicaragua, and other nations. In addition to U.S. support, the mujahideen received support from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other nations.
The Soviet occupation resulted in the killings of between six hundred thousand and 2 million Afghan civilians. Over 5 million Afghans fled their country to Pakistan, Iran and other parts of the world. Faced with mounting international pressure and great number of casualties on both sides, the Soviets withdrew in 1989.
The Soviet withdrawal from the DRA was seen as an ideological victory in the U.S., which had backed the Mujahideen through three U.S. presidential administrations in order to counter Soviet influence in the vicinity of the oil-rich Persian Gulf.
Following the removal of the Soviet forces, the U.S. and its allies lost interest in Afghanistan and did little to help rebuild the war-ravaged country or influence events there.[citation needed] The USSR continued to support President Mohammad Najibullah (former head of the Afghan secret service, KHAD) until 1992 when the new Russian government refused to sell oil products to the Najibullah regime.[55]
Because of the fighting, a number of elites and intellectuals fled to take refuge abroad. This led to a leadership imbalance in Afghanistan. Fighting continued among the victorious Mujahideen factions, which gave rise to a state of warlordism. The most serious fighting during this period occurred in 1994, when over 10,000 people were killed in Kabul alone. It was at this time that the Taliban developed as a politico-religious force, eventually seizing Kabul in 1996 and establishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. By the end of 2000 the Taliban had captured 95% of the country.
During the Taliban’s seven-year rule, much of the population experienced restrictions on their freedom and violations of their human rights. Women were banned from jobs, girls forbidden to attend schools or universities.[56] Communists were systematically eradicated and thieves were punished by amputating one of their hands or feet.[57] Opium production was nearly wiped out by the Taliban by 2001.[58]
War in Afghanistan 2001–present
Map of Afghanistan by the United Nations showing regional security risks and levels of opium poppy cultivation.
Current President Hamid Karzai reviewing the Presidential Guard in Kabul.
Following the September 11 attacks the United States launched Operation Enduring Freedom, a military campaign to destroy the Al-Qaeda terrorist training camps inside Afghanistan. The U.S. military also threatened to overthrow the Taliban government for refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden and several Al-Qaeda members. The U.S. made a common cause with the former Afghan Mujahideen to achieve its ends, including the Northern Alliance, a militia still recognized by the United Nations as the Afghan government.
In late 2001, the United States sent teams of CIA Paramilitary Officers from their Special Activities Division and U.S. Army Special Forces to invade Afghanistan to aid anti-Taliban militias, backed by U.S. air strikes against Taliban and Al-Qaeda targets, culminating in the seizure of Kabul by the Northern Alliance and the overthrow of the Taliban, with many local warlords switching allegiance from the Taliban to the Northern Alliance.[59]
In December 2001, leaders of the former Afghan mujahideen and diaspora met in Germany, and arrived at the Bonn Agreement for the formulation of a new democratic government that resulted in the inauguration of Hamid Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun of the Durrani clan (from which the royal family was drawn) from the southern city of Kandahar, as Chairman of the Afghan Interim Authority.
After a nationwide Loya Jirga in 2002, Karzai was chosen by the representatives to assume the title as Interim President of Afghanistan. The country convened a Constitutional Loya Jirga (Council of Elders) in 2003 and a new constitution was ratified in January 2004. Following an election in October 2004, Hamid Karzai won and became the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Legislative elections were held in September 2005. The National Assembly – the first freely elected legislature in Afghanistan since 1973 – sat in December 2005, and was noteworthy for the inclusion of women as voters, candidates, and elected members.
As the country continues to rebuild and recover, it is still struggling against poverty, poor infrastructure, large concentration of land mines and other unexploded ordnance, as well as a huge illegal poppy cultivation and opium trade. Afghanistan also remains subject to occasionally violent political jockeying. The country continues to grapple with the Taliban insurgency and the threat of attacks from a few remaining elements of Al-Qaeda.
At the start of 2007, reports of the Taliban’s increasing presence in Afghanistan led the U.S. to consider longer tours of duty and even an increase in troop numbers. According to a report filed by Robert Burns of Associated Press on January 16, 2007, “U.S. military officials cited new evidence that the Pakistani military, which has long-standing ties to the Taliban movement, has turned a blind eye to the incursions.” Also, “The number of insurgent attacks is up 300 percent since September 2006, when the Pakistani government put into effect a peace arrangement with tribal leaders in the north Waziristan area, along Afghanistan’s eastern border,” a U.S. military intelligence officer told reporters.
Government and politics
Politics in Afghanistan has historically consisted of power struggles, bloody coups and unstable transfers of power. With the exception of a military junta, the country has been governed by nearly every system of government over the past century, including a monarchy, republic, theocracy and communist state. The constitution ratified by the 2003 Loya jirga restructured the government as an Islamic republic consisting of three branches, (executive, legislature and judiciary).
Afghanistan is currently led by President Hamid Karzai, who was elected in October 2004. The current parliament was elected in 2005. Among the elected officials were former mujahadeen, Taliban members, communists, reformists, and Islamic fundamentalists. 28% of the delegates elected were women, three points more than the 25% minimum guaranteed under the constitution. This made Afghanistan, long known under the Taliban for its oppression of women, one of the leading countries in terms of female representation. Construction for a new parliament building began on August 29, 2005.
