Contents:-
I. INTRODUCTION
II. LAND AND RESOURCES
A. Rivers and Lakes
B. Climate
C. Natural Resources
D. Plants and Animals
III. POPULATION
A. Population Characteristics
B. Political Divisions
C. Principal Cities
D. Religion
E. Language
F. Education
G. Culture
IV. ECONOMY
A. Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing
B. Mining
C. Manufacturing
D. Energy
E. Currency and Banking
F. Commerce and Trade
G. Transport
H. Communications
V. GOVERNMENT
A. Judiciary
B. Local Government
C. Health and Welfare
D. Defence
E. International Organizations
VI. HISTORY
A. Early Muslim Dynasties
B. Foundation of the Afghan State
C. Conflicts with Britain
1. First Afghan War
2. Second Afghan War
3. Subsequent Anglo-Afghan Relations
D. Modernization
E. Pashtunistan Dispute
F. King Zahir’s Personal Rule
G. Republic and the Growth of Soviet Influence
H. Civil Strife
I. Taliban and UIFSA Conflict
J. UN Sanctions
Description:-
I INTRODUCTION
II LAND AND RESOURCES
Afghanistan is a predominantly mountainous country; about three quarters of its surface consists of uplands. The main lowlands are a series of river valleys in the north and various desert regions in the south and south-west. The principal mountain system of the country is the Hindu Kush, which, with its various offshoots, extends for about 965 km (600 mi) from the Pamirs, a range in the north-east, to the borders of Iran in the west. The average altitude of the Hindu Kush is about 4,270 m (14,000 ft); some peaks are about 7,620 m (25,000 ft) high. Natural passes penetrate the mountains of Afghanistan at various points, facilitating travel within the nation as well as communication with neighbouring countries. In the Hindu Kush the only pass lower than 3,050 m (10,000 ft) is the Shibar (2,987 m/9,800 ft), which connects the Kabul region with the northern part of the country. Probably the best known of the mountain passes is the historic Khyber Pass on the north-eastern border, which traverses the Sulaiman Range and affords relatively easy access to Pakistan.
A Rivers and Lakes
The chief rivers of Afghanistan are the Amu Darya, known in ancient times as the Oxus, on the border of Tajikistan; the Kabul, which flows into the River Indus; the Helmand, the longest river in the country, in the south; and the Harirud, in the west. All these rivers except the Kabul empty into lakes or swamps.
B Climate
Climatic conditions in Afghanistan exhibit great daily and seasonal variations, largely because of the extremes in elevation that characterize the country. During the day, variations in temperature may range from freezing conditions at dawn to almost 38° C (100° F) at noon. Summer temperatures as high as 49° C (120° F) have been recorded in the northern valleys. Midwinter temperatures as low as -9.4° C (15° F) are common at the 1,980-m (6,500-ft) level in the Hindu Kush. Kabul, situated at an elevation of about 1,830 m (6,000 ft), has cold winters and pleasant summers. Jalalabad (altitude about 550 m/1,800 ft) is subtropical, and the climate of Kandahar (about 1,070 m/3,500 ft high) is mild. Afghanistan is a relatively dry country, the annual rainfall averaging about 305 mm (12 in). Most of the rainfall occurs between October and April. Sandstorms occur frequently in the deserts and arid plains.
C Natural Resources
Despite the arid climate and mountainous terrain, the natural resources of Afghanistan are mainly agricultural. A variety of mineral deposits exists, but transport difficulties, war, and lack of native technical skills and equipment have hindered full exploitation of such resources. Much natural gas is located in the north, and the country also has major deposits of iron ore.
Arid climate and mountainous terrain are mainly responsible for the relative lack of soil development. The larger tracts of arable land in the fertile valleys are the only well-developed natural resource in Afghanistan.
