Conflict in Afghanistan PDF

Cover-image not available
Conflict in
Afghanistan
Roots of Modern Conflict
Conflict in Afghanistan
Frank A. Clements
Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia

John B. Allcock, Marko Milivojevic, and John J. Horton, editors
Conflict in Korea
James E. Hoares and Susan Pares
Conflict in Northern Ireland

Sydney Elliott and W. D. Flackes
Conflict in
Afghanistan
A Historical Encyclopedia
Frank A. Clements
Santa Barbara, California Denver, Colorado Oxford, England

COPYRIGHT © 2003 BY FRANK A. CLEMENTS
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief
quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Clements, Frank, 1942–
Conflict in Afghanistan : a historical encyclopedia / Frank A. Clements.
p. cm. — (Roots of modern conflict)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-85109-402-4 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Afghanistan—History—Encyclopedias. I. Title. II. Series.
DS351.C54 2003
958.1'003—dc22
2003021334
07 06 05 04 03 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an e-book. Visit http://www.abc-clio.com for details.
ABC-CLIO, Inc.
130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911
Santa Barbara, California 93116–1911
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Manufactured in the United States of America

Contents
About This Encyclopedia, ix
Acknowledgments, xi
Introduction, xiii
Maps, xxxiii
Conflict in Afghanistan
A Historical Encyclopedia
Abdullah Abdullah (1958– ), 1 Afridi Tribe, 26 Australian Special Forces, 34
Abdur Rahim, Naib Sular Ahmad, Ali (1883–1929), 26 Awakened Youth (Wish
(1896?–1941?), 2 Ahmad, Shah (1943– ), 26 Zalmayan), 35
Administrative Divisions, 3 Ahmadzai Tribe, 28 Ayub, Khan Muhammad
Afghan Arabs, 4 Akbar, Sardar Muhammad (1857–1914), 35
Afghan Army, 4 (1816–1845), 28
Afghan-German Relations, 6 Amanullah, King (1892–1960), Badakhshan Province, 37
Afghan-Iranian Relations, 8 28 Badakhshi, Tahir (?–1979), 37
Afghan National Liberation Ambala Conference (1869), 29 Badghis Province, 37
Front, 11 Amin, Hafizullah (1929–1979), Baghlan Province, 38
Afghan-Pakistani Relations, 11 29 Bagram, 38
Afghan Security Service, 15 Amir, Muhammad (?–1936), 30 Balkh Province, 38
Afghan Social Democratic Party, Amu Daria, 31 Baluchs, 39
16 Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1905, 31 Bamian Province, 39
Afghan-Soviet Relations, 16 Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919, 31 Baraki Tribe, 40
Afghani, Sayyid Jamaluddin Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1921, 31 Barakzais, 40
(1838–1897), 19 Anglo-Russian Convention Barechi Tribe, 40
Afghanis, 20 (1907), 32 Bareq-Shafi’i, Muhammad Hasan
Afghanistan Interim Cabinet, Arian, Abdul Rashid (1941– ), 32 (1932– ), 40
20 Arsari Tribe, 33 Baryalai, Mahmud (1944– ), 41
Afghanistan Interim Asghar, Muhammad (1914– ), Beheshti, Sayyid Ali, 41
Government, 21 33 Bonn Conference (2 December
Afghanistan Peace Association Ata, Muhammad (dates of birth 2002), 41
(APA), 22 and death unknown), 33 Brahuis, 42
Afghanistan Transitional Auckland, Lord George Eden Burnes, Alexander (1805–1841),
Government, 24 (1784–1849), 33 42
v
vi CONTENTS
Capitulation, Treaty of (1841), 45 Farsiwan, 86 Hazarajat, 102

Cavagnari, Sir Pierre Louis Fateh Khan (1777–1818), 86 Hazaras, 103
(1841–1879), 45 First Anglo-Afghan War Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin (1947– ),
Central Intelligence Agency and (1839–1842), 86 106
Its Support for the Firuzkuhi Tribe, 87 Helmand Province, 107
Mujahideen, 45 Hentig-Niedermayer Expedition
Chahar Aimaqs, 47 Gailani, Sayyed Ahmad (1932– ), (1915–1916), 108
Charkhi, Ghulam Nabi (?–1932), 89 Herat Province, 108
47 Gailani, Sayyid Hasan Hijrat Movement, 109
Civil War, 47 (1862–1941), 89 Hindu Kush, 109
Climate, 55 Gandomak, Treaty of (1879), 89 Hoshimian, Sayyid Kalilullah
Coalition Air Campaign against Geneva Accords, 90 (1929– ), 110
the Taliban, 55 Geography and Environment, 90 Human Rights Violations, 111
Coalition Land Campaign Ghani, Abdul (1864–1945), 92 Humanitarian Airdrops, 113
against the Taliban, 58 Ghaus, Abdul Samad (1928– ), 93 Humanitarian Relief, 115
Ghazi, 93
Dari Language, 67 Ghazi, Shah Mahmud International Security Assistance
Darulaman, 67 (1896–1959), 93 Force (ISAF), 119
Daud, Sardar Muhammad Ghazni Province, 94 Inter-Services Intelligence Service
(1909–1978), 67 Ghilzai Tribe, 94 (ISI), 121
Da’ud Shah (1832–?), 69 Ghobar, Mir Ghulam Ishaq, Muhammad (1851–1888),
Destruction of Pre-Islamic Muhammad (1897–1978), 94 123
Heritage, 69 Ghor Province, 95 Islamabad Accord (1993), 124
Din Muhammad, Mashk-il-Alam Ghulam, Jilani Charkhi Islamic Alliance for the
(1790–1886), 71 (1886–1933), 95 Liberation of Afghanistan,
Disarmament Program, 71 Goldsmid Award, 95 124
Dobbs, Sir Henry, 73 Granville-Gorchakoff Agreement Islamic Front (Jumbesh-i-Milli
Dost, Shah Muhammad (1873), 95 Islami), 125
(1928– ), 73 Gromov, Gen. Boris V. (1943– ), Islamic Party—Hekmatyar
Dost Muhammad, Amir 96 (Hizb-i-Islami—Hekmatyar),
(1792–1863), 73 Guardians of the Islamic 126
Dostum, Gen. Abdul Rashid Revolution (Pasdaran-i-Jihad- Islamic Party—Khales (Hizb-i-
(1954– ), 74 i-Islami), 96 Islami—Khales), 126
Drug Trade, 76 Gulbazoi, Lt. Gen. Sayyid Islamic Revolutionary Movement
Durand Agreement (1893), 79 Muhammad (1945– ), 98 (Harakat-i-Inqliab-i-Islami),
Durrani, Ahmad Shah Abdali Gulnabad, Battle of (1772), 98 127
(1722–1772), 79 Islamic Society of Afghanistan
Durrani Dynasty, 81 Habibullah, Amir (1871–1919), (Jam’iat-i Islami-yi
Durrani Tribe, 81 99 Afghanistan), 127
Habibullah Kalakani Islamic Union for the Liberation
Elphinstone, Maj. Gen. William (c. 1890–1929), 99 of Afghanistan (Ittihad-i-
(1782–1842), 83 Hamad, Abdul Sanad (1929– ), Islami Barayi Azadi-y-
Elphinstone, Mountstuart 100 Afghanistan), 128
(1779–1859), 83 Haq, Abdul (1958–2001), 100 Islamic Unity Party (Hizb-i
Enayatullah, Sardar (1888–1946), Haqani, Maulawi Jajaluddin Wahdat), 128
83 (1930– ), 101 Islamist Movement (Jami’at-i
Hashim Khan, Muhammad Islami), 128
Farah Province, 85 (1886–1953), 101 Isma’il Khan (1946– ), 130
Farhad, Ghulam Muhammad Hasht-Nafari, 102 Isma’ilis, 132
(?–1984), 85 Hatef, Abdur Rahim (1926– ),
Fariab Province, 85 102 Jadran Tribe, 133
CONTENTS vii
Jagran, Sayyid Muhammad Macnaghten, Sir William National Revolutionary Party

Hasan (1949– ), 133 (1793–1839), 161 (Hizb-i Inqilab-i Milli), 180
Jaji Tribe, 133 Mahmud Pacha, Sayyid, 161 Nazar, Lt. Gen. Muhammad
Jam’iat-i-’Ulama, 133 Mahmud Shah (?–1829), 161 (1935– ), 181
Jamilurrahman, Maulawi Husain Maimana, 162 Niazi, Ghulam Muhammad
(1933–1992?), 134 Maiwand, Battle of (1880), 163 (?–1978), 181
Jamshidi Tribe, 134 Maiwandal, Muhammad Nimruz Province, 181
Jirga, 134 Hashem (1919–1973), 163 Nizamnama, 181
Jozjan Province, 135 Majid, Abdul (c. 1875–?), 163 Northern Alliance, 181
Majruh, Sayyid Baha’uddin Nur, Nur Ahmad (1937– ), 185
Kabul City, 137 (1928–1988), 164 Nuristan Province, 185
Kafir War (1895), 139 Mangal Tribe, 164 Nuristani, Abdul Wakil (?–1929),
Kafiri Tribe, 139 Maqsudi, Abdul Husain 185
Kalakani, Abdul Majid (1933– ), 164 Nurzai, Abdul Qayyum (1942– ),
(1939–1980), 140 Masood, Ahmad Shah 185
KAM, 140 (1953–2001), 165 Nurzai Tribe, 186
Kandahar Province, 140 Mazari, Ali (1935– ), 167
Karmal, Babrak (1929–1996), Mazar-i Sharif, 167 Ofuq, Muhammad Zahir, 187
141 Meshrano Jirga, 171 Omar, Mullah Muhammad
Karzai, Hamid (1959– ), 142 Misaq, Abdul Karim (1937– ), 171 (1959– ), 187
Katawazi, Khilgal Muhammad Mohmand Tribe, 172 Operation Enduring Freedom,
(1948– ), 145 Muhammad, Ishaq (1952– ), 189
Keshtmand, Sultan Ali (1935– ), 172 Oruzgan Province, 193
145 Muhammadi, Maulawi
KHAD, 146 Muhammad Nabi (1921– ), Paghman, 195
Khaibar, Mir Akbar (1925–1978), 172 Paghmani, Taj Muhammad
146 Muhsini, Ayatollah Muhammed (?–1929), 195
Khales, Yunis (1919– ), 146 Asef (1935– ), 173 Paktia Province, 195
Khalilullah, Lieutenant General Mujaddidi, 173 Paktika Province, 197
(1944– ), 147 Mujaddidi, Sabghatullah Panipat, Battle of (1761), 197
Khalq, 147 (1925– ), 173 Panjdeh Incident, 198
Khan, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Mujahideen, 174 Panjshir, 198
(1890–1988?), 147 Muslim Brotherhood, 175 Panjshiri, Dastagi (1933– ), 198
Khost, 147 Mussoorie Conference, 175 Parcham, 199
Khost Rebellion, 148 Parwan Province, 199
Khugiani Tribe, 149 Nadir, Shah Muhammad Pashtu Language, 199
Khurram, Ali Ahmad (1888–1933), 177 Pashtunistan Dispute, 199
(1931–1977), 149 Najibullah, Muhammad Pashtuns, 200
Khyber Pass, 149 (1947–1996), 178 Pashtunwali, 201
Kunar Province, 150 Nangarhar Province, 178 Pazhwak, Faze Rabbi (1929– ),
Kunduz Province, 151 Naranjan Das (1853–?), 179 201
Kushani, Mahbubullah (1944– ), Nasir Tribe, 179 Pazhwak, Ne’mutallah (1928– ),
151 Nasrullah Khan (?–1919), 179 201
National Fatherland Front (Jabha- People’s Democratic Party of
Laden, Osama bin (1955– ), 153 yi-Milli-yi Padar Watan), 179 Afghanistan (PDPA), 201
Laghman Province, 156 National Islamic Front of Peshawar, Treaty of (1856), 203
Lala Pir, 156 Afghanistan (Mahaz-i Milli-yi Peshawar Accord, 203
Languages, 156 Afghanistan), 180 Pollock, Field Marshal Sir George
Layeq, Sulaiman (1930– ), 156 National Liberation Front of (1786–1872), 204
Logar Province, 157 Afghanistan (Jabha-yi-Najat- Pottinger, Maj. Eldred
Loya Jirga, 157 yi Milli-yi Afghanistan), 180 (1811–1843), 204
viii CONTENTS
Powindahs, 204 Second Anglo-Afghan War Victory Organization (Sazman-i

Poya, Nadir Ali (c. 1940s–1982), (1878–1879), 228 Nasr), 263
205 Secret of the Nation (Sirr-i- Vitkevich, Capt. Ivan (?–1838), 263
Pul-i Charkhi Prison, 205 Milli), 229
Puzamov, Alexandr, 205 11 September 2001, 230 Wahdat, 265
Sewwum-i-Aqrab, 232 Wakhan District, 265
Qadir, Maj. Gen. Abdul (1944– ), Shafiq, Muhammad Musa Wali, Abdul (1924– ), 265
207 (1930–1978), 232 Wali, Muhammad (?–1933), 266
al-Qaeda (the Base), 207 Shi’a Mujahideen Groups, 233 Wardak, Abdul Ahad (c.
Quddus, Abdul (1842–1921?), 210 Shinwari Tribe, 233 1880–1949), 266
Shir Ali, Amir (?–1879), 234 Wardak Province, 266
Rabbani, Burhanuddin (1940– ), Shuja, Shah (c. 1792–1842), 234 Warlords, 266
211 Simla Manifesto (1838), 235 Watanjar, Muhammad Aslam
Rahman, Amir Abdur (?–1901), Soviet War in Afghanistan, 235 (1946– ), 271
212 Waziri Tribe, 271
Rasuli, Maj. Gen. Ghulam Haidar Taimaris, 239 Wolusmal, Muhammad Hasan
(1919–1978), 212 Tajiks, 239 (1940– ), 271
Ratebzad, Anahita (1931– ), 213 Taliban, 240 Women in Afghanistan, 272
Reconstruction Program, 213 Tanai, Lt. Gen. Shanawaz, 244
Red Shirts, 216 Taraki, Nur Muhammad Yalantush Khan (?–1886), 277
Refugee Problem, 216 (1917–1979), 245 Yaqub Khan, Amir Muhammad
Registan Desert, 220 Tashkent Declaration, 245 (c. 1849–1923), 277
Revolutionary Association of Tawana, Sayyid Musa, 246 Yaqubi, Gen. Ghulam Faruq
Women of Afghanistan Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919), (1938–1992), 277
(RAWA), 220 247 Yar Muhammad, Wazir (?–1851),
Roberts, Gen. Sir Frederick Timur Shah (1742–1793), 248 278
(1832–1914), 222 Turi Tribe, 248 Yussuf Khan, Muhammad
Roshan, 222 Turkomans, 248 (1855–?), 278
Twelver (Ithna ‘Ashariya), 248
Saadabad Pact, 225 Zabibullah, Abdul Qadir
Safronchuk, Vasily S., 225 Ulama, 251 (1951–1984), 279
Salang Tunnel, 225 Ulfat, Azizurrahman Zabul Province, 279
Sale, Gen. Sir Robert Henry (1936–1983), 251 Zahir Shah, Mohammed
(1782–1845), 225 UK Special Forces, 251 (1914– ), 279
Samangan Province, 226 UN Sanctions, 253 Zalmai Khan (?–1960), 281
Sarabi, Abdul Wahid (1926– ), UN Security Council Zaman, Shah (1772–1844), 281
226 Resolutions, 253 Zhawar, Battle of (1986), 281
Sarais, 227 U.S.-Afghanistan Relations, 256 Zirai, Saleh Muhammad
Sarwari, Asadullah (1930– ), 227 U.S. Special Forces, 258 (1936– ), 282
Saur Revolt, 227 Uzbekistan, 260
Sayyaf, Abdul Rasul (1946– ), 228 Uzbeks, 261
Chronology, 283
Abbreviations and Acronyms, 339
Glossary, 341
Bibliography, 343
Index, 361
About the Author, 377
About This
This encyclopedia offers the reader a guide to the
conflict in contemporary Afghanistan by providing
a series of entries covering key figures, events, and
Encyclopedia
organizations relevant to the subject. However, to
understand the current situation, it is essential to
have a grasp of the history of the country. An appro-
priate starting point is the creation of the modern for example, the Afghan foreign minister, Dr.
state of Afghanistan in 1747 and the rule of Ahmad Abdullah Abdullah, is known only as Abdullah. In
Shah Durrani. other cases, the given name is attached to an hon-
The reader will note that some entries for indi- orific title, such as Isma’il Khan, Governor of
viduals do not have dates of birth or, where rele- Herat. This, too, can be confusing, and again, I
vant, dates of death. In many instances, records sim- have adopted the most frequently used version of
ply do not exist, and Afghans often do not know a name and, where necessary, indicated a com-
their dates of birth. In other cases, people have dis- mon variant.
appeared from Afghanistan leaving no information The introduction to the volume presents a brief
as to whether they are dead or alive. history of Afghanistan in an attempt to lay out the
Names are also confusing because there are so foundations that underpin the current conflict.
many variants, and I have endeavored to stan- However, as of August 2003, the situation in
dardize the names in this volume based on what Afghanistan is extremely volatile, and the reader can
seems to be the accepted Western versions and do no better than consult the various Web sites list-
spellings. Afghans also tend to use only their given ed in the bibliography to obtain details of the evolv-
names, which can lead to confusion for outsiders; ing history of the conflict.
ix
Acknowledgments
I wish to record my thanks to Professor Shaista
Wahab of the University of Nebraska, Omaha, for
her assistance and kindness during my visit to the
Afghan Research Center, funded by a grant from my
college. As always, I owe a great deal to my wife for
her continuing patience and forbearance with my
pastimes.
xi
Afghanistan came to the fore on the international
scene in recent decades with the Soviet intervention
in 1979, the guerrilla war waged against the Soviets
Introduction
and the Communist regime in Kabul, the civil war
after the collapse of the Marxist government, and
the rise of the Taliban with its fundamentalist
regime, its human rights abuses, and its harboring whatever benefits it could from its more powerful
of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda terrorists. How- neighbors, and this continued until the Saur Revolt
ever, the country was really thrust into the limelight of April 1978, which brought the Communists to
with the launching of Operation Enduring Free- power. The geopolitics of Afghanistan are critical to
dom in October 2001 by an alliance of Coalition an understanding of Afghan history; they are also
forces—mainly composed of U.S. and British critical in terms of the diversity of the population,
troops but with special forces from other participat- achieved through trade and migration. The present-
ing countries—and Afghan anti-Taliban forces; day ethnic composition is a vital factor in the politics
their objectives were to overthrow the Taliban of Afghanistan and its current instability.
regime, capture Osama bin Laden, and destroy al- However, the country now known as Afghanistan
Qaeda in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on has a long and rich history due, in large part, to the
the United States on 11 September 2001. An under- fact that it lies at the crossroads of many cultures and
standing of contemporary events in Afghanistan of Asian migration routes. As a result, the country
requires a grasp of the country’s geopolitical situa- has a rich heritage of archaeological remains, art,
tion, its ethnic composition, and the impact that and architecture, much of which has been damaged
these two factors have had on its history. or destroyed over twenty-three years of war in recent
times. Although the country did not emerge in its
Geopolitics of Afghanistan
present form until the reign of Ahmad Shah Durrani
The political significance of Afghanistan began to
in 1747, it was soon to become significant in Euro-
attract the attention of the Western world when the
pean history as part of the Great Game played out by
Soviet Union intervened in support of the Marxist
Britain and Russia. In this game, Britain sought two
government in Kabul in December 1979. However,
things: to prevent an increase of Russian influence in
Afghanistan’s strategic position had been recog-
Central Asia and to safeguard British interests in
nized for centuries, for the country was part of the
India by using Afghanistan as a buffer zone. Britain’s
Silk Road and, in the nineteenth century, a key play-
experiences fighting in Afghanistan during the nine-
er in the “Great Game” played between the two
teenth and early twentieth centuries should have
colonial powers of Great Britain and Russia. Events
served as valuable lessons for other invaders, such as
in the twentieth century can be seen as a legacy of
the Soviets in 1979.
the politics of the Great Game.
British concerns over the possibility of a Russian Ethnic Composition
invasion of British India prompted interest in Population statistics for Afghanistan have always
Afghanistan and eventually led to three Anglo- been difficult to determine, and the statistics-gath-
Afghan wars. After Afghanistan acquired responsibil- ering arm of the administration has never been a
ity for its own foreign policy in 1919, the country strong feature of the government. Thus, population
used its geopolitical situation and the concept of neu- figures and ethnic breakdowns are always suspect,
trality to preserve its independence and to extract with figures sometimes manipulated to improve
xiii
xiv INTRODUCTION
international funding on a per capita basis. Howev- Sharif. Afghanistan has also become a refuge for
er, there is little doubt that the Pashtuns are the persecuted groups. For other ethnic groups, such as
largest of the ethnic groups, forming about 40 per- the Nuristanis and the Wakhis, geographic isolation
cent of the population, followed by the Tajiks, who has meant that they have retained their languages
make up about 20 percent. The other main and cultures. However, the diversity of the commu-
groups—the Hazaras, the Uzbeks, and the Aimaq— nities in Afghanistan and the geographic impedi-
are roughly equal, with each composing about 9 ments to integration have all contributed to the
percent of the population. The balance of the popu- fragmentation and disunity of the country.
lation is made up of a number of ethnic minorities, Originally, the term Afghan referred to the dom-
including Turkomans, Kazakhs, Qizilbash, Wakhis, inant Pashtun majority (though the word’s origins
Nuristanis, Baluchis, and Kyrgyz together with are unclear), and it was not until the Pashtuns
extremely small numbers of Hindus, Sikhs, and carved out a home for themselves in Central Asia
Jews. during the eighteenth century that the name
The urban areas of Afghanistan have generally Afghanistan became used to describe the territory
had mixed populations, whereas villages have usual- controlled by the Pashtuns. This meant that other
ly been single ethnic communities; Afghan ethnic ethnic groups living in this area also became known
groups tend to be identified by location, but, apart to outsiders as Afghans. As a result of Kabul extend-
from the Hazaras of the Hazarajat and the Wakhis of ing control throughout the area to the north and
the Wakhan Corridor, they are not designated as west of Kabul, present-day Afghanistan was created
such by name. Although the Kabul government has as a multiethnic country, though it took nearly a
attempted to engineer ethnic integration over the century before Kabul obtained even nominal alle-
years by, for example, transplanting Pashtuns into giance to its rule. As the country continued to devel-
the north of the country, such attempts have failed. op, some integration gradually took place, largely as
After all internal conflicts, the north of Afghanistan a result of the public education system, conscription
has always gone back to single ethnic community into the armed forces, development of the media,
patterns, especially in the rural areas. Kabul is the and public sector employment. However, these
most ethnically mixed city due to its position as the developments were shallow and soon disappeared
seat of government, but other cities, such as Herat in the face of internal conflict, with the civil war
and Mazar-i Sharif, reflect the dominant ethnic char- from 1992 to 1996 exposing acute rifts between the
acteristics of the region in which they are located. various ethnic groups.
In the main, the distribution of the various eth- The Pashtuns, as the largest ethnic group, have
nic groups in Afghanistan resulted from the inter- been dominant in ruling the country, particularly
national borders drawn in the nineteenth century from 1747 with the reign of Ahmad Shah Durrani,
by the British and Russian Empires, which often regarded as the father of modern Afghanistan. They
split up tribal communities. For instance, the speak Pashtu and have dominated the political
Durand Agreement of 1893 split the Pashtun com- scene since that time (except for a small break
munity between Afghanistan and the northwest under the Tajik ruler Habibullah Kalakani in 1929)
area of British India (now Pakistan). Afghanistan’s until the arrival of the Marxist government in 1978.
geographic position straddling the migration routes Even in the post-Soviet and mujahideen periods,
of Iranian tribes and Indo-Aryan, Turkic, and Arab the Pashtuns retained their dominance through the
groups has also left a presence of small ethnic Taliban regime, as the movement had emerged
groups protected in isolated villages in the numer- from the Pashtun tribes of southern and eastern
ous mountain valleys and hillsides. Such migrations Afghanistan. In the north, the other ethnic groups,
have gone on for thousands of years and have con- such as the Dari-speaking Tajiks, the Uzbeks, and
tinued until recent times, with influxes of people the Hazaras, have only barely or begrudgingly
fleeing the Bolshevik Revolution, Stalinist Russia, accepted control from a central administration in
and the arrival of Marxism in China. Kabul, dominated by the Pashtuns, and this link has
Trade can account for some diversity, with small been exposed throughout Afghanistan’s history
trading communities of Hindus and Sikhs and a with various internal conflicts, uprisings, and
declining Jewish presence in Kabul and Mazar-i interethnic clashes. In addition, there is the reli-
INTRODUCTION xv
gious divide between the Shi’a Hazara population again, the tribes were never really subdued, and there
and the predominantly Sunni population of the were constant uprisings against the Greek rulers. In
rest of Afghanistan. the end, the Greeks only really controlled northern
The historical, linguistic, and cultural differences Afghanistan from the present-day Balkh. This era
between the various ethnic groups in Afghanistan was followed by a period of changing influences,
have also led to an unstable political situation, with with Seleucid, Roman, Arab, and Chinese influences
the civil war, following the downfall of the Najibul- in the area until the invasion of the Huns in A.D. 400,
lah government in 1992, having thrust these differ- which resulted in the destruction of Buddhist culture
ences to the fore. After four years of internal conflict and a country left in ruins. In A.D. 550, the Persians
and shifting alliances, the divisions were so deep again ruled over a rebellious people who were con-
that Afghan society had disintegrated in a series of stantly in revolt against the occupiers.
regions dominated by majority ethnic groups
backed by well-armed militias; further, evidence From the Arrival of Islam to Ahmad
shows ethnic cleansing was used to settle old scores Shah Durrani (652–1747)
or in revenge for perceived atrocities or other The Arabs in A.D. 652 introduced Islam into the
human rights abuses. The Taliban reinforced these region, but it was not until A.D. 962 that the first
divisions between the Pashtuns and the other ethnic Islamic era was established, with the Ghaznaid
groups that opposed their regime and their concept dynasty that ruled until 1140. The dynasty was of
of an Afghan society based on the strict application Turkic origin and was founded by Nasir al-Daulav
of Shari’a law; they were also responsible for atroci- Sebuktegin, who ruled from 977 to 997; Ghazni was
ties and egregious human rights abuses, particular- its administrative capital. The empire of the Ghazni
ly against the Shi’a Hazaras and women. These divi- extended from the Tigris to the Ganges Rivers and
sions and rivalries have contributed to the instability from the Indian Ocean to the Amu Daria River. The
of post-Taliban Afghanistan, and an awareness of city of Ghazni became extremely rich and also was a
these issues is critical to an understanding of Afghan center of culture, though it started to decline in
history and the problems now faced by the Transi- influence after the death of Mahmud Ghazi. In
tional Government of President Hamid Karzai. Ide- 1221, the forces of Genghis Khan sacked the city,
ally, these pressing concerns should be resolved and it became part of the Ilkhanid Empire, but with
before the elections scheduled for June 2004. the destruction of its irrigation systems, the fertile
soil of the region was turned into permanent desert.
Early History The period following the first Mogul invasion was
Evidence exists of early Stone Age settlement in marked by recurrent invasions of Turkic Central
Afghanistan, with plant remains in the foothills of Asians into the region, with Afghanistan still retain-
the Hindu Kush suggesting that this was one of the ing its strategic significance. However, Afghan resis-
earliest places in which plants and animals were tance continued to manifest itself throughout the
domesticated. Between 300 B.C. and 2000 B.C., urban fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, albeit with limit-
centers grew up in the area. Mundigak, sited near ed success.
present-day Kandahar, was an economic center for In the early sixteenth century, the Afghans again
raising wheat, barley, sheep, and goats, and it possi- revolted against the Mogul government. They were
bly served as a regional capital for the Indus Valley led by an intellectual named Bayazid Roshan, who
civilization. In about 600 B.C., Zoroaster introduced was killed in 1579 in a battle against the Moguls,
the new Zoroastrian religion into Bactria (now though the struggles continued. It was not until
Balkh Province), and he died there in 522 B.C. the following century that further national upris-
Between 522 B.C. and 486 B.C., the Persians occupied ings continued, with a 1613 campaign led by
the bulk of modern Afghanistan under Darius the Khushhal Khan Khattack. The region was also sub-
Great, but their rule was beset by constant tribal jected to occupation by the Safavid regime from
revolts in the present-day Kandahar and Quetta Persia, which ruled in Kandahar from 1622 until a
areas. revolt led by Mir Wais Khan, a Ghilzai Pashtun, in
After conquering Persia, Alexander the Great 1708; this revolt succeeded in ending Persian dom-
invaded Afghanistan between 329–326 B.C., but ination in the region and led to an Afghan invasion
xvi INTRODUCTION
of Persia in 1722, wherein the Safavids were sound- return of Shah Mahmud, who continued to rule
ly defeated at the Battle of Gulnabad. At the same until 1818; the period brought further struggles
time, the Durrani tribes rose up in revolt against against the Persians and continued internal strife.
the Persians and succeeded in wresting from them From 1818 to 1826, anarchy and civil war prevailed,
control over Herat. with the sons of Timur Shah struggling for control
Afghan control of Persia was short-lived. In of the throne, and during this period, the Afghans
1725, the occupation began to weaken, with Nadir finally lost control of Sind Province.
Shah, ruler of Persia, retaking southeast Persia and
occupying southwest Afghanistan in 1726. In 1738, From the Great Game to the Independent
Nadir Shah retook Kandahar, and Persian rule was Monarchy (1826–1919)
again established over most of Afghanistan, though This period of Afghanistan’s history was marked by
it could never be regarded as secure. In 1747, Nadir the increasing interest of Britain in the internal
Shah was assassinated, and the Afghans again rose affairs of the country, largely because of the Great
up in revolt under the leadership of Ahmad Shah Game being played out in the region with Russia.
Abdali (Durrani), taking control of Kandahar and Afghanistan was seen by Britain as a crucial buffer
beginning a campaign to gain control over the terri- state, given the increasing power and widening
tory that is now Afghanistan. interests of the Russian Empire in the region; British
policy was determined by the desire to protect the
From the Emergence of Modern Afghanistan security of its Indian Empire against the Russians,
to the Great Game who were deemed to be the greatest threat to British
After taking Kandahar from the Persians, Ahmad interests in the region.
Shah Durrani consolidated his position in the In 1826, Amir Dost Muhammad Khan, known as
region before beginning a campaign to extend his “the Great Amir,” took the throne and ruled initial-
control. In the period from 1747 until his death in ly until 1838, when he was ousted by Britain. His
1773, be captured further territory, defeated the rule over the whole of Afghanistan was established
Moguls in the area to the west of the Indus, and in 1834 when he defeated Shah Shuja at Kandahar;
ejected the Persians from Herat. At the time of his this was followed in 1837 by the defeat of the Sikhs
death, he controlled an empire that ran from Cen- at Jamrud, in which the great Sikh military leader
tral Asia to Delhi and from Kashmir to the Arabian Hari Singh was killed. However, Dost Muhammad
Sea, creating the greatest Muslim empire in the eigh- failed to capitalize on this victory, and a bid to take
teenth century. Timur Shah, who ruled from 1773 to Peshawar was unsuccessful largely because of dis-
1793, replaced Durrani, but his rule was not secure; unity among the Afghan forces.
further, because of tribal opposition, he moved his Dost Muhammad soon found himself at odds
capital from Kandahar to Kabul in an attempt to with the British India government when he was
weaken the power of the Durrani chiefs. He was suspected of having opened negotiations with Rus-
regarded as a humane ruler who was more of a sia, a view reinforced by the arrival in Kabul of a
scholar than a soldier, and he never realized his Russian emissary, Capt. Ivan Vitkevich, who had
ambition of creating a truly centralized state. come to establish commercial relations with
In 1793, Timur Shah died, and his five sons, who Afghanistan. At the same time, Alexander Burnes, a
had been made governors of Afghan provinces, British East India Company representative, was also
began an internecine struggle for power. He was in Kabul, and he advised Dost Muhammad to
succeeded by Shah Zaman in 1793, but Zaman’s rule abandon any hopes of getting Peshawar back from
was constantly threatened by internal unrest. He the Sikhs and to make peace instead. This led Dost
was an authoritarian, harsh ruler who was eventual- Muhammad to open negotiations with Captain
ly overthrown in 1801, while on a visit to the Pun- Vitkevich over assistance for Afghanistan, but the
jab. He was replaced by Shah Mahmud, whose reign Russian government repudiated these moves. At
only lasted until 1803, when Shah Shuja took the the same time, the British in India were negotiating
reins of power. Shah Shuja’s rule lasted until 1809 with the deposed Shah Shuja and Ranjit Shah, ruler
and was marked by an unsuccessful Persian attack of the Sikh nation, and they concluded the Simla
on Herat and further internal strife, resulting in the Manifesto of 1838, which recognized the indepen-
INTRODUCTION xvii
dence of the Sikhs from Afghanistan and was to alarmed the British, who tried to send an emissary
become effective once Shah Shuja had regained the to Kabul. That emissary was refused entry to
Afghan throne. Afghanistan, leading to an ultimatum from the
In effect, the manifesto was a declaration of war India government, followed by the invasion by a
against Dost Muhammad, and Afghanistan was British army.
invaded by Britain in July 1839; Kabul was taken on Shir Ali had left Kabul for northern Afghanistan,
23 July. On 2 November, Dost Muhammad surren- leaving his son Yaqub in charge, and he was advised
dered to the British and was exiled to India, and by the Russians to make peace with the British. The
Shah Shuja was restored to the throne, a position he Afghans again put up strong resistance to the
held with British support until 1842. The British British, but Yaqub Khan was forced to agree to the
occupation of Afghanistan was never secure, and Treaty of Gandomak in 1879, which resulted in
the army found its lines of communication being Afghanistan giving up a number of frontier dis-
disrupted and garrisons in outlying settlements tricts, including those controlling the Khyber Pass,
being ousted by Afghan tribesmen. The position of and these became permanently lost to Afghanistan.
the army in Kabul became critical, and army leaders In the same year, Shir Ali died of natural causes in
were forced to negotiate conditions for a withdraw- Mazar-i Sharif. The lost districts were to prove trou-
al. The withdrawal became a death march, with the blesome in the twentieth century when Pakistan was
troops being massacred while trying to cross back created in 1947 and the Pashtun frontier districts
into India; only one survived. became part of the new state. In 1880, the Afghans
In April 1842, Shah Shuja was assassinated, and inflicted a major defeat on the British at the Battle of
Dost Muhammad was restored to the throne one Maiwand, near Kandahar, but a force under Sir
year later and ruled until 1863. In 1855, Afghani- Frederick Roberts in turn inflicted a heavy defeat on
stan finally concluded a peace treaty with the Indi- the Afghans and retrieved the situation. However,
an government, but in 1859, the British India gov- the British recognized the futility of trying to
ernment took Baluchistan, making Afghanistan a impose direct rule in Afghanistan, determining
totally landlocked country. After the death of Dost instead to install a government stable enough to
Muhammad, his son Shir Ali assumed the throne combat Russian aggression without posing a threat
and ruled until 1866. But in 1865, Bukhara, to British India.
Tashkent, and Samarkand were taken by the Rus- The British invited Abdur Rahman, who was a
sians, and his reign was characterized by constant nephew of the deceased Shir Ali and had been living
power struggles with his brothers, who held posi- in exile in Tashkent, to become the ruler of Afghan-
tions as provincial governors. In 1866, Muham- istan, and he was made amir in 1880, ruling until
med Afzal occupied Kabul and proclaimed him- 1901. At the accession of Abdur Rahman, the British
self amir, but he died in October 1867 and was withdrew from Afghanistan but still retained the
replaced by Muhammad Azam, who ruled until right to control the country’s foreign relations. The
1868, when he was forced to flee to Persia. There- borders of Afghanistan were fixed, and Abdur Rah-
after, Shir Ali regained the throne, ruling until man was forced to accept the territorial losses
1879. inflicted by the Treaty of Gandomak. In 1881, he
In 1869, Shir Ali traveled to India to try to obtain took possession of Kandahar and Herat and became
support against Russian aggression and to secure the undisputed ruler of Afghanistan. However, in
recognition for his son as his successor. However, 1895, Russian forces seized the oasis at Panjdeh,
the viceroy would not accede to his requests and north of the River Amu Daria, and the Afghans
only provided a few pieces of artillery and some failed in attempts to retake it, though they secured a
funds. As a direct result of this rejection, Shir Ali lis- Russian agreement to respect Afghanistan’s territor-
tened to approaches from the Russian government, ial integrity thereafter. Border problems continued,
who sent General Stolietoff to Kabul on 22 July 1878 however, with the 1893 Durand Agreement with
to negotiate an agreement, following up on the Britain, which fixed the borders with British India
Russian agreement with Afghanistan over fixed but split the tribal areas of Afghanistan. The amir
boundaries in 1873 and with a promise to respect always maintained that he signed the agreement
the country’s territorial integrity. These moves under duress, and the outcome was to continue to
xviii INTRODUCTION
affect relations with British India and, after 1947, The Independent Monarchy (1919–1973)
with the new state of Pakistan. Throughout this period, Afghanistan operated as a
Abdur Rahman died in 1901, he was succeeded constitutional monarchy, and the role of the legisla-
by his son Habibullah, who began attempts to mod- tive branch of government was largely restricted to
ernize the kingdom. One of the most crucial deci- the endorsement of programs presented by the king
sions taken was to introduce modern education for or his immediate officials. Also during this period,
civilians and military personnel and to use foreign Afghanistan became able to determine its own,
teachers. The institutions created by Habibullah independent foreign policy.
were to form the foundations for the elite govern- King Amanullah succeeded his father in 1919,
mental and military bureaucracy. The political sys- having defeated his uncle Nasrullah, who had
tem was also liberalized, which encouraged some attempted to seize the throne. One of his first acts
Afghan exiles to return home and, in turn, acceler- was to proclaim a jihad against the British in May
ate the reform process. Other infrastructure projects 1919, leading to the third and final Anglo-Afghan
were undertaken in the health sector and communi- war. However, the war was only of short duration,
cations, and trade with Central Asia and India was fought largely in the border regions and concluded
encouraged. It was also during Habibullah’s reign with Afghanistan having secured complete indepen-
that modern journalism came to Afghanistan, with dence but, in turn, having to forfeit all British subsi-
the founding of a number of newspapers almost dies and guarantees of protection against foreign
totally the work of Mahmud Tarzi, a returned exile; aggression. Amanullah also harbored pan-Islamic
his papers advocated further developments in edu- aspirations and attempted to aid the besieged amir
cation and political liberalization. of Bukhara, who was engaged in a struggle against
Habibullah maintained a policy of neutrality the Red Army and local Bolshevik sympathizers.
during World War I and resisted pressure from However, when the Bolsheviks established control
both the Ottoman and German governments to in Central Asia, Amanullah withdrew his support,
enter the war by supporting anti-British activity in though he did give refuge to the deposed amir of
India. However, the ruler’s modernizing policies Bukhara and harbor to Ibrahim Beg, who had been
led to the growth of an opposition movement, and a leading commander of the Basmachi in the insur-
plots against the amir were discovered, leading to a gency against the Red Army. Afghanistan also
number of arrests and executions. The neutrality became a safe haven for thousands of Central Asians
policy during World War I (which in reality was fleeing from Bolshevik rule. In the 1921 treaty con-
somewhat biased toward the British) caused cluded with the Soviet Union, Amanullah tried to
opposing factions to draw together, and there was secure the independence of Bukhara and Khiva and
also a great deal of popular resentment at the the return of Panjdeh (seized by the Russians in
Allies’ treatment of the Muslim Ottoman Empire 1885) but to no avail.
at the end of the war. Opposition to the amir was The domestic policies of Amanullah were largely
drawn from the traditional and conservative sec- concerned with an overhaul of the state to make it
tors of the elite and the general population and conform to the king’s concept of a modern nation.
from the modernists led by the amir’s son Aman- One aspect of the reform program was the drawing
ullah and influenced by the newspapers of Tarzi, up of the 1923 Constitution, which established the
who wanted more modernization and a national- basis for the formal structure of government, set the
ist agenda. role of the constitutional monarch, and attempted
The reign of Habibullah had established the to regulate relations between the state and Islam.
Afghan monarchy as a modernizing force in Amanullah also established schools using English,
Afghanistan, but it became critical to ensure a bal- French, and German as the main languages of edu-
ance between the modernizers and the traditional, cation, and he ended Afghanistan’s international
conservative elements that formed the bulk of isolation by establishing diplomatic relations in
Afghan society. The threat of foreign intervention Europe and Asia. On the social scene, Amanullah
had not disappeared, and the formation of the Sovi- encourage government employees to wear Western
et Empire meant that Afghanistan again became a dress and allowed women to go without veils. How-
buffer state between Russia and Britain. ever, the reform program angered the conservative
INTRODUCTION xix
elements of society, particularly the ulama (Islamic Nadir Shah, a Muhammadzai Durrani, returned
scholars and clerics). from exile in India in 1929 with tribal support
Opposition manifested itself through a rebellion from Waziristan and British acquiesence, to defeat
at Khost in eastern Afghanistan in 1924, which was Habibullah. He took Kabul on 13 October 1929.
only put down with great difficulty after the army He was proclaimed king two days later, and
received support from tribes traditionally opposed Habibullah, who had been taken prisoner, was
to the rebels. In 1927 and 1928, Amanullah went on hanged together with a number of his followers.
a tour of European and Middle Eastern capitals, Nadir Shah continued to reverse the moderniza-
returning with a determination to advance the tion process and courted favor with the religious
modernization program. However, he had succeed- extremists. However, he did put in train a restruc-
ed in alienating the most powerful forces in the turing program that included provision of school-
country, including the military, the religious leaders, ing and the founding of a faculty of medicine in
and the Pashtun tribes, and in 1928, the Shinwari Kabul in 1932. One year earlier, he had promulgat-
Pashtun tribe rebelled in the area to the east of Jalal- ed a new constitution that provided for a parlia-
abad. At the same time, Khost rebels, led by a Tajik ment, a national council, a senate, and an advisory
named Habibullah Kalakani, attacked and laid siege council.
to Kabul. Amanullah abdicated in favor of his During his reign, Nadir Shah also had to deal
brother Inaytullah, who soon abdicated as well, and with attempts to restore Amanullah to the throne.
Amanullah and his immediate family fled to India Part of his strategy for defeating the opposition was
in May 1929. to set ethnic groups against each other, particularly
The Afghan throne then passed to Habibullah the Tajiks and Pashtuns, resulting in the destruction
Kalakani, the son of a water carrier; this was the only of the Shamali area north of Kabul. Many Afghans
occasion on which the monarchy was assumed by a regarded his rule as oppressive, and he was assassi-
non-Pashtun. Habibullah had only a tenuous hold nated by a Hazara, the adopted son of an Amanul-
on the country outside of Kabul, and his aspirations lah supporter named Ghulam Nabi who had been
to be accepted as monarch were hampered by his executed for treason in 1932.
common background and the fact that he was a Nadir Shah was succeeded by his nineteen-year-
Tajik, though his Khoistani supporters regarded old son, Zahir, who was to rule until 1973, though in
him as a hero. He only ruled for nine months, but the early years the country was effectively run by
the period of his reign saw confirmation of the two of his uncles and then a cousin holding the post
severity of ethnic divisions in Afghanistan and of prime minister. Until 1946, Muhammad Hashim
revealed the difficulty of changing the attitudes of was prime minister, minister of war, and comman-
an isolated people. der-in-chief; he was replaced by Shah Mahmud
Habibullah’s main policies were directed at Ghazi, who was prime minister until 1953. Ghazi, in
reversing the reforms of Amanullah, particularly in turn, was replaced by the king’s cousin and brother-
the areas of marriage customs, the status of women, in-law Muhammad Daud, who held the position of
and education. Severe veiling for women was intro- prime minister until 1963, when he was forced to
duced, and cultural institutions such as museums resign by the king.
and libraries were sacked. Government workers During the early period of Zahir’s rule, a prolif-
associated with the former king were subjected to eration of newspapers and journals began to
beatings, imprisonment, and exile, with students encourage debate on the problems of moderniza-
from the new schools also coming under suspicion. tion, the relationship of Islam with society and the
Other reforms on the abolition of conscription and individual, and the relationship between Islam and
the lowering of taxes were reversed, and the schools modernization. At the same time, the French were
and courts were returned to the control of the cler- excavating archaeological remains and revealing the
gy. Meanwhile, the economy of the country became glory of Afghanistan’s past, which encouraged secu-
unstable, the Pashtun tribes became disaffected with lar thinkers to see in the past an opportunity to
Habibullah’s rule, and the Soviets and British feared restore Afghan glory, with a diminished role for reli-
an unstable Afghanistan. All these factors helped to gion. However, these discussions and thoughts were
bring an end to Habibullah’s rule. restricted to the elite and did not permeate through
xx INTRODUCTION
to the general population until much later in the West ignored Afghanistan, but it was courted by the
reign. Soviets, and Daud became reliant on the Soviet gov-
The Afghan economy also developed, with the ernment for all types of military assistance.
introduction of banking institutions, the growth of In the social arena, Daud also introduced
the trade in agricultural exports, and transit trade reforms aimed at enhancing educational opportu-
through Soviet Central Asia, which increased as nities, and he made the wearing of the veil and the
relations with the Soviet Union improved. Afghani- chadari optional. One outcome of these reforms was
stan also benefited from remaining neutral during that women enrolled at Kabul University, and others
World War II, and it became a refuge for many citi- began to enter the workforce and the government,
zens from Central Europe who provided important but the reforms had little impact outside of Kabul.
but inexpensive technical assistance for develop- At the same time, a major road construction pro-
ment. During the premiership of Shah Mahmud gram, partially financed by the United States, linked
Ghazi, the political agenda was dominated by polit- the main cities of Afghanistan and provided ties into
ical relaxation and the expansion of international Pakistan. However, the Pashtunistan problem,
ties, especially with the United States. The govern- which involved Afghanistan’s efforts to secure the
ment also wanted to improve irrigation and agricul- return of the Pashtuns in Pakistan to Afghan control
ture and to find a third-party state to avoid it again or at least attain independence or autonomy for the
becoming a buffer between Russia and the Indian region, bedeviled relations with Pakistan, and 1961
subcontinent. saw the two countries on the brink of war. The tense
Political reform was also instituted in 1949, and relations with Pakistan and the autocratic nature of
reformists made up one-third of the new assembly; Daud’s premiership led the ruling elite and the king
in addition, laws were passed to establish a free to believe that Daud was becoming a liability. This,
press, and new newspapers sprang up overnight. coupled with his opposition to the 1963 constitu-
The free press called for an elected constitutional tion proposed by King Zahir (which, among other
assembly, an end to corruption, improved living things, banned close members of the royal family
conditions, and an end to import-export monopo- from high office), caused the ruler to demand
lies established by local capitalists under govern- Daud’s resignation. In 1963, Daud departed the
ment sponsorship. A student union was formed at scene, and the Loya Jirga adopted the constitution in
Kabul University, and students began to protest the 1964.
abuses of the royal family and the misuse of Islam to The last decade of Zahir’s rule was marked by
sustain injustice. However, in 1951, the government some political instability, for the new constitution
became alarmed at such developments, and it closed encouraged feverish political activity with heavily
down the student union; in the following year, there contested elections, the rise of multiple political
were a number of enforced press closures. parties, and a free press. However, the king did not
In 1953, the king’s cousin and brother-in-law, seize the reins of power in order to shape the direc-
Muhammad Daud, became prime minister, and he tion of the new government, and his rule was char-
shared the aspirations of the reformists, feeling that acterized by indecision and procrastination. During
the government was too conservative, the religious this period, the Afghan Communist party, known as
establishment too reactionary, and the newly emer- the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan
gent capitalists too powerful. Daud was determined (PDPA), was secretly formed in 1965, with Babrak
to pursue a reformist program by harnessing the Karmal as one of its leaders. In September 1965, the
skills of the intellectuals to run the government and first elections under the new constitution were held,
to build up a strong military to ensure regime stabil- and Babrak Karmal was elected to parliament, and
ity; he sought support for the latter among the Pash- in the 1969 elections, both Karmal and Hafizullah
tun tribes by reviving aspirations with regard to the Amin, another secret Communist, were elected to
question of Pashtunistan. Daud’s preferred choice of parliament.
supplier was the United States, but Washington
refused to supply military material, and he was forced From the Republic to the Saur Revolt of April 1978
to turn to the Soviet Union for supplies and technical In July 1973, King Zahir was on vacation in Europe,
assistance. Cold War relationships meant that the and on 17 July, with the backing of one wing of the
INTRODUCTION xxi
Communist party, Muhammad Daud seized power, ing elections. The constitution also confirmed the
abolished the monarchy, and declared himself pres- rights for women already introduced by Daud.
ident of the Republic of Afghanistan. Unbeknownst In April 1977, Daud visited Moscow for high-
to Daud, sleepers had been placed within the level negotiations, but these talks became acrimo-
Afghan bureaucracy and the military following the nious due to Soviet objections to Afghanistan’s use
founding of the PDPA in 1965. After the coup, they of foreign experts from other countries, a situation
suddenly emerged in positions of authority within that Daud refused to change. However, while he was
the ministries, much to the surprise of their former in Moscow, the two wings of the PDPA—the Khalq
superiors; one sleeper actually became the official and the Parchami—were holding reunification
interpreter to President Daud. The inherent ineffi- talks, and their differences were resolved in July
ciency of the Afghan bureaucracy meant that many 1977, with Nur Muhammad Taraki becoming party
of these sleepers went undetected until the Marxist secretary, Babrak Karmal secretary of the Central
coup of 1978. Committee, and both factions being equally repre-
However, Daud was keen to divorce himself from sented on the committee.
his backers in the PDPA, and by 1975, he had eased Although President Daud had repeatedly made
most members of the Parchami wing out of office it clear that he wished to maintain good relations
and had began the process of rapprochement with with the Soviet Union, he also wanted Afghanistan
Pakistan. In the same year, he undertook visits to to remain a nonaligned state. By this stage, the Sovi-
Saudi Arabia and Iran and secured much-needed et Union was unwilling to risk losing its consider-
financial support for his reformist program. He also able investment in Afghanistan—and its sleepers in
began to restore friendly relations with Pakistan by the bureaucracy and the military—to be replaced
resolving a dispute over Baluchistan and promising by oil-rich Arab states. It therefore instructed the
to settle the issue of Pashtunistan. In a visit to PDPA to plan a coup to oust the Daud regime, and
Lahore in 1976, Daud was warned by Pakistan’s Hafizullah Amin, from the Khalq faction, was
Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) unit about meetings assigned to garner support from among the mili-
between members of the PDPA, Soviet officials, and tary, though the Parchami faction was to be secret-
supposedly loyal Daud supporters. ly operating through Mir Akbar Khaibar. Neither
In 1977, Daud announced a new constitution, faction was aware of those within the military who
which called for deep and fundamental socioeco- were already under the control of the Soviet State
nomic reform and an end to the exploitation of Security Committee (KGB) and the Chief Intelli-
ordinary Afghan citizens. The constitutional pro- gence Directorate (GRU). Leaders of the PDPA
gram also promised land reform, the nationaliza- considered that they had been betrayed by Daud
tion of key industries, and the regulation of business because of his refusal to share power and because
to eliminate exploitation. In addition, the constitu- he had abandoned the Pashtuns in Pakistan in
tion declared that power was to be exercised by the return for Iranian and Saudi gold. However, he was
people, the majority of whom were deemed farm- still feared by the PDPA leadership, and his execu-
ers, workers, the enlightened, and youth, with the tion was to become a deliberate part of the coup
new legislature having to draw 50 percent of its being planned.
membership from among farmers and workers. The
armed forces were given a political role through the From the Saur Revolt to Soviet Intervention
High Council of the Armed Forces, and only one (April 1978–December 1979)
party was allowed to operate. This was the National The Saur Revolt of 27 April 1978 brought with it a
Revolutionary Party founded by Daud in 1975, and Marxist government and total dependence on the
it excluded his PDPA collaborators in the coup. Soviet Union. The coup was led by the PDPA and
However, its Central Committee, formed in 1977, members of the party within the military, together
was appointed by Daud and was criticized for being with hitherto unidentified Soviet sleepers, who
full of his cronies or corrupt officials. The party was secured military and key public facilities. The royal
supposed to be a short-term expedient until the palace was also stormed, and despite a spirited
people achieved political maturity, but it had the defense by Daud’s guards, the president and his
power to nominate all candidates for the forthcom- family were killed. Such was the degree of infiltra-
xxii INTRODUCTION
tion within the government and the military that appeal to the minorities on the basis of cultural and
the coup was a complete success and was met by linguistic equality and, in the process, act against the
only minimal opposition. domination of the Pashtuns, particularly in the
However, the new Marxist regime was full of north. The advisers were Dari-, Uzbek-, or Turko-
inexperienced administrators who thought that man-speakers, and they stressed the links between
they were the leaders of a social and political revolu- these communities and those of the Central Asian
tion, aided by the military. The Central Committee republics of the Soviet Union.
of the PDPA also operated under the illusion that it The Khalq faction dominated the regime in
controlled the relationship with the Soviet Union Kabul, with all pronouncements coming from Tara-
and that the Soviets would allow the committee to ki or his close aide Hafizullah Amin. In the media, a
freely reconstruct Afghan society. In fact, the Soviets cult of personality was developing, with Taraki
cared nothing for the transformation of Afghan being called “the Great Leader” of the revolution,
society but sought only control over Afghanistan as and the Parchamis, led by Babrak Karmal, were
a secure base for further possible incursion in the ousted from the government; many were sent into
Middle East and South Asia. They saw this as their exile through diplomatic postings abroad. It was not
reward for decades of patience and considerable long before they were accused of plotting a coup,
financial investment. and Parchami ambassadors were recalled but wisely
The new regime was also incapable of under- remained overseas, with many of them seeking the
standing the need for a balance in foreign and protection of the Soviet Union. Those left within
domestic policies and the importance of pursuing Afghanistan were arrested, removed from govern-
gradual change, so they operated under the illusion ment and party positions, and charged with treason.
that everything was possible. As a result, they At no time did the Soviets attempt to interfere,
attempted to bring about change by issuing orders probably in the belief that the strong Khalqis in the
from the center and following a policy of ruthless military were best suited to Soviet control over
brutality to eliminate actual or perceived opposi- Afghanistan rather than the Parchamis who tended
tion, which succeeded in driving away potential to be urban elites, though they were not totally
allies from within the ranks of the modernists and abandoned by the Soviet Union. In 1979, political
the traditionalists. The Marxist regime also failed to instability increased, with mass arrests and killings
expand its base among the urban intellectuals or to and factional unrest within the military. A major
overcome the many years of suspicion with which mutiny took place in Herat in March 1979 when the
Afghans regarded their Soviet neighbors. Failure Seventeenth Division massacred their Soviet advis-
was also to be the result of trying to create a nation- ers and their families. In addition, the land distribu-
al, democratic revolution in a country that had yet tion program reforms introduced by the regime
to become a nation and the inability to fully realize were a complete socioeconomic disaster, bringing
the conservative nature of the traditional Afghan chaos and hardship to all levels of society. The party
rural communities. continued to suffer from internal divisions, and in
After the coup, Nur Muhammad Taraki became September 1979, the clash between Taraki and Amin
president and prime minister, with Babrak Karmal came to a head. Amin came out on top, having
as deputy prime minister and Abdul Qadir, a Pash- removed Taraki from office and arranged for him to
tun air force officer, as minister of defense. The For- be suffocated in prison.
eign Ministry was given to Hafizullah Amin, who At the same time, opposition to the Marxist
also became second deputy prime minister, mean- regime had begun to develop, starting in June 1979
ing that the Khalq faction controlled the critical and becoming active mainly in the rural areas. The
ministry in terms of relations with the Soviet Union. situation within Afghanistan had dramatically
Soviet advisers and political officers also heavily changed as the Soviets’ supposedly compliant
staffed the military and the government. In Afghan- regional ally was descending into chaos. The
istan, the Pashtuns have always dominated the polit- authority of the PDPA was being challenged in the
ical scene, but the Soviet political officers directed provinces by a resistance that was based on nation-
their initial programs toward northern Afghanistan al, social, ethnic, and religious grounds and was
and the non-Pashtun minorities. The policy was to developing with covert assistance from Pakistan.
INTRODUCTION xxiii
The army was beginning to experience desertions were a complete success, and Moscow expected
in large numbers; conscripts were refusing to resistance to cease at that point. But, as with previ-
report for service; and military units fought ous invaders, the Soviets had miscalculated and had
among themselves, mutinied, or deserted whole- ignored the traditional Afghan values that had man-
sale to the opposition. ifested themselves throughout recent history. They
Amin was convinced that the Soviets would sup- were soon to be faced by an enemy that had values,
port him because he controlled the military, which a love of freedom—even from central control ema-
was vital for securing the nation against the nating from Kabul—and, of course, an immutable
mujahideen guerrillas. As a result, he raised no faith in Islam.
objections when the Soviets increased the numbers It would have been reasonable to assume that the
of advisers within the military, even down to the Soviet military would prevail. The Soviets, after all,
company level, and he also allowed Soviet combat had an extensive knowledge of Afghanistan, having
units into the country in order to relieve Afghan constructed many of the country’s airfields, part of
units from the defense of Kabul and to move on the the highway network, and the Salang Tunnel, and
offensive within the provinces. However, Soviet Spe- they also had superior technology. The Soviet objec-
cial Forces moved on the presidential palace on 27 tive was to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan and
December 1979 and executed Amin while he was to hold key objectives, including the urban areas,
trying to negotiate protection against what he leaving Afghan forces to deal with the mujahideen
thought was a Parchami coup. in the countryside. The Soviet forces intended to
have only minor contact with the local population,
The Period of the Soviet Intervention (1979–1989) to provide air support and logistics to the Afghan
The Soviets replaced Amin with Babrak Karmal, military, and to keep their own casualties to a mini-
leader of the Parchami faction of the PDPA, but the mum. It was intended that the Soviet forces should
situation within Afghanistan continued to deterio- strengthen the resistance of the Afghan military so
rate. The regime had effectively lost control of the that the mujahideen could be quickly defeated and
countryside, which meant that it had lost 85 percent a Soviet withdrawal effected.
of the population. This situation led the Soviets to However, an occupation designed to last for a
consider whether they should intervene to preserve few months was to endure for ten years. With just
the Marxist regime in Kabul from a humiliating cause, it has been described as the Soviet Union’s
defeat—a defeat that would also damage the credi- Vietnam. In the end, the Soviets lost about 40,000
bility of the Soviet Union, particularly as Afghani- troops killed in action, but a large number were
stan was on its borders. Equally, defeat for the murdered, some committed suicide, many became
Afghan army would also reflect badly on the Soviets, drug addicts, and many others succumbed to dis-
for the troops had been advised, trained, and ease due to their poor support services and inade-
equipped by the Soviet Union. Afghanistan’s posi- quate food and equipment. The Soviets came pre-
tion as a buffer state was once again to be thrust to pared to fight a conventional European war with a
the fore of international politics. However, the Sovi- battle plan designed to destroy their ill-equipped
ets decided that military intervention was an accept- opposition or to so terrify them that they would flee
able option, particularly because they believed that across the borders into Iran or Pakistan. However,
the United States was preoccupied elsewhere, with the Soviet military had miscalculated and had
its attention in the region being centered on Iran underestimated the capacity of the mujahideen,
and Pakistan. who were from a traditional warrior society. They
The Soviet army crossed the border on 24 proved to be resourceful and implacable enemies
December 1979 when, it was correctly assumed, who utilized their topographical knowledge and
Western embassies and governments would be on became adept at withdrawing in the face of Soviet
vacation, thus ensuring that any response would be attacks and then returning to strike when their
delayed. The Soviets also counted on international opponents were unprepared or when units had
opposition being short-lived and felt that the world become exposed or isolated. The mujahideen also
would soon accept the situation in Afghanistan as a had the advantage of the support of the local popu-
fait accompli. The initial aspects of the operation lation, who opposed and obstructed the Soviets and
xxiv INTRODUCTION
government forces at every turn; even women then, as the war progressed, from the United States
became involved in the resistance. through covert aid provided by the Central Intelli-
The Afghan government legitimized the Soviet gence Agency and distributed by Pakistan’s Inter-
presence, but it soon grew beyond the original Lim- Services Intelligence unit.
ited Contingency Force; its strength eventually var- The mujahideen movement was always in a state
ied from 90,000 to 104,000, with troops operating of flux, with shifting alliances and power bases
on a rotational basis. They were also backed by other whose allegiances reflected regional, tribal, and eth-
troops and air support operating from bases in the nic origins; all of this would return to haunt
Central Asian republics of the Soviet Union. Even Afghanistan in the post-Communist era. It was not
with this commitment, the Soviet and Afghan forces long before Western aid began to reach the
could only provide a measure of control over the mujahideen in an overt manner as the struggle
main centers of population and the main commu- became embroiled in Cold War politics. Afghani-
nication routes, with the countryside belonging to stan once again became a buffer state and a pawn in
the mujahideen. The Soviets were extremely slow to the twentieth-century version of the Great Game.
change tactics, and the mujahideen refused to fight The mujahideen forces in Afghanistan were also
a conventional war; rather, they pursued guerrilla becoming stronger and better equipped, being able
tactics and struck at roads and pipelines in order to to counter Soviet airpower and helicopter gunships
disrupt Soviet supply lines. by the use of Stinger missiles supplied by the Unit-
The mujahideen saw themselves as fighters in a ed States. They benefited, as well, from equipment
jihad directed against an infidel government backed captured from the Soviets or brought over by
by the Communist regime in Moscow. However, it Afghan military deserters. By the middle of the
must be realized that the mujahideen were never a 1980s, it was becoming evident to the Soviets that
unified force and represented the factional interests they were engaged in a war that they could not win
of Afghan society, which hardened the acute differ- and that it was necessary to secure a political solu-
ences that already existed in the country. The tion in Afghanistan to enable their troops to be
mujahideen were split between Sunni Muslim and withdrawn.
Shi’a Muslim groups, Islamic radicals, and moder- All of this was having a devastating effect on the
ates: the only unifying factor was their opposition to Afghans themselves, resulting in millions of refugees
the government of Babrak Karmal and the Soviet fleeing the conflict and creating major humanitari-
presence. The guerrillas also operated with their an problems for Pakistan and Iran. At one stage, it
own external backers, which was to cause problems was estimated that there were some 5 million
at a later date; the northern Afghan groups drew Afghan refugees, most of whom were in refugee
support from their ethnic counterparts in Central camps in Pakistan and totally reliant on UN agen-
Asia, the Shi’a groups were backed by Iran, and the cies or nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) for
Islamic radicals were supported by Saudi Arabia, their survival. In Iran, because of other internation-
with Pakistan eventually becoming a conduit for al problems, the bulk of the burden was borne by
Western aid. the Iranian government on its own at a time of eco-
The mujahideen mainly operated from bases nomic hardship with Iran. Inside Afghanistan, there
outside Afghanistan, with the largest number of was also the problem of displaced populations mov-
groups in Peshawar, Pakistan. However, the group ing from areas of conflict or because of the
led by the Tajik leader Ahmad Shah Masood operat- scorched-earth policies being adopted by Afghan
ed out of the Panjshir Valley in northern Afghani- forces and their Soviet allies in areas considered to
stan, which was never taken by the government be hostile.
forces despite several determined assaults. The Shi’a At the same time, the ruling PDPA was in a state
groups operated largely out of western Afghanistan of disarray, and the internal divisions within the
and had support from the Iranian government. The party were continuing to cause problems. The Sovi-
vast number of groups were Sunni Muslims, and the ets attempted to force unity by bringing Khalq per-
leaders operated out of Peshawar in a somewhat sonnel into the Parchami-led government, and they
tenuous alliance of seven groups that received sup- also brought back Dr. Muhammad Najibullah from
port initially from the Pakistan government and Moscow in 1980 to head the state security service,
INTRODUCTION xxv
KHAD; at that time, he was loyal to Karmal, having many observers expected the Najibullah regime to
once been his bodyguard. However, the war between collapse within weeks, it continued to survive.
the two factions continued. Assassinations were
commonplace, and the feuds were solely concerned From the Fall of Najibullah to the Arrival of the
with the acquistion of power. The strength of the Taliban (1989–1994)
party was only growing in the urban areas, where it Najibullah’s government continued to survive after
was safe to be a declared party member because of the Soviet withdrawal largely by holding on to a
security, though most of the new members were reduced territory, concentrating on the urban areas
opportunists taking advantage of the favorable and on keeping open the main communication
treatment accorded to party members. Karmal routes. This was only possible with continuing Sovi-
made several attempts to bring about party unity, et aid, Soviet air force missions, and some Soviet
but all of them foundered, so that by 1985, he was troops in civilian clothing operating SCUD missile
becoming an embarrassment to the Soviets and batteries. In addition, support from the United
their changing policy. States and Pakistan to the mujahideen had been
In the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev had reduced, as the prime objective of securing a Soviet
come to power, and his policy of glasnost, or open- withdrawal had been achieved. The mujahideen had
ness, meant that the costs of the Afghan war were no not been able to defeat the Marxist government mil-
longer secret, in terms of either financial losses or itarily, which was illustrated by the attack on Jalal-
casualties, though accurate casualty figures were abad in March 1989 when a garrison of some 4,500
never released and the drug problem was never troops successfully repulsed a mujahideen force of
acknowledged. UN-sponsored negotiations were some 10,000 men. The mujahideen siege of Kabul
also going in Geneva, having started in 1982, was also not proving to bring about the gains that
between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with the Soviet they had hoped for, mainly due to the lack of cohe-
Union and the United States in attendance. Gor- sion between the various groups and poor battle
bachev felt that agreement was not going to be discipline.
reached with Karmal in power because his known During the period after the Soviet withdrawal,
allegiance to the Soviet Union meant that he would Najibullah attempted to pursue a policy of reconcil-
not be acceptable to any national reconciliation iation, and he tried to draw mujahideen military
process designed to appeal to the ordinary Afghan’s leaders into the Afghan armed forces, provided they
desire for peace. In 1985, Karmal was replace by observed a cease-fire. Najibullah was also prepared
Najibullah, but PDPA disunity did not disappear to allow them to consolidate control over their own
and was to come to a head in 1990 with an attempt- localities and to support them against any funda-
ed coup by the minister of defense, Gen. Shanawaz mentalist incursions, but the mujahideen were
Tanai, who led the Khalq faction. reluctant to cooperate. Meanwhile, the United States
In 1987, Najibullah tried to negotiate a cease- had begun to restore supplies to the mujahideen,
fire, but the mujahideen refused to deal with him, and these groups mounted attacks against the urban
as he was considered a puppet of the Soviet Union. areas held by government forces. But disunity
Meanwhile, the mujahideen were having even between the groups had increased, and they again
more success, and the Soviets were in danger of failed in an attempt to take Jalalabad.
experiencing an ignominious defeat. In 1988, the However, the Soviet Union was beginning to
Geneva Accords were signed, and the Soviet gov- loosen its grip on Eastern Europe, and the Cold War
ernment agreed to withdraw from Afghanistan was coming to an end. By 1990, support for the
within nine months. For his part, Najibullah tried mujahideen was reducing, and the U.S. administra-
to move his government away from its Marxist tion also began to form the opinion that the
roots by introducing Islamic-friendly policies but mujahideen were unlikely to overthrow the Najibul-
to no avail. The last Soviet troops departed from lah regime. At the same time, the Soviet support was
Afghanistan on 15 February 1989, leaving the also being reduced, and the Afghan military forces
Najibullah government to its own devices. The were beginning to run out of fuel and money. In
Soviets left a great deal of military equipment addition, commodity prices were spiraling out of
behind for the Afghan military, and although control. The collapse of the Kabul regime was an
xxvi INTRODUCTION
internal collapse due to the differences within the each group consolidating its position in Kabul and
government as to the best way forward. By 1992, its environs, with the massing of fighters and
Najibullah had abandoned all plans to form a coali- weapons to protect these interests. The first presi-
tion government, and he tried to obtain support for dent of the coalition government was Sabghatullah
a transfer of power to all parties involved in the Mujaddidi, who served his two-month period and
struggle. was replaced by Burhannudin Rabbani in June. But
The factions loyal to Babrak Karmal wanted to Rabbani deviated from the agreement by having his
form a coalition with the mujahideen, but this plan period of office extended after packing a meeting
excluded the Islamic Party of Gulbuddin Hekmat- with his supporters.
yar. Najibullah had also fallen out with Gen. Abdul The mujahideen coalition as a legitimate govern-
Rashid Dostum, but he failed to remove him from ment was totally eroded by its disunity and by its
the scene; consequently, the northern militia loyal to multiple ethnicity, which undermined the Islamic
Dostum switched allegiances and joined the North- fervor that had been its strength in the war against
ern Alliance forces led by Masood. On 14 April the Soviets and had accorded the movement
1992, Najibullah was forced to resign, and the Kabul respectability in the eyes of the Afghan people. The
government came under the control of Babrak Kar- struggle for power in Kabul, however, was to bring
mal. Agreement was reached with some elements of Pashtun chauvinism and minority ethnic irreden-
the mujahideen over the formation of a coalition tism to the fore, and these divisive factors were to
government. The coalition consisted of supporters dominate internal relations in Afghanistan from
of Karmal, the Islamist Movement of Rabbani 1992 onward. Rabbani’s struggle to retain the presi-
backed by Masood, the Uzbeks under Dostum, and dency led to fears by other groups that this was an
the Isma’ili faction of Nadari. attempt by the Tajiks to seize power, leading to the
The coalition envisaged control of the cities and Pashtuns opposing Rabbani. The opposition was
the major communication routes by the Afghan expressed through the mobilizing of other ethnic
army and all political parties fused into the civil groups against Rabbani and his military comman-
administration. Hekmatyar, who saw no need for a der Masood in a series of shifting alliances; it is clear
compromise with the Communists, rejected this that these ethnic rivalries also extended to the Haz-
move, and he also rejected a move by Najibullah to aras and Uzbeks as major forces, as well as the less
form a link between the Islamic Party and the critical Nuristanis and Isma’ilis.
PDPA (now renamed Watan, or Homeland Party). The net result of these ethnic and factional
Instead, Hekmatyar ordered his forces to move on rivalries was a civil war largely fought out in Kabul
Kabul and to take control of the cities from the and its immediate environs. In the process, signifi-
Communists. The whole situation came to a head cant parts of the city were reduced to rubble, and
on 15 April 1992 when a mujahideen group, for- another wave of refugees fled to the eastern
merly allied to the government, seized the Kabul provinces and Pakistan. Tales of murder, mutila-
airport and prevented Najibullah from leaving tion, abduction, and rape marked the conflict, with
Afghanistan. On 25 April, the forces of Masood all groups being equally guilty. In essence, the civil
entered Kabul and reached agreement on a coali- war was not just a breakdown in law and order but
tion government that excluded Gulbuddin Hek- a complete disintegration of Afghan society, and
matyar, leading to a period of intense and bloody the interethnic atrocities traumatized the civilian
conflict. Najibullah was forced to seek refuge in the population. Pakistan attempted to mediate
UN compound in Kabul. between the combatants in March 1993 and suc-
The mujahideen government suffered from two ceeded in securing an agreement whereby Rabbani
significant weaknesses: their agreement for power was to continue as president for a further eighteen
sharing in Kabul was basically flawed and their months and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was to be
Islamic unity was shaken by the ethnic rivalries and prime minister; Dostum was totally excluded at
desire for power. The planned rotating two-month Hekmatyar’s insistence because of his prior sup-
leadership, leading to ineffectiveness within the gov- port for the Communists. This situation led to
ernment, demonstrated the mistrust that existed Dostum withdrawing his forces and returning to
between the mujahideen leaders. This also led to the north and his power base in Mazar-i Sharif.
INTRODUCTION xxvii
Afghanistan was again a divided nation. Dos- Khalqi PDPA members, and students from the
tum controlled six of the northern provinces, from Afghan madrasas (religious schools) soon swelled
the Central Asian republics to the outskirts of the group.
Kabul. In Kabul, the alliance between Rabbani and The movement became known as the Taliban,
Hekmatyar was beginning to unravel, and in Octo- standing for students, as the bulk of the member-
ber 1993, fighting broke out between the two ship came from the students of the religious schools,
groups. In January 1994, Dostum abandoned his primarily in Afghanistan and then from the North-
policy of neutrality and launched attacks on Rab- West Frontier Province of Pakistan; it also recruited
bani’s forces in Kabul, having been joined by his from the young in the refugee camps. The Taliban’s
erstwhile enemy Hekmatyar. In June 1994, Rabbani objectives were the restoration of peace, the disarm-
refused to step down as president and the civil war ing of civilians, and the full application of Shari’a
intensified, with all efforts to bring about peace by law. Mullah Omar soon began to restore law and
the United Nations and other countries in the order in the areas under his control, and he was then
region doomed to failure. It appeared that Russia approached by truckers from Pakistan trying to
and the U.S. administration were content to see the secure safe passage through areas dominated by
internecine rivalry continue, as they feared that a warlords who demanded tolls from the truckers.
stable Islamic Afghanistan would damage their Taliban successes in this respect resulted in their
interests in the region and could also provide assis- receiving support from Pakistan because of that
tance to Islamic militant forces in areas such as country’s concern about the trade routes to the
Tajikistan. Central Asian republics.
Afghanistan was in a state of total anarchy, with The Taliban armed themselves by seizing a
a complete breakdown of law and order, no sem- munitions depot near Spin Boldak and the border
blance of government, and a population suffering with Pakistan and then began a move on Kandahar.
from the effects of military action and starvation; The city was taken after the local commander, loyal
many were kept alive only through the interven- to Rabbani, ordered his troops not to resist; this
tion of the United Nations and NGOs. Apart from allowed the Taliban to acquire heavy weapons,
the area under the control of General Dostum, the tanks, and aircraft. The ranks of the Taliban were
rest of Afghanistan, outside of Kabul, had been then greatly increased by volunteer fighters from
carved up among a number of mujahideen com- Pakistan, who crossed the border with the knowl-
manders who had set themselves up as regional edge of the Pakistani authorities. Toward the end of
warlords. The local populations had no security 1994, the Taliban spread north and east to the sub-
from murder, looting, rape, and extortion. Even urbs of Kabul and west toward Herat, with strong
the aid agencies found it difficult to operate, and financial backing from Pakistani merchants who
there were instances of offices being ransacked, had markets in Central Asia.
vehicles commandeered at gunpoint, and staff The Taliban program was based on a promise to
members intimidated. end the fighting and to restore law and order under
the Shari’a, and this meant that in areas taken by the
From the Rise of the Taliban to Operation group, bad local commanders were removed where-
Enduring Freedom (1994–2001) as commanders who had followed Islamic values
In the midst of the anarchy and chaos, the Taliban were confirmed in their posts. The Taliban began to
movement emerged in 1994 in Kandahar Province, make inroads in the country. Ghazni fell at the end
formed by a number of Pashtun mullahs who were of January 1994, followed by Maidanshahr in War-
veterans of the war against the Soviets and wished to dak Province, and then Hekmatyar’s headquarters
see an end to the civil war. A few mujahideen lead- at Charasyab, south of Kabul, were taken. The defeat
ers who had become disillusioned with the anarchy of Hekmatyar was a significant development for the
that had followed their victory joined the mullahs. forces of Rabbani, as the Taliban then attempted to
The movement began to center on a former adopt a neutral position in Kabul by separating the
mujahideen commander, Mullah Muhammad opposing forces. But in March 1994, Masood took
Omar, from the village of Singesar in Kandahar advantage of the situation to drive the Taliban and
Province. Commanders from other Pashtun parties, Wahdat forces from Kabul. The Taliban had also
xxviii INTRODUCTION
tried to take Herat but were driven back by the also part of al-Qaeda. In 1996, Osama bin Laden
forces of Isma’il Khan, which had air support pro- had returned to Afghanistan following his expulsion
vided by Masood. from the Sudan. He had already been accused of
In 1995, the Kabul government attempted to complicity in a number of terrorist incidents,
regain international recognition, for the city was no including the attempted bombing of the World
longer under attack and the international airport Trade Center and attacks on the U.S. embassies in
was reopened. However, in September 1996, the Tal- Kenya and Tanzania. It is ironic to note that bin
iban again attacked Herat, and this time it was Laden had been a mujahideen leader during the
taken, with Isma’il Khan being forced to seek refuge jihad against the Soviets and had been the recipient
in Iran. This left the Taliban free to concentrate on of U.S. aid, in large part because of his military
Kabul, which fell to their forces on 27 September, capabilities in the field. However, in 1996, he was
following on from a number of successes elsewhere organizing training camps for terrorists in eastern
in eastern and southern Afghanistan. However, Afghanistan and attracting recruits from within the
Masood had already withdrawn his forces in good Islamic world to his al-Qaeda organization.
order and retired to his stronghold in the Panjshir The presence of bin Laden and al-Qaeda again
Valley in northern Afghanistan. It was evident that thrust Afghanistan to the forefront of international
the presence of Masood in the Panjshir region and politics. Pressure mounted for the Taliban regime to
Dostum in Mazar-i Sharif could not be tolerated by extradite bin Laden to face charges in relation to a
the Taliban: they represented a threat to their aim of variety of terrorist acts, but Mullah Omar, who
ending the power of the regional warlords, former insisted that bin Laden was a guest of Afghanistan,
Communists, and former mujahideen leaders in refused to respond to these demands. The UN Secu-
order to form a unified country under an Islamic rity Council imposed limited sanctions on Afghani-
government. stan, but bin Laden was still given shelter, though
By the spring of 1997, the Taliban controlled the Taliban insisted that his activities had been
about 90 percent of the country, with the anti-Tal- curbed and that he was under house arrest. The
iban forces of Masood holding only an area in the Security Council was not satisfied with this
Panjshir Valley and an enclave in the eastern moun- response, and further sanctions were imposed, but
tains. However, the military campaigns of the Tal- their impact was limited because they did not cover
iban had been marked by abuses of human rights, the land routes from Pakistan.
particularly in relation to women, and ethnic Meanwhile, there was considerable interna-
cleansing, especially during the retaking of Mazar-i tional condemnation of the human rights record
Sharif. Both sides have been equally guilty of atroc- of the Taliban regime. All representations were
ities, with incidents of massacres, mutilations, pris- rejected by the regime, for the Taliban maintained
oners being suffocated in containers, and other that they were acting in accordance with Shari’a
abuses being recorded by the United Nations, law and that it was no concern of the outside
NGOs, and the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch. world. International adverse reaction to the
This form of human rights violations only served to regime was further fueled by the decision taken in
heighten the ethnic rivalry between the Pashtun- March 2001 to destroy all statues and monuments
dominated Taliban and Afghanistan’s other ethnic relating to Afghanistan’s pre-Islamic heritage,
minorities. In the case of the Hazarajat region, the including the world-famous statues of the Buddha
conflict was also one of religion, for the Taliban in Bamian Province. Despite pleas from countries
regarded the Hazaras as inferior beings because they around the world, including Islamic states, as well
belonged to the Shi’a sect of Islam. The whole char- as international organizations such as UNESCO
acter of the Taliban military campaign and the reac- and museums that were prepared to house the
tions of the resistance were to provide a legacy of relics, the process of destruction continued
mistrust and a desire for revenge in some areas in unabated. It has been argued that some of the
the post-Taliban period. actions of the Taliban and their refusal to respond
The ranks of the Taliban had been strengthened to the international community can be attributed
by foreign fighters, largely coming from the Arab to their total naïveté with regard to foreign affairs
states, Chechnya, and Pakistan, many of who were and diplomacy.
INTRODUCTION xxix
All of this was to pale into insignificance, howev- iban Afghan forces. Intelligence for the air campaign
er, with the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in was provided by U.S. and UK Special Forces who
the United States on the World Trade Center and the were already in Afghanistan, working with North-
Pentagon, resulting in just under 4,000 deaths of ern Alliance troops or operating independently in
civilians from several countries. The U.S. and UK Taliban-held territory. The air attacks provided the
governments named the al-Qaeda organization as impetus for Northern Alliance forces to move
responsible for these atrocities, with Osama bin against the Taliban, with the tactic then changing to
Laden as the instigator and financier of the opera- provide support for anti-Taliban forces by attacking
tion. This contention seemed to be reinforced by a Taliban frontline positions. This change in emphasis
video released by bin Laden and broadcast by the took place toward the end of October 2001, though
Arab satellite television station al-Jazeera, operating the Northern Alliance was frustrated by the delay
out of Qatar, in which he welcomed the attacks on and by the fact that the air attacks were not as sus-
the United States. Further investigations revealed tained and comprehensive as they would have
that al-Qaeda members had been warned to return wished.
to Afghanistan before 11 September, as a momen- The Coalition land campaign was initially
tous event was to take place on that day. The whole launched by special forces, primarily from the Unit-
world was shaken and moved by this tragedy and ed States and the United Kingdom but with contri-
the bloodshed and carnage, and the UN Security butions from Australia, France, Germany, and New
Council again demanded that Osama bin Laden be Zealand. The operations were conducted with anti-
handed over to face justice—a demand that was Taliban forces providing advice and intelligence or
again rejected by the Taliban. guiding U.S. Cruise missile attacks, while others
In Afghanistan, the charismatic leader of the worked behind enemy lines mounting covert oper-
Northern Alliance, Ahmad Shah Masood, had ations against enemy installations. One such attack
been assassinated by Arabs posing as reporters and was carried out by U.S. Army Rangers and Delta
thought to be from al-Qaeda. These events had an Force commandos on the compound of Mullah
immediate impact with respect to the countries Omar at Kandahar. Small groups were also operat-
that had recognized the Taliban regime: Saudi Ara- ing in eastern Afghanistan, trying to destabilize the
bia, the United Arab Emirates, and, most signifi- Taliban or working with CIA and ISI operatives
cantly, Pakistan withdrew their recognition. The attempting to bribe local warlords to turn against
U.S. administration had already determined to the regime.
bring the perpetrators of these atrocities to The Coalition strategy to overthrow the Taliban
account, and it declared a “War on Terror,” with the was based on supporting the Northern Alliance as it
immediate objectives being the overthrow of the attacked from the north while special forces kept up
Taliban regime, the capture of Osama bin Laden, the pressure in southern Afghanistan. It was clear
and the destruction of al-Qaeda. The Pakistan gov- that the Northern Alliance was the only military
ernment of President Pervez Musharraf immedi- alliance on the ground; despite the efforts of
ately declared its support for the concept, as did Afghans (such as Abdul Haq, who was later execut-
the Central Asian republics that were fearful of ed by the Taliban, and Hamid Karzai), there was no
Islamic fundamentalists causing unrest in their real Pashtun resistance in southern Afghanistan,
countries. Even the regime in Iran was opposed to and any resistance that occurred was uncoordinated
the Taliban because of their treatment of the Shi’a and minimal. However, the Northern Alliance was
minorities in the Hazarajat and the death of Iran- seen as problematic, for it was distrusted by the
ian diplomats during the Taliban campaign in Pashtuns because it was composed of ethnic-minor-
western Afghanistan. ity Tajiks and Uzbeks. This mistrust was under-
The campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaeda standable, as it was based on the bitter experience of
began on 7 October 2001 with an air assault four years of mujahideen rule in Kabul between
designed to destroy Taliban installations and infra- 1992 and 1996. The bulk of the ground fighting
structure and attacks on al-Qaeda training camps. against the Taliban and al-Qaeda was carried out by
Further objectives were to pave the way for ground Northern Alliance forces. Coalition ground troops,
attacks by conventional forces and to aid anti-Tal- apart from the special forces, only became involved
xxx INTRODUCTION
in November 2001, primarily to hunt down the haven among the Pashtuns in the North-West
retreating Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters. Anti-Tal- Frontier Province of Pakistan, which is only loosely
iban forces took the main Taliban stronghold of under the control of Islamabad.
Kandahar on 6 December 2001 after Taliban and al- In June 2002, a loya jirga was held by President
Qaeda fighters had fled the city for the mountains. Karzai to form the Transitional Government, as pro-
vided for by the Bonn Agreement. The reelection of
The Post-Taliban Period (December 2001–2003) Karzai as president was the first decision of the
At a conference held in Bonn, Germany, under the council, but this outcome was aided by the fact that
auspices of the United Nations, agreement was the former king wished to take no active role in
reached between anti-Taliban groups on the forma- Afghan politics and the former president, Burhan-
tion of an interim government for Afghanistan. This uddin Rabbani, had withdrawn. The compilation of
accord was announced on 5 December 2001, with the government proposed by Karzai for approval by
Hamid Karzai having been elected as president of the council was a compromise, for he tried to repre-
the interim cabinet. This cabinet was scheduled to sent all of the various factional and ethnic interests
last for six months, to be replaced by an interim gov- in the country. An indication of the weakness of
ernment approved by a loya jirga (grand council), Karzai’s position was seen in the hasty appointment
with a life of eighteen months. Thereafter, Afghani- of General Dostum as a deputy defense minister
stan was to have a democratically elected govern- after he had been omitted from the Interim Gov-
ment, with balloting to take place in 2004. To help ernment and had therefore refused to recognize the
the new government maintain order, the UN Secu- Bonn Agreement. Both administrations also had
rity Council authorized the formation of the Inter- significant Northern Alliance representation as a
national Security Assistance Force (ISAF), with a result of the military campaigns, but this caused a
mandate to police Kabul and its immediate envi- great deal of suspicion and mistrust within the
rons. The force was multinational and initially Pashtun majority.
headed by the United Kingdom, which had provid- Coalition operations continued in 2003, with
ed the bulk of the forces; Turkey and other countries actions being mounted in Paktia and Helmand
would then take turns as head of the ISAF, on a Provinces to counter raids by Taliban and al-Qaeda
rotating basis. fighters. Some successes were achieved, the most
Although the main thrust of UN involvement striking being the capture of Khalid Sheikh Moham-
was the installation of the new administration, mad—the number three man in the al-Qaeda hier-
Coalition forces were still pursuing the remaining archy—on 1 March 2003 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, as
Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, of whom there were a result of a combined operation between CIA oper-
a few thousand. As a consequence, major opera- atives and Pakistan security forces. However, activity
tions were mounted in December 2001 against still continues in southern and eastern Afghanistan
opposition forces in the Tora Bora hills area, some with sporadic raids on Coalition forces and bases,
30 miles south of Kandahar. However, despite air and there is some evidence that al-Qaeda training
attacks on the complex of caves and assaults by camps have been reestablished in eastern Afghani-
Coalition forces, it is estimated that some 2,000 stan and the tribal borderlands of Pakistan. Opera-
fighters fled the area, with the majority crossing tions are taking place in geographically difficult areas
into the tribal borderlands of Pakistan. It has been against small groups of guerrilla fighters and close to
accepted that Osama bin Laden was part of this a border that is difficult to police and impossible to
exodus. Further operations were mounted seal. Also, in some areas of Afghanistan, there is still
throughout 2002 against Taliban and al-Qaeda some sympathy for the Taliban, and the North-West
refugees in Operations Anaconda, Snipe, Mountain Frontier Province of Pakistan also houses a largely
Lion, and Ptarmigan, and although successes were sympathetic population.
achieved, a number of the enemy were still active in The situation in Afghanistan is still unstable.
southern Afghanistan. The geography of the area is President Karzai’s authority does not run much
such that fighters are able to cross and recross the beyond Kabul under the protection of the ISAF,
border with Pakistan by using mountain tracks that though this has not prevented attempts on his life.
are not charted on any maps. They find a welcome As a result, the regional warlords in the provinces
INTRODUCTION xxxi
have filled the security vacuum, and their militias Mine Action Program, have been allocated $7.5 mil-
are again rising. The anarchy prevailing in some lion to clear mines along the sides of the road from
provinces, especially in southern and northern Kabul to Kandahar. The Kabul-Kandahar-Herat
Afghanistan, partially explains the continuing sym- road has been under reconstruction since Novem-
pathy for the Taliban, who are remembered for ber 2002 with aid from Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the
bringing law and order to the areas under their con- United States, and the mine-clearing program is
trol. Unrest has been prevalent with the fighting scheduled for completion by the end of 2003. Some
between rival factions in the eastern and northern of the funding is also to be used to clear land mines
provinces, and the situation has not been helped by from construction sites earmarked for building
the failure of the international community to schools and bridges. Under another project from
expand the operations of the ISAF (despite many the U.S. Agency for International Development,
pleas by President Karzai) and the slow progress worth $60 million, 1,200 primary schools across the
being made in the creation of a national Afghan country are to be repaired or built, and 10 million
army and police force. textbooks will be printed in Dari and Pashto. The
In parallel with the security issue is the major issue of reconstruction has remained at the fore-
task of reconstruction faced by Afghanistan and the front of the agenda, with a meeting held at Brussels
international community. The country has been on 17 March 2003 to discuss the deficit being faced
ravaged by twenty-three years of war and several in the ordinary budget of the Afghan government
years of drought. An environmental impact assess- and in the budget needed for reconstruction. At this
ment undertaken by the UN Environmental Pro- meeting, Canada pledged C$250 million over two
gram has painted a bleak picture of deforestation, years specifically for the development program.
water shortages, infrastructure breakdown, and Progress in the areas of security, dealing with the
environmental pollution in urban and rural areas regional warlords, and reconstruction must be sig-
alike. In addition, there are the ravages of war, with nificant if the credibility of the Karzai government is
enormous destruction in Kabul and other cities, to be established. This is also seen as critical to the
together with severe damage to roads, power sup- success of the democratic elections, which are
plies, and telecommunications. The scale of the scheduled for 2004 under the terms of the Bonn
problem is enormous, promised aid has been slow Agreement. Until the start of planning for the elec-
to arrive, and it is clear that if Operation Enduring tions, political parties are not recognized in Afghan-
Freedom is to have been a success, the international istan, and a program of registration is planned to
community must demonstrate a long-term com- take place before the elections. However, this did not
mitment to Afghanistan. stop several small political groups and former
Afghanistan is also faced with the problem of mujahideen leaders from coming together to launch
assimilating returning refugees and trying to resettle the National Democratic Front on 12 March 2003.
the thousands of internally displaced persons. At The coalition consists of fifteen political parties and
least 600,000 refugees still remain in Pakistan as of thirty other groups, including labor unions, and it
March 2003, but it is expected that many of those claims a membership of 40,000 and growing. Coali-
will begin to make their way back to Afghanistan as tion members believe that Western-style democracy
the mountain roads clear of winter snows. A mean- is the best way to counter the power of the militias,
ingful reconstruction program is an essential pre- ethnic divisions, and Islamic fundamentalism.
requisite for restoring stability in Afghanistan and to A spokesman for the coalition stated that the
enable it to stand on its own. Although $4.5 billion main objective was to curb extremist ideas and to
was pledged over a period of five years by the inter- pursue Western concepts such as human rights,
national community at the Tokyo Conference in freedom for women, social justice, and democracy.
January 2002, as well as $1.24 billion at the Oslo He also warned against the power of the Tajiks in
Conference of 18 December 2002, assistance has the Kabul government who were pursuing a funda-
been slow in arriving, with President Karzai stating mentalist agenda and stressed that armed factions,
that more aid is needed. doubling as political parties, must be disarmed
However, some positive measures are being put before they could enter the democratic process. The
in place. Six Afghan agencies, working with the UN new coalition is still small, but it does show some
xxxii INTRODUCTION
political development in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, is critical to the country’s economic development,

the situation in the country is fluid, and the nation but with its oil and gas and its geographically strate-
will again descend into anarchy unless the interna- gic position, Afghanistan could face a brighter
tional community maintains its interest and sup- future at the crossroads of many of the world’s eco-
port, possibly for decades to come. Political stability nomic and political powers.
Dushanbe TAJIKISTAN
CHINA
UZBEKISTAN 20,000
TURKMENISTAN refugees
50,000 10,000 IDPs
N refugees 1,000 Faizàbàd
JOZJAN
BALKH
Mazar-i-Sharif & North BADAKHSHÀN
500,000 IDPs KUNDÙZ
Mazàr-i TAKHAR
900,000 Vulnerable Sharìf
SAMANGÀN
FÀRIÀB BAGHLÀN
SAR-I POL KUNAR Jalàlàbad
BÀDGHÌS LAGHMAN 350,000 Vulnerable
BàmìànPARWÀN KAPISA
BÀMÌÀN KÀBUL
Heràt Kabul 1,500,000
WARDAK Jalàlàbàd
GHOR refugees
NANGARHÀR
HERÀT Herat & West Kabul LOGAR
100,000 IDPs Islamabad
200,000 IDPs Peshawar
900,000 Vulnerable INDIA
700,000 Vulnerable PAKTÌÀ
ORÙZGÀN GHAZNÌ
FÀRÀH Kandahar & South PAKTÌKÀ

200,000 IDPs
50,000 Vulnerable ZÀBUL
PAKISTAN
1,000,000
Kandahàr refugees
IRAN 5,000
HELMAND KANDAHÀR
400,000 Spìn Boldak
refugees NÌMRÙZ Chaman
15,000
10,000
Movement prior to 9/11/01
Quetta
500 Movement after 9/11/01
0 50 100 mi
Expected movements
0 50 100 150 km Vulnerable population figures are in addition to IDP totals
Map 1 Afghanistan Humanitarian Situation, September 25, 2001. (Courtesy Government of the UK,
Department for International Development)
UNION OF SOVIET REPUBLICS
CHINA
Tadzhik S.S.R.
Uzbek
S.S.R.
Turkmen S.S.R.
Kabul
I S LA M I C A F G H A N I S TA N
R E P U B LI C Islamabad
OF IRAN
3,060,000 refugees
(mostly located 3,250,000 refugees
in urban areas)
PA K I S TA N
INDIA
Main refugee camp/settlement 0 50 100 mi

Refugee movement
0 50 100 150 km
Map 2 Main Afghan Refugee Flows, 1979–1990 (Courtesy UN Refugee Agency/Europa