The Supreme Court of Afghanistan is currently led by Chief Justice Abdul Salam Azimi, a former university professor who had been legal advisor to the president.[60] The previous court, appointed during the time of the interim government, had been dominated by fundamentalist religious figures, including Chief Justice Faisal Ahmad Shinwari. The court issued several rulings, such as banning cable television, seeking to ban a candidate in the 2004 presidential election and limiting the rights of women, as well as overstepping its constitutional authority by issuing rulings on subjects not yet brought before the court. The current court is seen as more moderate and led by more technocrats than the previous court, although it has yet to issue any rulings.
Law enforcement and military
An Afghan Air Force soldier aboard an Afghan gunship.
Afghanistan currently has more than 70,000 national police officers, with plans to recruit more so that the total number can reach 80,000. They are being trained by and through the Afghanistan Police Program. Although the police officially are responsible for maintaining civil order, sometimes local and regional military commanders continue to exercise control in the hinterland. Police have been accused of improper treatment and detention of prisoners. In 2003 the mandate of the International Security Assistance Force, now under command of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was extended and expanded beyond the Kabul area. However, in some areas unoccupied by those forces, local militias maintain control. In many areas, crimes have gone uninvestigated because of insufficient police and/or communications. Troops of the Afghan National Army have been sent to quell fighting in some regions lacking police protection.[61]
The Afghan National Army currently has 90,000 troops, with plans to increase this number to 260,000 in the next few years. The Afghan Army is not as affected by corruption as the National Police due to international oversight.
Provinces
Afghanistan is administratively divided into thirty-four (34) provinces (welayats), and for each province there is a capital. Each province is then divided into many provincial districts, and each district normally covers a city or several townships.
The Governor of the province is appointed by the Ministry of Interior, and the Prefects for the districts of the province will be appointed by the provincial Governor. The Governor is the representative of the central government of Afghanistan, and is responsible for all administrative and formal issues. The provincial Chief of Police is appointed by the Ministry of Interior, who works together with the Governor on law enforcement for all the cities or districts of that province.
There is an exception in the capital city (Kabul) where the Mayor is selected by the President of Afghanistan, and is completely independent from the prefecture of the Kabul Province.
Map showing the 34 provinces of Afghanistan.
Security and Crime
Helmand is the most dangerous place in Afghanistan due to its distance from Kabul as well as the drug trade that flourishes there. Other turbulent provinces in Afghanistan include Kandahar and Oruzgan, although security in the latter has improved recently due to Dutch and Afghan counteroffensives. Most of the unstable provinces border Pakistan and are in the south of the country, resulting in questions as to the volume of the flow of insurgents from Pakistan into Afghanistan.
There are also many stable and secure provinces, with low risks of violence and lower crime levels. Faryab, Herat, Farah, Kabul and Badakhshan are some of these. Most of these provinces are in the north of the country.
Foreign relations
Afghanistan’s government is currently fighting an insurgency with the assistance of the United States and NATO. Therefore, relations between Afghanistan and NATO members is strong. Afghanistan depends a lot on multi-billion dollar aid infusions from the United States. Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany are also large donors.
Relations between Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran are very strong. The two nations share the same language and culture, and both countries are part of Greater Persia. Shiites and Sunnis get along well in Afghanistan which causes no religious tensions between the two nations. Iran is a consistent donor towards Afghan reconstruction.
Afghan and Pakistani relations always fluctuate. The two nations are always disputing, but recent relations have deteriorated vastly. Afghan Intelligence and American agencies accuse Pakistan of working to stop Afghan reconstruction mainly through the Inter-Services Intelligence. Most of the Taliban come from Pakistan and Osama bin Laden is thought to be hiding in Pakistan. Afghanistan and Pakistan recently fought a series of border skirmishes and the US has led several air strikes in Pakistani territory from Afghan air bases.
Afghanistan maintains excellent relations with their Northern Allies, including Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan as all three share a similar culture as the Afghans. Hazaras are from those nations.
Afghanistan also has good relations with Russia and India. India is a leading investor in Afghanistan, alongside Iran, and the current Afghan President, Hamid Karzai received some of his college education in India.
Afghanistan has excellent relations with the rest of the Arab and Muslim world. Afghanistan has no relations with Israel and alongside ally Iran, is a frequent non-Arab critic of Israel.
Demographics
A Nuristani girl in a Kabul orphanage.
Population
A July 2009 estimate of the total Afghan population is 33,609,937. In 1979, it was 13,051,358. By 2050, the population is estimated to be increased to about 97,000,000.[62] Afghanistan has the world’s third largest rate of population growth (+3.3%). About 2.7 million Afghan refugees are currently registered in Pakistan and Iran.[63]
Largest cities
The only city in Afghanistan with over one million residents is its capital, Kabul. The other major cities in the country are, in order of population size, Herat, Kandahar, Mazar-e Sharif, Jalalabad, Ghazni and Kunduz. Urban areas are experiencing rapid population growth following the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 2002.