D Plants and Animals
The plant life of Afghanistan resembles that of Tibet and the Himalaya region in general, as well as that of the Middle Eastern plains and deserts. Forests of cedar, pine, and other conifers are found at elevations of about 1,830 to 3,660 m (6,000 to 12,000 ft). As the result of overcutting, forests now occupy only about 3 per cent of the land area. At lower elevations such shrubs and trees as hazel, pistachio, ash, juniper, and tragacanth are found. Below the 914-m (3,000-ft) level, vegetation, consisting largely of herbs and some shrubs, is quite sparse. Many varieties of wild flowers bloom in the spring, both in the mountains and on the grassy steppes. Forest products include resin, asafoetida, and piñon (pine nuts), as well as timber and firewood. Among the various fruit trees are the apricot, peach, pear, apple, almond, and walnut. Date palms flourish in the extreme south, and pomegranates and citrus fruit grow in the vicinity of Kandahar and Jalalabad. Grapes and melons of excellent quality and unusual variety are common.
Indian, European, and Middle Eastern fauna inhabit Afghanistan. The dromedary and the Bactrian camel abound. Indigenous animals include mountain sheep, bear, ibex, gazelle, wolf, jackal, wildcat, hedgehog, and fox. The principal domesticated animals are sheep, cattle, and goats; others include donkeys, horses, mules, and the Afghan hound, a breed of hunting dog. The Karakul sheep of Afghanistan are famous for their pelts. Waterfowl, pheasants, quail, and many varieties of smaller land and shore birds are also found.
III POPULATION
The population of Afghanistan, predominantly rural, can be divided into four main ethnic groups. The Pashtuns, or true Afghans, make up about 50 per cent of the total population and are divided into two sub-groups, the Durani and Ghilzais. The Tajiks, of Iranian stock, make up about 25 per cent, and most of the remainder consists of Uzbeks (9 per cent) and Hazaras (9 per cent).
Social mobility has become greater since the 1950s. The power of family patriarchs has been lessened, and women had begun to achieve some level of emancipation, a process that has been halted, if not reversed, by the advent of the Taliban.
A Population Characteristics
Afghanistan has a population of 26,813,057 (2001). The overall population density is 41 people per sq km (106 per sq mi). The United Nations High Commission on Refugees reported that in 1992 the world’s largest refugee population was from Afghanistan, numbering about 4.5 million, of which 2.9 million were in Iran. By the end of that year, 1.5 million had returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan.
Approximately 79 per cent of the people live and work in rural areas, and approximately 2.6 million still lead a nomadic life.
B Political Divisions
For administrative purposes, Afghanistan is divided into 31 provinces: Badakhshan, Badghis, Baghlan, Balkh, Bamian, Farah, Faryab, Ghazni, Ghor, Helmand, Herat, Jouzjan, Kabul, Kandahar, Kapisa, Kunar, Laghman, Logar, Nangarhar, Nimruz, Nuristan, Paktika, Parwan, Patya, Qonduz, Samangan, Sar-i-Pul, Takhar, Uruzgan, Wardak, and Zabul.
C Principal Cities
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| Kabul |
D Religion
More than 99 per cent of the people of Afghanistan are Muslims, mainly of the Sunni sect. Most of the remainder, notably the Hazara, belong to the Shiite sect. Small colonies of Jews, Hindus, and Parsis are scattered in the towns. Mazar-e Sharif is the leading place of pilgrimage.
E Language
Pashto (see Indo-Iranian Languages) and Dari, a dialect of Farsi (Persian), divisions of the Iranian linguistic group, are the official languages of Afghanistan. Although Pashto has quite an extensive literature, Persian is used for cultural expression and business and government transactions. Of the many dialects spoken, the Turkish Uzbek, Turkoman, and Kirgiz are most prevalent in the border regions.
F Education
Although elementary schooling is free and compulsory for children aged 7 to 15, only about 25 per cent of the people aged 15 or more years are literate. In 1995 primary schools were attended by 1,312,197 pupils and secondary schools had an annual enrolment of 512,851 students. Institutions of higher education had an enrolment of some 10,000 students. Education, like most other aspects of life in Afghanistan, has been badly disrupted by the continuing violence in the country. The University of Kabul, founded in 1932, is the country’s main institute of higher education. The smaller University of Nangarhar (1962) is in Jalalabad. In addition, the School of Commerce (1943), Kabul Polytechnic (1951), and the University of Islamic Studies (1988) are in Kabul.