Technologies Ltd.)
;;;;;;;;
;;
;;
;;;;
;;;;;;;;
Mary
Dushanbe
CH I NA
U ZB EKIS TAN TAJ I K I S TAN
;;;;;;;;
;
;;;
;;;; ;;;;;;;;
N TU RKMENIS TAN Termez
Kundùz Faizàbàd
; ;;;;;;;;;;;
Mazàr-i Sharìf
Baghlàn
;;;;;;
; ;;;;;;;;;;;
;
;;;;;;;;;;
;;;;;;;;;
;;;;;;;;;
;;;;;;;;;
;;;;;;;;;
IR A N
;;;; ;;;;;;
;;;;;;
;;;; ;;;;;;;;;;;
;;;
;;;;;;
;; ;;;;
;;
;; ;;
;
Heràt
;; ;
Chaghcharàn Kàbul
;;;;;;
;;;;;;
Jalàlàbàd Khyber
Pass
Peshawar
INDIA
;
Peshawar Islamabad
;;
;;
;;
;;
Baloch
Aimak
;;
;; ;
;; ;
;; Iranian Hazara
;;;;;;
Pashtun
;; ;;
;
Qizilbash
;
;; ;; ; ;
Kandahàr Tajik
Kirghiz
;;; ;
Turkic Turkmen
IR A N Zaranj
;
PAK I S TAN Uzbek
Zàbol
;
;;;
;;; Brahui
;
Other
;;; Nuristani
0 50 100 mi
0 50 100 150 km Sparsely populated

;
or uninhabited
Map 3 Ethnolinguistic Groups in Afghanistan. (Courtesy of the General Libraries,

University of Texas at Austin)
Dushanbe
CHI NA
Kulyab
Mary
N Khorog
Termez
T UR K MENIS TAN Faizàbàd
JOZJÀN Jeyretàn
BALKH KUNDÙZ B A DA K H S H À N
Sheberghàn Tàloqàn Eshkàshem
Kholm
Mazàr-i Sharìf Kundùz
TA K H A R
Samangàn Baghlàn
Sar-i Pol Gilgit
SAMANGÀN Pul-i Khumrì
Maimana
FÀRIÀB B AG H L À N
SAR-I POL KUNAR
BÀDGHÌS L AG H M A N
Towraghondi Qal 'eh-ye Now Chàrìkàr Mahmùd-e 'Raqì
Bàmìàn
BÀMÌÀN
PA RW À N KAPISA Asadàbad
Chaghcharàn KÀBUL Mehtarl am
Heràt Kowt-e ’Ashrow Kàbul Jalàlàbàd
G H OW R WA R DA K NANGARHÀR
HERÀT LOGAR Peshawar
Islamabad
Barakì Parachinar
Ghaznì
ORÙZGÀN
Gardez Rawalpindi
Shìndand PA K T Ì À Khost
GHAZNÌ
Zareh
FÀRÀH Tarìn Kowt Sharan
Faràh Delàràm PA K T Ì K À
ZÀBUL
Qalàt Sargodha
Lashkargal
PAK I S TAN
HELMAND Kandahàr
Zàbol Zhob
Zaranj
I RA N K A N DA H À R
NÌMRÙZ
Chaman
Quetta
0 50 100 mi
0 50 100 150 km INDIA

Zàhedàn
Map 4 Political map of Afghanistan. (Courtesy of the General Libraries, University of Texas at Austin)
Dushanbe
TAJ I K I S TAN
CH I NA
U ZB EKIS TAN
N TU RKMENIS TAN
Mazàr-i
Sharìf
IR A N
Mehtarlan
Kàbul
Heràt
Jalàlàbàd Mardan
AFG H AN I S TAN Barakì Peshawar
Ghaznì Parachinar
Islamabad INDIA
Gardez
Zareh Sharan
Faràh Tarìn Kowt

Wana
Qalàt
Lashkargal PA K I S TA N
Kandahàr
Zhob Faisalabad
Zaranj
IR A N
Chaman
Multan
Quetta
Bahawalpur INDIA
0 50 100 mi
Present Afghanistan - Pakistan border
1893 Treaty boundary (Durand Line) where 0 50 100 150 km
differing from present boundary
Map 5 Pakistan/Afghan border. (Courtesy of the General Libraries, University of Texas

at Austin)
Dushanbe
CH I NA
Kulyab
Mary
N Khorog
Termez
T UR K MENIS TAN Faizàbàd
JOZJÀN Jeyretàn
BALKH KUNDÙZ B A DA K H S H À N
Sheberghàn
Kholm Tàloqàn Eshkàshem
Mazàr-i Sharìf Kundùz
TA K H A R
Samangàn Baghlàn
Sar-i Pol Gilgit
SAMANGÀN Pul-i Khumrì
Maimana
FÀRIÀB B AG H L À N
SAR-I POL Bagram Airbase KUNAR
BÀDGHÌS L AG H M A N
Towraghondi Chàrìkàr Mahmùd-e 'Raqì
Qal 'eh-ye Now Bàmìàn
BÀMÌÀN
PA RW À N KAPISA Asadàbad
Chaghcharàn KÀBUL Mehtarlam
Heràt Kowt-e ’Ashrow Kàbul Jalàlàbàd
WA R DA K NANGARHÀR
HERÀT GHOR LOGAR Tora Bora Peshawar
Barakì Islamabad
Ghaznì
PA K T Ì À Parachinar INDIA
Gardez Rawalpindi
Shìndand ORÙZGÀN
Khost
GHAZNÌ
Zareh
FÀRÀH Tarìn Kowt Sharan
Faràh Delàràm PA K T Ì K À
ZÀBUL
Qalàt Sargodha
Lashkargal
PAK I S TAN
HELMAND Kandahàr
Zàbol Zhob
Zaranj
I RA N K A N DA H À R
NÌMRÙZ
Chaman
Military strikes
Quetta
0 50 100 mi Ground troops
0 50 100 150 km Military airfield

Zàhedàn
Map 6 Cities and Attacks. (Courtesy National Geographic Image Collection)

ABDULLAH ABDULLAH (1958– )
Abdullah Abdullah is the foreign minister in Presi-
dent Hamid Karzai’s Transitional Government and
emerged as one of the main spokesmen of the
Northern Alliance following the assassination of
A
Ahmad Shah Masood, the military leader of the al-
liance. He has become a pivotal figure in many of though the exiled monarch has continued to main-
the diplomatic talks and negotiations on Afghani- tain that he has no political aspirations. It is recog-
stan’s future, both within the country and overseas, nized by the United Nations and foreign diplomats
meeting in Iran with UK foreign secretary Jack that Abdullah has done an excellent job since his ap-
Straw and in Uzbekistan with U.S. envoy James pointment following the December 2001 Bonn
Dobbins. Conference and the June 2002 Loya Jirga (Great
Abdullah is a qualified doctor who speaks several Council), but ethnic divisions within Afghanistan
languages, is fluent in English and French, and is still make these loyalties as important as compe-
typically dressed in Western-style suits. He received tence in terms of political legitimacy. In Abdullah’s
his M.D. degree in ophthalmology at Kabul Univer- favor is the fact that, with no funds and many inter-
sity’s Department of Medicine in 1983, and from nal difficulties, Afghanistan has retained the sup-
1985 to 1986, he worked in the Ophthalmology port of the United States without alienating Iran or
Hospital for Afghan Refugees in Peshawar, Pakistan. letting tensions on the borders of Afghanistan get
In 1986, he became special adviser and personal as- out of control.
sistant to Masood, a position he held until 1992, As foreign minister, Abdullah has tried to project
when the mujahideen coalition seized power in calm and confidence despite the ongoing tumult
Kabul. In 1993, he was appointed director-general within the country and has insisted, for example,
in the Ministry of Defense in Burhanuddin Rab- that there is unity within the Karzai administration
bani’s government in Kabul, a position he held until on the question of stabilization. He has continually
1996 when Kabul fell to the Taliban and the North- stressed that the maintenance of peace and the re-
ern Alliance forces withdrew to northern Afghani- building of the country are paramount goals, with
stan. He continued as Masood’s personal assistant the government having been given a historic oppor-
and accompanied him on a visit to Europe in 2001 tunity that cannot be wasted. In this respect, Abdul-
to appeal for international support in the struggle lah has the advantage of having a Pashtun father
against the Taliban. and a Tajik mother and is thus able to bridge the
It is clear that Abdullah represents a brand-new ethnic divide, which will be important in the recon-
type of Afghan politician, and he has recruited to struction process and bringing an end to ethnic
his ministry articulate, educated Afghans from cleansing.
around the world, all of whom have much-needed In terms of foreign relations, the major problem
expertise and skills gained outside Afghanistan. faced by the Interim and Transitional Governments
However, most of them are ethnic Tajiks, with their has been the need to mend fences with Afghanistan’s
family origins in the Panjshir region of northwest neighbors after decades of war. Many Afghans, for ex-
Afghanistan. Some observers believe this could pre- ample, have a deep distrust of Pakistan because of its
sent problems in the future from the Pashtun ma- support of the Taliban and the presence of thousands
jority in southern and eastern Afghanistan and of Islamic militants from Pakistan fighting in Afghan-
from supporters of the former king Zahir Shah, istan with the Taliban or al-Qaeda. Underlying all of
1
2 ABDUR RAHIM, NAIB SULAR
economy moving and enable the government to re-

alize its objectives. He has been conscious of the
need for the government to fulfill its promises and
to deal with the returning refugees and the internal
displaced population, many of whom have migrated
to Kabul. Abdullah has also expressed confidence in
the peace process despite the attempt on President
Karzai’s life on 5 September 2002, which he has de-
scribed as a desperate attempt to destabilize the gov-
ernment. It is clear that the problem of the warlords
in the provinces is crucial, hence the pressure from
Karzai and Abdullah to expand the role of the ISAF.
Abdullah was instrumental in securing a nona-
gression agreement on 22 December 2002 with five
of Afghanistan’s neighbors—China, Iran, Pakistan,
Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan—at a conference in
Kabul that was also attended by representatives
from India, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the European
Union, and the United Nations. The Kabul Declara-
tion, as the agreement is titled, was designed to em-
phasize amicable relations, to foster respect for ter-
ritorial integrity, and to discourage actions intended
to threaten peace and stability in the region. Despite
Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah (Patrick this agreement, however, concerns are still being
Robert/Corbis) voiced by the United States over Iran’s continued
support for Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an avowed op-
ponent of President Karzai and the U.S. presence in
this current distrust is the vexed Pashtunistan issue in Afghanistan, and by elements in the Karzai admin-
the North-West Frontier Province of Afghanistan, istration who are worried about continuing support
with many Afghans still believing that the Pashtuns in for the Taliban by the Inter-Services Intelligence
this region should return to Afghan control or at least unit of Pakistan.
that the area should become an independent or au- Nonetheless, it is evident that Abdullah has faith
tonomous region. Abdullah has been keen to forge a in this declaration as a foundation for building a
new relationship with Pakistan in order to deal with stable relationship within the region, and he has
the threat posed by Taliban and al-Qaeda elements shown himself to be a committed supporter of
sheltering in Pakistan’s tribal borderlands. Relations President Karzai and the policies of the Transitional
with Iran are also seen as important because of the Government.
Shi’a population in the areas bordering Iran, and al- References
though the anti-Taliban support from Iran had been Rubin, Barnett R. 2002. The Fragmentation of
welcomed, there is some concern that anti-Kabul ele- Afghanistan: State Formation and Collapse in the
ments are being armed by Iran, such as the forces of International System. 2nd ed. New Haven, CT: Yale
Isma’il Khan in Herat. University Press.
In terms of internal security, Abdullah has been
keen to see an increased role for the International ABDUR RAHIM, NAIB SULAR (1896?–1941?)
Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) in order to give Naib Sular Abdur Rahim was a Tajik from Ko-
Afghanistan time to organize a national police force hdaman and was born in Kohistan. At age sixteen,
and form a national army. He has also been con- he went into service at the court of Amir Habibul-
cerned about ensuring that the aid pledges from for- lah, and he served in Kabul for a period of five years.
eign governments are met so that reconstruction Between 1903 and 1913, he was the supervisor of
work can begin, particularly on roads, to get the bridge construction in the eastern provinces before
ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS 3
being promoted to the rank of major and posted to The administrative structure of the provinces is
the Cavalry Division based in Herat Province. In quite complex, as they are further divided into sub-
1921, he was promoted to brigadier, recalled to provinces, districts, and subdistricts. Each district
Kabul in 1927, and then transferred to the Cavalry has an administrator, who may also be responsible
Division at Mazar-i Sharif. for adjacent subdistricts and who reports directly to
In 1927, he returned to Kabul and joined Bacha- the provincial governor. Administrators of subdis-
i-Saqqau in his second attempt to seize Kabul. Jan- tricts reside in a major village and are responsible to
uary 1928 saw Abdur Rahim sent to Mazar-i Sharif the district administrator, working with village
to organize a revolt; he deposed the governor and headmen in the rural areas (who are also linked to
then left for Maimana and Herat where, on 4 May the district administrator). In major centers of pop-
1929, he defeated the Herati forces under Gen. ulation, such as Mazar-i Sharif, they are divided into
Muhammad Ghaus. As a result, he was appointed wards, with each ward official being responsible to
civil and military governor of Herat, and Muham- the city administrator. In the 1970s, 27 provinces
mad Nadir Shah reconfirmed him in the post in were divided into 6 subprovinces, 175 districts, and
October 1929. 11 subdistricts, but changes were often made by the
After the military successes of Nadir Shah’s com- central government in response to a particular po-
mander, Shah Mahmud, in the spring of 1931, he litical need or objective.
decided to accept the rule of Nadir Shah, and in Sep- The provinces and administrative centers are as
tember 1932, he was confirmed as governor of follows:
Herat and the adjoining areas. In June 1934, he was Province Administrative Center
appointed minister of public works, and in Septem-
ber, he became head of the Persian-Afghan Bound- Badakhshan Faizabad
ary Commission, returning to resume his post in the Badghis Qala-i-Nau
ministry in 1936. Two years later, he became deputy
prime minister, a post he held until 1940.
References
Ikbal, Ali Shah. 1939. Modern Afghanistan. London: S.
Low, Marstons.
ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS
Kabul has been the capital and center of Afghani-
stan since the reign of Timur Shah, who ruled from
1773 to 1793, with the provinces—including
Badakhshan, Herat, Kandahar, Qataghan, and Turk-
stan—being largely autonomous under the rule of
various princes. Not until the reign of Abdur Rah-
man from 1880 to 1901 were various provinces in-
corporated into Afghanistan and brought under the
control of Kabul. The country was divided into five
major and four minor provinces during the reign of
Nadir Shah from 1929 to 1933.
The present structure of Afghanistan was largely
settled by the 1964 Constitution, when the country
was divided into twenty-six provinces graded accord-
ing to their importance, with the most important
being controlled by a governor (wali), who may also
have controlled an adjacent minor province. The gov-
ernor is responsible to the Ministry of the Interior in Amir Abdur Rahman, whose isolationist policies rebuilt
Kabul, but representatives of various departments in Afghanistan after the Second Anglo-Afghan War (Illustrated
the provinces also report directly to Kabul. London News Group)
4 AFGHAN ARABS
Baghlan Baghlan and have retained some of their nomadic instincts

Balkh Mazar-i Sharif and are primarily engaged in agricultural and pas-
Bamian Bamian toral pursuits. The colony has also migrated over the
Farah Farah centuries to Pagham and Basud, near Kabul.
Fariab Maimana References
Ghazni Ghazni Bellew, H. D. 1880. The Races of Afghanistan: Being a
Ghor Chaghahaman Brief Account of the Principal Nations Inhabiting That
Helmand Lashkargah Country. London: Thacker.
Herat Herat
Jozjan Sheberghan AFGHAN ARMY
Kabul Kabul A new national army for Afghanistan has been in
Kandahar Kandahar training since April 2002 with U.S., British, and
Kapisa Mahmud Raqi French expertise, but by the end of 2002, only 1,700
Kunduz Kunduz men, arrayed in five battalions, had completed the
Laghman Mehtarlam course. This situation does not bode well for Presi-
Logar Pul-i-Alam dent Hamid Karzai and his goal of having in place a
Nangarhar (including force of 70,000 by 2009, loyal to the central govern-
Kunar) Jalalabad ment in Kabul. Further, there is the danger of a se-
Nimruz Zaranj curity vacuum, with the International Security As-
Oruzgan Trinkot sistance Force (ISAF) restricted to Kabul.
Paktia (including Paktika) Gardez Recruitment to the new force has been hampered by
Parwan Charikar the reluctance of regional warlords to send good re-
Samangan Ajbak cruits to join the army for fear of weakening their
Takhar Taloqan own power base. Dropout and desertion rates have
Wardak Kotu-i-Ashro also been high, largely due to the low rates of pay—
Zabul Qalat $30 a month during training and $50 a month after
graduation (raised to $70 a month in January 2003).
References Historically, Afghanistan’s army evolved from
Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political
traditional beginnings, but it was not until the
Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria:
reigns of Amir Dost Muhammad and Shir Ali Khan
Akademische Druck-uVerlagsansalt.
in the early nineteenth century that a process of
modernization began. However, the army lacked
AFGHAN ARABS the modern weaponry of the neighboring states
A large number of Afghan Arabs live in different and did not have a modern officer corps, for offi-
parts of Afghan Turkestan, and they are mainly no- cers were appointed on the basis of loyalty rather
madic or seminomadic. Estimates are impossible to than ability. Western technology and ideas only
obtain, but several thousand families reside in the came to Afghanistan through means of prisoners of
valleys and graze their animals on the slopes of the war or foreign mercenaries. Army troops were paid
mountains in the summer. They tend to be well off, partially in cash and partially in kind and almost al-
owning large flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. ways in arrears, and recruitment was often accom-
Most speak Persian, and they live in yurts, or conical plished through the seizure of able-bodied men, re-
tents of Turkoman origin. At one time, they were gardless of age. A militia of riflemen and tribal
much more widely dispersed, but they retreated irregular forces enhanced the regular army. The
from areas such as Maimana in the face of occupa- modernization process was continued by Amir Shir
tion by the Turkomans. However, they are to be Ali, who obtained a number of artillery pieces and
found in the Sar-i-Pul, a large hill district in Afghan some 5,000 Snider rifles in 1875, but civil war put
Turkestan. an end to any other advancement. Amir Abdur
A small colony of Arabs live in the Jalalabad dis- Rahman was responsible for reequipping the regu-
trict, their ancestors having arrived with Timur lar army and expanding the production of
Shah in the eighteenth century. They speak Persian weaponry in Afghanistan.
AFGHAN ARMY 5
Kabul parade, on 23 January 2002, of a unit of Afghanistan’s new multiethnic National Army (© Reuters NewMedia Inc./CORBIS)
It was not until the beginning of the twentieth mestic stability and defend against external aggres-
century (in 1904) that Amir Habibullah founded sion, he needed a strong, modern force. The minis-
the Royal Military College, with the aim of creating ter of war and commander-in-chief of the army,
a modern officer corps. The recruits were mostly the Shah Mahmud, embarked on a major program of
sons of Durrani chiefs, and the college was headed reorganization and reequipping the troops. New of-
by a Turkish officer, Mahmud Sami, marking the be- ficer training schools were established at Maimana
ginning of Turkish influence in the Afghan army; and Mazar-i Sharif, and those in Kabul and Herat
this trend continued after World War I during the were expanded, with officers being sent abroad for
reign of King Amanullah, though advisers from additional training. Major weapons purchases were
Germany and other countries were also used. also made from Britain, Czechoslovakia, Germany,
Amanullah’s army comprised an infantry of 38,000 and Italy, together with the acquisition of tanks and
men, a cavalry force of 8,000, and some 4,000 ar- aircraft to create the first mechanized forces. As a re-
tillerymen, with mainly German field pieces. sult of a voluntary enlistment process combined
Nadir Shah, on coming to power in 1930, recon- with compulsory service, the force had risen to
stituted the army; established military schools for 80,000 by 1936 and was consuming about half of
the artillery, cavalry, and infantry; increased pay for the revenues of the government.
the armed forces; and improved accommodations At the end of World War II, the force stood at
and clothing. By 1936, the army, some 60,000 90,000 men, but by then its equipment was largely
strong, utilized German, Italian, and Turkish officers obsolete. Shah Mahmud, now prime minister, re-
and played a significant role in internal security. The duced the size of the army by half in order to focus
troops were now regularly paid and housed in bet- on internal security and increased the size of the
ter accommodations, but this army was still inferior central police force. The Afghan government repeat-
to the British India army in terms of equipment and edly tried to buy weapons from the United States,
levels of training. King Zahir continued the mod- but these efforts were rebuffed, and in 1955, Prime
ernization process, for he realized that to ensure do- Minister Muhammad Daud turned to the Soviet
6 AFGHAN-GERMAN RELATIONS
Union for assistance. In July 1956, the Soviet Union to a command structure that reflects Afghanistan’s
granted a loan of $32.4 million, which was used to ethnic diversity, no plans exist to integrate or demo-
modernize the army, but this arrangement resulted bilize the forces of the regional warlords, and oppo-
in Afghanistan becoming dependent on Soviet sup- sition is not being decisively handled. One possible
plies and expertise, with nearly 4,000 Afghan per- concept would be to use the new force for opera-
sonnel going to the USSR for training. tions designed to encourage public support and en-
At the time of the Saur Revolt of April 1978, gender cohesion and experience among the troops,
which brought the Communists to power, the with involvement in weapons disposal, mine clear-
Afghan army comprised infantry divisions, mech- ing, and disaster relief operations. Another possible
anized forces, paratroops, commandos, and ar- solution might be the creation of a small profes-
tillery brigades and was actively involved in the sional army that is answerable to the central govern-
coup against President Muhammad Daud. The ment and a national guard, drawn from the tribal
armed forces had a sizable tank force and an air and warlord militias, that is answerable to the
force of some 170 fighter planes and 60 heli- provincial governments.
copters. In 1979, following the Soviet intervention The Defense Ministry decided, in February 2003,
in Afghanistan, the army became embroiled in the to redress the ethnic imbalance by replacing fifteen
war against the mujahideen guerrilla forces, largely Tajik generals with officers from the Pashtun,
under Soviet direction. As part of the planning, the Uzbek, and Hazara ethnic groups. The post of a
Afghan army was used in the field against guerrilla fourth deputy defense minister has also been cre-
forces, with the Soviets concentrating on providing ated and given to Gen. Zarak Zadran, a Pashtun.
security for the urban areas and airpower for cam- Further, the generals in charge of the artillery, spe-
paigns against the mujahideen. However, during cial forces, education, logistics, and military investi-
the ten-year Soviet presence, from 1979 to 1989, gations were all replaced. The ousted generals have
large numbers of the Afghan troops deserted to been given jobs elsewhere in the ministry, with the
join the mujahideen. changes being designed to create a sound and
After the fall of Muhammad Najibullah’s govern- healthy administration that would earn the trust of
ment in 1992, the Afghan army disintegrated, with all the people of Afghanistan.
troops breaking up to support various mujahideen Support has also been forthcoming from the
groups depending on their ethnic or political alle- Pakistan army, which, on 16 February 2003, turned
giances. The period from the mujahideen govern- over to the Afghan army 500 submachine guns, 180
ment of 1992 to the fall of the Taliban in 2001 was 82-mm mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, and
marked by factional fighting, and no formal armed 50,000 rounds of ammunition. The Pakistan army
forces structure remained. has also offered to train Afghan personnel at bases
It is deemed crucial to the survival of Afghani- in Pakistan, but no start date for this program has
stan as an integrated state for a new national army been determined.
to be formed in order to support a central govern- References
ment and to break the hold of the various regional Manuel, Anja, and P. W. Singer. 2002. “A New Model
warlords, each with his own armed forces. At pre- Afghan Army.” Foreign Affairs 81, no. 4: 44–89.
sent, however, the signs are not promising, and the
new national army is still a distant dream that may AFGHAN-GERMAN RELATIONS
take many years to come to fruition. Relations between Afghanistan and Germany date
Many of the rival warlords made promises of in- from August 1915, when members of the Hentig-
tegrating their forces within a new Afghan army Niedermayer Expedition first established contact
once the Interim Government was established, but with the rulers of Afghanistan. The country’s lack of
to date, none has made any attempt to disarm or to contact with other Europeans resulted from its self-
transfer troops to government control. Also, the Tal- imposed isolation and the refusal of the British
iban and al-Qaeda are not a spent force, as they still India government to allow entry into Afghanistan,
enjoy a measure of popular support in southern Af- except for its own nationals. Some German and
ghanistan and the tribal borderlands in Pakistan. Austrian prisoners of war had reached Kabul, hav-
Moreover, the force now being trained is not linked ing escaped from Russia, and were interned by the
AFGHAN-GERMAN RELATIONS 7
authorities but contributed their skills to various Germany provided DM 15 million of war matériel
public work projects. on credit, to be repaid in part with products from
However, the Hentig-Niedermayer Expedition, Afghanistan. Germany became an important player
which also had Indian and Turkish representation, in the economy of Afghanistan and was regarded as
was the first official contact. Its mission was to es- politically significant in the country’s attempt to
tablish relations with Afghanistan and persuade balance the influences of Britain and Russia. In
Amir Habibullah to attack India as part of Sultan 1937, the German airline, Lufthansa, established a
Abdul Hamid’s holy war. Although the amir wished regular service between Berlin and Kabul, with a
to secure Afghanistan’s independence from British view to extending the service into China, and in the
control, he did not want to enter into a conflict that summer of 1939, a German delegation arrived in
did not offer guaranteed success, and he agreed with Kabul with the objective of expanding trade.
Britain to remain neutral in return for a subsidy and However, events in Europe—particularly the
recognition of Afghanistan’s independence. Despite German annexation of Austria in March 1938 and
this agreement, however, the British were forced to Czechoslovakia in the following year, as well as a
maintain troops on the northwest frontier—forces nonaggression pact signed with the Soviet Union in
that could have been released for the European the- August 1939—were omens of war, and the Kabul
ater of war. government decided it did not want closer ties with
One way in which Germany helped Afghanistan the Nazi regime in Berlin. At the declaration of war,
was by concluding the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Zahir Shah immediately proclaimed Afghanistan’s
Russia, signed on 3 March 1918. This agreement neutrality; the amir was determined to keep his
ended Russia’s participation in World War I and also country out of the conflict. Germany, conscious of
recognized the independence of Afghanistan. During Afghanistan’s strategic location, considered sup-
the reign of King Amanullah (1919–1929), Afghani- porting a pro-Amanullah coup to establish a sym-
stan’s independence was secured as a result of the pathetic government in Kabul. German officials and
Third Anglo-Afghan War of 1919,and the king sought Afghan supporters of the former king were sent to
to open up diplomatic relations with the major pow- Moscow to test Russian reaction to the idea, but they
ers of the world. In 1923, the German minister received a noncommittal response and the project
plenipotentiary, Fritz Grobba, was sent to Kabul, and was shelved.
it was clear that Afghanistan and Germany had mu- Following the German invasion of the Soviet
tual interests, as the king desperately needed expertise Union in June 1941, Russia and Britain were allied
to develop his modernization projects but found that, again and adopted a common stance with regard to
for a number of reasons, other powers were not able the situation in Afghanistan. In separate moves, the
or willing to participate. Also, Germany had been an two governments demanded the evacuation of all
ally of the Ottomans and the caliphate during World Axis nationals in October 1941, a move that Af-
War I, which led to a sympathetic relationship be- ghanistan resented as an infringement of its sover-
tween the two states. Beyond that, Germany offered to eignty but still complied with, and all Axis nationals
provide industrial hardware and skilled engineers and left for India under the promise of free passage to a
technicians at highly competitive rates. neutral country. Although Axis diplomats were al-
Commercial relations developed through a con- lowed to remain, their attempts to foment a rising
sortium of German companies, which formed the against Britain among the Pashtun tribes on the In-
Deutsch-Afghanische Companie and established an dian side of the border were unsuccessful. Despite
office in Kabul. In 1923, King Amanullah founded a sympathy for the Germans because of their tradi-
German-language high school, together with tional enmity with Britain, armed cooperation with
French- and English-language schools, and German Germany was never a realistic proposition for
influence grew in Afghanistan to the extent that, by Kabul.
1926, the German colony was the largest after the After Germany was defeated in World War II, the
Russian community; it soon became the largest for- revival of the economy in West Germany caused
eign group in the country. German expertise to be in demand again in Kabul,
In October 1936, Germany and Afghanistan en- and although they were unable to immediately sup-
tered into a “confidential protocol” under which ply industrial products, German nationals became a
8 AFGHAN-IRANIAN RELATIONS
major factor in Afghan development projects. One Iranian involvement in the affairs of Afghanistan
of the first of these was a dam and hydroelectric goes back to the sixteenth century, when Afghani-
power station at Sarobi. This project was followed stan had no separate identity and was shared be-
by the building of the Kabul University campus by tween the Iranians (then Persians) and the Mogul
German contractors using financial aid from the Empire of India. Not until 1722 was Iranian rule
United States, and German teachers were em- overthrown, with the occupation of Isfahan, in Iran,
ployed in the Faculties of Economics and Science. by Mir Mahmud (a leader of the Afghan northern
German aid grew to such an extent that by the tribes), though the period of independence was
1970s, Germany ranked third after the Soviet short-lived because Iran again took control of the
Union and the United States in terms of assistance country in 1736. However, in 1747, the Iranian ruler
provided to Kabul. The German-language school Nadir Shah was assassinated, the Afghans rose
became a model institution, the German Develop- again, and Afghanistan was established with the re-
ment Service brought volunteers with needed skills taking of Kandahar by forces under Ahmad Shah
to Afghanistan, and the Goethe Institute was Durrani, followed by the expulsion of the Iranians
opened in Kabul to promote the German language from Herat. Iran continued to interfere in the affairs
and culture. Additionally, West German universi- of Afghanistan and made several inroads, particu-
ties offered Afghans opportunities to further their larly against Herat in 1805, 1816, 1833, 1837, and for
studies in Germany. The East German regime was six months between 1856 and 1857.
not recognized by Afghanistan, but it appeared on In 1921, a treaty of friendship was signed with
the scene with offers of aid, and its nationals grad- Iran, followed on 27 November 1927 by a treaty of
ually replaced those of West Germany after the So- neutrality and nonaggression. However, the border
viet occupation of Afghanistan began in 1979, between the two states remained in contention, and
though West German influence was not totally in 1935, Turkey led arbitration to settle the border
ousted. German nationals have enjoyed a good issue. Problems between the two countries came to
reputation in Kabul, and it is likely that they will the fore again in September 1947, when Iran
play a significant part in the post-Taliban recon- claimed that Afghanistan’s diversion of the Hel-
struction program. mand River had caused crop failures in the Iranian
See also Hentig-Niedermayer Expedition province of Sistan. Relations improved in 1956
References when an air service was established between Kabul
Adamec, Ludwig W. 1979. Afghanistan’s Foreign Affairs and Tehran, and this was followed on 3 December
to the Mid-twentieth Century: Relations with the 1960 with a joint agreement on trade and transit;
USSR, Germany and Britain. Tucson: University of on 20 April 1962, a new five-year agreement was
Arizona Press. concluded.
On 18 September 1961, Iran offered to mediate
AFGHAN-IRANIAN RELATIONS in a dispute between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and
Relations between Afghanistan and Iran have been between 27 and 31 July 1962, representatives from
strained in recent years, primarily due to the war Afghanistan and Pakistan met in Tehran to try to re-
against the Soviet intervention (during which Iran solve the dispute over Pashtunistan. (Pashtunistan
supported the Shi’a mujahideen groups), the bur- was an area that had been part of Afghanistan; many
den of Afghan refugees in Iran, and the Taliban’s Afghans wanted the area to be returned or, alterna-
treatment of the Shi’a minority Afghan population. tively, to be given independence or autonomy.) On
The Iranian regime has also been gravely concerned 12 March 1973, agreement was finally reached be-
about the drug traffic coming from Afghanistan and tween Afghanistan and Iran to settle the dispute
has adopted harsh measures to stem the trade. Since over the Helmand River, but this issue continued to
October 2001, relations have also been strained be- be a matter of contention, and it was not until 24
cause of Iranian suspicion about the large number July 1975 that the two countries agreed to jointly de-
of U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan, and Pres- velop the Helmand River region.
ident Hamid Karzai has had the difficult task of try- The seeds of historical animosity are also to be
ing to repair fences with Iran without alienating U.S. found in Islam—with Iran being a Shi’a state
support for his Transitional Government. whereas Afghanistan is primarily Sunni—and the
AFGHAN-IRANIAN RELATIONS 9
Tehran government has always been concerned Iran. In addition, it was providing technical assis-
about the treatment of the Shi’a minority in Af- tance—for example, helping in the construction of
ghanistan, particularly by the Taliban. However, it is a new bridge over the Amu Daria River, near the
also apparent that Shi’as in Afghanistan have only headquarters of Masood.
been lukewarm in their support for Iran and have In November 1999, a slight thaw in relations be-
tended to resent Iranian interference in their affairs. tween Iran and the Taliban regime occurred when
The Taliban were militantly anti-Shi’a, and relations Iran reopened a border post near Herat to allow
with Iran were almost pushed to the breaking point trade between the two countries; it had been closed
when the Taliban closed the Iranian embassy in in August 1988 after the Mazar-i Sharif incident.
Kabul in 1997 and then especially after the Iranian Iran joined with Pakistan in December 1999 to try
consulate in Mazar-i Sharif was attacked in August to find ways of encouraging Afghans to set up a
1998 and eight staff members and an Iranian jour- broad-based government but to no avail. In January
nalist were killed. At the same time, some seventy 2000, an Iranian delegation held trade talks with the
Iranian citizens, half of them truck drivers, were also Taliban and continued efforts, with Pakistan, to re-
seized, though they were gradually released between strain the Taliban, mainly because Iran held the
September and November 1998. Iran reacted to this chair of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
atrocity by mustering 70,000 troops along the bor- However, relations were still not good; in March
der and carrying out military exercises. These moves 2000, Isma’il Khan escaped from the Kandahar
were significant in that they provided a breathing prison and again sought refuge in Iran and was
space for beleaguered Northern Alliance forces, for rearmed by Iran on his return to Afghanistan in
the Taliban was forced to deploy 5,000 troops to the May 2001. Following the collapse of the Taliban, Is-
area to counter a possible Iranian attack. ma’il Khan again became governor of Herat, and
The Iranian government has always supported Iran continues to support him militarily and by the
the various Shi’a mujahideen groups in Afghani- construction of a road from Herat to the Iranian
stan, which had begun operations against the occu- border.
pying Soviet forces in 1979. But they were small, in- Tehran has been gravely concerned about the
dependent, geographically based groups, and on 5 flow of narcotics across the border from Afghani-
March 1985, Iran announced a merger between four stan and has estimated the trade at about 3,000 tons
of the mujahideen groups. Such unity did not last, annually, with the drugs destined for Iranian and
however, and fighting broke out between the groups European markets. It is thought that Iran has, de-
after the fall of Muhammad Najibullah’s govern- spite its draconian laws, about 1.2 million addicts,
ment in Afghanistan in 1992, forcing Iran to broker which greatly alarms the Iranian regime. Attempts
a cease-fire between the groups on 25 September to combat the drug trade are costing Iran about
1993. This situation was also a trigger for Iran to $800 million a year, and a number of security per-
begin to provide the regime of Burhanuddin Rab- sonnel have been killed by drug smugglers, who are
bani and Abdul Rashid Dostum with substantial well armed and well organized.
military aid. Iran continued to aid the Northern Al- The war against drugs has been escalating, with
liance, particularly the forces of Dostum and confrontations taking place in the border regions.
Ahmad Shad Masood, but it also rearmed Isma’il On 27 March 1999, a number of drug traffickers
Khan, the former governor of Herat, who had taken were killed by Iranian police in eastern Iran, and on
refuge in Iran and returned to Afghanistan in 1996 12 July 1999, the border was sealed in an endeavor
to bolster opposition to the Taliban. By 1998, it was to halt the trade. That these moves were unsuccess-
thought that Iran was providing more arms, fuel, ful is illustrated by the fact that eleven Afghan drug
and other materials to the Northern Alliance than smugglers were shot near the town of Tabat-e-Hey-
was Russia. Planeloads of arms were flown in to darieh on 14 September 2000, which was followed
equip the Shi’a Hazaras, and Iranian truck drivers by the death of a further thirteen smugglers in the
provided a regular flow of materials. It was also border region on 7 November 2000. This situation
thought that Iranian personnel were working with led the Iranian authorities to declare a shoot-on-
the Taliban’s opposition and that Iran was providing sight policy with regard to drug smugglers, but the
covert training assistance from a base in Mashad, trade still continues because the rewards are high.
10 AFGHAN-IRANIAN RELATIONS
On 17 May 2000, the Iranian parliament voted to with Iran without upsetting the United States, as
seal the 625-mile border with Afghanistan and to both nations are critical to Afghanistan’s stability. As
fund the construction of electronically equipped a result, Kabul has adopted a neutral stance with re-
walls and fences. gard to U.S.-Iranian relations, stressing that it favors
A further irritant in relations between Iran and an improvement in bilateral relations and would
Afghanistan is the presence of a large number of not be influenced by U.S. views on Iran.
Afghan refugees in Iran, probably numbering some Among the main topics discussed during Presi-
1.4 million at the beginning of 2003. These refugees dent Khatami’s visit was the question of the return
receive minimal outside assistance, and their pres- of Afghan refugees; Tehran felt the repatriation
ence has caused problems because Iran is suffering process was too slow and that there was a danger the
from a deteriorating economy and high unemploy- refugees were becoming too well integrated into
ment itself; thus, tensions build between refugees Iranian society and would not wish to return home.
and locals. Iran began a repatriation program in This discussion took place against a backdrop of
1995 and on 12 March announced plans to repatri- UN concern over Iran’s apparent policy of forced
ate 500,000 refugees. As part of the program and to repatriations. Security was also another major
achieve the target, the Iranian government with- worry, with Iranian leaders trying to determine how
drew temporary living permits, refused to renew to deal with the movement of Taliban and al-Qaeda
work permits, and cut off all welfare facilities. fighters on their territory. It is not clear whether the
These steps were followed on 22 June by the Iranian authorities are trying to arrest the fighters
repatriation of a further 400,000 refugees through and return them to their home countries or merely
Herat and then by additional repatriations from Sis- turning a blind eye to their presence.
tan Province in Iran during August. However, on 6 More significant are concerns over Iran’s rela-
September 1995, repatriations ceased when Iran tionship with regional rulers, especially Isma’il
closed the border after Herat fell to the Taliban. The Khan in Herat. President Karzai is worried that
program was resumed on 13 March 1996, when an- Iran is preventing his government from consoli-
other 250,000 refugees were returned to northern dating its control in western Afghanistan. How-
Afghanistan via Turkmenistan. In September 1996, ever, Tehran feels justified in retaining a measure of
250,000 more were repatriated through the same control over Herat in case the Afghan Interim
route but this time with the cooperation of the Government does not survive, in order to protect
United Nations and the UN High Commission for its own security. Although Kabul would prefer that
Refugees (UNHCR). Iran stopped supplying arms to Isma’il Khan, the
Iran called a further halt to the program because Tehran government believes that it has a special
of the worsening situation in Afghanistan, given the role in supporting the Northern Alliance, which
intense Taliban military activity in the northern part helped topple the Taliban.
of the country, but on 25 February 1999, the pro- The appointment of Hamid Karzai was wel-
gram recommenced after an agreement with the comed by the Iranians. Iran believes the interim
Taliban and the provision of logistical support by body is one that it could tolerate and work with, as
the United Nations. On 31 July 1999, a further it wishes to see a moderate, Islamic government on
65,000 illegal Afghan refugees were expelled by Iran its eastern border. However, Tehran is also con-
under a UN-devised plan. Since the fall of the Tal- cerned that Afghanistan is still in danger of disinte-
iban in 2001, additional voluntary and compulsory gration, which would force the Karzai government
repatriations have taken place. to rely more heavily on U.S. support. To date, Karzai
In May 2002, it was announced that the Iranian has managed to balance Afghanistan’s relations with
president, Mahmud Khatami, was to visit Afghani- the two powers.
stan on 8 and 9 June, prior to the holding of the However, conservative elements in Iran view
Loya Jirga (Great Council); he hoped to build on the these developments with concern, as they consider
personal relationship he had established with the Karzai administration as pro–United States; in-
Afghan president Hamid Karzai during the latter’s deed, they have accused the Afghan interim admin-
visit to Tehran in February 2002. Karzai has had to istration of being in league with the Central Intelli-
tread a narrow path in order to improve relations gence Agency (CIA). Yet many Iranians believe that
AFGHAN-PAKISTANI RELATIONS 11
ties between Iran and Afghanistan could lead to eco- that is developed politically, economically,
nomic growth and improved living standards and and socially
might serve as a bridge that could eventually bring
Iran and the United States together. Members of the movement also pledge to:
See also Civil War; Guardians of the Islamic Revolution;
Herat Province; Human Rights Violations; Isma’il • Support sovereign neutrality, nonalliance,
Khan; Mazar-i Sharif; Refugee Problem; Shi’a and full recognition of human rights in
Mujahideen Groups; Victory Organization Afghanistan
References • Promote close relations with all friendly
Ahady, Anwar-ul-Haq. 1998. “Saudi Arabia, Iran and the nations, especially neighbors
Conflict in Afghanistan.” In Fundamentalism Reborn? • Advocate noninterference in internal affairs
Afghanistan and the Taliban, edited by William of other countries, which is essential for the
Maley, 117–134. London: Hurst.
maintenance of peace and security in the
Entekhabi-Fard, Camelia. 2002. “Iranian Leader Plans
Visit to Afghanistan.”
region
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articl References
es/eav052402.shtml (cited 25 May 2002). Afghan National Liberation Front. N.d. The Objectives of
Goodson, Larry P. 2001. Afghanistan’s Endless War: State Afghan National Liberation Front. Peshawar,
Failure, Regional Politics and the Rise of the Taliban. Pakistan: Afghan National Liberation Front.
Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Moaveni, Azedeh. 2002. “In Bush’s Shadow.” http://www. AFGHAN-PAKISTANI RELATIONS
ahran.org.eg/2002/600/re4.htm (cited 22 August Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have
2002). been determined by the history of the region since
the end of the British Empire in India in 1947,
AFGHAN NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT which saw the birth of the state of Pakistan, created
The Afghan National Liberation Front was founded from the northwest part of British India. Included in
after the Saur Revolt of 27 April 1978 to promote a this area was the North-West Frontier Province,
united front against the new Communist regime in which had become part of British India under the
Kabul. During the revolt, some 12,000 people lost Durand Agreement of 1893. This border agreement
their lives and thousands were persecuted, including was subsequently repudiated by Afghanistan, as it
religious leaders, soldiers, civil servants, and stu- claimed that the Pashtuns’ area should be part of Af-
dents of religion; many were tortured and killed. ghanistan. The question of Pashtunistan was to be-
The National Liberation Front calls for: devil relations between the two states for decades
and is still to be completely resolved.
• Sincere and true application of Islamic The tone was set on 30 September 1947, when
principles as the only salvation for the Afghanistan was the only state to vote against Pak-
Afghan nation istan’s membership in the United Nations because
• Opposition to every element of disunity of concern about the future of the Pashtuns in the
based on religious denomination, ethnic border regions. In the following year, there were
origin, or regionalism major signs of unrest among the Pashtuns in Pak-
• A society based on equality, brotherhood, istan, and on 16 June 1948, Pakistan arrested Abdul
and social justice Ghaffer Khan and other Pashtun dissidents, which
• Political power belonging to the people, motivated Afghanistan to mount a media campaign
which is necessary to fight for the rights of for an independent Pashtunistan. The unrest be-
the individual—the right to live, the right tween the two states persisted throughout 1949,
to be free, the right to equality, and the with Afghanistan continuing to argue against the
right to personal property validity of the Pakistani claim that the tribal territo-
• Fighting all elements of imperialism, ries were an integral part of Pakistan. On 2 April, Af-
feudalism, and economic slavery, which ghanistan withdrew its diplomats from Karachi
hinder the establishment of a free, after a Pakistani bombing in Waziristan and fol-
independent, and prosperous Afghanistan lowed this action by instituting border restrictions.
12 AFGHAN-PAKISTANI RELATIONS
Further tension arose when, on 14 June, a Pakistani in May 1961, when Pakistan accused the Afghans of
plane bombed Moghalgai, in Afghanistan. Pakistan using troops to create unrest across the borders
attempted to defuse the situation by offering to hold among the Pashtuns, an accusation that was rejected
talks on economic issues while still rejecting Af- by Kabul. On 6 June, Afghanistan accused Pakistan
ghanistan’s claim to the tribal territories. The re- of bombing Afghan border villages with arms sup-
sponse by Afghanistan’s National Assembly was to plied by the United States, and in Pakistan, 1,200
repudiate all the treaties with Britain that related to Pashtun leaders were arrested in Peshawar.
the tribal territories, at a meeting on 26 July 1949. At the National Assembly meeting in June 1961,
Relations between the states continued to be dif- King Zahir stressed Afghan support for the self-de-
ficult, and on 26 May 1950, Pakistan was asked to re- termination of Pashtunistan, but on 22 June,
call a member of its embassy staff for breaking Afghan nomads were banned from reentering Af-
Afghan laws. It was not until 1953 that talks were ghanistan unless they held valid passports, visas,
held between the two countries to try to improve re- and health certificates. By August, tensions were
lations, but no real progress was made because of high, punctuated by threats and counterthreats, and
the Pashtun question. In November 1953, Afghani- on 6 September, Afghanistan severed diplomatic
stan’s foreign minister, Muhammad Naim, main- links with Pakistan. Six days later, the Islamic Con-
tained that the issue of Pashtunistan was not a ques- gress of Jerusalem appealed for the resolution of dif-
tion of territory but one of allowing the Pashtuns to ferences between the two Islamic states, with Iran
express their own wishes. Matters remained rela- agreeing to act as a mediator, Saudi Arabia looking
tively quiet until 29 March 1955, when Prime Min- after Pakistani interests in Afghanistan, and the
ister Muhammad Daud warned Pakistan not to in- United Arab Republic looking after Afghani inter-
clude the Pashtun areas into West Pakistan, and on ests in Pakistan. Toward the end of September, Af-
the following day, there were demonstrations out- ghanistan refused to allow its transit goods to pass
side the Pakistan embassy in Kabul and the ambas- through Pakistan without the opening of consular
sador’s residence in Kandahar. On 1 April, demon- and trade offices, a move that was rejected by Pak-
strations took place at the Pakistan consulate at istani president Ayub Khan, who maintained that
Jalalabad, and the Afghan consulate in Peshawar was such offices would be used for subversive activities.
attacked. It was not until 29 January 1962 that the border was
On 12 April, Pakistan rejected Afghan replies to reopened, albeit only for a period of eight weeks to
its protests and evacuated all families of its diplomats allow U.S. humanitarian aid to reach Afghanistan.
and other nationals and closed its consulate in Jalal- In May 1963, it was announced that Iranian ar-
abad. The situation worsened in May when Pakistan bitration between Afghanistan and Pakistan had
demanded the closure of all Afghan diplomatic facil- been successful, as was formally declared on 28 May.
ities within its borders and closed all of its consulates Diplomatic and commercial relations were soon
in Afghanistan. On 4 May, Afghanistan mobilized its reestablished, with the first trucks crossing the bor-
army but nine days later agreed with Pakistan that der on 25 July 1963. The situation had been success-
Saudi Arabia should arbitrate the dispute; however, fully defused, and in 1965, the two countries signed
Saudi arbitration was rejected by both countries on a new five-year trade and transit agreement. Rela-
28 June 1955. Afghanistan ended its state of emer- tions began to deteriorate again in 1975, when, on
gency on 28 July, and in September, both countries 28 July, a terrorist group was captured in the Pan-
agreed to stop hostile propaganda. Diplomatic rela- jshir Valley district of Afghanistan and Pakistan was
tions were restored on 13 September. accused of arming the group. This incident was fol-
Throughout the remainder of the decade, rela- lowed in December by an accusation from Pakistan
tions remained strained, and there were a variety of that Afghanistan was mobilizing troops on the Pak-
diplomatic incidents. Afghanistan’s case was weak- istan border. However, by 1977, relations between
ened by the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization’s de- the two countries had resumed, and a semblance of
cision to uphold the Durand Agreement in 1956, accord had been established.
though the Soviet Union assured Afghanistan in The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 had a
1960 of its support in regard to the Pashtun ques- marked effect on relations with Pakistan. The Islam-
tion. The situation became truly critical beginning abad government promoted itself as an ally against
AFGHAN-PAKISTANI RELATIONS 13
the Soviet forces, in the hope that it would become June. But these talks were inconclusive, and they
a hub in the Cold War agenda of the West in the re- were carried on, intermittently, until 1988, when
gion. Pakistan therefore invited the Western powers agreement was finally reached. Throughout this pe-
to use its territory, the capabilities of its Inter-Ser- riod, problems still occurred—for example, Pak-
vices Intelligence (ISI) unit, and its infrastructure in istan denounced a raid by Afghan troops on a bor-
order to mount anti-Soviet operations in Afghani- der post and a refugee camp at Khuram that caused
stan. This prospect fitted in with Pakistan’s strategy six deaths. The ISI also attempted to control military
of using Afghanistan as a buffer state on its western activity in Afghanistan and to steer the political out-
flank and trying to bring to power in Kabul a gov- come by directing raids, selecting targets, and
ernment that would also see India as a common mainly supporting the Islamic groups, especially
enemy. The Islamabad policy was a disposition to that led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, as it was felt that
use Afghan resistance groups as surrogates for a these groups best served Pakistan’s interests. The
“creeping invasion” of Afghanistan, but there is policy was guided by a belief that the religion-based
some doubt as to whether the Pakistan government groups would remain loyal to Pakistan whereas na-
fully understood the highly complex political envi- tionalist groups would assert their independence
ronment in Afghanistan, particularly in the area of from Pakistan as soon as it suited their interests.
intercommunal relations. In 1989, the Soviet Union withdrew its forces
However, Pakistan’s involvement in the affairs of from Afghanistan. The Kabul Communist govern-
Afghanistan brought with it numerous problems. ment lasted until 1992, when Muhammad Najibul-
The Pakistani economy suffered from huge expen- lah resigned in an endeavor to bring the conflict to
ditures on military and intelligence services, and a close. The replacement government was based on
there was large-scale cross-border smuggling, to- a mujahideen coalition headed by Burhanuddin
gether with the domestic problem of low taxation Rabbani, but civil war soon broke out between the
and poor excise collection rates. In addition, Afghan various groups; a series of shifting alliances took
refugees competed with Pakistani nationals for jobs place throughout the four-year conflict. This chaos
and business opportunities, causing tensions be- gave rise to the fundamentalist Taliban group, which
tween the two societies, and there was also an in- emerged on the scene in the autumn of 1994, with
crease in criminal activity. The large number of considerable backing from Pakistan. The Taliban
refugees, which had grown to 2 million by May was a network of clerics and students who had ei-
1981, and the fact that Pakistan was housing Afghan ther fought against the Soviets or were products of
mujahideen groups led to strained relations with the madrasas (religious schools) in Afghanistan and
the Communist government in Kabul. The training Pakistan.
of mujahideen groups was also reported to have The leaders of the Taliban, such as Mullah
begun in February 1979, using a Pakistani military Muhammad Omar, had very close links with the re-
establishment near Peshawar. ligious schools in Pakistan, especially in the large
The mujahideen were operating from bases in concentration of schools along the Afghan-Pakistan
Pakistan and were supported by the government in border. The Taliban rigidly interpreted the Koran
Islamabad and the United States, with covert mili- and followed the restrictive lifestyle preached in the
tary supplies being channeled through the Central religious schools. The Taliban saw themselves as the
Intelligence Agency (CIA). However, Northern Al- rightful enforcers of God’s will and as the undis-
liance forces under Ahmad Shah Masood were op- puted representatives of the Pashtun majority. Pak-
erating in northern Afghanistan from their base in istan was a loyal supporter of the Taliban’s cause, al-
the Panjshir Valley. Pakistan attempted to control though it had its own agenda in relation to
the activities of the various mujahideen groups by Afghanistan. The Taliban recognized this situation
stating that it would only recognize six groups to re- but were prepared to accept it because of their total
ceive support and that refugees would only receive dependence on Pakistan’s support. However, the
aid if they were allied to one of these six groups. Northern Alliance, which once regarded Pakistan as
In 1982, the United Nations sponsored direct a friendly and supportive neighbor, now regarded it
talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan at Geneva, as a traitor, with no role to play as a peace broker in
with the first meeting taking place from 16 to 25 Afghanistan.
14 AFGHAN-PAKISTANI RELATIONS
The problem of Pashtunistan ceased to exist for their country). The military government of Gen.
the Taliban because they did not accept state bor- Pervez Musharraf began to respond to these pres-
ders, and members frequently made visits, long and sures and also advised the Taliban that they should
short, to Pakistan to further their objectives; at the cease to provide a safe haven for Osama bin Laden,
same time, some 3,000 to 5,000 Pakistani funda- largely because of the price it was paying in terms of
mentalists were operating out of Kabul in support economic and diplomatic isolation. However, the
of the Taliban. However, the Taliban refused to ac- government did nothing to disturb the Taliban and
cept responsibility for cross-border activity, which al-Qaeda training camps in Pakistan, particularly in
spawned an increase in sectarian violence and crim- the tribal borderlands of the North-West Frontier
inality linked to the Taliban presence in Pakistan. Al- Province. It is also evident that Pakistan brought on
though the Taliban were able to guarantee safe land itself the rise of the fundamentalist groups (or, as it
routes for Pakistan to ship goods to the Central has been called, the Talibanization of Pakistan),
Asian republics, smuggling also grew at an alarming with the resultant societal unrest, sectarian vio-
rate, with cloth, arms and ammunition, vehicles, lence, and terrorist attacks against foreign interests
spare parts, electronics, cigarettes, and drugs regu- in Pakistan.
larly moving into Pakistan. In terms of recognition, The terrorist attacks on the United States on 11
Pakistan was one of only three states to recognize September 2001 radically changed the situation.
the Taliban regime as the legitimate government in Pakistan withdrew recognition of the Taliban
Afghanistan, the others being Saudi Arabia and the regime and agreed to join the United States in its
United Arab Emirates. The remainder of the inter- War on Terror. Pakistan attempted to prevent armed
national community continued to recognize the conflict by sending a delegation of military person-
government of President Rabbani. Pakistan also nel and ulama (Islamic scholars and clergymen) to
supplied regular troops, ammunition, and equip- Afghanistan on 29 September to try to persuade the
ment to Taliban forces while simultaneously Taliban to surrender bin Laden albeit to no avail.
launching a number of halfhearted peace initiatives This effort was closely followed by the United Arab
that yielded no benefits. Emirates and Saudi Arabia withdrawing recognition
Within Pakistan, one effect of this relationship of the Taliban regime, arguing that, in harboring al-
has been the widening impact of militant Islamist Qaeda and bin Laden, the regime was harming
groups, such that after the 2002 election, they be- Islam and marring the reputation of Muslims
came a significant partner in the coalition govern- throughout the world. Further moves were taken by
ment. Pakistan did adopt the economic sanctions General Musharraf with regard to the ISI. The head
imposed by the United Nations against the Taliban of the organization, Gen. Mohmand Ahmad, was
on 15 October 1999 by freezing the group’s assets removed and replaced by the moderate head of mil-
and closing all Afghan banks in Pakistan. However, itary intelligence, Gen. Ehansul Haq, who was
by the time the action was taken, the Taliban regime charged with purging the ISI of Taliban supporters.
had moved the bulk of its assets; since Afghanistan’s As a result, the ISI found itself deprived of its back-
land routes were not mentioned in the sanctions, ing from the leaders of the military officers corps,
trade continued normally. and its economic and political lifelines were severed.
However, Pakistan paid a price for its support of Pakistan also demonstrated its support by allow-
the Taliban, including the overthrow of a demo- ing the United States to utilize its military bases dur-
cratic government by the military, the rise of sec- ing Operation Enduring Freedom, and it cooper-
tarian violence, and accusations by the interna- ated with moves to arrest al-Qaeda and Taliban
tional community of supporting terrorism fighters working from bases in Pakistan, though the
emanating from Afghanistan under the auspices of authority of the Islamabad government does not
al-Qaeda. Pressure gradually mounted on the Pak- run deep in the tribal borderlands. The post-Taliban
istan government to rein in terrorism and the train- era has presented new challenges for Pakistan be-
ing of terrorists, with that pressure coming from cause of its own fundamentalist movements. In ad-
the United States, Russia (because of Taliban sup- dition, the Interim Government formed in Kabul in
port for Chechnya), and China (whose leaders were December 2001 and the Transitional Government
concerned about the activities of Shi’a militants in approved by the Loya Jirga (Great Council) in June
AFGHAN SECURITY SERVICE 15
2002 have a significant representation from the Hussein, Waseem. 1999. Afghan-Pakistani Relations: The
Northern Alliance, which is still suspicious of Pak- Afghan Perspective. Bern: Swiss Peace Foundation
istan’s policy relating to Afghanistan. However, Institute for Conflict Resolution.
meetings have taken place between Karzai and Kartha, Tara. 2000. “Pakistan and the Taliban: Flux in an
Musharraf, with both leaders expressing their belief Old Relationship.” http://www.instute-for-afghan-
that, despite the bitterness of recent events, the two studies.org . . ./2001_kartha_idsa_pakistan_and_the
_taliban.ht (cited 12 December 2001).
countries shared enough history to overcome these
Krushelnysky, Askold. 2002. “ Afghanistan: Musharraf
problems. and Karzai Exchange Warm Words and Pledge
Afghanistan has expressed its gratitude to Pak- Cooperation.”
istan for taking in millions of refugees from the time http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2002/04/02042094
of the Soviet invasion and for aid sent after the 053.asp (cited 2 April 2002).
March 2002 earthquake in Baghlan Province. Pak- Maley, William, ed. 1998. Fundamentalism Reborn?
istan has also expressed its willingness to help Af- Afghanistan and the Taliban. London: Hurst.
ghanistan rebuild and to assist its neighbor in any Rashid, Ahmed. 2001. Taliban: The Story of the Afghan
way possible. Arrangements have been discussed for Warlords. Rev. ed. London: Pan Books.
the release or transfer of Pakistanis being held pris-
oner in Afghanistan after fighting with al-Qaeda or AFGHAN SECURITY SERVICE
the Taliban. And both leaders have stressed the need The government of Nur Muhammad Taraki (1978–
to deal with terrorist elements within each other’s 1979) established a security service after the April
states, though General Musharraf has made it plain 1978 Saur Revolt in which the Communists took
that Pakistan, though welcoming intelligence from power in Afghanistan. Known as the Afghan Secu-
the Coalition, would deal with issues on its territory rity Service Department (AGSA), the organization
through actions taken by its own law enforcement was headed from May 1978 to August 1979 by
agencies and the armed forces. Pakistan has also Asadullah Sarwari. The service was renamed the
made it clear that neither the ISI nor religious ex- Workers’ Security Institution, or KAM, after the
tremists in Pakistan would be allowed to thwart the coming to power of Hafizullah Amin in 1979. But
objectives of forging friendly relations between the almost immediately, the service was purged of
two states. Khalq supporters by the Parchami wing of govern-
Suspicions still remain in Afghanistan because of ment, and it was renamed the State Information
Pakistan’s past support for the Taliban, the presence Service, or KHAD. The renamed service was
of Pakistanis fighting against Afghans, and, some headed by Dr. Muhammad Najibullah until 1986,
argue, the poor treatment of refugees in camps in when he became general secretary of the People’s
Pakistan. A feeling exists in many quarters that Pak- Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). On be-
istan has consistently interfered in the internal af- coming president of Afghanistan, Najibullah ac-
fairs of Afghanistan and merely changed policies as corded the security service ministry status, and it
a result of U.S. pressure and economic assistance. was renamed the Ministry of State Security, or
Despite Pakistan having given Afghanistan $10 mil- WAD, and headed by Ghulam Faruq Yaqubi. The
lion for reconstruction projects in April 2002, many new organization was modeled on the Soviet State
Afghans feel that Pakistan has to prove that it is pre- Security Committee, or KGB, and was said to have
pared to enter into a new era of relations between between 15,000 and 30,000 operatives, with the in-
the two states. frastructure thought to have been set up with the
assistance of Soviet and East German intelligence
See also Civil War; Coalition Air Campaign against the personnel. WAD had its own military units and a
Taliban; Coalition Land Campaign against the
national guard and was charged with detecting and
Taliban; Durand Agreement; Geneva Accords;
Mujahideen; Pashtunistan Dispute; Soviet War in
eradicating all internal domestic opposition, sub-
Afghanistan; Taliban verting armed resistance, penetrating opposition
References groups abroad, and providing intelligence for the
Hiro, Dilip. 2002. Rev. ed. War without End. The Rise of armed forces. However, Yaqubi did not survive the
Islamic Terrorism and Global Response. London: fall of the Marxist government: he either commit-
Routledge. ted suicide on 16 April 1992 or was assassinated by
16 AFGHAN SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY
a Parchami rival. A new security service was estab- • Peaceful coexistence with neighbors
lished by President Burhanuddin Rabbani and was
also known as KHAD. The party considered that the Afghan people had
See also KAM; KHAD; Khalq; Parcham; Yaqubi, Gen. a sacred duty to defend their homeland against im-
Ghulam Faruq perialist Russia and its puppet regime and that the
References ASDP had to take responsibility for leading the
Rubin, Barnett R. 2002. The Fragmentation of struggle for national independence. Being opposed
Afghanistan. 2nd ed. New Haven, CT: Yale University to the hegemony of both the East and the West, the
Press. mottoes of the party were “God-Soil-Nation” and
“Afghanistan for the Afghans.” The party consid-
AFGHAN SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY ered that it had a responsibility to struggle against
The Afghan Social Democratic Party (ASDP) was the Soviet invasion because of the bloodshed and
founded on 8 March 1966 by Ghulam Muhammad cruelties that ensued, which posed a threat to world
Farhad as a protector of the religious values and the peace and security. The ASDP welcomed all initia-
national culture and cultural heritage of Afghani- tives to stop the killing in Afghanistan and sought
stan. The ASDP aims were to: the withdrawal of all Soviet troops, promising that
friendly relations could be established if aggression
• Achieve and preserve national independence ceased and if Afghan independence was recognized
• Support democracy and the election of a by the Soviet Union.
government representing the wishes of the The ASDP was also prepared to cooperate and
people coordinate activities with all other groups involved
• Abolish social inequality, introduce a in the struggle for national independence, as it rec-
system of social justice, and maintain ognized that there was a serious need for the unity
national sovereignty of political parties and groups fighting against for-
• Defend national security eign aggression. The party was ready to become in-
• Condemn all forces seeking to exploit volved in independent and joint fronts mounted
religious, linguistic, ethnic, and sectarian against the puppet regime and had participated in
differences fighting in various parts of the country.
• Provide primary education in the native See also Farhad, Ghulam Muhammad
idiom as the right of each ethnic group References
• Improve the national economy, exploit Supreme Council of the Afghan Social Democratic
natural resources, implement all Party. 1988. Aims and Objectives of the Afghan Social
development plans, fairly distribute Democratic Party. Peshawar, Pakistan: Afghan Social
national wealth, and kindle Afghan Democratic Party.
patriotism
AFGHAN-SOVIET RELATIONS
The party was also opposed to all forms of colo- Afghan-Soviet relations were, in recent years,
nialism, Zionism, fascism, capitalism, communism, marked by the dependence of a Marxist regime in
apartheid, and aggression, and it committed itself to Kabul on the Soviet Union, intervention by the
the struggle against all types of material, physical, Soviet military in 1979, and a decade of civil war
moral, and ideological exploitation. during which Afghan government and Soviet
In terms of foreign policy, the party stood for: forces were opposed by the various mujahideen
groups. The Soviet troops were withdrawn in
• Free and positive judgment in international 1989, having been badly mauled by the mu-
affairs through a policy of genuine jahideen forces, and Afghanistan was left to its
nonalignment own devices. However, the breakup of the Soviet
• Opposition to aggressive powers of both Union changed the situation, and relations with
the East and the West significant neighbors that are now independent
• Support for the UN Charter and the states as well as relations with Russia have im-
Universal Declaration of Human Rights proved in recent years.
AFGHAN-SOVIET RELATIONS 17
Afghanistan had always been pivotal to the Nonetheless, relations were not always cordial,
strategic objectives of the Russian Empire of the for the freedom of Khiva and Bukhara did not ma-
czars and then the Soviet Union, mainly because it terialize because the population revolted against
opened up the route to India. Thus, British policy in these moves and opted to join the Soviet Union,
the region was aimed at the containment of Russian thus destroying Amanullah’s dream of a Central
aspirations, which became part of what was known Asian confederation. The Soviets defended their re-
as the “Great Game.” While Britain controlled Af- tention of the possessions of the former Russian
ghanistan’s external affairs, this containment was Empire by pointing out that they were responding
possible. to the wishes of the people, as provided for under
However, the Third Anglo-Afghan War of 1919 the 1921 treaty. A more serious conflict stemmed
secured Afghanistan’s independence, and King from the Soviet occupation of Dargad Island on the
Amanullah attempted to demonstrate this new- Amu Daria River in December 1925. The island was
found freedom by establishing diplomatic relations considered by Afghanistan to be its territory, and
with European powers and the United States. A mis- due to a change of river course, the island was now
sion was sent to Tashkent and Moscow, led by located south of that course. The island had become
Muhammad Ali, and it was well received by the So- a haven for refugees from Bolshevik Russia, includ-
viet authorities, as was a letter from King Amanul- ing Basmachi revolutionaries who used it as a base
lah to Vladimir Lenin, seeking Soviet assistance in for incursions into Soviet territory. However, to re-
the emancipation of Afghanistan. A Soviet diplo- tain good relations with King Amanullah, the Sovi-
mat, Michael K. Bravin, was sent to Kabul to prepare ets defused the situation by withdrawing their
the way for the establishment of diplomatic rela- troops on 28 February 1926, having dealt with the
tions, to be followed by a Soviet delegation charged Basmachi bases on the island.
with negotiating a treaty of friendship. The result Because of Russia’s internal economic problems,
was the Afghan-Soviet Treaty of Friendship of 1921, the subsidy promised under the 1921 treaty was
by which the two states recognized their mutual in- paid by Moscow on an irregular basis, but this was
dependence and agreed to be bound not to enter offset by the expansion of Afghanistan’s diplomatic
into any political or military accord with a third relations, reducing its dependence on the Soviet
state that might prejudice either of the signatories. Union. In 1929, civil war came to Afghanistan, re-
The terms of the treaty had serious implications for sulting in the overthrow of King Amanullah. The
the content of the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1921, Soviets maintained their embassy in Kabul and im-
under which Britain endeavored to exclude Russia mediately recognized the government established
from involvement in Afghanistan. under Nadir Shah. The new ruler appointed his half
The Soviet Union allowed the free and untaxed brother, Muhammad Aziz, to be ambassador to
transit of Afghan goods into its territory and recog- Moscow in recognition of the significance of the
nized the independence of Khiva and Bukhara to post, but at the same time, he was opposed to Soviet
meet the wishes of the people. The agreement also influence in Afghanistan. Nadir Shah opened up ne-
made provision for Soviet technical assistance, aid gotiations for a review of the 1921 treaty, and the
of 1 million rubles, and return of the area of Pan- new Afghan-Soviet treaty signed on 24 June 1931
jdeh, which had been part of Afghanistan in the included a clause specifically calling for the prohibi-
nineteenth century before its annexation by Russia. tion in both states of activities that might cause ei-
This last was a significant development for King ther military or political damage. The Soviets were
Amanullah, as it allowed Afghanistan to open up a concerned with the threat from the Basmachis,
new route for goods bought in Europe and avoided whereas Nadir Shah was concerned about the possi-
the monopoly on the supply of military equipment ble return to power of King Amanullah.
exercised by Britain; previously, the goods had to be Although a commercial treaty was signed in
shipped via India. Evidence for the use of this new 1936, Afghanistan failed to renew a Soviet airline
route was provided by King Amanullah’s successful concession and dismissed all Soviet pilots and me-
suppression of the Khost Rebellion in 1924, which chanics, turning to Germany for its technological
saw the deployment of Soviet aircraft and foreign and development requirements. The move caused
pilots, including some Russians. alarm in Moscow, especially as a special relationship
18 AFGHAN-SOVIET RELATIONS
with Germany began to evolve, and in Britain, the tions; as a consequence, relations between the two
change was regarded as the lesser of two evils. After states became strained and hostile.
the outbreak of World War II and the short-lived al- Relations with the United States were not helped
liance between Germany and the Soviet Union, by the policy followed by President Dwight Eisen-
there were fears in Afghanistan and London that the hower’s administration of containing Soviet expan-
Soviets might mount a coup in support of King sionism by forming alliances with key nations and
Amanullah. Such a view was reinforced by the fact supporting the creation of the Baghdad Pact, which
that the Germans regarded Zahir Shah as pro- included Pakistan as part of the defensive alliance.
British and seriously considered mounting a coup Although the pact guaranteed the international bor-
in Afghanistan, to the extent that the Soviet foreign ders of its signatories, it ignored irredentist and na-
minister was asked if he would allow the transport tionalist aspirations, such as those expressed by peo-
of German troops into northern Afghanistan. The ple in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan.
response from the Soviet Union was noncommittal, Therefore, Afghanistan began to direct its atten-
and the proposal went no further. tions again to the Soviet Union, and in 1950, it
Germany launched an attack on the Soviet signed a four-year trade agreement with the Soviets,
Union on 22 June 1941, and Moscow joined the while maintaining a position of neutrality. In 1955,
Western alliance, causing considerable concern in Nikita Khrushchev and Nikolay Bulganin visited
Kabul. Afghanistan’s foreign policy had always been Kabul and praised Afghanistan’s policy of positive
based on protection of its territorial integrity by fos- neutrality, and the two sides renewed the treaty of
tering the continuing rivalry between its important 1931 for a further ten-year period. As part of the re-
neighbors and exploiting the “Great Game,” but newed agreement, the Soviet Union agreed to loan
Britain and the Soviet Union were now allies. Afghanistan $100 million at 2 percent interest, to be
Afghan fears were soon to be realized, for in Octo- used for projects selected by a joint Afghan-Soviet
ber 1941, Britain and Russia presented separate committee. In 1965, Afghanistan started flights to
notes to the Kabul government demanding the ex- Tashkent, which were subsequently extended to
pulsion of all Axis nationals from the country. The Moscow and then to other European countries.
government had no option but to comply, stipulat- Relations with the Soviet Union were strength-
ing only that these individuals be given passage to a ened further in 1956, when, following a refusal from
neutral country; the decision was retrospectively en- the United States, Afghanistan turned to the Soviets
dorsed by a loya jirga (great council). In an effort to for the supply of military equipment. This supply
protect its neutrality, Afghanistan closed its north- was accompanied by thousands of Soviet advisers
ern border except for diplomatic exchanges, but it who arrived to train the Afghan military, and thou-
also continued to trade with the Soviet Union. sands of Afghan technicians and military officers
In 1946, good relations were restored with the were sent to the Soviet Union for training. Through
Soviet Union, with Afghanistan agreeing to accept this arrangement, Muhammad Daud, the Afghan
the middle of the Amu Daria River as its interna- prime minister, had created a growing corps of mil-
tional boundary. This turn of events was followed itary officers, technicians, and students with left-
by the establishment of a telegraph link with wing and, in some cases, pro-Soviet tendencies.
Tashkent in 1947. But Afghanistan’s strategic inse- Daud used this left-wing group in 1973 when he
curity was heightened by the creation of Pakistan in mounted a coup to depose King Zahir and establish
1947, when India became independent, and then Afghanistan as a republic. The coup had, in effect,
with the impact of the Cold War. In response, it re- laid the groundwork for the Saur Revolt of April
pudiated the treaties that had established the Du- 1978, which led to the downfall of Daud, who was
rand Line as its international boundary, and it is- murdered, and brought the Communists to power.
sued a demand that the Afghans inhabiting the The new Afghan government under Nur Mo-
North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan be given hammad Taraki accepted the Soviet offer to supply
the option of joining Afghanistan or becoming in- advisers in all branches of government and con-
dependent. Pakistan rejected these overtures, and cluded a series of treaties making the Soviets the
Afghanistan was subsequently the only nation to dominant power in Afghanistan. On 5 December
vote against Pakistan’s admission to the United Na- 1978, Taraki concluded a treaty of friendship with
AFGHANI, SAYYID JAMALUDDIN 19
the Soviets that provided for military assistance The Soviet command intended to have its own
from the Soviet Union and was used as a justifica- troops protect the towns and lines of communica-
tion for the intervention that followed in 1979. The tion, with the Afghan army being left to handle all
Marxist regime in Kabul was beginning to en- counterinsurgency activity. However, it was not long
counter resistance from other elements in Afghani- before the Soviet presence reached some 85,000
stan, which became known as the mujahideen, and ground troops, 25,000 support troops, and 10,000
the foremost opponents were among the Hazaras, airborne troops, together with a further 30,000
the Islamists, and the Tajiks in northern Afghani- troops and air force pilots who operated from Soviet
stan, with opposition growing as conflict escalated. territory. The Soviets were equipped for conven-
Taraki requested military assistance in March 1979, tional warfare, and had, among other units, an SA-4
but this was initially refused by the Soviets, who antiaircraft missile brigade and chemical decontam-
were nervous about the international reaction to ination teams.
such a move and the long-term reaction of the However, the Soviet objective of not becoming
Afghan people. involved in counterinsurgency was not to be real-
In September 1979, Taraki was overthrown and ized, and as the situation deteriorated, Soviet troops
executed, with his prime minister, Hafizullah Amin, were drawn into actions against mujahideen forces
seizing power. However, by the end of 1979, the sit- outside the urban areas and suffered heavy casual-
uation had deteriorated to such an extent that the ties. After a ten-year presence in Afghanistan, the
Soviets agreed to intervene to prop up the Kabul Soviets were thoroughly demoralized, as they were
regime. The move was seen by the Soviet Politburo enduring heavy casualties, troops had become in-
as a temporary measure to prevent the Marxist volved in the drug trade, and it was obvious that the
regime being defeated by the mujahideen, not as a mujahideen, with backing from the United States
venture designed ultimately to provide access to the and Pakistan, were gaining the upper hand. The So-
oil fields and warm-water ports of the Persian Gulf. viets were unable to adapt to guerrilla warfare, and
The Kabul government legalized the Soviet occupa- the acquisition by the mujahideen of Stinger mis-
tion by the April 1980 Status of Armed Forces siles led to heavy losses of Soviet transport and at-
Agreement, which justified the presence of the tack helicopters and armor.
Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces in Afghanistan See also Afghan-German Relations; Amanullah, King;
(LCSFA) as a response to foreign intervention on Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1921; Daud, Sardar
behalf of the rebels, and stipulated that Soviet Muhammad; Saur Revolt; Soviet War in Afghanistan;
forces would withdraw when foreign intervention Taraki, Nur Muhammad; Third Anglo-Afghan War
ceased. References
Soviet troops entered Afghanistan on 27 De- Arnold, Anthony. 1993. The Fateful Pebble: Afghanistan’s
cember 1979 after two airborne assault brigades Role in the Fall of the Soviet Empire. Novato, CA:
had secured the Bagram air base, some 40 miles Presidio Press.
Bocharov, G. 1990. Russian Roulette: Afghanistan through
north of Kabul. The Soviet Fortieth Army entered
Russian Eyes. New York: Hamish Hamilton.
Afghanistan, the Salang Pass and Salang Tunnel Ganjoo, Satish. 1990. Soviet-Afghan Relations. Delhi,
were secured by special forces, and two motorized India: Ahashdeep Publishing.
rifle divisions crossed into Afghanistan over the Hauner, Milan, and Robert Leroy Canfield, eds. 1989.
Amu Daria River. The Soviet troops moved quickly Afghanistan and the Soviet Union: Collision and
to Herat, Shindand, Kabul, and Kandahar, and after Transformation. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
about seven days, some 50,000 troops were sta-
tioned in Afghanistan, together with 350 tanks and AFGHANI, SAYYID JAMALUDDIN (1838–1897)
some 450 other armored vehicles. The main objec- Sayyid Jamaluddin Afghani is widely regarded as the
tive was to secure the cities and the key lines of originator of the pan-Islamic movement and a
communications; about one-third of the forces modernist who advocated the unity of the Islamic
were stationed in Kabul, and there were large gar- world but was prepared to borrow from the West if
risons in Herat, Jalalabad, Kandahar, Kunduz, that would enable Islam to resist Western imperial-
Mazar-i Sharif, and Shindand, with smaller gar- ism. His memory is revered by Afghans, who believe
risons in other towns. him to be descended from a family of Sayyids from
20 AFGHANIS
Asadabad in Kunar Province, whereas Western ious Islamist groups prior to seeking refuge in Af-
scholars believe him to be of Iranian origin. Afghani ghanistan as a “guest” of the Taliban.
became a political adviser to rulers across the Is- See also Laden, Osama bin; Taliban
lamic world and was a political activist in Afghani- References
stan, Egypt, Iran, and the Ottoman Empire. He was Cogan, Charles. 1993. Holy Blood: An Inside View of the
often at odds with authority, on the run from arrest, Afghan War. Westport, CT: Praeger.
opposed by the ulama (Islamic scholars and clergy-
men), and suspected by the secular authorities. A
AFGHANISTAN INTERIM CABINET
follower of Afghani assassinated the Persian ruler
An interim cabinet with thirty members was an-
Nasruddin Shah in 1896, and Sultan Abdul Hamid
nounced in Afghanistan on 27 December 2001, fol-
placed Afghani under house arrest. Afghani died in
lowing the talks on the new Interim Government
Istanbul in 1897, but his ideas and his memory are
that were held in Bonn. The cabinet was agreed to
still revered throughout the Islamic world.
by four main Afghan factions representing the
References Northern Alliance, the Rome group that is loyal to
Keddie, N. R., ed. 1983. An Islamic Response to
the former king, Zahir Shah, and the smaller exile
Imperialism: Political and Religious Writings of Sayyid
groups based in Cyprus and Peshawar, Pakistan.
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani. Berkeley: University of
California Press. However, the formation of the cabinet was beset by
problems, with some factions refusing to accept the
membership composition, and Gen. Abdul Rashid
AFGHANIS
Dostum was given a post to secure his support for
The Afghanis are the radical Islamists, mainly
the new government.
Arab but also from other Muslim countries, who
The cabinet members and their allegiances were
went to Afghanistan to fight in the holy war
as follows:
against the Marxist regime and the Soviet occupa-
tion from 1979 to 1989. They fought, for the most Chair:
part, in the groups led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Hamid Karzai (Pashtun)
Maulawi Husain Jamilurrahman, and Abdul Rasul
Sayyaf. Accurate figures are difficult to determine, Vice-chairs:
but it is estimated that at the height of the war, Women’s Affairs: Sima Samar (Rome group, Haz-
there were 5,000 Saudis, 3,000 Yemenis, 2,800 Al- ara)
gerians, 2,000 Tunisians, 370 Iraqis, and 200 Jor- Defense: Mohammad Fahim (Northern Alliance,
danians, as well as citizens from other Muslim Tajik)
countries, fighting in Afghanistan. Between 1987 Deputy Defense: Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum
and 1993, some 3,350 Arab citizens left Pakistan, (Northern Alliance, Uzbek)
and many returned to their own countries with Planning: Haji Mohammad Mohaqqaq (Northern
the objective of setting up Islamic states by force Alliance, Hazara)
of arms. As such, they have been a major threat in Water and Electricity: Shaker Kargar (Northern Al-
Algeria, are responsible for terrorist attacks in liance, Uzbek)
Egypt, and have been engaged in fighting in re- Finance: Hedayat group (Pashtun)
gional wars in areas such as Bosnia, Kashmir, and
the Philippines. Members:
However, almost 3,000 Afghanis were left in Af- Foreign Affairs: Dr. Abdullah Abdullah (Northern
ghanistan and Pakistan after the fall of the Marxist Alliance, Tajik)
regime, and many of them joined the Taliban and Interior: Younis Qanooni (Northern Alliance,
presented a major threat to the Northern Alliance Tajik)
and their supporters in the war against the Taliban Commerce: Seyyed Mustafa Kazemi (Northern Al-
between 1996 and 2001, as they usually fought to liance)
the bitter end. A number of these experienced fight- Mines and Industries: Mohammed Alem Razm
ers also joined the ranks of al-Qaeda, for that (Uzbek)
group’s leader, Osama bin Laden, had financed var- Small Industries: Araf Noorzai (Northern Alliance)
AFGHANISTAN INTERIM GOVERNMENT 21
Hamid Karzai (3rd R-front), his cabinet members, and dignitaries stand as the national anthem of Afghanistan is played at the
inauguration of the new interim government in Kabul, 22 December 2001. (Reuters NewMedia Inc./CORBIS)
Information and Culture: Rahin Makhdoom Agriculture: Seyyed Hussein Anwari (United
(Rome group) Front)
Communication: Abdul Rahim (Northern Al- Irrigation: Haji Mangal Hussein (Peshawar group,
liance) Pashtun)
Labor and Social Affairs: Mir Wais Sadeq (North- Justice: Abdul Rahmi Karimi (Northern Alliance)
ern Alliance) Air Transport and Tourism: Rahim Wardak (Rome
Hajj (Pilgrimage): Maulawi Balkhi group); Wardak was lynched by a crowd of pil-
Martyrs and Disabled: Abdullah Wardak (North- grims at the Kabul airport on 14 February 2002
ern Alliance) and was replaced by Zalmai Rassoul
Education: Abdul Salam Azimi (Rome group) Department of Border Affairs: Amanullah Dzadran
Higher Education: Dr. Sharif Faez (Northern Al- (Rome group)
liance)
Public Health: Suhaila Seddiqi (Independent) References
“Interim Government.” 2001.
Public Works: Juma Mohammad Mohammadi
http://www.afghanland.com/history/interim.html
(Rome group)
(cited 12 February 2003).
Rural Development: Abdul Malik Anwar (North-
ern Alliance)
Urban Development: Haji Abdul Qadir (Northern AFGHANISTAN INTERIM GOVERNMENT
Alliance) Late in 2001, the United Nations sponsored talks in
Reconstruction: Sardar Mohammed Roshan Bonn with the various groups opposed to the Tal-
(Rome group) iban in order to establish an interim Afghan govern-
Transport: Ishaq Shahryar (Peshawar group) ment for a period of six months, until a permanent
Return of Refugees: Enayatullah Nazeri (Northern administration could be established. The talks were
Alliance) chaired by the UN chief envoy for Afghanistan,
22 AFGHANISTAN PEACE ASSOCIATION (APA)
Lackdar Brahimi, and lasted for nine days, with See also Karzai, Hamid; Loya Jirga; Rabbani,
agreement being reached on 5 December 2001. The Burhanuddin
interim administration was to take power in Kabul References
on 22 December. United Nations. 2001. United Nations Security Council
The administration would be headed by Hamid Resolution 1383. New York: United Nations.
Karzai, a Pashtun leader and relative of the former
king (King Zahir), and would consist of a chair, five AFGHANISTAN PEACE ASSOCIATION (APA)
vice chair, and twenty-three other ministers. The The Afghanistan Peace Association was established
agreement effectively put an end to the administra- on 11 November 1989 as an independent, non-
tion of the former president, Burhanuddin Rabbani. aligned, but responsible organization that is not
It is clear that the winners in this arrangement seeking political power but continuing to rely on the
have been the new generation of Afghan leaders national powers of Afghanistan. Organizers hoped
drawn from the Northern Alliance and other anti- to make the association a social power in order to
Taliban groups, as they occupy the key posts. play a role in conflict resolution and to try to pre-
Women are also represented, with two posts in the vent internal conflicts in the future. The APA is
interim cabinet. The losers are the old guard: a striving to become a protector of the people and of
generational change appears to have taken place. all the social forces in Afghanistan that would, in the
The new administration, with a significant num- political arena, like to legally and legitimately rule
ber of exiled Afghans, will face problems in im- the country. Based in the United States, the APA has
posing its will on a divided country that has been some 3,000 Afghan members within Afghanistan
controlled by warlords for generations. But it has and around the world.
the advantage of international political support The APA has articulated the following goals and
and access to external aid for reconstruction and principles, which were revised on 11 November
development. 1995, the sixth anniversary of the organization:
The agreement in Bonn also included a number
of other significant recommendations: 1. To establish and preserve peace and
national unity through negotiations and
• The UN Security Council would be asked understanding by banning fighting and
to organize a multinational security force disarming the citizenry, political groups,
for Kabul and the surrounding areas. and military, while maintaining basic
• A special commission would be appointed policing.
within a month to organize the calling of 2. To preserve the national sovereignty,
an emergency loya jirga (great council), national integrity, political independence,
which would be able to revise the interim and indivisibility of Afghanistan.
cabinet and create a transitional 3. To organize Afghan refugees in order to
government to last for a period of two effectively participate in the restoration and
years. preservation of peace in Afghanistan.
• The loya jirga would be required to include 4. To encourage all social and political groups
representatives of Afghan refugees living in to partake in the formation of a broad
Iran, Pakistan, and elsewhere; members of national peace coalition.
the Afghan diaspora; and prominent 5. To promote and support the practice of
Islamic intellectuals, scholars, and traders. democratic and free electoral system ideals
Due attention would be paid to the in Afghanistan’s political arena on a
inclusion of women. national as well as an organizational level
• The former king would open the in accordance with Afghan traditions.
emergency loya jirga and preside over the 6. To encourage a sense of brotherhood and
first session. equality among Afghans in order to uproot
all existing prejudices. With this goal as the
The agreement was endorsed by the UN Security basis, the APA will strive to create grounds
Council at a meeting on 6 December 2001. for positive and constructive competition
AFGHANISTAN PEACE ASSOCIATION (APA) 23
in all aspects of life for sociopolitical of the country depends on national unity and
growth and development. achieving a permanent peace based on the estab-
7. To help provide the necessary assistance to lishment of the political and social rights of all its
the disabled, the maimed, and the refugee citizens, without any discrimination.
Afghans and to encourage them to willfully The APA has been promoting its objectives by
repatriate when there is peace, safety, and holding conferences such as the Intra-Afghan Inter-
security in Afghanistan. national Conference in Search of Peace, held in New
8. To promote education and awareness and York in 1996, and it presented a peace plan in 1998
to abolish illiteracy, since it is the enemy of to the Hamburg conference in Germany. It also
peace and national unity. publishes a monthly newsletter, Voice of Peace, and
9. To succeed against all forms of destructive sponsors the now independent, bimonthly Afghan
military and detrimental political Communication: Voice of the Young Generation. In
interferences by foreign countries in addition, the APA has sponsored a number of cul-
Afghanistan’s internal affairs. tural and social events and founded regional offices
10. To establish the legitimate right of in Europe, Central Asia, and South Asia. It has also
Afghanistan as a permanently nonaligned fostered links with organizations within Afghani-
and demilitarized country. stan and provided advice on structuring these orga-
11. To establish and preserve close, effective nizations and helping them organize events and ac-
relations with internal and international tivities to meet the needs of people in postconflict
peace organizations and to support and Afghanistan.
abide by the Universal Declaration of The APA has also been involved in projects at a
Human Rights, the UN Charter, and practical level in Afghanistan through the following
international norms. type of activities:
The APA is not seeking political power in Af- • Raising funds for orphaned children in
ghanistan as a whole; however, its members have the 1991
right to partake in any political candidacy or vote • Founding an orphanage in Khost, Paktia
for others as they choose. The APA would also sup- Province, in 1997
port any legitimate government that would come to • Providing medical supplies worth $24,000
power through the people’s vote. Having its political for earthquake victims in 1998
independence, the APA, on the basis of nonviolent • Founding Maihan High School in
principles conceived of as the God-given birthrights Peshawar, Pakistan, in 1999 to provide
of individuals, will respect the rights of all Afghan education for 300 refugee children
citizens in terms of equal rights for men and women
and will always sustain its nonalliance in regard to In addition, the APA has been actively involved
any individual, organization, political party, ethnic- in relevant international conferences and has be-
ity, tribe, locality, language, and nationality. come a member of the Conference of NGOs at the
The APA was formed to help empower the no- United Nations. On 2 June 2002, it sponsored and
tions of peace and national duty among the various organized the Conference of Afghan Organizations
ethnic groups and to foster the natural course of de- of New York in Support of the Emergency Loya
velopment in society, which has been destroyed by Jirga, which was attended by sixteen Afghan organi-
foreign aggression and internal fratricidal war, zations. Future plans include more networking
pushing Afghanistan toward national disparity and within Afghanistan, organizing local meetings in Af-
chaos. The movement recognizes that great parts of ghanistan to promote the peace message, investing
the country have been destroyed, hundreds of thou- in the youth of Afghanistan, and utilizing the United
sands of Afghans killed, millions scattered as Nations and other international organizations to
refugees, and society rendered so fragile that it could foster peace proposals.
break apart at any moment. The founders of the The main goal of the APA is the restoration of
APA believe that the people of Afghanistan do not peace and national unity, as mentioned, and its
deserve all of these misfortunes and that the survival members believe it is the only organization that
24 AFGHANISTAN TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT
struggles for the people on this basis. The fact that Planning minister Mohammad Mohaqik
the opinions and views of the Afghan people are re- (Hazara)
spected is seen as distinguishing the APA from other Communications minister Masoom Stanakzai
groups and political bodies. According to the orga- (Pashtun)
nization, only a government that has risen to power Borders minister Araf Noorzai (Pashtun but
through free elections can be considered legitimate. from a Tajik-dominated party)
Members of the APA believe that the key to conflict Refugees minister Enayatullah Nazeri (Tajik)
resolution rests with Afghans themselves, that they Mines minister Juma M. Mahammadi
should not wait for foreigners to bring peace to their (Pashtun)
country, and that Afghans must not to leave a legacy Light industries minister Mohammed Alem
of war and fratricide for their children. Razm (Uzbek)
See also Humanitarian Relief Public health minister Dr. Sohaila Siddiqi
References (Pashtun)
http://www.AfghanistanPeace.com Commerce minister Seyyed Mustafa Kazemi
(Shi’a Muslim)
Agriculture minister Seyyed Hussein Anwari
AFGHANISTAN TRANSITIONAL
(United Front)
GOVERNMENT
Justice minister Abbas Karimi (Uzbek)
At the emergency loya jirga (great council) held in
Information and culture minister Saeed
June 2002, Hamid Karzai was unanimously re-
Makhdoom Rahim (Tajik)
elected as president, following behind-the-scenes
Reconstruction minister Mohammad Gahim
negotiations that removed the former king Zahir
Farhang (Pashtun)
and former president Burhanuddin Rabbani as pos-
Hajj and mosques minister Mohammad Amin
sible candidates. After much delay due to the need to
Naziryar (Pashtun)
achieve a compromise between the various power
Urban affairs minister Yusuf Pashtun (Pashtun)
blocs, President Karzai presented his government
Social affairs minister Noor Mohammed Karkin
for approval on 21 June 2002. The following indi-
(Turkman)
viduals were appointed to serve until the demo-
Water and power minister Ahmed Shakar
cratic elections that are to be held in 2004:
Karkar (Uzbek)
President: Hamid Karzai (Pashtun) Irrigation and environment minister Ahmed
Deputy presidents: Mohammad Fahim (Tajik), Yusuf Nuristani (Pashtun)
Karim Khalili (Hazara), Abdul Qadir (Pashtun) Martyrs and disabled minister Abdullah
Special adviser on security: Younis Qanooni Wardak (Pashtun)
(Tajik) Higher education minister Sharif Faez (Tajik)
Civil aviation and tourism minister Mir Wais
Cabinet: Sadeq (Tajik)
Defense minister Mohammad Fahim (Tajik) Transportation minister Saeed Mohammad Ali
Foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah (Tajik) Jawad (Shi’a Muslim)
Finance minister Ashraf Ghani (Pashtun) Education minister Younis Qanooni (Tajik)
Interior minister Taj Mohammad Wardak Rural development minister Hanif Asmar
(Pashtun) (The interior minister was replaced (Pashtun)
on 29 January 2003 by Ali Ahmad Jalali, a
former mujahideen leader who had been head Courts:
of the Pashtu and Persian service for the Voice Supreme Court chief justice Sheikh Kamal
of America radio station in the United States. Shinwari
Wardak’s handling of the student
demonstrations at Kabul University on 14 However, many observers felt at the time that the
November 2002, when one student was killed Loya Jirga had provided Karzai with a government
and a number were injured, brought about the composed of religious extremists and warlords who
change.) would pose a threat to the creation of a more open
AFGHANISTAN TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT 25
and stable society. Some have contended that Karzai • Aiding the needy and looking after
is an Afghan loner with devoted Western friends but returning refugees
no personal support base. The Kabul representative • Fighting hunger and disease
of the International Crisis Group maintained that • Upholding human rights without any form
the Loya Jirga had been a missed opportunity to of discrimination
break the power of the Afghan warlords. However, • Embarking on conflict resolution
UN officials in Kabul praised the proceeding as a • Providing a secure environment in order
first step on the long road to democracy. for Afghans to peacefully work, live, and
Among possible dangers that have been identi- prosper
fied is the appointment of Mohammad Fahim as
defense minister and a deputy president, as he has Criticism of the performance of the government
been accused of using his secret intelligence officers is now beginning to be heard, with the administra-
to consolidate his power base. In addition to his tion being accused of not establishing its priorities
control of government forces, Fahim also has his and with ministries engaging in nonproductive
own private army of 10,000 well-armed fighters, he rounds of paperwork. The power of the regional
leads the Northern Alliance, and he is close to warlords has certainly not been tackled, and al-
Burhanuddin Rabbani. though orders were issued for militias to disarm, no
Another possible area of future conflict is in the time frame was put in place, nor was it made clear
legal arena, for the chief justice, Judge Kamal Shin- how the task was to be carried out and who was re-
wari, is a strict Islamist who, in January 2003, called sponsible for seeing the policy through. Further dis-
for the full implementation of Shari’a law. This ap- sent also emerged from a gathering of Afghan elders
pointment and the influence on the government of held in Peshawar, Pakistan, on 28 January 2003. This
Islamists such as Rabbani and Sayyaf are also seen meeting concluded that the Karzai government was
as increasing the devaluation of the role of women a failure and called for a broad-based government in
in Afghanistan, a sector that Karzai has sought to Kabul. Those attending the meeting also appealed to
promote. the United Nations for more peacekeepers to be sent
The new administration has been faced with a to Afghanistan to ensure peace and stability and to
formidable task, and it is evident that there is a need deal with the banditry that has taken place in the
for a strong, viable, and authoritative administra- provinces.
tion to lead the nation until the democratic elec- On 28 January 2003, the government revealed
tions in 2004. The following are the priorities for the that participants in the legislature that was soon to
new government: be created would not be allowed to represent polit-
ical parties, as there were no laws to mandate their
• Paving the way for a representative involvement. Former president Rabbani, leader of
parliament the Islamist Movement, immediately challenged
• Beginning the process of writing a new this pronouncement on the grounds that party
draft constitution, expected to be ready in politics were ingrained in Afghan culture and that,
March 2003 and now out for selective because of the past conflicts, all Afghans had the
consultation, without the proposals having right to give voice to their party. However, the pres-
been published ident’s spokesman declared that political parties
• Embarking on the creation and training of could not be permitted a platform in the legisla-
a new national army and a national police ture until legislation had been passed granting
force them representation.
• Dealing with the power of the regional Support for Karzai’s position came from Sayyed
warlords Ahmad Gailani, a moderate mujahideen leader, who
• Developing a viable central authority with took the view that representatives in the legislature
equal representation for all provinces and were likely to be those elected to the Loya Jirga on a
upholding the rule of law nonparty basis and that they should therefore re-
• Reviving the country’s dilapidated frain from pursuing a particular political agenda. He
economic structure argued that party members had participated in the
26 AFRIDI TRIBE
Loya Jirga as representatives of the people and that Hart, David M. 1985. Guardians of the Khaibar Pass: The
this status should continue until legislation on po- Social Organization and History of the Afridis of
litical parties was passed. The government view is Pakistan. Lahore, Pakistan: Vanguard Books.
that the legislature should be an unelected body de-
signed to serve the country until fully democratic AHMAD, ALI (1883–1929)
elections are held in 2004. On 24 February, Presi- Ali Ahmad was governor of Kabul during the reign
dent Karzai stated that he was still committed to of King Amanullah and was proclaimed king by the
holding national elections as scheduled but that he tribesmen in Nangarhar Province following the ab-
may not seek reelection himself. He wanted the gov- dication of King Amanullah in 1929. He was born in
ernment to be judged on whether it had delivered 1883, the son of Loinab Khushdil Khan, and was ed-
security and reconstruction for Afghanistan. ucated in India before serving as chamberlain of
See also Afghan Army; Loya Jirga Amir Habibullah. He was in charge of the Afghan
References Peace Delegation to the talks at Rawalpindi in 1919,
“Afghan President Karzai Says He May Not Be a which resulted in the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919.
Candidate in Elections.” 2003. http://www.afgha. He was a successful commander in King Amanul-
com/?af=article&sid=29914 (cited 15 May 2003). lah’s army, which put down the Khost Rebellion in
“Afghan Transitional Government.” 2002. http://www. 1924, and he was similarly engaged in the Shinwari
afghanland.com/history/transitional.html (cited 11 Rebellion of 1928. After the abdication of Amanul-
February 2003). lah, he fought with Habibullah Kalakani but was de-
Roashan, G. Rauf. 2002. “Is the Afghan Government
feated. He was taken as a prisoner to Kabul and ex-
Meeting the Challenge?” http://www.institute-for-
ecuted in July 1929.
afghan-studies.org/Contribution/Commentaries/
DRRoshan/7-1 (cited 5 February 2003). See also Khost Rebellion; Shinwari Tribe
Smucker, Philip. 2002. “New Afghan Leader Faces a References
Rogues Gallery.” http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/ Wild, Roland. 1933. Amanullah: Ex-King of Afghanistan.
0621/p07s02-wosc.htm (cited 21 June 2002). London: Hurst and Blackett.
AFRIDI TRIBE AHMAD, SHAH (1943– )