Ethnic groups
The population of Afghanistan is divided into a wide variety of ethnic groups. Because a systematic census has not been held in the country in decades, exact figures about the size and composition of the various ethnic groups are not available.[64] Therefore most figures are approximations only:
Languages of Afghanistan (percentages are from CIA World Factbook)[1] 50% Dari (Eastern Persian) 35% Pashto 8% Uzbek 3% Turkmen 4% Balochi 2% other (Nuristani, Pashai, Brahui, etc.)
| (1) Based on official census numbers from the 1960s to the 1980s, as well as information found in mainly scholarly sources, the Encyclopædia Iranica[65] gives the following list: | (2) An approximate distribution of ethnic groups based on the CIA World Factbook[1] is as following:
|
(3) According to a representative survey, named “A survey of the Afghan people – Afghanistan in 2006″, a combined project of The Asia Foundation, the Indian Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) and the Afghan Center for Socio-economic and Opinion Research (ACSOR), the distribution of the ethnic groups is:[66]
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(4) According to another representative survey, named “Afghanistan: Where Things Stand”, a combined effort by the American broadcasting channel ABC News, the British BBC, and the German ARD (from the years 2004 to 2009), and released on February 9th 2009, the ethnic composition of the country is (average numbers):[67]
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Languages
The most common languages spoken in Afghanistan are Eastern Persian (also known as Dari; roughly 50%) and Pashto (roughly 35%). Both are Indo-European languages from the Iranian languages sub-family, and the official languages of the country. Hazaragi, spoken by the Hazara minority, is a distinct dialect of Persian. Other languages spoken include the Turkic languages Uzbek and Turkmen (ca. 9% combined), as well as 30 minor languages, primarily Balochi, Nuristani, Pashai, Brahui, Pamiri languages, Hindko, etc. (ca. 4% combined). Bilingualism is common.
According to the Encyclopædia Iranica,[68] the Persian language is the most widely used language of the country, spoken by around 80% of the population, while Pashto is spoken and understood by around 50% of the population. According to “A survey of the Afghan people – Afghanistan in 2006″,[66] Persian is the first language of 49% of the population, while additional 37% speak the language as a second language (combined 86%). Pashto is the first language of 40% of the population, while additional 27% know the language (combined 67%). Uzbek is spoken or understood by 6% of the population, Turkmen by 3%. According to the survey “Afghanistan: Where Things Stand” (avarege numbers from 2005-2009), 69% of the interviewed people preferred Persian, while 31% spoke Pashto.[67]
Culture
Afghans display pride in their religion, country, ancestry, and above all, their independence. Like other highlanders, Afghans are regarded with mingled apprehension and condescension, for their high regard for personal honor, for their clan loyalty and for their readiness to carry and use arms to settle disputes.[69] As clan warfare and internecine feuding has been one of their chief occupations since time immemorial, this individualistic trait has made it difficult for foreign invaders to hold the region.
Afghanistan has a complex history that has survived either in its current cultures or in the form of various languages and monuments. However, many of the country’s historic monuments have been damaged in recent wars.[70] The two famous statues of Buddha in the Bamyan Province were destroyed by the Taliban, who regarded them as idolatrous. Other famous sites include the cities of Kandahar, Herat, Ghazni and Balkh. The Minaret of Jam, in the Hari River valley, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. A cloak reputedly worn by Muhammad is stored inside the famous Khalka Sharifa in Kandahar City.[citation needed]
Buzkashi is a national sport in Afghanistan. It is similar to polo and played by horsemen in two teams, each trying to grab and hold a goat carcass. Afghan hounds (a type of running dog) also originated in Afghanistan.
Although literacy levels are very low, classic Persian poetry plays a very important role in the Afghan culture. Poetry has always been one of the major educational pillars in Iran and Afghanistan, to the level that it has integrated itself into culture. Persian culture has, and continues to, exert a great influence over Afghan culture. Private poetry competition events known as “musha’era” are quite common even among ordinary people. Almost every homeowner owns one or more poetry collections of some sort, even if they are not read often.
The eastern dialects of the Persian language are popularly known as “Dari”. The name itself derives from “Pārsī-e Darbārī”, meaning Persian of the royal courts. The ancient term Darī – one of the original names of the Persian language – was revived in the Afghan constitution of 1964, and was intended “to signify that Afghans consider their country the cradle of the language. Hence, the name Fārsī, the language of Fārs, is strictly avoided.”[71]
Girls in Kabul, wearing their traditional clothes, sing at a celebration of International Women’s Day in 2002.
Many of the famous Persian poets of the tenth to fifteenth centuries stem from Khorasan where is now known as Afghanistan. They were mostly also scholars in many disciplines like languages, natural sciences, medicine, religion and astronomy.
- Mawlānā Rumi, who was born and educated in Balkh in the thirteenth century and moved to Konya in modern-day Turkey
- Rabi’a Balkhi (the first poetess in the History of Persian Poetry, tenth century, native of Balkh)
- Daqiqi Balkhi (tenth century, native of Balkh)
- Farrukhi Sistani (tenth century, the Ghaznavids royal poet)
- Unsuri Balkhi (a tenth/eleventh century poet, native of Balkh)
- Khwaja Abdullah Ansari (eleventh century, from Herat)
- Nasir Khusraw (eleventh century, from Qubadyan near Balkh)
- Anvari (twelfth century, lived and died in Balkh)
- Sanā’ī Ghaznawi (twelfth century, native of Ghazni)
- Jāmī of Herāt (fifteenth century, native of Herat in western Afghanistan), and his nephew Abdullah Hatifi Herawi, a well-known poet
- Alī Sher Navā’ī (fifteenth century, Herat).