G Culture
Afghan cultural life is characterized by traditional arts and pastimes. Gold and silver jewellery, rugs in the Persian style, and various leather goods are still made at home. Music is represented chiefly by traditional folk songs, ballads, and dances. The attan is the national dance. It is performed in a large circle with the dancers clapping their hands and quickening the movements of their feet to the beat of the music. Popular sports include polo; ghosai, a team sport similar to wrestling; and buzkashi, a goal game that uses an animal carcass in place of a ball or puck.
The few major libraries are located in Kabul. The Kabul Museum, the largest in the country, was best known for its collection of early Buddhist relics, but since the renewed civil conflict, concern has been expressed over the plundering and dispersion of the country’s rich cultural heritage.
The ancient art of storytelling continues to flourish in Afghanistan, largely as a result of the widespread illiteracy. The Afghanistan Historical Society and the Pashto Academy, however, publish literary magazines and encourage new writers.
IV ECONOMY
Afghanistan is one of the world’s poorest countries, with a gross national product of US$3,200 million (World Bank figure; 1986-1987 prices), and annual income per capita estimated at only US$220. The economy is based on private ownership, modified by a limited form of socialism. A series of five-year plans for the development of industry, agriculture, mining, transport, and social services was initiated in 1962. All mineral resources are owned by the state. In the late 1970s and the 1980s the economy was disrupted by occupation of the country by military forces of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and by Afghan guerrilla resistance to the occupying forces. In the mid-1980s annual government expenditures were estimated at about US$650 million, including US$370 million in capital spending, with up to 40 per cent of the budget consisting of aid from the USSR. In the 1990s economic disruption has continued as a result of the ongoing civil war.
About 70 per cent of the population is engaged in agriculture, that is, animal husbandry or the cultivation of crops. The two most pressing labour problems are widespread unemployment and a lack of skilled workers and administrators.
A Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing
 | |
| Bamiyan Valley |
B Mining
Since ancient times, deposits of gold, silver, copper, beryl, and lapis lazuli have been mined in small quantities in the mountainous areas. Salt has been mined in increasing quantities, and production now meets the needs of the country. Coal deposits have been exploited in the past, but production dropped to 0 tonnes in 1999. Large natural-gas deposits in northern Afghanistan were developed with Soviet financing. Gas began flowing to the USSR in the mid-1970s. Other deposits, such as iron ore, sulphur, chrome, zinc, and uranium, are still largely unexploited.
C Manufacturing
During the 1960s and 1970s manufacturing greatly increased. With the opening in 1965 of a large West German-built wool mill, woollen textile production more than doubled. Among the other factories, located primarily in Kabul, are plants manufacturing textiles, the most important manufactured export product; footwear; government-operated cement plants; a fruit-processing plant; a coal-briquetting plant; and several cotton gins. Manufacturing in general has been disrupted by destruction of plants and other difficulties during the internecine strife. The chief cottage industry is rug-weaving.
D Energy
About 58 per cent of Afghanistan’s electricity is produced in hydroelectric facilities, and most of the rest is generated by thermal plants using coal or petroleum products. Major hydroelectric projects are situated on the Helmand and Kabul rivers. In 1989 Afghanistan produced about 420 million kWh of electricity.
E Currency and Banking
The monetary unit of Afghanistan is the afghani of 100 puls (4,726 afghanis equal US$1; 2001). The Central Bank of Afghanistan issues all notes, executes government loans, and lends money to cities and to other banks. All private banks in Afghanistan were nationalized in 1975.
F Commerce and Trade
Most of the foreign trade of Afghanistan is in theory controlled by the government or by government-controlled monopolies. In 1999 annual exports earned about US$150 million and yearly imports cost US$600 million. The USSR was the leading trading partner in that year. Reliable estimates for more recent years are scarce, in view of the continuing civil strife. Principal exports were natural gas (42 per cent), dried fruits and nuts (26 per cent), cotton, rugs, and karakul skins. The leading purchasers of Afghan products, in addition to the USSR, have been Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Germany, and India. Imports include textiles, building materials, petroleum, machinery, hardware, tea, and sugar.