The Afridis are members of a Pashtun-speaking Shah Ahmad was a member of the Islamic Union
tribe located in the area of the Khyber Pass on the for the Liberation of Afghanistan, founded by Abdul
Pakistan side of the border with Afghanistan. They Rasul Sayyaf, and in 1998, he was prime minister of
have always seen themselves as protectors of the the interim cabinet of the Islamic Unity of Mu-
gateway to India, and they have usually extracted jahideen, which was an umbrella group of seven
payment for safe transit through the pass. At times, mujahideen parties recognized by Pakistan. He was
the Afridis were accepted into the service of Afghan born in 1943 in a village near Kabul and educated at
rulers, primarily as bodyguards or militia, but they Kabul Polytechnic Institute and Kabul University,
have also supported Afghan rulers in various mili- graduating in 1958 with a degree in engineering and
tary campaigns between Afghanistan and British then taking up a post in the Department of Agricul-
India. It is thought that the tribe can muster an ture and Irrigation. In 1972, Ahmad went to the
armed force of 50,000 men, and in the 1980s, the United States and gained an M.A. in engineering at
Kabul government attempted to recruit the tribe Colorado State University in 1974 before taking up
into a militia to attack the supply lines of the mu- a teaching post at King Faisal University in Saudi
jahideen. The Afridis accepted payment but did not Arabia. He went to Peshawar, Pakistan, after the So-
fulfill their assigned functions, though they exer- viet invasion of Afghanistan, where he joined
cised their own tolls on supplies passing through Sayyaf’s mujahideen party, becoming president of
their territory. the education committee and later of the finance
References committee. In May 1996, after Gulbuddin Hekmat-
Hammerton, J. A. 1984. Tribes, Races and Cultures of yar entered the government of Burhanuddin Rab-
India and Her Neighbouring Countries: Afghanistan, bani, Ahmad became minister of education, but he
Bhutan, Burma, Ceylon, Nepal and Tibet. Delhi, was forced to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban cap-
India: Mittal. tured Kabul.
A British India Army Officer signing the register when entering independent Afridis territory (Bettman/Corbis)
28 AHMADZAI TRIBE
See also Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan References

References Eyre, Vincent. 1879. The Kabul Insurrection of 1841–42.
Saikal, Amin. 1999. The Rabbani Government, London: W. H. Allen.
1992–1996. In Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan
and the Taliban, edited by William Maley, 29–42.. AMANULLAH, KING (1892–1960)
London: Hurst. Amanullah, also called Ghazi, ruled Afghanistan
from 1919 to 1929. He was the son of Amir
AHMADZAI TRIBE Habibullah and was governor of Kabul when his fa-
The Ahmadzai tribe is a section of the Sulaiman ther was assassinated at Jalalabad in February 1919.
Khel division of the Ghazi tribe, largely found in a Due to his position, he controlled the Afghanistan
triangle formed by lines drawn from Kabul to Jalal- treasury and the main arsenal of the army, and he
abad and Gardez. The Ahmadzais are mainly seden- lost no time in having himself proclaimed king in
tary, though a small number are nomadic, and most Kabul. In doing so, he defied the claim of his uncle,
are engaged in trade, with many of them having be- Nasrullah Khan, whom he denounced as an accom-
come extremely wealthy. The Ahmadzais have also plice in the murder of Amir Habibullah and a
been represented in positions of importance in var- usurper. Although proclaimed as king in Peshawar,
ious Afghan governments, and they have a history of Nasrullah did not have the support of the army, and
intermarrying with the powerful Durrani tribe. he was arrested and later assassinated while impris-
Such has been the power of the Ahmadzais that oned in Kabul.
Amir Abdur Rahman forcibly settled a number of Amanullah had a modernizing and reformist
families in northern Afghanistan in an attempt to zeal and greatly admired the policies of Kamal
weaken their power and to serve as Pashtun Ataturk in Turkey and Muhammad Reza in Iran.
colonists in a predominantly Turkic region. One of his first acts was to challenge British policy
References in relation to Afghanistan. To that end, he sought to
Wilber, Donald Newton. 1962. Afghanistan: Its People, renegotiate the Anglo-Afghan agreements con-
Its Society, Its Culture. New Haven, CT: HRAF Press. cluded with Amir Abdur Rahman, that left Britain
in charge of Afghanistan’s foreign relations in re-
AKBAR, SARDAR MUHAMMAD (1816–1845) turn for subsidies, military assistance, and a guar-
A major figure in the defeat of the British in the First antee of protection against any unprovoked Russ-
Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842), Sardar Muham- ian aggression. Britain refused to renegotiate the
mad Akbar was the son of Amir Dost Muhammad. agreements and thereby provoked Afghani aggres-
He was the leader of the Afghan chiefs who negoti- sion, culminating in the Third Anglo-Afghan War,
ated with the British occupation forces over guaran- which broke out on 4 May 1919 and lasted only
tees of safety during the retreat from Kabul to India, until June 1919. The war was largely fought in the
but during the negotiations, he lost his temper with border regions and Waziristan, and Britain was re-
the British negotiator, Sir William Macnaghten, and luctant to become involved in a protracted cam-
killed him. Yet he saved the lives of British women, paign due to the war-weariness following World
children, and some officers he had taken into pro- War I. Lengthy negotiations took place between the
tective custody during the retreat, which very few two sides at Rawalpindi, Mussoorie, and Kabul, and
survived. Akbar was also keen to regain territory lost the resultant Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 left Af-
in the Punjab, but his father wanted to reach a com- ghanistan free from British control and an inde-
promise with the British, and in 1845, Akbar re- pendent nation.
belled against his father. However, he died of poi- Regarded as a national hero thereafter, Amanul-
soning before any serious threat could be mounted lah turned his attentions to reforming and modern-
(his unidentified poisoner was probably a paid as- izing his kingdom. He was instrumental in estab-
sassin). As a result of his part in the First Anglo- lishing schools in which English, French, and
Afghan War, Akbar was revered by Afghans and ac- German were the main languages of instruction,
corded the name Ghazi, meaning “victor against and he promulgated a constitution that guaranteed
infidels.” equal rights and personal freedom for all Afghans.
See also First Anglo-Afghan War He also ended the international isolation of Afghan-
AMIN, HAFIZULLAH 29
istan by establishing diplomatic and commercial re- had become a czarist protectorate, and he was look-
lations in European and Asian capitals. Amanullah ing for British support against Russian incursions.
built a new capital called Darulaman (meaning He was also anxious to quell any possible domestic
“Abode of Peace”), which housed a new parliament unrest and to obtain British recognition for the le-
building, major government offices, and villas for gitimacy of his position, as well as recognition of his
the Afghan elite. son Abdullah Jas as his immediate successor. The
King Amanullah was also active as a social re- viceroy assured the amir of the sympathies of the
former. He encouraged government employees to British government but made no specific promises;
wear Western dress and introduced a new dress code however, as a sign of friendship, the Indian govern-
that allowed women in Kabul to go without veils. ment gave the amir a gift of 600,000 rupees, 6,500
However, reforms were expensive and also angered muskets, and various pieces of artillery.
the traditional elements of Afghan society, especially References
the ulama (Islamic scholars and clergymen). Oppo- Malleson, George B. 1879. History of Afghanistan from
sition manifested itself through the Khost Rebellion the Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878.
of 1924, which was put down by the king’s forces London: W. H. Allen.
with great difficulty. In December 1927, Amanullah
visited Europe, but on his return in 1928, he was AMIN, HAFIZULLAH (1929–1979)
faced by yet another rebellion—this time by Shin- Hafizullah Amin was president of the Democratic
wari tribesmen. This rebellion led to further attacks Republic of Afghanistan from 16 September 1979
from the forces of Habibullah Kalakani (leader of until he was assassinated by Soviet troops on 27 De-
the antireformist action against Amanullah), forc- cember 1979. He was born in Pagham in Kabul
ing the king into exile. Amanullah made one unsuc- Province in 1929 of the Kharati tribe, which is part
cessful attempt to regain his throne but finally fled of the Ghilzai Pashtuns. He was educated in Af-
to India in May 1929. He then lived In Italy and ghanistan and the United States, where he earned a
Switzerland until his death on 26 April 1960. He was reputation as a Pashtun nationalist, and on his re-
buried in Jalalabad beside the tomb of Amir turn to Afghanistan, he became a teacher and then
Habibullah. principal of the Ibn Sina and Teacher Training
See also Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919; Khost Rebellion; Schools in Kabul. It is thought that he became a
Mussoorie Conference; Shinwari Tribe; Third Anglo- convert to Marxism in 1964, and in 1969, he was
Afghan War elected to parliament as the representative from
References Pagham. During the period of the Afghan republic,
Gregorian, Vartan. 1969. The Emergence of Modern from 1973 to 1978, he was engaged in the successful
Afghanistan: Politics of Reformed Modernization, recruitment of supporters in the army, in competi-
1880–1946. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. tion with the Parchami faction of the People’s Dem-
Poullada, Leon B. 1973. Reform and Rebellion in ocratic Party of Afghanistan (named after its news-
Afghanistan, 1919–1929. Omaha: University of
paper, Parcham). After the Saur Revolt of April 1978,
Nebraska at Omaha.
Wild, Roland. 1933. Amanullah, Ex-King of Afghanistan.
through which the Communists seized power, he
London: Hurst and Blackett. became vice-premier and minister of foreign affairs.
In April 1979, he was named prime minister, but the
Khalq faction split, and he accused Nur Muham-
AMBALA CONFERENCE (1869) mad Taraki of being unfit to lead the country. After
A meeting was held in March 1969 between Amir a brief struggle, Taraki was ousted and secretly exe-
Shir Ali and Lord Mayo, the viceroy of India, at cuted, leaving Hafizullah Amin in control; he be-
which the amir sought to effect an alliance with came president on 16 September 1979.
Britain. The amir had recaptured the Afghan throne At the outset, Amin was in conflict with the So-
and consolidated his position, such that he accepted viet ambassador to Kabul, Alexandr Puzamov, and
an invitation to meet the viceroy at Ambala, a town successfully demanded his recall to Moscow. Amin,
some 200 miles north of Delhi. The amir was afraid very much a nationalist, wanted to be independent
of Russian intentions regarding Afghanistan after of outside influences, and he was ruthless with any
the Amirate of Bukhara on his northern borders opposition, being accused of ordering thousands of
30 AMIR, MUHAMMAD
President Hafizullah Amin (L) addresses a press conference nine days after taking power. Hafizullah was partly responsible for the
outbreak of civil war and was assassinated by Soviet Special Forces on 27 December 1979. (Bettman/Corbis)
assassinations. He was attacked by Soviet Special in March 1919 by King Amanullah on the grounds
Forces at Darulaman and assassinated on 27 De- that he supported the cause of Nasrullah Khan, but
cember 1979, being replaced by Babrak Karmal he escaped from custody. He was again involved in
from the Parchami faction of the People’s Demo- actions against the British at Dakka and remained
cratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). active among the Mohmands. In 1921, in company
See also Khalq; Parcham; People’s Democratic Party of with other mullahs, he arrived at Haddra to advise,
Afghanistan if required, on negotiations with the British at the
References Kabul Conference, which eventually led to the
Arnold, Anthony. 1983. Afghanistan’s Two-Party Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1921.
Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Stanford, CA: In 1924, he attended the Loya Jirga (Great Coun-
Hoover Institution Press. cil) at Pagham and participated in the debates, and
in the following year, he embarked on a propaganda
AMIR, MUHAMMAD (?–1936) tour from August to September on behalf of King
Amir Muhammad was also known as the Chacknau Amanullah. In 1926, he was on pilgrimage to Mecca
Mullah and exercised a great deal of influence and was recalled from the hajj to assist in resolving
among the Mohmand tribes. In 1915, he twice led problems among the Mohmands; funds were made
the Mohmands in actions against British forces at available to appease the tribes by improving the in-
Shabkadar in the eastern provinces on the British frastructure and public services in the tribal areas.
India side of the Durand Line. (This line set the However, in the following year, the king again had to
boundary between Afghanistan and British India in try to curb his influence by forbidding him to main-
1893, resulting in the Pashtun tribes being split be- tain an armed retinue as part of his political activi-
tween the two countries.) He was ordered arrested ties within the Mohmand tribe.
ANGLO-AFGHAN TREATY OF 1921 31
In 1928, during the Shinwari Rebellion, Amir was a hard negotiator, and after three months of
Muhammad successfully kept the Mohmands in talks, a treaty was signed on 21 March 1905 without
check during the conflict. In June 1930, he was sum- any of the British objectives having been realized.
moned to Kabul by Nadir Shah to prevent him from Britain also agreed not to interfere in the internal af-
becoming involved in disturbances that were taking fairs of Afghanistan, and the subsidy was restored
place in the northwest frontier regions. He was per- and arrears paid. The treaty was repudiated in 1919
mitted to return home later that year, and until by Amir Amanullah.
1936, he remained the most important mullah References
among the Mohmand tribes in the eastern Adamec, Ludwig W. 1967. Afghanistan, 1900–1923: A
provinces. Diplomatic History. Berkeley: University of California
See also Mohmand Tribe Press.
References
Mark, William Rudolph Henry. 1984. The Mohmands. ANGLO-AFGHAN TREATY OF 1919
Lahore, Pakistan.: Vanguard Books. The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 was concluded
after the Third Anglo-Afghan War and signed on 8
AMU DARIA August 1919. The peace treaty was designed to re-
The Amu Daria River, known as the Oxus by the store the previous relationship between the two
Greeks, forms the boundary between Afghanistan states, but this outcome would be dependent on ne-
and the states of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan for a dis- gotiations commencing six months after the signing
tance of some 280 miles. The river and its tributaries ceremony. Until final agreement was reached, subsi-
flow in a northwesterly direction before running dies from Britain were suspended, the payment of
into the Aral Sea. Although some 1,500 miles in arrears was canceled, and Afghanistan was not per-
length, the river is navigable only in parts but was mitted to import arms and munitions through
bridged at Hairaton in 1982, providing a link from India. On border issues, Afghanistan was required to
Mazar-i Sharif to the Uzbek rail terminal Tarmez by recognize the Indo-Afghan frontier as defined, and
way of the Afghan highway. The river is also bridged areas of Khalibar, which were undefined, were to be
at Sharkham and at Qala Kutarma in the province of demarcated by a British commission.
Kunduz, and both of these bridges were vital strate- Britain had anticipated that Amir Amanullah
gic links for the supply of Afghan and Soviet forces would enter into an exclusive alliance, but he pro-
during the war waged against the mujahideen from ceeded to send missions to Russia, Europe, and the
1979 to 1989. United States to assert Afghanistan’s right to control
References its own external affairs. In fact, it took two confer-
Field, Neil C. 1954. “The Amu Daria: A Study in ences—at Mussoorie in 1920 and Kabul in 1921—
Resource Geography.” Geographical Review 44, no. 2: to restore relations between the two states with the
528–542. concluding of a new treaty.
See also Mussoorie Conference
ANGLO-AFGHAN TREATY OF 1905 References
Through the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1905, the gov- Adamec, Ludwig W. 1967. Afghanistan, 1900–1923: A
ernment of India wanted to ensure that Afghanistan Diplomatic History. Berkeley: University of California
would recognize the existing border with India and Press.
cease to interfere in the politics of the transborder
tribes while also pursuing a more liberal commer- ANGLO-AFGHAN TREATY OF 1921
cial policy. The treaty was, in effect, to be a renewal The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1921 was concluded
of an agreement reached in correspondence be- after negotiations that lasted almost a year, with
tween Amir Abdul Rahman and Britain’s chief po- conferences held at Mussoorie and Rawalpindi fi-
litical officer in Afghanistan in 1880 but with these nally restoring friendly relations after the Third
additional objectives satisfied. To secure agreement, Anglo-Afghan War. The treaty was also known as
Britain prohibited the import of arms into Afghan- the Treaty of Kabul and was signed by Henry R.
istan and suspended subsidies to it. However, Amir C. Dobbs, the British envoy, and Mahmud Tarzi,
Habibullah, who had ascended the throne in 1901, representing the Afghan delegation. Negotiations
32 ANGLO-RUSSIAN CONVENTION
throughout the period were difficult, as Afghani- Britain did not repudiate its 1905 treaty with Af-
stan was seeking territorial concessions whereas ghanistan to protect it from unprovoked Russian
Britain wanted Kabul to revoke diplomatic ties aggression, and the latter declared the country to be
with Russia in return for increased subsidies and outside its sphere of influence. However, Amir
arms. Habibullah saw the convention as an attempt by the
Britain failed in its bid to exclude Russia from Af- two powers to resolve the Afghan question without
ghanistan, for the Russo-Afghan Treaty of 1921 was his involvement. The amir was on a state visit to
ratified. However, the Afghans failed to secure any India when the agreement was concluded, but he
meaningful territorial concessions. The treaty stated was not informed of its existence by Britain until 10
that: September 1907. He felt that he had been betrayed,
and when requested to agree to the convention, he
• Both governments would respect each deliberated for a year and then refused ratification.
other’s rights of internal and external As far as Afghanistan was concerned, the convention
independence had no validity, and Russia failed to obtain the
• The boundary west of the Khalibar would promised benefits. The Bolshevik government repu-
be accepted by Afghanistan, following a diated the convention in 1918 as a sign of goodwill
minor realignment to its Asian neighbors.
• Legations were to be opened in London See also Habibullah, Amir
and Kabul and consulates opened in References
Afghanistan and India Edwardes, Michael. 1975. Playing the Great Game: A
• India would permit its territory to be used Victorian Cold War. London: Hamish Hamilton.
for the import of arms and munitions by
Afghanistan, and customs duties would not ARIAN, ABDUL RASHID (1941– )
be imposed on goods in transit to Abdul Rashid Arian was a member of the Khalq fac-
Afghanistan tion of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghani-
• Each side would notify the other of stan (PDPA) from 1964 and a member of the Khalqi
military operations in the frontier area Central Committee from 1977. When the Commu-
nists took the reins of power after the Saur Revolt of
It was also agreed that negotiations should be April 1978, he held the post of deputy minister of
opened on a trade convention, and a document to information from April to October 1978 and be-
that end was signed in June 1923. came ambassador to Islamabad until 1980. He was
References then appointed by Babrak Karmal as deputy prime
Adamec, Ludwig W. Afghanistan, 1900–1923: A minister and minister of justice, as well as president
Diplomatic History. Berkeley: University of California of the High Judiciary Council and attorney general,
Press. holding these posts until 1981. In that year, he lost
all of his ministerial posts but was elected vice-pres-
ANGLO-RUSSIAN CONVENTION (1907) ident of the Revolutionary Council from 1981 to
The Anglo-Russian Convention was concluded on 1988 and elected to the Senate in 1988.
31 August 1907, with the objective of ensuring “per- Arian was born in 1941 in Kandahar of a Pashtun
fect security on their respective frontiers in Central family and worked as a typesetter and journalist. He
Asia and to maintain in these regions a solid and was expelled from the PDPA for complicity in the at-
lasting peace.” The two powers divided Iran into tempted coup mounted by the minister of defense,
spheres of influence, and Tibet was to be under Chi- Gen. Shanawaz Tanai, against the government of
nese sovereignty. However, Britain was free to deal President Muhammad Najibullah in March 1990.
with the Tibetans on commercial matters and the See also Khalq; People’s Democratic Party of
Buddhists in Russia could deal with the Dalai Lama Afghanistan
on religious matters. Russia was also permitted to References
have relations of a nonpolitical nature with Afghan Arnold, Anthony. 1983. Afghanistan’s Two-Party
leaders in northern Afghanistan and to have equal Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Stanford, CA:
access with Britain to commercial opportunities. Hoover Institution Press.
AUCKLAND, LORD GEORGE EDEN 33
ARSARI TRIBE where he was ordered to render secret assistance to

The Arsari tribe is one of the most numerous and Enver Pasha of Turkey in Central Asia in his strug-
wealthy of the Turkoman tribes and is concentrated gles against the Bolsheviks in the eastern provinces
mainly in districts adjacent to the Amu Daria River. of the Turkish Empire. In 1928, he was appointed as
The Arsaris occupy the fertile plains of the river, governor of Balkh Province, and during the civil war
though the northern banks of the Amu Daria are (November 1928 to March 1929), he fought against
shared with Uzbeks. There is also a small Arsari the forces of Habibullah Kalakani but was defeated;
presence in Balkh Province. The tribespeople have he fled across the border into Tashkent. In April
traditionally been devoted to agriculture, primarily 1929, he accompanied Ghulam Nabi Charkhi in an
raising sheep and cattle, but they also make carpet attempt to recapture northern Afghanistan but was
and felts, and there is some silk production. The again unsuccessful and retired with his supporters
carpets they produce are not of the highest quality across the Soviet border.
among Afghan carpets, but their silk—which has He returned to Afghanistan when Nadir Shah
been traditionally sent to Bukhara to be woven and came to power, and in March 1930, he was ap-
is known as labiabi (riverbank silk)—is superb. Un- pointed to the Mission of Reconstruction that was
like most of the tribes in Afghanistan, the Arsaris do sent to Mazar-i Sharif under the control of Muham-
not have a tradition of raiding or fighting with other mad Yaqub. In 1931, he commanded part of the
tribes, except in self-defense. force during operations against Ibrahim Beg, an
References Uzbek Basmachi. Beg had originally fought against
Clifford, Mary Louise. 1973. The Land and People of the Bolsheviks, mounting raids from his bases inside
Afghanistan. Philadelphia: Lippincott. Afghanistan. However, under pressure from the So-
viets, Nadir Shah prevented him from raiding across
ASGHAR, MUHAMMAD (1914– ) the border, and so Beg began to raid within Afghan-
Muhammad Asghar held several positions in Af- istan but was defeated by the amir’s forces; he re-
ghanistan, being president of Kabul University from treated across the Soviet border and was caught by
1954 to 1960, deputy minister of the interior from Soviet troops and executed in April 1931. In De-
1960 to 1962, and minister of justice from 1967 to cember 1931, as a reward for his actions in Mazar-i
1969. However, in October 1989, he became presi- Sharif, Ata was appointed a member of the Council
dent of the National Salvation Society, which was of Notables.
made up of officials who were opposed to the See also Amanullah, King; Nadir, Shah Muhammad
bloody conflict in Afghanistan and wanted a politi- References
cal solution to the war. The members of the society Gregorian, Vartan. 1969. The Emergence of Modern
had no affiliation to the People’s Democratic Party Afghanistan: Politics of Reformed Modernization,
of Afghanistan. 1880–1946. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
ATA, MUHAMMAD (DATES OF BIRTH AUCKLAND, LORD GEORGE EDEN

AND DEATH UNKNOWN) (1784–1849)
Muhammad Ata was the son of the governor of Lord Auckland was the governor-general of India
Mazar-i Sharif at the time of Amir Habibullah from 1836 to 1842 and was responsible for involving
(1901–1919). He was present in Jalalabad when the Britain in the First Anglo-Afghan War but at vari-
amir was assassinated and was implicated in the ance with the wishes of the directors of the British
murder; he was arrested, condemned to death, and East India Company. The objective of the action
then pardoned at the last minute. In the following carried out by Lord Auckland was to replace Amir
year, there was an attack on King Amanullah, and Dost Muhammad with Shah Shuja; the Simla Man-
Ata was arrested in Pagham on suspicion of com- ifesto of 1 October 1838, issued by Auckland, was, in
plicity but was later released without charge. effect, a declaration of war. Auckland stressed that
In 1920, he was appointed by King Amanullah as the situation in Afghanistan was critical because of
diplomatic representative at Bukhara, but this event Russian and Persian influences on Dost Muham-
coincided with a Bolshevik revolt, so he never as- mad and that he was compelled to act without the
sumed the post. He returned to Mazar-i Sharif, prior consent of the company’s board of directors.
34 AUSTRALIAN SPECIAL FORCES
The plan devised by Auckland initially envisaged A similar incident occurred on the following
using the army of Ranjit Singh of the Sikh nation to day, with another patrol coming under heavy fire
restore Shah Shuja to the Afghan throne, but Ranjit from rocket-propelled grenades and small arms.
Singh was reluctant to become involved, so Auck- The patrol reported killing two of the enemy and
land concluded that he could not be trusted to con- was again able to withdraw without casualties. It
clude the venture successfully, even if persuaded to was evident from this further engagement that al-
act. It was therefore left to the British India army to Qaeda fighters had now dispersed into small units
wage the war, and early successes led to Auckland to cause maximum damage but without exposing
being awarded a peerage in 1839. However, the dis- themselves to the effects of the U.S. air strikes that
astrous war led to him being denounced and re- any large concentration would attract. The Aus-
called to London. tralian SAS continued operations in the area with-
See also Burnes, Alexander; First Anglo-Afghan War; out further incidents, and none of the Coalition
Shuja, Shah; Simla Manifesto forces were successful in locating large groups of
References enemy troops.
Heathcote, T. A. 1980. The Afghan Wars, 1839–1919. Australian Special Forces were again in combat
London: Osprey. on 16 May, when two separate patrols were engaged
by enemy forces in Paktia Province. A five-man pa-
AUSTRALIAN SPECIAL FORCES trol was attacked by an estimated ninety al-Qaeda
The Australian government committed a rotating fighters. A second patrol attempting to join these
squadron of special forces to Afghanistan in 2002, men also came under attack, and Coalition air
and they were involved in a number of critical ac- strikes had to be called up to enable the patrols to
tions, including Operations Mountain Lion and withdraw. It is estimated that the patrols killed three
Condor. In company with special forces from other of the enemy and the air strikes a further ten, but a
members of the Coalition, their operations were di- follow-up operation mounted by 1,000 British
rected to finding concentrations of Taliban and al- Royal Marines, known as Operation Condor, failed
Qaeda forces, especially in the mountainous region to locate the enemy force, which had almost cer-
of Paktia Province, bordering Afghanistan. tainly melted away across the border.
Operation Mountain Lion was conducted in the No further combat took place between June and
immediate area around the town of Khost, which is July, although patrols continued in the area around
only some 20 miles from the Pakistan border, and Kabul and Gardez in Paktia Province, the objective
commenced in April 2002. The Australian Special being to deny territory to al-Qaeda and Taliban
Air Service (SAS) squadron of 150 men was charged fighters. At first, the Australians were treated with
with gathering intelligence to enable the Coalition hostility by the local population, but they worked
to counter al-Qaeda fighters who were infiltrating hard at convincing the locals that their fight was
from Pakistan in order to harass Coalition forces with al-Qaeda and the Taliban, not the Afghan peo-
and attack the civilian population. The mission was ple or Muslims in general. The Australian patrols
carried out by soldiers operating in small groups of provided a level of security that enabled UN mine-
four, five, or six men, working in areas known to be clearing teams to return, other aid agencies to re-
traversed by the enemy. Such actions were danger- sume operations, and the government to reopen
ous, and on 30 April, a small patrol was discovered schools. A third rotation of Australian Special Forces
by an enemy group; the enemies engaged them, but arrived in Afghanistan in August 2002, joining what
the patrol withdrew after killing two of the attackers. was now considered to be a counterinsurgency op-
A rapid-reaction force from the U.S. airborne divi- eration, with al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters deemed
sion launched a follow-up search of the area but unlikely to mount any mass attack that would leave
without success: the al-Qaeda group had almost cer- them vulnerable to U.S. air power.
tainly crossed back into Pakistan. However, the Prime Minister Helen Clark finally confirmed a
troops did discover large quantities of mortar New Zealand SAS presence in Afghanistan, but no
rounds, grenades, and ammunition in buildings and details have been released as to its strength, deploy-
caves, together with evidence showing that the ment, or actions undertaken.
enemy had dragged away injured or dead comrades. See also al-Qaeda; UK Special Forces; U.S. Special Forces
AYUB, KHAN MUHAMMAD 35
References AYUB, KHAN MUHAMMAD (1857–1914)

Beaumont, Peter. 2002. “Special Forces Take Over Hunt Muhammad Ayub was the son of Amir Shir Ali and
for al-Qaeda.” Observer (London), 4 August. brother of Yaqub Khan. He became governor of
Berger, Julien, and Richard Norton-Taylor. 2001. Herat at his father’s death on 21 February 1879, while
“Special Forces in Afghanistan.” Guardian (London), his brother was being crowned king at Kabul. On
29 September.
hearing that the British had occupied Kabul, Ayub
Evans, Michael. 2001. “SAS Already Gathering
Intelligence in Afghanistan.” Times (London), 21
raised a force to expel them from Afghanistan, and he
September. was proclaimed as amir by the ulama (Islamic schol-
ars and clergymen) in Herat. He marched against
AWAKENED YOUTH (WISH ZALMAYAN) Kandahar on 27 July 1880, and at the Battle of Mai-
Awakened Youth, one of the earliest political parties wand, he virtually destroyed the force of Gen. George
in Afghanistan, was a liberal organization founded Burrows. His troops then besieged Kandahar, but the
in Kandahar in 1947 by literary figures and Pashtun intervention of another British force, under Gen.
nationalists. It included such individuals as Sham- Frederick Roberts, compelled Ayub to retreat to
suddin Majruh, Mir Ghulam Muhammad Ghobar, Herat, though with his forces largely intact. He
and Nur Muhammad Taraki, and its objective was moved again on Kandahar in June 1881, but by then,
the reform of Afghan society. The aims of the orga- Abdur Rahman had been recognized as amir by
nization were to advance education, eradicate cor- Britain, and his forces easily routed Muhammad
ruption, promote national welfare, and increase un- Ayub at Kandahar in September. At the same time,
derstanding and respect among the people. The one of his generals, Abdul Quddus, had been sent to
party eventually split over the issue of Pashtun na- Herat to capture the city, which had been left bereft of
tionalism, with the nationalists leaving to support forces, and Ayub was forced to flee to Iran with his
the Red Shirt movement of Khan Abdul Ghaffar immediate entourage. After a few years in Iran, he ac-
Khan. cepted asylum for himself and his followers in India.
See also Ghobar, Mir Ghulam Muhammad; Red Shirts; See also Maiwand, Battle of; Quddus, Abdul; Shir Ali,
Taraki, Nur Muhammad Amir; Yaqub Khan, Amir Muhammad
References References
Newell, Richard S. 1972. The Politics of Afghanistan. Forbes, A. 1982. The Afghan Wars, 1839–42 and
Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. 1878–80. London: Seeley.
BADAKHSHAN PROVINCE
Badakhshan is a province in northeastern Afghani-
stan with an area of 15,786 square miles and a pop-
ulation of about 484,000. The province includes the
Wakhan Corridor, which is a narrow valley separat-
B
ing Tajikstan from the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent
and extending to the border with China. The ad- BADAKHSHI, TAHIR (?–1979)
ministrative capital of this largely mountainous Together with Babrak Karmal and Nur Muham-
province with high valleys and peaks of 16,000 feet mad Taraki, Tahir Badakhshi was one of the
is Faizabad. The province is extremely rich in min- founders of the People’s Democratic Party of Af-
eral resources, including, silver, copper, lead, and ghanistan (PDPA) and a member of the party’s
precious stones, particularly lapis lazuli, with Central Committee in 1965. In 1967, he sided with
Badahkshan being the most important source for the Parcham faction of the PDPA in a dispute with
this gemstone in Afghanistan. A further economic the Khalq arm of the party but then left the PDPA
development in the past was a lucrative tourist in- to form National Oppression (Setam-i-Milli), es-
dustry based on wealthy foreigners hunting ibex tablished in 1968 as a Marxist, anti-Pashtun party.
and snow leopards, but this was totally disrupted by He was born in Faizabad in Badakhshan Province
all of the conflicts in recent years. and educated in Kabul at the Habibia School before
The population is largely Tajik, though there are studying in the Faculty of Economics at Kabul Uni-
communities of Uzbeks in the west and Wakhis and versity. In the summer of 1978, he was arrested and
Qirghiz in the Wakhan Corridor (most of the latter imprisoned in the Pul-i Charkhi jail. He was exe-
fled after the Soviet invasion, however). Until 1850, cuted on 17 September 1979 during the rule of
autonomous chiefs had ruled the province before Hafizullah Amin.
being brought under the control of Kabul by Amir See also People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan
Dost Muhammad, and under Amir Abdur Rah- References
man, Badakhshan became an integral part of the Arnold, Anthony. 1983. Afghanistan’s Two-Party
kingdom. In 1893, the Durand Agreement demar- Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Stanford, CA:
cated Afghanistan’s northern border, allocating the Hoover Institution Press.
Wakhan Corridor to Afghanistan, but Abdur Rah-
man was reluctant to accept the territory because it BADGHIS PROVINCE
was difficult to defend. However, he ultimately Badghis is a province of northwestern Afghanistan
agreed to do so, considering it as a buffer between and was part of Herat Province until 1964. Its area
the British and Russian Empires, after his subsidy is 8,438 square miles, and it has a population of
from Britain was increased by 650,000 rupees. Dur- about 47,000 and borders on Turkmenistan in the
ing the period of the Soviet occupation and the rule north and Herat in the west. The climate is cold in
of the Taliban (1979–2001), the province was under the winter and hot in the summer, and the province
the control of the Northern Alliance. has an abundance of good water and grassy hills but
See also Durand Agreement; Wakhan District is almost totally devoid of bushes and trees. The
References economy is largely dependent on agriculture, with
Adamec, Ludwig. 1972–1985. Historical and Political the main crops being barley, wheat, and pistachio
Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria: nuts. The population was mainly nomadic in the
Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt. past because of the fear of Turkoman raids from the
37
38 BAGHLAN PROVINCE
north, but it is now largely composed of Pashtuns, came a major strategic base for the Soviet defense of
Jamshidis, Hazaras, and small communities of other Kabul and the Salang highway. The air base was con-
ethnic groups. stantly under attack by the mujahideen, with one at-
References tack on 3 June 1985 destroying some 70 Soviet air-
Adamec, Ludwig. 1972–1985. Historical and Political craft and killing about 100 Soviet troops. Following
Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria: the fall of the Marxist regime and the Soviet with-
Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt. drawal in 1989, the base was much fought over by
rival mujahideen groups before becoming a strate-
BAGHLAN PROVINCE gic base for the government of Burhanuddin Rab-
Baghlan Province in northeastern Afghanistan has bani until it was captured by the Taliban on 24 Sep-
an area of 6,627 square miles and a population of tember 1996. Following the collapse of the Taliban
some 486,000. Baghlan is also the name of the ad- regime, the Bagram air base was taken over by the
ministrative capital, which has around 39,000 in- Coalition forces in the campaign against the Taliban
habitants. The province includes the northern and al-Qaeda.
slopes of the Hindu Kush range crossed by the Ro- See also Civil War; Coalition Land Campaign against the
batak, Barabi, Khawak, and Salang Passes, the latter Taliban; Taliban
having been a crucial supply route for the Soviets References
during the occupation of Afghanistan from 1979 to Maley, William. 1999. Fundamentalism Reborn?
1989. The north of the province is mainly agricul- Afghanistan and the Taliban. London: Hurst.
tural, with irrigation provided by the rivers and
sugar beets and cotton being the major crops; in ad- BALKH PROVINCE
dition, grapes, pistachio nuts, and pomegranates are Balkh Province in north-central Afghanistan has
significant export crops. Karakul sheep are also an area of 4,633 square miles and a population of
raised in the northern part of the province. An im- about 570,000. The administrative capital of the
portant industry is sugar production, which was province is Mazar-i Sharif, which, prior to the War
started in 1940 with technical assistance from Czech on Terror declared by U.S. President George W.
industrialists. Coal is extracted in the Karkar Valley Bush in 2001, had a population of about 103,000
near Pul-i-Khumri, and a silk industry was begun in inhabitants. It is also the location of a shrine be-
1951. lieved to be the burial place of the caliph Ali, who
References died in A.D. 640. Another town of historical impor-
Amin, H. 1974. Agricultural Geography of Afghanistan. tance is Balkh, which is about 14 miles west of
Kabul: Kabul University Press. Mazar-i Sharif on the Balkh River. According to
Jettmar, Karl. 1974. Cultures of the Hindukush. local tradition, it was founded by Noah, and
Wiesbaden, Germany: Franz Steiner.
Zoroastrian tradition has it as the birthplace of
Zoroaster, but it became secondary to Mazar-i
BAGRAM Sharif after the discovery of Ali’s tomb. The
The town of Bagram is located to the north of province has been colonized by the Greeks, the
Kabul, near the confluence of the Panjshir and Turkomans, and the Kushkans and was ravaged by
Ghorband Rivers, just to the west of Charikar. It lies the invading armies of Genghis Khan. Mazar-i
on the site of an ancient city and has a number of Sharif has been of great strategic significance, was
Buddhist, Greco-Roman, and Phoenician artifacts, the scene of massacres by the Taliban, and was a
many of which were destroyed by the Taliban in major trophy in the advance by the Northern Al-
March 2001. The present town is small and is the liance on Kabul in December 2001.
center of the district of the same name in Parwan
See also Mazar-i Sharif
Province, whose significance is now linked to the References
presence of the air base, built with Soviet assistance Adamec, Ludwig. 1972–1985. Historical and Political
in the 1950s. The base was occupied by Soviet para- Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria:
troops on 7 July 1979 in preparation for the invasion Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt.
of Afghanistan in December 1979, when the 105th Dupree, Nancy Hatch. 1967. The Road to Balkh. Kabul:
Guard Airborne Division landed there. Bagram be- Afghan Tourist Organization.
BAMIAN PROVINCE 39
The fifteenth-century mosque at Mazar-i Sharif in northern Afghanistan. Revered by Afghans because of the belief that the tomb of Ali,
fourth caliph of Islam and son-in-law of Muhammad, the founder of Islam, lies within the mosque. (Charles and Josette Lenars/Corbis)
BALUCHS BAMIAN PROVINCE

The Baluchs make up one of Afghanistan’s ethnic Bamian Province is located in central Afghanistan,
minorities and are found primarily in Nimruz occupies an area of 6,757 square miles, and has a
Province, but there are also small, scattered commu- population of about 285,00, with the administrative
nities in Badakhshan, Farah, Fariab, Helmand, capital being a town of the same name. Bamian is
Herat, Jozjan, and Kunduz Provinces. No accurate about 205 miles north of Kabul and is about 8,200
figures exist as to their numbers, which are esti- feet above sea level. The province is part of the
mated to be between 100,000 and 200,000, and all mountainous Hazarajat region of central Afghani-
are Sunni Muslims speaking the Baluchi language, stan and is inhabited primarily by the Hazaras, who
except for the Qatagham Baluchs, who speak Dari. were severely persecuted by the Taliban. The
The Baluchs are largely sedentary, and they are no province was famous for its two statues of the Bud-
longer organized into specific tribes. The main con- dha, which were 120 and 175 feet high and dated
centrations of Baluchs are in the Baluchistan from the third and fifth centuries A.D. The cliffs
provinces of Iran and Pakistan, where they number where they were carved from solid rock were deco-
some 5 million, with small communities existing in rated with stucco works and wall paintings, in a mix
provinces of the former Soviet Union. Since the of Indian, Central Asian, Iranian, and classical Euro-
mid-1970s, some 2,500 Baluch guerrillas have been pean styles. The cliffs were honeycombed with caves
sheltering in southern Afghanistan following strug- serving as living quarters for the Buddhist monks
gles for Baluch autonomy in Pakistan. and are still inhabited by Afghanis. Despite an inter-
References national outcry by governments and organizations,
Clifford, Mary Louise. 1973. The Land and People of such as the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Afghanistan. Philadelphia: Lippincott. Organization (UNESCO), the Taliban blew up the
Raverty, H. G. 1976. Notes on Afghanistan and statues in March 2001, as they considered them an
Baluchistan. Quetta, Pakistan: Gosha-a-Adeb. affront to their Islamic state.
40 BARAKI TRIBE
See also Destruction of Pre-Islamic Heritage; Hazaras; and raise extensive flocks of livestock in the land be-
Taliban tween Herat and Kandahar.
References See also Durrani Tribe; Ghilzai Tribe
Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political References
Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria: Wilber, Donald Newton. 1962. Afghanistan: Its People, Its
Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt. Society, Its Culture. New Haven, CT: HRAF Press.
BARAKI TRIBE BARECHI TRIBE

The Baraki tribe is made up of Tajiks who have The Barechis are Sunni Muslims who inhabit the
mixed with the Ghilzais and who inhabit Logar Sharawak region to the south of Kandahar in Kan-
and parts of Butkhak. They are thought to have ar- dahar Province and own most of the cultivable area.
rived in the 11th century with Sultan Mahmud, They are divided into the Badalzais, Manodozais,
their origins uncertain, and their lands were exten- Zakozais, and Shiranis, with the first three sections
sive. They considered themselves to be descended tracing their ancestry back to Barech, the ancestor of
from Arabs, although others feel that they may be all Pashtuns. The Barechis are agriculturalists and
of Kurdish origin. Traditionally, they have pro- irrigate their lands from the River Lora, which flows
vided soldiers for the government forces, and they through the Sharawak Valley; they also breed
were part of the force Mahmud Shah took with camels, with the wool being exported to Kandahar.
him on his incursions into India. In return for Wheat is the main crop grown in the rich alluvial
their military service, the amir granted them land soil. The Barechis are known as a peaceful tribe but,
rights. The tribe is divided into two divisions, with at the same time, are closely knit and are skilled
those in Logar speaking Persian and the others swordsmen, having provided men for the armies of
speaking Baraki. Ahmad Shah and Shah Shuja. Despite their peaceful
See also Durrani Tribe; Ghilzai Tribe nature, there is bitter enmity between the tribe and
References the Achakzais. A significant amount of intermar-
Bellew, H. D. 1880. The Races of Afghanistan: Being an riage has taken place with their Brahui neighbors.
Account of the Nations Inhabiting That Country.
See also Brahuis
London: Thacker.
References
Wilber, Donald Newton. 1962. Afghanistan: Its people, Its
BARAKZAIS Society, Its Culture. New Haven, CT: HRAF Press.
The Barakzais are a significant section of the Zirah
branch of the Durrani tribe, which has been the rul- BAREQ-SHAFI’I, MUHAMMAD HASAN
ing family in Afghanistan, and in terms of numbers, (1932– )
economic standing, and political influence, they Muhammad Hasan Bareq-Shafi’i is a noted Afghan
have been the paramount tribe in Afghanistan. The poet and writer and was also a high-ranking mem-
Barakzais are the majority in the area to the south of ber of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan
Kandahar, the valley of the Arghastan River, and (PDPA). He had been editor of a number of news-
along the banks and plains of the Helmand River. papers and journals, including Pashtun Voice (Pash-
The Barakzais had been soldiers in Iran, serving tun Zhagh), Message of the Day (Payam-i-Imruz),
Nadir Shah, the founder of the Afshamid dynasty, Theatre (Nanderi), and Life (Zhuandin) and was a
and following his successful invasion of Afghanistan member of the Parchami faction of the PDPA from
and the capture of Herat, they were settled on land the outset.
taken from the Ghilzais. This situation caused fric- Bareq-Shafi’i is a Pashtun who was born in
tion and rivalry between the Durranis and the 1932 in Kabul and educated at Ghazi High School
Ghilzais, which has continued to the present day. and at the Theological College in Kabul. In 1966,
The link between the Barakzais and the rulers of Af- he became editor of Khalq, which was the party
ghanistan continued with their service under organ of the PDPA. After the Saur Revolt of April
Ahmad Shah Durrani, and they rose to complete 1978, which brought the Communists to power, he
power when their chief Dost Muhammad came to became minister of information and culture and,
power in 1792. The Barakzais are large landowners in 1979, minister of transport. During the period
BONN CONFERENCE 41
of Khalq dominance, Bareq-Shafi’i was forced to References

denounce Babrak Karmal, and when Karmal rose Arnold, Anthony. 1983. Afghanistan’s Two-Party
to power, he was demoted to being only an alter- Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Stanford, CA:
nate member of the Central Committee of the Hoover Institution Press.
PDPA. In 1982, he was appointed vice-president of
the Central Council of the National Fatherland BEHESHTI, SAYYID ALI
Front and governor of Herat Province. Three years Sayyid Ali Beheshti was president of the Revolution-
later, he was appointed second secretary to the ary Council of the Islamic Union of Afghanistan,
Afghan embassy in Libya, and in May 1987, he which controlled large parts of the Hazarajat region
took over control of the party paper and was chair in central Afghanistan in 1982. He was born in
of the union of journalists. After the fall of the Bamian Province and was educated in Saudi Arabia
Marxist government in 1992, he is thought to have and Iraq, where he was in close contact with the ex-
fled to Europe. iled Ayatollah Khomeini. On his return to Afghani-
See also National Fatherland Front; People’s Democratic stan, he opened a madrasa (religious school) at
Party of Afghanistan Waras in Ghor Province in order to spread his re-
References vivalist ideas among the Hazara population. He was
Guistozzi, Antonio. 2000. War, Politics and Society in also a speaker in the parliament at Kabul until the
Afghanistan, 1978–1992. Washington, DC: Saur Revolt of April 1978, which brought the com-
Georgetown University Press. munists to power. In September 1979, he was
elected president of the Shura (the elected ruling
BARYALAI, MAHMUD (1944– ) council in the Hazarajat) by a council of elders and
Mahmud Baryalai was appointed as first deputy set up a traditional Islamic resistance group, led by
prime minister in May 1990 by Dr. Muhammad Sayyid Muhammad Hasan Jagran. The group oper-
Najibullah (president of Afghanistan and leader of ated out of Waras and was a major force in the Haz-
the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan, or arajat until losing ground to the Islamist forces of
PDPA) and was a member of the executive board Nasr, a group founded by Sheikh Mir Husain Sad-
of the Central Council of the Islamic Unity Party eqi. Beheshti had set up an infrastructure in the
(Hizb-i Wahdat). He was born in Kabul and edu- Hazarajat by disarming the population, appointing
cated at the Habibia School, at Kabul University, mayors and governors of towns, and creating an ad-
and in the Soviet Union, where he received an ministration based on traditional lines. However,
M.A. degree in political economics. Baryalai is a the Shura was torn by internal factionalism and
half brother of Babrak Karmal (a leading member pressured by radical Islamist movements, and the
of the PDPA) and the son-in-law of Anahita Rate- area controlled by the movement dwindled. Be-
bzad (a prominent female member of parliament heshti joined forces with Burhanuddin Rabbani, the
and the PDPA). He was also a charter member of political leader of the Northern Alliance, but was
the PDPA. After the Saur Revolt of April 1978 and driven out of Kabul by the arrival of the Taliban in
the advent of Communist rule in Kabul, he became 1996.
the Afghan ambassador to Pakistan in July 1978 See also Shi’a Mujahideen Groups
but was recalled as part of the Khalq purge in Oc- References
tober 1978, though he did not return to Kabul. Fol- Olesen, A. 1995. Islam and Politics in Afghanistan.
lowing the ousting of Hafizullah Amin, he became London: Curzon Press.
head of the International Relations Department of
the PDPA and editor of the party newspaper in BONN CONFERENCE (2 DECEMBER 2002)
1980. He was expelled from the party in July 1991 Following the Bonn Conference of December 2001,
prior to Babrak Karmal’s return to Afghanistan. which was sponsored by the United Nations and
After the fall of the Marxist regime, he moved into helped set up the Afghanistan Interim Govern-
the region controlled by Gen. Abdul Rashid Dos- ment, a second conference was held at Bonn on 2
tum but is thought to have sought asylum abroad December 2002. It was attended by representatives
thereafter. from Afghanistan, led by President Hamid Karzai,
See also People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan and thirty-one other nations. The conference was
42 BRAHUIS
convened to discuss the rebuilding of Afghanistan, “Summit to Tackle Afghan Woes.” 2002.
to find ways of speeding up the creation of a new http://www.afgfha.com (cited 2 December 2002).
national army, and to discuss the security problems
in Afghanistan in order to find ways to increase the BRAHUIS
government’s authority outside of Kabul. The Brahuis are members of one of Afghanistan’s
At the time of the conference, the security ques- small ethnic communities and speak a Dravidian
tion was brought to the fore by reports of fighting language; they are found in the southern parts of the
between rival warlords in Paktia Province, leading to provinces of Kandahar and Nimruz. They are of an-
appeals from President Karzai for more assistance in cient origin and were mentioned by Pliny in his ac-
respect to security problems. The United States is counts of Bactria. Historically, these people were es-
now training the new Afghan army with French as- sentially nomadic. The community numbers
sistance, and Germany is leading efforts to set up a somewhat in excess of 20,000 today, and members
national police force, but progress has been slow due speak Pashtu and Baluchi and consider themselves
to resistance from Afghan leaders keen to retain akin to the Baluchs. The majority of the Brahuis live
their own positions of power. Although President in the Pakistan province of Baluchistan, and the
Karzai has called for the role of the International Se- community is composed of Sunni Muslims of the
curity Assistance Force (ISAF) to be extended to the Hanifa School. The Brahuis in Pakistan are divided
rest of the country, such a move has been resisted by into two main tribes, with members of the Sarawa
contributing nations, mainly from Europe. tribe considering themselves to be of Afghan de-
The closing statement from the conference also scent, but the tribal structure is compact and united
reaffirmed the need for international aid for Af- (though there is intermarriage with their Barechi
ghanistan but stressed that the country had to im- neighbors).
plement economic reforms, to guarantee human See also Barechi Tribe
rights for women and ethnic minorities, and to ef- References
fectively combat the drug trade. The progress of re- Bray, Denys. 1913. The Life and History of a Brahui.
building, with the opening of schools and the re- London: Royal Asiatic Society.
construction of roads, was also recognized, but the ———. 1986. The Brahui Language, an Old Dravidian
conference attendees acknowledged that real Language Spoken in Parts of Baluchistan and Sind.
progress would depend on an improved security sit- Delhi, India: Gian Publishing House.
Raverty, H. G. 1976. Notes on Afghanistan and
uation. One of the main areas of concern was how
Baluchistan. Quetta, Pakistan: Gosho-a-Adeb.
to bring the warlords and their militias under the
control of the Kabul government. This issue was
BURNES, ALEXANDER (1805–1841)
seen as a major factor in ensuring that the timetable
Alexander Burnes was a captain in the British In-
set out at Bonn in December 2001 regarding a new
dian army who was sent by the British East India
constitution and democratic elections could still be
Company in September 1837 to the court of Amir
met. The conference also concluded that the fight of
Dost Muhammad in Afghanistan. The objectives of
the civilized world against international terrorism,
the mission were to conclude an alliance between
irrational fanaticism, and the evils of the drug trade
the amir and Britain and to reach a peace agree-
was at stake in Afghanistan.
ment with Ranjit Singh of the Sikh nation, who had
See also Afghan Army; Disarmament Program; captured Kashmir and entered Peshawar. Burnes
Reconstruction Program was well received by the amir, and a settlement
References looked promising, but Lord Auckland of the East
Czacka, Tony. 2002. “Afghanistan Conference Sets Track
India Company refused to make any commitments
for Army, Election, a Year after Taliban Ousted.”
http://www.story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story
other than to recommend that the amir drop his
2&cid:524=u=/ap/20021202/ap (cited 3 December claim to Peshawar and make peace with the Sikhs.
2002). Tensions between the British and the amir were
Graham, Stephen. 2003. “Afghan Leader Appeals for heightened by correspondence conducted by the
More Security.” http://www.afghan.com (cited 2 amir with the Russian government, as well as the
December 2002). presence in Kabul of a Russian emissary, Capt. Ivan
BURNES, ALEXANDER 43
Vitkevich, all of which led to the invasion of Af- among the staff assassinated on 2 November 1841.
ghanistan and the outbreak of the First Anglo- The war was a complete disaster for the British
Afghan War in 1839. Burnes had returned to Kabul army and the British India government.
with the British army to serve as deputy to Sir See also Capitulation, Treaty of; First Anglo-Afghan War;
William Macnaghten, head of the British mission at Macnaghten, Sir William
Kabul. However, there was an uprising in Kabul References
among the civilian population and members of the Norris, James A. 1967. The First Afghan War, 1838–42.
army, who sacked the British mission. Burnes was London: Cambridge University Press.
CAPITULATION, TREATY OF (1841)
On 11 December 1841, during the First Anglo-
Afghan War, British forces opened negotiations
with Afghan chiefs when it was evident that they
could not defend themselves against further
C
Afghan attacks. A treaty was signed by Eldred Pot-
tinger, the political agent at Kabul, and Maj. Gen. CAVAGNARI, SIR PIERRE LOUIS (1841–1879)
William Elphinstone, commander of the British Pierre Louis Cavagnari was of mixed British and
forces in Afghanistan, as well as a number of French ancestry, was commissioner of Peshawar, and
Afghan chiefs, including Muhammad Akbar Khan, was the British government’s signatory for the 1879
son of Amir Dost Muhammad. The treaty de- Treaty of Gandomak concluded with Yaqub Khan,
manded that the British withdraw from Afghani- ruler of Afghanistan from February to October 1879.
stan and never return, that they hand over all On 21 September 1878, he had crossed the Afghan
weapons as a sign of friendship, and that all the border with a small entourage to prepare for the mis-
seized property of the amir be returned. Six British sion of Sir Neville Chamberlain to Kabul. The party
officers were to remain behind as a gesture of good- was stopped at Ali Masjid by Afghan troops under
will, and they were to be released, together with the the command of Gen. Faiz Muhammad, and this ac-
sick and wounded at Kabul, once the British had tion was used by Britain as an excuse to invade Af-
crossed the border. The retreating army was to be ghanistan on 21 November 1878, thus beginning the
accompanied to the border to prevent molestation Second Anglo-Afghan War. At the end of the war,
by Afghan tribesmen during the withdrawal. Cavagnari was appointed as the British envoy to the
Britain was still to be bound by earlier agreements amir’s court at Kabul, where he arrived in July 1879.
to offer assistance in the event of a foreign invasion However, on 3 September 1879, mutinous Afghan
of Afghanistan. soldiers and Kabuli civilians attacked the British mis-
The treaty, however, was never implemented be- sion, and Cavagnari and his staff were killed. The
cause of mutual distrust between the two parties, British feared a repeat of the debacle of the First
and the British representative at Kabul, Sir William Anglo-Afghan War and withdrew their army, having
Macnaghten, was killed by Sardar Akbar Khan, recognized Abdur Rahman Khan as amir.
commander of the Afghan forces, when he discov- See also Gandomak, Treaty of; Second Anglo-Afghan
ered that the British had been trying to reach a deal War; Yaqub Khan, Amir Muhammad
with rival chiefs. The British refused to hand over References
their weapons and began to evacuate Kabul on 6 Cardew, F. G. 1908. The Second Afghan War, 1878–80.
January 1842 but were almost totally wiped out on London: J. Murray.
the march to the border. Despite this outcome, Dey, Kelly Prosono. 1881. The Life and Career of Major
British officers and families left behind under the Sir Louis Cavagnari, C.S.I., K.C.B. British Envoy at
protection of Akbar Khan were returned safely to Cabul, with a Brief Outline of the Second Anglo-
Afghan War. Calcutta, India: J. N. Ghose.
India.
See also Burnes, Alexander; First Anglo-Afghan War;
Pottinger, Maj. Eldred CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY AND
References ITS SUPPORT FOR THE MUJAHIDEEN
Norris, James A. The First Anglo-Afghan War, 1838–42. In the ten years following the 1979–1989 Soviet oc-
London: Cambridge University Press. cupation of Afghanistan, the United States provided
45
46 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY AND ITS SUPPORT FOR THE MUJAHIDEEN
Sir Pierre Louis Cavagnari, British envoy to Afghanistan, photographed on his way to Kabul in July 1879. He was killed two months
later during an Afghan uprising in Kabul, which led to the Second Anglo-Afghan War. (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis)
between $2 billion and $3 billion to the coalition of However, by 1989, the military campaign had stag-
seven mujahideen groups recognized by Pakistan. nated, for the alliance was unable to command a na-
However, this coalition, known as the Afghan In- tional consensus to continue the jihad and the at-
terim Government, was on the fringes of Afghan tempt to take Jalalabad had foundered badly against
politics, as it failed to include representatives of key government forces. The United States had portrayed
Afghan constituencies, such as field commanders. It the Afghan war as a battle between Najibullah’s for-
was more representative of Pakistani interests and eign-backed forces and those of the U.S.-backed pa-
policies rather than fully meeting Afghan interests, triots. Both were, in fact, mirror images, as neither
as evidenced by the fact that Gulbuddin Hekmat- side in the conflict was indigenous or broad-based
yar’s group received the bulk of U.S. aid because he and 40 percent of the population were refugees, liv-
was favored by Pakistan authorities as the leader ing either in urban areas or refugee camps.
they wished to deal with. The group had an inabil- The whole nature of the mujahideen movement
ity to attract support inside Afghanistan and was was complex, as it included both Islamic revolution-
only held together by the jihad against the Marxist aries and elite traditionalists, with a working alliance
government in Kabul, as well as the Soviet occupy- being the price of continued U.S. support. The
ing forces. United States also used Pakistan as a conduit for this
Officials in the Central Intelligence Agency support, and President Mohammad Zia al Haq
(CIA) thought that the Soviet withdrawal would re- would only recognize seven groups for receiving
sult in the mujahideen instantly toppling the regime funds and arms. Power accrued to the Afghan In-
of Muhammad Najibullah and that the conflict terim Government because its members were seen
would only last a few weeks or at most six months. as approved middlemen, and the field commanders
CIVIL WAR 47
cooperated with the arrangement, either because of Moscow but returned in 1929 to lead an army, offi-
affinities or because it was the only way to obtain so- cered by Afghan cadets who had been in Turkey, in
phisticated arms and equipment. Beyond the belief an attempt to restore Amanullah to the throne. How-
that the Soviets must be expelled from Afghanistan ever, he was unable to defeat the forces of Habibullah
and the Communist government brought down, Kalakani and was forced to withdraw into the Soviet
there was little agreement between any of the groups Union. In 1932, he was pardoned and returned to
in Peshawar. The role of the Inter-Services Intelli- Afghanistan but was later accused of subversive ac-
gence (ISI) unit of Pakistan, whose representatives tivities against Nadir Shah and executed.
sat in on all meetings, and the financing provided See also Amanullah, King; Habibullah Kalakani; Khost
for some groups from Saudi Arabia or Iran caused Rebellion
the Peshawar groups to be regarded as tools of ex- References
ternal policies rather than Afghan interests. Poullada, Leon B. 1973. Reform and Rebellion in
See also Inter-Services Intelligence Service Afghanistan, 1919–1929. Ithaca, NY: Cornell
References University Press.
Bonosky, Phillip. 1985. Washington’s Secret War against
Afghanistan. New York: International Publishers. CIVIL WAR
Lohbeck, Kurt. 1993. Holy War, Unholy Victory: Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan
Eyewitness to the CIA’s Secret War in Afghanistan. After ten years of intervention in Afghanistan and
Washington, DC: Regnery Gateway. an occupation in all but name, the Soviet Union fi-
nally withdrew its forces in 1989. The Soviets had
CHAHAR AIMAQS arrived in Afghanistan on 25 December 1979, and
The Chahar Aimaqs are an ethnic group of some with the death of Hafizullah Amin at the hands of
800,000 Sunni Muslims who are seminomadic and Soviet Special Forces, Babrak Karmal was installed
live in the typical Asian yurt, a conical structure as the new head of a Parcham-based government.
made of felt. Their language is Dari but with a mix The Soviet actions were justified on the grounds
of some Turki, and the group includes Firuzkuhis, that the USSR was coming to the aid of an endan-
Jamshidis, Taimaris, and the Sunni Hazaras of Qala- gered, friendly socialist government, but it was also
i-Nau. Due to their seminomadic lifestyle, they clear that the Soviets had become increasingly
were, in the past, largely independent, but they also alarmed at the unstable and unpredictable nature of
allied themselves with the ruling Durrani princes of the Afghan regime on their southern borders.
Herat. Amir Abdur Rahman was instrumental in The Soviet intervention resulted in large num-
curbing their power, and he placed them under the bers of Afghans becoming refugees in Iran and Af-
direct control of the governor of Herat. The econ- ghanistan, a significant internal displacement of the
omy of the Aimaqs is primarily based on raising population, international condemnation, and
sheep and cattle, and they live mainly in the recognition by the United States that Pakistan was
provinces of Badghis, Ghor, and Herat. now a frontline state in the battle against commu-
See also Jamshidi Tribe; Taimaris nism. Among the refugees in Pakistan and Iran,
References groups began to emerge as a resistance movement
Pedersen, G. 1994. Afghan Nomads in Transition. whose objective was to oust the Communist-backed
London: Thames and Hudson. government in Kabul. The resultant ten-year war
against the Kabul regime of the People’s Democratic
CHARKHI, GHULAM NABI (?–1932) Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), backed by the Soviet
Ghulam was a general under Amir Habibullah who Union, was waged by the mujahideen groups based
was appointed as ambassador to Moscow from 1922 primarily in Pakistan but also in Iran and by leaders
to 1924 by King Amanullah and then deputy minis- such as Ahmad Shah Masood who had remained in
ter of foreign affairs. He was heavily involved in paci- Afghanistan. The guerrilla war was fought with in-
fication campaigns on behalf of the king and served tensity on both sides, without concern for the usual
in the Logar Valley during the Khost Rebellion be- rules of warfare and at enormous cost to both sides,
tween 1924 and 1925. He then served for short peri- so that by 1985, the Soviet Union was beginning to
ods as Afghanistan’s ambassador in Paris and look for a face-saving exit strategy.
48 CIVIL WAR
A Soviet tank crosses the Friendship Bridge linking the USSR and Afghanistan over the Amu Daria River. (Reuters NewMedia
Inc./CORBIS)
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader ment, known as the Geneva Accords, were under-
of the Soviet Union and began to pursue a policy of written by the Soviet Union and the United States,
opening up the country (perestroika) and seeking but the mujahideen were still bitterly opposed to the
accommodation with the West. But the situation in Najibullah government. However, the accords held,
Afghanistan proved to be a stumbling block. The and the Soviet Union began to withdraw from Af-
situation had also changed in Afghanistan as Babrak ghanistan, with the last troops leaving Afghan soil
Karmal resigned as secretary-general of the PDPA on 15 February 1989.
and was replaced by Muhammad Najibullah, who It was anticipated by many observers that the
had been the head of state security, the Khedamat-i Najibullah government would collapse within
Ettela’at-i Daulati (KHAD). Although Karmal con- weeks of the Soviet withdrawal, but to everyone’s
tinued as president for a few months, power really surprise, it survived, despite continuing pressure
rested with Najibullah, who tried to reach an ac- from mujahideen forces that were unable to oust
commodation with the mujahideen, partially government troops from cities such as Jalalabad.
through a reassertion of Islamic values. However, However, the situation soon began to deteriorate
the mujahideen rejected all moves made by the Na- because financial and military aid from the Soviet
jibullah government out of hand and refused to Union had all but ceased, the military was running
enter into any compromise agreement. out of fuel and money, commodity prices had risen
At the same time, proximity talks were being beyond the reach of most people, and the mu-
held in Geneva under the sponsorship of the United jahideen were besieging Kabul. The government
Nations, and on 14 April 1988, agreement was forces had lost all semblance of morale, and even
reached between Afghanistan and Pakistan on the within the government, differences had begun to
withdrawal of Soviet troops in nine months, the cre- emerge as to the best way forward. One governmen-
ation of a neutral state in Afghanistan, and the repa- tal faction wanted to transfer power to the mu-
triation of Afghan refugees. The terms of the agree- jahideen under the Geneva Accords; another faction
CIVIL WAR 49
wanted to form a coalition government with certain All of the parties concerned about the establish-
elements of the mujahideen. ment of an Islamic government in Afghanistan by
Following the collapse of the concept of a coali- the mujahideen supported the formation of either a
tion government, Najibullah declared his support coalition government with the Communists or a
for a transfer of power to all the parties involved in coalition of nationalist movements and figures ac-
the struggle, and he made his views public on 18 ceptable to the Western powers. This approach was
March 1992. However, followers of Babrak Karmal rejected by the Islamic Party, which proposed that:
within the government wanted to form a coalition
government with elements of the mujahideen, ex- • Najibullah should resign
cluding the Islamic Party of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, • Mujahideen groups should agree on the
and it was this faction that held power within the formation of an interim government
military and the militias. In April 1992, an attempt acceptable to all the groups
was made to assassinate Gen. Abdul Rashid Dos- • Communist militia forces should be
tum, but Najibullah’s efforts to remove the general disbanded and their weapons transferred
from the scene were foiled. On 14 April 1992, Na- to the army
jibullah was forced to relinquish power. • Responsibility for the security of the city of
The Kabul government now came under the di- Kabul should be transferred to the police
rect control of supporters of Babrak Karmal, and force
they began to reinforce the defenses of the city by • Power should be transferred peacefully to
bringing troops in from northern Kabul, drawn the interim administration
from groups with whom they had reached a com- • General elections should be held within a
promise over the formation of a coalition govern- six-month time frame
ment. Directives were also issued to all government
employees and military forces in the provinces to These proposals were accepted by all of the mu-
join with mujahideen elements with whom they jahideen except for Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a member
had reached an agreement. At the same time, they of the Islamic Alliance for the Liberation of Af-
were urged to surrender to the weakest mujahideen ghanistan and the Islamic Party of Yunis Khales.
groups where the Islamic Party was the strongest el- The draft plan was submitted to the UN special
ement, and under no circumstances were they to envoy for Afghanistan and was to pave the way for
surrender to the Islamic Party. The coalition con- an interim administration to replace the Commu-
sisted of the Islamist Movement of Burhanuddin nist regime, with a peaceful transition of power.
Rabbani, the Uzbeks under Dostum, the Ismai’li The plan appeared to have received endorsement
faction of Sayed Jafar Nadari, and supporters of by Rabbani’s Islamist Movement when leaders of
Babrak Karmal. that group agreed to sign the agreement on 4 April
Under the terms of the coalition agreement, con- 1992, but they reversed their stand on 30 April after
trol of the cities and highways would reside with the the Communist generals put their support behind
military forces of the Communist government, and the movement.
all political parties would be fused into the civil ad- Leaders of the Islamist Movement insisted on
ministration of a new coalition government. How- the establishment of an interim government made
ever, Hekmatyar’s Islamic Party was pushing for the up of mujahideen leaders, as this would lead them
formation of a transitional government acceptable into a coalition with elements of the Communist
to all parties, transfer of power to an interim gov- government. However, Najibullah attempted to
ernment, and the holding of a general election six counter these developments by proposing that the
moths after the interim government came into Islamic Party under Hekmatyar should have a
being. It was the aim of the Islamic Party to per- larger share of the government and should link
suade mujahideen leaders not to form a coalition with the Watan (Homeland Party), formerly
government with the Communist government but known at the PDPA. This proposal was rejected be-
to combine together to form an interim govern- cause Hekmatyar saw no need for a compromise
ment that would be subjected to elections and the with the Communists and responded by demand-
endorsement of the people. ing that power be peaceably transferred and that
50 CIVIL WAR
the Communists take advantage of the amnesty months. These moves resulted in the forces of Hek-
being offered by the mujahideen. Even up to the last matyar launching intensive and indiscriminate
few days of his regime, Najibullah was still trying to rocket attacks on Kabul from their bases to the
form an alliance between the Islamic Party and south of the city. The mujahideen coalition else-
Watan and warning that a further refusal would where did not last, as there was also fierce fighting
mean the transfer of power to other elements, such between the Hazara-dominated Islamic Unity Party
as the former king, which could lead to another and the Islamic Alliance for the Liberation of Af-
major crisis in the country. ghanistan, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds
On 17 April, Hekmatyar left Peshawar, Pakistan, of civilians. In December 1992, Rabbani, who had
for Afghanistan to counter the movement of militia had his period of office extended by two months,
forces into Kabul and the arrival of the mujahideen was again elected president after ensuring that the
forces of Ahmad Shah Masood, who was a sup- governing council had been filled with his support-
porter of Rabbani’s Islamist Movement. Hekmatyar ers; this only intensified the struggle with Hekmat-
issued a directive to all of his forces to take control yar, whose forces continued their attacks on Kabul,
of cities from the Communists and to move on killing hundreds of civilians. Rabbani’s government
Kabul in order to force the Communist regime to changed the name of the Republic of Afghanistan to
give up the idea of a coalition government and con- the Islamic State of Afghanistan; introduced Shari’a
cede power to the mujahideen. On 24 April, the as the only source of Afghan law; transformed coed-
Kabul government attempted last-minute negotia- ucational schools and colleges into single-sex insti-
tions with Hekmatyar to try to agree on a coalition, tutions; and issued decrees banning alcohol, gam-
but the eventual outcome was a recommendation to bling, and nightclubs and requiring women to wear
the executive council of the government that Hek- veils. But these measures had little impact on society
matyar’s proposals be accepted in order to prevent in Kabul and its environs because the government
bloodshed in Kabul. did not have the power or will to enforce its policies.
The Kabul government was soon to become em-
Mujahideen Coalition Government and Collapse broiled in a bitter civil war fueled by long-standing
Early in 1992, the Tajik forces of Masood, the Uzbek rivalries between leaders of the various factions and
forces of General Dostum, and the Hazara forces of of the four main ethnic groups.
the Islamic Unity Party joined together in a coalition Largely as a result of the years of fighting fol-
called the Northern Alliance; the coalition was at lowing the Soviet intervention of 1979, there had
odds with the Islamic Party of Hekmatyar as well as been a large internal displacement of the popula-
the Najibullah government. On 15 April 1992, a tion, in addition to the millions who had fled to
non-Pashtun mujahideen group allied with the gov- Iran and Pakistan. As a result, the population of
ernment mutinied and took control of the Kabul Kabul had swelled to 2 million, almost a third of
airport, preventing Najibullah from leaving Afghan- whom were Hazaras and located in the western sec-
istan and preempting a transfer of power under the tions of the city, which were loyal to the Islamic
auspices of the United Nations. Najibullah was Unity Party headed by Abdul Ali Mazari. Tajik,
forced to seek refuge in the UN compound in Kabul, Uzbek, and Hazara fighters now controlled Kabul,
remaining for a period of four years, until he was and they were not prepared to allow Pashtun hege-
murdered by the Taliban in September 1996. On 25 mony—which dated back to 1747—to reassert it-
April 1992, Masood entered Kabul with his forces, self, as was the declared intention of Hekmatyar. In
and on the following day, the Northern Alliance August 1992, Kabul came under a series of on-
reached an agreement on a coalition government slaughts from Hekmatyar’s forces, with the city
that excluded the Islamic Party of Hekmatyar, who being defended by the fighters allied with Dostum,
had received the backing of Pakistan. Masood, and Mazari. A cease-fire was reached to-
The first leader of the coalition was President ward the end of the month, but by then, at least
Sabghatullah Mujaddidi, but he stood down in June 2,500 people were dead and some 50,000 Afghanis
1992 and was replaced by Burhanuddin Rabbani, were displaced. At the same time, Hekmatyar con-
the leader of the Islamist Movement, who was tinued to support Islamic fundamentalists in Tajik-
elected by the Shura (Council) for a period of four istan, partially for ideological reasons but also to
CIVIL WAR 51
prevent the Tajiks from offering support to their destruction and disorder in Kabul, whose popula-
counterparts in Afghanistan. tion had shrunk from 2 million to 500,000. In addi-
The Islamic Unity Party had boycotted the coun- tion, Dostum’s military force was the most powerful
cil that extended Rabbani’s presidency by two years, in Afghanistan, with Soviet tanks, fighter aircraft,
and party members joined the forces of Hekmatyar helicopter gunships, and transport planes, and it
in assaults on Kabul, particularly the Tajik strong- was manned by Uzbeks, Tajiks, and Turkomans to-
holds in the northern suburbs. During these as- gether with former Communist Pashtun officers.
saults, Dostum remained neutral as the city was In Kabul, the Constitutional Committee be-
pounded, with suburbs in the south and west being came embroiled in controversy over the relative
reduced to rubble. The result was yet a further out- status of the Shi’a Jaafari and the Sunni Hanafi
pouring of refugees into the eastern provinces and codes of law, leading to a rift between the Islamic
across the border into Pakistan, complete with har- Alliance for the Liberation of Afghanistan, repre-
rowing tales of murder, mutilation, abduction, and sented by Sayyaf, and the Islamic Unity Party, rep-
rape at the hands of both government forces and the resented by Mazari. This major disagreement
rebels. The outcome was not just a breakdown of threw the election timetable into disarray, as it had
law and order but also a total disintegration of been conditional on the adoption of a new consti-
Afghan society; interethnic atrocities on both sides tution, and led to fighting between the two factions
traumatized the civilian population. in Kabul in October 1993. This conflict was fol-
The prime minister of Pakistan, Muhammad lowed by clashes between the forces of Rabbani
Nawaz Sharif, offered to mediate between the op- and Hekmatyar in November, during which Dos-
posing factions, and a meeting was held in Islam- tum maintained his neutrality. The two sides
abad in March 1993 between the mujahideen coali- agreed to a truce in December, largely to replenish
tion, the Islamic Party, and the Islamic Unity Party. their ammunition, but on 1 January 1994, Dostum
The meeting resulted in an accord, which gave Hek- suddenly launched an attack on Rabbani’s forces in
matyar the premiership and confirmed Rabbani’s the center of Kabul, and in the fashion of Afghan
presidency for a period of eighteen months, com- politics, his hitherto sworn enemies—Hekmatyar
mencing in December 1992. At the end of this pe- and Mazari—joined him.
riod, parliamentary elections were to have been held The first assault lasted for a week without
under a new constitution, which was to be drafted respite, and at the end, there was a brief truce that
by the signatories to the accord. Under pressure allowed foreign diplomats to leave Kabul, with
from Hekmatyar, Dostum was denied any role in Tajik residents fleeing to the Tajik districts in the
the Leadership Council or in the Constitutional north of the city. Fighting then broke out again
Committee established to draw up the new consti- and lasted, with brief respites, for almost two
tution on the grounds that he was an unrecon- months, during which the city experienced fre-
structed Communist. Sharif then traveled with quent power cuts and breakdowns in the water
Hekmatyar to Mecca, where King Fahd cosigned the supply; hospitals were shelled by rockets, bakeries
agreement, and then to Tehran, where it was were abandoned, and half of the residential areas
cosigned by President Ali Akbar Rafsanjani. were destroyed. The establishment of the Supreme
Afghanistan was again a divided nation, with Coordination Council, chaired by Hekmatyar, for-
Dostum, as the self-styled “president of the North- malized the alliance. On 28 June 1994, Rabbani re-
ern Alliance,” controlling six provinces extending fused to step down as required under the terms of
from the Central Asian borders to the outskirts of the Islamabad Accord, and the civil war intensified.
Kabul. Dostum’s capital was Mazar-i Sharif. He con- The Tajik forces of Rabbani performed well and
trolled the gas fields near Sheberghan and a large routed Hekmatyar’s troops in southeastern Kabul
chemical plant at Mazar-i Sharif, and the region and seized control of the Kabul airport from Dos-
under him had its own effective bureaucracy, com- tum. The efforts of the United Nations and other
plete with the power to collect taxes and customs. countries in the region to secure peace were to no
The population of Mazar-i Sharif had swelled to avail, for the Afghan factions were no longer influ-
500,000, but the city had electricity, drinking water, enced by the foreign powers that had originally
and public transportation, in marked contrast to the backed them. The United States and Russia were
52 CIVIL WAR
content to see the internecine violence continue, the girls had then been raped. Omar took a party of
fearing that a stable Islamic Afghanistan would as- Taliban to the camp, freed the captives, seized arms
sist Islamic militant forces in Tajikistan and else- and ammunition, and hanged the commander from
where in Central Asia and damage their own inter- the barrel of a tank. In July 1994, he intervened in a
ests in the region. public argument between two commanders in Kan-
Afghanistan was now in a state of total anarchy, dahar over a young boy wanted as a homosexual
with no semblance of a government or law and partner, and he freed the captive. His reputation
order. A great deal of suffering and starvation was grew as a result of these interventions, and Omar
inflicted on the civilian population, many of whom was then approached by truckers from Pakistan who
were only kept alive by relief provided by the United were being subjected to harassment and extortion
Nations and nongovernment organizations by local warlords. The warlords had erected some
(NGOs). Outside of Kabul and the area controlled 200 roadblocks on the road from Quetta in Pakistan
by Dostum, the rest of the country had been carved to Iran, via Herat. The truckers offered the Taliban
up among a number of mujahideen commanders leader payment to clear the highway for their trucks,
who had set themselves up as local warlords. The which he did. This action also resulted in the Taliban
civilian population had no security from murder, receiving support from Pakistan, as they were seen
rape, looting, or extortion, and even humanitarian as able to secure the trade routes to Central Asia and
agencies found their offices ransacked, their vehicles form a government in Kabul sympathetic to Pak-
hijacked, and their staff members threatened. It was istan’s interests.
against this background that the Taliban movement The first military operation of the Taliban was
emerged and gained ascendancy. the seizure of the munitions depot and the town of
Spin Boldak on the border with Pakistan, which had
Military Successes of the Taliban been held by Islamic Party forces. This operation
The nucleus of the embryonic movement that provided them with a large quantity of material, in-
would become the Taliban was composed of for- cluding rockets, artillery, small arms, and ammuni-
mer mujahideen leaders who had been disillu- tion. In addition, in October 1994, the Pakistan gov-
sioned with the chaos following the mujahideen ernment sent a convoy of trucks loaded with
victory. They joined with a number of Pashtun medical supplies on a trial run; it was stopped by
mullahs, who were veterans of the war against the local warlords, who were then attacked by Taliban
Soviet Union and wished to see an end to the civil forces called on by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelli-
war. The movement began to center on a former gence (ISI) officers. The Taliban then moved on
mujahideen commander, Mullah Muhammad Kandahar and took the city, with the local com-
Omar, who was the village mullah of Singesar in mander, loyal to the Rabbani government, having
Kandahar Province and head of the local madrasa ordered his troops not to resist. This action allowed
(religious school). He and others in the movement the Taliban to acquire heavy weapons, fighter air-
were soon to be joined by commanders from other craft, and tanks, and they saw their ranks swelled by
Pashtun parties, Khalq PDPA members, and stu- volunteer fighters from Pakistan who had crossed
dents from the Afghan madrasas. The movement the border at Spin Boldak with the knowledge of the
became known as the Taliban—referring to stu- Pakistan authorities. The Taliban then spread north
dents who pursue religious learning—due to the and east to the outskirts of Kabul and west toward
relationship with the religious schools in Afghani- Herat, receiving strong financial backing from Pak-
stan and Pakistan and the young people in the istan traders anxious to sell their goods to Central
refugee camps. The Taliban was formed with a Asia.
three-point program: restoring peace; disarming In January 1995, the Taliban advanced on Kabul
civilians; and fully applying Shari’a, with its strict and squeezed the forces of Hekmatyar between
interpretation and application of Islamic law. their lines and those of Masood, inducing Hek-
In the spring of 1994, Mullah Omar was elected matyar to abandon Charasyab and leave behind a
leader of the Taliban, and one of his first moves was large store of weaponry for the Taliban forces.
to act against the commander of a military camp However, after Masood had reached an accommo-
near Singesar who had abducted two teenage girls; dation with the fighters of the Islamic Unity Party,
CIVIL WAR 53
he launched an attack on the Taliban positions and being taken after the local commander, Haji Abdul
threw them out of Charasyab. Fighting flared up Qadir, had been promised safe passage to Pakistan
again in the summer of 1995, with the Taliban oc- and a bribe of $10 million.
cupying the Shindand military base in Herat Immediately after the fall of Kandahar, the Tal-
Province and seizing aircraft and helicopters; they iban enjoyed rapid success in Nangarhar, Laghman,
then moved on to take the city of Herat and end and Kunar Provinces, all of which fell in the course
the rule of Isma’il Khan, an ally of Rabbani, while of ten days and which had been under the control of
also cutting the road connecting Rabbani’s govern- the Eastern Shura Council that was operating inde-
ment with Iran. pendently of Kabul. This action was followed on 24
The area of Herat was primarily populated by September by the capture of Sarobi, which was the
Shi’a Muslims who were held in low esteem by the stronghold of Hekmatyar. An advance followed up
Taliban, and that attitude turned Iran into a strongly this action on Kabul from the east and the south,
anti-Taliban regime. Leaders in Tehran therefore in- with a third group of Taliban forces progressing
creased their assistance to Rabbani and advised him north to neutralize any threat from the Bagram air
to settle his differences with other anti-Taliban fac- base. Kabul fell on the night of 26 September, and
tions in order to overcome the Taliban threat. Meet- the speed of its fall was a surprise to many observers,
ings were held with Hekmatyar, Dostum, and Karim except for Pakistan, which had heavily backed the
Khalili, and a committee to stand against the Tal- Taliban. The occupation was orderly, with no loot-
iban, who were still laying siege to Kabul, was set up. ing or a breakdown in discipline, unlike the occupa-
Iran’s attempts to put together an effective anti-Tal- tion by the mujahideen in 1992. However, prior to
iban alliance were countered by Pakistan, with an the Taliban arrival, Ahmad Shah Masood had al-
increase in its material support for the movement. ready evacuated the city and moved his troops
The Pakistan government repaired roads and re- north, together with most of their artillery and
stored electricity to the south of the country held by tanks.
the Taliban and, significantly, improved the Kanda-
har airport to maintain a steady supply of food and Northern Alliance Reverses
arms and ammunition, which were also trucked in The Northern Alliance forces of Masood were
from Spin Boldak. The Taliban were provided with forced to withdraw to the north and the Tajik
a telephone and wireless network as well and given stronghold in the Panjshir Valley and part of the
full access to intelligence data through the ISI. Aid eastern mountains. By this time, the Taliban had
was also received from Saudi Arabia in the form of control of about 65 percent of Afghanistan, and its
finance, fuel, and pickup trucks that were used ex- forces had been joined by members of al-Qaeda,
tensively in the fighting. At the same time, Pakistan who were all seasoned fighters from the war against
was professing its neutrality and a policy of nonin- the Soviet Union or actions in Bosnia, Chechnya,
tervention in Afghan politics. and Kashmir. One of the first actions of the new
In May 1996, Osama bin Laden arrived in Af- regime was to storm the UN compound in Kabul
ghanistan, having been expelled from Sudan, to- and forcibly remove former president Muhammad
gether with followers who were veteran fighters Najibullah from his refuge and to submit him to
from the jihad against the Soviet Union. These indi- Taliban justice: he was castrated, dragged behind a
viduals formed the backbone of the al-Qaeda ter- jeep around the presidential palace, shot by Taliban
rorist organization. Bin Laden set up training camps militia, and then hung from a traffic control post
in the area controlled by the Taliban and in the with his brother in Ariana Square on 27 September.
North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. Mean- Death sentences were also passed on Dostum, Ma-
while, fighting in Afghanistan had shifted to the sood, and Rabbani but not on Hekmatyar, who was
eastern portion of the country. On 26 June, Hek- also a Pashtun whereas the other opposition leaders
matyar arrived with some of his forces to take up the were Tajik and Uzbek.
premiership in Kabul, and Dostum raised the siege The Taliban established a six-man shura headed
of the capital to the north. On 25 August, the Tal- by Mullah Mohammad Rabbani (no relation to the
iban attacked Jalalabad and laid siege to the city, an Afghan president) as prime minister of an interim
operation that lasted two weeks, with the city only government. The new regime then issued a number
54 CIVIL WAR
of decrees that imposed a strict interpretation of of winter, but in 1998, with summer approaching,
Shari’a law on all areas controlled by the Taliban, the Taliban took control of five more provinces and
together with a demand that civilians and non- completely ousted the forces of General Dostum.
Taliban militia disarm. The victory of the Taliban This move worsened already strained relations with
alarmed Iran and the Central Asian republics, espe- Iran, which massed troops along the border, but the
cially when the military commander, Muhammad Taliban were not distracted and moved on to
Shoiab, declared that after defeating Masood in the Bamian Province, which fell in mid-September.
Panjshir Valley, they would move into Tajikistan Consequently, the Taliban now controlled 90 per-
and Uzbekistan to rout out Communists. Thus, the cent of the country, and Northern Alliance forces
region became divided into the pro-Taliban states were penned in the Panjshir Valley and capable of
of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and the anti-Taliban no action beyond resisting further Taliban advances
group of Iran, Central Asia, and Russia, a coalition on their territory (though even this was uncertain).
that was to be significant in events after 11 Septem- The civil war as a major conflict had really
ber 2001. During this initial period, bin Laden be- ceased, as the situation in the Panjshir was, by and
came closely associated with the Taliban and voiced large, a stalemate and meaningful resistance had
opposition to the United States and U.S. interests ceased elsewhere. It was events outside Afghanistan
elsewhere in the region. that were to determine the future. The attacks on the
At the beginning of 1997, Mullah Omar deter- U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and their at-
mined to rid the rest of Afghanistan of anti-Taliban tribution to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda led to
forces who had centered themselves on Mazar-i greater cooperation between U.S. intelligence ser-
Sharif, where President Rabbani had joined General vices and Masood in an endeavor to track down bin
Dostum. On 1 August, the Taliban began an offen- Laden and bring him to account. The outcome was
sive against Sheberghan, Dostum’s major military a U.S. Cruise missile attack on 20 August 1998 on al-
base; the area was taken, largely as a result of Hek- Qaeda terrorist training camps near Khost in Paktia
matyar’s Islamic Party fighters colluding with the Province. The strike was unsuccessful in terms of
Taliban. Dostum, however, maintained that the fall damaging al-Qaeda or bin Laden, but the reputa-
of his base was due to the participation of the Pak- tion of the latter rose within the Islamic world as a
istan air force and 1,500 commandos who had taken result of the embassy attacks and his survival of the
part in the assault. Further groups of Hekmatyar’s U.S. assaults. Yet again, the fate of Afghanistan and
forces in the countryside also defected to join the its civil war was to be affected by external forces with
Taliban, which enabled them to march on Mazar-i the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks on
Sharif on 8 August. During the attack on the city, the the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Taliban went on the rampage in revenge for the mas- See also Amin, Hafizullah; Dostum, Gen. Abdul Rashid;
sacre of 3,000 Taliban fighters by Hazaras early in Geneva Accords; Hazaras; Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin;
1997, slaughtering some 4,000 Hazaras. At the same Inter-Services Intelligence Service; Karmal, Babrak;
time, ten Iranian diplomats and an Iranian journal- KHAD; Khales, Yunis; Masood, Ahmad Shah; Mazar-
ist also disappeared from the Iranian consulate. Iran i Sharif; Mujahideen; Najibullah, Muhammad;
maintained that they had been moved to Kandahar Northern Alliance; People’s Democratic Party of
as hostages, but the Taliban authorities contended Afghanistan; Rabbani, Burhanuddin; Taliban
that they had been killed in the fighting or had fled References
with opposition forces. This time, the Taliban stayed Gohari, M. J. 2000. The Taliban: Ascent to Power.
in the city and followed up their success by taking Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press.
Hariatan, on the Uzbekistan border, and Taloqan, Goodson, Larry P. 2001. Afghanistan’s Endless War: State
Failure, Regional Politics, and the Rise of the Taliban.
the headquarters of President Rabbani. These suc-
Seattle: University of Washington Press.
cesses led to further increases in the strength of the Hiro, Dilip. 2002. War without End: The Rise of Islamist
Taliban militias, with the addition of thousands of Terrorism and Global Response. London and New
madrasa students from Pakistan, and by this stage, York: Routledge.
the Taliban controlled 85 percent of Afghanistan. Magnus, Ralph H., and Eden Naby. 1998. Afghanistan,
The advance of the Taliban on Northern Alliance Mullah, Marx and Mujahid. Boulder, CO: Westview
positions then slowed, largely because of the onset Press.
COALITION AIR CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE TALIBAN 55
Maley, William. 1999. Fundamentalism Reborn? flow in spring is dependent on the melting mountain
Afghanistan and the Taliban. London: Hurst. snows, which supply the irrigation systems.
Marsden, Peter. 1998. The Taliban: War, Religion and the The climate and resultant topography of Af-
New Order in Afghanistan. London: Zed Books. ghanistan have had a direct impact on conflicts in
Rashid, Ahmed. 2001. Taliban: The Story of the Afghan the country, especially when outside forces are in-
Warlords. London: Pan. volved, as was evidenced during the Soviet occupa-
tion. In the winter, nearly all the mountain passes
CLIMATE are inaccessible, as are some of the valley areas in the
The climate in Afghanistan varies with geographic north, and transportation can only be accomplished
zones and ranges, from subarctic conditions in the on foot or by camel or yak. These conditions have
northwest and Hindu Kush mountains to a semi- also adversely affected the distribution of humani-
arid steppes climate in low-lying areas and mild, tarian aid during the recent conflicts, as access to
moist weather in the areas bordering Pakistan. The certain areas in winter is almost impossible due to
estimated annual rainfall is between 11 and 15 the adverse weather conditions.
inches. References
The Wakhan-Pamir area, 83 percent of which is Amin, Hamidullah, and Gordon B. Schiltz. 1976. A
above 10,000 feet and the remainder between Geography of Afghanistan. Omaha, NE: University of
6,000–10,000 feet, has perpetual snow cover in the Omaha, Center for Afghan Studies.
mountains above 12,000 feet, and most of the passes
closed during the winter months, from December to COALITION AIR CAMPAIGN AGAINST
March. The yak and the Bactrian camel are the main THE TALIBAN
forms of transport for both people and goods. The United States provided the bulk of the input to
The central mountains region has a similar cli- the air strikes on Afghanistan that began on 7 Octo-
mate. This area covers most of central and eastern ber 2001, with the dual objectives of destroying Tal-
Hazarajat and the Hindu Kush ranges, extending iban installations and infrastructure and attacking
from the Shibar Pass through the Koh-i-Baba in the al-Qaeda training camps. Secondary objectives were
west, which is crossed by the strategically important to prepare the ground for further operations involv-
Salang Pass and Salang Tunnel at an altitude of ing conventional ground forces and to aid the anti-
some 11,000 feet. The climatic conditions allow for Taliban Afghan forces. Intelligence for the air cam-
some agriculture in the valleys, with the foothills paign was provided by Northern Alliance forces and
being seasonally grazed by the flocks of the nomads. by U.S. and UK Special Forces operating indepen-
The eastern mountains include four major valleys: dently within Afghanistan or as advisers to the
Kabul, Kuhistan/Panjshir, Ghorband, and Nuristan, Northern Alliance. Strikes were mounted by aircraft
with the latter being extremely inaccessible. In the operating from U.S. naval task forces and by B-52
winter, temperatures fall below zero; summer tem- bombers operating flying out of the Diego Garcia
peratures vary according to altitude. base in the Indian Ocean, as well as bases in Europe
The southwest is a region of stony deserts, which and Turkey.
extend to the Iranian border, and the Registan, or The air strikes provided the trigger for the
“Country of Sand,” which extends south of the Hel- Northern Alliance and its allies in the United Front
mand River and eastward as far as Sharawak, thus to open up offensive operations against the Taliban.
forming an almost impregnable boundary with As a consequence, the U.S. strategy changed to pro-
Pakistan. Only at the edges of the desert is there any viding air support for these forces by targeting the
vegetation, usually bushes and seasonal vegetation frontline positions of the Taliban, though the
following any rain. The edges of the Registan are Northern Alliance was somewhat frustrated by the
seasonally grazed by Baluch and Brahui nomads. delay in implementing the new tactics. The attacks
The main agricultural areas of Pakistan are con- against Taliban positions were initially centered on
fined to the valleys watered by the Amu Daria and northern Afghanistan, with this change having
the Turkestan plains, in the northwest the Hari taken place toward the end of October 2001.
Rud–Murghab system, the Helmand-Argharbad sys- The attacks were run from a sophisticated oper-
tem, and the Kabul River system. Much of the water ations center at the Prince Sultan Air Base, near
56 COALITION AIR CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE TALIBAN
Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, where target lists were pre- ground attack was supported, on a daily basis, by 10
pared and all warplane movements over Afghani- long-range bombers, 30 to 40 fighter jets, and two to
stan were controlled. The logistics were complex, four AC-130 gunships. By the end of the operation
for U.S. Navy jets were flying 500-mile round-trips in late March, some 3,500 bombs had been dropped
from carriers based in the Arabian Sea and on enemy positions. This level of air support was
bombers were flying six-hour missions from Diego also in place for the subsequent Tora Bora cam-
Garcia in the Indian Ocean. The operation was a paign, in which cave complexes sheltering Taliban
major undertaking, the extent of which was made and al-Qaeda fighters were attacked by U.S. and
possible by the cooperation of states bordering Af- Afghan tribal forces.
ghanistan. Forces had to be deployed from 267
bases and operated from 30 locations in 15 coun- Air Support for Anti-Taliban Forces
tries, with over 46 nations being overflown during As part of a change in strategy, the emphasis of the
the course of operations. air campaign was switched to assaults on Taliban
From 7 October to 23 October 2001, U.S. Air frontline positions, designed to aid Afghan opposi-
Force B-2, B-1, and B-52 bombers flew over 600 sor- tion forces in their advances on major cities. The
ties and dropped more than 80 percent of the ton- Northern Alliance, however, wanted the bombard-
nage dropped on Afghanistan during the entire Op- ments to cover a wider area in order to break Taliban
eration Enduring Freedom. Initially, targets and al-Qaeda resistance.
included early-warning radar installations, ground On 21 October 2001, the U.S. Air Force
forces, command-and-control facilities, al-Qaeda pounded Taliban frontline positions outside Kabul
infrastructure, and airfields and aircraft. By 20 No- and, on the following day, at Mazar-i Sharif in
vember 2001, more than 10,000 bombs or missiles northern Afghanistan, indicative of an increased
had been dropped or fired into Afghanistan, of level of activity on behalf of the northern-based
which over 60 percent were precision-guided muni- opposition forces. The air activity continued at
tions. As of December 2001, C-130 and C-17 cargo Kabul on 24 October after the Taliban again refused
aircraft were maintaining a nightly air bridge to the to hand over Osama bin Laden; this attack was the
U.S. base south of Kandahar, with the C-130s aver- most intense launched against Taliban positions
aging ten flights in and out every night. In addition and included a night of heavy bombing on the city
to key personnel, the C-17s delivered 1,450 tons of itself. The operation was intensified by resumed at-
heavy equipment, including graders, earthmovers, tacks on the frontline positions outside Kabul on 25
and bulldozers. As part of the same operation, the October, with one objective being to relieve pres-
Central Command, based in Germany, also flew sure on the Bagram air base to enable it to be used
some 162 humanitarian sorties and dropped 2.5 by Northern Alliance forces to bring in supplies and
million individual, specially prepared rations for the reinforcements. At the same time, air strikes con-
Afghan people. tinued on Taliban positions at Mazar-i Sharif and
The main operation lasted from 7 October to 23 Herat.
December 2001, when the action slowed down. On 28 October, the United States also bombed
During that period, about 6,500 strike missions Taliban positions near the border with Tajikistan, as
were flown over Afghanistan. Roughly 17,500 muni- Taliban artillery was threatening a crucial Northern
tions were expended against 120 fixed-target com- Alliance supply line near the Kakala River. The
plexes and over 400 vehicles and artillery guns. crossing point of the river had no bridge, and the
Naval forces flew about 75 percent of the sorties; the Northern Alliance had to operate a small ferry to
air force flew the remaining 25 percent but delivered carry vehicles and supplies across the water. It had
over 70 percent of the ordnance. By the end of De- also been reported by alliance commanders that the
cember 2001, some 24,000 bombs and missiles had Taliban artillery was protected by a large number of
been dropped on Afghanistan. Arab and other foreign fighters, thought to be from
The scale of the air support was aptly demon- the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. The bombing
strated during Operation Anaconda, launched of Taliban positions at Mazar-i Sharif, Kabul, Herat,
against Taliban and al-Qaeda positions near Gardez and Kandahar was ongoing, with raids by seventy
in eastern Afghanistan on 1 March 2002. The fighters and bombers on eighteen targets in these
COALITION AIR CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE TALIBAN 57
areas. However, the Northern Alliance complained ghanistan were hampered by fog, sandstorms, 100-
about the use of limited-precision attacks by U.S. mile-an-hour winds, and subzero temperatures that
warplanes instead of an all-out air assault on Tal- had grounded helicopters and delayed planned de-
iban positions at Mazar-i Sharif and Kabul. ployments of special forces.
To secure the supply lines of alliance forces and On 5 November, the air campaign was intensi-
to bolster their defenses, the United States began a fied to help the anti-Taliban forces gain ground and
series of air operations in the areas bordering Tajik- seize strategic targets before the onset of winter.
istan and Uzbekistan. As an aid to the stalled oppo- Heavy raids were mounted in the provinces of
sition advance on Mazar-i Sharif, bombing raids Samangan and Balkh to assist the advance of the al-
were also made on Taliban positions at Dara-i-Suf liance forces on Mazar-i Sharif, but an opposition
and in areas of Balkh Province to the north of the attack launched on 4 November had already fal-
city. In addition, attacks were targeted on the airport tered. Raids also continued near the border with
of Kunduz Province and on Taliban positions in Tajikistan on Taliban targets northeast and east of
northern Jozjan Province, on which alliance forces Taloqan, which had been the opposition’s northern
were advancing. Aircraft were also used to drop capital until September 2000. Further B-52 attacks
weapons, ammunition, and food to Northern Al- were also launched on enemy positions north of
liance forces, and the number of special forces ad- Kabul, and bombing resumed against Kandahar
visers was increased to establish supply routes, to after a four-day lull.
improve communications with Coalition command In addition to air assaults on Taliban front lines,
centers, and to target specific Taliban positions for attacks were also made on caves and tunnels identi-
air strikes against the front lines. fied as arms stores and command centers. Among
The U.S. operation became even more sophisti- the ordnance used in these attacks were 5,000-
cated at the start of November 2001 with the de- pound bunker-busters and a 15,000-pound, full-air
ployment of Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar explosion bomb known as a “Daisy Cutter.” The
System (JSTARS) aircraft, designed to provide con- raids were informed by intelligence from special
tinuous surveillance of moving ground targets over forces operating behind enemy lines, from defec-
a wide area; they were supplemented by the use of tors, and from the Russian military, based on knowl-
Global Hawk high-altitude drones. The U.S. defense edge acquired during the Soviet war against the mu-
secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, also indicated that the jahideen. On 6 November, further intensive
number of special forces aiding the Northern Al- bombing on Taliban positions near Mazar-i Sharif
liance was to be tripled or quadrupled. The bomb- enabled alliance forces to advance under cover of
ing of Taliban positions to the north of Kabul was the attack, and they seized the town of Ogapruk and
also intensified with the use of B-52 bombers, which a number of small villages about 45 miles south of
Northern Alliance commanders described as very the city. By the following day, the Taliban had been
effective; at least fifteen Taliban tanks were de- forced to withdraw from the Shol Gar district, 24
stroyed. The logistical problems faced by the U.S. miles from the city, and by 9 November, the city had
command and control were somewhat alleviated fallen to Northern Alliance forces; Herat followed
when Azerbaijan and Armenia granted overflight after final assaults aided by U.S. air strikes.
rights for U.S. military planes operating from bases Meanwhile, Kabul was still being subjected to air
in Europe and Turkey. strikes, with alliance commanders reporting more
A decision was taken not to stop the air strikes destruction of tanks and antiaircraft gun emplace-
during the holy month of Ramadan, which com- ments. This action continued until 13 November,
menced in mid-November, to maintain the mo- when Northern Alliance troops advanced and took
mentum of the campaign and deny the Taliban an Kabul after the bulk of the Taliban and al-Qaeda
opportunity to repair some of the damage inflicted forces withdrew overnight toward Kandahar, having
on their positions. Although attacks continued on first emptied the National Bank and the contents of
Kabul, Kandahar, and Mazar-i Sharif and U.S. forces Kabul’s money market. A few Arab and other non-
maintained that B-52 bombers were having some Afghan fighters discovered during the search of the
effect on the situation, the frontline position had city by alliance forces were summarily executed. Al-
not changed. Efforts on the ground in northern Af- liance forces also moved toward the city of Jalalabad,
58 COALITION LAND CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE TALIBAN
and the Kandahar airport was captured. U.S. aircraft COALITION LAND CAMPAIGN AGAINST
continued to attack armored vehicles and pickup THE TALIBAN
trucks used by the Taliban as they fled their posi- The Coalition land campaign in Afghanistan was
tions. An airfield in southern Tajikistan was being prefaced by U.S. air attacks on Taliban and al-Qaeda
used by at least fifty warplanes to intensify attacks on installations and infrastructure and the use of U.S.
retreating Taliban forces and to increase the deliver- and UK Special Forces in operations behind enemy
ies of food and other supplies to Northern Alliance lines, with Northern Alliance forces to provide intel-
forces and the civilian population. In the main, ligence for Operation Enduring Freedom. This ac-
bombing raids were concentrated to the southwest of tion was launched in October 2001 as a direct re-
Taliban-held Kunduz in the northeast of the country sponse to the 11 September terrorist attacks in the
and Kandahar in the south. The aerial pounding of United States and the failure of the Taliban regime
Kandahar continued on a daily basis until 7 Decem- to hand over the leader of al-Qaeda, Osama bin
ber 2001, when Taliban forces fled the city and Laden, to face trial for being responsible for the at-
headed for the mountainous areas in eastern Af- tacks on the World Trade Center and a number of
ghanistan, bordering Pakistan. The action then was other atrocities. The bulk of the ground forces and
switched to attacks on the fleeing forces and in the the special forces were drawn from the United States
White Mountains on the Pakistan border. and the United Kingdom, with special force contri-
The air campaign then entered into the phase of butions made by Australia, France, Germany, and
supporting assaults on Taliban and al-Qaeda posi- New Zealand as well. These ground operations were
tions in the mountains under Operation Tora Bora completely divorced from the International Security
and Operation Anaconda. All action was concen- Assistance Force (ISAF) that was to be deployed in
trated on destroying the remaining elements of Tal- Kabul under the auspices of the United Nations.
iban and al-Qaeda that were largely based in the The air operation began on 7 October and was de-
mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan, intend- signed to destroy Taliban and al-Qaeda installations
ing either to mount guerrilla warfare from prepared and infrastructure in preparation for a ground cam-
hideouts or to cross into the tribal borderlands of paign by the Northern Alliance and Coalition
Pakistan. forces. Initially, the Coalition presence was in the
form of special forces working behind enemy lines
See also Coalition Land Campaign against the Taliban;
Mazar-i Sharif; Operation Enduring Freedom; or with anti-Taliban forces providing advice and in-
Taliban; UK Special Forces; U.S. Special Forces telligence while at the same time guiding the U.S.
References Cruise missile and bombing attacks. The first major
Hiro, Dilip. 2002. War without End: The Rise of Islamist Coalition action in Afghanistan was mounted by
Terrorism and Global Response. Rev. ed. London: 100 U.S. Army Rangers and small groups of Delta
Routledge. Force commandos against the compound of Mullah
Ratnesar, Romesh, Hannah Beech, Anthony Davis, Muhammad Omar at Kandahar and the nearby air-
Michael Fathers, Terry McCarthy, Alex Perry, field. The attack was launched from Black Hawk he-
Johanna McGeary, and Rahimullah Yusufzai. 2001. licopters and C-130 transport planes backed by
“The Afghan Way of War.” Time Atlantic 158, no. 21: heavily armed AC-130 gunships, and although
28–37. twenty fighters of the opposition were killed, there
Ratnesar, Romesh, Massimo Calabresi, James Carney, were no Taliban leaders at the site. The forces de-
Mark Thompson, Karen Tumulty, J. F. O. McAllister, stroyed a bridge near the home of Mullah Omar, a
Hannah Beech, Anthony Davis, Alex Perry, Johanna
Taliban command-and-control center, and a large
McGeary, and Rahimullah Yusufzai. 2001. “Bombs
cache of weapons (including rocket-propelled
Away.” Time Atlantic 158, no. 20: 22–28.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/southasia
grenade launchers) discovered at the airport.
http://www.cnn.worldnews.com This raid was seen as part of a campaign to desta-
http://www.gulf-news.com bilize the Taliban and to generate intelligence on the
http://www.nytimes.com whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda
http://www.time.com fighters. Additionally, small groups of Coalition spe-
http://www.washingtonpost.com cial forces were still operating in southern Afghani-
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases stan in a campaign to split the Taliban, while other
COALITION LAND CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE TALIBAN 59
groups were working with Central Intelligence helicopter near Kandahar, the last Taliban strong-
Agency (CIA) specialists and the Inter-Services In- hold in the south, since Kabul had already fallen to
telligence (ISI) of Pakistan in trying to bribe or per- the Northern Alliance. Tribal leaders had been try-
suade local Afghan warlords to turn against the Tal- ing to negotiate a handover of the city for just over
iban. In eastern Afghanistan, CIA operatives, Delta a week but without success, though talks were on-
Force commandos, and the UK Special Air Service going with Taliban leaders about individual defec-
(SAS) were reconnoitering the area in search of al- tions to the Northern Alliance. Meanwhile, anti-Tal-
Qaeda targets, and it is believed that the Revolu- iban forces were still being supported by U.S. air
tionary Warfare Wing of the SAS was also in the area strikes, and the marines were establishing a forward
working with potential anti-Taliban groups and was operating base to enable them to interdict all Tal-
staffed by individuals who spoke Pashtun, the ma- iban lines of communication out of Kandahar.
jority language in Afghanistan. Thousands of refugees fled from the city to Pakistan
Providing Coalition support for the Northern and south to Kabul as it became clear that the back-
Alliance was a calculated strategy to accelerate the bone of the city’s defense were the al-Qaeda fighters
collapse of the Taliban by ensuring that it was being who had prevented the Taliban from surrendering.
attacked from all sides, with alliance forces pressur- However, by 6 December, Taliban forces were fleeing
ing the Taliban in the north while special forces kept from the city, and U.S. Marines killed seven Taliban
up the pressure in southern Afghanistan. However, and al-Qaeda fighters fleeing Kandahar as part of
it should be noted that the Northern Alliance was their first combat mission.
the only credible military force on the ground be-
Tora Bora Campaign
cause, despite pressures from the U.S. government,
The defeat of the Taliban throughout Afghanistan
the CIA, and ISI, there was no matching Pashtun re-
on the ground largely came at the hands of the
sistance in the southern part of Afghanistan. Al-
Northern Alliance and other anti-Taliban forces in
though some opposition in the south had been
stirred up through the activities of Abdul al-Haq
(who was later executed by the Taliban) and Hamid
Karzai, there was no coordination between any of
the groups, and a formal resistance movement was
not really in place.
Having the Northern Alliance as a Coalition ally
was seen as problematic because Pashtuns in the
south distrusted the alliance. That distrust was only
tempered by the alliance leaders’ announcement
that the organization would refrain from taking
Kabul, for there was much resentment and fear aris-
ing from the mujahideen rule between 1992 and
1996. This apprehension was illustrated in a meet-
ing of Afghan exiles in Peshawar, Pakistan, headed
by Sayyed Ahmad Gailani, which called for a halt to
U.S. bombing and the formation of a southern al-
liance to back the former king, Zahir Shah, with
such an alliance including any dissident Taliban
who changed sides. Gailani was voicing a need to
find a nonviolent solution by persuading the Tal-
iban to give up power and to concentrate on the re-
construction of Afghanistan. The meeting was held
on 23 October 2001, but significantly, the former
king had no representatives at the meeting. A U.S. B-52H bombing raid in Afghanistan in support of the
The Coalition ground war took a new turn on 26 Coalition land campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaeda
November when a force of U.S. Marines landed by (Reuters NewMedia Inc./CORBIS)
southern Afghanistan. However, it is obvious that In the area to the south of Kandahar and Jalal-
this outcome would not have been achieved without abad, U.S. Marine convoys reinforced patrols hunt-
the massive U.S. bombing campaign and the sup- ing for fleeing Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, with a
port of Coalition special forces on the ground. Be- holding facility set up at the main U.S. Marine camp
cause of this effort from the air and on the ground, for any prisoners of war. On 11 December, negotia-
U.S. and UK ground troops, together with the spe- tions between Afghan tribal forces and al-Qaeda re-
cial forces, could concentrate on their main target sulted in a truce, while al-Qaeda considered terms
after bringing down the Taliban—the forces of for surrender and a deadline for disarming. How-
Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. Intelligence reports ever, the deadline passed without any signs of an al-
indicated that these forces had withdrawn to the Qaeda surrender, and the truce was broken on 12
caves in the Tora Bora hills area, some 30 miles to December when tribal eastern alliance forces
the south of Kandahar. Both sides of Tora Bora had opened fire on the cave complex in the canyon. A
a network of caves, with Milawa on the southwest heavy bombing raid followed as B-52s and other
side said to house the main concentration of al- U.S. warplanes hammered al-Qaeda positions in the
Qaeda. The use of the caves dated back to the 1980s, canyon and in the Milawa and Tora Bora Valleys. It
when they were excavated to protect mujahideen was reported in Pakistan that the al-Qaeda fighters
fighters from Soviet forces. It soon became evident had been demanding that their surrender be wit-
that the network had been extended and improved nessed by diplomats from their home countries and
by the al-Qaeda fighters. by the United Nations; further, the al-Qaeda group
On 7 December, 200 U.S. troops arrived in the was said to consist of Chechens, Egyptians, Iraqis,
vicinity of Milawa and the nearby city of Jalalabad Libyans, Saudi Arabians, Sudanese, Yemenis, and
to supplement the small groups of U.S. and UK Spe- Arabs from Arab gulf states. It was also reported that
cial Forces in the area. (Logistical supplies had been Osama bin Laden was in the Tora Bora area, but it
flown into the Jalalabad airport by cargo planes and was unclear as to whether Mullah Omar was with
helicopters.) Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force began a the group, though it was known that he was on the
sustained bombing attack on the cave complexes in run in southern Afghanistan.
support of an offensive by Afghan mujahideen, but In the days following the failed truce, the Afghan
advances in the area were slow, resistance was fierce, tribal forces were joined by Coalition special forces
and, at times, fighting came down to hand-to-hand on a search-and-destroy mission against the enemy,
combat. Air support was directed by Afghan com- whose room for maneuver was becoming restricted:
manders using satellite phones to indicate the caves snow-covered peaks stood on two sides, Afghan and
thought to be occupied by al-Qaeda fighters; these U.S. forces were on the third side, and Pakistani
targets were then attacked by combinations of 500-, troops patrolled the border that made up the fourth,
1,000-, and 2,000-pound precision-guided bombs though it was impossible to guarantee security
directed into the cave openings. along the 1,510-mile border (particularly that along
A major attack was launched on Tora Bora on 10 the semiautonomous tribal belt in Pakistan, where
December. Afghan troops, backed by tanks and U.S. many inhabitants were sympathetic to the Taliban).
warplanes, hit positions occupied by about 1,000 al- Afghan tribal fighters and special forces eventu-
Qaeda fighters while U.S. Marines with armored ally took the complex of caves and tunnels, and flee-
personnel carriers set up a staging ground in the ing al-Qaeda fighters were pursued by alliance
south to cut off escape routes and to hunt for fleeing forces. In an action that had lasted about nine
Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters. The U.S. Air Force weeks, it is estimated that some 200 fighters were
continued to bomb the complex of caves at Tora killed, hundreds more were on the run in the moun-
Bora but without effecting total destruction, for tains, and several dozen were taken prisoner. But
after the bombardments, fighters would emerge there was no sign of Osama bin Laden and his close
from the caves to mortar-bomb advancing Afghan associates. In the search of the caves complex, sig-
troops with their Soviet T-55 tanks. However, by the nificant caches of arms, munitions, and stores were
end of the day, Afghan tribal forces had captured a discovered, evidence of the forward planning un-
ridge on the Milawa Valley adjacent to the Tora Bora dertaken by the al-Qaeda network. The caves at Tora
Valley. Bora had been the network’s last stronghold in Af-
ghanistan; however, despite the successes of the op- that yielded intelligence about al-Qaeda cells oper-
eration, at least 2,000 of the fighters were on the run ating outside Afghanistan, and one such group was
in eastern Afghanistan. broken up in Singapore on the basis of this intelli-
As was to be expected, large numbers of Taliban gence. However, pockets of al-Qaeda fighters were
and al-Qaeda fighters had fled across the border still thought to be present in areas north of Mazar-i
into Pakistan, with the latter being mostly Arab and Sharif and in the mountains of Helmand Province.
other non-Afghan fighters. Many were arrested by Significantly, local officials in Khost had reported
Pakistani troops, but some of them rose up against that at least 2,000 fighters regularly moved across
their captors, resulting in fierce fighting before a the border and rested and resupplied in Pakistan be-
number were killed and others recaptured. Pakistan fore returning to positions in the mountains of
had put thousands of troops into the area with heli- Khost, Paktia, and Paktika Provinces, using the
copter support, and checkpoints were set up in an mountain tracks rather than the patrolled main
endeavor to cut off the escape routes from Tora roads. Such reports would prove to be indicative of
Bora; some 108 fighters were arrested, including at the future instability.
least 60 non-Afghan fighters. It was reported that al-
Qaeda troops, including two top commanders, were Operation Anaconda
allowed to escape by leaders of the Afghan eastern Operation Anaconda was mounted on 1 March
alliance who had been involved in the assault on 2002 by U.S. Army forces and Afghan allies, with the
Tora Bora. Intelligence officers interrogated cap- objective of ousting al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters
tured al-Qaeda fighters before they were transferred from their refuge in Paktia Province. The allied
to the holding camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. A troops succeeded in killing between 350 and 550 of
great deal was discovered in searches of the caves, in- the enemy, with the loss of 11 lives among their own
cluding maps and training manuals, information on ranks.
positions, and ammunition and arms. Five prison- Operation Anaconda took place some 100 miles
ers were sent to the USS Peleliu for questioning, south of Kabul in the mountainous region near
among them an American caught fighting with the Gardez, in Paktia Province. The U.S. forces involved
Taliban, an Australian citizen, and a Saudi Arabian in the operation numbered about 1,200, and they
member of a group accused of ties with terrorists. were aided by local Afghans and backed by heli-
The fall of the Taliban and the defeat of al-Qaeda copter support. Allied intelligence indicated that a
had not extinguished the threat posed by the sur- mixed force of al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters had
vivors, as the whereabouts of at least 2,000 of these gathered in the area, preparing to mount attacks
troops was unknown. A large number had moved against the Afghan Interim Government. However,
across the eastern and southern borders into Pak- after a week of intensive action, about half of the es-
istan, while others had fled west into Iran. Many timated enemy force had been killed and a few taken
hundreds remained in Afghanistan but proved diffi- prisoner, with eleven allied troops killed and seventy
cult to detect, having merged back into Afghan soci- wounded.
ety or gone to areas where support for the Taliban The battle took place in the Shah-i-Kot Valley.
still existed. In addition, the major Coalition tar- Afghan forces, aided by special forces, targeted al-
gets—Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar—had Qaeda positions in hopes of flushing them toward
eluded all attempts at capture; the former bought the exits from the valley where U.S. troops were
safe passage across the border into Pakistan, and the waiting. However, after two days of fierce combat,
latter was still thought to be hiding in Afghanistan. the al-Qaeda fighters were still in their positions,
The searches conducted by U.S. and Afghan forces and on 2 March 2002, two U.S. Chinook helicopters
went on, but returns were sparse, though fourteen were attacked as they prepared to set down at one of
al-Qaeda were captured by U.S. commandos at the battle positions; they were forced to take off
Zhawar, near Khost, in the middle of January 2002 again, leaving behind a rear gunner who had fallen
following a U.S. bombing raid on yet another cave from the aircraft as it made an evasive maneuver.
complex. U.S. commanders at the Bagram air base granted
Searches of caves and bunkers in eastern Afghan- permission for a rescue team to be landed, and six
istan had uncovered computer files and videotapes U.S. Rangers were sent in to search for the missing
U.S. Navy Seal. Some three hours later, two more line from within Pakistan. And yet again, the situa-
Chinooks set off to insert more troops into the bat- tion on the ground had been complicated by in-
tle position, code-named Ginger, and to pull out the fighting among the local warlords, which allowed
rescue team. One of the Chinooks was downed by al-Qaeda to mass in the area. This, together with
heavy machine-gun fire and crash-landed near the misinformation, accounted for the fact that the U.S.
site of the first incident, and the troops on board forces expected to face about 200 fighters whereas
came under heavy al-Qaeda fire. The United States the real total was closer to 900. The battle ended on
used AC-130 gunships to provide cover, but the 13 March when U.S., Canadian, and Afghan forces
enemy pressure was such that a rescue attempt was stormed the caves and bunkers, which were then
impossible in the daylight, and it was not until mid- blown up to prevent their reuse. The aftermath of
night that the troops could be evacuated, including Operation Anaconda was a mopping-up operation,
the first team of U.S. Rangers that had been landed particularly around Khost and Gardez, the capital of
to effect the rescue of the U.S. Navy Seal. The United Paktia Province.
States had seven men killed and eleven wounded in Although Anaconda can be classified as a major
the operation, including the Seal, who was killed by success, the nature of the terrain meant that many of
his pursuers. the surviving enemy were able to filter across the
Fighting was intense for some time, with Taliban border into northern Pakistan. The operation was
and al-Qaeda forces making hit-and-run attacks on difficult for U.S. forces because much of the fighting
the U.S. and Afghan tribal force of some 1,500 that was at altitudes where the air was thin, breathing
had laid siege to their caves and bunkers. The oppo- was difficult, and most of the supporting helicopters
sition forces were using guerrilla tactics and darting reached their operational limit. Action on the
back into the caves after each attack, using their ground was hampered by the nature of the terrain,
knowledge of the area to full effect. The rebel forces the enemy’s knowledge of the country, and the need
were well armed with rockets, mortars, and heavy to avoid civilian casualties. Consequently, patience
machine guns, but ammunition soon began to run had to be exercised before engaging targets, and
low, enabling the besieging forces to get within 300 careful exploration of the area was essential due to
feet of the caves; at that point, side arms became the the presence of caves that could be used as refuges
order of the day. The caves had originally been de- and the possibility of encountering booby traps. In
veloped as defensive positions against the Soviet essence, Anaconda was a major, high-profile opera-
troops in the 1980s, and the Coalition forces were tion by U.S. and Afghan forces that dealt a severe
intent on making them unsuitable for future mili- blow to al-Qaeda and Taliban forces.
tary use by blocking the entrances, using shoulder- The threat posed by the survivors of Operation
launched rockets. Anaconda was illustrated on 20 March when U.S.
It was evident that the Coalition forces were en- and other Coalition troops at Khost came under at-
gaging hardened fighters intent on fighting to the tack from al-Qaeda forces. The attackers used
death from their complex of caves and bunkers. At rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, and machine
one point, the opposition forces were being rein- guns in an attack that lasted several hours. An AC-
forced with fighters who had traveled to the caves 130 gunship was called up to bolster the defenses.
through the mountain passes, but Afghan forces This attack had been preceded on 17 March by a
then formed an outer ring around the area to stop U.S. assault on a convoy of four vehicles leaving
the infiltration. Meanwhile, U.S. and other Afghan Shah-i-Kot for what was known to be a location of
forces closed in on the al-Qaeda positions that were fleeing al-Qaeda fighters, resulting in a number of
being defended by non-Afghan professional sol- them being killed and one taken prisoner.
diers; few, if any, Taliban fighters were present.
It was thought that some of the top al-Qaeda or Operation Snipe
Taliban leaders might have been in the complex, Operation Snipe, mounted by UK commandos and
which would have explained, in part, the ferocity of local Afghan troops, was to be a secret search-and-
the al-Qaeda fighters. Intelligence reports seemed to destroy mission targeting southeastern Afghanistan,
support this assumption, as hundreds of sympathiz- with the objective of clearing and destroying any
ers had been detected streaming toward the front terrorist infrastructure and making the area safe for
subsequent humanitarian operations. The force of were discovered. The Ptarmigan force consisted of
1,000 commandos was supplemented by 500 local commando reconnaissance troops and Royal Ma-
Afghan troops and backed by Royal Air Force (RAF) rine commandos supported by Chinook helicopters
Chinook helicopters. The operation began in the of the Royal Air Force. The operation was concluded
middle of April and lasted just over two weeks. on 18 April with the return of the force to the
Operation Snipe succeeded in capturing a signif- Bagram air base.
icant amount of weaponry and supplies but failed to
locate any groups of Taliban or al-Qaeda, with only Operation Buzzard
two suspected Taliban having been taken to the The UK-led Operation Buzzard was launched on 29
Bagram air base for interrogation. Among the May 2002 with forty-five Royal Marine commandos
weapons discovered were over 100 mortars, 100 re- and local Afghan fighters undertaking a series of pa-
coilless antitank guns, hundreds of rocket-propelled trols in the Khost region of southeast Afghanistan.
grenades, 200 antipersonnel mines, hundreds of ar- This period of sustained patrolling was seen as an
tillery rounds and rockets, and thousands of small indication that the opposition had been forced to
arms and light antiaircraft ammunition. Coalition abandon a large-scale presence in the region. The
commanders gauged the operation a success be- patrols also engaged in humanitarian aid work, par-
cause the area had not previously been investigated ticularly a wide-ranging program of medical assis-
and the commandos had succeeded in denying ter- tance in the rural areas. The operation came to an
ritory to the enemy. However, the action was further end on 9 July 2002.
confirmation that the remnants of al-Qaeda were Evidence that the Taliban and al-Qaeda were not
elusive and highly mobile enemies, probably operat- spent came on 27 January 2003 with the engage-
ing in small groups in the mountain areas, with ment of U.S. and Afghan forces against some eighty
well-planned lines of retreat into Pakistan or Iran. rebels in the mountains of southern Afghanistan,
near the border town of Spin Boldak. It is thought
Operation Mountain Lion that the group was composed of fighters loyal to
Operation Mountain Lion began on 15 April 2002 Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who had been trying for
and was coordinated with the UK-led Operation several months to consolidate with remnants of the
Ptarmigan, which was launched the following day. Taliban and al-Qaeda to form one anti-Coalition
Both operations were designed to find enemy fight- force. As such, the action would be part of the jihad
ers in the Gardez and Khost regions, to deny the declared by Hekmatyar against U.S. forces and their
enemy control of the area, and to prevent al-Qaeda Afghan allies.
from reorganizing their forces to attack Coalition or The operation began when U.S. Special Forces
government forces. searching a compound near Spin Boldak came under
Mountain Lion involved Coalition special forces, fire; the U.S. soldiers killed one attacker, wounded an-
as well as conventional ground forces, with heli- other, and took one prisoner, who divulged the
copter gunship backup. It resulted in a number of whereabouts of eighty fighters hiding in the moun-
small but fierce engagements with the enemy, who tains. Apache helicopters, which were fired on, lo-
had been infiltrating across the Pakistan border. The cated the enemy positions, and B-1 bombers, F-16
operation tailed off on 16 May 2002, but the Coali- warplanes, AC-130 gunships, and Apache helicopters
tion commander, Maj. Gen. Franklin L. Hagenbeck, launched an attack before troops moved in. At least
warned that al-Qaeda still possessed much of its eighteen rebels were killed in the engagement, which
leadership and an effective command-and-control was the largest since Operation Anaconda.
structure.
Operations Viper and Eagle Fury
Operation Ptarmigan On 10 February 2003, U.S. troops from the
This UK-led operation was launched on 16 April Eighty-Second Airborne Division launched an
2002 and was coordinated with the U.S.-led Opera- operation against suspected Taliban forces in Hel-
tion Mountain Lion. Both actions were designed to mand Province. The operation was targeted along
search areas suspected of being occupied by al- a mountain ridge in the Baghran district, where
Qaeda and Taliban forces, but no opposition forces Taliban fighters had been seen taking up offensive
positions by a U.S. patrol. The troops called up air intelligence reports. The new search in Baghni Val-
support, and the ridge was pounded for eight ley resulted in twelve arrests and the seizure of sixty
hours with smart bombs dropped by B-52 and B- rifles in the first thirty-six hours. Since the start of
1 bombers. On the following day, twelve armed the operation three weeks before, forty people had
men suspected to be Taliban were arrested near been arrested, twenty Taliban had been killed, and
the village of Lejay in the Baghran Valley. U.S. caches of weapons were seized.
troops found abandoned ammunition cases and The war is now being fought on several fronts,
rocket-launcher tubes, indicating that Taliban and it includes the use of misinformation, propa-
fighters were still active in the area. It was esti- ganda, and terror tactics. In addition to the anti-
mated that there were between 30 and 100 rebels American leaflet campaign undertaken in towns
in the area, and although 25 suspects had been de- such as Spin Boldak, leaflets urging resistance to
tained, there was no confirmation as to the num- U.S. forces have appeared in a number of villages
ber of rebels killed. U.S. troops mounted a sys- along the border with Pakistan. In cities patrolled by
tematic search of villages in the area, which was Coalition forces, such as Kandahar, land mines and
considered to now be the heartland of the Taliban booby traps have been laid to kill U.S. forces, but in
but had not been comprehensively searched be- many cases, they kill innocent Afghans instead, in-
fore this operation. They seized concealed stilling fear in the population. Planners in the U.S.
weapons but met no resistance. headquarters at the Bagram air base are also trying
The operations were marred by claims that seven- to counter “disinformation” campaigns in which
teen Afghan civilians, including women and children, civilian casualties from U.S. bombings are being ex-
had been killed in the bombing raids, though the aggerated. Reports on the alleged incident in Hel-
deputy governor of the province stated that he had mand Province, for instance, first said there were
seen dead bodies but was unable to determine seventeen dead, but the number soon rose to
whether they were civilians or Taliban. The U.S. com- twenty and then finally to hundreds, despite the fact
mander maintained that only an eight-year-old boy, there was no evidence for any civilian deaths at all.
the son of a suspected Taliban fighter, had been in-
jured and taken to Kandahar for treatment. The Ongoing Situation 2003
Afghan authorities announced an investigation into It soon became clear that the remnants of the Tal-
the alleged incident, and the commander of U.S. iban and al Qaeda were not a spent force, especially
forces in Afghanistan, Gen. Dan McNeill, met with after they joined up with the fighters of Gulbuddin
President Hamid Karzai to discuss the alleged out- Hekmatyar following his declaration of a jihad
comes. The president called on U.S. forces to take spe- against Coalition troops and their Afghan support-
cial care to avoid civilian casualties, but at the same ers. Actions continued in southern and eastern Af-
time, he asked Afghans to help U.S. soldiers track ghanistan to counter enemy activity of a sporadic,
down suspected terrorists in southern Afghanistan. small-scale nature, particularly in Kandahar
Clashes were reported elsewhere in the country Province. There, intelligence reports and intercepted
during the same period. For example, an attack took radio signals indicated that Taliban and al-Qaeda
place at a compound near Tarin Kot in the province forces were regrouping and planning raids against
of Oruzgan on 24 February 2003. One terrorist was Coalition and Afghan government targets. As a re-
killed and another wounded, and Coalition forces sponse, Operation Valiant Strike was launched at
lost one Afghan soldier and had another severely the end of March 2003 in the Marif district of the
wounded. On the same day, at Wazir in Nangarhar province, with the objective of tracking down
Province, a U.S. military convoy was assaulted by a groups of enemy fighters. The operation involved
small number of terrorists, but no casualties were some 1,000 U.S. troops and 3,000 Afghan govern-
reported on either side. ment forces, backed by U.S. Apache helicopters and
On 3 March 2003, the U.S. military stated that it gunships. It began with a series of house-to-house
had extended the search for fugitive Taliban into a searches in the district, resulting in the arrest of a
second valley in Helmand Province. The operation number of suspects. The action in the area contin-
would comprise a search of other villages thought to ued into April, and on 4 April, a Taliban base near
have connections with the Taliban, based on specific Spin Boldak in the mountainous area of Kandahar
was captured, with eight Taliban killed and another Joint Regional Team Program
fifteen taken prisoner. On 13 January 2003, General McNeill, the Coalition
A further offensive was launched on 1 April in commander, announced a change in strategy that
Badghis Province by Afghan security forces, in a would extend security beyond Kabul and improve
search for Taliban and Hekmatyar fighters sus- stability in Afghanistan. The general has established
pected of conducting a number of attacks in the re- a joint regional team (JRT)—composed of seventy
gion. A series of villages were targeted, based on lists soldiers, civil affairs officers, engineers, medical
of Taliban fighters found in the pockets of Taliban staffers, and other officials—that began operations
commanders captured during earlier fighting. The in Gardez, eastern Afghanistan, in February 2003, in
lists showed that 500 Taliban fighters were active in an attempt to expand the authority of the Kabul
the area. As a result of the operation, 150 were killed, government. The team is to pursue a program of re-
50 were taken prisoner, and the remainder fled into construction that will pull security improvements
the mountains. Among those taken prisoner was along with it, as reconstruction will make people
Mullah Badar, who had been governor of the feel more secure and blunt the impact and propa-
province under the Taliban regime. ganda of the remnants of al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
On 2 April, U.S. Green Berets and Afghan secu- A further JRT was established in Kunduz in north-
rity forces attacked Taliban fighters in the Tora Ghar ern Afghanistan and began operations in April 2003
Mountain region in southern Afghanistan, forcing after an advance team had started preliminary work
them to retreat into the hills, where they were at- in February and after the Bamian JRT began opera-
tacked by U.S. air support from the Bagram air base. tions in March 2003.
A new Taliban base was also identified in the Haba The concept of the JRT was first raised in No-
Mountains north of Kandahar after the interroga- vember 2002, and detailed consultations took place
tion of captured Taliban fighters. In the resultant ac- with a number of interested bodies, including the
tion, twenty Taliban fighters were killed, with the United Nations, nongovernmental organizations
loss of three Afghan soldiers. Also in April 2003, U.S. (NGOs), officials from members of the Coalition,
troops mounted further operations in the Sangeen the ISAF, and the government in Kabul. The objec-
district of Kandahar Province, where it was thought tive is to provide a reasonable degree of stability and
that former Taliban commanders, including Mullah security in a short span of time. The move is, in part,
Akhtar Mohammed, were hiding. an answer to criticism from a number of Afghan
Throughout the ensuing months up to the time and Western aid agencies that the United States is
of writing in June 2003, this type of action has con- not doing enough to help the Karzai government
tinued with some success, but there is no evidence extend its authority, combat the power of the re-
that the combination of Taliban, al-Qaeda, and gional warlords, and begin the essential reconstruc-
Hekmatyar fighters are being defeated. Sporadic action of the country.
tions continue, and there is much evidence of con- It was intended that by the summer of 2003, JRTs
tinued attacks on Coalition and Afghan government would also be operating in Mazar-i Sharif, Herat,
forces, government officials, and aid workers. At- Jalalabad, and Kandahar (with more to follow if
tacks tend to be small-scale strikes on limited or op- they were successful), but these were awaiting a re-
portune targets, with rocket attacks on military view of the effectiveness of operational JRTs. The
bases. Evidence has emerged that guerrillas are pay- JRTs will also receive full backing, including, if con-
ing poor Afghans $10 to fire crude rockets on mili- ditions become dangerous, the rapid deployment of
tary bases, and it is thought that an attack on a mil- troops, air cover, and airlift operations. JRTs will
itary base at Asadabad in Kunar Province on 31 May work with local authorities, UN agencies, and
fit this pattern. In most cases, probably due to inex- NGOs as they begin spending $300 million in aid
perience, the majority of these rockets fall short of earmarked for the reconstruction of rural areas.
their targets, but there is little doubt that the security However, NGOs have warned that the members of
situation in Afghanistan remains critical. Taliban the JRTs will need to understand that aid is ecu-
and other antigovernment activity is creating con- menical and cannot just be directed to communities
tinued instability, delaying development, and weak- that support the United States or U.S. positions. Al-
ening the position of the Karzai government. though local commanders will have flexibility in
dealing with regional warlords, General McNeill has References