Most of these individuals were of Persian (Tājīk) ethnicity who still form the second-largest ethnic group in Afghanistan. Also, some of the contemporary Persian language poets and writers, who are relatively well-known in Persian-speaking world, include Khalilullah Khalili,[72] Sufi Ghulam Nabi Ashqari,[73] Sarwar Joya, Parwin Pazwak and others. In 2003, Khaled Hosseini published The Kite Runner which though fiction, captured much of the history, politics and culture experienced in Afghanistan from the 1930s to present day.
In addition to poets and authors, numerous Persian scientists were born or worked in the region of present-day Afghanistan. Most notable was Avicenna (Abu Alī Hussein ibn Sīnā) whose father hailed from Balkh. Ibn Sīnā, who travelled to Isfahan later in life to establish a medical school there, is known by some scholars as “the father of modern medicine”. George Sarton called ibn Sīnā “the most famous scientist of Islam and one of the most famous of all races, places, and times.” His most famous works are The Book of Healing and The Canon of Medicine, also known as the Qanun. Ibn Sīnā’s story even found way to the contemporary English literature through Noah Gordon’s The Physician, now published in many languages. Moreover, according to Ibn al-Nadim, Al-Farabi, a well-known philosopher and scientist, was from the Faryab Province of Afghanistan.
Before the Taliban gained power, the city of Kabul was home to many musicians who were masters of both traditional and modern Afghan music, especially during the Nauroz-celebration. Kabul in the middle part of the twentieth century has been likened to Vienna during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
The tribal system, which orders the life of most people outside metropolitan areas, is potent in political terms. Men feel a fierce loyalty to their own tribe, such that, if called upon, they would assemble in arms under the tribal chiefs and local clan leaders. In theory, under Islamic law, every believer has an obligation to bear arms at the ruler’s call.
Heathcote considers the tribal system to be the best way of organizing large groups of people in a country that is geographically difficult, and in a society that, from a materialistic point of view, has an uncomplicated lifestyle.[69]
Religions
Religiously, Afghans are over 99% Muslims: approximately 74-80% Sunni and 19-25% Shi’a[1][74][75] (estimates vary). Up until the mid-1980s, there were about 30,000 to 150,000 Hindus and Sikhs living in different cities, mostly in Jalalabad, Kabul, and Kandahar.[76][77]
There was a small Jewish community in Afghanistan (see Bukharan Jews) who fled the country after the 1979 Soviet invasion, and only one individual, Zablon Simintov, remains today.[78]
Economy
Afghanistan is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). It is an impoverished country, one of the world’s poorest and least developed. Two-thirds of the population lives on fewer than 2 US dollars a day. Its economy has suffered greatly from the 1979 Soviet invasion and subsequent conflicts, while severe drought added to the nation’s difficulties in 1998–2001.[79][80]
The economically active population in 2002 was about 11 million (out of a total of an estimated 29 million). As of 2005, the official unemployment rate is at 40%.[81] The number of non-skilled young people is estimated at 3 million, which is likely to increase by some 300,000 per annum.[82]
The nation’s economy began to improve since 2002 due to the infusion of multi-billion US dollars in international assistance and investments, as well as remittances from expats.[83] It is also due to dramatic improvements in agricultural production and the end of a four-year drought in most of the country.
The real value of non-drug GDP increased by 29% in 2002, 16% in 2003, 8% in 2004 and 14% in 2005.[84] As much as one-third of Afghanistan’s GDP comes from growing poppy and illicit drugs including opium and its two derivatives, morphine and heroin, as well as hashish production.[1] Opium production in Afghanistan has soared to a new record in 2007, with an increase on last year of more than a third, the United Nations has said.[85] Some 3.3 million Afghans are now involved in producing opium.[86] In a recent article in the Washington Quarterly, Peter van Ham and Jorrit Kamminga argue that the international community should establish a pilot project and investigate a licensing scheme to start the production of medicines such as morphine and codeine from poppy crops to help it escape the economic dependence on opium.[87]
According to a 2004 report by the Asian Development Bank, the present reconstruction effort is two-pronged: first it focuses on rebuilding critical physical infrastructure, and second, on building modern public sector institutions from the remnants of Soviet style planning to ones that promote market-led development.[82] In 2006, two U.S. companies, Black & Veatch and the Louis Berger Group, have won a US 1.4 billion dollar contract to rebuild roads, power lines and water supply systems of Afghanistan.[88]
One of the main drivers for the current economic recovery is the return of over 4 million refugees from neighbouring countries and the West, who brought with them fresh energy, entrepreneurship and wealth-creating skills as well as much needed funds to start up businesses. What is also helping is the estimated US 2–3 billion dollars in international assistance every year, the partial recovery of the agricultural sector, and the reestablishment of market institutions. Private developments are also beginning to get underway. In 2006, a Dubai-based Afghan family opened a $25 million Coca Cola bottling plant in Afghanistan.[89]
Kuchi nomads migrate through the Panjshir Valley in Afghanistan. The population of nomads in Afghanistan was estimated at about 1-2 million people in 1979.