G Transport
Travel within Afghanistan is severely limited by the rugged terrain. The country has no railways, and its narrow, fast-flowing rivers are unnavigable and are used chiefly for transporting timber. Camels and other pack animals are extensively employed for conveying goods. The country has about 21,000 km (13,049 mi) of roads, mostly unpaved. Main highways link Kabul with the provincial capitals. Access to Pakistan is afforded by roads that traverse the Khyber Pass. Road maintenance is a constant problem in Afghanistan, mainly because of violent spring floods, and the problem has been worsened by neglect and damage owing to the ongoing hostilities. Bakhtar Afghan Airlines is the nation’s international and domestic air carrier.
H Communications
The state-controlled telephone and telegraph lines serve all principal cities and smaller towns as well. Telegraphic communications exist among the major cities and between Kabul and Peshawar. In the mid-1980s about 32,000 telephones were in use.
Six newspapers appeared regularly in the late 1980s. The government broadcasting network in 1997 served about 3 million radios and 270,000 television receivers.
V GOVERNMENT
Afghanistan was a monarchy until 1973, when the king was overthrown and a republic proclaimed. A constitution promulgated in February 1977 vested broad powers in the president, made Afghanistan a one-party state, and installed Islam as the state religion. Legislative power was vested in a parliament (Shura), consisting of an upper house (House of the Elders) and a lower house (House of the People). This constitution was suspended in April 1978 following a coup d’état, and the Revolutionary Council became the country’s chief governing body.
In 1987 the Soviet-backed Communist government issued a new constitution providing for a president to be indirectly elected to a seven-year term. The bicameral National Assembly (Meli Shura) consisted of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The People’s Democratic Party controlled the government, but 50 of the 234 seats in the House of Representatives were reserved for opposition parties.
Following the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989 and the ousting of the Communist regime in April 1992, an interim council composed of former guerrilla groups took power. An indirect election for president took place in December 1992, but relations between the various groups degenerated into open factional warfare, and the authority of the coalition government remains subject to challenge.
A Judiciary
The highest tribunal in Afghanistan is the Supreme Court. The military revolutionary court handles civilian as well as military cases.
B Local Government
Each province is administered by a governor appointed by the central government. The provinces are divided into districts and sub-districts.
C Health and Welfare
The government has increased its efforts to provide for the welfare of the people. A programme of preventive medicine against communicable diseases is under way. Nevertheless, health conditions remain poor, made considerably worse by the civil war, the maternal, infant, and child mortality rate is high, and average life expectancy was only about 46 years in 2001. Infant mortality in 2001 was 147 deaths per 1,000 live births. Malnutrition and diseases associated with poor water supply and sanitation are all commonplace consequences of the civil war. It wass estimated in 1993 that there were about 7,002 people to each doctor.
D Defence
Prior to 1992 all male citizens between the ages of 15 to 40 were liable to conscription into military service. In the early 1990s there were an estimated 40,000 personnel in the army and about 5,000 in the air force. Since 1992 and the advent of a mujahedin government all military bodies of the former regime were disbanded and the situation complicated by the large numbers of feuding irregular factions. The rise of the fundamentalist Taliban in 1995 and subsequent opposition to it has continued the disarray.
E International Organizations
Afghanistan is a member of the following organizations: the UN; Colombo Plan; Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO); Non-Aligned Nations; and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
VI HISTORY
Afghanistan first appeared in recorded history in the 6th century bc, when it was included in the Persian empire of the Achaemenids. Along with the rest of the Persian Empire, the region was subjugated, in about 330 bc, by Alexander the Great. After his death in 323 bc, most of the region fell under the domination of Alexander’s general, Seleucus I Nicator, and later under that of the Indian king Chandragupta. Later, another Greek dynasty established itself in Bactria (northern Afghanistan) and founded a state that lasted from 256 bc until about 130 bc. The Graeco-Bactrian state yielded in turn to Iranian nomads called the Sakas and then to the Kushans, who adopted Buddhism. In the 3rd and 4th centuries ad, the Sassanid Persians invaded the country from the west. The Ephthalites, or White Huns, were largely in control of Afghanistan when the conquering Arabs swept the region in the middle of the 7th century.