made it clear that the central government must take Hiro, Dilip. 2002. War without End: The Rise of Islamist
the dominant role in controlling local friction. It is Terrorism and Global Response. Rev. ed. London:
thought that the JRT project will aid stability, but Routledge.
critics maintain that it falls short of a full solution http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/southasia
and cannot be a substitute for an expansion of the http://www.cnn.worldnews.com
http://www.gulf-news.com
ISAF.
http://www.institute-for-afghan-studies.org
See also Coalition Air Campaign against the Taliban; http://www.nytimes.com
Mazar-i Sharif; Northern Alliance; Operation http://www.time.com
Enduring Freedom; Taliban; UK Special Forces; U.S. http://www.washingtonpost.com
Special Forces http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases
DARI LANGUAGE
The Dari language is spoken by about a third of the
Afghani population and also serves as a means of
communication between speakers of different lan-
guages in Afghanistan. It is a member of the Iranian
D
branch of the Indo-Iranian family of languages and
is the Afghan version of Farsi, spoken in Iran, with the Ministry of Defense. It was again damaged dur-
some minor variations in the vowel system and ad- ing the Tanai coup of March 1990 and the subse-
ditional consonants. The Hazara, Tajik, Turkoman, quent civil war between the mujahideen groups.
and Uzbek tribes, as well as some Pashtuns, speak See also Amanullah, King
Dari. References
See also Hazaras; Languages; Pashtuns; Tajiks; Dupree, Nancy Hatch. 1977. An Historical Guide to
Turkomans; Uzbeks Kabul. Kabul: Afghan Tourist Organization.
References
Foreign Service Institute. 1957. Spoken Afghan Persian. DAUD, SARDAR MUHAMMAD (1909–1978)
Kabul: U.S. Embassy. Sardar Muhammad Daud was born in Kabul in
Miran, M. Alan. 1977. The Functions of National 1909, the son of Sardar Muhammad Aziz Khan,
Languages in Afghanistan. New York: Afghanistan half brother to King Nadir Shah. He was educated
Council, Asia Society. at the Amania School in Kabul and spent seven
years in France, where his father was in charge of
DARULAMAN Afghan student affairs and his uncle, Nadir Shah,
Darulaman was a new capital city built by King was ambassador to Paris. He returned to Kabul in
Amanullah in the early 1920s, 6 miles from the city 1930 and attended a year’s course for infantry offi-
of Kabul and linked to it by a narrow-gauge railway. cers in 1931. A year later, he was promoted to
The king constructed a number of government major general and appointed commander of the
buildings, including a prestigious parliament and a eastern provinces, becoming governor in addition
municipality building. In addition, members of the to his military post in February 1934. In 1934, he
court and government officials built villas in the also married the younger daughter of King Nadir
new capital. However, it ceased to be the capital after Shah, and he was transferred in July to Kandahar
the downfall of the king. It was renamed Bar-al- as governor and general commanding officer, to
Habib (meaning “Abode of Habib”) after Habibul- include the divisions in the provinces of Farah and
lah Kalakani and in 1930 Dar-al-Funun (or “Abode Chakhansur.
of the Arts”). In 1947, the city again reverted to its During his period in Kandahar, he encouraged
original name, but all of the major administrative the adoption of Pashtu as the only national lan-
offices were transferred to Kabul. The municipality guage. In 1939, he was made commander of the
building was converted into Kabul Museum, which Central Forces, a post he held until 1947, during
housed archaeological treasures from the Hellenis- which he subdued the Safi Revolt of 1945. He be-
tic, Greco-Buddhist, and Ghaznavid periods. How- came defense minister in 1947 but disagreed with
ever, as a result of the civil war and the Taliban Prime Minister Shah Muhammad and was sent to
regime, the museum has been almost completely the Paris embassy from 1948 to 1949. He returned to
looted. The old parliament building was seriously serve as minister of the interior from 1949 to 1950
damaged by fire in 1969 and then restored to house and, at the same time, president of tribal affairs.
67
68 DAUD, SARDAR MUHAMMAD
Daud became prime minister in 1953 and held with proposals to nationalize key industries and reg-
the post for ten years, during which some advances ulate business to eliminate exploitation. Daud also
were made in the state infrastructure. He was re- declared, within the proposals, that power was to be
sponsible for the adoption of the First Five-Year exercised by the people, the majority of whom were
Plan in 1956, which resulted in the construction of identified as farmers, workers, enlightened individ-
paved highways and other improvements in public uals, and youths, and that the proposed new legisla-
services, with financial support from the United ture would be required to draw half of its members
States, and in 1959, he also encouraged and pro- from among the farmers and workers. In addition, a
tected efforts to abolish the requirement that political role was accorded to the military through
women wear veils, or chadaris, though the benefits the High Council of the Armed Forces, and the
were mainly restricted to women in Kabul. Daud rights already given to women were incorporated
also aspired to enhance the role and power of the into the constitution for approval by a loya jirga.
military in order to sustain the state and the reform Daud still attempted to found a one-party state
movement, but he was unsuccessful in attempts to through his creation of the National Revolutionary
obtain support from the United States and was Party in 1975, which excluded his former backers in
forced to turn to the Soviet Union for assistance and the PDPA and was charged with approving all can-
technical expertise. On the international scene, he didates for the forthcoming elections under the new
also represented Afghanistan at the Belgrade sum- constitution. However, the Central Committee of
mit of nonaligned countries in September 1961. the party was appointed by Daud, without any con-
Daud was a protagonist of the Pashtunistan ques- sultation, in 1977 and was immediately criticized for
tion—that is, he supported the creation of a Pash- its composition, which was deemed too full of cor-
tun state, or Pashtunistan—but the pursuit of this rupt officials or cronies of the president; this alien-
policy had caused a serious deterioration in rela- ated all sectors of the community, turning his for-
tions with Pakistan. Moreover, Daud’s autocratic mer Marxist supporters into the opposition.
rule also caused unease at home, to the point that he In April 1977, Daud visited Moscow for high-
became a liability to the ruling elite. The king de- level negotiations, which became acrimonious be-
manded—and received—his resignation in 1963. cause of his refusal to change the policy of employ-
He opposed parts of the newly drafted constitution, ing foreign experts from countries other than the
which was adopted by the Loya Jirga (Great Coun- Soviet Union. Meanwhile, back in Afghanistan, the
cil) in 1964. Khalq and Parchami wings of the PDPA were hold-
Daud was in retirement from 1963 to 1973 but ing reunification talks, and they succeeded in sort-
mounted a coup against the monarchy, with Marx- ing out their differences by July 1977. Although
ist support, on 17 July 1973 and deposed King Zahir, Daud wished to retain good relations with the So-
who went into exile in Rome. Thereupon, Daud viet Union, he also wanted to ensure that Afghani-
proclaimed the Democratic Republic of Afghani- stan remained a nonaligned state. By this time, the
stan and nominated himself as president. However, Soviets were unwilling to risk losing their consider-
following the secret founding of the Afghan Com- able investment in Afghanistan and their sleepers in
munist Party, known as the People’s Democratic the military and the bureaucracy, only to be re-
Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), a number of sleepers placed by the Arab oil-rich states and Iran, which
had been placed in the military and the bureaucracy, had agreed to fund Daud’s reformist program.
and after the coup, they emerged in positions of au- Moscow therefore instructed the PDPA to plan a
thority, even in the president’s own retinue, though coup to oust the Daud regime.
some remained covert. On 27 April 1978, the PDPA mounted the Saur
Daud was keen to divest himself of his Commu- Revolt, after which the Communists rose to power.
nist backers, and in the first two years of the repub- The Marxists had attained a considerable measure
lic, he steadily removed his Marxist supporters from of support within the armed forces through a tar-
office. In 1977, he introduced a new constitution geted recruiting program, particularly by the Khalq
that called for socioeconomic reforms and an end to faction led by Hafizullah Amin and, in secret, the
the exploitation of the ordinary Afghan citizen. A Parchami faction using Mir Akbar Khaibar. Daud
program of land reform was also promised, together and his family were killed in fighting during the re-
DESTRUCTION OF PRE-ISLAMIC HERITAGE 69
volt after a bitter defense of the royal palace; his sup- troops but again held no power within the military
porters were unable to resist the armor of the op- administration. On his return to Kabul, he was
posing forces led by Maj. Muhammad Aslam made commander-in-chief once more, but after the
Watanjar, a prominent officer in Daud’s own coup massacre of the staff of the British mission at Kabul
of 1973. The leaders of the PDPA feared Daud’s ex- in September 1879, he was deported to India.
ecution had become a specific objective of the coup. References
See also Amin, Hafizullah; People’s Democratic Party of Khaflin, N. A. 1958. “The Rising of Ishaq Shah in
Afghanistan; Taraki, Nur Muhammad Southern Turkestan.” Central Asian Review 6, no. 2:
References 253–263.
Kaker, Hasan. 1978. “The Fall of the Afghan Monarch in Malleson, G. B. 1984. History of Afghanistan, from the
1973.” International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878.
9, no. 2: 195–225. Peshawar, Pakistan: Saeed Book Bank.
Magnus, Ralph H., and Eden Naby. 2000. Afghanistan:
Mullah, Marx and Mujahid. Boulder, CO: Westview DESTRUCTION OF PRE-ISLAMIC HERITAGE
Press.
On 26 February 2001, the Taliban leader, Mullah
Muhammad Omar, announced that, on the basis of
DA’UD SHAH (1832–?) consultations between the religious leaders, religious
Da’ud Shah was a general in the Kabul army who judgments of the ulama (Islamic scholars and cler-
sided with Amir Shir Ali during the civil wars gymen), and rulings of the Supreme Court, all non-
(1863–1866), and at the time of the Battle of Said- Islamic shrines were to be destroyed. The action was
abad in May 1866, he was a prisoner in Afzal Khan’s deemed necessary because the statues were consid-
camp but managed to escape and rejoined Shir Ali’s ered shrines of infidels and were still worshiped and
forces. In June 1869, he was dispatched to Turkestan respected by infidels; as false shrines, they needed to
where, with Governor Mir Alam Khan, he put down be destroyed, for Allah was the only real shrine.
a rebellion raised by Ishaq Khan. Following these Taliban troops were spread out around the coun-
military actions, he remained in Turkestan as mili- try on 1 March, equipped with tanks, rocket launch-
tary commander. However, his relations with the ers, and explosives to destroy all statues, including
governor were not good, and he was suspected of the two fifth-century statues of Buddha carved into
instigating a mutiny among his troops in April 1870, the mountainside at Bamian. The authorities ig-
designed to disgrace Mir Alam Khan. nored the international outcry that followed Omar’s
It was recommended by the commander-in- decree, and troops began to demolish pre-Islamic
chief of the Kabul army that Da’ud be recalled with images in the capital, Kabul, as well as in Bamian,
his four regiments due to the complete breakdown Ghazni, Herat, Jalalabad, and Kandahar; the actions
in relations with the governor. In July 1870, he was were strongly defended by the information minister,
imprisoned by the amir in Kabul, but Commander- Qadradullah Jamal.
in-Chief Faramuz Khan pleaded for leniency, and in On 2 March, the United Nations sent a represen-
September 1870, Da’ud Shah and his officers were tative to plead with the Taliban to call off the de-
released. In June 1871, Ramauz Khan was mur- struction, which faced mounting international criti-
dered, and Da’ud was appointed commander-in- cism due to the historical significance of the artifacts.
chief but removed from his post after complaints This message was reinforced by pressure from
from his second in command. He was put in charge United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
of raising recruits and held no power within the Organization (UNESCO), which asked other Islamic
military administration. nations to apply pressure on the Taliban regime to
After the arrest of Herat’s governor, Yaqub Khan, halt the program; meanwhile, museums, such as the
Da’ud was sent to Herat in November 1874 to join Metropolitan Museum in New York, pleaded for the
Mustaufi Habibullah, who had replaced Yaqub statues to be given or sold to foreign museums in
Khan. After the rebellion of Muhammad Ayub order to preserve Afghanistan’s cultural heritage.
Khan—who was the brother of Yaqub Khan and UNESCO also sent a special envoy, Pierre
would be the victor against the British at the Battle Lafrance (a former French ambassador to Pakistan),
of Maiwand in 1880—Da’ud entered Herat with his to deliver a message to the Taliban authorities.
70 DESTRUCTION OF PRE-ISLAMIC HERITAGE
A giant stone Buddha from the fourth or fifth century was a testament to Afghanistan's long and rich history. It was destroyed by the
fundamentalist Taliban regime in March 2001. (UNESCO/F. Riviere)
Lafrance met with the Taliban ambassador to Pak- and by the following day, with the use of antiaircraft
istan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, who stated that the decree weapons, tanks, and mortars, the remainder of the
had not been implemented. However, this informa- statues were destroyed.
tion was dated, as large-scale destruction had al- The Taliban foreign minister brushed aside criti-
ready taken place. On the very day the meeting was cism and rejected offers from foreign museums to
taking place, Jamal announced that troops had house the artifacts, arguing that the relics were
completed the destruction of two-thirds of all the against Islamic belief and that Afghanistan was ca-
pre-Islamic statues in Afghanistan and had begun pable of maintaining its own history and heritage.
the destruction of the two statues of Buddha at The action was regarded by Mullah Omar as a trib-
Bamian. International pressures mounted to try to ute to Islam and to the Afghan nation, and it was di-
preserve these statues, but on 3 March, the Taliban rectly stated that no response would be made to in-
reported that most of the ancient statues had been ternational pressure.
destroyed. Troops had used rockets and mortars to Contrary to the claims of the Taliban authorities,
destroy the heads and legs of the sandstone statues, it became clear that the destruction of the statues of
DISARMAMENT PROGRAM 71
the Buddha had not been completed, and on 6 Taliban soldier told a reporter that there were over
March, the operation was suspended to enable 4,000 troops involved in the operation to destroy the
troops to celebrate the feast of Eid al-Adha, though statues, which were 123 feet and 178 feet high, uti-
it was confirmed that the operation would resume lizing artillery fire, tanks, explosives, and land
when the holiday was over. The delay allowed the in- mines. The scope and duration of the operation was
ternational community to mount further attempts clearly an embarrassment to the Taliban authorities.
to halt the destruction, with representations being The operation had lasted some two weeks, and Mul-
made by Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. The lah Omar was so upset by the delay that he ordered
Japanese parliament also dispatched a delegation to the sacrifice of 100 cows in atonement for the delay,
Kandahar to express the concerns of the Japanese with the meat being distributed to the poor and
people about reports of damage to the statues of needy.
Buddha. An offer was made by the Sri Lankan gov- References
ernment to finance an international operation to Institute for Afghan Studies. “How the Precious Statues
save the statues as part of a UNESCO mission. How- of Afghanistan Got Destroyed?”
ever, the UNESCO representative stated that the Tal- http://www.institute-for-afghan-studies.org (cited 26
iban leaders had shown no interest in reversing their April 2001).
decision and that the figures had not been damaged
to the extent claimed by the Taliban militia. DIN MUHAMMAD, MASHK-IL-ALAM
On 9 March, the Taliban foreign minister, Wakil (1790–1886)
Ahmad Muttawali, issued a statement declaring that Mashk-il-Alam Din Muhammad is considered a na-
the international campaign would not succeed in tional hero by Afghans because of his hostility to-
preserving the Bamian statues. Despite this pro- ward British India and its interference in the affairs
nouncement, efforts persisted over the next few of Afghanistan in the nineteenth century. He was a
days. The three-member team from Japan arrived in mullah in the frontier area between India, where his
Kandahar to try to reverse the decree, and UN- family originated, and Afghanistan. The name
ESCO’s special envoy Pierre Lafrance announced his Mashk-il-Alam (meaning “Scent of the World”) was
intention to return to Afghanistan; the Pakistan given to him by one of his teachers because of his
prime minister, Moinuddin Haider, failed to have exceptional intellect. Din Muhammad was a mili-
the decision reversed at a meeting held in Kandahar. tant mullah who gained considerable influence
Egypt also sent a leading authority on Islam in order among the Ghilzais, and he opened up a madrasa
to get the operation canceled by arguing that the (religious school) for the training of mullahs. He
presence of the Bamian Buddhas did not represent was provided with an allowance by Amir Shir Ali
an affront to Islam. and preached jihad, or holy war, against the British
The secretary-general of the United Nations, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1879).
Kofi Annan, had been told by the Taliban authorities Although Amir Abdur Rahman attempted to curb
that virtually all the pre-Islamic statues had been de- his influence and to restrict his activities, Din
stroyed and that the operation at Bamian was well Muhammad successfully incited the Mangals and
under way. Meanwhile, the Taliban religious leaders Ghilzais to revolt against the amir. The opposition
rejected the arguments of international Islamic to the amir continued after Din Muhammad’s death
scholars sent by the Organization of the Islamic in 1886, with his son, Mullah Abdul Karim, leading
Conference (OIC) to Kandahar on the grounds that another Ghilzai revolt that was only suppressed with
they were un-Islamic. Taliban leaders contended great difficulty.
that the OIC scholars had not provided any reli- References
gious justification for preserving the statues and had Martin, Frank A. 2000. Under the Absolute Amir of
only argued about the timing of the operation. Afghanistan. New Delhi: Bhavana Books and Prints.
On 13 March, an Afghan freelance photographer
provided Cable News Network (CNN) with pho- DISARMAMENT PROGRAM
tographs from the scene showing that the statues Security in post-Taliban Afghanistan remains a
had been destroyed, and as expected, the interna- major problem for the government of President
tional community reacted with anger and sadness. A Hamid Karzai, whose authority still does not extend
72 DISARMAMENT PROGRAM
much beyond Kabul even in his second year of of- fighters away from depending on middle-ranking
fice. The situation is a legacy of twenty-three years militia commanders for their financial survival. This
of war, interethnic conflict, and tribal rivalry, with approach is seen as a means of preventing village
regional warlords maintaining their own private communities from having to rely on militia com-
militias and the country awash with weapons. The manders to provide economic opportunities.
main objective is the creation of an effective na- At the Tokyo conference, President Karzai stated
tional army and police force, both built on multi- that the process of disarmament would take about
ethnic foundations, as a means of establishing secu- three years, with the first year largely devoted to the
rity and stability throughout the country. registration of all warlords by special government
In the summer of 2002, an attempt was made to committees. Following the conference, the Afghan
introduce a disarmament program in northern Af- government committed itself to work with the
ghanistan, but it merely ended with smaller groups United Nations to produce a disarmament strategy
being forced to surrender their arms to more pow- for UN consideration, which was announced to the
erful commanders. Due to the absence of a national Afghan nation by President Karzai on 21 March 2003.
security or police force, the militias had assumed re- The situation in northern Afghanistan illustrates
sponsibility for filling the security vacuum in about the problems faced by the Kabul government and
90 percent of the country. Estimates vary, with the the Coalition forces in trying to disarm the various
government indicating that between 100,000 and regional warlords and their militias. On 28 February
150,000 individuals need to be disarmed, whereas 2003, the chief of the UN Refugee Agency, Rudd
aid agencies put the figure in excess of 200,000. The Lubbers, convened a meeting at Mazar-i Sharif with
scale of the problem is suggested by the fact that the regional leaders, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum,
there are some 8 million guns in circulation as well Gen. Ustad Atta Mohammad, and Saradar Saeedi, to
as significant caches of sophisticated weaponry hid- consider the problems of ethnic violence and the
den by Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters. issue of persons displaced by the conflict, as some
On 27 February 2003, a conference was held in 50,000 Pashtuns had fled the region to live in camps
Tokyo to discuss the question of demobilization and in southern Afghanistan.
disarmament, since the process is crucial to im- After the meeting, an accord was issued, with the
provements in security and the development leaders having agreed to improve security and to
process. The U.S. and Japanese governments work to end ethnic conflicts in order to assist the re-
pledged $95 million to fund the process of demobi- turn of refugees and displaced persons. At the meet-
lization, disarmament, and reintegration of fighters ing, the leaders were firmly told by the UN repre-
into a civil economy. In a separate deal, the Japanese sentative that “return is about today and the future,
government pledged $35 million to fund Afghani- it should not be about the past.” The three leaders
stan’s New Beginnings Program (ANBP), which is also promised to take measures against any of their
seen as crucial for the integration of demobilized local commanders who breached the accord. How-
fighters into normal civilian society and the peace- ever, the situation is a delicate one and illustrates the
time economy. President Karzai indicated that gravity of the situation in Afghanistan.
ANBP funding could be used to provide jobs for
former fighters in the construction of highways, See also Afghan Army; Bonn Conference;
Reconstruction Program
bridges, and dams, with others being absorbed into
References
the new Afghan national army. The objective would
“Karzai Says It Will Take Years to Disarm Afghan
be to complete this process before the elections
Warlords; Donors Pledge US50.7 Million to Help.”
scheduled for the summer of 2004. 2003. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story
Attempts to disarm in Afghanistan have been &u=/ap/20030222/ap_wo_en_ge/as_gen_japan_
slow and in some areas have ceased altogether be- afghan_donors_5 (cited 22 February 2003).
cause of outbreaks of fighting between rival war- Pitman, Todd. 2003. “Joint UN, Afghan Government
lords, particularly in the north of the country and in Team to Present Disarmament Strategy to Karzai
Paktia Province in the southeast. The ANBP is ex- Next Month.” http://www.story.news.yahoo.com/
pected to offer cash payments and microcredit pro- news?tmpl=story2&cid=506&u=ap/20030227/ap_
grams to start up new businesses in order to wean wo_en (cited 28 February 2003).
DOST MUHAMMAD, AMIR 73
DOBBS, SIR HENRY bassies in Washington, Islamabad, and Peshawar. He

Sir Henry Dobbs was the British envoy to Afghani- was born in 1929, the son of Dost Muhammad, and
stan in 1921 and in charge of the mission to Kabul gained a diploma from the Faculty of Law at Kabul
that negotiated the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1921, University, where he is reputed to have become a
which reestablished Anglo-Afghan relations after friend of Babrak Karmal, a leading member of the
the Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919). He had also People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA)
been the head of the British negotiating team at the who later became secretary-general of the party and
Mussoorie Conference, held from 17 April to 18 July then president of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1986.
1920, which had failed to normalize Anglo-Afghan Dost was secretly a member of the PDPA and be-
relations. Dobbs had first served in Afghanistan in came deputy foreign minister in 1978 and foreign
1903 as a political officer in charge of a team sent to minister in 1980. He was also a member of the Cen-
restore and repair boundary pillars along the tral Committee and Revolutionary Council of the
Afghan-Russia border. PDPA.
See also Mussoorie Conference See also People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan
References
Heathcote, T. A. 1980. The Afghan Wars, 1839–1919. DOST MUHAMMAD, AMIR (1792–1863)
London: Osprey. Amir Dost Muhammad, also known as the “Great
Amir” (Amir-i-Kabir), took the throne of Afghani-
DOST, SHAH MUHAMMAD (1928– ) stan in 1826 and ruled, initially, until 1838 before
Shah Muhammad Dost’s career was entirely de- being ousted by Britain at the start of the First
voted to government service. He was in the Ministry Anglo-Afghan War. He was born in Kandahar in
of Foreign Affairs in various posts from 1956 before 1792, the son of Painda Khan, who was killed when
becoming a member of the Directorate of United Dost Muhammad was eight years old. He became
Nations Affairs in 1957 and going on to serve in em- acting governor of Ghazni and then established
British depiction of the surrender of Afghan ruler Dost Muhammad to the British in 1840 during the Anglo-Afghan Wars. (Library of
Congress)
74 DOSTUM, GEN. ABDUL RASHID
himself as ruler of Kabul after the death of Muham- insurgency in Turkestan. In 1985, Dostum’s militia
mad Azam in 1824. His next major success was the numbered some 20,000 men, based in the northern
defeat of his primary rival, Shah Shuja, at Kandahar provinces.
in 1834, which enabled him to extend his control Dostum joined with the government of Muham-
through the rest of Afghanistan. He also defeated mad Najibullah and fought against the mujahideen,
the Sikhs at the Battle of Jamrud in 1837 and took receiving the “Hero of the Republic of Afghanistan”
on himself the title “Commander of the Faithful.” award for his efforts. He was a member of the
However, Britain had turned against Dost Homeland Party, formerly called the People’s Dem-
Muhammad after he was suspected of having ocratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Seeing that the
opened negotiations with Russia, a view reinforced government of Najibullah was in a terminal state, he
by the arrival in Kabul of a Russian emissary, Capt. distanced himself from it and allied himself with the
Ivan Vitkevich. Dost Muhammad was anxious to re- mujahideen during the transfer of power in 1992.
gain territory lost to the Sikhs under Ranjit Singh This action was largely responsible for Najibullah’s
and was willing to ally himself with Britain, but he downfall, and Dostum and his allies seized Mazar-i
was advised by the British to make peace with the Sharif and the surrounding area. However, this was
Sikhs. Britain then decided to support Shah Shuja in not a settled period, for Dostum, a master of in-
his attempt to regain the throne, and they invaded trigue, had a habit of establishing alliances of conve-
Afghanistan, taking Kabul on 23 July 1839. On 2 nience and then stabbing his allies in the back. He
November 1840, Dost Muhammad surrendered to moved in and out of alliances with Ahmad Shah
the British and was exiled to India until 1842. Masood, commander of the Islamist Movement;
The British army in Afghanistan found its lines with the Islamic radical Gulbuddin Hekmatyar; and
of communication being disrupted, and garrisons finally with the fundamentalist Taliban movement,
in the outlying areas were expelled by Afghan tribes- whose members were the enemies of both Masood
men. The army in Kabul was forced to negotiate and Hekmatyar. Even within his own organization,
conditions for a withdrawal, which resulted in a dissent or rivalry was harshly resolved, with Dos-
massacre of all of the troops on the retreat to the tum’s rivals being involved in helicopter crashes and
frontier. As a result, the British government allowed other fatal incidents.
Dost Muhammad to return to Afghanistan to put Dostum soon disassociated himself from the
an end to the chaos that had ensued. However, it central power struggle in Kabul and succeeded in es-
took him some time to reestablish his power over tablishing autonomous control over the northern
the whole of the kingdom; Kandahar was not re- provinces. However, in 1997, he was driven out by
taken until 1855 and Herat in 1863. Dost Muham- the Taliban and after a brief return was forced to flee
mad died of natural causes a few days after the cap- again in 1998, when he sought refuge in Turkey. The
ture of Herat, to be succeeded by Shir Ali. Taliban took temporary control of Mazar-i Sharif at
See also Burnes, Alexander; First Anglo-Afghan War; that point, and the population suffered from a pe-
Vitkevich, Capt. Ivan riod of savage rule, massacres, and violations of
References human rights. During Dostum’s absence, the Is-
Noelle, Christin. 1997. State and Tribe in Nineteenth- lamist Movement’s commander, Ustad Atta Mo-
Century Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Dost hammad, led anti-Taliban forces in the hills south of
Muhammad Khan. London: Curzon Press. Mazar-i Sharif and succeeded in ousting the Tal-
iban, being joined by Dostum on his return from
DOSTUM, GEN. ABDUL RASHID (1954– ) Turkey in May 1999. Thereafter, Mazar-i Sharif’s
Abdul Rashid Dostum, born in 1954 in Jozjan schools and university were able to reopen, and
Province in northern Afghanistan, is one of the women could work and study outside of the home,
most controversial figures in contemporary Afghan a marked contrast to the situation in areas under
politics. An Uzbek, he heads the National Islamic Taliban control.
Front of Afghanistan and is supported by Uzbek- Mazar-i Sharif is seen as a key stronghold be-
istan, whose leaders see him as a guarantor of the in- cause it is the most important city in northern Af-
tegrity of their border with Afghanistan and a bul- ghanistan and is vital to the region’s economic
wark against Islamic unrest on the lines of the wealth in agriculture, oil, and natural gas. However,
DOSTUM, GEN. ABDUL RASHID 75
Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, Uzbek warlord, deputy defense minister, and security advisor, with President Hamid Karzai at a ceremony
to mark the Afghan new year on 21 March 2002 at Rosa Sharif Azrat Ali shrine, Mazar-i Sharif. (AFP/Corbis)
tension soon rose between Dostum and Ustad Atta refused to recognize the administration, he was
Mohammad, with Dostum resenting the Islamist given the post of deputy defense minister.
Movement’s increasing influence in the area, and Dostum regained a great deal of control in his
there were a number of armed clashes between the old area in northern Afghanistan, largely with the
Uzbek forces of Dostum and those of Atta Moham- aid of U.S. Special Forces and quickly became an
mad. The Afghan Interim Government, established anti-Taliban spokesman; he was transformed from
at the UN-sponsored talks in December 2001, ex- warlord to politician, while at the same time con-
cluded Dostum from its membership, but after he trolling a force of some 7,000 men. He now controls
76 DRUG TRADE
the Uzbek and Turkoman provinces of Fariab and Rashid, Ahmed. 2001. Taliban: The Story of the Afghan
Jozjan and has formed an unlikely alliance with Warlords. London: Pan.
President Karzai, who has appointed Dostum his
special representative in the north. He has also DRUG TRADE
formed links with the former king, Mohammed Afghanistan has been involved in the drug trade for
Zahir Shah. centuries, with opium having been planted as a cash
However, his power in the north is challenged by crop as far back as the sixteenth century. As such, the
the Tajik-dominated Islamist Movement, and Atta country has become embroiled in terror networks
Mohammad is supported by Defense Minister Mo- and international crime syndicates. Given the na-
hammad Fahim, who made him a full general with- ture of the Afghani agricultural economy, the inci-
out consulting his deputy, Dostum. Fahim also ap- dence of drought, and the subsistence existence of
proved the movement of troops and armor to the majority of farmers, opium has been an effective
support Atta, and in April 2002, a full-scale fight solution for many farmers over the centuries and a
nearly occurred after Atta moved tanks into Mazar-i lucrative source of revenue for the various warlords.
Sharif for a parade to mark the fall of the Commu- The 2002 crop was scheduled to reach record levels,
nist government in 1992. His move was matched by despite the efforts of President Hamid Karzai’s gov-
Dostum, and clashes broke out in the area south of ernment, which banned production in January
the city. The United Nations brokered a deal, signed 2002, for the government’s authority does not ex-
on 5 May 2002, under which both sides agreed to tend much beyond Kabul.
withdraw their armor, and security in the city was In recent years, the opium trade has been of
turned over to a 600-man police force, consisting of major significance in Afghanistan, and all sides in
troops from the two main factions and three smaller the conflicts have been involved in the trade, with
Shi’a groups. The peace is, however, shaky and un- the Northern Alliance, particularly the Islamic Rev-
certain, with the power struggle seeming certain to olutionary Movement, regarded as corrupt and
continue due to the nature of the two leaders. heavily involved in the drug trade. During the Tal-
Dostum is attempting to re-create his image by iban regime, the drug trade was a major source of
dressing as a political leader and attempting to sell revenue and helped fund the ongoing war against
himself as a democratic politician and servant of the the Northern Alliance. The trade was originally ig-
people. His speeches are full of anti-Taliban rhetoric nored by the United States, as it was thought that the
and espouse a future in which the defense of Af- Taliban would bring in controls and also because
ghanistan is accomplished by the rule of law and po- UNOCAL, an American oil company, was involved
litical parties. He has relaunched his old political in talks to build a pipeline from Turkmenistan to
party, the National Islamic Movement, with a plat- Pakistan.
form of secular democracy and respect for minority In 1995, about 2,000 tons of dried opium was
rights, implying a federalist agenda, and opposition produced in Afghanistan, and this volume increased
to extremism and fundamentalism, which relates to to 2,300 tons in 1996 and 2,800 tons in 1997. Pro-
the politics of the Islamist Movement. However, duction fell to 2,100 tons in 1998, but only because
there is grave doubt as to whether there has been a of bad weather, not control measures. By 1999, pro-
change in his outlook, for he is still seen by many duction had risen to 4,600 tons, boosted by high
observers as an autocratic, patriarchal ruler who prices on the world drug market, which meant that
does not understand or embrace the give-and-take Afghanistan was producing 75 percent of the total
of democratic politics. world production, with a street value, at that time,
of $80 billion. It is worth noting that in 1978, before
See also Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin; Masood, Ahmad Shah;
the Soviet occupation, the crop was only 200 tons.
Najibullah, Muhammad; National Islamic Front of
Afghanistan; Taliban
The opium crop is mainly grown in the
References provinces of Helmand and Nangarhar, which at
Davis, Anthony. 2002. “Makeover for a Warlord.” Time that time were Taliban-controlled areas. The har-
Atlantic 159, no. 22: 60–63. vested crop is refined in small laboratories on and
Maley, William. 1999. Fundamentalism Reborn? across the Pakistan border and is shipped out via
Afghanistan and the Taliban. London: Hurst. Karachi and the Central Asian republics. The trade
DRUG TRADE 77
Afghan workers cut open poppy bulbs. Despite UN and Afghan government efforts, poppy cultivation and the drug trade still flourish.
(AFP/Corbis)
is very much in the hands of international crime tive the Taliban wished the program to be, as pro-
syndicates, such as the Russian mafia, and it is also ducing opium had become an economic necessity
known that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in for small farmers. In addition, between 10 and 20
Turkey is heavily involved in the trade as a means of percent of the taxes paid to village mullahs on agri-
financing its terror campaign against the Turkish cultural products went directly to the Taliban, as did
state. The rising tide of production caused concern levies imposed on transportation. Income to the
among neighboring countries, with the Iranian po- Taliban from opium production ranged from $60
lice, on 2 March 2000, calling for a concerted inter- million to $300 million a year, which made it a cru-
national effort to reinforce borders around Afghan- cial source of funding for the war in Afghanistan
istan to stop the flow of drugs to adjacent countries against the Northern Alliance. However, it is clear
and the West. This appeal was followed by a gun that some efforts were made to fulfill the edict be-
battle between the police in eastern Iran and cause on 5 April 2000, the governor of Nangarhar
Afghan drug traffickers on 7 March, resulting in the Province, Maulvi Abdul Kabir, began an operation,
deaths of seven traffickers. which lasted until 15 April, to destroy poppy fields
In face of mounting international pressure, the alongside the road from Jalalabad to the Pakistan
Taliban announced that it was going to cut the 1999 border, with tractors plowing up the fields and the
production level by a third. In 2000, Mullah poppy crop.
Muhammad Omar issued an edict banning produc- The move by the Taliban authorities was wel-
tion but said that international assistance would be comed by the UN Drug Control Program for Pak-
needed to halt the trade. The UN International istan and Afghanistan, which estimated that 3,500
Drug Control Program agreed on a four-year plan tons of opium had been destroyed. However, UN of-
with the Afghan authorities and funding of $16.4 ficials pointed out that it was premature to state that
million, but the agreement had little effect due to in- production had been wiped out, since it was not
competence on the part of the Afghan authorities known how much opium was stockpiled within Af-
and insufficient funds. It is also not clear how effec- ghanistan. And both the UN and the Taliban
78 DRUG TRADE
stressed that international aid for farmers was es- dents now being linked to drug-related feuds, the
sential if farmers were to make the transition to le- most notable being the assassination of Vice-Presi-
gitimate crops, but at the time of the report of the dent Abdul Qadir in Kabul on 14 July 2002.
UN Drug Control Program, such aid had not been Prices of heroin in eastern Afghanistan are rela-
forthcoming, though in 2001 the crop was only es- tively low because of the stocks of opium held by the
timated to be some 280 tons. warlords and because of the anticipated increase in
The downfall of the Taliban did little to change production, and heroin and heroin-refining chemi-
the trade, and, indeed, the prevailing economic cli- cals are openly traded in the markets. The growth of
mate made the opium crop even more of a necessity refining in the country is also a reflection of the fact
for small farmers. In January 2002, President Karzai that the refined product is easier to smuggle across
banned the planting of poppies, but he was unable the borders than raw opium. The United Nations
to enforce the decree; in May 2002, the interim ad- and its various agencies recognize that the drug
ministration announced that it had destroyed problem needs to be resolved if all of the work in
opium worth $5 million, which, although encourag- Afghanistan is not to have been in vain. However,
ing, has done little to impact on the trade. The the involvement of local warlords in production and
opium crop is thirty-one times more profitable per in taking the largest share of the profits, together
hectare than wheat, and farmers had no hesitation with the involvement of international criminal or-
in tearing up grain seedlings to replace them with ganizations and terror networks, will be more diffi-
poppies. Moreover, a farmer can turn in two poppy cult to resolve.
crops in a year, and with seeds being provided free It will be vital for reconstruction and develop-
and the crop showing an immediate cash return at ment programs funded by the international com-
harvest, it is understandable that poppy growing is munity to be effective in removing the need for
an attractive proposition. farmers to grow the crop. This message has been re-
The situation is causing much consternation in inforced by estimates of a 2002 crop of some 2,700
Iran, which wants the Afghan authorities to be tons, largely because the authority of the Kabul ad-
harder on drugs and to halt their export to Iran, pri- ministration does not run to the provinces, leaving
marily from Helmand Province, to satisfy the needs the local warlords and the drug trade to exploit the
of its 2 million addicts. Iranian authorities have economic plight of the farmers; a further increase is
strengthened already heavy security on the border expected in the 2003 crop, despite the antidrug
and have seized large quantities of drugs and killed strategy. The United States and other nations are
a number of drug smugglers, but there is little doubt even considering buying the raw opium from farm-
that large quantities of opium are still getting ers and then destroying it, but it is difficult to see
through. Although the price has remained high in how farmers can be induced to switch crops in fu-
the border areas because of the increased military ture years and to cope with the effects of droughts
presence, prices have fallen heavily in Tehran, fol- and lower returns. The drug trade can only be effec-
lowing a sharp rise after the Taliban ban on poppy tively controlled once security is assured throughout
growing was put in place. Afghanistan, with the government in Kabul having
It is also evident that heroin laboratories are enforcement capabilities in all of the provinces, with
being reestablished in eastern Afghanistan and the power of local warlords contained, and with a
across the border in the North-West Frontier degree of sustained economic activity.
Province of Pakistan. In Afghanistan, laboratories The situation in Afghanistan has improved, ac-
are operating in the mountain areas near Jalalabad cording to findings of the U.S. Department of State’s
and in the province of Nangarhar, with each refin- Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforce-
ing lab having a capacity to produce some 220 ment annual certification process, released on 31
pounds of refined heroin per day. The refineries are January 2003. Although Afghanistan is said to still
said to be operating in broad daylight and are capa- present concerns as a drug-producing and drug-
ble of boosting production if the supply of raw pop- transiting country, the bureau recognized the efforts
pies should increase. The revitalization of the trade of the Karzai government to address these prob-
has caused concern at the prospect of further desta- lems, in partnership with the international commu-
bilization in Afghanistan, with many violent inci- nity. Farmers in Afghanistan have increased poppy
DURRANI, AHMAD SHAH ABDALI 79
cultivation as a result of the economic incentive to was signed by Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, foreign
grow the crop, which was well adapted to the cli- secretary of the government of India, and Amir
mate and yielded an excellent profit in a country Abdul Rahman, with the latter maintaining that he
ravaged by war and drought. However, the govern- signed under duress.
ment has taken actions to tackle the problem, in- The boundary was drawn without any consider-
cluding a ban on poppy cultivation and production, ation of the ethnic composition of the population.
sale of the crop, and its transportation. The United One consequence was the severance of the Pashtuns
States and the United Kingdom have worked to- into two different countries, Afghanistan and British
gether to promote an antidrug strategy, with the India, the latter subsequently becoming part of Pak-
prime objective of steering farmers toward alterna- istan. The Durand Line was never completely de-
tive crops. The strategy, backed by the Kabul gov- marcated because of tribal hostility on both sides of
ernment and U.S. funding of $17 million, rests on the border.
the principle of promoting alternative crops and Afghanistan received an increase in its subsidy
strengthening Afghan law enforcement agencies, from Britain and a renewed guarantee of protection
eradication of the industry, and interdiction. against unprovoked Russian aggression. This guar-
The bureau has acknowledged the commitment antee was dependent on Afghanistan unreservedly
of the Afghan government but stressed that the following British “advice” with regard to external re-
campaign will still be a long-term effort due to the lations. The establishment of Pakistan in 1947 led
low base from which the initial institutions have to the Afghan government to demand that the Pash-
work. It is recognized that the actual situation on the tuns be given the right to decide whether they
ground is serious and still a matter of concern for wanted an independent state or union with Afghan-
the international community, for the illicit profits istan or Pakistan. The resultant plebiscite only al-
are massive and have been used to fuel a war econ- lowed for union with India or Pakistan, and as a re-
omy. It is essential that the drug economy not regain sult, the question of the Pashtuns has remained an
its former proportions. issue between Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 1979,
See also Afghan-Iranian Relations; Taliban the Afghan government repudiated the Durand
References Agreement.
Bokhari, Farhan. 2003. “Poverty Fuels Afghanistan’s References
Drug Trade.” http://www.japantimes.co.ip/cgi- Alder, G. 1963. British India’s Northern Frontier,
bin/getedp/5?eo2003024b.htm (cited 17 February 1869–95: A Study in Imperial Policy. London:
2003). Longman.
Cooley, John K. 2000. Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, Durand, Algeron George Arnold. 1974. The Making of a
America and International Terrorism. London and Frontier. Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck-u
Sterling, VA: Pluto Press, 126–160. Verlagsansalt. (Reprint of 1899 edition, London:
Galeotti, Mark. 2001. “Business as Usual for Afghan John Murray).
Drugs.” http://www.theworldtoday.org (cited 12 Gregorian, Vartan.1969. The Emergence of Modern
December 2001). Afghanistan: Politics of Reform and Modernization,
Goodhand, Jonathan. 2000. “From Holy War to Opium 1880–1946. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
War? A Case Study of the Opium Economy in North
Eastern Afghanistan.” Central Asian Survey 19, no. 2:
265–280. DURRANI, AHMAD SHAH ABDALI
Porter, Charlene. 2003. “Afghanistan Improves (1722–1772)
Performance in International Anti-Drug Ahmad Shah Abdali Durrani was the king of Af-
Cooperation.” http://www.washingtonpost.com ghanistan from 1747 to 1772 and the founder of the
(cited 3 February 2003). Sadozai dynasty of the Abdali tribe. He was born in
1722 in Herat and was the son of the governor of
DURAND AGREEMENT (1893) Herat, Muhammad Zaman Khan. After Nadir Shah
The Durand Agreement, signed on 12 November of Iran had captured Kandahar in 1736, Ahmad
1893 at Kabul, was intended to define the frontier Shah was exiled to Mazandoran in northern Iran,
between Afghanistan and British India, subse- but he was subsequently appointed governor of that
quently known as the Durand Line. The agreement province. On Nadir Shah’s death in 1747, he was
Ahmad Shah Abdali Durrani was the founder of modern Afghanistan. (UCSB Davidson Library)
DURRANI TRIBE 81
commander of an Afghan contingent of the Per- Nadir Shah, about 100,000 families had received this
sian army based at Kandahar, and in that role, he allocation of land, and the area of land held was
captured a caravan with booty from India, which greatly increased during the reign of Ahmad Shah
assured him of election to the throne at an assem- Durrani.
bly of Pashtun chiefs in October 1747. As a result, See also Durrani, Ahmad Shah Abdali
the Pashtun tribesmen rallied to his cause, and he References
led them on eight campaigns into India in search Dupree, Louise. 1980. Afghanistan. Princeton, NJ:
of plunder and territory. The campaigns added Princeton University Press.
Kashmir, Sind, and Western Punjab to his Ahmad
Shah’s territory. His kingdom now stretched from DURRANI TRIBE
eastern Persia to northern India and from the Amu The Durrani was the dominant tribe among the
Daria River in the east to the Indian Ocean, thus Afghans, and the ruling family had been drawn
founding the kingdom of Afghanistan. He ap- from this tribe until the Saur Revolt of 27 April
pointed his son, Timur Shah, as his successor. 1978, in which the Communists seized power.
Ahmad Shah died of natural causes on 14 April The tribe was known as the Abdalis until the
1772 and was buried at Kandahar, which had been time of Ahmad Shah Durrani, who changed the
the capital of Afghanistan until Timur Shah made name as a result of a dream. The origins of these
Kabul his capital. people are unknown, but it is thought that they
See also Durrani Dynasty; Durrani Tribe may have come from the mountains of either
References Toba or, more probably, Ghor. The tribe is di-
Ahmad, N. D. 1990. The Survival of Afghanistan, vided into the Zurak and Panjpai branches, and it
1747–1979: A Diplomatic History with an Analytic forms the bulk of the population of Farah and
and Reflective Approach. Lahore, Pakistan: Institute of Kandahar Provinces and the Sabzawar district of
Islamic Culture. Herat Province.
Singh, G. 1959. Ahmad Shah Durrani, Father of Modern The tribe’s form of government differs from that
Afghanistan. Bombay, India: Asian Publishing House. of other tribes largely because of the Durranis’ di-
rect link to the amir and the fact that their lands
DURRANI DYNASTY were given to them in return for military service.
The Durrani dynasty, founded in 1747 by Ahmad Each of the clans is ruled by a sardar (chief) chosen
Shah Durrani, ruled Afghanistan until the assassi- from the head family, and subdivisions are ruled by
nation of President Muhammad Daud in 1978. chiefs known as khans, also taken from the head
Ahmad Shah was a direct descendant of Sado, an families, but power, though effectively administered,
Abdali chief at the court of Shah Abbas the Great, a is limited. The tribe is largely engaged in pastoral ac-
Savafid who ruled from 1588 to 1629. The Durrani tivities, with some cultivation of land, and the
are divided into two main branches, the Sadozai women also weave cloth. Crops are mainly wheat,
and the Muhammadzai, though the dynasty did barley, melons, cucumbers, and forage; stock in-
not always rule over the whole of Afghanistan and cludes bullocks, sheep, and mules. Horses are also
on other occasions the country was split between bred, and camels are used for long journeys and
two rulers. The dynasty ruled Afghanistan from hired out to merchants.
1747 to 1817, but from 1817 to 1863, the country The more affluent Durranis do not cultivate
was ruled from Herat, Kabul, and Kandahar by dif- their own land but have the work done by buzgars
ferent parts of the tribe. However, from 1863 to (farm managers), with labor being provided by
1978, the dynasty again ruled Afghanistan as a sin- Tajik casual day laborers. Poorer Durranis may take
gle entity. employment as buzgars but never as laborers. All
The Durrani had been granted land in Kandahar villages tend to be built around the house of the
by Nadir Shah as a military fief, with divisions of khan, which has, traditionally, been fortified. Durra-
land, or qulba, being granted in return for providing nis are all religious, and every village or camp has a
a quota of horsemen for military service. The quo- mullah who tends to be moderate in terms of poli-
tas were based on the number of qulba held, calcu- tics and more concerned with the spiritual welfare
lated at one horseman per division. At the time of of the communities.
82 DURRANI TRIBE
Hospitality is a feature of the tribe’s culture, and reverence for Kandahar, which contains the tombs
every settlement has arrangements for the recep- of their ancestors.
tion of guests; in the largest settlements, such See also Durrani, Ahmad Shah Abdali; Durrani Dynasty
arrangements are usually based on the mosque. References
Members of the tribe are also distinguished by their Clifford, Mary Louise. 1973. The Land and People of
sense of superiority and national dignity, with a Afghanistan. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
ELPHINSTONE, MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM
(1782–1842)
William Elphinstone was the British commander in
Afghanistan in 1841 and has been held largely re-
E
sponsible for the British defeat in the First Anglo-
Afghan War (1838–1842). Among charges levied
References
against him were: failing to be decisive after Alexan- Elphinstone, Mountstuart. 1815. An Account of the
der Burnes, the assistant British envoy in Kabul, was Kingdom of Caubul, and Its Dependencies in Persia,
killed, together with his staff; setting up camp in an Tartary and India. London: Longman.
area overlooked by nearby hills instead of using a
fortified position that was close by; and failing to
recognize the strength and deployment of the op- ENAYATULLAH, SARDAR (1888–1946)
posing forces. The British were compelled to nego- Sardar Enayatullah became king of Afghanistan
tiate terms for a withdrawal from Kabul to India, following King Amanullah’s abdication on 14
which ended in disaster, as most of the 16,000 January 1925, but he, too, was forced to abdicate
troops and camp followers as well were killed by and after only three days on the throne; Habibul-
tribal forces or by the freezing cold or disease. El- lah Kalakani succeeded him. Enayatullah was
phinstone died in captivity on 23 April 1842; in his born on 20 October 1888 and was the eldest son
late sixties at the time, he succumbed to exhaustion of Amir Habibullah and accorded the title “Sup-
and sickness. porter of the State” (Muin al-Sultanat). In 1905,
he was appointed as marshal (an honorific title),
See also First Anglo-Afghan War
and he became minister of education in 1916. He
References
Jones, A. 1967. The First Anglo-Afghan War, 1838–42. was a friend of Sardar Nasrullah, and both of
London: Cambridge University Press. them were in close contact with the Hentig-Nie-
dermayer Expedition in Kabul, a German expedi-
ELPHINSTONE, MOUNTSTUART tion designed to foment unrest in British India
(1779–1859) during World War I. It is thought that Enayatul-
Mountstuart Elphinstone’s significance lies in the lah was in favor of Afghanistan’s intervention in
fact that he was the envoy of the British East India the war against Britain. After the assassination of
Company to the court of Shah Shiya in 1808 and Amir Habibullah, Nasrullah offered Enayatullah
1809, concluding the first agreement between the throne, but he declined and recognized Nas-
Britain and Afghanistan. He succeeded in negotiat- rullah as king. However, the army refused to rec-
ing an agreement of eternal friendship, which al- ognize the proclamation of Nasrullah as king and
lowed for joint action in the event of Franco-Per- revolted to support Amanullah, who was in
sian aggression in Afghanistan. He also used his Kabul at the time; Amanullah came to power in
time in Afghanistan to learn as much as possible 1919. During his rule, Enayatullah remained in
about the history and culture of the country, writ- virtual retirement. But on 14 December 1928,
ing a book entitled An Account of the Kingdom of prior to his resignation, Amanullah appointed
Caubul that appeared in 1815 and was the first Enayatullah to be his successor. However, as men-
comprehensive study on Afghan society to appear tioned, Enayatullah was forced to surrender to
in English. Kalakani after only three days on the throne, and
83
84 ENAYATULLAH, SARDAR
on 18 January 1929, he was evacuated, together See also Amanullah, King