While the country’s current account deficit is largely financed with the donor money, only a small portion – about 15% – is provided directly to the government budget. The rest is provided to non-budgetary expenditure and donor-designated projects through the United Nations system and non-governmental organizations. The government had a central budget of only $350 million in 2003 and an estimated $550 million in 2004. The country’s foreign exchange reserves totals about $500 million. Revenue is mostly generated through customs, as income and corporate tax bases are negligible.
Inflation had been a major problem until 2002. However, the depreciation of the Afghani in 2002 after the introduction of the new notes (which replaced 1,000 old Afghani by 1 new Afghani) coupled with the relative stability compared to previous periods has helped prices to stabilize and even decrease between December 2002 and February 2003, reflecting the turnaround appreciation of the new Afghani currency. Since then, the index has indicated stability, with a moderate increase toward late 2003.[82]
The Afghan government and international donors seem to remain committed to improving access to basic necessities, infrastructure development, education, housing and economic reform. The central government is also focusing on improved revenue collection and public sector expenditure discipline. The rebuilding of the financial sector seems to have been so far successful. Money can now be transferred in and out of the country via official banking channels. Since 2003, over sixteen new banks have opened in the country, including Afghanistan International Bank, Kabul Bank, Azizi Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, First Micro Finance Bank, and others. A new law on private investment provides three to seven-year tax holidays to eligible companies and a four-year exemption from exports tariffs and duties.
Some private investment projects, backed with national support, are also beginning to pick up steam in Afghanistan. An initial concept design called the City of Light Development, envisioned by Dr. Hisham N. Ashkouri, Principal of ARCADD, Inc. for the development and the implementation of a privately based investment enterprise has been proposed for multi-function commercial, historic and cultural development within the limits of the Old City of Kabul along the Southern side of the Kabul River and along Jade Meywand Avenue,[90] revitalizing some of the most commercial and historic districts in the City of Kabul, which contains numerous historic mosques and shrines as well as viable commercial activities among war damaged buildings. Also incorporated in the design is a new complex for the Afghan National Museum.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey and the Afghan Ministry of Mines and Industry, Afghanistan may be possessing up to 36 trillion cubic feet (1,000 km3) of natural gas, 3.6 billion barrels (570,000,000 m3) of petroleum and up to 1,325 million barrels (2.107E+8 m3) of natural gas liquids. This could mark the turning point in Afghanistan’s reconstruction efforts. Energy exports could generate the revenue that Afghan officials need to modernize the country’s infrastructure and expand economic opportunities for the beleaguered and fractious population.[27] Other reports show that the country has huge amounts of gold, copper, coal, iron ore and other minerals.[24][28][91] The government of Afghanistan is in the process of extracting and exporting its copper reserves, which will be earning $1.2 billion US dollars in royalties and taxes every year for the next 30 years. It will also provide permanent labor to 3,000 of its citizens.[92] Afghanistan has a particularly high level of corruption.
Infrastructure
Transport
An Ariana Afghan Airlines aircraft flying over Frankfurt Airport
Ariana Afghan Airlines is the national airlines carrier, with domestic flights between Kabul, Kandahar, Herat and Mazar-e Sharif. International flights include to Dubai, Frankfurt, Istanbul and a number of other destinations.[citation needed] There are also limited domestic and international flight services available from Kam Air, Pamir Airways and Safi Airways.
The country has limited rail service with Turkmenistan. There are two railway projects currently in progress, one is between Herat and the Iranian city Mashad while another is between Kandahar and Quetta in Pakistan. Most people who travel from one city to another use bus services. Automobiles have recently become more widely available, with Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai dealerships in Kabul. A large number of second-hand vehicles are also arriving from the UAE. Nearly all highways and roads are being rebuilt in the country.
Communications and technology
Telecommunication services in the country are provided by Afghan Wireless, Etisalat, Roshan, Areeba and Afghan Telecom. In 2006, the Afghan Ministry of Communications signed a US$64.5 million agreement with ZTE Corporation for the establishment of a countrywide fibre optic cable network. This will improve telephone, internet, television and radio broadcast services throughout the country.[93] Around 500,000 (1.5% of the population) had internet access by the end of 2008.[94]
Television and radio broadcastings are available in most parts of the country, with local and international channels or stations.
The nation’s post service is also operating. Package delivery services such as FedEx, DHL and others are also available.
Television
Media
The media was tightly controlled under the Taliban and other periods in its history, and was relatively free in others. Under the Taliban, television was shut down in 1996, and print media were forbidden to publish commentary, photos or readers letters.[95] The only radio station broadcast religious programmes and propaganda, and aired no music.[95]
After the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001, press restrictions were gradually relaxed and private media diversified. Freedom of expression and the press is promoted in the 2004 constitution and censorship is banned, though defaming individuals or producing material contrary to the principles of Islam is prohibited. In 2008, Reporters Without Borders listed the media environment as 156 out of 173, with 1st being most free.[96] 400 publications are now registered and 60 radio stations, a major source of information, currently exist.[97] Foreign radio stations, such as the BBC World Service, also broadcast into the country.