A Early Muslim Dynasties
Arab penetration affected Afghanistan probably more decisively than any previous foreign influence. Centuries passed, however, before Islam became the dominant religion. Arab political control was superseded meanwhile by Iranian and Turkish rule. Complete Turkish ascendancy in the area was established late in the 10th century and early in the 11th century by the Muslim sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. Islamic culture subsequently achieved brilliant heights under the Afghan or Iranian Ghuri dynasty (1148-1215). The Ghurids gradually extended their rule into northern India, but were overwhelmed by the hordes of the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan, who came down from the north about 1220. Most of the country remained under Mongol control until the close of the 14th century, when another Mongol invader, Tamerlane, seized northern Afghanistan. Among Tamerlane’s most prominent successors was Babur, founder of the Mughal dynasty of India, who conquered Kabul about 1504. Later in the 16th century Safavids from Iran and Uzbeks from the north made inroads into the region. The Iranians and the Mughal Empire founded by successors of Babur faced continuous Afghan revolts.
B Foundation of the Afghan State
During the 17th century the native Afghans began to grow in power. The Ghilzai tribe conquered the Iranian capital of Esfahan in 1722. Subsequently, a vigorous Iranian counter-offensive was launched by Nadir Shah, who in 1738 re-established Iranian authority over virtually all of Afghanistan. Nadir was assassinated in 1747, whereupon the Afghan chiefs selected one of his generals, a member of the Abdali tribe named Ahmad Shah, as their ruler. Ahmad Shah became known as Durri-i-Dauran (“Pearl of the Age”). The Abdali were thus designated thereafter as the Durani. Ahmad Shah substantially enlarged his realm, acquiring eastern Iran, Baluchistan, Kashmir, and part of the Punjab. The emirate disintegrated, however, under the succeeding rulers of his dynasty, falling in 1818. Anarchy prevailed in Afghanistan during the ensuing period. In 1826 Dost Muhammad Khan, a member of a prominent Afghan family, seized control of eastern Afghanistan, assuming the title of emir in 1835.
C Conflicts with Britain
Meanwhile, Dost Muhammad had appealed to British colonial authorities in India for support of Afghan territorial claims in the Punjab. When the British rejected his appeal, he turned to Russia for help.
C1 First Afghan War
Fearful that the Russian sphere of influence would be extended to the Indian frontiers, the British Governor-General in India, George Eden, Earl of Auckland, presented Dost Muhammad with an ultimatum that included demands for the expulsion of a Russian representative at Kabul. These British demands were refused, and in March 1838 an Anglo-Indian army invaded Afghanistan, precipitating the First Afghan War (1838-1842). Meeting little effective opposition, the invaders captured Kandahar in April 1839 and Ghazni the following July. When Kabul fell in August, Shah Shuja, a grandson of Ahmad Shah, was installed on the Afghan throne in place of Dost Muhammad, who gave himself up to the British.
On November 2, 1841, Akbar Khan, a son of Dost Muhammad, led a successful revolt against Shah Shuja and the Anglo-Indian garrisons in the country. The British presiding diplomat in Kabul was murdered, and the Anglo-Indian Kabul garrison force was decimated as it retreated to India in January 1842. An Anglo-Indian punitive expedition reinforced the garrisons for a brief period, but in December 1842 the British finally left the country. Dost Muhammad was then released from custody and allowed to resume his throne.
Relations between Afghanistan and British-held India remained tense until 1855, when Dost Muhammad concluded a peace agreement with the Indian government.
C2 Second Afghan War
Fratricidal strife among the emir’s sons kept the country in turmoil for more than a decade after his death in 1863. Shere Ali Khan, his third son and successor, aroused the enmity of the British by adopting a friendly policy towards Russia in 1878. Another British ultimatum was ignored, and in November 1878 Anglo-Indian forces again invaded Afghanistan. In the course of the ensuing conflict, known as the Second Afghan War (1878-1879), the Afghans suffered a series of severe reverses. Kabul was occupied in October 1879; Yakub Khan, son of Shere Ali, who had succeeded to the throne the preceding March, was forced to abdicate; and in 1880 Abd-ar-Rahman Khan, grandson of Dost Muhammad, was placed on the throne.
C3 Subsequent Anglo-Afghan Relations
The new ruler confirmed the cession, previously arranged with the British by Yakub Khan, of the Khyber Pass and other Afghan territories. During his reign, which lasted until 1901, Abd-ar-Rahman Khan settled boundary disputes with India and Russia, created a standing army, and curbed the power of various tribal chieftains.