with his family, to Peshawar by the British air References
force. He then went to Tehran as a guest of the Adamec, Ludwig W. 1967. Afghanistan, 1900–1923: A
ruler of Persia and remained there until his death Diplomatic History. Berkeley: University of
on 12 August 1946. California Press.
FARAH PROVINCE
Farah is the second largest province in Afghanistan.
Located in the western part of the country, it has an
area of 21,666 square miles and a population of
some 356,000. The provincial capital is the town of
F
the same name and has a population of about
19,000 inhabitants. The province is traversed by the known as Afghan Nation. He was educated in Kabul
Farah, the Khash, and the Herut Rivers and contains and Germany, earning a degree in engineering. On
the major mountain ranges of the Khak-i-Safid, the returning to Afghanistan, he became president of
Siyah Kuh, the Malmand, Kuh-i-Afghan, and the the Afghan Electric Company, a position he held
Reg-Rawan. The economy of the province is totally from 1939 to 1966, and mayor of Kabul from 1948
dependent on agriculture and the breeding of live- to 1954. As mayor, he was responsible for the build-
stock. The major crops are barley, cotton, and ing of Maiwand Street as a major avenue through
wheat, and livestock herds include sheep, goats, cat- the old town, with displaced residents being relo-
tle, camels, and donkeys. The town of Farah was an cated. As a nationalist, he sought the restoration of
important junction in the trade between India and “Greater Afghanistan,” to include Pakistan’s North-
Persia in the seventeenth century. It was destroyed West Frontier Province and Baluchistan. He was
by fire in 1837 and remained a small, walled town pro-German and was accused by his opponents of
until the early part of the twentieth century, when a giving preference to German technology and con-
new town was gradually developed; by 1934, the sultancy when allocating government contracts. In
population was about 6,000 inhabitants. However, 1968, he was elected to parliament, but he resigned
in 1965, a new Kandahar-to-Herat highway was his seat two years later. In 1978, he was arrested by
opened, thus bypassing Farah and sending it into a the Khalq regime, with his party being accused of
period of decline. In 1972, the town was devastated attempting a coup, but he was freed in 1980 follow-
by floods, and the administration had to move to ing a general amnesty decreed by Babrak Karmal.
Farah Rud until 1974. Although the population of He died in 1984 in Kabul.
the province is largely Pashtun, there is a significant References
Tajik community, and other ethnic communities Arnold, Anthony. 1983. Afghanistan’s Two-Party
are also present. Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Stanford, CA:
References Hoover Institution Press.
Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political
Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria: FARIAB PROVINCE
Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt. Fariab Province is located in north-central Afghan-
istan and has an area of 8,226 square miles and a
FARHAD, GHULAM MUHAMMAD (?–1984) population of about 547,000. The province borders
Ghulam Muhammad Farhad was an Afghan na- on Turkmenistan in the north, Badghis Province in
tionalist, a Pashtun, and an ardent supporter of the south, and Jozjan in the east. Fariab is famous
Pashtunistan, in company with many Pashtuns who for horse breeding, and Karakul sheep are bred for
wanted to be reunified with their tribal brothers in the export of skins. Carpet weaving is an important
Pakistan or at least to secure independence or au- industry, and melons, nuts, cereals, and cotton are
tonomy for the region. He was the founder of the the major agricultural products. The capital of the
Afghan Social Democratic Party, more popularly province is the town of Maimana, which has about
85
86 FARSIWAN
38,000 inhabitants (mainly Uzbeks) and was at one See also Mahmud Shah
time the capital of a semi-independent fiefdom and References
a dependency of the ruler of Kabul. The town had Griffiths, John C. 1967. Afghanistan. London: Pall Mall
only about 17,000 inhabitants in 1973, but it and the Press.
surrounding district have grown as a result of inter-
nal migration and industrial development. Today, FIRST ANGLO-AFGHAN WAR (1839–1842)
the town has a modern road system with bungalow- Britain’s policy with regard to Afghanistan in the
style housing, but it has obviously suffered as a re- nineteenth century was determined by a desire to
sult of the civil war in Afghanistan (1989–2001). keep its Indian empire secure from the perceived
This area is controlled by the forces of Gen. Abdul threats posed by French and Russian aspirations in
Rashid Dostum. the region. These concerns were highlighted by the
References Napoleonic invasion of Egypt in 1798 and by the
Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political spread of Russian influence to the banks of the Amu
Gazetteer of Afghanistan. Graz, Austria: Akademische Daria River in Afghanistan. By that time, Britain had
Druck-u Verlagsansalt. also moved north into the Punjab to provide a se-
cure frontier for its possessions in India.
FARSIWAN In Afghanistan, internecine warfare had re-
The Farsiwan are an ethnic group of Farsi-speaking sulted in the deposing of Shah Shuja of the Sadozai
Shi’a Muslims. Numbering around 100,000, they dynasty in 1826, who was replaced by Dost
live primarily near the Iranian border in Ghazni, Muhammad, the first Muhammadzai ruler. Dost
Herat, and Kandahar Provinces. Some are also scat- Muhammad was keen to form an alliance with
tered in towns in southern and western Afghanistan. India and wanted to regain Peshawar, which had
Most Farsiwan, of Mediterranean origin, are en- been lost to the Sikh nation under Ranjit Singh in
gaged in agriculture. 1818. The British view of the situation was also af-
References fected by the Persian siege of Herat in 1838, which
Clifford, Mary Louise. 1973. The Land and People of caused the governor-general of India, Lord Auck-
Afghanistan. Philadelphia: Lippincott. land, to become increasingly worried about the
position of Afghanistan and the possible threat to
FATEH KHAN (1777–1818) India. As a result, Lord Auckland determined to re-
Fateh Khan, also known as Fath, was the eldest son store Shah Shuja to the throne by forming an al-
of Painda Khan and was born in Kandahar in 1777. liance with the Sikh ruler, Ranjit Singh, but Singh
A skillful politician and an accomplished soldier, he was unwilling to use his troops to effect the
helped Shah Mahmud gain the Afghan throne, hav- restoration. This policy was contained within the
ing captured Farah and Kandahar from the forces of Simla Manifesto, signed by the British India gov-
Zaman Shah in 1800. He was given the post of grand ernment, Ranjit Singh, and Shah Shuja; it was con-
wazir (personal or chief adviser), established law cluded in July 1838.
and order, and deftly handled the affairs of Mah- The catalyst for the outbreak of the First Anglo-
mud’s government. However, when Shah Shuja Afghan War was the arrival in Kabul of a Russian,
came to the throne in 1803, Fath was again ap- Capt. Ivan Vitkevich, who was accused of being an
pointed grand wazir but remained loyal to Mah- agent of the czar, coupled with the open hostility of
mud, assisting his return to the throne six years later. Dost Muhammad toward Ranjit Singh. Because the
Afghan control over Kashmir was consolidated by Sikh ruler was reluctant to commit troops, it was left
Fateh Khan, and order was established in Herat. to the British Army of the Indus to invade Afghani-
However, Kamran, the son of Shah Mahmud, was stan but without the approval of the Board of Di-
jealous of his position and had Fateh Khan blinded rectors of the British East India Company. Initially,
and then had him killed in 1818. As a consequence, the British met with little resistance, taking Ghazni
the Barakzai chiefs rebelled against the regime in a on 23 July 1839 and completing the occupation of
conflict that led to the overthrow of the Sadozai dy- Kabul on 7 August; Shah Shuja was restored to the
nasty and its replacement by the Barakzai-Muham- throne, and Dost Muhammad was sent into exile in
madzai branch of the Durrani tribe. India.
FIRUZKUHI TRIBE 87
Although the bulk of the British army had left proved impossible to separate troops from camp fol-
Afghanistan by 18 September 1839, a force had to be lowers in order to organize an orderly defense. Con-
left behind to maintain Shah Shuja in power, and in sequently, some 500 troops and 2,500 camp follow-
effect, it became an army of occupation. Families of ers were killed. British officers and women and
British officers went to Kabul, together with thou- children were surrendered as hostages to Muham-
sands of Indian camp followers who were making a mad Akbar and thus survived the debacle. The re-
good living by providing for the needs of the army treat soon developed into a rout, and on the fifth day,
and the families. However, on 2 November 1841, a a stand was made at Jagdalak, but by then, about
crowd of Kabuli citizens stormed the British mis- 12,000 of the retreating column had perished. It is
sion and killed the British representative, Alexander suggested that at that point, Muhammad Akbar tried
Burnes, and all of his staff. At the same time, other to stop the Ghilzais’ attacks by buying them off with
Kabulis raided some £17,000 from the treasury ad- 200,000 rupees, but this effort was spurned because
jacent to the mission and plundered the army stores the driving force behind the attacks was revenge.
that were held in a number of forts outside the mis- On the eighth day of the retreat, two British offi-
sion emplacements. cers and seven or eight wounded were taken pris-
Muhammad Akbar, a son of Dost Muhammad, oner, leaving only one man, Dr. William Brydon, to
and a number of other tribal chiefs used these inci- reach the safety of Jalalabad. The First Anglo-
dents to rally their forces and to threaten the occu- Afghan War was a disaster for Britain’s reputation
pying army. The dangers inherent in this situation and to the British economy, particularly in India: the
were realized by the British commander, Maj. Gen. total cost of the war was some £20 million, and it
William Elphinstone, who withdrew his troops to took the lives of roughly 15,000 troops and camp
the cantonment that was commanded from nearby followers. It also resulted in disgrace for Lord Auck-
hills; he also decided to withdraw forces under Gen. land, who had to face a court of inquiry of the East
Sir Robert Henry Sale from Gandomak and Gen. India Company. Ultimately, he was recalled to Lon-
William Nott from Kandahar. However, routes were don. Britain sought retribution for the debacle by
blocked due to the advent of winter weather and be- sending a force back into Afghanistan under Gen.
cause of the activities of the lashkars (tribal forces) George Pollock in September 1842. Pollock cap-
operating in the area, which prevented the rein- tured Kabul, burning down the covered bazaar and
forcement of the garrison at Kabul. allowing troops to plunder and destroy much of the
A sortie designed to put the Afghan guns out of rest of the city. The siege at Jalalabad was lifted, and
action was badly mauled, and the position through- the British force withdrew, leaving the way open for
out was critical, with both Gandomak and Kandahar Dost Muhammad to return to Afghanistan to rule,
also under siege. As a result, the British forces had to with British recognition, until his death through
negotiate an orderly retreat back to India, through an natural causes in 1862.
agreement known as the Treaty of Capitulation. The See also Akbar, Sardar Muhammad; Auckland, Lord
whole retreating body amounted to some 16,500 George Eden; Burnes, Alexander; Capitulation,
people, comprising some 3,500 British and Indian Treaty of; Dost Muhammad, Amir; Elphinstone,
infantry, 970 cavalry, and over 12,000 camp followers Maj. Gen. William; Pollock, Field Marshal Sir
(including a large number of women and children). George; Shuja, Shah; Simla Manifesto; Vitkevich,
The retreat began on 6 January 1842, but the column Capt. Ivan
covered only 6 miles on the first day, with the roads References
becoming jammed and much of the baggage aban- Jones, A. 1967. The First Afghan War, 1838–42. London:
Cambridge University Press.
doned. Progress was no better on the second day:
Richards, Donald Sydney. 1990. The Savage Frontier: A
when the group reached the Khund Kabul Pass, just History of the Anglo-Afghan Wars. London:
5 more miles had been covered. Macmillan.
At that point, the cavalry of Shah Shuja deserted
the column, and it was soon discovered that a num-
ber of the remaining troops and camp followers had FIRUZKUHI TRIBE
frozen to death. On day three, the British rear guard The Firuzkuhis, one of the Sunni Chahar Aimaq
was attacked by Ghilzai ghazis (holy warriors), and it tribes, live in eastern Badghis Province and northern
88 FIRUZKUHI TRIBE
Ghor Province. They number about 1 million and their present location. The descendants of the Firuz
are Farsi-speakers, having originally come from Iran in Herat were initially small chiefs under the
in the fourteenth century when they were relocated Taimani Khans, but they eventually took over most
to Herat by Timur-i-Lang, the founder of the of the Taimani territory southeast of Herat.
Timurid dynasty who led successful campaigns References
against the Ottomans, Russia, and India and was re- Ali, Mohammed. 1964. A Cultural History of
sponsible for the splendor of Samarkand in the late Afghanistan. Lahore, Pakistan: Punjab Educational
1300s. Subsequently, they migrated further east into Press.
GAILANI, SAYYED AHMAD (1932– )
Sayyed Ahmad Gailani is the hereditary head of the
Qadiri Sufi fraternity, succeeding to the position
following the death of his elder brother, Sayyid Ali,
in 1964. He was born in 1932 in Kabul and was ed-
G
ucated at the Abu Hanifa College and the Faculty of
Theology at the University of Kabul. After the Saur Afghans toward him by visitors to the mausoleum of
Revolt of April 1978, which brought the Commu- Sheikh Abdul Qadir Gailani in Baghdad. Given his
nists to power, he left for Peshawar and founded the reception by the amir and the goodwill of the
National Islamic Front of Afghanistan (Mahaz-i Afghans, he was persuaded to accept Afghan citizen-
Milli-yi Afghanistan), which was part of the seven- ship and to stay in the country. He came to be greatly
member mujahideen alliance that formed the respected by the Afghans, who looked to him as an
Afghan Interim Government in 1989. Although he example of Qadiri life, and was well regarded by
did not seek a position in the Interim Government, Habibullah, Nasrullah Khan, and King Nadir Shah.
he later accepted the post of supreme justice. His He had two sons from his four marriages; Sayyid Ali
son, Ishaq Gailani, was also a commander of mod- became head of the Qadiri after his father’s death,
erate mujahideen groups. and Sayyd Ahmad became the founder of the Na-
References tional Islamic Front of Afghanistan.
Kaplan, Robert D. 1990. Soldiers of God: With the See also Gailani, Sayyed Ahmad
Mujahideen in Afghanistan. Boston: Houghton References
Mifflin. Dupree, Louise. 1980. Afghanistan. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press.
GAILANI, SAYYID HASAN (1862–1941)
Sayyid Hasan Gailani was born in Baghdad in 1862 GANDOMAK, TREATY OF (1879)
and was a descendant of Caliph Ali and a member The Treaty of Gandomak, concluded between the
of the Naqib-al-Asraf family. He arrived in Afghan- British government and Amir Yaqub Khan, was
istan in 1905, motivated by his wish to get married signed by the amir and by Pierre Louis Cavagnari,
(despite opposition from his brother, who was head on behalf of the British government, on 26 May
of the family); to avoid being sent back to Baghdad, 1879. The viceroy of India, Lord Lytton, ratified it
it was essential for him to leave the Ottoman Em- four days later. The treaty was designed to restore
pire. On arrival, he was warmly received by Amir friendly relations between the two countries follow-
Habibullah, who provided him with a residence at ing the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1879). It
Chaharbagh, near Jalalabad, and an allowance of also provided for an amnesty for all Afghans who
3,500 rupees a month. He then became known as had collaborated with the British army of occupa-
the Naqib Shah of Chaharbagh, as well as the Pi tion, and the amir agreed to conduct his foreign
Naqib of Baghdad, the location of the tomb of his policy in accordance with the advice and wishes of
ancestors. the British government. Britain also agreed to sup-
As a member of the Qadiri, a Sufi order, he was port the amir with money, arms, or troops in the
well received in Afghanistan, which was a Hanafite event of an unprovoked aggression, a move de-
country with many Qadiri families; his father, Abdul signed to counter Russian aspirations in the region.
Qadir Gailani, was revered as a saint in the Muslim The treaty also provided for a British represen-
world. He had been told about the goodwill of tative to be based at Kabul, together with a suitable
89
90 GENEVA ACCORDS
military escort and an appropriate residence, The outcome was that both sides continued to
whereas an Afghan envoy was to be sent to the provide support to the parties involved in the con-
court of the viceroy of India. The Khyber and flict and Pakistan continued to allow weapons to
Michni Passes were to be controlled by Britain, and pass through its territory. The war continued apace,
the towns of Kurram, Pishin, and Sibi were also to and the superpower guarantees of noninterference
be under British control but not permanently taken proved meaningless.
from the kingdom of Afghanistan. Kandahar and See also Afghan-Pakistani Relations; Soviet War in
Jalalabad were, however, restored to the control of Afghanistan
the amir. Afghans have largely regarded this treaty References
as a capitulation to Britain and believe that by sign- Chopra, V. D. 1988. Afghanistan, Geneva Accord and
ing the treaty, the amir had committed an act of After. New Delhi: Patriot Publishers on Behalf of
treason. Indian Centre for Regional Affairs.
“Geneva Accords of 1998 (Afghanistan).” 1998.
See also Cavagnari, Sir Pierre Louis; Second Anglo-
http://www.institute-for-afghan-
Afghan War
studies.org/Accords%20Treaties/geneva_accords_199
References
8_pakistan_afghanistan.htm (cited 12 February
Hanna, Henry B. 1910. The Second Afghan War,
2003).
1878–1880: Its Causes, Its Conduct, and Its
Klass, Rusanne, and Theodore L. Elits. 1989. “The
Consequences. 3 vols. London: Constable.
Geneva Accords: Excerpts and Short Commentaries.”
Defence Journal 15, nos. 1–2: 49–57.
GENEVA ACCORDS United Nations. 1988. Geneva Accords. New York: United
The Geneva Accords were the outcome of talks be- Nations.
tween Afghanistan and Pakistan, conducted in the
1980s under the auspices of the United Nations and GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENT
aimed at ending external interference in the war in Afghanistan is a mountainous, landlocked country
Afghanistan. The talks also involved the United covering some 251,000 square miles. It has a popu-
States and the Soviet Union and were held between lation of about 15.5 million, though this figure is an
1982 and 1988. One accord was a bilateral agree- estimate due to twenty-three years of war and a
ment between Pakistan and the Communist gov- large refugee problem. It is bounded by China, Iran,
ernment of Afghanistan on the principles of multi- Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
lateral relations, particularly noninterference and The Hindu Kush mountains form a real barrier be-
nonintervention in each other’s affairs. A second ac- tween the northern provinces and the rest of the
cord was an agreement between the United States country, and the range has divided Afghanistan into
and the Soviet Union promising nonintervention in three vastly different geographic regions known as
Afghanistan and an agreement to act as guarantors the Central Highlands, the Northern Plains, and the
of the accords. These accords eventually resulted in Southwestern Plains. The geography of Afghanistan
the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan in has had a direct bearing on its people and its history,
February 1989. with altitude, climate, and environment varying
However, the accords were a total failure, pri- greatly according to region.
marily because the mujahideen were not repre- The Central Highlands region covers an area of
sented at Geneva but also because the Soviet-backed some 160,000 square miles. Its high mountains, in
regime in Afghanistan did not immediately collapse. excess of 11,000 feet, and steep narrow valleys
The Soviets had left a considerable supply of have proved to be historically important to the de-
weaponry behind and promised to supply more fense of the country. The most famous of these
under the 1978 Treaty of Friendship, whereas the valleys contains the Khyber Pass, a strategic route
United States was obliged to cease military support to the Indian subcontinent. The climate is usually
for the mujahideen. After a great deal of haggling, dry, with summer temperatures around 80º
the two powers agreed informally to a position of Fahrenheit, and the winters are very cold. Many of
“positive symmetry”—reserving the right to send the valleys are impassable during the winter
arms in response to any shipments made by the months. The soil in the region varies from desert-
other side. steppe type to meadow-steppe type. The area of
GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENT 91
The Hindu Raj Mountains and Panjshir Valley stretch toward the Pamir Mountain Range, which separates Tajikistan from Afghanistan.
(Reza/Webistan/Corbis)
the Hindu Kush is also susceptible to severe earth- deposits of oil and natural gas have the potential to
quake activity. be of great significance to the economy of Afghani-
The Northern Plains cover an area of about stan, but outside expertise would be essential to ex-
40,000 square miles of very fertile foothills and ploit them fully. The remainder of the mineral re-
plains. The Amu Daria River runs through the edge sources have only been exploited in small amounts,
of the foothills, and the average elevation of the re- and the following are to be found in varying quan-
gion is some 2,000 feet. This region is an important tities: chrome, copper, gold, iron ore, lapis, rubies,
center for the agricultural industry of Afghanistan salt, silver, sulfur, uranium, and zinc.
due to its rich soils and mild climate. It also contains Afghanistan is watered by the Amu Daria (for-
the bulk of the country’s mineral resources, includ- merly known as the Oxus River), the Hari
ing oil and gas, though many of these resources have Rud–Murghab system, the Helmand-Argharbad
not truly been exploited. system, and the Kabul River system, all of which rely
The Southwestern Plains covers an area of about on melting snow in the spring. These river systems
50,000 square miles and consists of high plateaus also provide the bulk of the water used for irriga-
and sandy deserts. It is a largely desolate region tion. The water available has been badly affected by
crossed by several large rivers, including the Hel- four years of drought conditions. In terms of usage,
mand. The average elevation of the region is about about 12 percent of the land is arable, 46 percent is
3,000 feet, though the city of Kandahar is some meadows and pasture land, 3 percent is woodland,
3,500 feet above sea level and enjoys a dry, mild cli- and 39 percent is desert or mountains.
mate. In the arid plains of the region, sandstorms The environment of Afghanistan has been se-
are a common feature of the climate. verely devastated by over two decades of conflict,
The mineral resources of Afghanistan are mainly compounded by four years of drought and the im-
located in the Northern Plains, with coal being the pact of hundreds of thousands of returning
only resource that has been widely exploited. The refugees and internally displaced persons. The UN
92 GHANI, ABDUL
Environmental Program has undertaken a post- elsewhere in the factory, having no protection from
conflict survey, which was released on 29 January toxic chemicals.
2003 and was produced in conjunction with the Clearly, environmental restoration must be a
Afghan Transitional Authority, with twenty Afghan major part of Afghanistan’s reconstruction pro-
and foreign scientists visiting thirty-nine urban gram. If the issues identified in the report are not
sites in four cities and thirty-five rural sites. dealt with, the country is in danger of facing a future
In remote mountain areas, inspectors found without water, forests, wildlife, and clean air, but the
rampant deforestation, parched aquifers, soil ero- solutions proposed will require a significant
sion, and pesticide pollution, which could set back amount of foreign aid and investment.
rehabilitation of the agricultural sector for decades. See also Climate; Khyber Pass; Registan Desert
The environmental degradation in rural areas is References
critical, as over 80 percent of Afghans normally live Amin, Hamidullah, and Gordon B. Schiltz. 1976. A
in these areas; these people have now seen their Geography of Afghanistan. Omaha: University of
basic resources lost in one generation. Deforestation Nebraska, Center for Afghan Studies.
has been extremely severe: satellite imagery shows Formoli, Tareq A., Afzal Rashid, and James P. Du Bruille.
that conifer forests in Nangarhar, Kunar, and Nuris- 1994. An Overview and Assessment of Afghanistan’s
tan Provinces have shrunk by half since 1978. The Environment. Sacramento, CA: Afghanistan Horizon.
UN Environment Program. 2003. Afghanistan: Post-
situation is even worse in Badghis and Takhar
Conflict Environmental Assessment. Geneva,
Provinces, which had 55 percent and 37 percent of Switzerland: UNEP.
their land, respectively, covered by forests in 1977,
whereas in 2002, almost no trees were discernible.
Pressures on wildlife have increased because of this GHANI, ABDUL (1864–1945)
process and also because returning refugees and dis- Abdul Ghani was an Indian Muslim who graduated
placed persons have increased the demands on the from Lahore Medical School in 1883 before going to
land and the environment. London to continue his studies. There, he met Nas-
The situation in the urban areas is equally bad, rullah, son of Amir Abdur Rahman, who arranged
with only one in ten people drinking safe water in for the amir to award Ghani a study scholarship. In
Kabul and with 60 percent of that city’s freshwater 1891, Ghani returned to India and then went to
supply lost through illegal use and leakage. In the Kabul to become secretary to the amir before going
city of Herat, there were just 150 water taps but at back to Lahore again, where he became principal of
the time of the scientists’ visit, only 15 were work- the Islamia College. He returned to Afghanistan
ing. The situation is worsening because of the around 1984 and served under Amir Habibullah as
breakdown of the infrastructure and the almost chief medical officer and principal of Habibia
total collapse of public services. The city rubbish School. There, he began to champion the causes of
dump in Kabul, for example, is located upstream of political and social reform. He helped form a secret
the city and the Kabul River, allowing rain to flush society, Secret of the Nation, and he recruited a num-
poisons into the water system. A similar situation ber of students to its membership. In 1909, he was
exists in Herat and Kandahar, and tests showed high one of a number of members of the society arrested
levels of the E. coli bacteria in the water system em- on suspicion of plotting to assassinate Amir
anating from the sewage systems. Habibullah. He remained in prison until King
The inspectors also found that medical wastes Amanullah assumed the throne in 1919. The king
from hospitals, including human organs and sy- appointed him a member of the delegation to the
ringes, were being dumped in the streets in Kabul, Rawalpindi Peace Conference in August 1919, which
Kandahar, and Mazar-i Sharif, so that disease epi- was the forerunner of the Anglo-Afghan Peace
demics remain a constant threat. Further pollution Treaty of 1919. He subsequently returned to India
is coming from industrial sites, with dangerous en- and wrote about his experiences and the region.
vironmental and health risks being identified. One References
particular example was a plastics recycling factory in Ghani, Abdul. 1989. A Brief Political History of
Kabul where inspectors found children working Afghanistan. Edited by Abdul Jaleel Nafji. Lahore,
twelve-hour shifts and sleeping at their machines or Pakistan: Najaf Publishers.
GHAZI, SHAH MAHMUD 93
GHAUS, ABDUL SAMAD (1928– ) until 1953. He was born in 1896, the youngest son of
Ghaus was director of the UN Affairs Department Muhammad Yusif, and his early career was dedi-
and served under President Muhammad Daud as cated to the military. He was made a colonel in 1917
director-general of political affairs in the Ministry of and became civil and military governor of Paktia
Foreign Affairs in 1974. He served as deputy minis- Province in September 1919. He was named as the
ter of foreign affairs from June 1977 until the April general commanding officer in Badakhshan and
1978 Saur Revolt of April 1978, and the advent of Kataghan from 1922 to 1925, then governor of the
Communist rule. He was imprisoned following the Eastern Province in April 1926. He was transferred
revolt and was not released until 1980; he left for the from Jalalabad to Kabul in February 1928 and ap-
United States in 1981. pointed deputy interior minister in March 1928. In
Ghaus was born in Rome in 1928 and was edu- 1929, he was sent as an emissary of Habibullah
cated at Istiqal High School and in Switzerland be- Kalakani (who ruled Afghanistan from January to
fore embarking on a career in foreign affairs in 1956. October of that year) to the tribes of the eastern and
He also wrote a book on Afghanistan, which covered southern provinces. He joined his brother Nadir
President Daud’s negotiations with various heads of Khan at Khost in March 1929 and helped him defeat
state, including critical negotiations with Leonid Habibullah Kalakani. Thereafter, he served as his
Brezhnev of the Soviet Union. brother’s minister of war and commander-in-chief
References from November 1929 to 1946. He left Kabul for the
Ghaus, Abdul Samad. 1988. The Fall of Afghanistan. northern provinces and in January 1931 was ap-
Washington, DC: Pergamon-Brassey. pointed rais-i-tanzimieh (regional governor) for
northern Afghanistan.
GHAZI He succeeded in driving Ibrahim Beg across the
The term Ghazi was originally used to describe Arab Soviet border and returned to Kabul in August 1931,
Bedouin raiders who would strike from their desert receiving the title of marshal in September 1931. (Beg
territory to raid adjacent tribes for booty and cap- was an Uzbek Bashmati who led raids from Afghani-
tives. However, after the arrival of Islam, the word stan across the Soviet border; after these activities
was used to describe a holy warrior fighting against were stopped by Afghan authorities, he conducted
a non-Muslim enemy; it was similar to the term mu- raids inside Afghanistan until he was expelled across
jahideen, used to describe the Afghan resistance to the border and captured by the Soviets.) Ghazi be-
the Soviet occupation in the 1980s. In the Anglo- came prime minister in 1946 and was present at the
Afghan wars, the ghazi were the irregular troops assassination of Nadir Shah in Kabul. He nominated
who often engaged in suicidal attacks against the Zahir Shah as king and swore allegiance to him, con-
British forces, having taken vows to die in battle tinuing as prime minister until 1953. Ghazi visited
against the unbelievers and thus secure entry to Par- the United States between 1950 and 1951 and ac-
adise. These forces were particularly effective in the cepted U.S. cooperation in the development of the
wars, especially at the Battle of Maiwand in 1880. Helmand Valley. His government also launched a
Traditionally, the appellation ghazi was accorded to campaign in favor of Pashtunistan and self-determi-
victorious Afghan commanders, such as Mahmud nation for the Pashtuns in the frontier area. He re-
Shah of Ghazi, though others, such as King Aman- signed in 1953, allowing Sardar Muhammad Daud to
ullah, Habibullah Kalakani, and Nadir Shah, also become prime minister. At the beginning of his pe-
claimed the honor. The sons of Mahmud Shah riod in office, he had allowed freedom of speech and
adopted the title as a family name. of the press, but when these liberal policies led to crit-
References icism of his government, he reverted to a more total-
Forbes, A. 1892. The Afghan Wars, 1839–42 and itarian form of rule. He died in retirement in 1959.
1878–80. London: Seeley. His sons were also active in public life, with Zalmay
Mahmud serving as ambassador to Paris, London,
GHAZI, SHAH MAHMUD (1896–1959) Tehran, and Cairo; Sultan Mahmud serving as presi-
Shah Mahmud Ghazi was the Afghan minister of dent of civil aviation and tourism from 1971 to 1976,
war and commander-in-chief from 1929 until 1946. and Abdul Azim serving as military attaché to the
He then became prime minister, holding the post Afghan embassy in Moscow.
94 GHAZNI PROVINCE
See also Habibullah Kalakani; Zahir Shah, Mohammed the name comes from Ghal Zoe (meaning “thief’s
References son”), Khilzi (Turki for “swordsman”), or the name
Shahrani, M. Nazif, and Robert L. Caufield, eds. 1984. of the Khilji Turks, who entered the region in the
Revolutions and Rebellions in Afghanistan. Berkeley: tenth century. The tribe has two main divisions, the
Institute of International Relations, University of Turan and the Burham Ibrahim. The Sulaiman Khel
California. comprise the most important branch of the tribe as
a whole, and the Ali Khel are the most important of
GHAZNI PROVINCE the Burham Ibrahim. In the nineteenth century, the
This province is located in eastern Afghanistan, oc- tribe numbered about 10,000 families and could
cupies an area of 12,663 square miles, has a popula- raise an armed force of between 30,000 and 50,000
tion of about 700,000, and is subdivided into twenty- fighters. These people were largely nomadic and
four districts. The Tajiks inhabit the north of the often traveled deep into India, earning a living as
province, there are Ghilzais in the center and south, nomadic merchants.
and Hazaras are in the west; in addition, some Dur- The Hotaki Ghilzais achieved fame for liberating
rani Pashtuns are scattered throughout the province. Kandahar from Safavid control, and they were the
Ghazni is a major agricultural and industrial area, fa- leading force in the invasion of Iran and the destruc-
mous for its sheepskin coats but also for corn, fruit, tion of the Persian Empire in 1722. Mir Wais, who
and sheep’s wool and camel hair cloth. The town of was taken hostage to Tehran but permitted to return,
the same name is strategically located on the road raised a revolt against the Kandahar governor and
from Kabul to Kandahar, some 80 miles southeast of ruled over the province from 1709 to 1715. His son
Kabul and 7,000 feet above sea level. Its fame is de- led the invasion of Iran and defeated the Safavid
rived from the fact that it was the capital of the Ghaz- armies at the Battle of Galnabad in 1722. However,
naid dynasty from 977 to 1186; the old town is the Afghan victory was short-lived, as Nadir Khan
walled and guarded by a citadel. Because of its strate- reunited the Persian Empire and invaded Afghani-
gic location, it was the scene of severe fighting be- stan. Following the death of Nadir Shah, the Ghilzais
tween Afghan and British forces in the first two lost their power and influence and were unable to re-
Anglo-Afghan wars, with a British force in the first sist the emergence of the Durrani dynasty.
war being wiped out in December 1841. The citadel The Ghilzais fought the British during the Anglo-
in the old town was garrisoned by Afghan troops but Afghan wars and continued to be the main rivals of
was then seized and held by the mujahideen. The the Durrani. As a tribe, they repeatedly rebelled
town has a population of about 30,000 and has the against Muhammadzai rule, with revolts taking place
same population mix as the rest of the province, with in 1801,1803, 1883, 1886, and 1937; each was put
the addition of a few Hindu shopkeepers. down only with great difficulty. However, in recent
References times, Ghilzais in urban areas have intermarried with
Bosworth, Clifford E. 1963. The Gaznavids: Their Empire Muhammadzai. The Ghilzais were strongly repre-
in Afghanistan and Eastern Iran, 944–1040. sented in the Marxist government through Nur
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Muhammad Taraki, Dr. Muhammad Najibullah, and
Elliot, H. M., and J. Dowson. 1953. History of Ghazni. Hafizullah Amin, among others, but also in the resis-
Calcutta, India: Sasil Gupta. tance movement, through Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
and Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, which in itself represented a
GHILZAI TRIBE power shift from the Durrani to the Ghilzais.
The Ghilzai is a major Pashtu-speaking tribe, occu- See also Durrani Tribe
pying an area roughly bounded by Kalat-i-Ghilzai in References
the south, the Gal-Kaul range in the west, the Su- Clifford, M. L.1973. The Land and People of Afghanistan.
laiman range in the east, and the Kabul River in the Philadelphia: Lippincott.
north. The Ghilzais call themselves Ghaljais and
claim to be descendants of Ghalzoe, son of Sha Hu- GHOBAR, MIR GHULAM MUHAMMAD
sain, a Tajik or Turk, and of Bibi Mato, who de- (1897–1978)
scended from Sheikh Baitan, second son of Qais, the Mir Ghulam Muhammad Ghobar was a historian,
progenitor of the Afghan nationality. The origin of writer, and poet, noted for a critical analysis of
GRANVILLE-GORCHAKOFF AGREEMENT 95
Afghan history published in 1968. He was born in GHULAM, JILANI CHARKHI (1886–1933)
1897 in Kabul of a Sayyid family, and he was ini- Jilani Charkhi Ghulam served as a major general
tially in the service of King Amanullah, being edi- under Amir Habibullah and led several victorious
tor of the newspaper Sitare-yi-Afghan from 1919 campaigns against rebellious tribes, securing the
to 1920 and chief of police from 1920 to 1921. He amir’s power base in Afghanistan. Ghulam was born
also served as secretary at the Afghan embassies in in 1886, and his first military appointment was as
Paris (in 1926) and Berlin (in 1930). Just prior to superintendent of the military college in Kabul in
Amanullah’s downfall, he was also a participant in 1962. He also served King Amanullah as governor
the Pagham Loya Jirga (Great Council). Ghobar and military commander in various provinces be-
then returned to his academic pursuits, becoming fore being appointed minister at Ankara in 1925. He
a prominent member of the Afghan Literary Soci- was recalled to Kandahar by Amanullah in April
ety and the Afghan Historical Society before ser- 1929 in a vain attempt to secure the king’s position;
ving as a literary adviser to the Department of he was unable to defeat the forces of Habibullah
Press in 1948. He was imprisoned from 1933 to Kalakani, and Amanullah was forced to abdicate.
1935 and again from 1952 to 1956 for his opposi- Ghulam fled to India with the deposed monarch
tion to the government and also served as a mem- and also accompanied him to exile in Rome. He re-
ber of parliament, representing Kabul, in 1948 and turned to Afghanistan in August 1930 but was im-
again from 1949 to 1951. Ghobar was a founding prisoned and executed in 1933.
member of the Watan Party and editor of its news- References
paper of the same name in 1951. He died on 5 Feb- Poullada, Leon B. Reform and Rebellion in Afghanistan,
ruary 1978 in Germany. 1919–1929. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
References
Ghobar, G. 1968. Afghanistan dar masir-i tarikh. GOLDSMID AWARD
(Afghanistan in the path of history). Kabul: The Goldsmid Award was a result of the 1872 Sistan
Government Press. boundary arbitration, which drew the line between
Poullada, Leon B. 1973. Reform and Rebellion in Afghanistan and Iran. Persia had occupied Sistan,
Afghanistan, 1919–1929. Ithaca, NY: Cornell which was also claimed by Afghanistan, and the
University Press. British government offered to provide an arbitra-
tion service, carried out by General Sir Frederic
GHOR PROVINCE Goldsmid. The arbitration determined that the ma-
Ghor Province lies in west-central Afghanistan, jority of Sistan should become part of Persia but
occupies an area of 13,808 square miles, and has a should have no land rights in the Helmand area nor
population of about 341,000, with the capital interfere with the water supply from the Helmand
being the town of Chaghcharan. The province is River. Neither country was satisfied with the arbi-
mainly mountainous, but there is some cultiva- tration, and the issue of water was a continuing
tion of wheat and barley in the Farah, Hari Rud, source of conflict that was not resolved until the
and Murghat Valleys. The main mountain ranges Helmand Water Treaty of 1973, ratified by Afghani-
in the province are the Firuzhak Sujahkan and the stan in 1979.
Band-i Bayan. References
The people of the province are primarily of Aitchinson, C. U. 1933. A Collection of Treaties,
Taimani origin, a part of the Chahar Aimaq ethnic Engagements and Sanads Relating to India and
group, and they tend to be seminomadic, living in Neighbouring Countries. Vol. 13, Persia and
conical felt yurts. At times in the past, they were in- Afghanistan. Calcutta, India: Superintendent of
dependent or allied with the Durrani rulers of Government Printing.
Herat, but their power was severely curbed by Amir
Abdur Rahman. GRANVILLE-GORCHAKOFF AGREEMENT
References (1873)
Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political The Granville-Gorchakoff Agreement, struck be-
Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria: tween the British and Russian foreign ministers in an
Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt. exchange of letters, sought to define the boundaries
96 GROMOV, GEN. BORIS V.
between Russia and Afghanistan. Only in the west On his final tour of duty, Gromov was responsi-
was the issue not resolved completely, which al- ble for organizing the withdrawal of the last re-
lowed Russia to subsequently annex Panjdeh. Rus- maining contingent of Soviet forces, numbering
sia also agreed that Afghanistan was not within its some 1,400 men and 450 armored vehicles. On 14
sphere of influence. The agreement was used by the February 1989, he became the last Soviet soldier to
British government in 1876 to remind Russia’s cross the “Friendship Bridge” back into the Soviet
leaders that they had agreed to cease interfering in Union, maintaining that the Soviet forces had ful-
the affairs of Afghanistan and to halt any negotia- filled their duty. In 1990, Gromov was made minis-
tions with Shir Ali, the ruler of Afghanistan from ter of the interior for the USSR, and he became
1863 to 1866 and again from 1868 to 1879. How- commander of all Russian ground forces two years
ever, there is some doubt as to whether these nego- later.
tiations constituted a breach of the agreement or See also Soviet War in Afghanistan
whether the incident was used by the British Indian References
government to increase political pressure on the Cordovez, Diego, and Selig S. Harrison. 1995. Out of
two states, for the British saw the agreement defin- Afghanistan: The Inside Story of the Soviet
ing the borders of Afghanistan as critical to their Withdrawal. New York: Oxford University Press.
policy of using it as a buffer state between Russia
and British India.
References GUARDIANS OF THE ISLAMIC REVOLUTION
Adamec, Ludwig W. 1974. Afghanistan’s Foreign Affairs (PASDARAN-I-JIHAD-I-ISLAMI)
to the Mid-Twentieth Century: Relations with the The Guardians of the Islamic Revolution was estab-
USSR, Germany and Britain. Tucson: University of lished in the Hazarajat region in 1983 as a radical
Arizona Press. Shi’a group, drawing its inspiration from the
Guardians of the Iranian Revolution in Iran, from
whom it received arms and financial support. The
GROMOV, GEN. BORIS V. (1943– ) original membership was recruited from Hazaras
Boris Gromov was commander of the Fortieth living in Iran and militants in the Hazarajat region;
Army, which represented the limited contingent of this younger generation of Islamic radicals usurped
Soviet forces in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989, and the traditional leaders who had emerged to oppose
he spent three tours of duty in the country. In Janu- the Soviet invasion in 1979. The group allied itself
ary 1988, he was responsible for raising the siege of with Haijjat al-Islam Mir Hussain Sadeqi of Nasr, a
Khost when he led a force of 10,000 Soviet and prominent Shi’a mujahideen leader, in a successful
Afghan troops from Gardez in what was to be the campaign to rid the region of the Shura (Council)
last major Soviet operation against the mujahideen. led by Sayyid Ali Beheshti.
However, it was Gromov’s strategic view that the The Guardians follow the teachings of Ayatollah
role of the Soviet forces should have been to guar- Khomeini—the former spiritual leader and presi-
antee stability, establish garrisons, and refrain from dent of Iran, who had led the Islamic revolution
counterinsurgency actions, which he believed against the shah in 1979—with respect to relations
should have been left to the forces of the Demo- with the United States and the Soviet Union and
cratic Republic of Afghanistan. with regard to the creation of an Islamic state in Af-
The strategy could never be fully implemented, ghanistan. But throughout the 1980s, they were
and at best, only about one-third of the Soviet forces more concerned with factional infighting than op-
were devoted to the defense and security of fixed posing the Soviet presence. As a result, they were al-
sites, with the remainder being drawn into the ways peripheral to the mainstream mujahideen op-
counterinsurgency operations. Gromov himself ac- position in Afghanistan.
cepted that this outcome was inevitable, given the See also Beheshti, Sayyid Ali; Shi’a Mujahideen Groups
circumstances, and admitted that the Afghan oper- References
ations were the perfect example of the difference be- Oleson, A. 1995. Islam and Politics in Afghanistan.
tween theory and practice. London: Curzon Press.
General Boris Gromov looks back and waves as he crosses the border at Termez as the last of the Soviet soldiers leaves Afghanistan.
(Reuters NewMedia Inc./CORBIS)
98 GULBAZOI, LT. GEN. SAYYID MUHAMMAD
GULBAZOI, LT. GEN. SAYYID MUHAMMAD References

(1945– ) Bradsher, Henry St. Amant. 1999. Afghan Communism
Sayyid Muhammad Gulbazoi began his career in the and Soviet Intervention. London and New York:
military, and after the Saur Revolt of 27 April 1978, Oxford University Press.
which brought the Communists to power, he was
appointed aide-de-camp to President Nur Muham-
GULNABAD, BATTLE OF (1772)
mad Taraki, becoming minister of communications
The Battle of Gulnabad took place on 8 March 1772
that same year. He was born in 1945 in Paktia
between Afghanistan and Iran. The Afghan forces
Province, the son of Gulab Shah. After his elemen-
were led by Mahmud, son of the Ghilzai chief Mir
tary and secondary education, he attended air force
Wais, and they decisively defeated a far superior
courses, and in 1966, he became a military officer in
Iranian army, marking the end of the Safavid Em-
Mazar-i Sharif. He served at Khwaja Rawasl Military
pire of Iran. The Afghans then besieged Isfahan for
Airport in 1969, and he was a Pashtun nationalist,
a period of six months before taking the capital of
later becoming a populist with a Marxist slant. He
the Iranian Empire. However, the Ghilzai army was
participated in the coup led by Muhammad Daud
unable to hold on to the Iranian conquests and was
in 1973, which overthrew the monarchy, and was
compelled to fall back before the forces of Nadir
appointed as an aide to the commander of the air
Shah Afshar, crossing the border back into Afghani-
force. In 1976, he went to the Soviet Union for
stan. Following this action, the Ghilzais’ position in
higher education and further military training.
Afghanistan was weakened, and they were eventu-
He was dismissed as minister of communication
ally replaced as the dominant tribe by the Durranis.
in September 1979 and disappeared until the Par-
chami regime came to power in December of that References
Lockhart, Laurence. 1958. The Fall of the Safavi Dynasty
year; he was appointed minister of the interior on 11
and the Afghan Occupation of Persia. Cambridge:
January 1980. He was a member of the Central Cambridge University Press.
Committee and Revolutionary Council of the Peo- Malleson, George B. 1879. History of Afghanistan from
ple’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan. the Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878.
See also People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan London: W. H. Allen.
HABIBULLAH, AMIR (1871–1919)
Amir Habibullah was a son of Amir Abdur Rahman
and was born during the his father’s period of exile
in Samarkand on 21 April 1871. During the reign of
his father, he was actively involved in the adminis-
H
tration and was generally popular due to his com-
petence and because he was thought to be more le- The outbreak of World War I caused a further
nient than his father. strain in Anglo-Afghan relations. In defiance of the
He took the throne on 3 October 1901 and wishes of the viceroy of India, Habibullah received
began his rule with some positive actions, which in- the Hentig-Niedermayer Expedition at Kabul—a
cluded raising the pay of the army, recalling exiles, German expedition designed to foment unrest in
promising reforms, and releasing prisoners. How- British India during the war. A secret treaty of
ever, this approach was short-lived, as he soon re- friendship and military assistance was concluded
sorted to his father’s policy of severe punishments with Germany, in the event of an Allied defeat in the
and confiscation of property and he became less in- war, but Germany could not fulfill its part of the
terested in the affairs of state. The British govern- bargain, and Britain promised the amir a substan-
ment tried to renegotiate some of the agreements tial reward if Afghanistan remained neutral. As a re-
reached with Amir Abdur Rahman and attempted sult, the amir decided to keep Afghanistan out of
to maintain that these had been personal agree- the war, but Britain did not fully respect his actions
ments, not accords reached with the state of Af- and endeavored to reassert its control over Afghan-
ghanistan. Under extreme pressure from the British istan at the conclusion of hostilities with Germany.
India government, Habibullah refused to yield, and However, certain factions in the amir’s court felt
after two years of stalemate, the foreign secretary of that he had failed Afghanistan. They believed World
the government of India, Louis W. Dane, went to War I had provided an ideal opportunity to secure
Kabul to negotiate and eventually had to accept the complete independence from Britain—an opportu-
amir’s position. As a result, the agreements were re- nity he failed to exploit. As a consequence, conspir-
newed, and Britain agreed to recognize Habibullah acies were formed to remove him from power, and
as king of Afghanistan and its dependencies. he was assassinated on 20 February 1919 in Kala
Habibullah was a good Muslim but began to Gosh, Laghman Province, while on a hunting trip.
adopt Western ways following a visit to India in See also Anglo-Russian Convention; Hentig-
1907. This change, together with his adoption of Niedermayer Expedition
freemasonry, led to a sharp decline in his popular- References
ity. During his visit to India, the amir found out Gregorian, Vartan. 1969. The Emergence of Modern
about the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907, Afghanistan: Politics of Reform and Modernization,
which divided Iran and Afghanistan into spheres 1880–1946. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
of influence between the two states, but Habibul-
lah refused to ratify the convention, which was HABIBULLAH KALAKANI (C. 1890–1929)
never implemented. Some reforms were effected Habibullah Kalakani was born about 1890 in
during his reign, including the establishment of Kalakan village in Kohdaman, a Tajik and son of a
modern schools, the import of cars, a road-build- water carrier; hence, he was also known as Bacha-
ing program, and the introduction of electricity in i-Saqqau (“son of a water carrier”).He held sev-
Kabul. eral menial positions before joining Jemal Pasha’s
99
100 HAMAD, ABDUL SANAD
Ottoman Turkey regiment in Kabul in 1919. How- References

ever, he deserted from the army because of his sym- Gregorian, Vartan. 1969. The Emergence of Modern
pathies with the Mangals during the 1924 Mangal Afghanistan: Politics of Reform and Modernization,
Rebellion against the reform program of King 1880–1946. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Amanullah, and he fled to Peshawar in India, where Habibullah, Amir. 1990. My Life: From Brigand to
he worked as a tea vendor before moving to Parachi- King—Autobiography of Amir Habibullah. London:
Octagon Press.
nar, India. There, he was sentenced to eleven months
of imprisonment for breaking into a house. During
the Nangarhar Rebellion of 1928, launched by a HAMAD, ABDUL SANAD (1929– )
coalition of tribes opposed to the legal and social re- Abdul Sanad Hamad was born in Jalalabad on 8
forms of the king, he offered his services to King January 1929 and graduated from Nejat School in
Amanullah but then defected and joined the Kohis- 1948. He then went to Switzerland for further study,
tani forces fighting the ruler. obtaining a Ph.D. in law in 1957. In his early career
On 14 December 1928, with a loose coalition of in law, he was an associate professor in the Faculty
Kohistani forces, Kalakani took advantage of a of Law and Political Science at Kabul University
tribal revolt by the Shinwaris and other Pashtun from 1957 to 1965 and legal adviser to the Afghan
tribes to attack Kabul. As a charismatic figure, he parliament. He then moved into education, becom-
became the leader of the antireformist action ing deputy president of secondary education in the
against King Amanullah. The attack was repelled Ministry of Education from 1959 to 1960 and pres-
but only after nine days of fierce fighting, and ident from 1960 to 1963. Hamad was governor of
Kalakani retired toward Pagham. But on 7 January Parwan Province from 1963 to 1964 and president
1929, he again went on the offensive and took of Kabul University from 1964 to 1965. During
Kabul, forcing King Amanullah to abdicate on 18 1964, he was also a member of the drafting com-
January. He proclaimed himself amir of Afghani- mittee for the new constitution and a member of
stan but only had a tenuous hold on parts of the the Loya Jirga (Great Council) that approved its
country. His aspirations to become accepted as the adoption in the same year. He held a number of
ruler were hindered by the fact that he was a Tajik, other significant government appointments before
rather than a member of the dominant Pashtun becoming deputy prime minister and minister for
tribe, and because of his background as a brigand; tribal affairs from 1971 to 1972. He was a political
only his Kohistani supporters regarded him as a prisoner in Pul-i Charkhi from November 1978 to
hero. The tribes on either side of the Durand Line 11 January 1980, accused of opposing the govern-
(which was determined by Britain in 1893 to de- ment, and on 15 March 1980, he left Afghanistan for
marcate the boundary between Afghanistan and exile in Germany.
British India) were shocked at his success, but the References
forces of Shah Wali Khan, brother of the future king Grover, Verinder. 2000. Afghanistan: Government and
Nadir Shah, eventually defeated him. He surren- Politics. New Delhi: Deep and Deep Publications.
dered to the opposing forces and was executed on 1
November 1929. HAQ, ABDUL (1958–2001)
Habibullah was considered by his Kohistani Abdul Haq was a Ahmadzai Pashtun from Nan-
supporters to be an outlaw hero because he preyed garhar Province in southeast Afghanistan, from an
on government officials and the wealthy after the affluent background, and would become a
failure of the Mangal Rebellion. However, to his renowned mujahideen commander. As a student, he
opponents, he was regarded as a bandit and a had affiliated with the Organization of Muslim
common criminal. In his purported autobiogra- Youth, which had opposed the reforming regime of
phy, My Life from Brigand to King, he depicted President Muhammad Daud. He was imprisoned in
himself as a bandit who managed to come to 1975 for his activities and only freed after the Saur
power during a period of civil war. He has also Revolt of April 1978, which brought the Commu-
been regarded by some as a mujahideen acting nists to power. As a mujahideen commander, he was
against an infidel king. affiliated with the Islamic Party of Yunis Khales and
See also Amanullah, King; Khost Rebellion operated in the area south of Kabul, from where he
HASHIM KHAN, MUHAMMAD 101
rized by the Taliban. It was Haq’s view that the Tal-

iban could never be defeated by the Northern Al-
liance on its own and that it was necessary to secure
support from the Pashtuns and to convene a loya
jirga to secure a democratic future for Afghanistan.
In October 2001, he returned secretly to Afghani-
stan as an emissary of the exiled king, Zahir Shah, in
order to inform tribal elders about the peace process
being mounted from Rome. He was captured by the
Taliban with twenty of his followers and was exe-
cuted on 26 October for treason and being a spy for
Great Britain and the United States.
References
Joffe, Lawrence. “Abdul Haq: Veteran Afghan Leader
Seeking Post-Taliban Consensus Rule.” http://www.
guardian.co.uk (cited 26 October 2001).
HAQANI, MAULAWI JAJALUDDIN (1930– )

Maulawi Jajaluddin Haqani was the deputy chief of
the Islamic Party and joined the faction led by Yunis
Khales after the break with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
in 1979. He drew support from his own Jadran
tribe, and in 1979, he controlled large areas of
Urgun in Paktia Province. Together with his broth-
Abdul Haq, renowned Pashtun mujahideen leader, captured by ers Abdul Haq and Abdul Qadir, he effectively con-
Taliban troops on 26 October 2001 while on a mission to foment trolled the Jalalabad Shura (council) that ruled Nan-
opposition to the Taliban regime. Executed as an enemy of the
state. (Reuters NewMedia Inc./CORBIS)
garhar Province, but after Jalalabad was captured by
the Taliban in 1996, Haqani joined their ranks. He
was born in 1930 in Paktia Province and educated in
organized attacks on the capital. However, in 1987, a private madrasa (religious school), before com-
he received injuries to a foot, which severely cur- pleting his studies in Peshawar, Pakistan.
tailed his participation in guerrilla raids. After the See also Haq, Abdul; Khales, Yunis
fall of the Marxist government in April 1992, he was References
appointed chief of police and security and com- Roy, Olivier. 1994. From Holy War to Civil War.
mander of the gendarmerie, but he resigned from all Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
his posts at the outbreak of civil war between the
various mujahideen groups. Abdul Haq adopted a HASHIM KHAN, MUHAMMAD (1886–1953)
neutral position in the initial struggle between the Muhammad Hashim Khan was born in 1886, the
Taliban and the forces of Burhanuddin Rabbani, son of Yaqub Khan and uncle of the former king
turning his attention to trade with the Arabian gulf Zahir; he also was a half brother of Nadir Shah. As
states. However, on 11 September 1992, Taliban commander of Amir Habibullah’s bodyguard, he
forces captured Jalalabad, and he was forced to flee accompanied the amir on his visit to India in 1907.
the country for Dubai and thence to London, from In 1916, he was appointed to a post in Herat
where he ran a successful import-export business. Province. He became governor of Jalalabad in De-
In 1998, Abdul Haq became a UN peace media- cember 1919 and of the Eastern Province in 1920.
tor and helped to design the intra-Afghan dialogue He stood in for Gen. Nadir Khan at the Ministry of
process under the auspices of the U.S. Afghanistan War in 1922 and was appointed ambassador to
Foundation. In the following year, his first wife and Moscow in 1924, holding the post for two years. On
one of his sons were assassinated in Peshawar, Pak- 9 November 1929, he was appointed prime minister
istan; it is claimed that the assassination was autho- and minister of the interior and was on a tour in the
102 HASHT-NAFARI
northern provinces when Nadir Shah was assassi- rule (1973 to 1978). In 1985, he became president of
nated. He retained the post of prime minister until the Loya Jirga (Great Council) in Kabul, and al-
1946, having maintained Afghanistan’s neutrality though not a party member, he became a member
during World War II. He was regarded as a good ad- of the Revolutionary Council of the People’s Demo-
ministrator, but he was strict in his dealings with cratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) in December
people, and he led an austere personal life. He died 1985.
on 26 October 1953. References
References Ghani, Abdul. 1989. A Brief Political History of
Dupree, Louis. 1980. Afghanistan. Princeton, NJ: Afghanistan. Edited by Abdul Jaleel Nafji. Lahore,
Princeton University Press. Pakistan: Najaf Publishers.
HASHT-NAFARI HAZARAJAT
Historically, the rulers of Afghanistan had always re- The Hazarajat is a mountainous region in central
lied on support in the form of armed troops from Afghanistan that is predominantly inhabited by the
the tribes to supplement their small forces in any Hazara people. The region incorporates the
major military campaign. Amir Abdul Rahman in- provinces of Bamian, Ghor, and Oruzgan and parts
troduced this system of imposed recruitment within of the adjoining provinces. It became fully inte-
the frontier tribes in 1896 as a means of guarantee- grated into Afghanistan following a series of wars
ing an adequate supply of soldiers. Under the sys- instigated by Amir Abdur Rahman from 1881 to
tem, tribes were required to provide one able-bod- 1883. However, it was not until 1893 that the region
ied man in eight for military service, hence the title was fully subdued and under the total control of the
of the system (hasht meaning “eight” and nafar Kabul government, which pursued a policy of re-
meaning “persons”); chiefs or tribal elders were repression to ensure that the Hazaras did not again re-
quired to make the selection and to provide those volt against the government. Large numbers of the
selected with all their requirements. The system was population fled to Iran or Pakistan, and many hun-
accepted by the tribes during emergencies but was dreds were enslaved and forcibly removed to Kabul.
met with resistance at other times, often resulting in The region is dominated by the Koh-i-Baba
revolts against the recruitment. It was discontinued range of mountains and its branches, with the peaks
because of opposition from the tribes but was rein- rising to altitudes from 9,000 to 16,500 feet and
troduced in 1922 and was a factor in the growing passes crossing the mountains at 8,000 to 10,000
opposition to King Amanullah. The system fell into feet. Roads capable of handling modern forms of
disuse with the advent of a centrally recruited and transport are few in number. The main road from
paid armed force, which gradually developed into a Kabul to Herat skirts the region, and the route from
modern corps with a regular army and air force. Kabul to Bamian and then east to Chaghcharan can
However, as was evidenced during the war against only be negotiated by four-wheel-drive vehicles in
the Soviet occupation from 1979 to 1989, the civil the summer months.
war from 1989 to 2001, and the campaign against The climate of the region is harsh, with long,
the Taliban from 1996 to 2001, the tradition among cold winters that last from late September to April;
the tribes has remained active and effective, particu- heavy snowfall occurs from December to the onset
larly in light of the breakdown of the kingdom into of spring. The snows fill the reservoirs for the vari-
provinces and districts controlled by local warlords. ous rivers that rise in the Hazarajat and irrigate the
rest of the country, and the summer months of July
HATEF, ABDUR RAHIM (1926– ) and August are dry and extremely hot. Although the
Abdur Rahim Hatef was born in Kandahar in 1926 region is rich in mineral deposits, most of these re-
and is a member of the Takhi tribe. He was educated sources are in the inaccessible mountain areas and
at Ahmad Shah Baba School, Habibia School, and therefore not economically viable. During the his-
the College of Letters at Kabul University. During tory of Afghanistan, the region has been the scene of
Zahir Shah’s reign (1933 to 1973), he was the head a great deal of conflict, and during the recent strug-
of the Kandahar Municipality, and he also held a va- gles against the Taliban, it was the scene of mas-
riety of posts during President Muhammad Daud’s sacres perpetrated by Hazaras and Taliban alike.
HAZARAS 103
See also Hazaras; Human Rights Violations and Mongol vocabulary. The Hazaras are largely a
References settled community and are no longer organized on
Amin, Hamidullah, and Gordon B. Schiltz. 1976. A tribal lines but are divided into groups. One such
Geography of Afghanistan. Omaha: University of group, the Kala Nai Hazaras, are Sunni Muslims
Nebraska, Center for Afghan Studies. who claim descent from the hordes of Genghis
Khan; they settled in Kala Nau, now Badghis
HAZARAS Province, having been moved into the area under
The Hazaras are Afghans with predominantly Mon- the Persian ruler Nadir Shah Afshar. As such, they
goloid features who were originally Sunni Muslims were heavily involved in the struggle for Herat
until they were converted to the Shi’a Islam faith in Province, collaborating with the rulers of Herat.
the sixteenth century under the Safavid dynasty of However, their power in the province was broken by
Iran. A small number of them are Isma’ilis, and a Wazir Yar Muhammad in 1847.
number of Hazaras in the Panjshir district are still In 1856, the Persians invaded Herat Province and
Sunni Muslims. Estimates as to the size of the Haz- laid siege to the city of Herat, and after its fall, they
ara population are difficult. The official estimates forcibly relocated the Hazaras to Khorasan in Persia.
indicate a population of 1 million, but the Hazaras After a fourteen-year exile, most of the tribe re-
themselves claim to be 2 million in number in Af- turned to Herat, but some 2,000 families remained
ghanistan with an equal number living in adjacent in the Isfarayin area in present-day Iran. The tribe
lands, such as Iran and Pakistan. members supported the governor of Herat against
The Hazara heartland is known as the Hazarajat, Amir Dost Muhammad, and they were constantly in
but the Hazaras are also found in the major cities of conflict with the Jamshidis and the Firuzkuhis. The
Afghanistan, where they take up employment as Dai Mirdad Hazaras inhabit the area of Dara-i-Suf,
seasonal workers or day laborers. They speak a Farsi which is now part of Samangan Province, and they
dialect called Hazaragi, which includes some Turkic are more like Pashtuns than Hazaras and dress like
Thousands of ethnic minority Afghanistan Hazaras attend a rally to welcome Hazara leader Karim Khalili in the capital of Kabul, 27
December 2001. (Reuters NewMedia Inc./CORBIS)
104 HAZARAS
Tajiks or Uzbeks. Other groups include the Dai challenged by the Islamists of Nasr and Parsdaran,
Kundi, the Dai Zangi, and the Ghazni Hazaras. who took over most of the region. In 1988, the
After the founding of the modern state of Af- Kabul government attempted to satisfy the aspira-
ghanistan in 1747, the Hazaras were gradually in- tions of Hazara nationalism by creating the Hazara
corporated into the state and paid taxes to the gov- province of Sar-i-Pul, taking the districts of
ernment in Kabul. However, they continued to live Charkant, Keshandekh, and Sozma Kala from Balkh
under independent or autonomous control of their Province and the district of Kohestant from Jozjan
tribal mirs (chiefs). It was not until the reign of Amir Province.
Abdur Rahman that the Hazaras were brought During the period of resistance to the Soviet
under the complete authority of the Kabul govern- presence and in the 1989–2001 civil war, the region
ment following an intermittent war lasting from was under the control of the Islamic Unity Party,
1890 to 1893 and successfully waged by the amir’s which was supported by Iran but only to a modest
forces under Gen. Abdul Quddus. degree due to the financial problems caused by the
The region of the Hazarajat suffered badly from 1980–1988 Iraq-Iran War. Because of the break-
this war and subsequent occupation. There was down in relations between Iran and the United
widespread destruction of the infrastructure and States, no international aid reached the Hazara Shi’a
annexation of the territory by the Pashtun tribes. mujahideen groups, particularly the Guardians of
Many of the Hazaras were taken back to Kabul as the Islamic Revolution. The result of Iranian fund-
slaves, with others fleeing from Afghanistan to Iran ing meant that by 1982, Iranian influence had en-
or India. Despite an amnesty that was declared couraged a younger generation of Islamic radicals,
when Amir Habibullah came to power, not all of the trained in Iran, who usurped the traditional leader-
refugees were prepared to return, and many re- ship that had emerged to challenge the Soviet inva-
mained abroad, particularly in India; a large com- sion in 1979. However, due to Iran’s ideological pol-
munity still exists in Quetta, Pakistan. The accession icy in viewing loyalty to Tehran as more important
of King Amanullah in 1919 brought an end to en- than unity among the Hazaras, the various mu-
slavement in Afghanistan, which won him support jahideen groups fought more among themselves
from the Hazara community. The people repaid the than with the Soviets.
king by supporting him in his fight with Habibullah However, by 1988, when a Soviet withdrawal ap-
Kalakani in 1929. peared imminent, Iran recognized the need to
In the first half of the twentieth century, the Haz- strengthen its support for the Hazaras and brokered
arajat region was a neglected area in which public the union of seven mujahideen groups into the Is-
services and infrastructure were practically nonexis- lamic Unity Party (Hizb-i Wahdat). Iran also began
tent. Today, no industry exists in the region, and the to press for the Islamic Unity Party’s inclusion in in-
sole economic activity is farming and animal hus- ternational talks to form a new mujahideen govern-
bandry. For these economic reasons, the Hazaras ment. Further, although a small minority, the Irani-
have sought seasonal employment as low-grade civil ans demanded a 50 percent share of the government
servants, shopkeepers, artisans, factory workers, and for the Hazaras, subsequently reduced to 25 percent.
unskilled laborers. It is estimated that in the 1960s, The situation was complicated by the fact that ri-
some 30 to 50 percent of the male population mi- valry with Saudi Arabia intensified, with the latter
grated to urban areas to seek employment, where funding the spread of Wahhabism and anti-Shi’ism
they were considered to be on the lowest rung of the within Afghanistan.
social order. The rivalry intensified further after the Soviet
During the period of the Soviet occupation withdrawal when Iran recognized that the Kabul
(1979–1989), the region was largely independent of regime was the only force capable of resisting a
Kabul. An elected Shura (council) was established Sunni Pashtun takeover of Afghanistan. As a conse-
under the leadership of Sayyid Ali Beheshti, and it quence, Iran heavily rearmed the Islamic Unity
effectively assumed all of the functions of the Kabul Party, and by the time the mujahideen took over
government. Beheshti levied taxes on the popula- Kabul in 1992, the group had total control of the
tion, set up his own bureaucracy, and raised his own Hazarajat region and a significant section of western
force of mujahideen. However, his authority was Kabul. The Iranian-backed group was further
HAZARAS 105
strengthened by the split between Gulbuddin Hek- arm the Uzbek and Hazara troops. They also im-
matyar and Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, with Hekmatyar posed Shari’a law, shut down schools and the uni-
opposing the Kabul regime and joining with the versity, and drove women off the streets. In a city
Hazaras bombarding the city. The civil war between with a mix of religious and ethnic groups that had
the mujahideen groups, which ran from 1992 to been the most open and liberal in Afghanistan, the
1995, saw the rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia Taliban actions were a prelude to disaster. On 28 May
intensify, and although Saudi Arabia and Pakistan 1997, a group of Hazara troops refused to be dis-
tried to maintain cohesion between the groups, they armed, and the Hazara population in the city rose in
also tried to exclude Iran and the Hazaras from any revolt. The Taliban were not used to street fighting
potential agreements. Consequently, these groups and lost some 600 troops killed in the streets and
were sidelined from the Islamabad and Jalalabad over 1,000 taken prisoner. The Hazaras also raised
Accords. the siege on the Hazarajat, and Taliban forces at the
In 1995, the Taliban appeared on the scene and mouth of the Bamian Valley were pushed back
gradually began to take over Afghanistan and were south. Other actions initiated by the forces of Ahmad
soon in a position to threaten Kabul. The forces of Shah Masood also inflicted heavy defeats on the Tal-
Ahmad Shah Masood in Kabul were being threat- iban, marking the worst period of their history since
ened by the Taliban and the Hazaras who occupied they began the takeover of Afghanistan
the southern suburbs, and Masood determined to The series of military attacks and counterattacks
remove the Hazara threat by launching an attack on also unleashed other hatreds and the desire for re-
6 March 1995 with heavy armor, forcing them to revenge, with the Taliban massacring some seventy
treat from Kabul. During the withdrawal, the Haz- Shi’a Hazaras in the village of Qazil Abad on their re-
aras opened negotiations with the Taliban and treat from Mazar-i Sharif, though the figure could
agreed to hand over their positions and heavy have been much higher. Evidence also exists of mas-
weapons, but in the process, the Hazara leader Abdul sacres of Taliban prisoners by Hazara forces, with the
Ali Mazari died while in Taliban custody. It was sub- discovery of mass graves at Sheberghan in Jozjan
sequently claimed by the Hazaras that Ali Mazari Province containing some 2,000 bodies. This incident
had been pushed out of a helicopter as he was resist- was confirmed by UN investigators, who also found
ing transfer to prison in Kandahar. Regardless of that the prisoners had been starved and tortured be-
whether the death of their leader was accidental or fore being killed. The whole struggle in the north of
deliberate, the event condemned the Taliban in the Afghanistan was marked by ethnic cleansing and re-
eyes of the Hazaras and of Iran. The incident was ligious persecution, and no group was innocent.
never forgotten or forgiven by the Hazaras and was As mentioned, the Hazarajat region of central
to impact on future Hazara-Taliban relations. Afghanistan, the country of the Hazaras, had been
After the fall of Kabul and the extension of Tal- under siege by the Taliban, and by 1998, the major-
iban control to the remainder of western Afghani- ity of the people were starving due to crop failures
stan, attention turned towards the north, which was and the Taliban siege; the Taliban had closed the
the last stronghold of the anti-Taliban alliance. The roads leading north and were refusing to allow the
main assault was to be against Mazar-i Sharif, which World Food Program (WFP) to deliver aid. Relief
was under the control of Uzbek forces under Gen. could not be delivered from the north, as roads and
Abdul Rashid Dostum but with a large Hazara pop- winter snows blocked mountain passes. As Shi’as,
ulation and mujahideen presence. The city had been the Hazaras were considered by the Taliban to be
relatively untouched by the conflict in Afghanistan, hypocrites and beyond redemption as followers of
and it had become a secure haven for thousands of the true Islam. This attitude was further reinforced
refugees who had fled the capital, Kabul, from 1992 by the fact that Hazara women were playing a sig-
onward. However, there was a bitter feud between nificant role in the politics, economy, social life, and
Dostum and his second in command, Gen. Malik defense of the region. However, the Hazaras had
Pahlawan, and on 29 May 1987, Malik called for the overstretched themselves, and interfactional dis-
assistance of the Taliban to oust Dostum. putes also broke out with other groups, such as the
After the Taliban had taken Mazar-i Sharif, they fighting between the Hazaras and the forces of Gen-
refused to share power with Malik and began to dis- eral Dostum in February 1998.
106 HEKMATYAR, GULBUDDIN
The Taliban waited while the forces of the anti- clinic. Other Hazara civilians were slaughtered
Taliban alliance fought among themselves, and in when the Taliban troops were forced to retreat by
March 1989, they launched an offensive against the Shi’a mujahideen fighters.
north with the backing of Pakistan and Saudi Ara- The ethnic cleansing of the Hazaras by the Tal-
bia. As far as the Hazaras were concerned, the major iban was a more intensive action than previous inci-
engagement came on 8 August 1989 when Uzbek dents in Afghanistan’s history, but it is another
commanders guarding the road to Mazar-i Sharif chapter in the persecution of the Hazara popula-
accepted bribes to let Taliban forces through. The tion. However, in the post-Taliban era, there are re-
Hazara forces found themselves surrounded. Out of ports that the Hazaras themselves are engaged in
a total of 1,500, only 100 Hazaras survived, having ethnic cleansing through the expulsion of Pashtun
fought until their ammunition ran out. The Taliban families who had moved into the Hazarajat.
forces then embarked on an orgy of violence to take See also Beheshti, Sayyid Ali; Guardians of the Islamic
revenge for their losses of the previous year. Revolution; Hazarajat; Human Rights Violations;
The massacre was initially indiscriminate, with Jamshidi Tribe; Quddus, Abdul
pickup trucks driving up and down the streets and References
killing everything that moved. Bodies were left Canfield, Robert Leroy.1977. Hazara Integration into the
where they had fallen, and no burials were allowed Afghan Nation: Some Changing Relations between
for six days. However, the genocide soon became Hazaras and Afghan Officials. New York: Afghan
targeted against the Hazaras. Pashtun guides were Council of Asia Society.
“Hazaras of Afghanistan.” 2002. http://www.afghan-
used to target Hazara households, whose occupants
network.net/Ethnic-Groups/hazaras.html (cited 7
were then massacred; women were raped, and thou- February 2002).
sands were taken to the Mazar jail, locked into con- Mousavi, Sayed Askar. 1998. The Hazaras of Afghanistan:
tainers, and left to suffocate. In all, it is estimated An Historical, Cultural, Economic, and Political Study.
that some 5,000 to 6,000 Hazaras were killed, with London: Curzon.
the objective of cleansing northern Afghanistan of Poladi, Hassan. 1989. The Hazaras. Stockton, CA:
the Shi’a population. Mughal Publishing.
Further instances of actions directed against the
Hazara population included an incident at Robatak HEKMATYAR, GULBUDDIN (1947– )
Pass on the road between the towns of Tashqurg- Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is of Khoroti Ghilzai origin
ham and Pul-i-Khumri, which took place in May and was a student at the Engineering Faculty of
2000. No final figure exists of the number massa- Kabul University, where he was active in student af-
cred, but twenty-six bodies were identified as Haz- fairs between 1970 and 1972. He was imprisoned in
ara civilians from Baghlan Province. At least three the Dehmazang jail from 1972 to 1973 for opposi-
other burial sites have been identified, and it is tion to the government. Following the coup staged
thought that these contained the bodies of prisoners by Muhammad Daud on 17 July 1973, he was re-
taken in January 2000 by the Taliban commander leased from prison, but in May of the next year, he
Mullah Shahzad Kandahari. A Human Rights Watch was accused of leading a coup himself and was
investigation was unable to confirm the number of forced to go into hiding. In 1975, he became a mem-
dead, for it looked as if some of the evidence had ber of the Islamic Party mujahideen group, and he
been removed. was made secretary-general and then leader of the
Another massacre took place at Yakaolang in Jan- group in December 1978.
uary 2001 when Taliban forces advanced from During the battles against the Soviets and the
Bamian, using Feroz Bahar as a base for a three- Afghan government from 1979 to 1989, he was the
pronged assault. After anti-Taliban forces retreated, most powerful warlord and received the bulk of the
the Taliban began a systematic search of the district support from the United States, channeled through
in an effort to kill Hazaras, including two occasions Pakistan. Hekmatyar was favored by the Inter-Ser-
on which Hazara elders who were trying to negoti- vices Intelligence Service of Pakistan, which con-
ate security for their villages were slain. Some of trolled the distribution of resources. His mu-
those killed were workers from a local relief agency jahideen group was the most destructive and
and staffers from the local hospital and a leprosy antisocial unit, carrying out a number of terrorist
HELMAND PROVINCE 107
attacks in Afghanistan. After the mujahideen took Afghan forces and about eighty fighters allied to
control of Kabul in 1992, Hekmatyar began to at- Hekmatyar near Spin Boldak in southeastern Af-
tack the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani and ghanistan, close to the Pakistan border. These fight-
the forces of Ahmad Shah Masood. However, in ers were thought to be part of an alliance between
March 1996, he reached an agreement with Rabbani the followers of Hekmatyar and vestiges of the Tal-
to jointly defend Kabul against the Taliban. A peace iban known as the Islamic Martyrs Brigade, who
accord was agreed to between the two leaders on 24 were being trained as suicide squads to act against
May, which called for new elections and the creation U.S. and Karzai government targets in Afghanistan.
of a real Islamic government. In the fighting, eighteen of the rebel forces were re-
On 26 June 1996, Hekmatyar became prime ported as killed, with no Coalition casualties. U.S.
minister in Rabbani’s government and introduced airpower was also called up to attack cave complexes
Islamic measures, such as the banning of cinemas in the area being used by the rebel forces.
and the requirement that women dress modestly. On 19 February 2003, Hekmatyar was desig-
However, the moves did not mirror the Taliban pro- nated as a global terrorist by the United States. He
gram of work and educational restrictions for responded in a signed statement released by an offi-
women or the forcing of men to grow beards to se- cer from his Islamic Party in Afghanistan in which
cure employment and receive government services. he expressed pride at being branded a terrorist. At
After the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in 1996, Hek- the same time, he advocated suicide attacks against
matyar fled to Iran and called for a jihad against the Americans by Muslims throughout the world. It is
United States in November 2001. The Iranians thought that Hekmatyar is constantly on the move
closed his offices in February 2002, and he was com- between the provinces of Kapsia, Nangarhar, Lagh-
pelled to leave for Afghanistan by way of Pakistan. man, and Kunar, all of which border Pakistan. It is
Hekmatyar is considered a ruthless extremist, also clear that he still has support from members of
and he has opposed both the Northern Alliance and Islamic political parties in Pakistan, particularly the
the Taliban. However, some conjecture that he Islamist Movement that controls the North-West
might be trying to form an alliance with the rem- Frontier Province. Also, many of the intelligence of-
nants of the Taliban and al-Qaeda. He has now be- ficers within Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence
come overtly hostile to the United States, which he unit sympathize with Hekmatyar, having befriended
views as an enemy of Islam, and vehemently op- and supported him during the mujahideen war
poses the U.S. role in Afghanistan. It is reported that against the Soviets.
in May 2002, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) See also Civil War; Inter-Services Intelligence Service;
attempted his assassination, using a missile fired Islamic Society of Afghanistan; Rabbani,
from an unmanned Predator aircraft in an attack Burhanuddin
near Kabul. The mission failed because Hekmatyar References
was not located, but a number of his key aides were Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin. 1998. Clues to the Solution of the
killed. Afghan Crisis. Peshawar, Pakistan: Directorate of
The attack has been justified on the basis of in- International Affairs.
telligence that showed Hekmatyar had planned to
strike against the Interim Government and possibly HELMAND PROVINCE
President Hamid Karzai himself. In March 2002, Helmand is the largest of the Afghan provinces, with
Hekmatyar’s party announced that it had sent rep- a population of some 570,000 and an area of 23,058
resentatives to Kabul to try to resolve differences square miles in southwestern Afghanistan. The pop-
with the Karzai administration, but in the following ulation is largely Pashtun, though there are some
month, hundreds of Hekmatyar’s supporters were Baluchs in the south of the province and Hazaras in
arrested in Kabul because of an alleged plot to over- the north. The capital is Lashkargal, which has a
throw Karzai and to mount a bombing campaign in population of just under 22,000. The economy of
the capital. Hekmatyar’s continuing involvement in the province is based on agriculture—growing cere-
actions against the Karzai government and the U.S. als, cotton, and fruit and raising a variety of live-
presence in Afghanistan was confirmed by the fight- stock. The area is irrigated by the Helmand River,
ing that began on 28 January 2003 between U.S. and which is also used to provide hydroelectric power.
108 HENTIG-NIEDERMAYER EXPEDITION
The river and its course have been, in the past, a India, encouraging Afghanistan to attack India, and
source of conflict with Iran, and the change of chan- securing Iran as a link between the Ottoman Empire
nels, to improve irrigation for Afghan farmers in the and Afghanistan. Werner Otto von Hentig was a
province, called earlier agreements with Iran into diplomat who had served in Iran, and Oskar von
question. The situation was not resolved until the Niedermayer was a captain in the German army; the
Helmand Water Treaty of 1973 with Iran, ratified by rest of the expeditionary group comprised a Turkish
Afghanistan in 1979. officer, two Indian revolutionaries, and a number of
The irrigation and electrification project in the Pashtuns released from a prisoner-of-war camp.
Helmand Valley was established using the Tennessee Hentig was charged with forming an alliance with
Valley Authority in the United States as a model; it is Afghanistan and establishing diplomatic relations,
run by the Helmand Valley Authority. The authority whereas Niedermayer was to pursue military coop-
worked closely with the Morrison Knudsen Afghan- eration backed by messages from the Sultan Caliph
istan construction company from Boise, Idaho, and the Ottoman government. The Indian revolu-
which, from 1946 to 1959, built the Arghandab and tionaries were present to obtain Amir Habibullah’s
Kajakai Dams, together with a network of canals to support for a fight against the British in India.
increase cultivation in the Helmand Valley. The expedition arrived overland from Iran,
However, the project consumed so much of Af- reaching Kabul in September 1915. The amir, al-
ghanistan’s hard-currency resources that the gov- though loyal to the Sultan Caliph, was well aware of
ernment had to apply for loans of $21 million in the British position in India and unwilling to risk an
1951 and $18 million in 1953 from the U.S. Import- all-out confrontation with no guarantee of success,
Export Bank, followed by Point Four Assistance aid. so he initialed an agreement whose military and fi-
The project was completed in 1959 at a cost of $100 nancial demands could only be met if Germany
million, but it netted only modest gains for the won World War I. In May 1916, the expedition came
country. The lack of a comprehensive soil survey of to an end. Hentig returned to Germany through
the area brought subsequent problems, with some China and the United States, and Niedermayer re-
areas becoming waterlogged and others experienc- turned through Iran and the Ottoman Empire and
ing increased levels of salination. The shortcomings resumed his service in the German army. Although
of the scheme also caused displacement of about the expedition did not achieve its real objectives, it
1,300 nomads and peasant farmers that had been marked the first diplomatic contact between Af-
settled in the Nad-i-Ali area. The authority had to ghanistan and Germany and the end of the British
take remedial measures to alleviate the problems, monopoly over Afghanistan’s external affairs.
and these efforts were given further financial sup- See also Habibullah, Amir
port from the United States in order to restore its References
prestige in the country, which had been damaged by Vogel, Renate. 1976. Die Persien und Afghanistan
the project. expedition: Oskar Ritter Von Niedermayer, 1915–16.
See also Goldsmid Award (The Persian and Afghanistan expedition: Oskar
References Ritter Von Niedermayer, 1915–16). Osnabruck,
Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political Germany: Biblio-Verlag.
Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria:
Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt. HERAT PROVINCE
Stevens, I. M., and K. Tarzi. 1965. Economies of Herat Province, in northwestern Afghanistan, has a
Agricultural Production in Helmand Valley, population of about 650,000 and occupies an area
Afghanistan. Denver, CO: U.S. Department of of 16,603 square miles. The capital is Herat, which is
Interior, Bureau of Reclamation.
the third largest city in Afghanistan and has about
140,000 inhabitants. The economy is largely based
HENTIG-NIEDERMAYER EXPEDITION on arable and pastoral agriculture, and the presence
(1915–1916) of four rivers and underground water channels en-
The Hentig-Niedermayer Expedition was planned ables extensive irrigation to be carried out.
by the German General Staff in August 1914, with The city of Herat is the major commercial center
the objectives of stirring up a revolution in British of western Afghanistan and also of great strategic
HINDU KUSH 109
importance; as such, it has been a fortified town nized the sultan of Turkey’s office of caliph and his
since its early history around 1500 B.C. The city has spiritual leadership of the Sunni Islamic world. The
always played a leading role in conflict in Afghani- leader of the movement, Muhammad Ali, preached
stan, having been on the route of the armies of Dar- that it was the Islamic duty of Indian Muslims to
ius, Alexander the Great, and Genghis Khan. As a leave a country administered by a sacrilegious gov-
consequence, the city has often been destroyed and ernment and to move to an Islamic state. King
the population decimated. After each destruction, Amanullah encouraged the movement, for he
the city has been rebuilt, seen periods of great pros- hoped to attract professionals and skilled workers to
perity, and been regarded as a renowned center for assist with his modernization program. Some
literature and art in the central and western Asian 18,000 Indian Muslims crossed into Afghanistan,
region. but the bulk of them were poor and unskilled work-
Herat was at the core of conflicts in the region ers who found it difficult to settle there. Some im-
from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries, migrants established themselves in the areas around
and in the latter part of the nineteenth century, it Kunduz and Balkh and some made their way to the
was ruled by a number of princes whose constant Soviet Union and Europe, but the majority returned
struggles so weakened the province that it became a to India.
target for Persian attack. In 1837, the city was be- References
sieged by the Safavid ruler Muhammad Shah, but Gregorian, Vartan. 1969. The Emergence of Modern
the resistance of the inhabitants and British coun- Afghanistan: Politics of Reform and Modernization,
teraction in the Persian Gulf caused the siege to be 1880–1946. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
abandoned after nine months. The province was
only brought under total control of the Afghan gov- HINDU KUSH
ernment during the reign of Amir Abdul Rahman The Hindu Kush is a major mountain massif that
(1880 to 1901), and at that time, Herat was a walled originates in the southwest corner of the Pamirs and
city with some 20,000 inhabitants. Construction of runs the entire length of central Afghanistan before
a new town began in 1925 under King Amanullah, becoming the Koh-i-Baba. Mountains in the range
and the population steadily grew to its present size. generally rise between 14,500 and 17,000 feet, but
The civil war in Afghanistan caused considerable many peaks exceed 20,000 feet. Although it is
destruction in the capital and in the province as a crossed by passes at altitudes of 12,000 feet, the
whole following a popular revolt against the gov- Hindu Kush still constitutes a formidable obstacle
ernment in March 1979. Thereafter, the city re- between the north and the south of the country. The
mained under government control, but large areas range is divided into three major sections: in the east
of the province were dominated by the mujahideen from the Pamirs to the Darah Pass, in the center
until the Taliban seized power in 1995. from the Darah Pass to the Khawak Pass, and in the
See also Hazaras; Human Rights Violations; Isma’il Khan west from the Khawak Pass to where the range ter-
References minates at the Shibar Pass. The term Hindu Kush, of
Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political uncertain origin, is not generally used by Afghans,
Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria: who instead prefer local names for the area in which
Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt. they live.
Matthai, James. 1966. A Geographical Introduction to In the winter, heavy snowfall on the mountains
Herat Province. Kabul: Faculty of Education, seals off northern Afghanistan from the rest of the
University of Kabul. country. The nature of the terrain has led to small
populations surviving in remote, marginal valleys
HIJRAT MOVEMENT with subsistence levels of agricultural activity. Due
The Hijrat Movement, also known as the Khilafat to poor communications and the lack of a govern-
Movement, was an emigration drive that emerged ment presence in the area, these groups enjoyed a
in the North-West Frontier Province of India measure of autonomy, and there was extensive lin-
among Indian Muslims in 1920. The movement was guistic and cultural diversity. However, the con-
a reaction to the breakup of the Ottoman Empire struction of an all-weather highway and the Salang
following World War I as Indian Muslims recog- Tunnel in 1964 led to more centralized control over
110 HOSHIMIAN, SAYYID KALILULLAH
Travelers on a highway near Hindu Kush (Carl and Ann Purcel/Corbis)
northern Afghanistan. Together, the tunnel and the his Muhammadzai wife. He was educated in the
highway became a strategic artery for the Soviet fields of language and literature, obtaining a B.A.
Union in supplying the Marxist government in degree in the Dari language at Kabul University in
Kabul and its own forces between 1979 and 1989, 1964 and both an M.A. in linguistics and a Ph.D. in
and as a result, the route was subjected to frequent education from Indiana State University. He en-
attacks by the mujahideen, especially the forces of tered the Afghan foreign service in 1947 and be-
Ahmad Shah Masood. came second secretary at the Afghan embassy in
References London in 1951 but resigned his position after
Amin, Hamidullah, and Gordon B. Schiltz. 1976. A marrying a British citizen two years later. He then
Geography of Afghanistan. Omaha: University of became traffic manager for Ariana Airlines, from
Nebraska at Omaha, Center for Afghan Studies. 1955 to 1957, and then returned to his academic ca-
reer in Afghanistan.
HOSHIMIAN, SAYYID KALILULLAH (1929– ) In 1964, he became a lecturer in the Faculty of
An academic at Kabul University, Sayyid Kalilullah Letters at Kabul University. Six years later, he was
Hoshimian was involved with, among others, elected to the Kabul University Commission, with a
Muhammad Kakar and Faze Rabbi Pazhwak in the view to suing the government for police assaults
translation of “night letters” into English. These let- that took place at the university in that year.
ters were being distributed to Russians, Afghan Hoshimian became a professor of linguistics in
Communists, and Third World embassies and con- 1979 and was coordinator of the linguistics section
tained threats to destabilize the regime from ele- from 1979 to 1980. His work on the “night letters”
ments who opposed the Marxist government in spanned the period from 1979 to 1981, but, fearing
Kabul and the Soviet occupation. They were always discovery of his covert activities, he resigned from
delivered at night, hence their name. the university in 1981 and left for the United States
Hoshimian was born in Kabul in 1929, a son of in 1982.
Sayyid Muhammad Sarwar, who was a Kunari, and See also Pazhwak, Faze Rabbi
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS 111
References dropped cluster bombs on the residential area of

Roy, Olivier. 1986. Islam and Resistance in Afghanistan. Kabul, causing widespread civilian casualties. A sim-
London and New York: Cambridge University Press. ilar incident occurred between 20 and 21 September
1988 when the forces of Masood fired several volleys
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS of rockets into the northern part of Kabul, with one
The twenty-three years of war in Afghanistan (from hitting a busy night market. Accurate casualty fig-
1979 to 2002) were marked by human rights viola- ures are not available, but it has been estimated that
tions, with all participants in the conflicts being between 76 and 180 civilians were killed.
guilty to a greater or lesser degree. In the period of In northern Afghanistan, some 3,000 Taliban
the Soviet occupation from 1979 to 1989, both sides soldiers were summarily executed in and around the
set aside the normal rules of war, with Soviet and city of Mazar-i Sharif in May 1997 by the forces of
government forces pursuing a scorched-earth policy General Dostum. This incident followed Uzbek
and collective punishments and the mujahideen Gen. Abdul Malik’s withdrawal from an alliance
guilty of torturing Soviet prisoners of war. with the Taliban and the subsequent capture of Tal-
However, by far the worst period of atrocities iban forces trapped in the city. A number of Taliban
began with the outbreak of the civil war between the prisoners were transported into the desert, shot, and
mujahideen groups in 1992 after the fall of the buried in mass graves; others were thrown down
Communist government. In this period, all parties wells, which were then blown up with grenades.
were responsible for egregious violations of human Toward the end of 1999 and in early 2000, inter-
rights. Such violations continued throughout the nally displaced Afghans from the district of
civil war, through the period of Taliban rule, and, to Sangcharak, which had been held by United Front
a lesser degree, in the period following the defeat of forces for some four months, related accounts of
the Taliban. A large number of incidents were inter- summary executions, the burning of houses and vil-
related or interdependent, but for ease of consider- lages, and widespread beatings and looting. In the
ations, these will be treated here according to the main, the victims were ethic Pashtuns who were sus-
record of the two main antagonists. pected of being sympathetic to the Taliban. Since
the fall of the Taliban, there have also been reports
Northern Alliance–United Front of Tajiks and Uzbeks conducting ethnic cleansing of
The inhabitants of the city of Kabul suffered badly the Pashtun minority in areas of northern Afghani-
during the period of mujahideen rule and the strug- stan controlled by Uzbek and Tajik warlords. This
gle between mujahideen groups for control of the violence against Pashtun communities in northern
capital. Among the recorded atrocities was the assault Afghanistan has been cited by the U.S.-based group
of the forces of Abdul Rasul Sayyaf and Burhanuddin Human Rights Watch, whose report on the subject
Rabbani on 11 February 1993 in the western area of was issued on 8 April 2002. The Northern Alliance
Kabul, which resulted in the killing or “disappear- forces had been wreaking vengeance on the minor-
ance” of ethnic Hazara civilians and widespread rape ity Pashtun communities in return for Taliban
and looting. Accurate figures are not possible to ob- atrocities committed against non-Pashtuns in the
tain, but the estimated number of deaths ranges from north between 1997 and 2001. The report details
70 to more than 100. In the following year, at least cases of beatings, abductions, looting, summary ex-
25,000 civilians were killed in Kabul as a result of ecutions, and rape between November 2001, when
rocket and artillery attacks, with the rule of law hav- the Northern Alliance regained control over the
ing ceased to exist. In the city, all the warring factions area, and March 2002. Although it has been ac-
were guilty of summary executions, arbitrary arrests, knowledged that President Hamid Karzai wants to
torture, “disappearances,” and rape. improve human rights in Afghanistan, the capacity
In March 1995, the forces of Ahmad Shah Ma- of the central government to act is limited because
sood captured the district of Karte Seh in Kabul, an of the power of the regional warlords.
area primarily inhabited by Hazaras; they systemat-
ically looted the area and raped indiscriminately. Taliban
Further abuses in Kabul were also noted in January The Taliban regime in Afghanistan was based on a
1997 when forces of Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum strict interpretation of Shari’a law, and this impacted
112 HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
on the non-Taliban population, especially women. dent took place in July 1999 in the Shomali Plains,
An early indication of the nature of Taliban rule when summary executions, the abduction of
came in September 1996 following the capture of women, and the destruction of homes, property,
Kabul. The former president Muhammad Najibullah and the orchards of the farmers marked the Taliban
was dragged from the UN compound, where he had assault. In these and other actions, the Taliban did
sought refuge in 1992, and was castrated, dragged not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
behind a pickup truck around the royal palace, and The Shi’a of the north, who were Hazaras, were
then shot. His brother was also tortured and throt- regarded by the Sunni Taliban as inferior, and this
tled to death, and both bodies were hung in public. was reflected in their treatment. In May 2000, a mas-
Severe repressive measures were imposed against sacre took place at Robatak Pass in the Hazarajat re-
women: they were banned from working, banned gion, with 31 bodies found in one mass grave, 26 of
from schools, forbidden to leave home unless ac- whom were positively identified as civilians. In Au-
companied by a close male relative, and forced to gust 2000, prisoners of war were executed in the
cover themselves from head to foot when not in their streets of Herat as an example to the local popula-
homes. As a result of these actions, many more tion. Another massacre of the Hazaras took place at
women who had been widowed by the war and had Yearling, beginning on 8 January 2001 and lasting
dependent children became destitute. It was also four days. At least 300 male civilians were detained
more difficult for aid workers to assist the popula- by the Taliban, including staff of local humanitarian
tion because male aid workers were forbidden from agencies; they were taken to assembly points and ex-
making contact with women and female workers ecuted by firing squads in full public view. At least
were banned from working with the aid agencies. 170 of those detained were confirmed killed. Taliban
Beatings were also meted out to men for failing to soldiers also killed at least 70 women, children, and
grow beards or for possession of music cassettes, elderly men who had taken shelter in a mosque that
videos, and televisions, all of which had been banned was deliberately destroyed by rocket fire. In June of
by the Taliban. the same year, the administrative center of the town
A number of atrocities were recorded during the was also bombed, resulting in the decimation of the
Taliban campaign to conquer the remainder of Af- district hospital and an aid agency office.
ghanistan after the fall of Kabul in 1996. In January Other reports detailed the atrocities committed
1998 in Fariab Province, the Taliban massacred during the Taliban’s fourteen-month occupation of
around 600 Uzbek villagers, who were dragged from Taloqan, former headquarters of the Northern Al-
their homes, lined up, and gunned down. In August liance; there, mutilations, beatings, summary execu-
1998, there was an even worse massacre at Mazar-i tions, and the torture of children for the sins of their
Sharif after the city was retaken by the Taliban, with parents were carried out. Other reports cited beat-
between 2,000 and 5,000 men, women, and children ings of civilians who refused to parade in the streets
murdered. The Taliban had carried out a systematic to demonstrate against the U.S. bombings of Kabul.
search of the city for male members of the ethnic In Kunduz on 18 November 2001, just before its fall,
Hazara, Tajik, and Uzbek communities, and hun- 8 boys were shot dead for daring to laugh at Taliban
dreds (mainly Hazaras) were summarily executed, soldiers, and at least 300 Taliban soldiers were killed
almost certainly in revenge for the massacre of Tal- by non-Afghan fighters from their own side because
iban forces in 1997. Other reports detailed the rape they wished to surrender. Additionally, Tajik and
or abduction of women and girls during the taking Uzbek men in Taloqan were shot on suspicion of
of the city. trying to escape to territory held by the Northern
The Taliban were guilty of two other atrocities in Alliance.
1999. In the first incident, summary executions were However, it must be noted that the Afghan ideas
carried out when Bamian was captured. Hundreds as to how people should behave toward each other
of men and some women and children were sepa- often clash with Western concepts of human rights.
rated from their families, taken away, and executed; Afghan society does have codes of behavior, which
all of them were noncombatants. In addition, represent a fusion of Islam and tribal values. But for
houses were razed to the ground, and some de- Afghanistan to develop a code of human rights in
tainees were used for forced labor. The second inci- the Western sense, several factors must be present: a
HUMANITARIAN AIRDROPS 113
fair and efficient judicial system must be in place, a stan. The rations packs were to be mostly vegetarian,
police system must be established, and an Afghan with added vitamins, and provide enough calories
national army with respect for human rights must for one adult for one day. The rations had been de-
be set up; the latter would necessarily exclude com- veloped following the U.S. experience in providing
manders. for Kurdish refugees in Iraq after the Gulf War and
See also Civil War; Hazaras; Mazar-i Sharif; Taliban for displaced populations in Somalia. The rations
References were wrapped in plastic packaging that allowed
Coalition Information Centre. 2001. “Fact Sheet: Al- them to float down, thus avoiding the need to drop
Qaeda and Taliban Atrocities.” http://www.usinfo. pallets by parachute. The goals were to allow for a
state.gov/regional/nea/sasia/afghan/fact/1123tlbn wide distribution of the brightly colored ration
(cited 22 November 2001). packs and to avoid fights among recipients over pal-
“Examination of Human Rights Violations.” 2000. lets of food.
http://www.ishr.ch/About%20UN/Reports%20 The airdrops were organized from U.S. air bases
Analysis/Sub%2053%20.%20examination.htm
in Germany using C-17 Globemaster III aircraft.
(cited 12 February 2002).
“Genocide in Afghanistan.” 1991. http://www.members.
The first drop took place on 7 October 2001 and de-
tripod.com/MillateHazara/ (cited 12 February 2002). livered 35,000 daily ration packs. The flights were
Human Rights Watch. 1991. Afghanistan, the Forgotten made under combat conditions, following U.S.
War: Human Rights Abuses and Violation of the Laws bombing raids of Taliban and terrorist targets inside
of War since the Soviet Withdrawal. New York: Afghanistan. They represented a major logistical ef-
Human Rights Watch. fort, as the missions lasted twenty-two hours, en-
Krushelnycky, Askold. 2002. “Afghanistan: Human tailed multiple refuelings in the air, and were made
Rights Abuses Threaten Peace Process.” http://www/ over a war zone. The rations were dropped over
rferl.org/nca/features/2002/04/11042002083542.asp northern and eastern Afghanistan, with the drop
(cited 11 April 2002). zones determined by the needs of the people in the
“Repeated Massacres of Hazaras.” 2002. http://www. area while also taking into account potential threats
members.tripod.com/MillateHazara (cited 11
and the weather conditions to try to ensure accuracy
February 2003).
Samad, Omar. 1999. “UN Rapporteur Tells of ‘Evidence
and minimize the risk to the recipients. Each load
of Widespread Human Rights Violations’ by Taliban; was released using specially made container systems
Accuses ‘External Forces’ of Interference and Calls that were tied to static lines that tightened and
for Total Comprehensive Solution.” http://www. turned the containers over once they were clear of
afghanvoice.org/ARTICLES/SAMAD.shtml (cited 12 the aircraft. The containers then opened, and the ra-
February 2003). tions were spread over the drop zone. The individ-
http://www.rferl.org ual packs each contained 2,200-calorie, ready-to-eat
rations; a typical pack consisted of two vegetarian
HUMANITARIAN AIRDROPS meals, based on lentils and beans or rice, together
At the time of the Coalition action against Afghani- with bread, a fruit bar, a biscuit, peanut butter, and
stan in 2001, the humanitarian situation was critical spices.
as a result of war, drought, and the internal dis- The packages were all marked with the legend
placement of the population. The situation inside “Food gift from the people of the United States of
Afghanistan was not helped by the fact that the Tal- America” in the hope that this would persuade the
iban–Northern Alliance war and Operation Endur- Afghan population that the war was being waged
ing Freedom made aid distribution difficult, as the against the Taliban and terrorists, not the ordinary
UN World Food Program and the nongovernmen- citizen. The case, however, proved difficult to make
tal organizations (NGOs) were unable to arrange because U.S. bombing raids had almost destroyed a
safe passage for their vehicles and personnel. The residential area on the outskirts of Kabul and be-
approach of winter also impacted adversely on the cause, on two separate occasions, a warehouse used
relief operations. by the International Red Cross in Kabul had been
U.S. president George Bush decided that the De- bombed in error. The program was also criticized by
partment of Defense should organize airdrops of some relief organizations as confusing to the Afghan
humanitarian rations to refugees inside Afghani- people and, in a country where 7.5 million people
114 HUMANITARIAN AIRDROPS
A group of Afghan children collecting packets of food aid after a U.S. aircraft completed a night time air drop over a refugee camp in
Kumkishlyak in Northern Afghanistan, 25 October 2001. (Reuters NewMedia Inc./CORBIS)
were at risk of starvation, totally inadequate. The and between 7 and 24 October 2001, 785,000 ration
groups argued for the suspension of bombing raids packages were delivered. The whole project was
to allow distribution of food, medicine, and other threatened by intelligence reports indicating that
supplies on the ground before the onset of the the Taliban were prepared to poison the packages
Afghan winter, which would close many of the and to lay the blame on the United States. However,
roads and all of the high passes in the mountains. the operations continued, and by 16 November,
The whole operation for each drop was an ex- nearly 1.6 million packages had been dropped, with
tremely complex affair, for the United States had to daily deliveries varying between 35,000 and 75,000
obtain permission to overfly a group of countries, packages. The total effectiveness of the program
such as Georgia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, for had been questioned by the various aid agencies, as
the Globemaster aircraft and their fighter escorts. In mentioned. Moreover, television coverage has
addition, refueling operations had to be put in shown packages being collected by groups of fight-
place, and airborne warning and control system ers in pickup trucks, as well as packages being of-
(AWACS) missions had to be flown to provide the fered for sale in local markets, though this says
command and control needed to direct each mis- more about the situation in Afghanistan than about
sion. Due to problems over Afghanistan, aircraft had the motives of the United States. The airdrop oper-
to fly at 25,000 feet to avoid Taliban antiaircraft fire, ations ceased on 21 December 2001 due to the abil-
which caused health risks to the crews who were ex- ity of the Coalition, the United Nations, and the
posed to decompression sickness during the process NGOs to get relief into Afghanistan by road, rail,
of dropping the supplies; thus, medical staff had to and river.
be dispatched with all air crews. References
Despite the difficulties and shortcomings of the United Nations. 2002. “Immediate and Transitional
program, operations continued on a daily basis, Assistance for the Afghan People, 2002: Updated
HUMANITARIAN RELIEF 115
Financial Requirements.” http://www.reliefweb.int quent resumption of fighting among the various