Education
As of 2006 more than four million male and female students were enrolled in schools throughout the country. However, there are still significant obstacles to education in Afghanistan, stemming from lack of funding, unsafe school buildings and cultural norms. A lack of women teachers is an issue that concerns some Afghan parents, especially in more conservative areas. Some parents will not allow their daughters to be taught by men.[98]
Literacy of the entire population is estimated (as of 1999) at 36%, the male literacy rate is 51% and female literacy is 21%. Up to now there are 9,500 schools in the country.
Another aspect of education that is rapidly changing in Afghanistan is the face of higher education. Following the fall of the Taliban, Kabul University was reopened to both male and female students. In 2006, the American University of Afghanistan also opened its doors, with the aim of providing a world-class, English-language, co-educational learning environment in Afghanistan. The university accepts students from Afghanistan and the neighboring countries. Construction work will soon start at the new site selected for University of Balkh in Mazari Sharif. The new building for the university, including the building for the Engineering Department, would be constructed at 600 acres (2.4 km²) of land at the cost of 250 million US dollars.[99]
A new military school is in function to properly train and educate Afghan soldiers.
Health
Before the start of the Afghan wars in 1978, Afghanistan had an improving health care system and a semi-modernized health care system in cities like Kabul. Ibn Sina Hospital in Kabul and Ali Abad Hospital in Kabul were two of the leading health institutions in Central Asia at the time.[100] Following the Soviet invasion and the civil war that followed, the health care system was limited only to urban areas and was eventually destroyed. The Taliban made some improvements, but health care was not available for women during their six year rule.[101] Following the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 2002, the health system began to improve dramatically in Afghanistan due to international aid and all institutions accepted women for the first time since 1996. Non-governmental charities such as Mahboba’s promise assist orphans in association with governmental structures.[102] According to Reuters, “Afghanistan’s healthcare system is widely believed to be one of the country’s success stories since reconstruction began.” [103] The Afghan government estimates that by the year 2020, infant mortality will fall to 400 from 1,600 for every 100,000 live births.[104] An estimated 80,000 Afghans have lost limbs, mainly as a result of landmines.[105]
Images of Afghanistan
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Afghanistan |
 Kotal-e Salang mountain pass in northern Afghanistan. |
 Lake Band-e-Amir National Park in Bamyan |
 Northwestern Afghanistan |
Notes
| a.^ | Other terms that can be used as demonyms are Afghani[106] and Afghanistani.[107] |
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g “Afghanistan“. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. December 13, 2007. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/AF.html.
- ^ “Afghanistan”, CIA – The World Factbook 2007.
- ^ a b c d “Afganistan“. International Monetary Fund. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2009/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2006&ey=2009&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=512&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=&pr1.x=54&pr1.y=9. Retrieved on 2009-04-22.
- ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.
- ^ The 2007 Middle East & Central Asia Politics, Economics,and Society Conference University of Utah.
- ^ “Regional Economic Outlook: Middle East & Central Asia” May 2006, International Monetary Fund.
- ^ CIA world factbook, Afghanistan – Geography (Location: Southern Asia).
- ^ University of California, [1], University of Pennsylvania, World Bank; U.S. maps; [2] ; University of Washington Syracuse University.
- ^ a b Ahmad Shah Durrani, Britannica Concise.
- ^ The Decline of the Pashtuns in Afghanistan, Anwar-ul-Haq Ahady, Asian Survey, Vol. 35, No. 7. (Jul., 1995), pp. 621–634.
- ^ Cowan, William and Jaromira Rakušan. Source Book for Linguistics. 3rd ed. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1998.
- ^ Morgenstierne, G. (1999). “AFGHĀN”. Encyclopaedia of Islam (CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0 ed.). Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV.
- ^ Nancy Hatch Dupree – The Story of Kabul (Mongols).
- ^ “Afghan” (with ref. to “Afghanistan: iv. Ethnography”) by Ch. M. Kieffer, Encyclopaedia Iranica Online Edition 2006.
- ^ extract from “Passion of the Afghan” by Khushal Khan Khattak; translated by C. Biddulph in “Afghan Poetry Of The 17th Century: Selections from the Poems of Khushal Khan Khattak“, London, 1890.
- ^ “Transactions of the year 908″ by Zāhir ud-Dīn Mohammad Bābur in Bāburnāma, translated by John Leyden, Oxford University Press: 1921.
- ^ Elphinstone, M., “Account of the Kingdom of Cabul and its Dependencies in Persia and India”, London 1815; published by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown.
- ^ E. Bowen, “A New & Accurate Map of Persia” in A Complete System Of Geography, Printed for W. Innys, R. Ware [etc.], London 1747.
- ^ E. Huntington, “The Anglo-Russian Agreement as to Tibet, Afghanistan, and Persia”, Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, Vol. 39, No. 11 (1907).
- ^ a b MECW Volume 18, p. 40; The New American Cyclopaedia – Vol. I, 1858.
- ^ M. Ali, “Afghanistan: The War of Independence, 1919″, Kabul [s.n.], 1960.
- ^ Afghanistan’s Constitution of 1923 under King Amanullah Khan (English translation).
- ^ “History of Environmental Change in the Sistan Basin 1976–2005” (pdf). http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/sistan.pdf. Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
- ^ a b Gold and copper discovered in Afghanistan.
- ^ Uranium Mining Issues: 2005 Review.
- ^ 16 detained for smuggling chromites, Pajhwok Afghan News.
- ^ a b Afghanistan’s Energy Future and its Potential Implications, Eurasianet.org.