In 1907, during the reign of Habibullah Khan, the son and successor of Abd-ar-Rahman, the British and Russian governments concluded a convention pledging mutual respect for the territorial integrity of Afghanistan. Habibullah was assassinated in February 1919. His brother, Nasrullah Khan, who held the throne for only six days, was deposed by the Afghan nobility in favour of Amanullah Khan, the son of Habibullah. Determined to completely remove his country from the British sphere of influence, Amanullah declared war on Britain in May 1919. The British, faced at the same time with the growing Indian liberation movement, negotiated a peace treaty with Afghanistan the following August. By the terms of the agreement, concluded at Rawalpindi, Britain recognized Afghanistan as a sovereign and independent nation. In 1926 Amanullah Khan changed his title from emir to king.
D Modernization
The popularity and prestige that King Amanullah had won through his handling of the British were soon to be dissipated. Deeply impressed by the modernization programmes of Iran and Turkey, he instituted a series of political, social, and religious reforms. Constitutional rule was inaugurated in 1923, the titles of the nobility were abolished, education for women was decreed, and other sweeping measures aimed at the modernization of traditional institutions were enforced. The hostility provoked by the king’s reform programme led to a rebellion in 1929, and Amanullah quickly abdicated and went into exile. His brother, Inayatullah, who succeeded him, was deposed by Bacha Sakau, a rebel leader, after a reign of three days. In 1929 Amanullah’s uncle, Nadir Shah, supported by several thousand tribesmen, defeated the rebels and executed Bacha Sakau. The crown was given to Nadir Shah.
The new ruler gradually restored order in the kingdom. In 1932 he initiated a programme of economic reforms, but he was assassinated the following year. His son and successor, Zahir Shah, who was only 19 years old at the time of his accession, was dominated for the next 30 years by his uncles and cousins, particularly by his cousin and later brother-in-law, Prince Muhammad Daud Khan. The government intensified the modernization programme begun by Nadir Shah and established close commercial relations with Germany, Italy, and Japan. Zahir Shah proclaimed neutrality at the outbreak of World War II in 1939; in 1941, however, at the request of Britain and the Soviet Union, more than 200 German and Italian agents were expelled from the country. The United States established diplomatic relations with Afghanistan in 1942. In November 1946 Afghanistan became a member of the UN.
E Pashtunistan Dispute
The Afghan government closely scrutinized the events that attended the establishment in 1947 of India and Pakistan as independent states. Of particular concern was the incorporation into Pakistan of the North-West Frontier Province Tribal Areas, a neighbouring region largely populated by Pashtuns. Pakistan ignored Afghan demands for a plebiscite in the Tribal Areas on the question of self-determination. In retaliation, in 1947 Afghanistan voted against the admission of Pakistan to the UN. Relations between the two countries continued to be strained during the next several years. Sporadic frontier clashes occurred between Pakistani forces and Pashtun tribesmen, especially after 1949, when the latter, with the approval of the Afghan government, launched a movement to establish an independent state to be called Pashtunistan or Pathanistan.
Afghanistan manifested displeasure over a United States-Pakistan military aid pact concluded in 1954. The following year, Soviet Premier Nikolay A. Bulganin, visiting Afghanistan, proclaimed support for a state of Pashtunistan. Subsequently, the USSR and Afghanistan issued a joint statement advocating peaceful coexistence, universal disarmament, and UN membership for China. The Soviet government simultaneously extended technical aid loans to Afghanistan.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan improved briefly during the late 1950s. In 1961, however, the Pashtunistan dispute flared up, and relations were not fully restored until 1967.
F King Zahir’s Personal Rule
In 1963 King Zahir removed his cousin Muhammad Daud, who had been Prime Minister since 1953, and took full control of the reins of government. The following year he promulgated a new constitution, providing for a more liberal form of government. The first legislative elections under the new constitution were held in September 1965.
Afghanistan experienced major economic difficulties in the late 1960s. The situation was worsened by three years of drought, during which 80,000 people are believed to have died of starvation. By 1973 the Soviet Union, the United States, and China were all supplying the country with aid.