(cited 12 March 2002). factions. The aid agencies tried to reassert princi-
ples of impartiality and neutrality, but the break-
HUMANITARIAN RELIEF down of security in Afghanistan made it difficult
The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan developed for them to establish space for humanitarian pro-
rapidly after the Soviet invasion in 1979 and the rise grams in the midst of widespread anarchy. The
of the mujahideen opposition, swelling the ranks of problems were exacerbated by the insecurity of
refugees and internally displaced persons. However, road communications, with various mujahideen
there was a lack of international interest in Afghan- groups fighting over control of sections of road in
istan’s social problems and an ignorance of how the order to extort tolls from travelers, including repre-
country was coping with the complete collapse of sentatives of aid agencies. The humanitarian agen-
society and the infrastructure of the state. Initially, cies also attempted to develop programs that were
thousands of aid workers were attracted to Afghan- longer-term in nature and based on reconstruction
istan and were prepared to endure hardship and and development, with the aim of facilitating the
danger in order to bring aid to embattled commu- return of refugees from Iran and Pakistan. As a re-
nities, with the emphasis on medical aid. In the first sult, programs came to rely less on handouts to mu-
few years of the Soviet occupation, there seems to jahideen commanders and more on improved con-
have been an innocence among the aid workers who nections with local communities, which led to a
went to Afghanistan for altruistic reasons without better aid program, though it was often tinged with
any knowledge of the political realities of the situa- a Western human rights agenda that was objection-
tion there, but this gradually disappeared as the able to radical Islamic mujahideen parties; never-
1980s wore on and aid became less a gesture of sol- theless, they were willing to cooperate with the aid
idarity with the Afghan people and more a matter of agencies.
politics. The rise of the Taliban in 1994 and their strict in-
It is also questionable whether the administra- terpretation of Shari’a law caused even more prob-
tion in Afghanistan had ever seen providing for the lems for aid agencies, especially with the edicts
social welfare of the population as part of its role, against female education, employment, and move-
notwithstanding Islamic rules and tradition in this ment. Yet only Save the Children and the UN Chil-
regard. Throughout the struggle against the Soviets, dren’s Fund (UNICEF) suspended operations in
the mujahideen were never noted for giving social this period. However, due to the Taliban’s relation-
issues a priority, and the burgeoning aid community ship with the international community, humanitar-
seemed to soak up funds without showing much ev- ian aid was never able to achieve the aim of saving
idence of a deliverable service. It is also clear that lives through short-term humanitarian assistance
funding for the various nongovernmental organiza- while at the same time facilitating a transfer from a
tions (NGOs) owed a great deal to the West’s politi- state of internal conflict to a sustainable peace. Al-
cal objective of supporting the mujahideen guerril- though food aid and other short-term assistance
las in order to eject the Soviets from Afghanistan. In certainly saved lives, they also had the effect of
addition, the period of the Soviet occupation was destabilizing communities, creating dependencies,
characterized by widespread corruption and the di- and failing to help the people cope with disaster in
version of aid to local mujahideen commanders. Aid an intensifying environment of despair.
workers also queried why greater pressure was not To develop a coherent approach to aid in Af-
brought to bear on Afghanistan’s neighbors to cre- ghanistan, the Strategic Framework for Afghanistan
ate the external conditions necessary for peace, es- (SFA) was developed throughout 1996 and 1997
pecially as many of them were paying a high price and adopted in September 1998, two years after the
for the disintegration of Afghanistan: smuggling, Taliban had captured Kabul and established the Is-
corruption, drug addiction, and terrorism were also lamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The concept was to
affecting their own states. get the United Nations, donors, and aid agencies to
In the early 1990s, the delivery of aid was also work collaboratively in providing direction to the
beset by problems, especially after the collapse of overall aid mission, based on the following seven
the mujahideen government in 1992 and the subse- common principles:
116 HUMANITARIAN RELIEF
1. Life-sustaining humanitarian assistance inforcing the prejudices of the hard-liners who most
shall be provided in accordance with the distrusted the West. It has been argued that the in-
principles of humanity, universality, ternational community failed to take advantage of
impartiality, and neutrality. opportunities to influence the Taliban, which
2. Assistance shall be provided as part of an caused the moderates who sought to gain legitimacy
overall effort to achieve peace. in the international community to lose out to the
3. International assistance will be provided on hard-liners. This situation was illustrated by the re-
the basis of need; it cannot be subjected to actions of the international community to the Tal-
any form of discrimination, including iban’s policy regarding opium production when,
gender. after years of complaints from the international
4. Rehabilitation and development assistance community, the Taliban banned poppy growing in
shall be provided only when it can be 2000; by 2001, 90 percent of the poppy crop had
reasonably determined that no direct been destroyed. However, the West did nothing to
political or military advantage will accrue reward the Taliban, resulting in a further loss of
to the warring parties in Afghanistan. credibility for the moderates who had argued in
5. Institution and capacity-building activities favor of complying with the demands of the inter-
must advance human rights and will not national community.
seek to provide support to any presumptive Aid in the era of the Taliban was consistently un-
state authority that does not fully subscribe derfunded and concentrated on short-term, life-
to the principles contained in the founding saving emergency assistance, often against the ad-
instruments of the United Nations, the vice of aid workers in the field who warned against
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, creating dependencies, undermining local coping
the Convention on the Rights of the Child, mechanisms, and drawing the rural population
the Convention on the Elimination of away from their villages to displacement camps.
Discrimination against Women and These short-term emergency programs did little to
International Human Law. help Afghanis reestablish long-term livelihoods and
6. Assistance activities must be designed to to wean them away from dependence on aid. How-
ensure increasing indigenous ownership at ever, military activity by the Taliban also exacer-
the village, community, and national levels bated the situation. Although food aid was getting
and to build the country as a whole. into Afghanistan, many districts were not receiving
7. Assistance activities must attain high any assistance at all, and in other areas, deliveries
standards of transparency and were erratic due to the lack of security and attacks
accountability and must be approved, on aid workers. The military action by the U.S. and
monitored, measured, and evaluated against Coalition forces in support of the anti-Taliban op-
clear policy and programmatic objectives. position also worsened the situation, as the whole
food pipeline was almost completely blocked during
These common principles were backed by five September and October 2001. However, because of
strategic objectives, which were regarded as being the work of the United Nations and the NGOs,
mutually reinforcing: famine was averted, though there was still wide-
spread starvation. In addition, a general lack of rain
1. The alleviation of human suffering suggested that drought conditions would continue.
2. The protection and advancement of The overthrow of the Taliban still posed prob-
human rights lems for the humanitarian relief program. The gen-
3. The provision of basic social services eral level of insecurity was marked by bandits prey-
4. The building of sustainable livelihoods by ing on food convoys, warlords extorting tolls and
empowering Afghans bribes from aid agencies, and many remote areas
5. The supporting of the return of refugees still having trouble receiving food. Because the
mandate of the Karzai government does not extend
Some have asserted that the attempts by the West very far past Kabul, NGOs are now being forced to
to isolate the Taliban were largely responsible for re- combine emergency relief with actions to improve
HUMANITARIAN RELIEF 117
people’s access to education, health care, jobs, and The aid agencies are now pursuing policies that
security, though it is clear that they need to take a strengthen local institutions, with the intention of
subordinate role in supporting fledgling govern- building a structure whose management, coordina-
ment departments. The aid agencies will have to put tion, and regulation can be transferred to state insti-
to one side their experience of autonomous opera- tutions and Afghan civil society. However, this will
tions in order to help Afghanistan get back on its not be an easy transition, as everyone involved in Af-
feet by facilitating the process of moving toward sta- ghanistan carries institutional, political, and ethnic
bilization and peace. baggage. Short-term humanitarian aid is still
Afghanistan, after twenty-three years of conflict, needed, especially for returning refugees and inter-
is one of the world’s poorest nations. Child and ma- nally displaced persons. But development is also a
ternal mortality rates are the highest in Asia. One priority, as is the need to clear areas of land mines,
child in four does not reach the age of five, and all unexploded bombs, and ammunition before people
children are vulnerable to measles, pneumonia, and can return to their homes. It will also be necessary to
parasitic diseases. Only 39 percent of boys and 3 reconstruct irrigation systems to restore agricultural
percent of girls attend school, and adult literacy is production and to develop schools and health cen-
low—about 47 percent for men and 15 percent for ters as part of a daunting task that will require a
women. The situation is made worse by endemic long-term commitment from donors. However, re-
unemployment, subsistence farming ravaged by lief and reconstruction will only succeed if security
drought, and the fact that fighting has been the can be improved and the country prevented from
only growth industry. Aid agencies, some with over fragmenting into a state of chaos.
a decade of experience in Afghanistan, have learned See also Afghanistan Peace Association; Reconstruction
from the past and are now careful to engage local Program; Refugee Problem; Revolutionary
residents in relief efforts working through the tra- Association of Women of Afghanistan
ditional local structures, thus strengthening these References
institutions instead of undermining their authority. Duffield, Mark, and Patricia Grossman. 2001. Review of
Groups are now only giving food aid to people with the Strategic Framework for Afghanistan (Final Draft):
no other means of support in order to avoid creat- Report Commissioned by the Strategic Monitoring
ing a dependency culture or fostering internal mi- Unit Afghanistan. Islamabad: UNOCHA.
gration to food distribution sites. Various charities, Marsden, Peter. 2000. The Taliban: War, Religion and the
such as Cooperative for Assistance and Relief New Order in Afghanistan. London: Zed Books.
Everywhere (CARE), are now offering their assis- Newberg, Paula R. 1999. “Politics at the Heart: The
Architecture of Humanitarian Assistance to
tance in return for work in order to promote self-
Afghanistan.” http://www.ceip.org/files/Publications/
respect and to minimize dependency. One project
wp2.asp?from=pubauthor (cited 3 January 2000).
in Kabul has engaged 3,000 residents to clean up Oxfam. 2000. “Crisis in Afghanistan: Humanitarian
the streets and to transport rubbish to the city Situation.” http://www.oxfam.org.uk/atwork/emerg/
dump in return for enough money to buy food in afghanprogramme.html (cited 7 February 2002).
the local market. Another two projects involve United Nations. 2002. “Immediate and Transitional
women in sewing school uniforms for poor fami- Assistance for the Afghan People, 2002: Updated
lies or teaching other women basic hygiene mea- Financial Requirements.” http://www.reliefweb.int
sures for their families. (cited 1 March 2002).
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE
FORCE (ISAF)
On 20 December 2001, the UN Security Council
approved a multinational force to help provide se-
curity in Afghanistan, giving it a mandate of six
I
months, subject to renewal. The International Secu-
rity Assistance Force (ISAF) was initially headed by Initially, the ISAF consisted of a contingent of
Britain and comprised contingents from nineteen UK Royal Marines who had landed at the Bagram
countries with authorization to provide security for air base just as the UN Security Council voted to ap-
Kabul and its immediate environs. Turkey led the prove the force. The marines were charged with
force from June 2002; Germany took over in De- providing security at the inauguration of the new
cember and was followed by the Netherlands. Al- Interim Government on 22 December 2001. At the
though the ISAF mandate is restricted to Kabul, same time, the Afghan Ministry of Defense ordered
there are now plans to install security in key areas all Northern Alliance soldiers and police officers to
elsewhere in the country to counter the regional lay down their weapons and to withdraw from the
conflicts between warlords that are now prevalent city. Although most of the commanders agreed to
in the provinces; at the time of writing, however, obey the instruction in the interests of security and
these had yet to come to fruition, and security op- stability, many troops remained in the city with
eration are being conducted only by the U.S. mili- their guns.
tary in certain areas. The rules of engagement were determined by a
The ISAF was charged with three principal tasks: military-technical agreement between the UK
commander, Maj. Gen. John McColl, and the In-
1. Aiding the Interim Government in terim Government, which was reached on 31 De-
developing national security structures cember 2001. Under the agreement, the ISAF com-
2. Assisting with the country’s reconstruction mitted itself to the tasks detailed in the UN
3. Assisting with the development and Security Council resolution while at the same time
training of future Afghan security forces agreeing to establish liaison, as necessary, with po-
litical, social, and religious leaders to ensure that
Under the agreement with the Afghan Interim the ISAF respects the religious, ethnic, and cultural
Government, the ISAF was granted complete and sensitivities in Afghanistan. This step was particu-
unimpeded freedom of movement throughout larly significant given that the force, with the ex-
the territory and airspace of Afghanistan, though ception of troops from Turkey, was non-Muslim in
its area of responsibility was restricted to Kabul. composition. In return, the Afghan Interim Gov-
However, from the outset, President Hamid ernment accepted that the Bonn Agreement of De-
Karzai indicated that many Afghans would wish cember 2001 required a major contribution on its
to see international peacekeepers throughout Af- part in terms of cooperating with the ISAF and the
ghanistan. This expansion was resisted by the organizations and agencies assisting it. The Afghan
United States, which felt that would be an inap- administration also agreed to ensure that all
propriate move while the military campaign was Afghan military units came under the ISAF’s com-
ongoing. Such a development would have needed mand and control and would be returned to their
approval by the UN Security Council before it barracks, as detailed under an annex to the agree-
could be implemented. ment. The Interim administration also consented
119
120 INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE FORCE
Briefing of a Turkish contingent of the ISAF prior to a night patrol in Kabul (AFP/Corbis)
to refrain from any offensive action in the area con- the Security Council thought the situation in Af-
trolled by the ISAF, and both sides agreed to partic- ghanistan still presented a threat to international
ipate in a joint coordinating body to discuss current peace and security. However, the presence of the
and forthcoming issues and to resolve any dispute force was not able to prevent the murder of the min-
that might arise. ister of air transport and tourism at Kabul’s airport
The ISAF was to total some 5,000 personnel, on 14 February 2002 by angry pilgrims delayed on
drawn from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslo- their journey to the hajj.
vakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Negotiations have been ongoing for some time
Italy, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Portu- about the expansion of the ISAF’s role in Afghani-
gal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and the stan, with the cities of Mazar-i Sharif, Kandahar,
United Kingdom, with the last providing the largest Herat, and Jalalabad seen as priority areas. It is be-
single contingent. The force comprised a variety of lieved that the expansion of the force’s area of re-
units, including two infantry battle groups, a recon- sponsibility would help President Hamid Karzai’s
naissance squadron, engineers, ordnance disposal government extend its authority throughout the
teams, and military police, in addition to logistical country, would aid the process of reconstruction,
support, helicopters, and air transport support. and would give time for an Afghan army and police
Initially, the ISAF was involved in a number of force to be established. The plan only envisages a
incidents, most of which involved suspected Taliban small presence of possibly 400 troops in each loca-
or al-Qaeda fighters, and there were a small number tion and, although the United States would not pro-
of accidental deaths and injuries. In June 2002, as vide peacekeepers, it would give intelligence and lo-
planned, Turkey took over the leadership of the gistical support. However, as of February 2003, this
ISAF from the United Kingdom and boosted the development of the role of the ISAF had not been
number of personnel significantly. In June 2002, the agreed to, and the international community was not
UN Security Council extended the authorization by addressing the security issues in the provinces.
a further six months, and in December 2002, it was Nonetheless, some moves have been made by the
extended again for a twelve-month period because Coalition commander, Gen. Dan McNeill. After
INTER-SERVICES INTELLIGENCE SERVICE 121
protracted negotiations, he established joint re- querulous politicians since its founding by Gen.
gional teams (JRTs) composed of soldiers, civil af- Ayub Khan in the 1950s. When he seized power in
fairs officers, engineers, medical teams, and U.S. 1958, it became the political arm of the military. The
State Department officials in order to improve secu- organization was used by Pakistan as a means of
rity outside Kabul and to aid reconstruction. The controlling the mujahideen in the war against the
first deployment, agreed to on 13 January 2003, was Soviet forces in Afghanistan and the Communist
for the city of Gardez in eastern Afghanistan, which government in Kabul from 1979 to 1989. In 1994, it
had been the scene of bitter struggles between rival was active in supporting the Taliban movement in
warlords during 2002. The concept was first dis- its struggle against the mujahideen, and it has re-
cussed in November 2002 and is the result of nego- mained active since the movement’s downfall,
tiations with the Afghan government, Coalition though it is not clear whether it is operating accord-
partners, the United Nations, and nongovernmental ing to its own objectives or those of the Pakistan
organizations (NGOs). The move also came after a government.
great deal of criticism from Afghan and Western aid Gen. Zia al Haq assigned the task of arming,
agencies, who charged that the U.S. government was training, and funding the Afghan mujahideen to
not doing enough to cope with the power of the the ISI, and Gen. Akhtar Abdul Rahman Khan was
warlords in the provinces or to help Karzai’s gov- appointed to head an organization with a staff of
ernment with the reconstruction program. 100 military officers and a network of internal and
The JRTs are designed to improve stability and to external agents and freelance spies. Due to its en-
increase security in Afghanistan while at the same hanced role and funding, the ISI expanded its oper-
time beginning reconstruction projects, with the ob- ations and engaged Pakistan agents fluent in Per-
jective of foiling the residue of al-Qaeda, the Taliban, sian and Pashtu, together with hundreds of Afghan
and their supporters. JRT operations are to be ex- agents who were given promises of money and
panded to Kunduz, Bamian, Mazar-i Sharif, Herat, refuge in Pakistan. By 1988, the directorate had
Jalalabad, and Kandahar. Critics maintain that al- grown to 100,000 employees.
though these JRTs will undoubtedly improve stabil- The ISI was used by Pakistan to control the mu-
ity, they fall short of a full solution and cannot be jahideen and directing its objectives while distribut-
seen as a substitute for the expansion of the ISAF. ing the funds and weaponry being supplied by the
JRT commanders will have flexibility in dealing with U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Distribu-
regional warlords, but the dominating role will still tion was initially governed by the number of
rest with the central government. JRTs have been refugees registered with the Pakistan government,
promised full backup, with air support, rapid de- all of whom had to declare an allegiance to one
ployment of support troops, and airlifts, if necessary. party or another. It is estimated that from 1984 to
References 1986, over 80,000 mujahideen had passed through
Elliott, Michael, Mike Billips, Tim McGirk, Michael ISI-sponsored training camps, together with hun-
Ware, Sean Scully, and Mark Thompson. 2002. “The dreds of thousands of tons of weapons and ammu-
Battle over Peacekeeping.” Time Atlantic 158, no. 9: nition. To direct operations in the eastern and
33–34. southern provinces of Afghanistan, the ISI used its
McGirk, Tim. 2002. “Murder in the Airport.” Time position by only releasing weapons for use at partic-
Atlantic 159, no. 8: 25. ular times and for specific operations at predeter-
UN Security Council. 2001. Resolution 1386. New York: mined locations. Officers of the ISI participated in
United Nations.
meetings of mujahideen leaders and played an im-
———. 2002. Resolution 1413. New York: United
Nations.
portant role in the council set up to establish the
———. 2002. Resolution 1444. New York: United Afghan Interim Government in Peshawar.
Nations. It was the ISI that favored Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
and his Islamic Party as the representative of a mal-
INTER-SERVICES INTELLIGENCE SERVICE leable regime in Kabul and as a counter to Afghan
(ISI) claims to Pakistan’s Pashtun northwest province. A
The Inter-Services Intelligence Service (ISI) had disproportionate share of the weaponry and funds
been used by Pakistan as an agency to keep watch on were provided to Hekmatyar, with the ISI having
122 INTER-SERVICES INTELLIGENCE SERVICE
persuaded the United States that his disciplined Islamist Taliban movement in Kandahar in 1994.
forces represented the best tools for success. This The Taliban regime was seen by the ISI as a more ac-
policy caused resentment from the other groups, es- ceptable form of government in Kabul in terms of
pecially, for example, when the ISI tried to dictate the interests of Pakistan, and it was given consider-
the order of battle in February 1989 at Jalalabad to able backing. Assistance for the Taliban from Pak-
enable Hekmatyar to claim that it was his troops istan was also secured by close contacts with Pak-
that had captured the city. The mujahideen within istani fundamentalists who, at that time, were in
Afghanistan saw the ISI control over the alliance as coalition with Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
ensuring that the Peshawar group was a tool of the The ISI would again be the main agent of the
policies of the Pakistan government. support for the Taliban, with this policy having been
The Kabul government’s strategy was designed partially dictated by the crucial role that Afghani-
to cut off the supply lines of the mujahideen from stan played in Pakistan’s commercial trading inter-
Pakistan, and to combat this, the CIA and the ISI ests with the Central Asian republics. This arrange-
constructed a tunnel complex at Zhawar Killi, near ment was exemplified, among other things, by
Khost and close to the Pakistan border, which Pakistan’s support for the Taliban in clearing the toll
housed a training center, a weapons store, and a barriers erected by warlords on the road from
clinic, with electricity, piped water, and a holding Quetta to Herat in order to further trade with the
area for prisoners of war. The project was overseen Central Asian republics. The ISI was also involved
by Osama bin Laden, who also set up a training with the Saudi Intelligence Service in secret meet-
camp close to the complex; at that time, he was sup- ings with the Taliban over plans to capture Kabul
ported by the United States as a brave, resourceful before the winter of 1996. The relationship between
mujahideen commander. In August 1998, Gen. Zia Pakistan and the Taliban continued to grow and
al Haq and his military chief of staff, Gen. Akhtar deepen, and by 1998, the presence of Pakistani intel-
Khan, former head of the ISI, were killed in a midair ligence agents and military advisers was known to
helicopter explosion, but this did not change the most foreign observers in Kabul. Indeed, Gen.
policy, as the director of the ISI, Gen. Hamid Gul, Abdul Rashid Dostum claimed that the Pakistan air
was even more committed to the mujahideen and force and 1,500 commandos had been involved in
an ardent supporter of Hekmatyar. the Taliban assault on his military base at She-
The Soviet government completed its with- berghan on 1 August 1998.
drawal from Afghanistan in February 1989, and the In 1999, after the Taliban scored further military
ISI and the Saudi Intelligence Service together pres- successes, there was a slight change in ISI policy
sured and bribed the members of the Islamic Al- with respect to the presence in Afghanistan of
liance of Afghan Mujahideen to meet in Rawalpindi, Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, resulting from a
Pakistan, with the aim of establishing an interim secret deal between U.S. president Bill Clinton and
government. On 19 February 1989, the Afghan del- Pakistan’s prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Pakistan
egates elected an interim government, with promised active participation in attempts to cap-
Sabghatullah Mujaddidi and Abdul Rasul Sayyaf as ture bin Laden, one manifestation of which was the
chair and deputy chair and Hekmatyar, Yunis training of sixty ISI operatives by the CIA to seize
Khales, and Burhanuddin Rabbani, respectively, as or assassinate bin Laden. But this development
foreign, defense, and interior ministers. The ISI con- ceased when Gen. Pervez Musharraf overthrew the
tinued its involvement in the affairs of the mu- Sharif government on 12 October 1999. Pakistan
jahideen and their seizure of power in 1992 when continued to provide support for the Taliban, and
Kabul fell to the forces of the Northern Alliance. in June 2000, the Taliban launched what was in-
The rule of the mujahideen in Afghanistan soon tended to be a crucial attack on the Northern Al-
disintegrated into civil war, for the fragile coalition liance; it was backed by material and technical sup-
did not last once the government of Muhammad port provided by the ISI, together with 10,000
Najibullah had fallen: opposition to the Communist non-Afghan troops consisting of al-Qaeda fighters
regime was the one factor that held the coalition to- and Pakistani irregulars. However, the United States
gether. The period from 1992 to 1994 saw the disin- continued to maintain pressure on Pakistan to
tegration of the coalition and the formation of the withdraw support for the Taliban, warning that se-
ISHAQ, MUHAMMAD 123
vere consequences would follow any refusal to back have also been al-Qaeda fighters, and although links
the international community. with the Taliban may have been broken, those with
The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 com- Kashmir persist. Meanwhile, President Musharraf
pletely changed the situation. The Pakistan govern- has attempted to bring the organization under con-
ment tried to distance itself from the Taliban after trol by replacing its head, Gen. Mohammad Ahmad,
the atrocity, with the ISI warning the Taliban of the with the moderate head of military intelligence, Lt.
military consequences of a refusal to cooperate over Gen. Ehansul Haq, who has been charged with
Osama bin Laden. The overtures were rejected, and purging the ISI of its fundamentalist supporters.
the U.S.-led coalition laid plans to attack Afghani- This move has deprived the ISI of backing from the
stan in order to overthrow the Taliban and capture leaders of the military officers corps, and the direc-
or kill bin Laden. The Northern Alliance accused the torate has also had its political and economic life-
ISI of continuing to supply the Taliban and provid- lines severed due to the policies of the new ISI head
ing military advisers to help prepare defenses in getting rid of the fundamentalist elements.
against a U.S. attack, but it is thought that only a See also Afghan-Pakistani Relations; Central Intelligence
small number of operatives were involved, probably Agency and Its Support for the Mujahideen; Civil
working independently. War; Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin; Islamic Alliance for the
Pakistan’s current president, Pervez Musharraf, Liberation of Afghanistan; Mujahideen; Taliban
has been engaged in a struggle to gain control over References
the ISI, which has been described as a kingdom Hiro, Dilip. 2002. War without End: The Rise of Islamic
within a state, and this struggle is seen as a high- Terrorism and Global Response. Rev. ed. London and
stakes one for the president. If the ISI is to pursue a New York: Routledge.
McGirk, Tim, Hannah Bloch, and Massimo Calabresi.
meaningful role in the War on Terror, a major shift
2002. “Has Pakistan Tamed Its Spies? Time Atlantic
in attitudes will be needed, since, prior to 11 Sep- 159, no. 18: 54–57.
tember, the service was mainly concerned with Rashid, Ahmed. 2001. Taliban: The Story of the Afghan
keeping the Taliban in power and, by default, pro- Warlords. London: Pan.
tecting al-Qaeda. Some indications exist that ISI is
cooperating with the United States, particularly in
respect to al-Qaeda fighters sheltering in Pakistan, ISHAQ, MUHAMMAD (1851–1888)
and some 300 suspects were taken in 2002, mostly Muhammad Ishaq, the son of Amir Muhammad
Yemenis, Saudis, and Palestinians, all of whom were Azam Khan, had an Armenian mother and was a
sent to the U.S. holding facility at Guantanamo Bay. cousin of Abdur Rahman, the amir of Afghanistan
The ISI was also instrumental in providing the in- from 1880 to 1901. In 1869, he was commander of
telligence that led to the capture of bin Laden’s chief Rahman’s forces in Afghan Turkestan, where he at-
of operations, Abu Zubaydah. However, the ISI is tacked the troops of Shir Ali, who was amir of Af-
operating in difficult circumstances, as the tribal ghanistan from 1863 to 1866 and again from 1868
borderlands with Afghanistan are sympathetic to to 1869. Initially successful due to the desertion of
the Taliban and prepared to take U.S. dollars to en- Turkestan troops, he was later defeated and fled
able al-Qaeda fugitives to escape the checkpoints across the Amu Daria River to Bukhara, where he
and to reach the major cities in Pakistan. was stripped of his allowance and banned from
The loyalty of the ISI is also crucial to Mushar- Abdur Rahman’s court. He remained in Samarkand
raf’s own survival, as the population in Pakistan is and later shared Rahman’s exile but was not well re-
angered over the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan. spected by the amir of Bukhara.
However, the new director of the organization, Lt. In 1871, he made overtures to the British gov-
Gen. Ehansul Haq, a trusted head of military intelli- ernment for asylum, and in May 1872, he requested
gence, is more sympathetic to Musharraf’s views. A asylum for himself and 300 followers, but the exo-
major reshuffling was also instigated to weed out Is- dus was obstructed by the amir of Bukhara, who in-
lamic extremists from the organization and to make structed the governor of Afghan Turkestan to only
the directorate more obedient to the will of the pres- allow Ishaq and some five or six followers to cross
ident. But it should be noted that the ISI has been back over the Oxus River. The offer of asylum was
involved with militants in Kashmir, some of whom refused by Ishaq, and he was apprehended on his
124 ISLAMABAD ACCORD
way to Kakand by Russian forces. But in November provided for a defense council charged with form-
1872, he left Samarkand with some eighty followers, ing a national army, disarming all parties of heavy
arriving in Badakhshan with the objective of fo- weapons, and removing them from Kabul and all
menting unrest there. other cities to preserve the security of the capital.
On Abdur Rahman’s return to Afghanistan in The council was also to take responsibility for oper-
1879, he again had military success in Afghan ational control of the armed forces, ensuring that
Turkestan, and when Rahman became king, Ishaq state funds were not used for private armies, and
was made governor of Mazar-i Sharif, which at seeing that all roads in Afghanistan were kept open
that time was a northern province of Afghanistan. for normal use.
He was regarded as a capable administrator and In addition, the accord provided for the immedi-
was well liked by the army. He ruled Mazar-i Sharif ate and unconditional release of all Afghan de-
as if it were independent and sought full autonomy tainees held by the government and all other mu-
for the northern province before extending his jahideen groups as a result of recent atrocities.
control over the province of Herat. His relations Further, all properties seized by armed groups were
with Amir Abdur Rahman had deteriorated, and it to be returned to their original owners, and steps
is thought that the king was fearful of the power were to be taken to return all displaced persons to
that Ishaq had gained. In 1888, Abdur Rahman was their former homes and locations. A cease-fire was
ill, and Ishaq proclaimed himself king. However, to take immediate effect, and a complete cessation
the amir recovered, and his army, under Gen. Ghu- of hostilities was to go into force once a cabinet had
lam Haidar, defeated the forces of Muhammad been formed. The overall position of the cease-fire
Ishaq on 29 September 1888 at Tashqurgham, was to be monitored by a joint commission formed
forcing Ishaq to flee to Russian Turkestan, where by representatives from the Organization of the Is-
he died in exile. lamic Conference and from all Afghan parties.
See also Rahman, Amir Abdur An annex to the accord detailed the division of
References powers between the president and prime minister
Khalfin, N. A. 1958. “The Rising of Ishaq Khan in and was also signed by all the participants. However,
Southern Turkestan (1888).” Central Asian Review 6, it should be noted that two of the signatories signed
no. 2: 253–263. with reservations concerning the length of the pres-
ident’s term.
ISLAMABAD ACCORD (1993) References
The Islamabad Accord, also known as the Afghan “Afghan Peace Accord or the Islamabad Accord of
Peace Accord, was signed on 7 March 1993 in Islam- March 1993.” 1993. http://www.forisb.org.afghan_
abad, Pakistan, and was designed to produce a docs/15islbad/htm (cited 11 February 2003).
broad-based Islamic government following the So- “Islamabad Accord.” 1993. http://.www.ariaye.com/
viet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989. The ac- islamabad.html (cited 11 February 2003).
cord provided for the establishment of a govern-
ment for a period of eighteen months, with ISLAMIC ALLIANCE FOR THE LIBERATION
Burhanuddin Rabbani remaining as president and OF AFGHANISTAN
with Engineer Gulbuddin Hekmatyar or his nomi- The Islamic Alliance for the Liberation of Afghani-
nee as prime minister. The cabinet was to be formed stan was a short-lived coalition of five mujahideen
by the prime minister in consultation with the pres- groups formed on 27 January 1980. With headquar-
ident and the leaders of the mujahideen parties ters in Peshawar, Pakistan, the alliance’s objectives
within two weeks of signing the agreement. were to obtain recognition as a government in exile
An electoral process was also agreed to, which and to secure support from the Islamic Foreign
had to be implemented within eighteen months Ministers Conference held in Islamabad in May
from 29 December 1992. The timing was designed 1980. The group was chaired by Abdul Rasul Sayyaf,
to accommodate elections for a grand constituent who had no forces of his own, and it did not include
assembly charged with formulating a constitution, the faction led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar because of
under which general elections would be held for a a dispute over its position within the alliance. The
president and a parliament. In addition, the accord alliance disintegrated in December 1980 due to in-
ISLAMIC FRONT 125
ternal rivalries and a failure to agree on a common The Islamic Front’s only real hope for survival as
program. a party is to continue to exploit the divisions be-
In 1981, the Pakistan government decided that it tween the mujahideen parties. Dostum has success-
would only officially recognize six groups (later in- fully used this ploy to the weaken the strongest
creased to seven) and that all aid to the mujahideen party, at any given moment, to prevent the forma-
and refugees would be channeled through these tion of a dominant coalition. A variant of this pol-
groups, which meant that all refugees had to register icy was used by Dostum to ensure his presence in
as members of a group. In 1985, the alliance was re- the Afghan Interim Government, from which he
constituted as the Islamic Unity of Afghan Mu- had been excluded.
jahideen, comprising three moderate and seven rad- Dostum’s revived party has the following ob-
ical groups, the latter being constantly at odds with jectives:
one another, especially those led by Burhanuddin
Rabbani and Hekmatyar. • Putting an end to fratricide and bloody
In 1988, the alliance declared the formation of an wars
Afghan Interim Government (AIG), with Engineer • Establishing a comprehensive Islamic state
Ahmad Shah as prime minister. There were to be and ensuring broad peace
elections among the mujahideen and refugees after • Guaranteeing the rights and recognition of
three months, but these were not held because the all communities living in the country
groups could not agree on the distribution of seats • Resurrecting the national army
in a proposed 520-member assembly. On 20 Febru- • Recovering territorial integrity,
ary 1989, a new AIG was formed, with Abdul Rasul independence, and the rule of national will
Sayyaf as prime minister, but again, internal dissent • Formulating the political order of the
caused its collapse. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar with- country so that all segments of the society
drew from the alliance once more. The AIG never can contribute
became a viable proposition due to internal dis- • Restructuring Afghanistan by way of
putes, sectarian divisions, and rifts along ethnic foreign assistance and investment by the
lines, as exemplified by the actions of Hekmatyar, private sector
who followed an independent line regardless of the • Reviving the original cultures and
impact on Afghan unity. traditions of people living in Afghanistan
See also Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin; Sayyaf, Abdul Rasul • Enabling women’s contribution in all
References political and social activities in accordance
Khalilzad, Zalmy. 1991. Prospects for the Afghan Interim with the religion of Islam
Government. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation. • Reviving Afghanistan’s international status
and enhancing the national economy
ISLAMIC FRONT (JUMBESH-I-MILLI ISLAMI)
The Islamic Front is the party of Gen. Abdul Rashid The party has laid particular stress on its role in
Dostum and is in control of large stretches of providing the functions of government offices in the
northern Afghanistan, using Uzbek or Turkoman areas controlled by General Dostum, including the
nationalist rhetoric as its basis, though it does draw opening of schools, colleges, hospitals, and social
support from large numbers of ethnic Tajiks. Dos- and cultural institutions, but also restoring the dev-
tum’s forces had fought the mujahideen almost to astated infrastructure, particularly in Mazar-i Sharif
the end because the front’s membership is drawn and Sheberghan. However, Dostum’s main power
from former Communist cadres and militants from base is his army and his position among the Uzbek
northern Afghanistan. The Islamic Front is not rec- population.
ognized as a legitimate movement by other mu- See also Dostum, Gen. Abdul Rashid
jahideen groups due to its policy of allowing sup- References
porters of the former Communist government to “National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan and Its
become members and because it is rooted in secu- Indispensable Duties at Present.” 2001. http://www.
larism rather than Islam (which lies at the founda- angelfire.com/ny/Chapandaz/index.html (cited 12
tion of all other groups). December 2001).
126 ISLAMIC PARTY—HEKMATYAR
ISLAMIC PARTY—HEKMATYAR groups, accompanied by the usual switching of alle-

(HIZB-I-ISLAMI—HEKMATYAR) giances as the fighting became more violent and ac-
Islamic Party—Hekmatyar, led by Gulbuddin Hek- rimonious. It was not until May 1996 that the party
matyar, is the largest of the two mujahideen move- made peace with Rabbani’s government and Hek-
ments of the same root name, the other being led by matyar became prime minister. However, his tenure
Yunis Khales. Its origin actually dates back to the in that position was short-lived, as the mujahideen
1960s and the creation of the Organization of Mus- government was overthrown in September 1996
lim Youth, which had been formed to oppose secu- when the Taliban took Kabul.
larization in Afghanistan and the growth of Marx- Hekmatyar fled to Iran, where he called for a
ism among the students at Kabul University. The jihad against the United States, and in February
Islamic Party was forced to operate as an under- 2002, the offices of the Islamic Party where closed by
ground movement during the rule of President the Iranian government and Hekmatyar was forced
Muhammad Daud from 1973 to 1978, and Hek- to flee for Afghanistan via Pakistan. The party has
matyar had to take refuge in Pakistan, from where become overtly hostile to the United States and its
he mounted small raids into Afghanistan. presence in Afghanistan, regarding it as an enemy of
However, the movement became engaged in full- Islam. The party also planned to strike against the
scale guerrilla activity following the Saur Revolt of Interim Government of Hamid Karzai, and in April
April 1978, during which the Communists rose to 2002, hundreds of party members and supporters
power. The Islamic Party followed the patterns of the were arrested in Kabul because of an alleged plot to
Muslim Brotherhood, with a centralized command mount a bombing campaign in the capital and to
structure, secret membership, a cell structure, infiltra- overthrow the Interim Government. Members of
tion of government and state institutions, and the in- Hekmatyar’s party are now thought to have allied
tent to be an Islamic vanguard in Afghanistan. Its themselves with vestiges of the Taliban and al-
fighters have been largely recruited from the madrasas Qaeda, and it is believed they were involved in fight-
(religious schools) established by the party. Voting ing against U.S. and Afghan forces at Spin Boldak,
rights within the party, which is primarily Pashtun in near the Pakistan border, on 28 January 2003. About
membership, are restricted to those who joined before eighty fighters were involved in a battle with Coali-
1975, and membership is stratified, with other classes tion forces, eighteen of the rebel fighters were killed,
being those who joined between 1975 and 1978 and and U.S. airpower was used to attack the cave com-
those who joined after the Marxists seized power. plexes in which they were thought to be sheltering.
The Islamic Party received considerable support Many believe the fighters at Spin Boldak might have
from the Pakistan government and from Islamist been part of the Islamic Martyrs Brigade formed by
groups in Pakistan and the Arab gulf states. It is clear Hekmatyar, the Taliban, and al-Qaeda to mount sui-
that the Inter-Services Intelligence Service of Pakistan cide attacks against U.S. and government forces in
favored Hekmatyar’s Islamic Party when distributing Afghanistan. In February 2003, Hekmatyar was des-
arms and equipment supplied by the Central Intelli- ignated a global terrorist by the United States.
gence Agency, giving them to the mujahideen groups. See also Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin; Inter-Services
The party favors the creation of an Islamic state based Intelligence Service; Islamic Alliance for the
on Shari’a law and the enforcement of Islamic oblig- Liberation of Afghanistan
ations, which would mean restrictions on the partic- References
ipation of women in public life, the banning of alco- Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin. 1988. Clues to the Solution of the
hol, and the eradication of Western influences. Afghan Crisis. Peshawar, Pakistan: Directorate of
Under Hekmatyar, the party has pursued radical International Affairs.
policies and has been at odds with other mu- Maley, William, ed. 1988. Fundamentalism Reborn?
Afghanistan and the Taliban. London: Hurst.
jahideen groups forming the Islamic Alliance for Af-
ghanistan, based in Peshawar, Pakistan. After the
capture of Kabul by the mujahideen in 1992, the Is- ISLAMIC PARTY—KHALES
lamic Party turned against President Burhanuddin (HIZB-I-ISLAMI—KHALES)
Rabbani and the forces of Ahmad Shah Masood, The Islamic Party—Khales was founded by Yunis
and bitter fighting ensued between the opposing Khales, a former theology teacher, as a breakaway
ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF AFGHANISTAN 127
faction of the Islamic Party led by Gulbuddin Hek- be moderate. The group was originally headed by
matyar. Although the group is small, it is heavily Muhammad Nabi Muhammadi and based on a net-
armed. The members are primarily Pashtuns from work of clergy and madrasa (religious school) stu-
eastern Afghanistan, an area that has been undergo- dents, with some Pashtun tribal support in southern
ing a process of destabilization in the absence of Afghanistan. In the early 1980s, it was the largest
strong central government. The movement is and most influential of the mujahideen groups, but
strongest in the provinces of Kabul, Nangarhar, and it lost some of its power and significance when the
Paktia. The Kabul branch was formerly led by Abdul Islamists of Burhanuddin Rabbani and Gulbuddin
Haq, who was killed by the Taliban on 26 October Hekmatyar left its ranks and formed their own par-
2001 while on a mission for the former king Zahir. ties. The movement favors the establishment of a
As a result of tribal fragmentation in the region, state based on Shari’a law and is strongly opposed to
political affinities based on clan have emerged, and self-determination for Afghanistan’s ethnic or reli-
tribal leaders have no desire to influence the future gious minorities.
of the state; political factors, such as party member- See also Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin; Muhammadi, Maulawi
ship and ideology, are less significant. Tribal leaders Muhammad Nabi; Rabbani, Burhanuddin
prefer to maintain tribal authority, which would be References
threatened by the creation of a centralized state. The O’Ballance, Edgar. 2002. Afghan Wars: Battles in a
group draws members from Khales’s own tribe, the Hostile Land. New York: Brassey’s.
Khugiani, and from the Jadran. The Khales group is
ideologically the same as that led by Hekmatyar, ISLAMIC SOCIETY OF AFGHANISTAN
save that it favors cooperation with the other mu- (JAM’IAT-I ISLAMI-YI AFGHANISTAN)
jahideen groups. As such, the group was initially a Burhanuddin Rabbani has led the Islamic Society
strong supporter of the Afghan Interim Govern- of Afghanistan since 1971. In 1978, the organiza-
ment (AIG), which was established by the mu- tion became a mujahideen force engaged in activi-
jahideen leaders in Peshawar, Pakistan. Khales had ties against the Marxist regime in Kabul. The group
been appointed minister of the interior in that gov- was one of those accorded recognition by Pakistan,
ernment, but he resigned his position in May 1991. was based in Peshawar, and was largely non-Pash-
The party is opposed to the concept of universal tun in membership. Rabbani had a number of al-
suffrage, the emancipation of women, and Shi’a liances with other factions, including those led by
participation in the AIG. After the fall of the Marx- Ahmad Shah Masood in northern Afghanistan and
ist government in April 1992, Khales and his various Isma’il Khan in Herat Province. The movement
commanders became the dominant powers in the also drew support in the west and south of Kanda-
Shura (council), which ruled Jalalabad and most of har Province and had strong representation in the
Nangarhar Province. The group was not repre- cities of Kabul, Herat, and Kandahar but not in
sented in the tribal civil war after 1992; rather, com- Jalalabad or Mazar-i Sharif.
manders acted independently on regional interests. The movement is composed mainly of Sunni
However, Khales’s power base was destroyed when Muslim Tajiks, the second largest ethnic group in
the Taliban took Jalalabad in September 1996. Afghanistan. It favors the construction of a central-
Khales took up residence in Pakistan. ized state to forward its ideological project, and dur-
See also Haq, Abdul; Khales, Yunis ing the struggle against the Soviet occupation (from
References 1979 to 1989), it had established embryonic regional
Oleson, A. 1995. Islam and Politics in Afghanistan. states in Herat and the northwest region of Afghan-
London: Curzon Press. istan controlled by Ahmad Shah Masood. The
movement is Islamist in nature and supports the es-
ISLAMIC REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT tablishment of an Islamic state. It has been con-
(HARAKAT-I-INQLIAB-I-ISLAMI) stantly at odds with the Islamist group led by Gul-
The Islamic Revolutionary Movement was one of buddin Hekmatyar, and at times, bloody conflict
the early mujahideen organizations that resulted has ensued. For example, several of Rabbani’s mili-
from a merger of various Islamist groups in the tary commanders were killed on 9 July 1989 after
1960s. It is traditional in outlook and considered to clashes with Hekmatyar’s group, some after being
128 ISLAMIC UNION FOR THE LIBERATION OF AFGHANISTAN
taken prisoner. Reconciliation was reached in Octo- ously separate mujahideen groups espouses an ide-
ber 1990 in Peshawar through the arbitration efforts ology based on the beliefs of Ayatollah Khomeini of
of Masood, but the truce that evolved was always a Iran and was formed at the instigation of the Iran-
fragile peace. ian government. It has held itself aloof from the
The movement was bolstered when Rabbani was state and the parties dominated by the Sunni Mus-
elected president of Afghanistan in 1993. But after lims, viewing a centralized state, which would be
the rise of the Taliban, the movement withdrew to Sunni-dominated, as a threat to Hazara indepen-
northern Afghanistan in 1996 and became a leading dence. The leadership refused to join the Afghan In-
player in the Northern Alliance. terim Government formed in Peshawar, Pakistan, in
See also Masood, Ahmad Shah; Rabbani, Burhanuddin 1989 because it felt that it was not being accorded
References appropriate representation. The party is trapped be-
Maley, William. 1999. Fundamentalism Reborn? tween the desire to be involved in government with
Afghanistan and the Taliban. London: Hurst. guarantees (for example, a federal system) and the
desire to oppose the state in order to maintain its in-
ISLAMIC UNION FOR THE LIBERATION dependence.
OF AFGHANISTAN (ITTIHAD-I-ISLAMI See also Shi’a Mujahideen Groups
BARAYI AZADI-Y-AFGHANISTAN) References
The Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan “Hizb-i Wahdat (The Unity Party).” 2000.
supports the concept of a strong state and is largely http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/hizbi_wahdat.ht
funded by Wahhabi networks in Saudi Arabia. It m (cited 10 December 2001).
draws the bulk of its membership from Pashtuns Oleson, A. 1995. Islam and Politics in Afghanistan.
west of Kabul and in Kunduz Province. Given that London: Curzon Press.
the Wahhabi networks finance the group, the Is-
lamic Union is of course opposed to the Shi’a in Af- ISLAMIST MOVEMENT (JAMI’AT-I ISLAMI)
ghanistan, who are supported and financed by Iran. The Islamist Movement was born in the 1950s as a
The social base of the party, composed of Pashtuns reaction to the influence of Westernization and the
and clerics, subscribe to anti-Shi’ite sentiments, growth of secularism in Afghanistan, particularly
specifically directed against members of the Hazara among young people. With leaders including
ethic group, who have traditionally opposed the Burhanuddin Rabbani, the movement was modeled
power of the Pashtuns. To demonstrate its Islamic on the Muslim Brotherhood, which had been
credentials, the group has backed symbolic mea- founded in Egypt. The Islamist Movement was ini-
sures, such as the elimination of female television tially intellectual in nature, studying the works of Is-
hosts. lamic scholars while it developed an ideological base
The movement was founded in 1980 by Abdul and drew heavily from the student population for
Rasul Sayyaf following his period as chair of the Is- support. It became political during the premiership
lamic Alliance and was part of the loose grouping of of Sardar Daud (from 1953 to 1963), with students
the Islamic Unity of Afghan Mujahideen. Sayyef and staging demonstrations against government policies
his followers are now part of the Northern Alliance. and international causes such as Zionism and the
See also Mujahideen; Northern Alliance; Sayyaf, Abdul Vietnam War.
Rasul In 1970, the student members formed the Is-
References lamic Youth Movement, winning power in the uni-
Fuller, Graham E. 1991. Islamic Fundamentalism in versity elections and alarming the Marxist govern-
Afghanistan: Its Character and Prospects. Santa ment. The movement was formally organized in
Monica, CA: Rand Corporation. 1971, with Rabbani as Chair, Abdul Rasul Sayyaf as
his deputy, and a council that was assigned political
ISLAMIC UNITY PARTY (HIZB-I WAHDAT) and cultural tasks; it called itself the Islamic Society
The Islamic Unity Party is primarily a regrouping of (Jam’iat-i Islami). Following the coup by Muham-
the various Hazara organizations who opposed the mad Daud on 17 July 1973, the movement was
power of the ruling Pashtuns and who were, in turn, forced underground. Members prepared for armed
despised by the Pashtuns. This group of eight previ- struggle, but this effort was thwarted by government
ISLAMIST MOVEMENT 129
Toppled Afghan president and leader of the Islamist Movement, Burhanuddin Rabbani, in Faizabad, Badakhshan Province, on 3 July
2001. Faizabad was the administrative capital of the 5 percent of Afghanistan then controlled by the Northern Alliance. (AFP/Corbis)
action; a number of the leaders of the movement preparation before taking action. By 1979, the group
were arrested, though Rabbani and Gulbuddin Hek- had again fragmented, largely because of a dispute
matyar managed to escape to Pakistan. over the distribution of foreign donations. There-
Hekmatyar began to make sporadic but unsuc- after, each leader organized his own movement.
cessful raids into Afghanistan, which led to a public As a group, members of the Islamist Movement
rift with Rabbani. Following the Saur Revolt of April were reformist. They supported the type of political
1978 and the advent of Communist rule, attempts activism advocated by Jamaluddin Afghani, known
were made at a reconciliation with the formation of as the father of the concept of pan-Islam (which was
a twenty-one-member committee, but the organi- designed to stem the tide of Western imperialism
zation was still split along ethnic and ideological and was propagated in the late nineteenth century).
lines. In terms of policy, Hekmatyar favored imme- And they opposed Western influences, secularism,
diate armed struggle, whereas the Tajik supporters and the lack of respect for traditional values. Al-
of Rabbani favored a period of consolidation and though they also wished to impose Islamic law on
130 ISMA’IL KHAN
Afghan society, they were not fundamentalist, and in Kabul. He has been aided in his consolidation of
they were critical of the clergy, who, in turn, criti- power by Iran. Indeed, shops in Herat are filled with
cized the movement. After going underground and Iranian goods, the Iranian currency is accepted
operating in small cells, the movement was accused alongside the Afghani, and Iran has financed a road
of using political assassination as a weapon, but it to link the city of Herat with the Iranian border.
was also victimized by such assassinations. During the ten-year Soviet occupation, from
The aims of the movement were: 1979 to 1989, Isma’il Khan was a guerrilla fighter
operating in western Afghanistan and an officer in
• The elimination of poverty, deprivation, the national army rising up against the Soviets
unemployment, oppression, colonialism, months after they arrived in Herat. His initial attack
and injustice against Soviet forces resulted in the deaths of hun-
• The spread of Islamic teaching to bring dreds of Soviet soldiers, though 20,000 Heratis lost
about conditions under which the basic their lives in one day of retaliation. Isma’il Khan was
needs of people would be met a successful mujahideen leader and was one of the
• The attainment of peace and prosperity, first to be supplied with Stinger missiles by the
the safeguarding of dignity, the United States, through the Central Intelligence
preservation of human rights, and the Agency, and he maintained his opposition to the So-
protection of property from looting and viets until their withdrawal in 1989. His resistance
arson continued against the Communist regime in Kabul
• The distribution of uncultivated land to until its collapse in 1992, when he became governor
landless farmers and owners of small plots of Herat.
and greater cooperation between As governor, he instigated a process of recon-
landowners and farmers, with income struction and oversaw a period of relative peace
distribution based on equity and justice (though his regime was accused of corruption)
until the Taliban captured the province in 1995
Members of the movement also expressed a wish and he was forced to take temporary refuge in Iran.
to end linguistic and regional prejudices and to pro- Isma’il Khan returned to Afghanistan after a brief
mote unity among all the races and tribes of Af- period of exile and began to organize resistance to
ghanistan. They sought to back all religious schools the Taliban. However, in 1997, while building a re-
and to use the media to propagate the rich culture sistance movement in Badghis Province, he was
and heritage of Islamic values. Finally, they believed betrayed by opponents and handed over to the Tal-
they had a duty to promote the spirit of jihad to iban. They imprisoned him, with other opposition
wipe out the criminal enemies of Islam. leaders, in Kandahar under extremely harsh condi-
See also Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin; Rabbani, Burhanuddin tions. In March 2002, Isma’il Khan and other jailed
References opposition leaders managed to escape, and he
Jamiat-i-Islami Afghanistan. 1961. Aims and Goals of made his way back to freedom in Mashad in west-
Jamiat-i-Islami Afghanistan. Peshawar, Pakistan: ern Iran.
Jamiat-i-Islami Afghanistan. By May 2001, Isma’il Khan had returned to Af-
ghanistan and was establishing anti-Taliban move-
ISMA’IL KHAN (1946– ) ments in the provinces of Badghis, Herat, and Ghor
Isma’il Khan, more properly known as Muhammad in support of sporadic actions conducted elsewhere
Isma’il, is the Tajik governor of the western province in northern Afghanistan by the United Front. Ini-
of Herat and has become the de facto ruler of west- tially, actions against the Taliban were of a hit-and-
ern Afghanistan. He occupied this post prior to the run nature, avoiding major confrontation with Tal-
arrival of the Taliban in the area in 1997, when he iban forces bolstered by Pakistani, Arab, and Central
was forced to flee to Iran. He was a mujahideen com- Asian fighters. The resistance faced a variety of ob-
mander in the war against the Soviets, continued the stacles—among them drought, road blockades,
struggle against the Communist government in shortages of logistics, and inadequate transporta-
Kabul and then against the Taliban, and now rules tion between the various regions in which the
Herat without any real recourse to the government groups were operating.
ISMA’IL KHAN 131
Little was achieved until the U.S. air campaign values individual liberties. Many also resent the
began on 7 October 2001 in response to the 11 Sep- close links with Iran in terms of political influence,
tember terrorist attacks in the United States. Isma’il despite the cultural ties that exist between the two
Khan had tried to put himself forward as the suc- peoples.
cessor to Ahmad Shah Masood, the military leader In economic terms, Herat is well provided for
of the Northern Alliance who had been assassinated, because of its strategic location in relation to Iran
but although he commanded the loyalty of ethnic and Turkmenistan. It has been estimated that Is-
Tajiks in western Afghanistan, he had little support ma’il Khan collects $600,000 a day in taxes on
in the northeastern part of the country, the strong- goods entering Herat Province and sends less than
hold of the Northern Alliance. In late October, $50,000 a day to the central government in Kabul,
forces loyal to Isma’il Khan took control of which has estimated his daily revenue at $1 million.
Chaghcharan, the capital of Ghor Province, and It has been reported by the Central Bank in Kabul
then moved on Taliban positions in Herat. The as- that only 30 percent of the revenue kept by Herat is
sault on the Taliban was supported by heavy U.S. spent on reconstruction, with the rest being re-
bombing raids on frontline positions, with special tained by Isma’il Khan and spent on a life of opu-
forces providing intelligence to the anti-Taliban lence and lavish presents for friends and relatives.
fighters and guiding the bombing raids. The administration maintains that it has built
After the fall of the Taliban forces in northern parks, roads, a sewage system in Herat, and a library
Afghanistan, Isma’il Khan again became governor and has opened schools and medical facilities.
of Herat, and he now commands a force of some However, the city of Herat has no central power
25,000 men. Although he has pledged allegiance to plant, and many of its streets are shattered and only
Hamid Karzai’s government in Kabul, he has oper- paved with gravel. The point has also been made by
ated independently of the central government, and some residents that although schools have been re-
many observers feel that he regards the Herat reopened, the children have nowhere to sit and no
gion as his personal fiefdom, being known locally books; similarly, they contend, the hospital is open
as emir, rather than governor. The location of the but has no doctors.
province near the borders with Iran and Turk- Some residents, however, credit Isma’il Khan
menistan ensures millions of dollars in tax rev- with bringing peace and prosperity to Herat
enues every month because of its significance as a Province, making the commercial and cultural hub
transit route for trade to the Central Asian re- the safest and most prosperous in Afghanistan. They
publics, with very little of this going to the Kabul see the forces at his disposal as essential to the main-
administration. Isma’il Khan has been accused by tenance of peace in a region cut off from Kabul by
human rights groups of running a corrupt, repres- impassable roads and an intermittent telephone ser-
sive ministate with only nominal allegiance to the vice; further, it still faces dangers from renegade Tal-
central government. The U.S.-based Human iban supporters. Many perceive the administration
Rights Watch has accused his administration of as a benevolent dictatorship and regard support for
being responsible for widespread intimidation, ar- it as a small price to pay for security and a guaran-
rests, beatings, and torture. tee of peace and stability. For ethnic Pashtuns, life
Herat has been described as a province whose so- has become hard in the region controlled by Isma’il
ciety allows little dissent, no criticism of the admin- Khan, as they are associated with the despised Tal-
istration, no independent newspapers, no freedom iban by many Tajiks, and there have been reports of
to hold meetings, and no respect for the rule of law. torture, looting, and rape perpetrated against Pash-
However, some observers feel that international tuns by forces loyal to the governor.
scrutiny and pressure from Kabul has caused some Isma’il Khan functions as the virtual ruler of
relaxation in restrictions; for example, women are Herat, and other regional warlords occupy similar
now allowed to work for foreign aid groups. Some positions. This situation is seen as a major problem
residents resent Isma’il Khan’s fundamentalism, for the central government in Kabul and the future
which grew following his exile in Iran, resulting in sustainability of Afghanistan as a unified state. Some
restrictions on music, liquor, and social life in a so- criticism is also being leveled against the United
ciety that is more sophisticated than some and that States for supporting regional warlords and for
132 ISMA’ILIS
making it more difficult for Afghanistan to build a Day of Judgment. The present leader of the Is-
strong, central regional government. ma’ili community is Karim, Aga Khan IV, who
See also Civil War; Coalition Land Campaign against the leads some 300,000 people living in Africa, India,
Taliban; Islamist Movement; Taliban Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and northwestern Af-
References ghanistan. The Isma’ilis believe in an esoteric in-
Daraghai, Borzov. 2002. “Afghan Governor Spurns terpretation of the Koran, with stages of initiation
Instability Fears.” http://www.washingtontimes. based on the believer’s level of understanding;
com (cited 13 April 2002). they also pay a tax to support the poor of their
Oleson, A. 1995. Islam and Politics in Afghanistan.
community. They are a small group in Afghani-
London: Curzon Press.
Samad, Omar. 2001. “Ismail Khan Opens Up New
stan, and during the struggle against the Marxist
Front.” http://www.afghan-info.com (cited 6 government and the Soviet forces (from 1979 to
November 2001). 1989), they refused to cooperate with any mu-
Stone, Andrea. 2002. “Afghan Governor De Facto Ruler jahideen groups operating in their territory. They
in West.” http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?templ: did, however, ally themselves with Gen. Abdul
story2&sid=675&u=ustoday/20021219/ts (cited 19 Rashid Dostum following the capture of Kabul by
December 2002). the Taliban in 1996.
References
ISMA’ILIS Goodson, Larry P. 2001. Afghanistan’s Endless War: State
The Isma’ilis are members of a Shi’a Islamic sect Failure, Regional Politics, and the Rise of the Taliban.
established in A.D. 765, after the death of Imam Is- Seattle: University of Washington Press.
ma’il, who was believed by his followers to have Olsen, A. 1995. Islam and Politics in Afghanistan.
been the Seventh Imam and due to return on the London: Curzon Press.
JADRAN TRIBE
The Jadran tribe occupies the eastern slopes of the
Sulaiman mountain range to the east of Zurmat in
Paktia Province. Members of this tribe are closely
related to the Shasta Pashtuns. They tend to live in
J
very small villages and cultivate a little land, but
they rely on their flocks to provide a subsistence liv- JAJI TRIBE
ing. Their main trading center is Gardez, to which The Jajis are a Sunni Muslim tribe in Paktia
they take wool and cheese to sell and in return pur- Province, residing mainly in the valley of the Hariab
chase corn and cloth. They are regarded as excellent River and the immediate vicinity. Reputed to be ex-
warriors and were active in the war against the cellent fighters, they have been involved in numer-
Afghan government from 1979, having expelled ous internal conflicts in Afghanistan. They helped
government troops from the Organ region of the the Sulaiman Khel, a division of the Ghilzai tribe, to
province. oust King Amanullah in 1929, and they assisted
References Nadir Shah in becoming ruler when he defeated
Clifford, Mary Louise. 1973. The Land and People of Habibullah Kalakani, who had seized the throne, at
Afghanistan. Philadelphia: Lippincott. Kabul on 13 October 1929. However, they have
weakened their position over the centuries by the
JAGRAN, SAYYID MUHAMMAD HASAN pusuit of internal feuds. Indeed, the ways in which
(1949– ) their villages are built suggest the tensions between
Jagran is the nom de guerre of Sayyid Hasan, the parts of the tribe, and their houses are designed
commander of the Hazara front, which operated with defenses that reflect a life of contention. Tradi-
in Behsud in Ghazni Province. He was an ex- tionally, they have been involved in agriculture, but
tremely successful military commander in actions their pasture and soil are poor and the land pro-
against government forces in the 1980s and, as vides only a subsistence level of crops through ex-
such, was able to administer his area as an au- tensive irrigation. Goats are their primary stock. In
tonomous district. He was affiliated with the mu- recent times, the Jajis have been prominent in the
jahideen group led by Sayyid Ali Beheshti, which trucking business in Afghanistan. During the civil
had been the only Shi’a mujahideen force repre- war (from 1989 to 2001), they allied themselves
sented at the conference of mujahideen leaders with the National Islamic Front of Afghanistan.
held in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, in February 1989. References
However, Jagran’s relations with the other Shi’a Bellew, H. W. 1880. The Races of Afghanistan: Being a
mujahideen groups were always poor, and he Brief Account of the Principal Nations Inhabiting That
fought several engagements against the Nasr and Country. London: Thaker.
Pasdaran groups.
JAM’IAT-I-’ULAMA
See also Beheshti, Sayyid Ali; Shi’a Mujahideen
Groups
Jam’iat-i-’Ulama was a consultative body of ulama
References (Islamic scholars and clergymen) that was founded
Roy, Olivier. 1988. “Has Islamism a Future in in 1931 by Nadir Shah and charged with the respon-
Afghanistan?” In Fundamentalism Reborn? sibility for judging the constitutionality of laws. As a
Afghanistan and the Taliban, edited by William body, it wielded considerable power, for all new laws
Maley, 199–211. London: Hurst. had to be submitted to it for consideration. But
133
134 JAMILURRAHMAN, MAULAWI HUSAIN
Prime Minister Muhammad Daud removed most of numbers between 60,000 to 80,000 people, concen-
its executive power in 1953, and it effectively became trated mainly in the central area of Badghis
a “rubber stamp” body for the Afghan government. Province, with smaller communities in the north-
After the Saur Revolt of April 1978, which brought west of the province and in the provinces of Herat
the Communists to power, it issued fatwas, or legal and southern Fariab. The origins of the tribe are un-
decisions, recognizing Nur Muhammad Taraki as the certain, but members claim to be descendants of the
legitimate head of state and authorizing a jihad legendary pre-Islamic kings of Sistan (located in
against Islamist mujahideen groups. present-day Iran) who migrated to Afghanistan cen-
References turies ago.
Huquqi, Walid A. 1971. Judicial Organization in In 1842, because of persecution and unrest in
Afghanistan. Kabul: Government Press. Herat Province, a number of tribal members went
to Panjdeh and some went to Persia. In 1857, after
JAMILURRAHMAN, MAULAWI HUSAIN an occupation of Herat, Persia withdrew from the
(1933–1992?) province, and the Jamshidis submitted to the rulers
Maulawi Husain Jamilurrahman was a leader of an of Afghanistan. But in 1862, they were attacked by
Islamic revivalist movement whose members be- Sultan Ahmad Khan, and the tribe moved to the
came popularly known as Wahhabis because of sim- Kushk district. For a period, they enjoyed a rela-
ilarities with the movement in Saudi Arabia. He tively stable existence, but ten years later, they were
ruled Kunar Province as an Islamic amirate from attacked by the Turkomans. The initial assaults
1990 to 1991, having ousted all other mujahideen were successfully repelled, but in 1889, after a fur-
groups from the province; he also imposed an Is- ther series of Turkoman encroachments, they with-
lamic regime that only allowed bearded men into drew to Herat. On their return to Kushk district,
the amirate and banned all forms of tobacco. they found that their land had been appropriated
Jamilurrahman had been a member of the Is- by district officials, and they were forced to become
lamic Society of Afghanistan and was active in at- tenant farmers.
tacks against the government of President Muham- See also Chahar Aimaqs; Taimaris
mad Daud. After the Saur Revolt of 1978 and the References
assumption of power by the Communists, he joined Clifford, Mary Louise. 1973. The Land and People of
the Islamic Party of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Afghanistan. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
acted as his amir in Kunar Province. After breaking
with the party in 1982, he ousted all other groups JIRGA
and assumed sole power in the province. In Febru- The jirga is a tribal council that exercises legislative
ary 1991, he formed a cabinet, but the upper eche- and judicial authority in the name of the tribe. The
lons of the group were decimated by a bomb attack council is elected by tribal members and may be
on his headquarters on 20 April 1991. As a conse- composed of the tribe’s notables or all its main
quence, Hekmatyar and other groups were able to members. The jirga can consider social issues and
capture the town of Asadabad and expel most of the controversies, and a meeting of the body can be
Wahhabis from the province. Jamilurrahman fled to called at the request of the tribal elders or by a mem-
Pakistan, where he was assassinated by an Egyptian. ber of the council. The jirga is governed by its own
rules, regulations, and formalities, and outcomes of
See also Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin; Islamic Society of
Afghanistan
its discussions are determined by consensus and are
References binding on all of the members of the tribe. The jirga
Fuller, Graham E. 1991. Islamic Fundamentalism in is particularly common among the Pashtun tribes in
Afghanistan: Its Character and Prospects. Santa the border areas, which has always been permitted
Monica, CA: Rand Corporation. by the Afghan government despite its claim to na-
tional jurisdiction. In a national emergency, a loya
JAMSHIDI TRIBE jirga (great council), representing all of the tribal
The Jamshidis are one of four tribes that are collec- communities, can be convened to determine a na-
tively known as Chahar Aimaq; tribal members are tional consensus.
Dari-speaking Hanifa Sunni Muslims. The tribe See also Loya Jirga
JOZJAN PROVINCE 135
Candidates elected in the first phase of Loya Jirga from the four districts of Parwan Province, North of Kabul, raise their hands before a
vote during a meeting to elect a leader among themselves for the second phase of Loya Jirga, in Kabul, 31 May 2002. (AFP/Corbis)
References The Jozjanis also provided forces for a militia of

Mehreban, Abdullah. 1982. “National Jirgahs some 3,000 to 4,000 Uzbek troops, which served the
(Assemblies) and Their Role in the Socio-Political Kabul government in the 1980s. They were an ex-
Life of the People of Afghanistan.” Afghanistan tremely reliable and effective group in southern and
Quarterly 35, no. 2: 50–58.
western Afghanistan and replaced Soviet troops in
JOZJAN PROVINCE Kandahar, where they provided the protective force
Jozjan Province is located in north-central Afghani- for the airport. After the mujahideen captured
stan and has an area of 10,126 square miles and a Kabul in April 1992, they merged with the forces of
population of about 642,000. The administrative Gen.Abdul Rashid Dostum, becoming involved in
capital, Sheberghan, has about 19,000 inhabitants. the struggle for control over sections of the city. The
The province is naturally rich in mineral resources, force pulled out of Kabul at the insistence of Gul-
with significant quantities of oil and natural gas buddin Hekmatyar after a deal with President
having been discovered at Khwaja, Gugudak, and Burhanuddin Rabbani, but they joined the oppos-
Jarquduq; natural gas reserves are estimated to ex- ing forces after Dostum was refused a role in the
ceed 500 trillion cubic feet. In 1968, a pipeline was government by Rabbani. The Jozjanis were assimi-
constructed to transport the natural gas to the So- lated into General Dostum’s army in northern Af-
viet Union, built with financial and technical assis- ghanistan and are now seen as defenders of Uzbek
tance from the Soviet government. Supplies were ethnic interests.
sold at prices below world market rates, but in References
essence, the Soviet Union was the only practical Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political
partner. A small amount of gas was also used locally Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria:
for the production of fertilizer. Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt.
KABUL CITY
The city of Kabul has suffered badly from twenty-
three years of invasions and civil war. Almost half of
the city has been leveled, and at least 90 percent of
the surviving buildings having been damaged by
K
mortars, rockets, and gunfire. The problems of
Kabul have also been complicated by the presence ondary school—the Habibia School—was opened
of at least 500,000 refugees or internally displaced in 1904; by 1967, the city had ninety-seven sec-
persons, many of whom come from rural environ- ondary schools, technical and vocational schools,
ments and have no family connections to the city. and a university. In 1908, the first telephone line was
The problems facing the government and the mu- installed between Kabul and Jalalabad, and Kabul
nicipal authorities in Kabul, the capital of Afghani- was also the first city to have electricity; in addition,
stan, are immense and will not be solved in the im- work had commenced on a hydroelectric plant,
mediate future. which was completed in 1913.
Kabul has existed as a center of population for Some 90 percent of the housing in Kabul con-
over 3,000 years and was mentioned in Indian sists of low buildings, one or two stories high and
scriptures back to 1500 B.C. Herodotus (484–424 largely constructed of adobe bricks. A good 40 per-
B.C.) detailed its trading links with Greece and cent of the people rent their homes, but there was a
Rome and its significance as a trading center at the severe shortage of housing even before the damage
time of Alexander the Great. It is also in a strategic inflicted on residential areas during the civil war
location on the main route to India through the (1989 to 2001). In the Communist era (from 1978
Khyber Pass, to the north through the Hindu Kush, to 1992), the government tried to alleviate the
and to the south through Ghazni and Gardez. housing problem by building apartment blocks,
Kabul became the capital of Afghanistan in 1773 with assistance from the Soviet Union. Each block
under the reign of Timur Shah, who made this had its own water supply, sewage system and treat-
move to weaken the power of the Durrani chiefs in ment plant, hot water, and heating system. How-
Kandahar Province. Thus, Kabul would become the ever, the city was devastated during the civil war,
dominant urban center in Afghanistan, making it and much of the housing and the infrastructure
the best-equipped city in the country in terms of was destroyed, making a major reconstruction pro-
schools, paved roads, telephones, and commercial gram a priority for the new government and the in-
activity. All international connections were also ternational community.
centered on Kabul, which helped contribute to a On 20 September 2002, an international con-
rapid growth in the population; by 1982, 40 percent ference was held in Kabul, tasked with planning
of the nation’s urban dwellers lived there. As a result the reconstruction of the city and drawing up a
of this rapid expansion in population, the infra- list of priorities to ensure that the planning was
structure of the city showed signs of strain, includ- rational. The conference was sponsored by the
ing lack of access to good running water and a mod- Afghan Ministry of Urban Development and
ern sewage system. In the old part of the city, the Housing, together with the UN Habitat for Hu-
sewage system was open and therefore affected the manity program and the American Society of
health of the urban poor. In 1878, the city had a Afghan Engineers. The ministry hoped that the
population of about 70,000, but by 1970, this num- conference would enable Afghanistan leaders to
ber had grown to 500,000. The first secular sec- learn from foreign experts on reconstruction and
137
138 KABUL CITY
Snow-capped mountains of the Hindu Kush range surround the Afghan capital of Kabul. (Patrick Robert/Corbis)
in particular from the experiences of Germany, was the immediate problem addressed. Kabul has an
Japan, and the Balkans, all of which had expertise acute shortage of housing, with a minimum of
in postwar rebuilding. 50,000 and ideally 100,000 units needing to be built
Funds for reconstruction have been scarce rela- by the end of 2004. The focus is on housing for the
tive to the size of the task, and there has been some permanent residents whose homes were destroyed
dispute as to the order of priorities, whether it be or damaged during the conflict and the housing of
sewage and wastewater, roads, telecommunications, hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally
or drinking water. The refugee problem has also re- displaced persons. The situation has been further
ceived uneven emphasis, with some experts favoring complicated by the fact that some people have just
returning the refugees to their villages but others ac- moved into empty houses and others have built ille-
cepting the fact that some will have grown to like gal houses, with the latter probably accounting for
city life and will have no wish to return to their for- 40 percent of the housing stock.
mer homes. If the latter is the correct interpretation, Many of the illegal houses are sited on hillsides
Kabul will need to provide housing for a much and therefore were not constructed securely enough
larger population. The former mayor of Kabul, to deal with the harsh winter weather. However, the
Anwar Zakdalek, advised the conference that the authorities will not evict the squatters in empty
first priority for reconstruction should be getting houses or demolish the illegal houses but will con-
the population, whether permanent residents or centrate construction on the edges of the city, with
refugees, under roof before the onset of winter. The five suburban areas being planned. The project calls
scale of the problem is such that many experts feel it for these “satellite towns” to have a mix of low-, mid-
will take Kabul twenty years to get back to where it dle-, and high-income housing to accommodate
was in 1979, prior to the Soviet invasion. some 500,000 people. Another top priority is the re-
In November 2002, work on rebuilding Kabul building of Kabul’s power system: only about two-
began under the supervision of Yusef Pashtoon, thirds of the city receives electricity (on an irregular
minister for housing and city planning. Housing basis), and the remainder gets no power at all. In ad-
KAFIRI TRIBE 139
dition, the water and sewage systems need to be Afghan forces were split into four sections, with
completely reconstructed, and in many areas of the one force under Capt. Muhammad Ali Khan pro-
city, there is a desperate need for potable water. ceeding through Panjshir to Kulam, while a second
The rebuilding plans have not attracted sufficient force under Gen. Ghulam Haidar Charkhi moved
funding from international aid organizations, and from Asmor and Chitral. The other forces moved
the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing from Badakhshan and Laghman Provinces. How-
has admitted that private enterprise will be the key ever, since all the troop movements were near the
to the city’s development. International aid tends to Afghan border, they did not arouse any suspicion,
concentrate on long-term projects that bring large- and the four armies, supplemented by tribal levies,
scale economic development or on humanitarian attacked simultaneously and conquered Kafiristan
relief. Although the city has started to revive, this in forty days. The Kafirs had no hope of defending
major reconstruction project will take decades to themselves, as they were armed mainly with bows
show any long-lasting results—results that will be and arrows and only a few rifles and faced an
crucial to the health and sustainability of the coun- Afghan army with infantry, cavalry, and artillery.
try as a whole. Some of the defeated Kafirs were resettled in Pagh-
References man Province and converted to Islam, and many of
Adamec, Ludwig W. 1985. Kabul and Southeastern the young males trained for military service. Within
Afghanistan. Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck-u a short period, all the Kafirs were converted to
Verlagsansalt. Islam. In 1906, Amir Habibullah changed the name
“Afghanistan Starts Arduous Task of Rebuilding Kabul.” of the region to Nuristan, or the “Country Enlight-
2002. http://www.afgha.com/article.php?sid=17391 ened by the Light of Islam.”
(cited 11 November 2002).
See also Kafiri Tribe
Sofi, Lutfullah. 1982. “Historical Development of Cities
References
in Afghanistan.” Afghanistan 34, no. 1: 54–69.
Robertson, George Scott. 1974. The Kafirs of the Hindu
Kush. Karachi, Pakistan, and New York: Oxford
KAFIR WAR (1895) University Press.
The question of Kafiristan was a matter of great
concern to Amir Abdur Rahman because of the ac- KAFIRI TRIBE
tivities of his powerful neighbors, British India and The Kafiris are thought to be the original inhabi-
Russia, on the borders of Afghanistan. The Russians tants of the plains country of Afghanistan in what
had penetrated into the Pamirs region, and Britain is now Nuristan. They were driven back into the
had taken control of eastern Kafiristan. The amir mountain areas by the arrival of Islam in the coun-
was concerned that an independent Kafiristan try about A.D. 700. They are thought to be the de-
would be subject to annexation by either of the two scendants of the old Indian population that used
powers, which could lead to claims to Panjshir, to occupy the region, and they did not convert to
Laghman, and Jalalabad, areas that had belonged to Islam with the rest of the population, remaining
the Kafirs in the past. Additionally, the Kafirs were pagan for several more centuries. Their language is
seen as a threat to the amir, for when Afghan troops very much akin to ancient Sanskrit, and the family
were fighting elsewhere, they continually raided is the most significant element of the Kafiri society.
Afghan provinces. Intertribal disputes have been quite common over
In 1895, Abdur Rahman decided to resolve the the centuries; indeed, some have been ongoing for
problem once and for all by taking control of the hundreds of years. The Kafiris are considered to be
Kafiristan region. He selected the winter for the start skilled in many trades, including shoemaking,
of his campaign. The timing was deliberate, as the ropemaking, pottery, silver and brassware, wood
snows would prevent the Kafirs from using the high carving, and leather crafts. The Kafiris were largely
passes to retreat into Russian territory for protec- independent until the late nineteenth century,
tion; moreover, the amir wanted a brief campaign so when the region was attacked by the forces of
that his neighbors would not have time to react and Abdur Rahman and the population was more or
Christian missionaries would not be able to foment less forcibly converted to Islam. The name of the
trouble. province was then changed from Kafiristan to
140 KALAKANI, ABDUL MAJID
Nuristan. A large number of Kafiris were also Province, in the north by Oruzgan Province, in the
forced to resettle in the Kohdaman, north of Kabul. northeast by Zabul Province, and in the south and
References southeast by Pakistan. The city of Kandahar is the
Robertson, George Scott. 1974. The Kafirs of the Hindu only major settlement in the province. Most of the
Kush. Karachi, Pakistan, and New York: Oxford people of Kandahar are Durranis, but there are
University Press. Ghilzais and Hazaras (mainly in the urban areas),
and in the city, there are Hindus who are traders and
KALAKANI, ABDUL MAJID (1939–1980) bankers. The province is watered by the Arghastan,
Abdul Majid Kalakani had established a reputation Tarnak, and Arghandab Rivers, which lie between
as a poet and writer by 1953, but from 1958 to 1963, 3,000 and 7,000 feet above sea level; the city of Kan-
he was in hiding due to his political activities as a dahar is some 2,462 feet above sea level.
supporter of the democratic movements in the sec- The city is the second largest in Afghanistan, of
ond part of the 1950s. He was one of the founders of ancient origin, and significant because of its strate-
the Marxist Shala-yi Javid (Eternal Flame) party in gic location on the trade and invasion route to the
1968 and was forced into hiding again that same Indian subcontinent. It is also famous in Afghani-
year. During the period of Muhammad Daud’s rule stan because it is the site of the tomb of Ahmad
(1973 to 1978), a price of 1 million Afghanis was Shah Durrani—the man who is credited with being
placed on his head, but he avoided capture. After the the founder of modern Afghanistan and ruled as its
Marxist coup of 27 April 1978, he helped found the king from 1747 to 1773. Business in the city manu-
Organization for the Liberation of the Afghan Peo- facture silks, felt for coats, and rosaries made from
ple (SAMA) and the United National Front of Af- silicate of magnesia. Kandahar has also been in-
ghanistan. He was arrested on 27 February 1980 for volved in the opium trade since the beginning of the
opposing the PDPA and executed. twentieth century. It was the capital of Afghanistan
See also Poya, Nadir Ali until Timur Shah moved the capital to Kabul in
References order to weaken the power of the Durrani chiefs. In
Hammond, Thomas Taylor. 1984. Red Flag over recent years, the city has been the center of power
Afghanistan: The Communist Coup, the Soviet for the Taliban.
Invasion and the Consequences. Boulder, CO:
The city of Kandahar is surrounded by fertile
Westview Press.
land and renowned for the cultivation of fruit, espe-
KAM cially grapes and pomegranates. Kandahar is con-
KAM, the acronym for the Workers’ Intelligence In- nected by a tarmac highway with Kabul, Herat, and
stitute (Da Kargaron Amniyyati Mu’assan), was es- Chaman on the border with Pakistan, and it became
tablished by President Hafizullah Amin an important trade and commercial center because it
(1978–1979) and was the successor to the security was a key location on the route to Iran and Pakistan.
service set up by President Nur Muhammad Taraki. The city also has a major airport. It is dominated by
The security service was headed by Aziz Ahmad Ak- the Durranis, who have tended to support the for-
bari from August to September 1979, but Akbari mer king Zahir. On 5 November 1994, the city was
was replaced by Asadullah Amin, the nephew of captured by the Taliban, who made it their provincial
President Hafizullah Amin. Both Asadullah Amin capital, and it was the base for Mullah Muhammad
and the president were killed on 27 December 1979 Omar, the leader of the Taliban movement, until it
by Soviet special forces. fell to anti-Taliban forces in 2001. Although the Tal-
iban had promised to defend Kandahar to the death,
See also Afghan Security Service; KHAD
References
the city was abandoned after a short siege and U.S.
Rubin, Barnett R. 2002. The Fragmentation of bombing raids. The control of both the city and
Afghanistan. 2nd ed. New Haven, CT: Yale University province of Kandahar is critical to the continued
Press. success of the central government in Kabul.
References
KANDAHAR PROVINCE Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political
Kandahar Province is located in south-central Af- Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria:
ghanistan and is bounded on the west by Helmand Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt.
KARMAL, BABRAK 141
Interior of the City of Kandahar. Engraving from Scenery, Inhabitants and Costumes of Afghanistan (Stapleton Collection/Corbis)
KARMAL, BABRAK (1929–1996) worked from 1961 to 1963, all the while increasing
Babrak Karmal was said to have been a liberal dem- his involvement in political activities. In 1965 and
ocrat activist who became a Marxist, as demon- again in 1969, he was elected to the Wolesi Jirga
strated by his adoption of the pen name Karmal (House of the People) as a representative of Kabul, a
(meaning “son of labor”) in 1954. He was born in position he held until 1973.
1929 in Kabul, the son of Maj. Gen. Muhammad In 1974, Karmal became a member of the
Husain, former governor of Paktia Province. He was founding congress of the People’s Democratic
educated at Nejat High School, from which he grad- Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) and was elected as a
uated in 1948, but was refused entry to the Faculty member and secretary of the party’s Central Com-
of Law and Political Science at Kabul University be- mittee. From 1965 to 1977, he led the Parcham fac-
cause of his student union activities. However, he at- tion of the PDPA, which reunited with the Khalq
tended another institution, the College of Law and in 1977. He was a member of the Secretariat and of
Political Science, from 1951 to 1953, when he was the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of
imprisoned, again because of his political activities the PDPA in 1977 but was arrested again in the fol-
among the student body. lowing year after the funeral of Mir Akbar Khaibar.
He was released from prison in 1956 by President (Khaibar was the editor of Parcham, the newspaper
Muhammad Daud and obtained employment as a of the Parchami faction of the PDPA, and had been
translator of English and German before going on assassinated, it was claimed, by Khalq supporters.)
to military training in 1957. Karmal graduated from Karmal was released after the Saur Revolt of 27
the College of Law and Political Science in 1960 and April 1978, which brought the Communists to
one year later joined the Compilation and Transla- power, and he was elected vice-chair of the Revo-
tion Department of the Ministry of Education. He lutionary Council and deputy prime minister of
moved to the Ministry of Planning, where he Afghanistan. Karmal was an eloquent orator, an
142 KARZAI, HAMID
expert propagandist, and one of the most able of ghanistan and their U.S. backers. After the mu-
the Marxist leaders. jahideen defeated the Marxist government in 1992,
In July 1978, he was appointed Afghan’s ambas- Karzai returned to Afghanistan and became deputy
sador to Czechoslovakia but was dismissed a month foreign minister in the government of President
later after being accused of plotting against the rev- Burhanuddin Rabbani until 1994. However, he grew
olutionary government; thereafter, he was deprived disillusioned with the infighting of the mujahideen
of his party membership and all his positions. He leaders and left the government. He briefly joined
returned to Kabul and succeeded Hafizullah Amin the Taliban, who once tried to make him their rep-
on 27 December 1929, becoming president and sec- resentative to the United Nations, a post he de-
retary-general of the PDPA, posts he held until clined. An Islamic moderate, Karzai soon turned
1986, when he was replaced by Dr. Muhammad Na- against the excesses of the Taliban regime, being
jibullah. He then left Afghanistan for Moscow until particularly opposed to its brutal restrictions on
the fall of the Marxist regime in his homeland in women. He also became concerned that the move-
April 1992; he returned to Mazar-i Sharif, which was ment had been infiltrated and was being controlled
held by his friend Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum. He by foreigners, including Pakistanis, Chechens, and
later went back to Moscow, where he died of cancer militant Arab radicals from Egypt, Saudi Arabia,
in December 1996. and the gulf states.
See also People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan Karzai again left Afghanistan for Pakistan with
References his father, who had been a deputy in the Afghan
Hammond, Thomas Taylor. 1984. Red Flag over government; the elder Karzai was assassinated at age
Afghanistan: The Communist Coup, the Soviet 75 in Quetta, probably by Taliban agents. As a result
Invasion, and the Consequences. Boulder, CO: of this act, Hamid Karzai became an implacable foe
Westview Press. of the Taliban, and he approached Washington with
plans for leading a resistance to the extremist move-
KARZAI, HAMID (1959– ) ment. His opposition to the Taliban was also due to
Hamid Karzai was appointed head of the Afghan In- the destruction being caused in Afghanistan by rad-
terim Government in December 2001 and conical Arab elements and other foreign fighters who
firmed as president of Afghanistan for a further pe- wantonly destroyed houses, orchards, and vine-
riod of two years by the Loya Jirga (Grand Council) yards. He has also accused Taliban members of
held in June 2002. As such, he is responsible for killing Afghans without cause, other than the desire
bringing peace to a troubled nation, resolving issues to impose their will on the population.
related to the power of the warlords, and trying to The 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the
rebuild the infrastructure and economy of Afghani- United States persuaded Karzai that it was time to
stan utilizing international aid. Karzai is a powerful act, and on 7 October, he slipped across the border
Pashtun tribal leader from Kandahar, the power into Afghanistan. He first went to his ancestral vil-
base of the Taliban, and is a member of the same lage of Karz, near Kandahar, before setting off into
clan as the former king, Mohammed Zahir Shah. the mountains of Oruzgan Province, where he
Karzai received part of his education in India and started to recruit other tribal leaders to join the
speaks fluent English and six other languages. Un- anti-Taliban cause. However, he soon became a
usually for an Afghan, he was a bachelor until the target for the Taliban, and he only avoided death or
age of forty; in1999, he married an obstetrician-gy- at least capture in a Taliban ambush by calling on
necologist who has been active in assisting refugees U.S. forces to mount a helicopter rescue operation
in Pakistan. His lateness in marrying was due to his in November 2001. He soon returned to the
dedication to the cause of Afghanistan; personal mountains and continued his recruitment drive to
considerations were not a priority for him until his oppose the Taliban, which grew in popularity as
mother contracted a fatal illness and expressed a de- Northern Alliance forces continued their advance
sire to see him settled before she died. toward Kabul, backed by U.S. air strikes. In De-
Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in cember 2001, Karzai was instrumental in securing
1979, Karzai fled to Pakistan, where he set up supply the negotiated surrender of the city of Kandahar,
routes between the mujahideen guerrillas in Af- the Taliban stronghold that Mullah Muhammad
KARZAI, HAMID 143
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld (left) escorts Chairman of the Afghan Interim Administration Hamid Karzai through an
honor cordon and into the Pentagon on 28 January 2002. (R. D. Ward/Department of Defense)
Omar, the leader of the Taliban movement, had the posts of minister of public health and minister
promised to defend to the death. The Taliban fled of women’s affairs. Karzai’s position was not an en-
into the mountains before the handover could take viable one, for he was beset by problems even before
place. he assumed control, primarily because the new gov-
Also in December 2001, Karzai was nominated ernment had not included the regional warlords,
as leader of the Afghan Interim Government by the who had been sidelined by the Bonn Conference.
UN-sponsored Bonn Conference; he was supposed Opposition came from a variety of sources, with
to hold the post for six months until a loya jirga Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum being the most angry
could be convened. A transitional government was and problematic opponent, due to his having been
then appointed for a period of two years, pending ignored and key defense and security posts having
the holding of new elections, under a newly drafted gone to rivals in the Northern Alliance. As leader of
constitution. Some Afghan leaders are skeptical of the Uzbek minority and controller of a large part of
Karzai, as they feel Afghanistan can only be ruled by northern Afghanistan, with an army of 7,000 men,
a battle-hardened fighter, but others—and the inter- Dostum is a formidable player in Afghan politics.
national community—feel that someone with his The former president, Burhanuddin Rabbani, was
leadership qualities, astute diplomacy, and the man- also considered to be a possible center of opposi-
ner and judgment of a civilian is well placed to tion, with some Pakistani intelligence officers re-
counter the misrule of the various warlords. porting that Rabbani supporters had been buying
After the fall of Kandahar, Karzai set off to Kabul allegiance among Pashtun leaders in eastern Af-
to formally take up his post as leader of the Afghan ghanistan to oppose both Karzai and the return of
government on 22 December 2001. His thirty- the former king using funds that were possibly sup-
member cabinet included two women, occupying plied by Iran.
144 KARZAI, HAMID
Karzai calls himself “a pauper king” and fol- Afghan people desired peace, stability, and disarma-
lows a relatively austere lifestyle, maintaining a ment and that the existing peace needed to be
simply furnished office and infrastructure to re- strengthened.
flect the suffering of the majority of the Afghan The administration of President Karzai is beset
population. His strength derives from several with difficulties. At present, his authority is, by and
facts: that he was not involved in the civil war be- large, limited to Kabul, and the power of the re-
tween the mujahideen groups, that he opposed gional warlords has yet to be challenged. A further
the Taliban when the excesses of the regime be- concern is that the Taliban and al-Qaeda have not
came apparent, and that he is a respected tribal been eradicated and pose a real threat to future sta-
leader who considers himself an Afghan first and bility, especially as Mullah Omar, former leader of
a Pashtun second. However, the weakness of the the Taliban, is still at large. The regime also faces
new government was illustrated on 14 February major problems over the return and resettlement of
2002 when the tourism minister, Abdul Rahman, refugees and the slow arrival of reconstruction aid
was murdered at the Kabul airport. First reports promised by the international community. A great
indicated that he was killed by an angry mob of deal of the credibility of the new regime rests on the
pilgrims who were waiting to go on the hajj. They ability of the president to deliver on two fronts—
had experienced long delays because of the lack of stability and reconstruction—with both being
aircraft and were supposedly incensed that the somewhat tenuous as of July 2003.
minister was boarding a plane to New Delhi. The problem of stability was again highlighted in
However, subsequent statements from Karzai’s of- September 2002 when a car bomb in Kabul killed at
fice indicated that the killing was really an assassi- least ten people, followed a few hours later by an as-
nation, and key members of the Northern Alliance sassination attack on President Karzai in Kandahar.
were named as being involved in the murder. These incidents were not totally isolated: there had
There is some speculation that the original ver- been eight explosions in Kabul in less than a month;
sion is correct and that the official version of Karzai’s deputy, Haji Abdul Qadir, had been assassi-
events is being used to counter factional opposi- nated in July; and there had been a number of
tion. Five officials were arrested in Afghanistan bombings and ambushes of U.S. forces throughout
and three in Mecca, Saudi Arabia—Gen. Abdullah the summer. These events demonstrated the
Jan Tawhidi, head of intelligence, Qalander Bed, a fragility of the regime, which was under attack by
senior defense official, and Sananwal Haleem, a the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and other dissident elements,
senior prosecutor in the Ministry of Justice. some of whom were former mujahideen leaders.
The Loya Jirga, which was opened by the former One of these was Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who had
king Zahir on 11 June 2002, elected Hamid Karzai as declared a jihad against foreign forces in Afghani-
president by a landslide vote, though this was aided stan and who, it is thought, might still be receiving
by the king’s announcement that he did not wish to support from Iran despite being expelled by the
become involved in Afghan politics, the withdrawal Iranian regime.
from the contest of former president Rabbani and The countryside is firmly in the hands of the
the support of a number of powerful Tajik leaders, warlords, and there is also a great deal of suspicion
including Mohammad Qasin Fahim, the defense among the Pashtuns, who previously had domi-
minister, and Younis Qanooni, another Tajik minis- nated the country’s politics, in regard to the large
ter. In his acceptance address, Karzai called for rec- number of ethnic Tajiks in the government. This
onciliation in the post-Taliban era and stated that suspicion has been exploited by opposition forces
ordinary members of the religious militia should anxious to use this rivalry to foment a new jihad
not be prosecuted. He also said that a prime concern against President Karzai. The rivalry among local
had to be the reconstruction of the devastated coun- warlords has also helped Karzai’s opponents, espe-
try, with foreign aid being spent with transparency cially since many of the regional chieftains have
and precision and protected from plundering and been recognized by the new government or financed
looting, as it would be the only chance that Afghan- and armed by the United States to aid in the hunt
istan would have to receive aid for its reconstruc- for Osama bin Laden’s fighters. This instability is
tion. The newly elected president added that the best illustrated by events in Gardez in January 2002,
KESHTMAND, SULTAN ALI 145
where factional fighting between rival warlords re- KATAWAZI, KHILGAL MUHAMMAD (1948– )
sulted in a number of deaths and injuries to fighters Khilgal Muhammad Katawazi was a founding
and civilians alike. The struggle between the Karzai- member of the Khalq faction of the People’s Demo-
appointed governor of Paktia Province, Badsha cratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). He had been a
Khan, and the tribal leader of Gardez City, Hajji Say- producer for Radio Afghanistan before undergoing
fullah, threatened the stability of the government, military training in 1972 and rejoined the radio sta-
especially because forces loyal to the administration tion in 1973. He was used by the PDPA as a messen-
were told to remain neutral, despite the governor’s ger to take instructions to the armed forces to begin
defeat, and because U.S. soldiers in the area made it the Saur Revolt on 27 April 1978, ushering in the
plain that they were not taking sides. Most civilians Communist regime. He was born in 1948 in
were bitter at the actions of both factions and fer- Sharno-Katawaz in Paktia Province and entered a
vently wished the government to bring peace and career in journalism after receiving a degree from
security. Kabul’s response was to set up a commis- the Faculty of Letters at Kabul University in 1970.
sion under the border affairs minister, Amanullah Following the Saur Revolt, he became deputy min-
Zadran, to investigate the situation and determine ister of radio and television and then minister of in-
whether there had been interference from Pakistan, formation and Culture in April 1979. He was a
Iran, the Taliban, or al-Qaeda. member of the Central Committee and Revolution-
The Karzai regime is seen as deriving power from ary Council of the PDPA and trained under Nur
the presence of foreign forces, comprising U.S. Muhammad Taraki, the prime minister of Afghani-
troops, Coalition special forces backed by U.S. air- stan from 1978 to 1979. However, on the fall of the
power, and the International Security Assistance Khalq government led by Hafizullah Amin in De-
Force (ISAF) in Kabul, provided by European na- cember 1979, he was arrested and jailed in the Pul-i
tions and headed by Turkey. For some time, Karzai Charkhi prison.
had been requesting an expansion of the ISAF’s See also People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan
mandate, but such a move was consistently opposed References
by the United States, which wanted to speed the ex- Arnold, Anthony. 1983. Afghan’s Two-Party
traction of troops from Afghanistan. However, to- Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Stanford, CA:
ward the end of 2002, the Bush administration Hoover Institution Press.
began to relax its opposition to a more extensive
ISAF, although the United States made no commit- KESHTMAND, SULTAN ALI (1935– )
ment in terms of troops or funding. At this point, it Sultan Ali Keshtmand stood for election to the
seems evident that the Karzai government will only lower house of the Meshrano Jirga (Upper House
be kept in power by expanding the present author- of Parliament) in 1965 but was not voted in, and he
ity of Coalition troops, especially with the threat of secretly became a member of the Central Commit-
the Taliban and al-Qaeda still to be resolved and re- tee of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan
construction still to materialize. (PDPA). He was born in 1935, son of Njaf Ali, a
See also Afghanistan Interim Government; Coalition Hazara, and graduated in economics from Kabul
Land Campaign against the Taliban; Dostum, Gen. University. He became director of the Economic
Abdul Rashid; International Security Assistance Section of the Ministry of Mines and Industries in
Force; UK Special Forces; U.S. Special Forces 1967. After the Saur Revolt of 27 April 1978 and the
References advent of Communist rule, he became minister of
“Insecure and Suddenly Even the Capital Is Dangerous.” planning, but he was arrested in August 1978 and
2002. Economist (London) 364, no. 8289: 42–43. accused of plotting against the Khalq government.
McGirk, Tim. 2002. “Lonely at the Top.” Time Atlantic
He was sentenced to death, but on 7 October 1979,
159, no. 9: 36–38.
McGirk, Tim, Massimo Calabresi, Mark Thompson,
his sentence was commuted to fifteen years of im-
Ron Stodgill II, and Charles P. Wallace. 2001. “The prisonment. After the downfall of Hafizullah Amin,
Great New Afghan Hope.” Time Atlantic 158, no. 25: the Khalq leader, on 27 December 1979, Kesht-
41–42. mand was appointed deputy prime minister, vice-
Quinn-Judge, Paul. 2001. “So Many Warlords, So Little president of the Revolutionary Council, and minis-
Time.” Time Atlantic 159, no. 4: 23. ter of planning. He was also a member of the
146 KHAD
Politburo and president of the Revolutionary 1986. Khaibar served as an officer in the Ministry
Council and became prime minister in June 1981. of the Interior from 1955 to 1965 but was banished
He was prime minister from 1981 to 1988. In May to Paktia Province from 1965 to 1975. He was one
1990, he was appointed first vice-president of Af- of the founding members of the PDPA and a
ghanistan, but in February 1991, he was ousted member of its Central Committee. He became ed-
from all his positions and left for Moscow, return- itor of Parcham, the party’s weekly newspaper, and
ing to Kabul in July 1991. After the fall of Kabul to was in charge of the party’s recruitment activities
the mujahideen, he left Afghanistan. He remains in within the armed forces. He was assassinated on 17
exile. April 1978 following a visit to the Bagram air base.
References According to Parchami sources, the assassins were
Arnold, Anthony. 1983. Afghanistan’s Two-Party supporters of the Khalq faction led by Hafizullah
Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Stanford, CA: Amin, but other sources pointed to Daudists
Hoover Institution Press. (Muhammad Daud’s supporters). However, his
death and the arrest of members of both factions
KHAD of the party provided the trigger for the Saur Re-
KHAD is the acronym for the State Security Ser- volt of 27 April 1978, which brought the Commu-
vice (Khedamat-i Ettela’at-i Daulati) that was set nists to power.
up by Babrak Karmal. The organization was ini- See also People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan
tially headed by Dr. Muhammad Najibullah, be- References
fore he became secretary-general of the People’s Arnold, Anthony. 1983. Afghanistan’s Two-Party
Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) and Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Stanford, CA:
then president of Afghanistan. Under Najibullah, Hoover Institution Press.
the organization was upgraded to a ministry and
became known as Wazarat-i Ettela’at-i Daulati KHALES, YUNIS (1919– )
(WAD). Najibullah was replaced by Gen. Ghulam Yunis Khales is the leader of a group called the Is-
Faruq Yaqubi. The organization had several thou- lamic Party—Khales, having left Gulbuddin Hek-
sand operatives as well as informers in all matyar’s group of the same root name. Khales was
branches of the military and in the National born in 1919 in Gandomak and was educated in Is-
Guard. The State Security Service was well lamic law and theology after graduating from the
trained, disciplined, well armed, well paid, and a Shah Mahmud High School in Faizabad and teach-
major source of President Najibullah’s power. ing in a Yaftal primary school. An Islamist and fer-
Control of the security forces rested with the Par- vent anti-Communist, he was forced to flee to Pak-
chami faction, which provided a balance to the istan following the coup staged by Muhammad
Khalq influences in the military (which KHAD Daud in 1973. He joined Hekmatyar’s resistance
had also penetrated). movement in 1979, fighting in Badakhshan
See also Afghan Security Service; KAM Province and commanding the group operating in
References the Upper Yuftasl region. His breakaway group was
Rubin, Barnett R. 2002. The Fragmentation of active in armed raids on the Marxist government in
Afghanistan. 2nd ed. New Haven, CT: Yale University Kabul, particularly in the Khugiana area. Khales was
Press. a member of the Afghan Interim Government
(AIG) and was appointed minister of the interior;
KHAIBAR, MIR AKBAR (1925–1978) he resigned from this post in May 1991, though he
Mir Akbar Khaibar was born in 1925 in Logar and was originally one of the AIG’s strongest supporters.
attended Kabul Military School, graduating in As a radical, Khales is opposed to the concept of
1947. In 1950, he was arrested and sentenced to six universal suffrage, the emancipation of women, and
years of imprisonment, and during that period, he Shi’a participation in the AIG.
met Babrak Karmal, a leading member of the Peo- See also Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin; Islamic Party—Khales
ple’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) References
who would become secretary-general of the party Rashid, Ahmed. 2001. Taliban: The Story of the Afghan
and then president of Afghanistan from 1979 to Warlords. London: Pan.
KHOST 147
KHALILULLAH, LIEUTENANT GENERAL References