- ^ a b Govt plans to lease out Ainak copper mine, Pajhwok Afghan News.
- ^ Sites in Perspective, chapter 3 of Nancy Hatch Dupree, An Historical Guide To Afghanistan.
- ^ Afghanistan, Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2006 (specifically John Ford Shroder, B.S., M.S., Ph.D. Regents Professor of Geography and Geology, University of Nebraska. Editor, Himalaya to the Sea: Geology, Geomorphology, and the Quaternary and other books).
- ^ It is unlikely because of the migration significantly north of the Caspian. Bryant, Edwin F. (2001) The quest for the origins of Vedic culture: the Indo-Aryan migration debate Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, ISBN 0-19-513777-9.
- ^ Lal, B. B. and Saraswat, K. S. (2005) The homeland of the Aryans : evidence of Ṛigvedic flora and fauna & archaeology Aryan Books International, New Delhi, ISBN 81-7305-283-2.
- ^ Sethna, Kaikhushru Dhunjibhoy (1992) The Problem of Aryan Origins Aditya Prakashan, New Delhi, ISBN 81-85179-67-0.
- ^ The history of Afghanistan, Ghandara.com website.
- ^ Afghanistan: Achaemenid dynasty rule, Ancient Classical History, about.com.
- ^ Dani, A. H. and B. A. Litvinsky. “The Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom”. In: History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. Litvinsky, B. A., ed., 1996. Paris: UNESCO Publishing, pp. 103–118. ISBN 92-3-103211-9.
- ^ Zeimal, E. V. “The Kidarite Kingdom in Central Asia”. In: History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. Litvinsky, B. A., ed., 1996, Paris: UNESCO Publishing, pp. 119–133. ISBN 92-3-103211-9.
- ^ Litvinsky, B. A. “The Hephthalite Empire”. In: History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume III. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. Litvinsky, B. A., ed., 1996, Paris: UNESCO Publishing, pp. 135–162. ISBN 92-3-103211-9.
- ^ Ali Akbar Dehkhoda, Dehkhoda Dictionary, p. 8457.
- ^ Ghubar, Mir Ghulam Mohammad, Khorasan, 1937 Kabul Printing House, Kabul).
- ^ Tajikistan Development Gateway, from History of Afghanistan by the Development Gateway Foundation.
- ^ Ghaznavid Dynasty, Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Edition.
- ^ Timurid Dynasty, Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Edition.
- ^ Central Asian world cities. Faculty.washington.edu.
- ^ Obama’s war: Deploying 17,000 raises stakes in Afghanistan. USATODAY.com. February 18, 2009.
- ^ “Ašraf Ghilzai” by Prof. D. Balland, Encyclopaedia Iranica Online Edition 2006.
- ^ “The Hotakis” in “Afghanistan”, Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- ^ a b The Durranti dynasty, in “Afghanistan”, Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- ^ Ahmad Shah Durrani, Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- ^ The South, chapter 16 of Nancy Hatch Dupree, An Historical Guide To Afghanistan.
- ^ “Education in Afghanistan,” published in Encylopaedia Iranica, volume VIII – pp. 237-241…Link.
- ^ Hanifi, M. Jamil. “GHILZĪ or GHALZĪ“. Encyclopædia Iranica (Online Edition ed.). United States: Columbia University. http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v10f6/v10f637.html.
- ^ Prashad, Vijay (2001-09-15). “War Against the Planet“. ZMag. http://www.zmag.org/prashcalam.htm. Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
- ^ “The CIA’s Intervention in Afghanistan (Interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski)“. Le Nouvel Observateur. 1998-01-21. http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/BRZ110A.html. Retrieved on 2008-03-15.
- ^ Afghanistan: History, Columbia Encyclopedia.
- ^ http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/library/documents/reports/talibans-war-on-women.pdf
- ^ Erik Eckholm (2001-12-26). “A NATION CHALLENGED: PENALTIES; Taliban Justice: Stadium Was Scene of Gory Punishment“. The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C00E6DD1231F935A15751C1A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved on 2008-05-19.
- ^ http://opioids.com/afghanistan/index.html
- ^ Bush At War, Bob Woodward, 2002.
- ^ [3] – New Supreme Court Could Mark Genuine Departure – August 13, 2006.
- ^ Text used in this cited section originally came from: Afghanistan (Feb 2005) profile from the Library of Congress Country Studies project.
- ^ “CIA World Factbook“. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/AF.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-05.
- ^ 30 March 2009 – Press conference by Nazifullah Salarzai, Press Officer, UNAMA. United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
- ^ BBC News – Afghan poll’s ethnic battleground – October 6, 2004.
- ^ L. Dupree, “Afghānistān: (iv.) ethnocgraphy”, in Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition 2006, (LINK).
- ^ a b “A survey of the Afghan people – Afghanistan in 2006″, The Asia Foundation, technical assistance by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS; India) and Afghan Center for Socio-economic and Opinion Research (ACSOR), Kabul, 2006, PDF.
- ^ a b ABC NEWS/BBC/ARD POLL – AFGHANISTAN: WHERE THINGS STAND, February 9th, 2009, pp. 38-40.
- ^ “Afghānistān: (v.) languages” by L. Dupree, Encyclopædia Iranica Online Edition 2006.