G Republic and the Growth of Soviet Influence
In 1968 King Zahir had made overtures to Daud, and a degree of harmony was believed to have been restored between them. In July 1973, however, Daud seized power, deposed the king, and proclaimed Afghanistan a republic. A new constitution was approved in early 1977, and Daud was elected to the powerful post of president. He appointed a civilian Cabinet and maintained the country’s policy of non-alignment. In April 1978 Daud was killed during a violent coup d’état. The new rulers, organized in a Revolutionary Council led first by Noor Muhammad Taraki, and later by Hafizullah Amin, suspended the constitution and initiated a programme of “scientific socialism”. This led to armed resistance by devout Muslims, especially among the mountain tribes.
Unable to contain the rebellion, Taraki and Amin turned to the USSR for help. Despite Soviet military aid, resistance to the government continued in 1979. In December of that year, Amin was overthrown and killed in a Soviet-backed coup, and Afghanistan was occupied by Soviet troops. The USSR then installed Babrak Karmal, a former vice-president who had been purged and exiled in 1978, as President. Although Karmal diligently tried to placate the rebels, the insurgency persisted, and more than 3 million refugees fled to neighbouring Pakistan. During the mid-1980s, government forces and about 118,000 Soviet troops held major cities and roads but were unable to dislodge the rebel mujahedin. The conflict became an international issue, with the United States and Muslim nations supplying arms and support to the mujahedin, while the USSR was drawn into a protracted, costly, and ultimately futile conflict. In May 1986, probably at Soviet instigation, Karmal was replaced by Muhammad Najibullah, formerly Chief of State Police.
H Civil Strife
Between May 1988 and February 1989 the USSR withdrew all combat troops, but the civil war continued. Najibullah was deposed in April 1992, and rebels took over Kabul. The rival factions then agreed on an interim council to govern Afghanistan, with Burhanuddin Rabbani as provisional president. In December 1992 a special assembly voted to confirm President Rabbani for a two-year term, but factional fighting persisted. In June 1993 Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of the fundamentalist Shiite military faction Hezb-i-Islami, was sworn in as Prime Minister. In September leaders of the guerrilla factions agreed on an interim constitution as a prelude to elections in 1994. However, on January 1, 1994, fighting erupted in Kabul between troops loyal to President Rabbani and those loyal to Prime Minister Hekmatyar and his ally, former Communist General Abdul Rashid Dostam. By the end of June 1994 the fighting had spread to other parts of Afghanistan, and much of Kabul had been devastated by rocket and artillery attack. Some Muslim countries were suspected of fuelling the violence for strategic and ideological reasons. Despite peace initiatives sponsored by the UN and Muslim nations, fighting continued into 1995, fuelled by the emergence of the Taliban (Islamic student militia), which in February captured Hekmatyar’s headquarters outside Kabul.
By February the Taliban had extended its control to ten provinces, but was expelled from Kabul in March by the army. In November Rabbani offered his resignation in exchange for a ceasefire by the Taliban, which made a renewed attack on Kabul in December. Peace talks were held between the Taliban and a government delegation in January and February 1996, without reaching agreement. Hekmatyar and Rabbani signed a military agreement in March, to unite against the Taliban, and in May they both signed a peace agreement and pledged the creation of an Islamic state. President Rabbani reappointed his former adversary Hekmatyar as prime minister in June and government appointments were made in July. Following a series of military advances, the Taliban took Kabul in September, formed an interim council, and established a strict Islamic regime.
The abduction of the former Communist president Najibullah, his brother, and two close associates from the UN compound in Kabul and their subsequent execution received international condemnation in late September. The ruling interim council justified the executions as “Islamic acts” and enforced a strict Islamic regime that, among other things, was particularly harsh on women, banning them from employment outside the home, education, and requiring them to be fully veiled.
Alliance forces under the command of former defence minister Ahmed Shah Masud and General Abdul Rashid Dotsam, an ethnic Uzbek, countered the Taliban advance in mid-October. Despite peace talks in early November in Islamabad, Pakistan, sponsored by the UN, fierce fighting started again in mid-November. The plight of the growing number of refugees, casualties of the conflict, was exacerbated by the suspension of aid operations by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in protest against the harassment of its staff in Kabul. By January 1997 the Taliban had taken Baghram airbase and were advancing on Masud’s base in the Panjsher Valley. In May formal recognition of the legitimacy of the Taliban government was made first by Pakistan, and a day later by Saudi Arabia.