(1944– ) Rubin, Barnett R. 1988. “Soviet Militarism, Islamic
The son of a farmer, Khalilullah was born in 1944 Resistance and Peace in Afghanistan.” Typescript.
in Shiwaki and attended Ghazi High School be- Afghan Research Center, University of Nebraska,
fore going to military school for a one-year course Omaha.
in 1963. His career was marked by a series of mil-
itary appointments and postings, and he played a KHAN, KHAN ABDUL GHAFFAR (1890–1988?)
significant role in the delivery of military support Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was a Pashtun national-
for the coup staged by Muhammad Daud in 1973 ist who advocated nonviolent means for gaining in-
and the Saur Revolt of 27 April 1978 (which ush- dependence from Britain for Afghans living in the
ered in Communists rule), through his position as frontier areas of British India and later Pakistan. He
chief of staff of the Eighty-Eighth Corps from was the founder of a number of organizations, in-
1973 to 1978. As a result of the factional infighting cluding the Red Shirts, or Servants of God, and en-
within the PDPA, he was imprisoned from July joyed enormous popularity in Afghanistan and the
1978 until the downfall of the Khalq regime under North-West Frontier Province of India.
Hafizullah Amin on 27 December 1979. On his re- Khan was born in 1890 in the North-West Fron-
lease, he was made commander of the Central tier Province and educated in a village school in Ut-
Forces and of the Kabul garrison. He was a mem- manzai prior to going to high school in Peshawar.
ber of the Central Committee and Revolutionary Due to his Pashtun nationalist activities, especially
Council of the PDPA and served as deputy minis- his founding of the Red Shirts, he was imprisoned
ter of defense until January 1984, when he became several times by the British Indian and Pakistan gov-
governor of Herat and commander of the Western ernments, but he still attracted a large following and
Zone. was acclaimed as “the Frontier Ghandi.” His organi-
See also People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan zation was allied with the Congress Party of Ma-
References hatma Gandhi, divided into cells, and represented in
Arnold, Anthony. 1983. Afghanistan’s Two-Part most villages in the frontier region.
Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Stanford, CA: Due to his political activities, Khan was always
Hoover Institution Press. welcomed in Kabul, as the Afghan governments
strongly supported the Pashtunistan issue (calling
KHALQ for the return of Pastun tribal territory in Pakistan
The Khalq was a faction of the People’s Democratic to Afghan control or at least the granting of inde-
Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), which was led from pendence or autonomy for the region). Indeed, King
April 1978 to September 1979 by Nur Muhammad Amanullah bestowed on Khan the title “Pride of the
Taraki and by Hafizullah Amin from September to Afghans” (Fakhri-i Afghan). Khan often lived in
December 1979. The faction was named after its Kabul as the guest of all governments—royal, re-
newspaper, Khalq (meaning “people”). Prior to this, publican, and Marxist. He died in Peshawar in the
Khalq had been reunited with the Parcham faction late 1980s and was buried in Jalalabad.
of the PDPA, led by Babrak Karmal. Together, the See also Red Shirts
two factions staged the Saur Revolt on 27 April References
1978, which brought the Communists to power. Jannson, Eland. 1981. India, Pakistan or Pakhunistan?
However, Taraki’s faction achieved dominance, and Uppsala, Sweden: Almquist.
Parcham members were purged from the leader-
ship. Karmal was able to return to power in Decem- KHOST
ber 1979 with Soviet backing, and Parcham became Khost is a town and an administrative district in
the dominant element in the PDPA. Rivalry be- Paktia Province, which occupies the upper portion
tween the two factions continued, and eventually a of the valley of the Shamil and Kaitu Rivers. The
number of Khalqis were expelled from the party, valley is 40 miles long and is watered by three
forming themselves into the Islamic Unity Party streams. Given the good water supply, the district is
(Hizb-i Wahdat). largely agricultural, and the primary crop is rice;
See also People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan cows and goats are the chief stock. The upper part
148 KHOST REBELLION
of the valley is occupied by Khostwalis and the The strategic significance of Khost has been rec-
lower part by Waziris. The town and district saw se- ognized by the U.S. military, which maintains a spe-
vere fighting during the Afghan civil war (1989 to cial forces presence at the nearby airfield and
2001) due to their strategic location on the supply ground troops based near the city. However, these
lines of the mujahideen forces, being some 18 miles soldiers have been subjected to guerrilla attacks
from Pakistan. Many of the leaders of the Marxist since their arrival and have used fighter jets to strike
regime in Kabul originally came from the district suspected enemy positions launching rocket attacks
and were supported by the population. The town on Coalition positions.
was besieged by mujahideen forces in 1986 and fi- The ability of Coalition forces and their allies to
nally fell to them on 31 March 1991, after which hunt down al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters has been
about 2,000 residents fled to Pakistan because of hindered by the factional infighting and the inabil-
concerns about their security under the mu- ity of the Karzai government to impose its authority
jahideen. The economy of the area has largely sur- on the region, though moves were made in that di-
vived because of the illegal export of timber into rection, with government troops taking control of
Pakistan, but this business has caused severe envi- Gardez in February 2003. Due to its location in re-
ronmental damage to the district. lation to Pakistan, the Khost area must be made se-
During the period of Taliban rule (1996 to 2001), cure by the Kabul government if peace and stability
Khost, as a predominately Pashtun area, was strongly is to come to Afghanistan.
pro-Taliban. The city and surrounding area became See also Coalition Land Campaign against the Taliban;
an important trading and logistic center for the Tal- Paktia Province
iban, providing a link with Pakistan and aiding in the References
movement of foreign fighters supporting the Tal- Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political
iban. Since the fall of the Taliban, the area has be- Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria:
come a base for Coalition forces hunting remnants Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt.
of the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Throughout 2002, there Krushelnycky, Askold. 2002. “Afghanistan: Khost Region
were a series of actions in the area around Khost, Is Focus of Fighting, Training.”
http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2002/04/08042002
with numerous small-scale raids made on Coalition
090002.asp (cited 8 April 2002).
forces by fighters using the steep mountain paths to Marsden, Peter. 1998. The Taliban: War, Religion and the
cross and recross the border with Pakistan. New Order in Afghanistan. London and New York:
In April 2002, U.S. Special Forces began to train Zed Books.
Afghans to fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda,
and troops loyal to Badsha Khan, who had been re- KHOST REBELLION
moved as governor of Khost by President Karzai, The Khost Rebellion began in March 1924 as a re-
fought alongside U.S. forces in Operation Anaconda sponse to the reform program of King Amanullah
in May 2002. However, the factional disputes in the and was led by the Mangal tribe, under Abdullah
region were not resolved, and on 8 September, Bad- Kan and Mulla-i-Lang. The rebels were beaten by
sha Khan was ousted from his stronghold at Khost the king’s forces the next month but not routed,
by troops loyal to the new governor, Hakim Taniwal, and they were then joined by the Sulaiman Khel
who was a supporter of President Karzai. Two days and Ali Khel tribes. In August 1924, the king de-
later, Badsha Khan launched a counterattack but clared a holy war against the rebels, but the revolt
was unsuccessful, and many civilians were injured lasted until January 1925, ending with the rebels’
and some killed in rocket attacks on the city. The ac- defeat; the leaders were taken prisoner and exe-
tion was monitored by Coalition forces, but they cuted. The revolt caused the king to slow the
were under instructions to maintain their distance process of Westernization, and reforms were not re-
and to refrain from fighting unless directly chal- sumed until 1928.
lenged. However, more fighting ensued between the See also Amanullah, King
rival factions themselves, with Badsha Khan at- References
tempting to take control of the city of Gardez, the Poullada, Leon B. 1973. Reform and Rebellion in
capital of Paktia Province. Thereafter, the U.S. forces Afghanistan, 1919–1929. Ithaca, NY: Cornell
severed all links with Badsha Khan. University Press.
KHYBER PASS 149
KHUGIANI TRIBE the border of Afghanistan to Peshawar in Pakistan.

The Khugiani tribe is a branch of the Durrani tribe, The entrance to the pass in Pakistan is at Ali Masjid
coming primarily from the Jalalabad area but also village, some 10 miles from Peshawar; the pass then
from the provinces of Laghman and Kandahar. The narrows to some 200 yards in width and runs to a
Khugianis are organized into three clans. The tribe height of 3,518 feet before widening out at
played a leading role in the revolt that led to the Tarkham, the frontier post shared with Afghanistan.
downfall of King Amanullah in 1928. Over the cen- The area occupied by the pass is largely popu-
turies, the Khugianis have been at odds with the lated by the Afridis, members of a Pashtun-speak-
neighboring tribes of the Ghilzais, on one side, and ing tribe who had always seen themselves as the
the Shinwaris, on the other. The Khugianis are now protectors of the gateway to India (now Pakistan).
part of the mujahideen forces led by Yunis Khales. At times, they have entered into military service
See also Amanullah, King with rulers of Afghanistan, serving as bodyguards
References or militia, and they fought in campaigns against
Clifford, Mary Louis. 1973. The Land and People of British India. The Khyber Pass has had a bloody
Afghanistan. Philadelphia: Lippincott. history, as evidenced by the struggles that took
place in the three Anglo-Afghan wars, particularly
KHURRAM, ALI AHMAD (1931–1977) during the British retreat in the first of those wars.
Ali Ahmad Khurram had begun his career in the The pass was critical for the transport of men and
Ministry of Planning in 1956 and served as minister munitions during the mujahideen struggle against
of that office from 1974 until he was assassinated in the Soviets (1979 to 1989), and the Afridis levied
1977. He had graduated from Kabul University in tolls on all convoys passing through their territory
1957 with a B.A. in economics, and he obtained his into Afghanistan.
M.A. in 1965 at the University of Pittsburgh, re- Such was the strategic significance of the pass to
maining in the United States until 1968 for post- the British India government that a narrow-gauge
graduate studies. In 1958, he had been made direc- railway was built at the end of the nineteenth cen-
tor of the Plan Formulation and Coordination tury to link the pass with the railway terminal at Pe-
Department, and he later became director of the shawar. Control of the pass went to Britain in 1879
Trade Department and president of planning from under the terms of the Treaty of Gandomak follow-
1956 to 1971. He served as deputy minister and then ing the Second Anglo-Afghan War. In 1893, Britain
minister of planning from 1971 to 1977. During this concluded the Durand Agreement with Amir Abdur
period, Prime Minister Muhammad Daud had de- Rahman in an attempt to demarcate the frontier be-
cided to reduce his country’s reliance on Soviet aid tween Afghanistan and British India; the border that
and to accept development funds from Arab states was decided on placed the Khyber Pass within
and Iran. As a consequence, Khurram was in- British India (in the area that became Pakistan in
structed to accept no more Soviet aid and to expe- 1947), though Afghanistan has always disputed the
dite the completion of all projects already in agreement, maintaining that it was signed under
process. On 16 November 1977, he was assassinated duress.
by Muhammad Marjan, who claimed that he was The whole region around the Khyber Pass is part
acting in the name of the Islamic revolution but was of the tribal area of Pakistan but is only loosely con-
also suspected of having allegiances to Khalq, a fac- trolled by Islamabad. As a consequence, the region
tion of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghani- and the pass have continued to be a center for the
stan. Marjan was sentenced to life imprisonment smuggling of foreign-made goods, arms, and drugs.
but was later released under a general amnesty. The trade is focused on the town of Landi Kotal,
References which is a few miles within the pass. Although the
Dupree, Louis, and Linette Albert, eds. 1974. Pakistan government has tried to suppress the trade,
Afghanistan in the 1970s. New York: Praeger. its successes have been minimal, and given the na-
ture of the terrain and the tribal society, such efforts
KHYBER PASS are unlikely to succeed in the future.
Steeped in the violent history of the region, the Khy- See also Afridi Tribe; Durand Agreement; First Anglo-
ber Pass runs through a gorge and high hills from Afghan War; Second Anglo-Afghan War
150 KUNAR PROVINCE
Trucks negotiate the winding road leading through the Khyber Pass in northwestern Pakistan. (Ric Erginbright/Corbis)
References south and east. The two ethnic groups have always
Alder, G. 1963. British India’s Northern Frontier 1869–95: been in conflict with each other, largely because of
A Study in Imperial Policy. London: Longman. Pashtun incursions into traditional Nuristan terri-
Forbes, A. 1982. The Afghan Wars, 1839–42 and tory. The territorial integrity of the province was al-
1879–80. London: Seeley. tered by the Kabul government in 1970 when it was
Storr, Lilian A. 1920. Frontier Folk of the Afghan Border
absorbed into Nangarhar, but Kunar was again des-
and Beyond. London: Church Missionary Society.
ignated as a province in 1977. Following the Soviet
withdrawal in 1989, the Kabul government created
KUNAR PROVINCE Nuristan from parts of Kunar and Laghman
Kunar Province, located in northeastern Afghani- Provinces, with the residue again being incorpo-
stan, covers some 3,742 square miles and has a pop- rated into Nangarhar Province.
ulation of about 250,000. It is dominated by Nuris- The revolt of the mujahideen began in Kunar
tanis in the north and west and Pashtuns in the Province in 1978. Nearly all of the mujahideen
KUSHANI, MAHBUBULLAH 151
groups were present in Kunar, and the bulk of the Kataghan Province, and occupies an area of 2,876
government bases in the province were captured. square miles. The provincial population is roughly
However, the two main groups at the beginning of 57,000, of whom about 53,000 live in the adminis-
the revolt were those led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar trative capital of the same name. The province is
and the Wahhabis led by Maulawi Husain Jamilur- well watered, with the major rivers being the Amu
rahman. The latter declared an Islamic amirate after Daria, Khanabad, and Kunduz. The main economic
a break with Hekmatyar. However, an explosion in activity is agriculture; cotton, beets, cane sugar, and
Jamilurrahman’s headquarters at Asadabad deci- melons are the primary crops. The province is one
mated the leadership and enabled an alliance of mu- of the few industrial areas in Afghanistan, a sector
jahideen forces to expel the Wahhabis, who were based on cotton, silk weaving, vegetable oil, soap,
backed by volunteer fighters from Arab states. and carpets. The population is largely Uzbek, but
The province’s economy is based on subsistence there are some Pashtuns and other ethnic minorities
agriculture (which is, in turn, reliant on irrigation) in the province.
and timber, being one of only two wooded provinces References
in the country, the other being Paktia. Kunar shares Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political
a border with Pakistan, and its administrative center, Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria:
Asadabad, is renowned as the birthplace of Sayyid Ja- Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt.
maluddin Afghani, the founder of the concept of
pan-Islam propagated as a counter to Western impe- KUSHANI, MAHBUBULLAH (1944– )
rialism at the end of the nineteenth century. Mahbubullah Kushani had worked in the Depart-
References ment of Water and Power in Kabul before serving in
Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political the Ministry of Planning from 1980 to 1987, be-
Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria: coming deputy prime minister in 1987 and again
Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt. beginning on 27 May 1990. He had also served as
Emadi, Hajizullah. 1990. State, Revolution, and first secretary of the Organization of Revolutionary
Superpowers in Afghanistan. New York: Praeger. Toilers of Afghanistan.
References
KUNDUZ PROVINCE Magnus, Ralph H., and Eden Naby. 2000. Afghanistan:
Kunduz Province is situated in northern Afghani- Mullah, Marx and Mujahid. Rev. ed. Boulder, CO:
stan, in the northwestern part of what used to be Westview Press.
LADEN, OSAMA BIN (1955– )
Osama bin Laden, one of the most internationally
notorious Islamic fundamentalists, is the leader of
the al-Qaeda terrorist network and is charged with
responsibility for the abortive attack on the World
L
Trade Center in 1993, the bombing of the U.S. em-
bassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and the sui- left Afghanistan in 1989 after the Soviet withdrawal
cide attack on the USS Cole in Aden in October and returned to Saudi Arabia, where he founded an
2000. There is also strong suspicion that he was be- organization to help fighters returning from Af-
hind operations against the United States in Soma- ghanistan, many of whom then went to fight in
lia and bomb attacks on U.S. military facilities in Bosnia: this was the embryonic al-Qaeda organiza-
Saudi Arabia. Worldwide condemnation came tion. Bin Laden also continued his studies with Is-
when he was deemed responsible for the terrorist lamic radical thinkers and became incensed by
attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and Saudi Arabia’s willingness to allow U.S. military
the Pentagon building in Washington on 11 Sep- forces to be stationed on its soil during the Gulf War
tember 2001. against Iraq, which was sparked by Iraq’s invasion of
Bin Laden became involved in Afghanistan as a Kuwait. He was expelled by the Saudi administra-
mujahideen leader fighting against the Soviet occu- tion in 1991 for his antigovernment activities and
pation forces and the Marxist government in Kabul went to Sudan.
and later as a supporter of the Taliban regime. The Bin Laden remained active in extremist Islamic
seventeenth son of a Saudi who ran an extremely causes in Sudan. At the same time, he was providing
successful construction business, he received a de- funding to Islamic humanitarian organizations, to
gree in public administration from King Abdul- other Islamic groups, and to militant Islamic publi-
Aziz University, Jeddah, in 1981, before joining the cations. In 1994, he was stripped of his Saudi citi-
family firm. He became extremely religious when zenship and disowned by his family; the Saudi gov-
he was involved in the reconstruction of the holy ernment also froze his assets in the kingdom, but he
mosques in Mecca and Medina, which was done by had removed the bulk of his funds when he left for
his father’s company. However, his political outlook Sudan. In 1995, it was reported that he was behind
and his fervent Islamic fundamentalism was largely the formation of the “Gulf Battalion” organized by
shaped by his move to Afghanistan in 1979 to help the Guardians of the Iranian Revolution, and it was
the Afghans in their struggle against the Soviets and thought that the Yemeni fundamentalist Abd-al-
the Marxist government in Kabul. Largely as a result Majid-al-Zandai housed some of these fighters in
of his fervor and the funds at his disposal, he was his training camps. A year later, bin Laden was be-
able to recruit a large number of Arab fighters to go hind attacks on U.S. personnel and facilities in
with him to Afghanistan, and he also attracted some Riyadh and Khobar in Saudi Arabia, justifying these
recruits from students at Pakistani madrasas (reli- attacks on the grounds that infidel soldiers should
gious schools). not be present in the holy land of Islam.
He spent ten years in Afghanistan as a successful In 1996, bin Laden was expelled from Sudan.
mujahideen leader and, ironically, received U.S. mil- His expulsion was the result of pressure applied on
itary aid arranged by the Central Intelligence the Sudanese government by the United States and
Agency (CIA) and channeled through the Inter-Ser- Saudi Arabia as well as the threat of UN sanctions
vices Intelligence Service of Pakistan. However, he that resulted from Sudan’s alleged complicity in the
153
154 LADEN, OSAMA BIN
attempted assassination of President Hosni aircraft were prohibited from taking off or landing.
Mubarak of Egypt while on a visit to Ethiopia. After Despite this international pressure, the Taliban re-
his expulsion, bin Laden returned to Afghanistan, fused to budge, insisting that under Islamic law, bin
where he continued to support extremist Islamic Laden was a guest and that he was no longer in com-
activities. His base was at the Taliban-held town of munication with his followers. However, it is clear
Jalalabad, where he was accompanied by about fifty that followers of bin Laden were active in Chechnya,
family members and followers. In February 1997, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kashmir and probably
the new Taliban government in Kabul refused a linked with Islamic militants in Indonesia and the
U.S. request to expel bin Laden, turning down an Philippines, using funds supplied by bin Laden. His
offer from the West to grant the Taliban interna- finances are spread around the world through com-
tional recognition and an opportunity to take Af- panies involved in property management, maritime
ghanistan’s seat in international organizations. On transport, aircraft rental, construction, and a range
19 March 1997, an attempt was made to assassinate of other commercial activities. He has major con-
bin Laden in Jalalabad: an explosion destroyed the struction and agricultural investments in Sudan and
police station, killed more than 50 people, and commercial interests in Somalia, Luxembourg, and
wounded another 150. As a result of this attack, bin Switzerland, making it difficult to track down and
Laden moved his base to Kandahar, which was the neutralize many of his financial transactions.
Taliban stronghold and the home of the Taliban’s The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in
leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar. The Taliban New York and the Pentagon in Washington on 11
have since claimed that they had moved his loca- September 2001 radically changed the attitude of
tion in order to place him under house arrest and the international community toward Osama bin
to prevent his use of Afghan soil to harm any coun- Laden, al-Qaeda, and the Taliban regime in Afghan-
try, including Saudi Arabia. istan. The United States and the United Kingdom
In February 1998, bin Laden announced the for- quickly laid the responsibility for the atrocities at
mation of a new alliance of terrorist organizations bin Laden’s door, and, in response, he released a
entitled the World Islamic Front for the Jihad video, transmitted by the al-Jazeera satellite tele-
against Jews and Crusaders, which included a num- vision station in Qatar, applauding the attacks as le-
ber of militant groups, particularly in Egypt. The gitimate strikes against an infidel nation. Subse-
main plank of the front’s policy was the declared in- quent investigations also began to produce evidence
tention to attack America and its allies, including linking the hijackers of the aircraft involved in the
civilians, anywhere in the world. By May 1998, the September attacks to Osama bin Laden and the al-
front had effectively merged with bin Laden’s al- Qaeda network, which clearly had followers in Eu-
Qaeda network. During all of this activity, bin rope. The loss of nearly 4,000 lives in the terrorist at-
Laden continued to be sheltered by the Taliban tacks shook the world and led George W. Bush’s
regime, which resisted international efforts to secure administration to declare that the United States was
his expulsion from Afghanistan. On 20 August 1998, now involved in a “War on Terror.” The U.S. policy
the United States attacked al-Qaeda training camps was immediately backed by the United Kingdom.
set up by bin Laden, but the assault had limited ef- It was determined that military action was
fect and no real military value. At the same time, needed to overthrow the Taliban regime in Afghan-
President Bill Clinton froze all of bin Laden’s assets istan, to destroy al-Qaeda, and to capture and bring
in the United States, which included property and to justice Osama bin Laden. This effort was to be
bank accounts. undertaken under the terms of the UN Charter,
On 15 October 1999, the UN Security Council which allows nations to act in self-defense. An oper-
demanded that the Taliban regime hand over ation entitled Enduring Freedom was launched by
Osama bin Laden to authorities in a country where the United States and the United Kingdom in Octo-
he could be brought to justice for indicted crimes. ber 2001 with Cruise missile attacks on strategic in-
This demand was backed by a threat to impose terests of the Taliban regime, on suspected al-Qaeda
sanctions. After further Taliban intransigence, these training camps, and on possible hideouts of Osama
sanctions were imposed on 14 November: all Tal- bin Laden and his immediate entourage. In addi-
iban funds were ordered frozen, and Taliban-owned tion, support was provided for the forces opposing
LADEN, OSAMA BIN 155
the Taliban, largely through the supply of military real knowledge as to whether he is dead or alive. Al-
equipment and intelligence and the deployment of though a number of al-Qaeda members have been
U.S. and UK Special Forces. Action was then inten- captured, no intelligence on the whereabouts of bin
sified through bombing raids by the U.S. Air Force, Laden has been forthcoming. But his network is still
designed to destroy the Taliban’s infrastructure and in existence, as evidenced by terrorist activity in In-
to weaken their resistance so that opposition forces donesia, the Philippines, and Yemen and continued
would be able to oust the regime. The military resis- operations against the Interim Government in Af-
tance of the Taliban soon crumbled, and the oppo- ghanistan. Speculation is also mounting that Osama
sition forces quickly gained control over the bulk of bin Laden’s son, Saad bin Laden, is now heavily in-
Afghanistan. The remnants of the Taliban and al- volved in operations, and he is suspected of being
Qaeda fighters withdrew to the mountain regions implicated in the bombing of a Tunisian synagogue
close to the Pakistan border. on 11 April 2002 that killed nineteen people, most
The United States and United Kingdom finally of whom were German tourists.
deployed conventional ground troops in an en- It now seems likely that bin Laden is still alive.
deavor to eliminate the Taliban and al-Qaeda, with Experts have examined an audiocassette featuring
specific operations being mounted to achieve this him that was handed to the al-Jazeera television sta-
objective. In December 2001, a major U.S. action tion, and they believe the tape is genuine. The
was mounted in the Tora Bora region, where it was bombing attack in Bali and the attack in Tunisia
thought that some 4,000 to 5,000 fighters were hid- were mentioned on the tape, so the currency of the
ing in the mountains amid a complex of caves and information is not in question. And on the tape, fur-
bunkers; bin Laden was thought to be with that ther action against America and its allies was threat-
force. A bombing campaign was begun, followed by ened, with the United Kingdom seen as a likely tar-
an assault by U.S. ground forces and Afghan allies. get. This prospect has been reinforced by another
Crucially, however, a snowy track to the south was audiotape broadcast by al-Jazeera on 11 February
left open, and it is reported that this was used as an 2003, which Western intelligence services deem to
escape route by a large number of al-Qaeda fight- be genuine; on this tape, bin Laden mentioned the
ers. Some observers and U.S. intelligence officials Tora Bora battle, offered support for the Iraqi peo-
felt that the U.S. military force had been too small ple, and advocated further attacks on the United
and that too much reliance had been placed on States and Israel.
Afghan warlords who were more interested in re- See also Coalition Land Campaign against the Taliban;
ceiving U.S. payments than capturing al-Qaeda al-Qaeda; 11 September 2001; Taliban; UN Sanctions
fighters. Some thought that bin Laden may have References
been killed or injured during the U.S. bombard- Abu Khalil, A. 2002. Bin Laden, Islam and America’s New
ments, but it was subsequently reported that he had “War on Terrorism.” Washington, DC: Seven Stories
escaped from the Tora Bora region in the first two Press.
weeks of December, fleeing into Afghanistan under Bergen, Peter, and Rachel Klayman, eds. 2001. Holy War
the escort of Pakistani frontier tribesmen in return Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden. New
for a large sum of money. The Indian press re- York: Free Press.
ported that bin Laden had paid $15 million for safe Bodansky, Yossef, and Helen Deliel Bentley. 1999. Bin
conduct across the border and that he was certainly Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America.
Rocklin, CA: Forum.
accompanied by his deputy Ayman Muhammad al-
Cooley, John K. 1999. Unholy Wars: Afghanistan,
Zawahiri, who was also treating bin Laden for his
America and International Terrorism. Sterling, VA:
kidney ailment.
Pluto Press.
It is clear that a large number of bin Laden’s fol- Reeve, Simon. 1999. The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef,
lowers escaped from Afghanistan into Iran and Pak- Osma bin Laden and the Future of Terrorism. Boston:
istan, with some having made their way to Kashmir, Northeastern University Press.
Yemen, Chechnya, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Reid, Robert H. 2003. “Man Thought to Be Osama bin
Bin Laden was allegedly seen in Shah-i-Kot and Laden Urges Followers to Back Saddam; US Says It
Waziristan in February 2002, but since that time, no Shows Iraqi Ties to al Qaeda.” http://story.nes.
substantive news has emerged. In fact, there is no yahoo.com/news (cited 15 April 2003).
156 LAGHMAN PROVINCE
LAGHMAN PROVINCE LANGUAGES

Laghman Province in eastern Afghanistan comprises Afghanistan has three main languages—Pashtu,
an area of 2,790 square miles and has a population of Dari, and Turki—and a number of dialects and mi-
about 387,000; Mehtarlam is its administrative cen- nority languages. Pashtu-speakers are the dominant
ter. It is bordered by the provinces of Kunar in the group. Dari is the second most widely spoken lan-
east, Kabul in the southwest, Nangarhar in the south, guage, largely used by the Hazaras, and it also the
and Badakhshan in the north. The eastern boundary main language of education. Pashtu and Dari are
is a chain of spurs from the Kashmund range and the official languages of Afghanistan, and most
consists of sandy hillocks with no vegetation. The Afghans are bilingual. The Turki language is spoken
northern part of the province is extremely attractive, by the Uzbeks, and dialects of it are used by Turko-
and the area is irrigated by the Kabul and Alishang mans and other ethnic groups. A number of smaller
Rivers. The province used to be Kafiri territory but is language groups exist, including Baluchi, Brahui,
now populated by Ghilzais, Tajiks, and some Hindus. and Nuristani; Nuristani had, at one time, been rec-
According to local mythology, Noah’s Ark landed on ognized by the Marxist government as the national
Kund Mountain; the province was originally named language. Language divisions based on ethnicity
Larnech after Noah’s father. contribute to instability and mistrust among the
References tribal groups.
Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political See also Dari Language; Pashtu Language
Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria: References
Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt. Miran, M. Alan. 1977. The Functions of National
Data Collection for Afghan Repatriation Project. 1989. Language in Afghanistan. New York: Afghanistan
Laghman Province. Islamabad: UN High Council, Asia Society.
Commissioner for Refugees. Morgenstierne, G. 1967. “The Language of Afghanistan.”
Afghanistan 20, no. 3: 81–90.
LALA PIR
Lala Pir, also known as Sayyid Lal Shah, was a mul- LAYEQ, SULAIMAN (1930– )
lah from Khost who was summoned to Kabul in Sulaiman Layeq was a founding member of the
1906 and appointed by Nasrullah Khan as his agent People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA)
to work among the Khostwalis, Waziris, and Mah- and editor in chief of the party newspaper, Par-
suds. In 1907, Lala Pir was extremely active in deal- cham. He was born on 7 October 1930, the son of
ing with the mullahs of the various tribes, and he se- Maulawi Abdul Ghani, who was a devotee of
cured the allegiance of Mullah Powinda and Mullah Sheikh Ahmed Sarkindi. Prior to his general state
Hamzullah against the British government in the schooling, Layeq received a mosque education,
eastern provinces. studying Dari verse books and elementary Arabic.
However, Lala Pir was most active in his struggles In 1941, he was enrolled at the Habibia High School
against the British in the northwest frontier and then transferred to the Pagham School of Is-
provinces, and in March 1908, he brought together lamic Law, graduating in 1952. He then entered the
lashkars (tribal armies) in Khost with the intent to College of Islamic Law at Kabul University but was
strike against the British but was dissuaded from ac- expelled in 1954 for his political activities and for
tion by the governor of Khost Province. In 1912, he voicing opposition to the government. He did,
received a substantial reward from the amir for his however, gain entry to the Faculty of Letters at the
services in suppressing the Mangal and Ahmadzai university and graduated in 1957. He then began
Rebellions that year. Seven years later, he was again work in the media on newspapers and at Radio Af-
involved in the raising of lashkars in Khost in ac- ghanistan before joining the Ministry of Informa-
tions against the British during the Third Anglo- tion and Culture. It was in 1965 that he became
Afghan War. publisher and editor in chief of Parcham.
References In 1964, Layeq participated in the twenty-seven-
Poullada, Leon B. 1973. Reform and Rebellion in man congress that established the PDPA and be-
Afghanistan, 1919–1929, Ithaca, NY: Cornell came a founding member of the party. He was a
University Press. candidate for the PDPA from Pul-i-Khumri, in
LOYA JIRGA 157
Baghlan Province, in 1965 and 1969 but was de- sented in this body. The first Loya Jirga was held in
feated on both occasions. He was forced to resign his 1709, and others have been convened at times of na-
positions as editor in chief of Parcham and member tional importance ever since; for this reason, repre-
of the PDPA Central Committee in December 1978, sentation is based on both geography and ethnicity,
was arrested in February 1979, and was removed with some members elected and others appointed.
from the Central Committee by Hafizullah Amin, Both the Marxist government in Kabul and the mu-
leader of the group’s Khalq faction, on 23 October jahideen groups have convened Loya Jirgas to fur-
1979. However, after Babrak Karmal was installed as ther their causes, but the validity of these councils
prime minister, Layeq was appointed president of has always been disputed because neither was con-
the Academy of Sciences on 13 April 1980 and made sidered representative of the Afghan people.
minister of foreign affairs in 1981. He also recovered The concept of the Loya Jirga is considered cru-
his status within the party and became vice-chair of cial to the establishment of representative and stable
the National Fatherland Front. In addition, he com- government in Afghanistan after the fall of the Tal-
posed the national anthem of the Democratic Re- iban. The agreement setting up the Afghan Interim
public of Afghanistan. Government, signed at Bonn, Germany, on 5 De-
See also National Fatherland Front; People’s Democratic cember 2001, provided for a special commission to
Party of Afghanistan be appointed to organize the calling of an emer-
References gency Loya Jirga that would be able to revise the ap-
Emadi, Hafizullah. 1990. State, Revolution and pointed interim cabinet and create a two-year tran-
Superpowers in Afghanistan. New York: Praeger. sitional government. To ensure that a consensus
acceptable to the Afghan people is reached, the
LOGAR PROVINCE agreement also laid out details of representation to
Logar Province lies south of Kabul and occupies an encompasses Afghan refugees, people in the Afghan
area of 1,702 square miles with a population of diaspora, Islamic scholars and intellectuals, and
about 424,000. But as a result of the civil war (from women.
1989 to 2001), nearly half of that population be- The Loya Jirga specified under the Bonn Agree-
came refugees in Pakistan. The area is bounded by ment was set for 10–16 June 2002 at Kabul. Proce-
the provinces of Maidan in the west, Kabul in the dures for the elections of the members and for the
north, Nangarhar in the east, and Paktia in the observance of the elections were set up by the In-
south. The administrative capital is Pul-i-Alam. The terim administration in March 2002, as was the
province is completely shut in by high, barren hills membership of the Independent Commission
laced with bridle roads through the passes. The pop- charged with calling the meeting. The Independent
ulation is predominantly Pashtun, but there are Commission consisted of twenty-one members, led
some Tajiks in the region of Kashmir. Almost the by Chair Ismael Qaimyar, a Qizilbash from Hera
entire workforce is engaged in agriculture, with and an expert in constitutional law. The commis-
fruit, vegetables, rice, wheat, and barley being the sion also had two vice-chairs: Mrs. Mahbooba Ho-
major crops and Kabul the main market. Clover is quqmal, a Tajik and a professor of law and political
also grown as grazing for cattle. science at the University of Kabul and the Afghan
References university in Peshawar, and Abdul-Aziz al-Haj, a
Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political Pashtun from Laghman and a professor of Shari’a
Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria: law at the University of Kabul.
Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt. The commission also included the Relations
Data Collection for Afghan Repatriation Project. 1989. Committee, headed by Ahang Mohammad Kazim,
Logar Province. Islamabad: UN High Commissioner a Tajik from Kabul and head of the Faculty of Jour-
for Refugees. nalism at Kabul University, as well as the Drafting
Committee, headed by Mohammed Taher, an
LOYA JIRGA Akmedzai and a lecturer in law and science at
The Loya Jirga is the Great (or National) Council at Kabul University. The remainder of the commis-
which all matters of national importance are dis- sion was selected to provide a range of appropriate
cussed. All communities in Afghanistan are repre- expertise and to reflect the ethnic communities in
158 LOYA JIRGA
The regional centers from which the elections

were to be run were to be based on eight cities, and
the provision of the logistical services (including
salaries, transportation, security, and all of the nec-
essary infrastructure) was to be the responsibility of
the United Nations. All proposals had to be ap-
proved by the Independent Commission before
they could go into effect. The composition of the In-
dependent Commission was determined on 2 May
2002 and was announced by the United Nations at
Kabul.
The procedures for the election were also pub-
lished by the Interim administration through the
United Nations, and they reiterated the intention of
the Bonn Agreement, stipulating that the Loya Jirga
should be representative of all ethnic and religious
groups in Afghanistan and that women should be
able to participate in the election process. A set of
formulaic tables were also set up, which determined
the representation from each constituency and
other specified representation covering refugees,
civil society institutions, and selected individuals
such as intellectuals, scholars, religious leaders, and
women. The United Nations was to assist in the or-
Masooda Jalal, 34, an Afghan medical doctor and the only ganization of elections from among the refugees,
female candidate, votes during the traditional Afghan grand both internal and external, and the nomads, accord-
assembly, or Loya Jirga, in Kabul, 13 June 2002. (AFP/Corbis) ing to their predetermined quotas. The Independent
Commission was charged with the selection of rep-
resentatives from civil society institutions, religious
Afghanistan. A series of procedures were also set up scholars, and credible individuals and intellectuals,
to provide for observation of the elections to the from both home and abroad, again based on prede-
body and to deal with any complaints arising from termined quotas.
the election process. The observation of the elec- The commission was also to approve the repre-
tions and the adjudication over complaints was the sentatives of women, who were drawn from among
responsibility of constituency observer teams and community members, women’s educational institu-
regional observer teams, and the specific responsi- tions, and associations. The representatives of
bilities of these teams were also determined. traders were to be the responsibility of the Cham-
Election to the Loya Jirga was to take place in two bers of Commerce and similar bodies, again en-
stages. The first was the election itself, using tradi- dorsed by the commission according to predeter-
tional methods of selecting the representatives from mined formulas, and through the cooperation of
each constituency, on the basis of an allocated num- the United Nations. Representatives from the reli-
ber between twenty and sixty, according to the size gious minorities were to be selected by their organi-
of the constituency. The representatives selected by zations, again according to a predetermined table.
the people then formed the panel from which the The Interim Government also established terms
quota for election to the Loya Jirga was to be made, and conditions for both candidates and voters. Vot-
with the final membership selected from the panel ers had to be:
in a secret election. All of these processes were over-
seen by the constituency observation team and then • Citizens of Afghanistan by birth
submitted to the regional observation team for final • At least eighteen years old
approval. • Capable of exercising their full legal rights
LOYA JIRGA 159
Candidates had to: the meeting of 1,600 delegates, many participants

saw an opportunity to carve out a position for
• Be at least twenty years old themselves in order to secure their financial future.
• Subscribe to the principles and values of The cabinet announcement was seen as a test of
the Bonn Agreement Karzai’s political acumen and the depth of his sup-
• Have no links with terrorist organization port. Although he favored a small cabinet to cut
• Not have been involved in spreading and down on the costs of government, President Karzai
smuggling narcotics, any abuse of human also had to please as many factions as possible by
rights, war crimes, looting of public giving jobs to representatives of their groups. It
property, smuggling of cultural and was also evident that the Loya Jirga was marked by
archaeological heritage, or, in the eyes of intimidation and rifts between various factions;
the electorate, directly or indirectly in the some delegates reportedly even received death
killing of innocent people threats.
• Be able to read and write at least one of the The Karzai cabinet that was finally approved by
official languages the Loya Jirga represented a compromise between
the ethnic Tajiks and Uzbeks of the Northern Al-
As a general condition, all forms of coercion, in- liance and members of the majority Pashtun ethnic
timidation, bribery, corruption, use of force, and group, who had felt sidelined by the Interim Gov-
weapons were banned during the election. Addi- ernment set up in December 2001.
tionally, anyone in government service wishing to See also Afghanistan Transitional Government
stand as a candidate had to resign his or her official References
position before 10 April 2002 to be eligible for selec- Mehreban, Abdullah. 1982. “National Jirgahs
tion. The Loya Jirga began on 12 June 2002, and its (Assemblies) and Their Role in the Socio-Political
first acts were to elect a chair and to reelect Hamid Life of the People of Afghanistan.” Afghanistan
Quarterly 35, no. 2: 50–58.
Karzai as president of Afghanistan and leader of the
Rasham, G. Rauf. 2001. Loya Jirga: One of the Last
new Transitional Government. Political Tools for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan.
After a week of debate, Karzai presented a new http://www.institute-for-afghan-studies.org (cited 8
cabinet to the delegates for their approval, but sub- June 2002).
mission of that list was delayed until 19 June due to Salahuddin, Sayed. 2002. “Karzai Arrives at Loya Jirga
the need to reach a compromise with the various for Inauguration.” http://www.afghan.com/aop/
factions wanting a role in the new government. In yest.html (cited 20 June 2002).
MACNAGHTEN, SIR WILLIAM (1793–1839)
William Macnaghten was the British chief secretary
to the Indian government and was appointed as an
envoy to the court of Shah Shuja following the
British occupation of Kabul on 7 August 1839 dur-
M
ing the First Anglo-Afghan War. Shah Shuja’s posi-
tion as the ruler of Afghanistan was insecure, and he amir who ruled from 1867 to 1869. However, when
could not survive without British support. Mac- Amir Shir Ali returned to power, Mahmud Pacha
naghten became the real power behind the throne, was appointed a member of the newly formed advi-
using gold to buy the loyalty of tribal chiefs and di- sory council at Kabul, a position confirmed by Amir
recting Afghan affairs to protect British interests in Abdur Rahman when he came to power in 1880.
the region. He assumed that the strategy he was fol- But Abdur Rahman removed his independence by
lowing had succeeded in stabilizing Afghanistan making his administration in Kunar subject to cen-
and therefore allowed families of British officers to tral control, and Mahmud Pacha was compelled to
join the troops encamped at Kabul. remit tax revenues to Kabul. As a consequence, he
However, Afghan forces began to harass British rebelled against the amir but failed and was forced
lines of communication, and a mob attacked the to go into exile in India. His descendants, known as
residence of the British mission, killing all of the in- the Sayyids of Kunar, have held important positions
habitants. In light of this unrest, Macnaghten in Afghanistan, and Afghan historians claim that
reached an agreement with the major tribal chiefs to the pan-Islamist Sayyid Jamaluddin Afghani was a
secure a British withdrawal of outlying forces to descendant of the Kunari Sayyids.
Kabul and then withdrawal from the capital itself. See also Rahman, Amir Abdur
But he played a game of duplicity by simultaneously References
holding talks with Sardar Muhammad Akbar, son of Griffiths, John C. 1967. Afghanistan. London: Pall Mall
the former amir Dost Muhammad and commander Press.
of the Afghan forces. On learning of the other ne-
gotiations, Akbar killed Macnaghten in a fit of MAHMUD SHAH (?–1829)
anger. Only a few British troops survived the retreat Mahmud Shah spent his life engaged in an in-
to Kabul; ironically, some of those who did survive ternecine struggle for power in Afghanistan, using
were saved by the protection Akbar provided while his position as governor of Herat to conduct a
they were in his charge, with their families as struggle against his brother Zaman Shah. He be-
hostages to guarantee the British withdrawal. came the Afghan king in 1800 but delegated most of
See also First Anglo-Afghan War the responsibility for state affairs to his ministers.
References However, internal strife continued, and in 1803,
Norris, James A. 1967. The First Afghan War, 1838–42. Kabul was captured by Shah Shuja (the amir of Af-
London: Cambridge University Press. ghanistan from 1803 to 1809 and again, with British
support, from 1839 to 1842), and Mahmud was im-
MAHMUD PACHA, SAYYID prisoned. He escaped, and with the aid of a former
Sayyid Mahmud Pacha, also known as Babu Jan, minister, he attacked Kandahar in 1809 before mov-
was a spiritual leader who was given an endowment ing on to Kabul, regaining his throne in 1813. Soon
of land in the Kunar Valley by Amir Shir Ali. In thereafter, he was again driven out of Kabul. Mah-
1868, he revolted against Azam Khan, the nominal mud returned to Herat, where he retained all the
161
162 MAIMANA
Mahmud Shah, Amir of Afghanistan from 1800 to 1803 and again from 1813 to 1829, when he was poisoned by his son (Perry-
Castaneda Library)
trappings of a ruler while his son Kamran held all for the Afghans to expel the Iranians from their ter-
the executive power. His son poisoned him in 1829. ritory. Haji Khan was also a comrade of Ahmad
References Shah Durrani, who ruled from 1747 to 1772 and is
Habib, Mohammad. 1951. Sultan Mahmud of Ghaznin. regarded as the founder of modern Afghanistan. On
Delhi, India: G. S. Sharma. assuming control of Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah
Nazim, M. 1931. The Life and Times of Sultan Mahmud made his former comrade the wali (governor) of
of Ghazne. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Maimana and Balkh in return for a promise to sup-
ply military aid if called on.
MAIMANA In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the
Maimana, the capital of Fariab Province, rests in a city suffered considerable damage as a result of a siege
valley among low hills. The city’s population is al- by the forces of Abdur Rahman, and about 15,000 of
most totally Uzbek. Maimana originally came into the inhabitants were slaughtered. The city was also in-
being as a power base for an Uzbek named Haji volved in further unrest in 1891, following a revolt by
Khan following the 1747 death of Nadir Shah, the soldiers ordered to Herat by the amir. But the rebel-
ruler of Iran whose death created an opportunity lion was soon crushed, and some 4,000 rebels crossed
MAJID, ABDUL 163
the border into Russia. This displacement of rebel prime minister of Afghanistan from 1965 to 1967.
soldiers caused friction between Russia, Afghanistan, His prior career was in journalism, and he was the
and the British India government. The city and the editor of the magazine Agreement of Islam from
province also saw bitter fighting between forces of the 1942 to 1945 in Herat and then editor of the daily
government of Burhanuddin Rabbani and the oppo- newspaper Anis. The PDM advocated the principles
sition during the civil war between 1992 and 1996 of Islam, based on a constitutional monarchy, na-
and between differing factions within the opposition, tionalism, democracy, and socialism, together with
resulting in many deaths and injuries. the reform of economic, social, cultural, and moral
References spheres of Afghan life. Maiwandal’s ideas were prop-
Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political agated through a weekly newspaper, Musawat,
Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria: launched in January 1967 and published in Persian
Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt. and Dari. But he was forced to resign as prime min-
ister in the same year due to continued ill health.
MAIWAND, BATTLE OF (1880) Maiwandal had also served in various ambas-
The Battle of Maiwand took place on 17 July 1880, sadorial posts before becoming prime minister, in-
during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Near the vil- cluding two terms in Pakistan. In 1973, he was im-
lage of Maiwand, close to Kandahar, the forces of prisoned when Muhammad Daud came to power in
Muhammad Ayub Khan wiped out Britain’s entire Kabul. He was killed in prison, allegedly under tor-
Sixty-Sixth Regiment. The British had attempted to ture, though the government maintained he com-
forestall the troops of Ayub Khan but were caught in mitted suicide. He was posthumously sentenced to
a ravine and subjected to an artillery attack that was death in December 1973.
far more effective that the British response, as the
References
Afghans had thirty guns to the Britons’ twelve. The
Newell, Richard S. The Politics of Afghanistan. Ithaca,
barrage killed about 14 percent of the British cavalry NY: Cornell University Press.
attached to the regiment and killed or maimed about
50 percent of their horses. The British were then at-
MAJID, ABDUL (C. 1875–?)
tacked by ghazis (holy warriors), and most of the de-
Abdul Majid was a Muhammadzai, born about
moralized sepoys were slaughtered while British offi-
1875, who lived at Mashed. He left Afghanistan for
cers were picked off by Afghan marksmen. On the
Russia and then went to Constantinople (Istanbul),
field of battle, the British lost about 1,000 dead, most
Turkey. However, in 1905, he returned to Afghani-
of their artillery, and the complete baggage train that
stan and became governor of Laghman Province
accompanied the regiment. The few survivors fled to
one year later. In 1907, he was appointed civil com-
Kandahar and were harried by Afghan villagers all
mander of Kabul, but he was dismissed in March
along their route. Meanwhile, Gen. J. M. Primrose,
1908 and began a period of prolonged unemploy-
the commander at Kandahar, panicked and with-
ment. It was not until 1916 that he reemerged into
drew all his troops into the city, where they came
public service, becoming the governor of She-
under siege. The nature of the defeat was such that
berghan in October 1916; there, he saw the safe de-
the British forces realized their position in Afghani-
parture of the Hentig-Niedermayer Expedition,
stan was untenable, leading to their recognition of
which had been sent to Afghanistan with the objec-
Abdur Rahman as the new ruler of Afghanistan.
tive of fomenting unrest in British India during
See also Second Anglo-Afghan War
World War I. The next period of Majid’s life is
References
cloaked in some mystery, as he left Afghanistan for
Ali, Mohammad. 1955. “Battle of Maiwand.”
Afghanistan 10, no. 2: 26–38. Baghdad and then Constantinople with a mission to
Maxwell, Leigh. 1979. My God—Maiwand. London: Leo conclude a treaty with Turkey on behalf of King
Cooper. Amanullah. To disguise his true intentions, his de-
parture from Afghanistan was covered by a story of
MAIWANDAL, MUHAMMAD HASHEM desertion.
(1919–1973) The Turkish government agreed to the condi-
Muhammad Hashim Maiwandal was founder of the tions laid down by Amanullah, but the proposed
Progressive Demoratic Movement (PDM) and treaty was conditional on Afghanistan opening up
164 MAJRUH, SAYYID BAHA’UDDIN
hostilities on the side of the Axis powers in World MANGAL TRIBE

War I. While in Turkey, Majid discovered that he The Mangals are members of a Pashtun tribe and
had strong anti-German feelings and that there was inhabit the southern and upper portion of the Kur-
a powerful movement in Constantinople opposed ram Valley in Paktia Province. They are fiercely in-
to the pro-German stance of the party of Enver dependent and have supported the mujahideen
Pasha; as a result, he refused to go on to Berlin to forces in recent decades. Throughout the years, they
conclude the negotiations or to take back the reply have fought against various Afghan rulers and
to Amanullah. He was forbidden to return to Af- against the British during the Anglo-Afghan wars.
ghanistan by the king and was detained by the In the Second Anglo-Afghan War, they followed
British authorities until the end of hostilities in Mullah Din Muhammad when he declared a jihad
1919. against the British. They were also involved, with the
References Ghazais, in uprisings against Amir Abdur Rahman,
Kakar, M. Hasan. 1979. Government and Society in who was trying to curb the activities and influence
Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Abd-al-Rahman. of Din Muhammad. The Mangal tribe was the lead-
Austin: University of Texas Press. ing force in the Khost Rebellion of 1924 and 1925,
which had attempted to oust King Amanullah. It has
MAJRUH, SAYYID BAHA’UDDIN (1928–1988) always been in a state of rebellion with the gover-
Sayyid Baha’uddin Majruh was a professor at nors of Khost.
Kabul University who fled from Afghanistan after See also Din Muhammad, Mashk-il-Alam; Khost
the Saur Revolt of April 1978 and the advent of Rebellion
Communist rule in Kabul. He founded the Afghan References
Information Center in Peshawar and the Monthly Poullada, Leon, B. 1973. Reform and Rebellion in
Bulletin, a periodical that reported on events in the Afghanistan, 1919–1929. Ithaca, NY: Cornell
Afghan war. He was born in Kunar, the son of University Press.
Sayyid Shamsuddin, and graduated from Istiqal
High School in 1951 before going to the Universi- MAQSUDI, ABDUL HUSAIN (1933– )
ties of Paris and Montpellier and the University of Abdul Husain Maqsudi was born in Maqsud Bur-
London in 1955, studying English language and jagi in Ghazni Province and is a Hazara. He was pri-
literature. He then went to Marburg and Munich vately educated and was a bazaar inspector before
Universities in 1957 to study German language and becoming the representative in the parliament of
literature. In 1962, he became a professor of phi- Nowar from 1965 to 1973; there, he was a member
losophy and sociology at Kabul University and was of the conservative faction. During the period of
dean of the Faculty of Literature from 1961 to President Muhammad Daud, from 1973 to 1978, he
1964. From 1965 to 1968, he served as president of was unemployed. He left Afghanistan in 1978 for
the Afghan Cultural Office in Munich, Germany, Saudi Arabia but returned after four months to
and he was president of the Afghan Historical So- Kabul, leaving Afghanistan once again toward the
ciety in 1972. Majruh was also a member of the end of the year. He founded the Islamic Union for
Pashto Academy and published in Pashtu, Dari, the Liberation of Afghanistan, a Hazara group based
French, English, and German. His best-known in Quetta, Pakistan. The mujahideen group was
works are The Dialectics of Freedom and Determi- formed in 1979 and was heavily involved in arrang-
nation, published in 1962, and Danger of Selfish- ing the transportation of supplies from Pakistan to
ness, published in 1972 in Dari and Pashtu. In the Hazarajat, a mountainous region in central Af-
1982, he became head of the Afghan Information ghanistan. He also became a member of the Shura
Center in Peshawar. A moderate in terms of (Council) of Ayatollah Beheshti in the Hazarajat.
Afghan politics, he was assassinated by unknown See also Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan;
opponents in February 1988 in Peshawar. Shi’a Mujahideen Groups
Guistozzi, Antonio. 2000. War, Politics and Society in Kaplan, Robert D. 1990. Soldiers of God: With the
Afghanistan, 1978–1992. Washington, DC: Mujahideen in Afghanistan. Boston: Houghton
Georgetown University Press. Mifflin.
MASOOD, AHMAD SHAH 165
MASOOD, AHMAD SHAH (1953–2001)

Ahmad Shah Masood was a charismatic leader of
the mujahideen, or freedom fighters, in the struggle
waged against the Soviet Union from 1979 to 1988.
He was a prime mover in the formation of the
Northern Alliance and a dedicated opponent of the
Taliban. He controlled the northeast region of Af-
ghanistan and was assassinated on 9 September
2001.
Masood was born in 1953 and graduated from
the Afghan Military Academy in 1973. He was one
of the most successful of the mujahideen leaders
and controlled the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul,
part of the province of Parwan. He successfully re-
pelled a number of Soviet incursions into his terri-
tory following the Soviet occupation of 1979. In this
capacity, he earned the title “Lion of Panjshir.” Ma-
sood was a member of the Afghanistan Islamic So-
ciety (Jam’iat-i Islami-yi Afghanistan), led by
Burhanuddin Rabbani, which drew its support from
the non-Pashtun tribes in the north of Afghanistan,
an area largely populated by Tajiks.
In 1983, after a number of actions against Soviet Ahmad Shah Masood, charismatic military leader of the
forces in the Panjshir Valley, Masood concluded a Northern Alliance, assassinated by al-Qaeda agents on 9
September 2001. (AFP/Corbis)
truce with the Soviet commander, but this did not
prevent the forces that Masood controlled from op-
erating elsewhere in Afghanistan. Following the So-
viet withdrawal in 1988, Masood increased the ter- the regime, under the leadership of Gen. Abdul
ritory under his control and set up his headquarters Rashid Dostum, and Dostum was soon joined by
at Taloqan. However, the departure of the Soviet other militia leaders in the area. Masood seized this
forces allowed old conflicts to reopen, and clashes opportunity to form an alliance with the rebels to
soon erupted between Masood’s forces and those overthrow the Najibullah government in northern
led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar of the Islamic Party Afghanistan. At this time, Iran also began to exert
(Hizb-i-Islami), with large numbers of casualties on influence behind the scenes, using ethnic and lin-
both sides. Nonetheless, an attempt at reconciliation guistic allegiances to persuade Masood, Dostum,
seemed to have succeeded at a meeting of mu- and members of the Islamic Unity Party (Hizb-i
jahideen leaders held in Pakistan in October 1990. Wahdat), a pro-Shi’a party, to enter into a politico-
Masood’s control actually extended over a wide area military confederation, the outcome of which was
of territory through his establishment of the Super- the Northern Alliance.
visory Council (Shura-yi-Najar), whose objective The new coalition was instrumental in bringing
was the coordination of all the resistance forces in down Najibullah’s government in April 1992, and
the area. Effectively, this gave Masood control over through the collusion of some of the Parcham fac-
the provinces of Badakhshan, Baghlan, Parwan, and tion in the government, it was able to seize Kabul
Takhar. and thwart the establishment of a Pakistani-engi-
Many observers believed that the withdrawal of neered administration. The state was renamed the
the Soviet forces would herald the immediate col- Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and an agreement
lapse of the Communist government in Kabul, but was reached between the mujahideen leaders
this did not prove to be the case. However, at the end whereby there was to be a rotating presidency, com-
of 1991, President Muhammad Najibullah’s militia mencing with Burhanuddin Rabbani. However, dis-
forces in the north of the country rebelled against putes soon broke out over the distribution of other
166 MASOOD, AHMAD SHAH
posts within the new government, and fighting framework in the northeast, and plans were drawn
flared up again between the various groups. Mu- up for elections. He also understood the impor-
jahideen control of Kabul was a disaster for the citi- tance of education and was trying to establish a sys-
zens, as rape, pillage, and murder went largely tem of schooling, including opportunities for girls,
unchecked because the commanders had little con- but he was careful in the way he introduced his
trol over their troops. The conflict all but decimated modernization policies in what was still a tradi-
the city, it seriously crippled the infrastructure, and tional society. However, Masood’s reputation and
it resulted in much loss of life, with many of the ca- skill at public relations was such that he was able to
sualties being civilians. deal with a number of external agencies and to
As a result, the fragile coalition collapsed at the bring funds into his territory.
end of 1993, and there was great concern among the As part of his public relations campaign, Ma-
Pashtun leaders, who had held power in Afghani- sood always made himself accessible to the media
stan for some 250 years, about control passing to from the outside world: he realized the impact that
other ethnic groups. Afghanistan proceeded to dis- publicity could have on his cause in terms of gar-
integrate into areas run by competing groups with nering support and financing from neighboring
constantly shifting alliances. The government of states. In the end, this approach would turn out to
President Rabbani, backed by the forces of Masood, be his downfall, as the two pseudo-Arab journalists
held Kabul and the northeastern portion of the to whom he granted an interview on 9 September
country, whereas the northern provinces were 2001 were suicide assassins whose cameras were
under the control of General Dostum, from the actually bombs. Masood was fatally injured when
Uzbek tribe. The western provinces around Herat the bombs exploded. At the time, there was specu-
were ruled by another warlord, Isma’il Khan, and lation that Osama bin Laden was behind the assas-
the areas to the south and east of Kabul were in the sination. This supposition has since been rein-
hands of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Meanwhile, the forced by statements made by the Taliban’s former
central provinces were dominated by the Hazaras, deputy interior minister, Mullah Mohammed
and the eastern border with Pakistan was governed Khaksar, who maintained that the Arab assassins
by a council of mujahideen leaders who effectively had been diverted by bin Laden from a mission to
prospered by extorting tolls from the cross-border Indonesia to make the attack on Masood. Khaksar,
trade. who left the Taliban after Kabul was captured by
In 1994, the Taliban appeared on the scene in the Northern Alliance forces, also maintained that the
south, largely backed by the Pashtuns but with sup- Taliban leadership knew of this mission; in fact, it
port from Pakistan, particularly through its Inter- had further endeared bin Laden to the Taliban,
Services Intelligence Service. After a series of mili- thus making his expulsion by Mullah Mohammed
tary actions around Kandahar and Herat, the Omar an impossibility.
Taliban took Kabul from Masood. The government See also Afghan-Pakistani Relations; Afghan-Soviet
of President Rabbani was forced to flee, and Masood Relations; Hazaras; Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin; Islamic
withdrew to his power base in the northeast. This Society of Afghanistan; Islamic Unity Party;
reverse, however, also provided the motivation for Mujahideen; Najibullah, Muhammad; Pashtuns;
the other warring factions to come together again as Rabbani, Burhanuddin; Tajiks
the Northern Alliance. With further military suc- References
cesses by the Taliban, the territory controlled by the Astute, J. Brice. 1986. Afghanistan: The First Five Years of
Northern Alliance shrank to about 10 percent of the Soviet Occupation. Washington, DC: National
country, mainly in its Tajik heartland in the north- Defense University.
Brigot, Andre, and Roy Olivier. 1988. The War in
east, and by the end of 1999, the Taliban exercised
Afghanistan. New York: Harvester-Wheatsheaf.
firm control over the rest of the nation. Institute for Afghan Studies. “Masoud’s Role as a
In the territory that he controlled, Masood Political Leader Questioned.” http://www.institute-
made some attempt to set up a civil administration for-afghan-studies.org (cited 28 November 2001).
and to instill a sense of military discipline in his Kaplan, Robert D. 1990. Soldiers of God: With the
forces. The infrastructure was frail, but Masood’s Mujahideen in Afghanistan. Boston: Houghton
declared aim was to create a sort of democratic Mifflin.
MAZAR-I SHARIF 167
MAZARI, ALI (1935– ) The Fall to the Mujahideen

Ali Mazari was born in Kandahar Province in The fall of Mazar-i Sharif to the mujahideen took
1935 and educated at a Shi’a university in Iraq. In place in March 1992 and was a vital factor in the
1980, he was elected chair of the Afghan Shi’a Al- demise of the Marxist government of President
liance, which was an umbrella organization of Muhammad Najibullah. The collapse of Marxist
Shi’a mujahideen groups that received support control in the town was an outcome of a power
from the Iranian government and was initially struggle within the Marxist leadership. The town
based in Iran. It later relocated to Quetta in Pak- was under the command of a Tajik, General
istan, and in June 1990, a new organization of Mumin, who commanded the garrison and the
Shi’a groups, the Unity Party (Hizb-i Wahdat), major weapons and ammunition store in the north-
was formed. This group was headed by Mazari ern province. President Najibullah wanted to re-
once the mujahideen came to power in 1992, but place him with General Rasul, a Pashtun comman-
two years later, he was killed in a conspiracy by der. However, Mumin refused to accept dismissal
Pashtun mujahideens. The alliance had been in- and formed an alliance with General Dostum, com-
volved in many clashes with Pashtun mujahideen mander of the militia in Jozjan Province, and Sayyid
groups, especially those led by Gulbuddin Hek- Mansur Nadiri, head of the Shi’a forces that con-
matyar. Hekmatyar was replaced by Karim Khalili, trolled the area north of the Salang Pass. This gave
and the group has cooperated with the forces of the mujahideen access to a major supply of
Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum. weaponry, an air base, and an easily traveled route to
See also Shi’a Mujahideen Groups Kabul. The new coalition cooperated with the forces
References of Ahmad Shah Masood, the military commander
Kaplan, Robert D. 1990. Soldiers of God: With the of the Northern Alliance, and helped him to capture
Mujahideen in Afghanistan. Boston: Houghton Kabul on 25 April 1992.
Mifflin.
Capture by Taliban
MAZAR-I SHARIF In the spring of 1997, the Taliban was preparing for
Mazar-i Sharif is a strategic town in northern Af- an offensive in the north of Afghanistan. This en-
ghanistan that was the site of bitter fighting between gagement was prefaced by a blockade of the last
the Hazara mujahideen and the Taliban in 1998, Northern Alliance stronghold, resulting in a severe
with atrocities committed by both sides. Still the shortage of food and fuel supplies. Mazar-i Sharif
stronghold of Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum and his was to be a key objective, as the northern part of Af-
Uzbek forces today, it was a key objective of the op- ghanistan had 60 percent of the country’s agricul-
position forces in the advance against the Taliban in tural resources and 80 percent of its mineral and gas
October 2001. wealth, as well as industrial potential. It was there-
fore crucial that the Taliban crush resistance in
Strategic Significance northern Afghanistan if they were to keep the coun-
The town of Mazar-i Sharif is the capital of Balkh try unified. The Taliban advance came in May 1997
Province and has an estimated population of and was marked by a series of betrayals and coun-
20,000. By the 1930s, it had become the major terbetrayals and interethnic bloodshed that was ex-
commercial center in northern Afghanistan. It treme even by Afghan standards.
had a strategic significance due to its proximity to The city and surrounding region was the strong-
the border area of the former Soviet Union that is hold of General Dostum and his Uzbek followers.
now Uzbekistan, and since it is sited on flat ter- Dostum had managed to protect Mazar-i Sharif
rain, it was an easily defended location. It was also from the ravages of the eighteen-year war. Indeed,
a crucial town on the main route to northern Af- the city had prospered as a vital staging post in the
ghanistan, and it has a major air base. The town is massive smuggling trade between Pakistan, Central
some 270 miles northwest of Kabul, to which it is Asia, and Iran. The trade’s magnitude was so great
linked by an all-weather highway, and it was a that Dostum set up his own airline to bring smug-
stronghold of the Marxist regime based in Kabul gled goods in from Dubai, which were then trucked
from 1979. out to provide the general with a lucrative income.
168 MAZAR-I SHARIF
This business enabled Dostum to operate an effi- of the city rose up in revolt. The Taliban had no ex-
cient administration with functioning public ser- perience in street fighting and no knowledge of the
vices, including health and education; the education layout of the maze of streets and alleys in the city;
system still allowed girls to attend school and the thus, they became easy targets in their pickup trucks
Balkh University, which was the only university still for opponents watching from houses and sharp-
operational in Afghanistan. shooters on rooftops. The fighting was intense and
However, there was a bitter feud between Dos- bloody, and after fifteen hours of nonstop combat,
tum and his second in command, Gen. Malik at least 600 Taliban troops had been massacred in
Pahlawan, with the latter being persuaded to betray the streets, with some 1,000 captured at the airport
his leader through promises of bribes and the as they sought to flee the city. At least 10 top Taliban
prospect of sharing power with the Taliban. Malik commanders were killed or captured, among them
was joined by three other senior Uzbek generals, Mullah Razaq and Foreign Minister Mullah Mo-
aided by the fact that Dostum had not paid his hammad Ghaus. Malik’s troops then proceeded on
troops for some months. The Taliban moved north an orgy of looting, including the ransacking of the
from Herat and Kabul and allied themselves with UN offices, whose staffers were forced to abandon
Malik’s forces from Fariab, so that Dostum and just the city.
over a hundred officers and men were forced to flee The recapture of the city led to further outbreaks
to Uzbekistan and thence to Turkey. As a result, the of anti-Taliban activity throughout the north, with
city was left open to the advancing Taliban forces, the Hazaras raising the Taliban blockade of the Haz-
led by Mullah Abdul Razaq, an inflexible hard-liner arajat, Malik’s troops retaking four northern
who had ordered the murder of Najibullah. He led provinces, and Ahmad Shah Masood recapturing
2,500 heavily armed Taliban into the city and re- several towns in northeastern Afghanistan, blowing
fused to share power with Malik, who was offered an up the entrance to the Salang Tunnel, and trapping
insignificant post in the Kabul government. Taliban forces in the north. In the course of all of
The city previously had a healthy ethnic mix and these actions, the Taliban had some 3,000 troops
was one of the most open and liberal centers in Af- killed or wounded and some 3,600 taken prisoner.
ghanistan, but the Taliban remained politically in- Much to Pakistan’s embarrassment, about 250 Pak-
flexible and insisted on the strict imposition of istanis were killed and nearly 600 others were cap-
Shari’a law. All schools were shut down, the univer- tured during these engagements.
sity was closed, women were banned from the Ultimately, the city would be retaken by the Tal-
streets, and a process of disarming Uzbek and Haz- iban in August 1998 in a particularly violent battle
ara troops was begun. The agreement with Malik with tragic consequences for the non-Pashtun pop-
and his forces was already showing signs of disinte- ulation, especially the Hazaras.
gration, and Pakistani diplomats and Inter-Services
Intelligence officers arrived from Islamabad to try to Atrocities in Mazar-i Sharif and
renegotiate the agreement. However, the situation the Surrounding Area
within Mazar-i Sharif was further aggravated by In the fighting within the city in May 1997, no
Pakistan’s recognition of the Taliban as the official quarter was given in the battles with the Taliban,
government of Afghanistan, which showed the but worse was to happen elsewhere as hundreds of
Uzbeks that the agreement for power sharing was Taliban and Pakistani prisoners were captured or
meaningless; instead, it effectively laid the ground- shot dead and buried in mass graves. General Malik
work for a Taliban takeover. Malik’s betrayal of Dos- has been accused of the slaughter of some 2,000
tum was also aggravated by his betrayal of Isma’il Taliban prisoners, who were buried in mass graves
Khan, who had been resisting the Taliban in Fariab near Sheberghan, and subsequent UN investiga-
Province and was made a prisoner of the Taliban. tions revealed that they had been tortured and
The situation inside Mazar-i Sharif was ex- starved before being killed. Other reports indicated
tremely tense, and only one incident was needed to that Taliban prisoners were taken to wells on the
trigger bloodshed. The trigger came on 28 May 1997 pretext of being exchanged for opposition prison-
when a group of Hazara militia refused to be dis- ers; then, instead of being exchanged, they were
armed. The Hazaras and the rest of the population thrown into the wells, and the wells were blown up
MAZAR-I SHARIF 169
with hand grenades. As various eyewitness reports porting the Northern Alliance with special forces on
emerged, it became clear that vicious ethnic cleans- the ground and with U.S. bombing attacks from the
ing had taken place, with Taliban prisoners being air, targeting strategic locations and Taliban front
shot and buried or else held in containers where lines. On 31 October 2001, anti-Taliban forces were
they died from the heat and lack of oxygen, a moving on Mazar-i Sharif, and U.S. jets zeroed in on
method of killing that was used by both sides. One the Taliban positions in a series of raids in Saman-
of Malik’s generals admitted that 1,250 Taliban gan and Balkh Provinces, as well as in the city itself.
prisoners had died in this manner. The air assault was intended to coordinate with the
The Taliban were also guilty of atrocities when actions of Northern Alliance troops, who were being
they retook the city in August 1998. In the process, aided by special forces providing intelligence and di-
they shot and killed both combatants and civilians recting the bombing raids and Cruise missile at-
indiscriminately. The assault took place on 8 Au- tacks. Yet again, the recapture of Mazar-i Sharif was
gust, and on the following day, the Taliban began a a key objective, as it would enable the Northern Al-
systematic search of the city for male members of liance and Coalition forces to open up supply routes
the Hazara, Tajik, and Uzbek communities, often from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
using information supplied by local informers or On 5 November 2001, the Northern Alliance
local Pashtun forces. In a number of cases, male forces had moved to within 45 miles of Mazar-i
members of suspect families were beaten or shot on Sharif and had taken the town of Ogapruk and two
the spot, and some had their throats cut. In other nearby villages, having advanced under cover of a
cases, they were beaten and trucked to the city jail. U.S. bombing raid. The Taliban had reinforced their
Although most of them were Hazaras, there were front lines with 400 fresh troops composed of Arab
Tajik and Uzbek prisoners among them, and most and Pakistani volunteers, but they were under in-
of these were noncombatants. A number of eyewit- tense bombardment from the U.S. Air Force. It was
ness accounts mentioned meaningless and unjusti- reported on 7 November that Northern Alliance
fied killings and bodies left lying in the streets, with troops had forced a Taliban withdrawal from the
the Taliban refusing to let them be buried. Shol Gar area some 24 miles from the city and that
The actions of the Taliban were a harsh revenge 500 Taliban soldiers had changed sides and joined
for their defeat in 1997 at the hands of the Hazaras the opposition. Fighting around the city was fluid
and Uzbeks in Mazar-i Sharif, when they suffered and totally disorganized, with Northern Alliance
one of their worst reverses. The central jail in the forces even attacking Taliban tanks and armored
city was so crowded that there was no room for any- personnel vehicles on horseback.
one to lie down, and many prisoners were trans- The Northern Alliance forces continued to ad-
ferred to other jails in Sheberghan, Herat, and Kan- vance on the city, and the Taliban front lines were
dahar in large metal container trucks, each holding now being subjected to round-the-clock bombing.
between 100 and 150 individuals. It has been re- In a series of attacks, 3,500 men serving under Dos-
ported that at least two trucks delivered dead pris- tum pushed the Taliban out of Kishindi, killing 200
oners who had succumbed to asphyxiation due to Taliban, while in the west, forces loyal to Ustad Atta
the crowded conditions and the desert heat; in one Mohammad had seized the outlying village of Aq
case, there were only three survivors in a container Kuprick. Some Taliban soldiers ran in the face of
truck. It is not clear whether these outcomes were Northern Alliance troops, and others changed sides
intentional or the unanticipated result of the cruel and allowed access through their lines. The city had
and inhumane methods that characterized the fallen by 9 November, but as they retreated, the Tal-
treatment of prisoners by both sides. iban torched villages, and many ethnic Uzbeks,
Tajiks, and Hazaras lost their lives in their burning
Recapture by Northern Alliance houses as Taliban troops streamed out of the city
In October 2001, the United States was engaged in and the surrounding area.
an action in Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban This defeat marked the end of the Taliban pres-
and to hunt down al-Qaeda terrorists and their ence in northern Afghanistan, though some small
leader, Osama bin Laden. As part of this action, the pockets of resistance survived. In military terms, it
United States and the United Kingdom were sup- was a good strategic victory, as the airfield could be
170 MAZAR-I SHARIF
used as an advance base for Coalition air activity. and ammunition. Northern Alliance troops held the
Further, the capture of the city meant an opening up southeastern quarter of the fort and the north wall,
of a land route from Uzbekistan, enabling ground from where they opened fire on the Taliban, as did
troops to enter the area; equally important, essential two tanks by the north wall, and a fierce gun battle
humanitarian aid could now be delivered to the ensued. In the afternoon, U.S. and UK Special Forces
starving population and the refugees. Significantly, arrived and established communications with U.S.
Mazar-i Sharif was again the stronghold of General air command to obtain support, and more Northern
Dostum. Alliance troops arrived from the northeast battle-
fields to join the attack. The battle raged throughout
Qala-i-Jangi Uprising the afternoon, and the U.S. Special Forces called up a
On Saturday 24 November 2001, some 300 Taliban missile strike on a building inside the Taliban-held
fighters, who had fled Kunduz following U.S. bomb- area, which was duly destroyed.
ing strikes, surrendered to Northern Alliance forces Fighting continued to rage throughout the night,
under General Dostum. The Taliban fighters were and it was not until nightfall that the surviving CIA
transported to the nineteenth-century fortress of agent and some trapped journalists managed to es-
Qala-i-Jangi in Mazar-i Sharif. However, they had cape over the north wall, making their way into the
not been searched by Dostum’s troops for fear that city. By Monday morning, a new Northern Alliance
fighting would break out. Dostum had been preach- command post had been established at the north-
ing reconciliation, and Afghans eventually were east tower, and mortar and rocket fire was ranged on
freed to return to their homes and foreigners were the Taliban positions. More special forces arrived, as
handed over to the United Nations. The prisoners did members of the Tenth Mountain Division, who
were transferred by flatbed truck through the city took up positions some 300 yards to the northeast
and were greeted with open hatred by the local peo- of the fort; other spotters inside the fort called up
ple, who had suffered under the Taliban occupation. more air strikes. Despite warnings from the pilots
However, the whole operation began to go about the location of Northern Alliance troops in
wrong when prisoners were asked to turn out their the fort, the attack proceeded, and heavy casualties
pockets. One soldier waited for the Northern Al- were inflicted on Coalition forces in close proximity
liance commander, Nadir Ali, to pass before taking to the strike. Reports stated that five U.S. Special
out a grenade, pulling the pin, and killing himself Forces were wounded, as were four UK Special
and the commander. Another prisoner committed a Forces, with Northern Alliance troops suffering
similar act, killing himself and Saeed Asa, a senior thirty dead and at least fifty wounded.
Hazara commander. The rest of the prisoners were Once darkness fell on Monday evening, an AC-
then taken to underground cells to join other cap- 130 gunship flew over the fort five times and strafed
tured Taliban, but despite these incidents, the levels the area, setting off explosions in stocks of ammuni-
of security were not raised. On the following day, tion, which continued throughout the night. On
two Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents went Tuesday morning, Taliban resistance was beginning
to the prison to try to identify any al-Qaeda mem- to weaken, as these soldiers were running out of am-
bers within the captives, but they mistakenly con- munition, water, and food, and in the afternoon,
ducted interviews with groups of prisoners in the Northern Alliance troops moved in on the Taliban
compound. The agents were attacked by the prison- positions, advancing through the hundreds of dead
ers, and only one escaped: Johnny Michael Spann and dying in the courtyard. Northern Alliance troops
was killed by the Taliban prisoners, who then over- shot the wounded and looted the bodies, particularly
powered their Northern Alliance guards and took for footwear, and a number of the bodies were iden-
their weapons. tified as foreign fighters, including Arabs, Pakistanis,
The group then went back into the jail and re- and Chechens. Five Taliban trapped in the basement
leased the remainder of the prisoners, three of whom of a building were killed by grenades, and a tank used
escaped through a drain underneath a wall only to to demolish the stable block in which Taliban were
be shot by Northern Alliance guards outside the fort. thought to be hidden. However, fighting still contin-
The remainder stormed a nearby armory, obtaining ued, with Taliban fighters trapped in the basements
AK-47s, grenades, mines, rocket launchers, mortars, underneath the fort, and it was not until Saturday
MISAQ, ABDUL KARIM 171
that the basements were flooded to force the Taliban under the terms of the 1931 and 1964 Constitu-
out. Some eighty-six prisoners emerged, one of tions. It is also known in the Dari language as the
whom was an American citizen who had converted House of Notables. The 1931 Constitution provided
to Islam and gone to Afghanistan from a madrasa for all of the members of the Upper House to be ap-
(religious school) in Pakistan. An accurate death toll pointed, but in 1964, the new constitution allowed
is difficult to establish, but it is thought that at least for two-thirds of the membership to be elected. On
500 Taliban fighters died and that many of these 26 August 1965, elections were held for the
were foreigners who had been determined to fight to Meshrano Jirga and its 28 elective seats and for the
the death. Wolesi Jirga (House of the People) with 216 seats.
After the incident, much of which was captured Three members of the People’s Democratic Party of
on video by journalists and broadcast to the world, Afghanistan were elected, including Babrak Karmal.
Amnesty International demanded an investigation, On 12 October, King Zahir appointed Abdul Hadi
but the U.S. and UK governments declined, main- Dawai president of the Meshrano Jirga, and the ap-
taining that their forces had acted within the rules of pointed members of the House of Notables were
engagement and in accordance with international announced on the following day.
law. On 4 May 1966, the Meshrano Jirga debated the
publication of Khalq, a newspaper that was owned
Historical Significance by Nur Muhammad Taraki, and determined that
Mazar-i Sharif is held sacred by Afghans as the bur- any publication against the values of Islam should
ial place of Caliph Ali, who ruled from 656 to 661 be stopped. Consequently, publication was banned
(though the majority of scholars believe he is buried on 23 May under the government’s press laws. The
in Najaf), and a shrine and great mosque have been parliament ceased to have any real significance
built on this site of pilgrimage. Once a year, on 21 under the presidency of Muhammad Daud (1973 to
March, a fair is held, during which crowds camp 1978) and in the subsequent Communist regime
around the shrine of the caliph in hopes that the (1978 to 1996).
saint will cure them of their ills or disabilities. At one See also Loya Jirga
time, Mazar-i Sharif was a province in its own right,
but the area was reorganized, and the three
provinces of Balkh, Jozjan, and Samangan were cre- MISAQ, ABDUL KARIM (1937– )
ated. During the 1970s, the town had developed into Abdul Karim Misaq is a Hazara who was a member
a small urban area constructed in accordance with of the Khalq faction of the People’s Democratic
some concept of modern town planning, complete Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) and served as minis-
with good roads, modern shops, and a thriving ter of finance from May to December 1979. He was
commercial center important for the export of skins born in Jaghatun in Ghazni Province in 1937, the
from Karakul sheep, carpets, and melons; it was also son of Safar Ali, and was self-educated. He started
a major producer of textiles and fertilizer. his career in the Ministry of Agriculture and was
See also Dostum, Gen. Abdul Rashid; Hazaras; Taliban then employed in the Demographic Department of
References the Ministry of the Interior from 1956 to 1958. He
Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political was dismissed from his post and became a book-
Gazetteer of Afghanistan.6 vols. Graz, Austria: keeper before training as a mechanic and working
Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt. in offices, factories, and at the Kabul airport. He
Maley, William. 1999. Fundamentalism Reborn? was director of transport at the airport from 1960
Afghanistan and the Taliban. London: Hurst. to 1963 and then director of personnel in the Gen-
Perry, Alex, and Johnny Michael Spann. 2001. “Inside eral Transport Department. Between 1965 and
the Battle at Qala-i-Jangi.” Time Atlantic 158, no. 24:
1975, he was employed in various departments in
28–35.
the Ministry of Mines. Misaq also had a literary side
to his career, publishing Seven Stories in 1973, Smile
MESHRANO JIRGA of the Mother in 1974, and Bach Melodies in 1975.
The Meshrano Jirga is the Pashtun name for the These works also appeared as Path in Dari and
Upper House of Parliament, which was established Pashtu, under the pseudonym Koh-i-Baba. Misaq
172 MOHMAND TRIBE
was minister of finance after the Saur Revolt of 2001), they maintained a neutral position and pro-
April 1978, which brought the Communists to tected the autonomy of their region from both war-
power, and was imprisoned when the Parchami fac- ring states.
tion assumed power in late 1979. He did not appear See also Khost Rebellion
in public life again until August 1989, when he be- References
came mayor of Kabul. Although a Khalq, he con- Mark, William Rudolph Henry. 1984. The Mohmands.
tinued to serve in Dr. Muhammad Najibullah’s Lahore, Pakistan: Vanguard Books.
Central Committee but ultimately defected to Ger-
many in 1990. MUHAMMAD, ISHAQ (1952– )
See also People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan Muhammad Ishaq was born in Panjshir in 1952 and
References graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at Kabul
Astute, J. Brice. 1986. Afghanistan: The First Five Years of University, where he was influenced by student pol-
Soviet Occupation. Washington, DC: National itics and became a member of the Islamist Move-
Defense University. ment. In 1982, he became the political officer in the
movement and was a regular contributor to its
MOHMAND TRIBE newspaper, the biweekly AFGHANews. In 1975, he
The Mohmand tribe is of Pashtun origin and mi- had cooperated with Ahmad Shah Masood, the mil-
grated from the Kandahar area to Peshawar. The itary commander of the Northern Alliance, when he
tribe’s territory was dissected by the 1893 Durand started to raid the military outposts of the regime of
Line (delineated by Britain as the boundary between Muhammad Daud. After the Saur Revolt of April
Afghanistan and British India), with one division 1978 and the beginning of Communist rule, he
living in the southwest corner of the Peshawar dis- joined with Masood’s forces in concerted action
trict and the other in the network of hills between against the Marxist government in Kabul.
the Kabul and Swet Rivers, which connect the Sufed References
Koh with the Hindu Kush. The Mohmands moved Kaplan, Robert D. 1990. Soldiers of God: With the
before the Mongol and Hazara invasions and suc- Mujahideen in Afghanistan. Boston: Houghton
cessfully subdued the Shinwaris or expelled them Mifflin.
from the Shilman Valley and the low-lying country
south of the Kabul River. The Mohmand tribe has MUHAMMADI, MAULAWI MUHAMMAD
four main divisions—the Tarokzai, Halimzai, NABI (1921– )
Baezai, and Khwaezai—together with a string of af- Maulawi Muhammadi was born in 1921 in Logar
filiated clans. and educated in local madrasas (religious schools)
The tribe’s relations with Britain were poor, due before becoming a teacher in Abbas village, Logar,
to the existence of the Durand Line, and the Maimana, and Jozjan. After a pilgrimage to Mecca
Mohmands constantly conducted raids from Af- in 1954, he returned to teaching at Abbas but began
ghanistan into British India. One example occurred preaching against communism around the region.
in March 1870, when 3,000 Mohmands led by Mul- Four years later, he returned to Jozjan, where he
lah Khalil crossed the border at Kam Dakka and continued to preach against communism and began
were expelled by British forces only with difficulty. to attract a circle of followers. His campaign con-
Unrest continued in the 1880s, and the tribe was ex- vinced the local authorities that Communists had
ploited by Dost Muhammad (who ruled from 1826 infiltrated the Afghan education systems and that
to 1838) and Shir Ali (who ruled from 1863 to 1878) action was demanded from the Kabul government.
to act against the British and the Sikhs. As a power- Between 1963 and 1967, he was active in Logar
ful tribal force, the Mohmands have been significant and was a representative in the Wolesi Jirga (House
players in the politics of both Afghanistan and Pak- of the People) in 1963, becoming a member of the
istan. They have been involved in conflicts through- right-wing faction in the parliament. He also trav-
out Afghanistan’s history, having joined the revolt eled to Helmand and Kandahar to try to persuade
against King Amanullah in 1928 and seen action other maulawis (senior mullahs) to enter parlia-
against British forces on the frontier in 1930 and ment in 1973. But after the coup launched by
again in 1935. In the Afghan civil war (1989 to Muhammad Daud in 1973, he was arrested, interro-
MUJADDIDI, SABGHATULLAH 173
gated for three days, and then freed. In 1974, he References