- ^ a b Heathcote, Tony (1980, 2003) “The Afghan Wars 1839–1919″, Sellmount Staplehurst.
- ^ G.V. Brandolini. Afghanistan cultural heritage. Orizzonte terra, Bergamo. 2007. p. 64.
- ^ “Modern literature of Afghanistan” by R. Farhādī, Encyclopaedia Iranica, xii, Online Edition.
- ^ Afghanmagazine.com – Ustad Khalilullah Khalili – 1997.
- ^ Afghanmagazine.com – Kharaabat – by Yousef Kohzad – 2000.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica – Afghanistan…Link (PDF)
- ^ Goring, R. (ed): “Larousse Dictionary of Beliefs & Religions” (Larousse: 1994) pp. 581–58, Table: “Population Distribution of Major Beliefs”, ISBN 0-7523-0000-8, Note: “… Figures have been compiled from the most accurate recent available information and are in most cases correct to the nearest 1% …”
- ^ Hinduism Today: Hindus Abandon Afghanistan.
- ^ BBC South Asia: Sikhs struggle in Afghanistan.
- ^ Washingtonpost.com – Afghan Jew Becomes Country’s One and Only – N.C. Aizenman.
- ^ Morales, Victor (2005-03-28). “Poor Afghanistan“. Voice of America. http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2005-03/2005-03-28-voa53.cfm. Retrieved on 2006-09-10.
- ^ North, Andrew (2004-03-30). “Why Afghanistan wants $27.6bn“. BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3582023.stm. Retrieved on 2006-09-10.
- ^ CIA – The World Factbook – Afghanistan.
- ^ a b c Fujimura, Manabu (2004) “Afghan Economy After the Election”, Asian Development Bank Institute.
- ^ Pajhwok Afghan News, Afghanistan receives $3.3b remittances from expats, Oct. 19, 2007.
- ^ Macroeconomics & Economic Growth in South Asia, The World Bank.
- ^ Afghan opium production at record high.
- ^ UN horrified by surge in opium trade in Helmand.
- ^ Poppies for Peace: Reforming Afghanistan’s Opium Industry.
- ^ “Midday Business Report: Black & Veatch unit gains piece of Afghan contract”, The Kansas City Star.
- ^ “Coca-Cola opens plant in Afghanistan”, Contra Costa Times.
- ^ Kabul – City of Light Project.
- ^ Pajhwok Afghan News, Afghanistan has huge mineral resources: survey, November 14, 2007.
- ^ Pajhwok Afghan News, Chinese company wins bidding for Ainak copper extraction, November 20, 2007.
- ^ Ministry signs contract with Chinese company, Pajhwok Afghan News.
- ^ ITU statistics.
- ^ a b Dartnell, M. Y. Insurgency Online: Web Activism and Global Conflict. University of Toronto Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0802085535.
- ^ Press Freedom 2008 Index, Reporters Without Borders.
- ^ Afghanistan Press Report 2008, Freedom House.
- ^ Mojumdar, Aunohita: “Afghan Schools’ Money Problems”, BBC News, 2007. [4].
- ^ Pakistan grants $10m for Balkh University, Pajhwok Afghan News.
- ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSISL1059520080506
- ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSISL1059520080506
- ^ Virginia Haussegger Mahooba’s Promise ABC TV 7.30 Report. 2009. http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2009/s2615472.htm (last accessed 15 July 2009)
- ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSISL1059520080506
- ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSISL1059520080506
- ^ Afghanistan’s refugee crisis ‘ignored’. The Guardian. February 13, 2008.
- ^ Dictionary.com. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. LINK (accessed: November 13, 2007).
- ^ Dictionary.com. WordNet 3.0. Princeton University. LINK (accessed: November 13, 2007).
Bibliography
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External links
Definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews 
Learning resources from Wikiversity
- Afghanistan entry at The World Factbook
- Afghanistan from UCB Libraries GovPubs
- Afghanistan at the Open Directory Project
- Wikimedia Atlas of Afghanistan
- Afghanistan travel guide from Wikitravel
Government
- Islamic Republic of Afghanistan: Office of the President
- Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS)
- Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA)
- Chief of State and Cabinet Members
The Present Afghan Conflict
- “Struggle for Kabul: The Taliban Advance.” Icos report, December 2008
- “Breaking point: measuring progress in Afghanistan.” Seema Patel and Steven Ross. Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), February, 2007.
- Ali, Tariq. “Afghanistan: Mirage of the good war” New Left Review (50), March-April 2008.
- Canadian Peace Alliance. Bring the troops home now: Why a military mission will not bring peace to Afghanistan. (February 2007)
- Families for Peaceful Tomorrows. Afghanistan: Ending a Failed Military Strategy.
- Friedman, George. “Strategic Divergence: The War Against the Taliban and the War Against Al Qaeda.” Stratfor Global Intelligence. January 2009.
- Transnational Institute TNI on drugs and conflict in Afghanistan
- Rory Stewart on Afghanistan, London Frontline Club, 11 March 2009
Media
Digital Library
Other
- Afghanistan’s Paper Money
- World Intellectual Property Handbook: Afghanistan
- A Look at the Languages Spoken in Afghanistan
- Old photos of Afghanistan
- Over 125 recent travel photos from Afghanistan
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