I Taliban and UIFSA Conflict
After the flight of General Dostam from Mazar-e Sharif in May, there was a realignment of anti-Taliban forces in June. A new alliance known as the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (UIFSA), under the overall command of Masud, was formed. Masud’s opposition forces made substantial advances in July, but heavy fighting that continued in August led to what was widely considered a stalemate. In spite of a strong Taliban offensive in September, opposition forces made significant gains in October. Dostam returned to lead the UIFSA forces in October. The UIFSA unilaterally released prisoners in November, and a UN-brokered exchange of prisoners took place later in the month. These moves were seen as a significant indication of a will by both sides to negotiate. Three meetings arranged by the UN took place in New York in December involved Afghanistan’s neighbours in discussions aimed to stem the flow of arms to the opposing forces. Despite peace efforts involving shuttle diplomacy by former Afghan President Rabbani in January 1998, fighting continued as calls for a ceasefire to coincide with Ramadan went unheeded. Talks agreeing to a ceasefire, described by Bill Richardson, US Ambassador to the UN, as “breakthrough”, were held in Kabul in April.
Fighting resumed following the collapse of the talks in early May. The Taliban government closed more than 100 private schools in June, which had been educating some 6,000 girls in defiance of a ban on female education. Also in July a ban on the ownership of televisions, video cassette recorders, satellite dishes, and video cassettes was announced. The capture of the Mazar-e Sharif by Taliban forces in August was followed by the killing of nine diplomats stationed at Iran's consulate in the city and early reports of the massacre of 2,000 Shi'ite Muslim civilians. A report by the UN put the number massacred at more than 6,000. Following the bombing of US embassies in East Africa in early August, the US launched missile attacks against Afghanistan and Sudan, after naming Osama bin Laden, a Saudi based in Afghanistan, as the prime suspect in the bombings. In November the Supreme Court of the Taliban totally exonerated bin Laden of terrorist charges.
Following UN-brokered talks held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, in March 1999, between the warring factions in Afghanistan, an announcement was made that a provisional agreement had been reached on the formation of a government. The talks collapsed in April, however, and heavy fighting resumed in the north and north-east of Afghanistan, especially around the strategically important town of Bamian. Other peace negotiations were set up, but met with similar unsuccessful results. In August an attempt was made on the life of the Taliban leader, Mola Mohammed Omar, in Kandahar.
There was more heavy fighting between Taliban militia and the UIFSA in March 2000, concentrated along the front lines just north of Kabul and in Jawazjaan. A large-scale offensive was launched by the Taliban in August to capture strategic targets in northern Afghanistan. Fighting intensified as UIFSA forces launched forceful counter-attacks. The capital of Takhar province, Taloqan, fell to the Taliban on September 5, damaging the UIFSA’s supply routes in the process.
In November both sides agreed to more peace talks, held in December in Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan: significant steps were made in the conflict, but no tangible progress. Further sanctions imposed by the UN on the Taliban in December 2000 (see UN Sanctions below) led to their pulling out of the peace talks in protest.
Meanwhile, half a million refugees are estimated to have fled their homes because of the fighting and the severe drought. In camps such as those in Herat in the west, the situation is said to be the worst aid workers have ever seen. The UN feared that 2001 would see famine there.
J UN Sanctions
In November 1999 the UN Security Council announced international sanctions against the Taliban after the regime failed to deliver Osama bin Laden to the United States or a third country to stand trial for terrorism. All UN member states froze Taliban assets and banned all flights by the Afghan national airline, Ariana Afghan. The sanctions followed a stricter set of measures imposed unilaterally by the United States against Afghanistan in July 1999. After the imposition of the UN sanctions, Afghanistan re-opened its border with Iran (closed since September 1998), increasing the flow of basic foodstuffs into the country.
A resolution was adopted by the UN Security Council on December 19, 2000, giving the Taliban 30 days to force bin Laden to surrender or face further sanctions. An arms embargo was then imposed against the Taliban (but not against the UIFSA), and all Taliban offices and Ariana Afghan offices abroad were forced to close. In April 2001 the deputy leader of the ruling Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Rabbani died in hospital in Pakistan.
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