founded a madrasa at Marja, but after the Marxist Farr, Grant M., and John G. Merrian, eds. 1987. Afghan
takeover in 1978 following the Saur Revolt, he fled Resistance: The Politics of Survival. Boulder, CO:
to Quetta, Pakistan. He linked up with about thirty Westview Press.
to forty maulawis and formed a group, for which he
needed to purchase arms. While in Peshawar, he en- MUJADDIDI
countered Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whom he had Mujaddidi is the name of a family of religious lead-
met earlier in Kabul, and was then linked into the ers descended from the Sufi reformer Sheikh
network of Burhanuddin Rabbani. Ahmed Sirhindi, who is thought to have been born
After a short period, a meeting of the forces of in Kabul in 1564 and buried in India when he died
Rabbani and Hekmatyar elected him leader of their in 1624. In the early nineteenth century, one of his
united group, and the Islamic Society of Afghani- descendants, Qayyum Jan Agha, went to Afghani-
stan was born. However, the group split up when stan and founded a madrasa (religious school) and
Sabghatullah Mujaddidi returned from Denmark to Sufi center in the Shor Bazaar area of Kabul. Succes-
form his own group and Hekmatyar and Rabbani sion continued through several generations of the
moved apart. A jihad was proclaimed on 27 No- family. The family also established itself in Herat
vember 1975. Muhammadi bought weapons on and other towns in Afghanistan, led the Naqshbandi
credit in Pakistan, and with Wazir and Mahsud Sufi order in southern Afghanistan, and was always
tribal support, he was able to start a military action. involved in politics.
In 1981, he united the groups of Mujaddidi and The family was actively opposed to the British
Sayyed Ahmad Gailani in a loose federation, which influence in Afghanistan; in fact, it declared a jihad
was short-lived due to rivalry between the factions. against Britain sometime during 1919, at the time of
See also Gailani, Sayyed Ahmad; Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin; the Third Anglo-Afghan War. Family members were
Islamic Society of Afghanistan; Rabbani, also actively opposed to the secular reforms intro-
Burhanuddin duced by King Amanullah and President Muham-
References mad Daud. They were instrumental in encouraging
Farr, Grant M., and John G. Merrian, eds. 1987. Afghan tribal revolts against these reforms to restore their
Resistance: The Politics of Survival. Boulder, CO: own view of Islamic orthodoxy. Although some
Westview Press. members of the family have held government posi-
tions throughout their period in Afghanistan, others
MUHSINI, AYATOLLAH MUHAMMED ASEF have lived in exile in India because of their activities.
(1935– ) In January 1979, Muhammad Ibrahim,“the Light of
Ayatollah Muhammed Asef Muhsini is a Hazara Sheikhs,” and some ninety-six male members of the
from Kandahar noted for his involvement in the Is- family were arrested and executed during the Khalq
lamic Movement of Afghanistan, which grew out of regime.
a cultural organization called Dawn of Science. This References
mujahideen group is a rural-based Shi’a movement, Fuller, Graham E. 1991. Islamic Fundamentalism in
but Muhsini has not received any support from the Afghanistan: Its Character and Prospects. Santa
Iranian regime. In 1980, he became chair of the Monica, CA: Rand Corporation.
Afghan Shi’a Alliance, which was an umbrella orga-
nization of mujahideen groups based in Iran, but he MUJADDIDI, SABGHATULLAH (1925– )
left the alliance and moved to Quetta in Pakistan. Sabghatullah Mujaddidi is the leader of the largely
Muhsini’s group was a powerful body and expelled Pashtun National Liberation Front of Afghanistan,
rival groups from the Hazarajat region, working in which he founded in 1978. He was responsible for a
alliance with Sazman Nasr. The Shi’a groups joined number of attacks on the Marxist government and
together as the Unity Party in June 1990 in order to Soviet forces in Afghanistan from 1980 forward. He
protect Shi’a interests; Muhsini refused to join the had been a teacher of Islamic studies in schools and
party, but some of his regional commanders coop- colleges in Kabul but was imprisoned from 1959 to
erated with the coalition. 1964 for his public statements denouncing unbe-
See also Shi’a Mujahideen Groups lievers and Communists. Following his release from
174 MUJAHIDEEN
prison, he left Afghanistan for two years. He re- Pakistani military, which helped to organize and ap-
turned and eventually formed the Organization of prove operations in Afghanistan and to determine
Muslim Clergy in 1972, but he was again forced to who received assistance and weaponry. The ISI gave
flee because of his political activism. Between 1974 priority to the Islamist groups rather than the mod-
and 1978, he was head of the Islamic Center in erates and particularly the mujahideen group led by
Copenhagen, only returning to Pakistan after the Gulbuddin Hekmatyar when allocating funds and
Saur Revolt to form his mujahideen group. He is equipment, including that being covertly supplied
considered to be a moderate and draws support by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
from the Pashtun communities in the provinces of However, there was always a state of flux in terms
Paktia and Kunar. of group membership, as allegiances were often
See also National Liberation Front of Afghanistan switched in order to obtain funds and supplies. In
References addition to the divisions on religious lines, individ-
Farr, Grant M., and John G. Merrian, eds. 1987. Afghan ual groups also reflected their regional, tribal, or
Resistance: The Politics of Survival. Boulder, CO: ethnic origins. The party of Burhanuddin Rabbani,
Westview Press. for example, was largely non-Pashtun in ethnic
composition and was active and strongly repre-
MUJAHIDEEN sented in northern Afghanistan, and though it was
The mujahideen are fighters in a jihad—a holy war Islamist, it did not share the ideology of the Islamist
that can only be waged against non-Muslims and group of Hekmatyar. A further illustration of the
apostates. The designation was adopted by Afghan shifting allegiances was the alliance made in March
resistance fighters in 1979 to show that they were 1990 between Hekmatyar, a radical Islamist, and
engaged in a lawful war against an infidel govern- Shanawaz Tanai, a Khalq hard-liner from the Marx-
ment backed by the Communist regime of the So- ist regime.
viet Union. The mujahideen were never a unified One month after the fall of the regime of Presi-
force: in fact, there was a major split between the dent Muhammad Najibullah in March 1992, the
Sunni and Shi’a groups and within the Sunni mujahideen took Kabul and then proceeded to wage
groups between the moderates and the Islamic war among themselves for control of the capital and
radicals. its environs. In particular, there was a bitter struggle
The Sunni mujahideen were organized into a between the forces of Rabbani and Hekmatyar that
tenuous alliance of seven groups, based in Peshawar, was only resolved in 1996 when a peace agreement
Pakistan. Leaders included the moderates Sayyed was reached between the two leaders, with Hekmat-
Ahmad Gailani, Muhammad Nabi Muhammad, yar becoming prime minister in Rabbani’s govern-
and Sabghatullah Mujaddidi and the Islamist radi- ment. Another major player, General Abdul Rashid
cals Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Muhammad Yunis Dostum, head of the Uzbek-based mujahideen, had
Khales, Burhanuddin Rabbani, and Abdul Rasul withdrawn from Kabul to the north of Afghanistan,
Sayyaf. It was this group that, in 1989, formed the which he controlled from Mazar-i Sharif. However,
Afghan Interim Government (AIG), with Mujad- the mujahideen groups in Kabul were defeated by
didi as the president. At the same time, the Shi’a the Taliban and forced to withdraw to their tradi-
groups, some of them small and inactive, formed an tional ethnic or tribal strongholds. The various
umbrella organization of eight groups in Iran called groups were equally as active against the Taliban
the Islamic Unity Party (Hizb-i Wahdat). The Shi’a regime, which was overthrown in December 2001,
groups refused to join the AIG because they felt that and the new Afghan Interim Government was es-
they were being offered too small a presence. tablished with UN backing. However, recent events,
The mujahideen groups in Peshawar relied on such as the assassination of the minister of public
the goodwill of the Pakistan government, which de- works, Haji Abdul Qadir, on 6 July 2002, demon-
creed that it would only recognize seven mu- strate the fragility of the post-Taliban alliance be-
jahideen groups to receive assistance and that all tween the various power brokers in Afghanistan.
refugees had to be affiliated with one of the groups See also Afghanistan Interim Government; Gailani,
in order to get help. Control was exercised through Sayyed Ahmad; Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin; Inter-Services
the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Service of the Intelligence Service; Khales, Yunis; Muhammadi,
MUSSOORIE CONFERENCE 175
Mujahideen at Kabul Airport (Patrick Robert/Corbis)
Maulawi Muhammad Nabi; Mujaddidi, Sabghatullah; rural population, and its message was spread in
Rabbani, Burhanuddin; Sayyaf, Abdul Rasul; Afghanistan by Afghans who had been studying in
individual entries for mujahideen groups Egypt. The ideology was spread by these intellec-
References tuals to students in Afghan schools and colleges,
Kaplan, Robert D. 1990. Soldiers of God: With the and the students formed the basis of the Islamist
Mujahideen in Afghanistan. Boston: Houghton
Movement in Afghanistan and were recruited as
Mifflin.
fighters by the Islamic Party of Gulbuddin Hek-
Mullah, Marx and Mujahid. Rev. ed. Boulder, CO: matyar. All of the various movements owe their
Westview Press. origins to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and
share common principles, but they operate as sep-
arate entities within the various countries in
MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD which they have a presence. Hekmatyar modeled
The Muslim Brotherhood, formally known as the the infrastructure of his Islamic Party after that of
Society of Muslim Brethren, was founded in Egypt the Muslim Brotherhood.
in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna as a youth club com- See also Islamist Movement
mitted to pursuing moral and social reform References
through propaganda and an information pro- Mitchell, Richard P. 1969. The Society of the Muslim
gram. However, in 1939, in response to popular Brothers. London: Oxford University Press.
movements in Egypt and Palestine, the society
transformed itself into a political entity and MUSSOORIE CONFERENCE
spread throughout the Islamic world as a religio- The Mussoorie Conference between representatives
political organization. The movement aims at im- of Afghanistan and the British government in India
posing Islamic law on all aspects of a Muslim state was held from 17 April to 18 July 1920 at Mussoorie,
and is pan-Islamic in nature. Its strength has al- north of Delhi. The objective of the conference was
ways been drawn from the urban poor and the to restore friendly relations following the 1919
176 MUSSOORIE CONFERENCE
Third Anglo-Afghan War. It was essentially a failure, which was held in Kabul in 1921. On that occasion,
as the Afghan foreign minister, Mahmud Tarzi, and agreement was reached.
the Indian government foreign secretary, Sir Henry See also Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1921
Dobbs, failed to reach agreement on a treaty, though References
some economic assistance was promised by Britain. Adamec, Ludwig W. 1967. Afghanistan, 1900–1923: A
Consideration of the main objective—treaty negoti- Diplomatic History. Berkeley: University of California
ations—was postponed to a future conference, Press.
NADIR, SHAH MUHAMMAD (1888–1933)
Muhammad Nadir was the son of Sardar Muham-
mad Yusuf Khan and was king of Afghanistan from
1929 to 1933 following a successful military career.
In 1912, he was active in the suppression of the
N
Mangal Revolt and was promoted to lieutenant gen-
eral. Implicated in the killing of Amir Habibullah in tion, he also set ethnic groups against each other,
1919, he was arrested but was exonerated by King with Tajiks and Pashtuns, for example, destroying
Amanullah and given command of the forces in the Shamali area north of Kabul. Thus, for many
Khost Province. He was active in the 1919 Third Afghans, his rule was regarded as oppressive, and in
Anglo-Afghan War, crossing the border into 1933, he was assassinated by a Hazara who was the
Waziristan and attacking British forces at Thal. The adopted son of Ghulam Nabi Charkhi.
result of this and other actions led the British to rec- See also Amanullah, King; Habibullah Kalakani; Third
ognize Afghanistan’s independence. Anglo-Afghan War
In 1919, Nadir was appointed minister of war, References
and he held the post until 1924, when he was made Lockhart, L. 1988. Nadir Shah: A Critical Study Based
ambassador to France. He resigned from this posi- Mainly on Contemporary Sources. London: Luzac.
tion two years later on the grounds of ill health but
remained in France, where he was joined by rela-
tives. After King Amanullah abdicated in January
1929, Nadir left for India and established himself in
the frontier region. Then, with tribal support from
Waziristan and the acquiescence of the British, he
returned to Afghanistan and defeated Habibullah
Kalakani (the amir of Afghanistan from 18 January
to 29 October 1929), taking Kabul on 13 October
1929. He was proclaimed king two days later.
Kalakani was taken prisoner and hanged, together
with a large number of his followers.
Muhammad Nadir Shah’s rule was a contradic-
tion. He reversed many of Amanullah’s moderniza-
tion programs and courted favor with the religious
extremists. Yet at the same time, he put in place a re-
structuring program, which included the provision
of schooling, and in 1932, he founded the Faculty of
Medicine in Kabul University. A new constitution
was drafted in 1931, which provided for a parlia-
ment, a national council, a senate, and an advisory
council. Nadir Shah struggled against elements that
sought to restore Amanullah to the throne, and he
executed his main opponent, Ghulam Nabi, in King of Afghanistan Nadir Shah (Hulton-Deutsch
1932. As part of the campaign to defeat the opposi- Collection/Corbis)
177
178 NAJIBULLAH, MUHAMMAD
NAJIBULLAH, MUHAMMAD (1947–1996) attempted to achieve some reconciliation by offer-

Muhammad Najibullah was president of the Re- ing Ahmad Shah Masood, the leader of the North-
public of Afghanistan and general secretary of the ern Alliance, the post of minister of defense in his
People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) final government, but that offer was rejected.
from 1986 to 1992. He was born in 1947 in Kabul Najibullah resigned in 1992 as part of a plan by
of an Ahmadzai Ghilzai Pashtun family; his father the United Nations to form a broad-based Afghan
was an Afghan trade agent in Peshawar. Najibullah government, and the mujahideen assumed power
was educated at Habibia High School and Kabul that year. However, by 1994, fierce fighting among
University, graduating from the College of Medi- the various mujahideen groups had devastated
cine in 1975. He had joined the Parcham faction of Kabul, and Najibullah took refuge in the UN com-
the PDPA in 1965 and was repeatedly arrested for pound in the city. When the Taliban captured Kabul
his political activities. After the Saur Revolt of two years later, he was forcibly removed from the
April 1978, which brought the Communists to UN compound, killed, and then hung in public by
power, he was appointed ambassador to Tehran in the Taliban forces.
July 1978 as part of a move to get leading Par- See also People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan;
chamis out of the country. He was dismissed in Tanai, Lt. Gen. Shanawaz
October 1978 by the government of Nur Muham- References
mad Taraki when the Parchami faction was sus- Brigot, Andre, and Olivier Roy. 1988. The War in
pected of plotting a coup. Afghanistan: An Account and Analysis of the Country,
Najibullah initially remained in Iran but re- Its People, Soviet Intervention and the Resistance. New
turned to Kabul with Babrak Karmal (a leading York: Harvester-Wheatsheaf.
member of the PDPA who would be president of
Afghanistan from 1979 to 1986) after Hafizullah NANGARHAR PROVINCE
Amin was ousted in December 1979. (Amin served Nangarhar Province is located in eastern Afghani-
as president of Afghanistan from September 1979 stan. Its capital is the important city of Jalalabad,
until his assassination by Soviet special forces on 27 whose earlier population of about 57,000 has been
December of that year.) Najibullah’s next appoint- swelled to about 200,000 by refugees (roughly be-
ment was as general president of KHAD, the Afghan tween 1998 and 2002). The province occupies an
Security Service (also known as the State Informa- area of 7,195 square miles and has a population of
tion Service), a post he held from 1980 to 1986. In about 740,000; at present, some 400,000 are being
1986, he replaced Karmal as general secretary of the accommodated in refugee camps elsewhere in Af-
PDPA. He then purged the Central Committee, ghanistan as internally displaced persons. The pop-
brought in new members, and ultimately became ulation is predominantly Pashtun, but other ethnic
president in 1987. Government reorganizations fol- groups live in the capital.
lowed in 1988 and 1990, and in March 1990, he Jalalabad grew in importance when it became
withstood an attempted coup from the Khalq fac- the winter capital of Afghan kings after Kabul was
tion of the PDPA, headed by Minister of Defense established as the seat of government. Agriculture is
Shanawaz Tanai. the mainstay of the economy, with irrigation being
In an attempt to sustain himself in power, he aided by the Darunta Dam on the River Kabul
downplayed Marxist ideology and annulled most of (which also provides hydroelectric power). Timber
the early reforms instigated by the Communist is found in the mountain areas but is smuggled into
regime. Najibullah tried to declare a national policy Pakistan because of higher prices paid for it across
of reconciliation in order to form a broad-based the border. The province and particularly Jalalabad
Afghan national government, but the mujahideen, were held by the government against the mu-
who regarded him as a puppet of the Soviet Union, jahideen and were also a stronghold of the Taliban
rejected these overtures. To gain support for his pro- regime when it came to power in 1996.
posals, he traveled to several European capitals, References
warning that Afghanistan was in danger of becom- Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political
ing a haven for drug dealers and that civil war would Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria:
ensue between the various mujahideen groups. He Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt.
NATIONAL FATHERLAND FRONT 179
Data Collection for Afghan Repatriation Project. 1989. administration while his brother, Habibullah, was
Nangarhar Province. Islamabad: UN High amir. He was also president of the amir’s advisory
Commissioner for Refugees. council and commander-in-chief of the armed
forces. In terms of policy, he was a conservative who
NARANJAN DAS (1853–?) was an ardent supporter of the religious establish-
An Afghan Hindu who served as finance minister ment and a committed foe of the British. The enmity
during the reigns of Amir Habibullah and King toward Britain was reinforced in 1895 when he was
Amanullah, Naranjan Das was well respected by sent by Amir Abdur Rahman to London to obtain
Amanullah, and no funds could be released without consent for an Afghan embassy in London but the
his signature as diwan (head of civil service). In 1906, British government refused approval. On Amir
he was granted the rank of civil colonel. He became Habibullah’s assassination in February 1919, Nasrul-
subordinate to Mir Ahmad Shah, head of the Rev- lah Khan was proclaimed king in Peshawar, Pakistan,
enue Department, in November 1906, and in 1912, but the army gave its support to Amanullah Khan,
he took charge of the collection of tools and octroi who controlled Kabul palace and the treasury. Nas-
(toll or tax on goods brought into a city) throughout rullah was arrested and assassinated while in custody.
the country from Mustafi Muhammad Husain See also Amanullah, King; Habibullah, Amir
Khan. He was part of the Afghan delegation that References
produced the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 and was Gregorian, Vartan. 1969. The Emergence of Modern
also involved in the Mussoorie Conference of 1920, Afghanistan: Politics of Reform and Modernization,
which eventually led to the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1880–1946. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
1921. He became a civil brigadier in February 1920.
See also Amanullah, King; Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919; NATIONAL FATHERLAND FRONT
Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1921; Mussoorie Conference (JABHA-YI-MILLI-YI PADAR WATAN)
References The National Fatherland Front (NFF) was estab-
Wild, Roland. 1933. Amanullah: Ex-King of Afghanistan. lished in 1980 by Babrak Karmal to unite all the pro-
London.: Hurst and Blackett. gressive forces of Afghanistan. The People’s Demo-
cratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was the driving
NASIR TRIBE force behind the association. The move was en-
The Nasir tribe is an affluent Pashtun tribe whose dorsed by a loya jirga (great council) attended by
wealth is in its flocks and herds.Sheep and camels pro- 940 delegates and was inaugurated on 15 June 1981
vide for the Nasirs’ immediate needs, with the excess in Kabul. The organization’s membership included
produce being sold or traded to meet their other re- all trade unions, guilds, women’s organizations, and
quirements. A nomadic people, they used to winter in professional bodies. With about 55,000 members by
India and were in constant conflict with the Waziris, 1984, the NFF was designed to encourage the soli-
whose territory they passed through on route to their darity of the working people and to direct their
winter quarters. The structure of the Nasir tribe is struggles against those who did not want revolution.
democratic and not dominated by their chiefs, in line The objectives of the NFF were:
with the normal nomadic social structure. During the
reign of Amir Abdur Rahman, who ruled from 1880 • To lead the revolution to its final victory
to 1901, attempts were made to settle the members of • To promote the revolutionary process
the tribe in Herat Province, but they agreed to pay • To facilitate extensive participation of
taxes in order to protect their traditional way of life. people in the administration of the affairs
References of state, and
Hammerton, J. A. 1984. Tribes, Races and Cultures of India • To promote unity without discrimination
and Neighbouring Countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, and distinction and to work to build a new,
Burma, Ceylon, Nepal, and Tibet. Delhi, India: Mittal. just, progressive, free, and independent
revolution in Afghanistan
NASRULLAH KHAN (?–1919)
Nasrullah Khan was the second son of Amir Abdur Unlike other Communist regimes, the NFF never
Rahman and effectively controlled the government mobilized the masses under party control, and in
180 NATIONAL ISLAMIC FRONT OF AFGHANISTAN
1987, it was renamed the National Front of the Re- The movement also campaigns for the fundamen-
public of Afghanistan. It did not survive the fall of tal rights of freedom of speech, protection of pri-
the Marxist regime as a cohesive organization. vate property, and social justice, which includes
See also Karmal, Babrak; People’s Democratic Party of providing education and health care for all
Afghanistan Afghans. The movement supports the principles of
References the UN Charter, the Declaration of Human Rights,
Arnold, Anthony. 1983. Afghanistan’s Two-Party and the Islamic Organization Conference but fa-
Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Stanford, CA: vors nonalignment and respect for Afghanistan’s
Hoover Institution Press. neighbors.
See also Gailani, Sayyed Ahmad
NATIONAL ISLAMIC FRONT References
OF AFGHANISTAN (MAHAZ-I Roy, Olivier. 1986. Islam and Resistance in Afghanistan.
MILLI-YI AFGHANISTAN) London and New York: Cambridge University Press.
The National Islamic Front of Afghanistan was
founded in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 1979 by Sayyed NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT
Ahmad Gailani as an armed resistance movement, OF AFGHANISTAN (JABHA-YI-NAJAT-YI
part of a loose confederation of moderate mu- MILLI-YI AFGHANISTAN)
jahideen groups. The front is a liberal, nationalist The National Liberation Front of Afghanistan was
Islamic party supporting a free and elected govern- founded in 1978 by Sabghatullah Mujaddidi and
ment. The group is extremely supportive of the Af- was one of seven mujahideen movements with
ghanistan Interim Government (AIG) and advo- headquarters in Pakistan. The front is a small and
cates a strong and unified mujahideen movement. moderate group, which was formed with the objec-
tive of overthrowing the Marxist regime in Kabul in
1979 and replacing it with an Islamic state based on
parliamentary democracy. The movement is largely
Pashtun in terms of membership.
See also Mujaddidi, Sabghatullah
References
Oleson, A. 1995. Islam and Politics in Afghanistan.
NATIONAL REVOLUTIONARY PARTY

(HIZB-I INQILAB-I MILLI)
The National Revolutionary Party (NRP) was
founded by Afghanistan president Muhammad
Daud in 1975 to garner support and grassroots
backing for his republican regime. The NRP was
also founded in an attempt to limit the influence of
the Communist supporters of Daud, who had
helped him to gain power, and it was to be the only
permitted political party. The party was designed to
be an umbrella organization representing all of the
progressive forces within Afghanistan. It was run by
a central council comprising Gen. Ghulam Haidar
Rasuli, the minister of defense; Sayyid Abdullah, the
minister of finance; Dr. Abdul Majid; and Professor
Abdul Qayyum. The party did not survive the Saur
Portrait of Pir Sayyed Ahmad Gailani, leader of the National
Revolt of April 1978.
Islamic Front of Afghanistan, at a peace summit in Peshawar, See also Daud, Sardar Muhammad; Rasuli, Maj. Gen.
Pakistan. (LE SEGRETAIN PASCAL/CORBIS SYGMA) Ghulam Haidar
NORTHERN ALLIANCE 181
References was arrested two years later and was executed in

Ahmad, N. D. 1990. The Survival of Afghanistan, 1978 during the Khalq regime.
1747–1979: A Diplomatic History with an Analytic See also Islamist Movement
and Reflective Approach. Lahore, Pakistan: Institute of References
Islamic Culture. Oleson, A. 1995. Islam and Politics in Afghanistan.
NAZAR, LT. GEN. MUHAMMAD (1935– )
Muhammad Nazar was a member of the Khalq fac- NIMRUZ PROVINCE
tion of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghani- Nimruz Province is located in southwestern Af-
stan (PDPA) who joined the party in 1974. Five ghanistan and has an area of 20,980 square miles
years later, he was involved in the Homeland High but a population of only 112,000. Until 1968, the
Defense Council, founded as a result of increasing province was called Chakhansur. It was part of an-
mujahideen activity. A Durrani Pashtun, he was ed- cient Sistan and the site of earlier civilizations de-
ucated at the Afghan Military Academy and received stroyed by the Mongol invasions. The capital of the
further training at the USSR Military Academy be- province, Zaranj, was built in the 1960s. The econ-
fore returning to the Afghan air force. His position omy is based on agriculture in the well-watered Hel-
was used to full effect during the Saur Revolt of mand Valley and animal husbandry, with nomadic
April 1978, which led to the installation of a Com- groups living in the deserts. The strong winds in this
munist regime. The coming to power of the PDPA area are harnessed by windmills throughout the
saw Nazar as chief of staff of the armed forces and province. Baluchs, Brahuis, Pashtuns, and Tajiks
minister of defense from 1984 to 1986. In 1990. he comprise the ethnic makeup of the Sunni popula-
joined Defense Minister Shanawaz Tanai in a plot tion of Nimruz, in order of size.
against the regime of Muhammad Najibullah, and References
he was arrested and stripped of all his positions fol- Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political
lowing the failure of the coup. Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria:
See also People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan; Saur Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt.
Revolt; Tanai, Lt. Gen. Shanawaz
References NIZAMNAMA
Arnold, Anthony. 1983. Afghanistan’s Two-Party The Nizamnama was a code of regulations enacted
Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Stanford, CA: during the reign of King Amanullah and embodied
Hoover Institution Press. all of his reforms, including the Constitution of
1923. Incorporated were regulations relating to the
NIAZI, GHULAM MUHAMMAD (?–1978) organization of the state, payment of taxes, engage-
Ghulam Muhammad Niazi was one of the ments and marriages, and the establishment of
founders of the Organization of Muslim Youth, schools for women. These regulations and the mod-
which was affiliated with the Islamic Society in ernization process were opposed by traditionalists,
Pakistan before becoming the nucleus of the Is- who believed they were at variance with Islamic law.
lamist Movement. He was born in Ghazni Consequently, the traditionalists enlisted tribal sup-
Province and educated at Abu Hanifa Theological port to oust King Amanullah.
School in Kabul before going to al-Azhar Univer- See also Amanullah, King
sity in Egypt, where he absorbed the teachings of References
the Muslim Brotherhood. On returning to Afghan- Wild, Roland. 1933. Amanullah: Ex-King of Afghanistan.
istan, Niazi taught at Kabul University, eventually London: Hurst and Blackett.
becoming dean of the Faculty of Theology.
Burhanuddin Rabbani, the leader of the Islamist NORTHERN ALLIANCE
Movement and the president of Afghanistan from The Northern Alliance evolved from the power
1992 to 1996, and Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, leader of the struggle that ensued after the Soviet withdrawal
Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan, from Afghanistan was completed on 14 February
were among his students. He was succeeded as 1989. The alliance was a grouping of disparate mu-
leader of the organization in 1972 by Rabbani. He jahideen groups united against the Communist
182 NORTHERN ALLIANCE
Afghanistan Northern Alliance troops move from the northern part of the country to Kabul across the Kukcha River in Takhar Province,
14 November 2001. (Reuters NewMedia Inc./CORBIS)
government of President Muhammad Najibullah. large areas of Afghanistan through the Shura-yi-
It came into being in 1992, disintegrated in 1993, Najar (Supervisory Council), which coordinated all
and was resurrected in 1996 with the coming to of the resistance forces under his authority. He was
power of the Taliban. also quick to seize the opportunities presented by
The Soviet withdrawal did not lead to the imme- the Soviet departure, and by the middle of 1991, he
diate collapse of the Najibullah government as many had extended his control to most of the northeast
observers had expected, which set into motion a provinces of Afghanistan.
struggle for control of a post-Communist Afghani- However, toward the end of 1991, a new politico-
stan. The situation was complicated by the role military situation arose in northern Afghanistan as
played by countries in the region, each of which Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, head of President Na-
wanted to see a regime installed in Kabul that would jibullah’s northern militia, rebelled against the
meet its own short- and long-term interests in Af- Kabul regime and Monsaur Naderi, whose group
ghanistan and the region as a whole. Inside Afghan- controlled the northern part of the Salang highway,
istan, the various factions and political parties began joined him. Masood immediately invited Dostum
to form both political and military alliances in order to league with him in opposition to Najibullah’s
to secure control—or at least a significant pres- government and to free northern Afghanistan from
ence—in any future government. the Kabul regime. Additionally, with support from
At the time of the Soviet withdrawal, the main Iran, the Shi’a Islamic Unity Party, largely based in
power brokers were Ahmad Shah Masood and Gul- Herat, joined the alliance struck between Masood
buddin Hekmatyar, two men who had been fighting and Dostum, thus creating the Northern Alliance.
each other for military and political power since the The Northern Alliance was successful in bringing
Soviet invasion of 1979. Immediately after the Sovi- about the downfall of Najibullah’s government in
ets withdrew, Masood had considerable control over April 1992, partially as a result of secret negotiations
NORTHERN ALLIANCE 183
with members of the Parcham faction in the gov- jets, and helicopter gunships left over from the So-
ernment. Thus, alliance forces were able to occupy viet era.
Kabul and thwart the efforts of other Afghan leaders The alliance was dealt a severe blow on 9 Sep-
based in exile in Peshawar, Pakistan. However, the tember 2001 when Ahmad Shah Masood was fatally
unity of the alliance was short-lived, as a power wounded by assassins posing as Arab journalists,
struggle soon ensued between Masood, Dostum, possibly agents of the Taliban or al-Qaeda. Masood’s
and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, and the whole structure former head of intelligence, Gen. Mohammad
disintegrated. Afghanistan sank into a state of total Fahim, assumed control of the military wing of the
anarchy, and the power struggle soon developed movement. The Northern Alliance, which then be-
into an all-out civil war. The new government came known as the United Front, represented the
headed by President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who last opposition to the Taliban.
was backed by Masood, had no power other than in In fact, that opposition against a common enemy
Kabul, which was less than secure, and in the Pan- was the only unifying element in the movement,
jshir Valley. whose composition was ethnically and religiously
In essence, Afghanistan’s government had ceased disparate and primarily non-Pashtun. The essence
to exist, and areas were controlled by various mu- of its military strength was drawn from the Tajik
jahideen warlords whose allegiances and alliances and Uzbek populations, and the alliance was also
constantly shifted in their attempts to secure overall backed by Iran, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
control of Kabul in order to try to establish control At the time of Masood’s death, the alliance was un-
over Afghanistan and secure recognition as the new able to do much more than hold its own against the
national government. It was in this period of anar- Taliban advances.
chy that the Taliban movement came into being, The Northern Alliance’s nominal head was still
formed in Kandahar in 1994 under the leadership of President Rabbani, who was the most senior figure
Mullah Muhammad Omar. The movement at- in the movement, an ethnic Tajik, and a former pro-
tracted support from Islamic militants in the fessor at Kabul University; he was still recognized by
madrasas (religious schools) of Pakistan and from the United Nations and within Afghanistan’s em-
other parts of the Muslim world, including Egypt, bassies in thirty-three countries. His seat of govern-
the Arab gulf states, Saudi Arabia, and Chechnya. ment was in Faizabad, but the location was rather
Such was the state of disarray among the various insecure and almost totally dependent on goods
mujahideen groups that the Taliban at once began smuggled in from territory controlled by the Tal-
to enjoy considerable military success, and by 1996, iban. Rabbani’s concept of an Islamic state was less
it had taken Kabul and most of southern and west- strict than that of the Taliban, and in alliance-held
ern Afghanistan. In some cases, the Taliban troops areas, women and girls were able to work and re-
were joined by mujahideen groups, and they were ceive an education. However, the Northern Alliance,
often welcomed by the people, who were weary of like the Taliban, was not noted for its respect for
the civil war and the excesses of the fighting mu- human rights.
jahideen groups. The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center
The forces of the Northern Alliance were forced and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001 proved to
to withdraw northward, and President Rabbani de- be a morale booster for the Northern Alliance due
clared Mazar-i Sharif to be the new capital of the to the declared intent of the United States to take ac-
country. But Taliban forces ousted the alliance in tion against the Taliban regime, al-Qaeda, and
1997, with much bloodshed. Eventually, the North- Osama bin Laden. Alliance leaders took the view
ern Alliance was left in control of only about 10 per- that the Taliban would be doomed, and they imme-
cent of northern Afghanistan, centered on Masood’s diately announced that they would be willing to
stronghold in the Panjshir Valley and a small moun- fight with the United States against the Taliban
tainous area in the northeast. However, it was still forces, thus providing a reason for the fragile al-
recognized by the outside world as the legitimate liance to continue to hold together. However, as a
government of Afghanistan, with Burhanuddin portent for the future, the Islamic Unity Party led by
Rabbani as president. The military force consisted of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was opposed to U.S. involve-
some 10,000 troops, equipped with tanks, fighter ment in Afghanistan, and Hekmatyar warned that
184 NORTHERN ALLIANCE
he would take action against American troops. After Northern Alliance was heavily represented, though
the U.S. ground forces arrived in Afghanistan in Oc- the new president, Hamid Karzai, was a Pashtun.
tober 2001, Hekmatyar declared a jihad against their Even with this agreement, however, the fragility of
presence in the country. the Northern Alliance was revealed: General Dos-
Initially, U.S. support for the Northern Alliance tum had been excluded from the administration,
action against the Taliban was restricted to provid- and as a result, he rejected the Bonn Agreement, es-
ing technical assistance, intelligence data, and fund- pecially as he saw rivals being given portfolios in the
ing, but this was later boosted by the presence of government. The situation was only defused by
U.S. and UK Special Forces, who began operating President Karzai appointing Dostum as deputy de-
with Northern Alliance troops. Both Iran and Rus- fense minister and his special representative in
sia were ready suppliers of arms, ammunition, and northern Afghanistan. The current situation in Af-
military equipment for alliance forces, whom they ghanistan is fraught with problems and tensions, for
saw as furthering their own interests in the region; President Karzai’s authority is essentially limited to
such support was justified by the fact that Rabbani Kabul, where he is backed by the International Se-
was still recognized as the legitimate head of state. It curity Assistance Force (ISAF) and where warlords
is clear that the conflict in Afghanistan continued to still wield power in the majority of the provinces
have a regional dimension. Russia had supported while at the same time declaring their support for
Masood as a counter to Taliban expansionism in the the Karzai government. At present, the alliance is
region, whereas Uzbekistan had supported the still holding, but the situation is delicate, with tradi-
Uzbek leader, Gen.Abdul Rashid Dostum, to pro- tional rivalries and enmities simmering just below
vide a buffer against the spread of Islamic militancy the surface. In many cases, these old hatreds are
from Afghanistan. Tajikistan has been engaged in a manifesting themselves through action, such as the
civil war against Islamic fundamentalists within its ethnic cleansing of Pashtuns in Herat and Mazar-i-
own borders and supported the Tajiks led by Rab- Sharif. Frequently, such actions are responses to
bani for the same reasons as Uzbekistan, though atrocities committed during the Taliban regime, but
some Afghan Tajiks also favored linking their terri- the rivalries often go back through generations: for
tory with Tajikistan. many, it is a question of settling old scores.
The U.S. bombing raids on Taliban and al-Qaeda Conditions in Afghanistan are largely affected by
installations and then against Taliban frontline posi- the presence of Coalition forces, the provision of hu-
tions assisted the Northern Alliance in its efforts manitarian aid by the UN agencies and nongovern-
against the Taliban. In fact, it was airpower that en- mental organizations (NGOs), promises of restruc-
abled alliance forces to make rapid gains against Tal- turing aid, and, for many, an overwhelming
iban positions. The opposition soon disintegrated, war-weariness. However, security is far from assured,
with some warlords changing sides, Taliban fighters especially since Taliban and al-Qaeda elements are
laying down their arms and melting into the coun- still active, opium production and the drug trade are
tryside, and alliance forces advancing on Kabul with on the increase, and warlords are vying for control in
the backing of U.S. and UK ground forces. However, the provinces. The allegiances that held together
after the fall of Kabul and the Taliban stronghold of against the Taliban as the common enemy will be
Kandahar to the Northern Alliance, the hard-core sorely tested in the post-Taliban era.
elements among the Taliban fighters and al-Qaeda,
including a large number of foreign fighters, moved See also Civil War; Coalition Air Campaign against the
Taliban; Coalition Land Campaign against the
into the mountainous areas of eastern Afghanistan
Taliban; Dostum, Gen. Abdul Rashid; Hekmatyar,
or across the border into the North-West Frontier
Gulbuddin; Laden, Osama bin; Masood, Ahmad
Province of Pakistan. These several thousand hard- Shah; Rabbani, Burhanuddin; Taliban
core elements were pursued by Coalition special References
forces and conventional troops, with the backing of Carew, Tom. 2000. Jihad: The Secret War in Afghanistan.
local warlords in a series of actions. Edinburgh: Mainstream.
The UN-sponsored conference held in Bonn, Goodson, Larry P. 2001. Afghanistan’s Endless War: State
Germany, in December 2001 led to the formation of Failure, Regional Politics, and the Rise of the Taliban.
an interim government in Afghanistan in which the Seattle: University of Washington Press.
NURZAI, ABDUL QAYYUM 185
Guistozzi, Antonio. 2000. War, Politics and Society in almost became an autonomous region. It was a vital
Afghanistan, 1978–1992. Washington, DC: base for mujahideen groups during the civil war
Georgetown University Press. from 1989 to 2001.
Marsden, Peter. 1998. The Taliban: War, Religion and the References
New Order in Afghanistan. London and New York: Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political
Zed Books. Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria:
Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt.
NUR, NUR AHMAD (1937– ) “Other Ethnic Groups of Afghanistan.” 2002.
Nur Ahmad Nur was a member of the Parcham fac- http://www.afghan-network.net/Ethnic-
tion of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghani- Groups/other-groups/html (cited 7 February 2002).
stan (PDPA). He embarked on a career in the for-
eign ministry after graduating from Kabul NURISTANI, ABDUL WAKIL (?–1929)
University. Following the April 1978 Saur Revolt Abdul Wakil Nuristani was an attendant to Amir
and the Communists’ rise to power, Nur became Abdur Rahman, ruler of Afghanistan from 1880 to
minister of the interior but in August was sent to 1901, and on 5 June 1913, he took control of the gar-
Washington as ambassador. However, he was rison at Kandahar. Three years later, he was recalled
purged with other Parcham leaders suspected of to Kabul and appointed to command the gen-
plotting a coup, and he went to Eastern Europe. He darmerie, Ghud-i-Khotwali, and he was promoted
only returned to Afghanistan after Babrak Karmal to major general by the king in March 1919. During
took the reins of power in December 1979. In 1981, the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, he com-
he became a member of the Politburo and Central manded the Afghan forces at Kunar in June 1919
Committee of the PDPA. Among his posts were am- and was on the Chitral front in October 1920. His
bassador to Warsaw in 1988, representative at the military career continued as he served as the offici-
United Nations in 1989, and, in January 1991, am- ating commander, Jalalabad, in October 1920 and
bassador to Havana. returned to Kabul in the following month. In No-
See also People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan; Saur vember 1923, he was commander of the Kabul
Revolt Corps. He became Naib Sular of Badakhshan and
References Qatagham in August 1925.
People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan. 1980. In December 1928, Nuristani was called to Jalal-
Fundamental Principles, Democratic Republic of abad during the rebellion against the king and was
Afghanistan. Kabul: Ministry of Information and said to be fighting for Ali Ahmad Khan, the gover-
Culture. nor of Herat, in January 1929. He was reported to
have been arrested and killed while in command of
NURISTAN PROVINCE the pacification of Kohdaman after the execution of
Prior to 1990, the 1,409-square-mile area that is Habibullah Kalakani, who ruled Afghanistan from
now Nuristan Province was a district of Laghman 18 January to 19 October 1929.
Province. The area was part of the ancient Karifstan, See also Third Anglo-Afghan War
or Land of the Infidels, and its people became con- References
verted to Sunni Islam after being conquered by Khan, Sultan Muhammad. 1980. The Life of Abdur
Amir Abdur Rahman in 1895 and 1896. The terri- Rahman, Amir of Afghanistan. Karachi, Pakistan:
tory was then renamed Nuristan, or Land of Light. Oxford University Press.
Nuristanis number some 100,000 and also predom-
inate in Kunar and Laghman Provinces. Their lan- NURZAI, ABDUL QAYYUM (1942– )
guages are Indo-Iranian in origin and have a num- Abdul Qayyum Nurzai was born in Farah Province
ber of dialects that have developed in isolation from and entered a career in teaching, rising to the post
other Indian and Iranian languages. of deputy minister of education in April 1978 and
The Nuristanis allied with the Safi Pashtuns to then deputy minister of information and culture.
rise up against the People’s Democratic Party of Af- He is a Khalqi (a member of the Khalq faction of
ghanistan in October 1978. The Marxist regime was the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan, or
unable to fully suppress the rebellion, and Nuristan PDPA), and in March 1979, he became editor of
186 NURZAI TRIBE
Khalq, the faction’s newspaper. He then became ed- NURZAI TRIBE

itor of Dehqan, which was the organ of the PDPA’s The Nurzais are members of a significant and pros-
Central Committee. In May 1990, he was made perous Durrani tribe. Though renowned for their
deputy prime minister in the government of Fazl prowess as warriors, they have an agriculturally
Haq Khaliqyar. based economy. They live primarily in Kandahar,
See also Khalq; People’s Democratic Party of Farah, and Herat Provinces, and they tend to be set-
Afghanistan tled rather than nomadic.
Arnold, Anthony. 1983. Afghanistan’s Two-Party Bellew, H. W. 1880. The Races of Afghanistan: Being a
Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Stanford, CA: Brief Account of the Principal Nations Inhabiting That
Hoover Institution Press. Country. London: Thaker.
OFUQ, MUHAMMAD ZAHIR
Muhammad Zahir Ofuq was the head of a small,
left-wing group known as the Revolutionary Soci-
ety of Afghan Toilers, which joined with the Peo-
ple’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) in
O
July 1986. He was one of the founding members of
the PDPA and a supporter of its Khalq faction be- only once, as a young man. He is not regarded as a
fore forming his own group. In 1986, he also be- great orator; for his followers, the strength of his
came vice-president and scientific secretary of the leadership lies in his piety and the force of his beliefs.
Academy of Science, but his career came to an end In April 1996, he was elected amirul momineen
with his arrest in 1991, likely for opposition to the (commander of the faithful) by a shura (council) of
government. about 1,000 members of ulamas (Islamic scholars
See also People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan and clergymen). He was the first Muslim since the
References Fourth Caliph to publicly accept the title.
Arnold, Anthony. 1983. Afghanistan’s Two-Party The son of a peasant farmer, he grew up in the
Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Stanford, CA: village of Singesar, near Kandahar, and was edu-
Hoover Institution Press. cated in a village madrasa (religious school) before
going to Pakistan to further his Islamic education
OMAR, MULLAH MUHAMMAD (1959– ) at a fundamentalist religious school. That educa-
Mullah Muhammad Omar was the leader of the tion was not completed due to the Soviet occupa-
Taliban. Because of his association with Osama bin tion of Afghanistan in 1979. This lack of a full ed-
Laden and the human rights violations of the Tal- ucation has always been acknowledged by Omar,
iban regime, he is at the head of the most-wanted who has described himself as a seeker of knowledge
list of the Coalition force put together at the insti- rather than a mullah who imparts knowledge
gation of President George W. Bush as part of Op- (though at one time, he actually was a mullah in a
eration Enduring Freedom. As supreme leader of village madrasa near Kandahar). He was relatively
the Taliban, he became virtual ruler of much of Af- unknown in Afghanistan until 1994, when he
ghanistan once his forces had defeated the mu- started the Taliban movement and rose to power.
jahideen, which had come to power after the fall of Observers maintain that he was reluctant to as-
the Marxist regime in 1992. Omar had been a sume a position of power, but Omar has said that
fighter in the mujahideen group led by Muhammad his leadership was the result of a dream in which
Nabi Muhammadi; in time, he became a deputy Allah came to him, in the form of a man, and asked
chief commander of the group and was actively in- him to lead the faithful.
volved in raids against Soviet and government Omar is said to have been horrified by the be-
forces from 1989 to 1992. He was reputed to have havior of the mujahideen (of which he had been a
destroyed several Soviet tanks and was wounded part until 1992) toward the Soviets and the Marxist
four times in action; despite losing sight in one eye, government in Kabul. The country had descended
he is still said to be an expert marksman. into anarchy at that point, with some mujahideen
Mullah Omar has been described by diplomats as fighters kidnapping and raping boys and girls, rob-
extremely shy. He is untalkative with foreigners, has bing travelers on the roads, and driving interna-
given very few interviews, rarely meets with non- tional aid workers from Kandahar. Omar and some
Muslims, and seems to have been photographed thirty Pashtun followers took up arms to deal with
187
188 OMAR, MULLAH MUHAMMAD
four mujahideen who had been raping women near sures from a variety of sources, including Pakistan
Omar’s village, and from this small beginning, the and the radical Arab elements operating within Af-
Taliban movement was born. Recruits to the Taliban ghanistan, many of whom were part of Osama bin
came from the Pashtun majority in southern Af- Laden’s al-Qaeda network. Omar had originally
ghanistan, but the movement also attracted volun- been supported by Pakistan, through its Inter-Ser-
teers from the religious schools in Afghanistan and vices Intelligence Service, but the regime had re-
foreign fighters who had been involved in the mu- ceived international recognition only from Pakistan,
jahideen campaign against the Marxist regime. Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The
The ultimate goal of the Taliban and Mullah Taliban soon came into conflict with the interna-
Omar was the establishment of a Muslim state that tional community for providing a safe haven for
would function according to a strict interpretation Osama bin Laden in 1996, following his expulsion
of the Koran, based on the tenets taught by the fun- from Sudan. Despite UN demands that bin Laden
damentalist schools in Pakistan. In the two years fol- be expelled to answer charges of involvement in a
lowing its founding in 1994, the Taliban succeeded number of terrorist incidents, such as the abortive
in capturing about 90 percent of Afghanistan, with attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, Omar re-
only the area of the Panjshir Valley, controlled by fused to act, arguing that bin Laden was a guest of
Ahmad Shah Masood, resisting their advance. Tal- Afghanistan and protected by Islamic law. In re-
iban forces had also been swollen by fundamentalist sponse, UN sanctions against the Taliban regime
fighters from other Muslim states, particularly Pak- were imposed, including the freezing of overseas as-
istan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the gulf states, some sets and the refusal of takeoff and landing rights to
of whom were seasoned combatants, having already the Afghan national airline.
served with the mujahideen. The climax of the cam- International opinion was further incensed by
paign came in September 1996 with the fall of Kabul Mullah Omar’s declared policy of destroying Af-
to the Taliban, and it was then that Omar became ghanistan’s pre-Islamic heritage. One egregious ex-
commander of the faithful in a ceremony held at ample was the regime’s destruction of the statues of
Kandahar. After his election, Omar appeared before Buddha at Bamian in 2001. Despite pressure from a
his supporters wearing a cloak said to have belonged number of governments, including Egypt, and inter-
to the prophet Muhammad, which had lain in a national bodies such as the UN Educational, Scien-
Kandahar shrine for sixty years. tific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Omar
Taliban rule in Afghanistan was marked by op- refused to abandon or relax this policy, and the de-
pression, a strict interpretation of the Koran and struction proceeded throughout Afghanistan. It also
Shari’a law, and violations of human rights, partic- seems that, as a result of a drought in Afghanistan,
ularly against women. It was also Taliban policy to military problems with the opposition, sanctions,
eradicate all Western influences from the country: and international isolation, Mullah Omar became
accordingly, television sets and videocassette increasingly isolated in Kandahar. Observers have in-
recorders were confiscated, music was banned, men dicated that this isolation led him to fall under the
were forced to grow beards, and women were for- influence of radical Arab militants—in particular,
bidden to work or receive an education. The result Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s deputy—as
was that many cultured and educated Afghans fled was demonstrated by the fact that Omar’s rhetoric
from the country to escape the oppression of the changed from speeches on the rebuilding of Afghan-
regime. Others accepted the excesses of the Taliban istan to pan-Islamic addresses marked by radical Is-
as the price of peace. lamism in which he reflected the thoughts of mili-
The Taliban regime under Omar never really had tant Islamic radicals from Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
a functioning government, and Omar himself never Omar maintained to the rest of the world that
left Kandahar to go to Kabul, the nation’s capital, to Osama bin Laden had been placed under house ar-
assume power. All decisions were made in private by rest by the regime in Kandahar, barred from access
Omar and a small group of elders, and funds were to his communications facility, and forbidden to
distributed to Taliban leaders from a large, tin box use Afghan soil for actions against other countries.
full of U.S. dollars, which was held by Omar. The However, the 11 September 2001 attacks on the
Council of the Taliban itself was buffeted by pres- World Trade Center and the Pentagon and their at-
OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM 189
tribution to bin Laden and al-Qaeda would have a to their advantage or hiding out in the lawless fron-
dramatic impact on the future of the Taliban and tier districts of Pakistan. A remarkable piece of intel-
Afghanistan. Omar’s continued refusal to expel bin ligence—or an outright betrayal—will be required
Laden led U.S. President George W. Bush to declare for the Taliban leaders to be given up to the Afghan
a “War on Terror,” with the initial objectives being government or the Coalition armed forces, as there is
the overthrow of the Taliban regime and the cap- still a great deal of sympathy for the Taliban in parts
ture of Osama bin Laden and the leaders of al- of Afghanistan and Pakistan. On 17 February 2003,
Qaeda. At first, covert support for forces opposing in a statement released to the press and purportedly
the Taliban was provided through the supply of from Mullah Omar, Afghans were instructed to wage
arms and equipment, as well as the infiltration of a jihad against U.S. forces in their country and
special forces to assist with training and intelligence against the government of Hamid Karzai. Afghans
activities. who failed to distance themselves from either the
The real campaign was prefaced by Cruise mis- U.S. forces or the Karzai administration were to be
sile attacks on Taliban strongholds and al-Qaeda considered allies of the enemies of Islam and dealt
training camps by the United Kingdom and the with accordingly. The statement was issued in Mul-
United States, followed by U.S. air strikes on Tal- lah Omar’s name and title, but the document was
iban frontline positions using B-52 bombers. The not signed and gave no indication as to his location.
Taliban resistance soon collapsed under the air See also Coalition Air Campaign against the Taliban;
strikes and the advance of the opposition forces, Coalition Land Campaign against the Taliban;
supported by U.S. ground troops, and the conflict Destruction of Pre-Islamic Heritage; Laden, Osama
was rapidly transformed into a search-and-destroy bin; Taliban
mission to mop up the last of the Taliban and al- References
Qaeda fighters. During the advance of the Coali- Goodson, Larry P. 2001. Afghanistan’s Endless War: State
tion forces, Mullah Omar had remained in the Tal- Failure, Regional Politics, and the Rise of the Taliban.
iban stronghold of Kandahar, but by the time the Seattle: University of Washington Press.
town fell to the Coalition forces, he and his advisers
Mullah, Marx and Mujahid. Rev. ed. Boulder, CO:
had disappeared, as had Osama bin Laden and his Westview Press.
immediate entourage, though they did not neces- Maley, William. 1999. Fundamentalism Reborn?
sarily flee together. Afghanistan and the Taliban. London: Hurst.
The hunt for Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters was Matinnusin, Karmal. 1999. The Taliban Phenomenon:
largely taking place in Paktia Province in eastern Af- Afghanistan, 1994–1997. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford
ghanistan, near the Pakistan border, but the hunt for University Press.
Mullah Omar and the Taliban leaders was centered Rashid, Ahmed. 2001. Taliban: The Story of the Afghan
on the Oruzgan Province in southern Afghanistan, Warlords. London: Pan.
which had been Omar’s home base. The area was
raided several times between March and May 2002 OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM
by U.S. Special Forces, resulting in a few deaths and Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on
some arrests, but there was no sign of Mullah Omar the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, U.S. Pres-
or Mullah Dadullah, a brutal commander who had ident George W. Bush announced the beginning of
escaped capture following the surrender of Kunduz Operation Enduring Freedom on 20 September in
in November 2001. It was then reported that Mullah an address to a joint session of Congress. Originally
Omar had taken shelter in the remote mountain known as Operation Infinite Justice, the mission’s
area west of Char Chine, in Helmand Province, a main objectives were the destruction of terrorist
heavily forested region riddled with narrow valleys training camps and infrastructure within Afghani-
that are difficult to penetrate and not easy to survey stan, the capture of al-Qaeda leaders, and the dis-
from the air. mantling of all terrorist activities in Afghanistan.
The hunt for Mullah Omar and his close associ- The U.S. objectives were further defined on 7
ates goes on. It seems obvious that these individuals October 2001 in a speech by Secretary of Defense
are either taking refuge in areas of Afghanistan where Donald Rumsfeld: to make clear to the Taliban that
geography as well as tribal and family allegiances are the sheltering of terrorists was unacceptable to the
190 OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM
Members of VFA-37’s Ordnance Control manually load an AIM-120 AMRAAM Missile onto an FA-18 Hornet on the flight deck of the
USS Harry S. Truman on March 1, 2003. (Department of Defense)
international community, to gather information on cluded as many as three carrier battle groups oper-
al-Qaeda and Taliban resources, to build up relations ating in the region with strike aircraft, as follows:
with groups opposed to the Taliban, to stop Afghan-
istan from being a safe haven for terrorists, and to de- • Enterprise battle group
stroy the Taliban military so that the anti-Taliban Composed of eight ships and submarines,
forces would be successful in their operations. Fur- together with an amphibious ready group
ther, U.S. military forces would help to facilitate the of three ships and a Marine Corps
delivery of humanitarian aid to the Afghan people. component
The UK government immediately joined the • Carl Vinson battle group
Coalition, using the code name Operation Veritas Composed of nine ships and submarines,
for the British mission, and it defined its objectives together with an amphibious ready group
on 16 October 2001. The short-term goals of the of three ships and a marine component to
operation were the capture of Osama bin Laden and provide security at the airfields in Pakistan
other al-Qaeda leaders, the prevention of further al- being used by U.S. forces; subsequently,
Qaeda terrorist attacks, the destruction of terrorist these ships were redeployed to southern
training camps and Afghanistan’s role in providing Afghanistan
a safe haven for al-Qaeda, and the removal of the • Theodore Roosevelt battle group
Taliban regime. Longer-term objectives included Composed of nine ships and two
ending terrorism, deterring state sponsorship of ter- submarines and stationed in the Arabian
rorism, and reintegrating Afghanistan into the in- Sea
ternational community. • Kitty Hawk battle group
This battle group was operational in the
U.S. Forces area until 16 December 2001 and had
Navy and Marine Corps. The naval contribution to flown about 100 strike missions in
the operation in Afghanistan was significant and in- Afghanistan since 7 October 2001. It also
OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM 191
U.S. marines walk with their battle gear to a forward position at the U.S. Marines operations base in southern Afghanistan, 4 December
2001. (AFP/Corbis)
deployed special forces, including the The sorties from Pakistan marked the first time that
Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the the A-10s had been used in the war.
Navy Seals, and the Air Force Special
Operations forces, together with Army. The first contingent of army forces dis-
Blackhawk, Chinook, and Pave Low patched to Afghanistan included an unspecified
helicopters. number of special forces, among them Rangers,
Delta Force commandos, and Navy Seals.
Air Force. The initial deployment for the operation The main army contingent was drawn from the
included some 150 aircraft, including 24 bombers 101st Airborne Division, together with troops from
and support aircraft. Also deployed were an unspec- the Tenth Mountain Division from bases in Uzbek-
ified number of B-52 bombers, using the Indian istan. These troops were also supported by AH-64
Ocean base of Diego Garcia. Uzbekistan allowed the Apache attack helicopters, in addition to the AC-130
United States to use a former Soviet airfield near gunships. U.S. Marines who had been redeployed
Tashkent for C-130 cargo planes, followed by three from their airfield security role in Pakistan sup-
AC-130 gunships, with an additional three special ported these units. In December 2001, the com-
forces gunships arriving in late November 2001. In mand of ground forces in Afghanistan was trans-
December 2001, a squadron of 24 fighter aircraft ferred to Kuwait.
were dispatched to Kyrgyzstan, later followed by six
French Mirage multipurpose bombers and refueling UK Forces
aircraft. Naval Forces. A Royal Navy task force had been
Reinforcements to these deployments were made present in the Afghan area since September 2001, on
in March 2002, with the transfer of A-10 ground at- a rotational basis. The original task group consisted
tack planes from their base in Kuwait to Pakistan. of an aircraft carrier and an assault ship, together
192 OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (left) and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Richard B. Myers (right) brief the press on the
war with Iraq on 28 March 2003. The defense secretary took a hard stance on reports of weapons entering Iraq from Syria, declaring,
“We consider such trafficking as hostile acts and will hold the Syrian government accountable for such shipments.” (Department of
Defense)
with three nuclear submarines. Early in 2002, the The main contingent included 45 Commando
aircraft carrier was replaced with a helicopter carrier Royal Marines as well as 7 Commando Battery
with a contingent of Royal Marines. Initially, the nu- Royal Artillery, 59 Independent Commando
clear submarines based in the area were used to Squadrons of the Royal Engineers, and a detach-
mount Tomahawk missile attacks on Taliban posi- ment from the Commando Logistics Regiment. The
tions in October 2001. Although these ships have force totaled some 1,700 personnel, excluding spe-
since been withdrawn, an unspecified submarine cial forces.
presence has been maintained in the area. In addition, the United Kingdom made a signifi-
cant contribution to the International Security As-
Air Force. The commitment from the Royal Air sistance Force (ISAF), with some 1,800 personnel
Force took the form of Tristar and VC-10 tanker air- including an infantry battle group, sixteen Air As-
craft, together with E-3D Sentry AEWI surveillance sault Brigades, the Parachute Regiment, and a com-
and control aircraft, Nimrod R-1 surveillance air- pany of Ghurkhas. The contingent also included
craft, Nimrod R-2 marine surveillance aircraft, Can- Royal Engineers, a Signals Regiment, and the Royal
berra PR-9 reconnaissance aircraft, and Chinook Army Medical Corps. A short-term deployment was
helicopters. also made to repair and operate the Kabul airport.
Army. The first army commitment to Afghanistan Other Coalition Forces

was in the form of an unspecified number of special Australia. Australian Special Forces were operating
forces, including units from the Special Air Service in Afghanistan together with other troops totaling
(SAS). However, the Ministry of Defense never re- 1,500 personnel. Additional commitments included
leases any data on deployment or operations in re- maritime surveillance aircraft, fighter-bomber strike
spect to these units. aircraft, and a guided missile frigate.
ORUZGAN PROVINCE 193
Canada. The Canadian government deployed a Other Forces

frigate to the Persian Gulf and promised an addi- On 1 October 2001, a trinational detachment of
tional six ships, surveillance aircraft, and transport Danish, Dutch, and Norwegian fighter aircraft re-
planes. In January 2002, 750 troops from a light in- placed the French Mirages in Kyrgyzstan and were
fantry battle group were deployed to Kandahar, with tasked with providing day and night air support to
the objective of joining combat operations with the U.S. and Coalition forces inside Afghanistan. The
U.S. task force and security operations to facilitate detachment of eighteen fighter aircraft was also
the delivery of humanitarian aid. available to support the ISAF in Kabul.
See also Coalition Air Campaign against the Taliban;
France. France provided a naval task force made Coalition Land Campaign against the Taliban;
up of an aircraft carrier, three frigates, a subma- International Security Assistance Force; Northern
rine, and a supply tanker. The aircraft carrier was Alliance; Taliban
equipped with Super-Etandard reconnaissance References
and assault aircraft and two Hawkeye surveillance http://www.globalspecops.com/oefportal.html.
http: www.operations.mod.uk/veritas
aircraft. In addition, six Mirage 2000 combat air-
http://www.whitehouse.gov/response/military.response.
craft were deployed to Kyrgyzstan in January 2002. html
On 17 November 2001, France also deployed
troops from the Twenty-First Marine Infantry ORUZGAN PROVINCE
Regiment to repair and secure the airfield at Oruzgan Province is located in central Afghanistan,
Mazar-i Sharif. covers an area of 11,169 square miles, and has a pop-
ulation of about 483,000. It is bordered by the
Germany. In addition to a unit of 100 troops from provinces of Helmand on the west, Ghor and Bamian
the Special Commando Forces, Germany supplied in the northwest and north, Ghazni in the east, and
naval support to patrol the area between the Ara- Kandahar and Zabul in the south. The people are
bian Peninsula and East Africa, surveillance aircraft, mainly Hazaras, but the southern part of the province
and search-and-rescue units. Some 500 air crew is home to some Pashtuns and other ethnic minori-
were also dispatched to the U.S. Air Force base at In- ties. The province is part of the Hazarajat region, and
cilik, Turkey, to assist with shipments being carried in the nineteenth century, it was part of Kandahar
by C-160 transport planes. Province, becoming a province in its own right in
March 1964. Oruzgan is mountainous and accessible
Italy. A naval task force consisting of one aircraft only from the south. With the valleys watered by the
carrier, two frigates, and a supply ship was deployed, Helmand River complex, it has a moderate climate in
together with 1,400 troops. In addition, Tornado re- summer and cold winters. The economy is largely
connaissance aircraft, transport planes, helicopters, based on agriculture, with the main crops being
and eight Harriers were also dispatched. wheat, barley, maize, chickpeas, millet, and sesame;
the province is also renowned for its woven carpets.
Japan. The Japanese provided a naval task force of References
five vessels, based at Diego Garcia in the Indian Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political
Ocean, to monitor shipping lanes. This deployment Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria:
ceased at the end of March 2002. Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt.
PAGHMAN
The town of Paghman lies in the foothills some 12
miles northwest of Kabul. The modern town was
built by King Amanullah around 1921, together
with a royal palace. This royal endorsement induced
P
many members of the upper class to construct lux-
ury villas in the new town. An open-air theater was tenced, and all the prisoners were released by King
built to cater to the citizens of Kabul who visited the Amanullah. Paghmani became head of the Foreign
town on weekends during the hot summer months, Affairs Department, Qataghan, Herat, and governor
and the town also houses a triumphal arch to honor of Chakhansur. He returned to take up a post
the dead of the Anglo-Afghan wars. promised by Afghanistan’s amir, Nadir Shah, in
The town lies on the eastern slopes of the Pagh- 1929 but was accused of helping to foment the sec-
man range of mountains about 8,000 feet above sea ond Kol Daman Rebellion and was executed by
level and is surrounded by woods and mountains. A being fired from a cannon.
reservoir and a pipeline in this area provide the city References
of Kabul with drinking water. During the war Adamec, Ludwig W. 1967. Afghanistan, 1900–1923: A
against the Marxist regime (from 1979 to 1989), Diplomatic History. Berkeley: University of
Paghman served as a stronghold and a shelter for California Press.
the mujahideen, and in the civil war (from 1989 to
2001), it was the scene of bitter struggles between PAKTIA PROVINCE
mujahideen groups. It also saw intense fighting Paktia Province is located in eastern Afghanistan
when the forces of Burhanuddin Rabbani were and occupies an area of 3,860 square miles. Its pop-
ousted by the Taliban in 1996. Much of the town ulation is about 484,000, although the majority of
was destroyed in the various military actions. The the people are still refugees in Pakistan (with whom
town was the birthplace of President Hafizullah it shares a border) due to insecurity in the area, es-
Amin and the Islamist mujahideen leader Abdul pecially around Gardez. The size of the province
Rasul Sayyaf. was reduced during the rule of President Muham-
References mad Daud (1973–1978) when it lost territory to
Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political Paktika and Ghazni Provinces. The economy is
Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria: based on agriculture: the area is well watered and
Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt. supports cereal and rice crops, together with some
animal husbandry. The province also has timber,
PAGHMANI, TAJ MUHAMMAD (?–1929) but the forest area has been decimated by illegal
Taj Muhammad Paghmani was the son of Ali Mo- felling and smuggling into Pakistan because of the
hammed Paghmani. A Baluch who was with Amir higher market price offered there.
Abdur Rahman in Bukhara, he subsequently be- The people of Paktia are largely Pashtuns from
came a government official. He was arrested after the Ghilzai tribe, but the Jadran tribe is found in the
Abdur Rahman Lodin attempted to assassinate south and west of the province, and the Mangal,
Amir Habibullah in 1918 and spent sixteen months Waziri, Jaji, and Tari tribes are in the east. The
in jail, suspected of being involved in the plot. province has strategic importance because of its
Habibullah was assassinated in 1919 on the night shared border with Pakistan and its location on the
before Paghmani and Lodin were due to be sen- route to Kabul. It was the scene of bitter fighting
195
196 PAKTIA PROVINCE
during the civil war (1989 to 2001) due to its im- voiced their support for Saif Ullah. In the initial
portance to the mujahideen, but resistance was fighting, at least eighty people were killed, including
strong, as many of the leaders of the People’s Dem- some twenty civilians, and a number of Khan’s
ocratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) came from the troops were taken prisoner. This incident has been
Ghilzai tribe in Paktia. The area fell under mu- seen as a real blow to the authority of President
jahideen control in March 1991 with the capture of Karzai and a reinforcement of the view that his au-
Khost, and many of the PDPA supporters fled to thority does not extend beyond Kabul. Khan’s forces
Pakistan because of fears over their security. The resumed their attacks on 3 February, and further
province fell to the Taliban after the collapse of mu- fierce fighting broke out between the rival warlords.
jahideen rule in Kabul. Because of all the conflict ex- A special nine-member commission was established
perienced in this area, Paktia has more of its popu- under Border Affairs Minister Amanullah Zadran to
lation living as refugees than any other province in investigate the factional violence and to coordinate
the country. an exchange of prisoners. This incident reinforced
The most important town in the province is the the pleas of the Kabul government for the mandate
capital, Gardez, which has a largely Tajik and Ghilzai of the International Security Assistance Force to be
population. It is at the heart of an agricultural area extended to other key cities in Afghanistan.
and previously had a thriving commercial center, A number of U.S. forces are still operating in the
supplying grain and ghi (clarified butter) to Kabul region, mounting actions against remnants of al-
markets, as well as flocks of sheep. Horse breeding is Qaeda and Taliban, but they have refrained from
also carried out in the area, using Waziri stock. The taking sides in factional violence. This lack of inter-
city commands a strategic pass south of Kabul and vention has led to some resentment from many in
has been the scene of recent factional fighting. Bad- the civilian population, who are sick of the fighting
sha Khan and his brothers have ruled the provinces and had hoped for a period of peace and stability.
of Khost, Paktia, and Paktika since the fall of the Tal- The local council of Gardez still professes loyalty to
iban in 2001, and they are supporters of the former the Karzai government but wants a new governor,
king Zahir Shah. They have an uneasy alliance with accusing Badsha Khan of being a smuggler and
the U.S. military and are grudgingly recognized by tyrant and requesting UN mediation.
the government of Hamid Karzai, the president of UN officials have been trying to negotiate a way
Afghanistan. out of the situation, as Badsha Khan has been
However, the people of Gardez defied the au- steadily losing support in eastern Afghanistan while
thority of Badsha Khan and put control of the city still railing against the Karzai administration and
in the hands of a local council headed by Saif Ullah, demanding the return of King Zahir. His continued
a tribal leader from the region. Heavy fighting broke opposition has been a problem for President Karzai
out on 1 February 2002 when Bala Hisar, the city’s because Khan continues to insist that he be rein-
fortress, was approached by Khan’s men to assert his stated as ruler of Paktia, Khost, and Paktika, as orig-
right as governor. Khan’s forces deployed tanks and inally promised by Karzai. However, support for
artillery and subjected the city to rocket attacks, Karzai appears to be growing in eastern Afghani-
causing a number of deaths and injuries. The in- stan, and tribal leaders and local commanders have
tense fighting was an affront to Karzai’s authority, voiced support for the central administration, prob-
but even so, troops loyal to the government stayed ably in the expectation of receiving reconstruction
neutral, as did a small detachment of U.S. forces. On funds.
the following day, Khan’s troops were forced to re- In September 2002, Badsha Khan’s troops began
treat from positions around Gardez after being at- to cause problems for U.S. forces, despite their pre-
tacked by fighters supporting Saif Ullah, who was, in vious support in the war against the Taliban and al-
turn, loyal to Burhanuddin Rabbani. (Rabbani was Qaeda. The troops occupied positions overlooking a
president of Afghanistan from 1992 and was still special forces camp at Gardez and trained their guns
recognized as such by international bodies during on U.S. supply helicopters, forcing the U.S. com-
the period of Taliban rule.) mander, General Dan McNeill, to lodge a protest
Khan had a letter from President Karzai naming with Khan Within hours, government troops under
him as governor, but the local leaders of Gardez a local commander, Atiqullah Lindin, pushed
PANIPAT, BATTLE OF 197
Khan’s forces out of Gardez and Khost, leaving the References

government troops in control. Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political
The forces of Khan are now reduced to manning Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria:
roadblocks between Khost and Gardez, and they re- Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt.
main an irritant to soldiers and officials loyal to the
government who try to use the road. Despite previ- PANIPAT, BATTLE OF (1761)
ous levels of cooperation, U.S. forces have severed all The Battle of Panipat on 14 January 1761 saw the
links with the regional warlord, and nephews of defeat of the Maratha tribal confederation by
Badsha Khan operating out of the U.S. base at Khost Ahmad Shah Durrani, near the town of the same
were arrested by government troops in December name some 50 miles north of Delhi. Members of
2002. The spokesman for the president admitted in the Maratha Confederation were the champions of
January 2003 that talks had been held with Badsha Hinduism and posed a threat to Afghanistan when
Khan to try to restore peace and stability, but he they occupied the Punjab. Durrani crossed the
made it clear that the government reserved the right River Jumna with a force of some 60,000 men to
to change governors in provinces where people were counter this threat and to challenge the Maratha
facing hardship and complaining about a worse army commanded by Sadashiv Bhau. The first two
law-and-order situation. months of confrontation were a series of feints and
See also Khost skirmishes by the opposing forces, with varying de-
References grees of success for both sides, until the Afghan
Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political army succeeded in blocking the supply routes of the
Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria: Indian army.
Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt. The Maratha army was outnumbered, as they
Baldauf, Scott. 2003. “Once Powerful Warlord Is were fielding only some 45,000 troops, and they
Shunted Aside.” http://www.afgha.com/?af=article& were also hampered by the fact that their camp fol-
sid=29422 (cited 22 January 2003).
lowers, families, and supplies were in the town,
Gall, Carlotta. 2003. “Holdout Afghan Warlord May Join
Karzai Camp.” http://www.iht.com/articles/83722
which affected their mobility. In recognition of this,
.html (cited 18 January 2003). Sadashiv Bhau tried to negotiate with Durrani, but
the amir rejected his overtures and the Maratha
were forced to engage in battle. The Afghans had a
PAKTIKA PROVINCE further advantage in that their artillery was lighter
Paktika Province is located in eastern Afghanistan and more mobile than the heavier guns of the Indi-
on the border with Pakistan and occupies an area of ans, and although the Maratha attacked the Afghan
7,336 square miles. It has a population of about center with some initial success, the latter troops
245,000, but some 75,000 are refugees in Pakistan. were able to reinforce their positions and hem the
Paktika was created from the southeastern districts Indian troops in on three sides.
of Paktia and Ghazni Provinces during the period of The Afghans loosed volley after volley at the In-
President Muhammad Daud (1973–1978). The indian ranks, who were unable to group their forces to
habitants are mainly Ghilzais, but there are Tajiks withstand the assaults. The Marathas were com-
and Waziri Pashtuns as well. The provincial capital pletely routed, and Sadashiv Bhau and Wishwas
is Sharan. Rao, the nominal head of the Marathas, were killed.
Paktika was ravaged by the civil war (from 1989 The defeat ended the Marathas’ dream of becoming
to 2001), and the agricultural mainstay of the econ- rulers of India but also dimmed the ambitions of
omy has been severely damaged by the destruction Durrani, for his troops hated the heat of the Indian
of the traditional irrigation system. The environ- plains and only wished to return home with their
ment has also been adversely affected by unrestricted booty. As a result, Durrani had no choice but to
felling of timber, much of which has found its way il- withdraw his forces back across the border.
legally into Pakistan, where it fetches a much higher See also Durrani, Ahmad Shah Abdali
price. During the civil war, the province was firmly References
under mujahideen control, but it was captured by Sing, G. 1989. Ahmad Shah Durrani, Father of Modern
the Taliban on their move to Kabul in 1995. Afghanistan. Bombay, India: Asian Publishing House.
198 PANJDEH INCIDENT
PANJDEH INCIDENT The Panjshir Valley became a major center of activ-

In 1885, a Russian force annexed the Panjdeh dis- ity for mujahideen forces led by Ahmad Shah Ma-
trict north of Herat Province, which now forms part sood—also known as “the Lion of Panjshir” by his
of Turkmenistan. Afghani rulers had claimed the re- followers—who withstood all Soviet attempts to re-
gion on the grounds that the population had been move him from the valley. Masood was one of the
occasional tributaries; the Russians argued that they most successful and charismatic leaders of the mu-
were part of the Turkoman nation of Khiva and Mir, jahideen and the Northern Alliance. Arab militants
which had been annexed by Russia in 1881 and assassinated him on 9 September 2001.
1884, respectively. The Afghan forces under General See also Masood, Ahmad Shah
Ghausuddin numbered about 500, and the vastly References
superior Russian forces overwhelmed them. The Amin, Hamidullah, and Gordon B. Schiltz. 1976. A
dispute was supposed to have been resolved by an Geography of Afghanistan. Omaha: University of
Anglo-Russian commission, but the battle took Nebraska, Center for Afghan Studies.
place before the negotiators arrived on the scene. Kaplan, Robert D. 1990. Soldiers of God: With the
The action occurred while Amir Abdur Rahman Mujahideen in Afghanistan. Boston: Houghton
was on an official visit to India, and the viceroy of Mifflin.
India, Lord Dufferin, coerced him into accepting the
situation as a fait accompli. Britain’s failure to aid PANJSHIRI, DASTAGI (1933– )
Afghanistan against the Russian aggression, as re- Dastagi Panjshiri was one of the founding members
quired by treaty, reaffirmed the amir’s belief that he of the Khalq faction of the People’s Democratic
could not rely on British support in the event of ex- Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) and served in a variety
ternal aggression. of ministerial posts in the Khalq government. He
References was born in 1933 in Panjshir, the son of Malik Dad
Ganjoo, Satish. 1990. Soviet Afghan Relations. Delhi, Muhammad, and educated in primary school in
India: Akashdeep Publishing House. Herat; he then attended the Teacher Training Col-
Khan, Sultan Muhammad. 1980. The Life of Abdur lege in Kabul and obtained a B.A. degree at Kabul
Rahman, Amir of Afghanistan. Karachi, Pakistan: University. During his early career, he served in a va-
Oxford University Press. riety of public service posts, including as director of
research and study “Anis” from 1955 to 1959; as
PANJSHIR deputy director of libraries in the Ministry of Infor-
The Panjshir region is an inaccessible administra- mation and Culture; and as a teacher of literature at
tive district in Kaspia Province and comprises an Kabul Teacher’s College from 1959 to 1960. In 1963,
area of 273 square miles, with a largely Tajik popu- he became director of liaison at the Ministry of In-
lation of some 30,000. The economy is based on formation and Culture, a post he held until the fol-
agriculture, and the valley is traversed by the Pan- lowing year while also serving as director of censor-
jshir River, which rises in the Hindu Kush. Histori- ship for Radio Afghanistan in 1963. From 1964 to
cally, the area was often autonomous or indepen- 1969, he was in charge of the manuscript section at
dent due to its geography, and although the people the Ministry of Information and Culture.
paid allegiance to the rulers of Afghanistan, they Panjshiri ran for election to parliament in 1969
rarely paid taxes to the central government. Only but was arrested, accused of causing a political dis-
since the time of Amir Abdur Rahman (probably turbance, and imprisoned until 1972. After the Saur
beginning in 1881, when he took the northern Revolt of April 1978, which brought the Commu-
provinces under his direct control) has Kabul as- nists to power, he became minister of education,
serted sovereignty over the district. holding the post in May and June of that year before
Due to the region’s geography, the Marxist gov- moving on to become minister of public works. He
ernment and the Soviet forces of occupation were was imprisoned again for a short time in 1979 but
unable to bring the area under government control, returned to power after the fall of Hafizullah Amin
which was of strategic significance because of the lo- on 27 December 1979 and became a member of the
cation of the Salang highway that links Kabul to the Politburo. In January 1980, he became a member of
northern provinces and passes through the valley. the Central Committee and Revolutionary Council
PASHTUNISTAN DISPUTE 199
of the PDPA and chair of the Union of Writers and large sections of the population in neighboring
Poets. He asked to give up his membership in the Baluchistan and the North-West Frontier Province
Central Committee and Politburo in 1985 because in Pakistan. The language is Indo-Iranian in origin
of ill health. and is related to Dari, the other main language in
See also People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan Afghanistan, but the two are not mutually intelligi-
References ble. Two main dialects are spoken—Pakhto and
Bradsher, Henry St. Amant. 1999. Afghan Communism Pashtu—with the former being spoken in the north
and Soviet Intervention. London and New York: and east of the country and the latter in the south
Oxford University Press. and west. A considerable amount of literature exists
in Pashtu, mainly histories and love poems dating
PARCHAM back to the fifteenth century, and the Pashtu Acad-
The weekly newspaper Parcham was founded in emy has conducted research into this body of litera-
March 1968 by the Parcham faction of the People’s ture. Afghan governments have promoted Pashtu as
Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) but was the national language, but Dari remains the lan-
closed down in July 1969 because of its opposition guage of education and the educated, with many
to the government. The paper was edited by Su- Pashtuns using it as their first tongue. Under the
laiman Layeq and Mir Akbar Khaibar, the faction’s Afghan constitution, both Pashtu and Dari are
theorist. A faction of the PDPA led by Babrak Kar- classed as official languages.
mal adopted the title of the paper. See also Dari Language
See also People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan References
References Chavaria-Aquiler, Oscar Luis. 1962. A Short Introduction
Yunas, S. Frida. 1977. History of People’s Democratic to the Writing System of Pashto. Ann Arbor:
Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) Watan Party of University of Michigan Press.
Afghanistan. Peshawar, Pakistan: University of
Peshawar. PASHTUNISTAN DISPUTE
The Pashtunistan dispute between Afghanistan and
PARWAN PROVINCE Pakistan arose over the status of the Pashtun tribes
Parwan Province is located north of Kabul, has an that were split in 1893 by the Durand Line. This line,
area of 2,282 square miles, and is home to a popula- a political boundary drawn up as a by-product of
tion of about 418,000. Parwan is of strategic impor- colonial imperialism, is still causing problems in the
tance because it is traversed by the Salang highway, twenty-first century because it arbitrarily divides
which links Kabul to the northern provinces and the the Pashtun tribes. The Afghan government argued
Hindu Kush. The capital of the province is Charikar, that a case could be made for granting self-determi-
which lies 49 miles north of Kabul at the mouth of nation to the Pashtuns in Pakistan, but it also
the Ghorband Valley and has a population of some stressed that the dispute should be peaceably re-
23,000. The province has some industrialization, solved. However, Afghanistan has also denied that
with a cement factory, a textile industry, and a hy- government support for this cause meant that it had
droelectric plant that services Kabul, but these activ- territorial aspirations on the Pashtun lands in Pak-
ities have been adversely affected by the ravages of istan. The government maintained that the Durand
war in the area. Traditionally, the province is noted Agreement had been made under duress, whereas
for its grapes, which are also dried and exported as Pakistan maintained that the self-determination
raisins. issue was resolved in 1947 by plebiscite and a 90 per-
References cent vote in favor of joining Pakistan. The decision
Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political was also approved at tribal loya jirgas (grand coun-
Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria: cils), but Afghanistan held that the results were in-
Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt. valid because the only questions asked were whether
the Pashtuns wished to unite with India or Pakistan
PASHTU LANGUAGE and no consultation took place over possible inde-
The Pashtu language is spoken by the largest ethnic pendence.
group in Afghanistan, the Pashtuns, and also by See also Durand Agreement
200 PASHTUNS
References (PDPA), which was dominated by Pashtuns, and all

Durand, Algernon George Arnold. 1974. The Making of other factions allied themselves either with or against
a Frontier. Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck-u the PDPA; some of those opposing the PDPA were
Verlagsansalt (Reprint of 1899 edition, London: John Pashtuns. Alliances were constantly shifting both be-
Murray) tween the government and opposition and within
Poullada, Leon B. 1969. “Some International Legal each camp, with all factions in ceaseless competition
Aspects of Pashtunistan Dispute.” Afghanistan 21, no.
with each other. The population movement that oc-
4: 10–36.
curred as a result of the Soviet invasion weakened the
tribal power of the Pashtuns and allowed other eth-
PASHTUNS nic groups to become involved in the government.
The Pashtun people, known in India as Pathans, In 1994, the Taliban became a major force in Af-
constituted a significant minority before 1979, ghanistan, and its power base was in the southern
forming some 47 percent of the population of Af- territory of the Pashtuns, particularly in Kandahar
ghanistan. After the formation of the Afghan state in Province. The movement had primarily emanated
1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani, the Pashtuns domi- from the religious schools in Pakistan, established
nated the country’s government. From 1994 on, by President Mohammad Zia al Haq and guided by
they offered support to the Taliban. A critical ele- Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence unit. Support
ment in regional conflicts is the fact that some 7 from Pakistan appeared to have two main objec-
million Pashtuns live in Pakistan on the other side of tives: first, to direct Pashtun militancy toward
the Durand Line, by which Britain in 1893 had de- Afghan affairs and thereby marginalize the cause of
marcated the frontier between Afghanistan and Pashtun self-determination in Pakistan and second,
British India. to enable Pakistan to become the dominant foreign
Pashtuns are organized into tribes and owe their power in terms of influencing affairs within Af-
loyalty to tribal and subtribal groups. These loyalties ghanistan. This policy reflected the fragility of the
have been a source of conflict throughout their his- Pakistan state, with its large Pashtun population, its
tory. The tribes are ruled by consensus through the fear of Indian expansionism, and its dispute with
jirga (council), which determines the welfare of the India over Kashmir.
tribe and arbitrates disputes. The Pashtuns primar- Today, however, after the overthrow of the Tal-
ily live off animal husbandry, trade, and some agri- iban, it is essential that the Pashtuns have a political
culture, and they are also renowned as extremely ca- role: otherwise, there cannot be a lasting peace in
pable soldiers. The majority of the people speak the Afghanistan. The Pashtuns would not be able to rec-
Pashtu language, though some who reside in Kabul oncile themselves to not having a major role in gov-
speak Dari. ernment after some 250 years of dominance. Conse-
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 quently, the Northern Alliance, as the other major
caused a major shift in the balance of the Afghan faction and buoyed as it is by military success, will
population. Because nearly 85 percent of the 6.2 need to recognize and accommodate the needs of
million refugees who fled the country at that time the Pashtun community.
were Pashtuns, this lowered their percentage of the See also Afghan-Pakistani Relations; Dari Language;
population so that they no longer formed the ma- Durand Agreement; Durrani, Ahmad Shah Abdali;
jority ethnic group. This exodus suited the Soviets, Inter-Services Intelligence Service; Northern
as Pashtun soldiers were a major force in the jihad Alliance; Pashtu Language; People’s Democratic
against the occupying forces. The balance has been Party of Afghanistan
slightly redressed since 1990, with returning References
refugees increasing the Pashtun presence to 38 per- Afghan Network. 2001. “ Pashtuns.” http://www.afghan-
network.net/ethnic-groups/pashtuns.html (cited 28
cent of the population.
November, 2001).
Despite their diminished numbers, the Pashtuns Clifford, Mary Louise. 1973. The Land and People of
were still a dominant political force after the Soviet Afghanistan. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
occupation. Until 1991, for example, the national Jannson, Eland. 1981. India, Pakistan or Pakhunistan?
government was controlled by various factions of Uppsala, Sweden: Almquist.
the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan Spain, J. W. 1962. The Way of the Pathans. London: Hale.
PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF AFGHANISTAN 201
PASHTUNWALI commission set up to sue the government for in-

Pashtunwali is the traditional code of behavior of juries inflicted on students during the police ac-
the Pashtun people and is divided into three main tions. He was governor of Lashkargal in 1973 and
sections: mediation and protection (nanawati); reserved in the Planning and Interior Ministries be-
taliation (badal); and hospitality (melmastia). How- tween 1975 and 1977 before being reinstated as pro-
ever, the strength of the traditional codes of behav- fessor in the Faculty of Law and Political Science in
ior has been weakened as a result of Islamization, 1979. He was later imprisoned, almost certainly for
sedentarization (the settling of nomadic or semino- opposition to the Marxist government, but was re-
madic peoples in communities), and a loosening of leased in 1983 because of ill health.
the tightly knit tribal community. Nanawati is the See also Hoshimian, Sayyid Kalilullah
obligation to give protection to anyone seeking asy- References
lum; badal is that which must be exacted to redress Rubin, Barnett R. 1988. “Soviet Militarism, Islamic
personal insults, damage to property, or blood Resistance and Peace in Afghanistan.” Typescript.
feuds; and melmastia is the sacred duty of hospital- University of Nebraska, Center for Afghan Studies.
ity, with each village maintaining a guest house or
space in the mosque to accommodate visitors. Vio- PAZHWAK, NE’MUTALLAH (1928– )
lations of the code brought dishonor not only to the Ne’mutallah Pazhwak was one of five deputy prime
violator but also to the entire community or, in ex- ministers appointed in Prime Minister Fazl Haq
treme cases, the whole tribe. Khaliqyar’s government in 1990, following a career
References in education and in the administration of various
Clifford, Mary Louise. 1973. The Land and People of governments. He was born in Nangarhar Province
Afghanistan. Philadelphia: Lippincott. in 1928 and educated in Kabul and the United
Spain, J. W. 1962. The Way of the Pathans. London: Hale. States, returning to become head of the Teacher
Training and Habibia Schools. In 1970, he was ap-
PAZHWAK, FAZE RABBI (1929– ) pointed governor of Bamian and of Kabul in 1971,
As a professor of the Faculty of Law and Political before serving as minister of interior from 1972 to
Science at Kabul University, Faze Rabbi Pazhwak 1973 in the government of Musa Shafiq and minis-
opposed the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan ter of education under President Muhammad Daud
(from 1979 to 1989) and was arrested as a member in 1973. After the Saur Revolt of April 1978, which
of the Underground Union of University Professors. brought the Communists to power, he became min-
It was this organization that wrote and translated ister without portfolio in 1980, despite the fact that
the famous “night letters”—a series of antigovern- he was not a member of the People’s Democratic
ment and threatening messages that were delivered Party of Afghanistan (PDPA).
at night to Russians, members of the government, References
and Third World embassies. The tone of the letters Barnett, R. 1995. The Fragmentation of Afghanistan:
was particularly hostile during the regime of Presi- State Formation and Collapse in the International
dent Muhammad Daud (1973 to 1978), but the let- System. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
ters were also directed against the post-1978 Marx-
ist government in Kabul. Further, they expressed PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC PARTY
concern about the presence of Soviet troops and OF AFGHANISTAN (PDPA)
also attempted to persuade Soviet troops to disobey The PDPA was established in January 1964 at its
orders from their commanders. first congress, which was instigated by Nur Muham-
Born in 1929 in Kaja, Khugiana, Pazhwak gradu- mad Taraki, a politician with Marxist leanings. The
ated from Habibia High School in 1947 and from congress set up a central committee to control its af-
the Faculty of Political Science at Kabul University fairs, and Taraki was elected its first general secre-
in 1950. He studied extensively abroad through fel- tary. The party also established a weekly newspaper,
lowship schemes and was president of Kabul Uni- Khalq (meaning “people”), but it was banned by
versity from 1967 to 1969. He convened the General King Zahir after only six editions. The PDPA was ac-
Assembly of University Teachers to condemn police tive in organizing public demonstrations; put for-
raids on Kabul University and cooperated with a ward candidates at every election; and exposed what
202 PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF AFGHANISTAN
it saw as treachery, corruption, and the decaying na- their leaders being sent into diplomatic exile as am-
ture of the ruling class in Afghanistan. bassadors or officials in overseas embassies. How-
After the 1973 coup led by Muhammad Daud, ever, the Parchamis returned to power on 27 De-
which ousted the king and established the Demo- cember 1979 with the backing of the Soviet Union,
cratic Republic of Afghanistan, the PDPA main- and the Khalq leader Hafizullah Amin was killed by
tained its independence and identity, while backing Russian Special Forces.
the democratic values of the government’s aims The post of president was then taken by Babrak
(though the coup had been aided by many of the Karmal, a Marxist backed by the Soviets, and he
members of a competing faction within the PDPA, held power until 1986, throughout the period of So-
the Parcham). The party worked particularly hard viet occupation and the early years of the resistance
to recruit members, and the faction led by Hafizul- campaign mounted by the mujahideen. However, in
lah Amin was especially active in promoting Marx- 1986, he was replaced by Dr. Muhammad Najibul-
ism-Leninism through the armed forces, for which lah, who remained in office until 1992 and at-
it received a large measure of support. In time, the tempted to dispense with some of the worst excesses
PDPA was attacked by President Daud, who feared of the Marxist regime. Najibullah tried to broaden
its growing power. His fears proved to be justified the appeal of his government by expanding its base,
when the PDPA, through the armed forces, but the mujahideen rejected this effort. Najibullah
launched a revolt on 27 April 1978, which became was eventually persuaded to stand down, partially as
known as the Saur Revolt (after the Afghan name a result of pressure from the United Nations, which
for the month of April). endeavored, unsuccessfully, to form a broadly based
The PDPA was split into two factions, and it was government.
always a strained alliance. The faction headed by The program of the PDPA incorporated the fol-
Taraki was called Khalq and appealed mainly to the lowing concepts:
rural Pashtun middle class but also recruited among
the student population because of its policy of em- 1. A national democratic government
ployment for the educated. In the mid-1970s, the 2. An administration and social system based
faction began to recruit members from the armed on principles of communism and socialism
forces through the efforts of Hafizullah Amin, who 3. The end of a capitalistic economic system
was always prepared to use force as a means of and the nationalization of all foreign
achieving power. trading interests in Afghanistan
The second faction was the Parcham (meaning 4. The instigation of a process of speedy
“flag”), which was less Pashtun-oriented and re- industrialization
cruited students and teachers from the schools of 5. A land reform program with a view to
the wealthy and from Kabul University. It drew sup- distributing land among tenants
port from the urban areas and the mainly non- 6. A reformed economic policy that reflected
Pashtun northern provinces. The faction backed national interests
Daud in the 1973 coup, but he perceived that sup- 7. A program to improve the welfare of
port to be based on personal loyalty, having nothing workers and peasants and enable them to
to do with the ideology of the PDPA. However, he share in the national wealth
saw the dangers of factional support and broke links 8. An end to unemployment
with the Parcham in 1977, thus leaving the way clear 9. Provision of irrigation facilities and self-
for the Saur Revolt. sufficiency in food
The two factions split apart in 1967 but reunited 10. Price controls
again in 1977 in time for the Saur Revolt and the 11. The constitution to be adhered to properly
formation of a new government under Nur and the state to have only a constitutional
Muhammad Taraki, who was a charismatic figure monarchy
and seen as a great leader by party members. How- 12. Freedom of press and speech, the right to
ever, by the end of 1978, the alliance ruptured again, form parties and worker/student
and the Parchamis were purged from the govern- organizations, and the right to
ment by the dominant Khalq faction, with many of demonstrate/strike
PESHAWAR ACCORD 203
13. Establishment of elected Jirgas (Councils) Shahrani, M. Nazif, and Robert L. Caufield. 1984.
in each province, increased membership in Revolutions and Rebellions in Afghanistan. Berkeley,
the Wolesi Jirga (House of the People), and CA: Institute of International Studies.
an increase in people’s representation in Yunas, S. Frida. 1977. History of People’s Democratic
the Meshrano Jirga (Parliament) Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) Watan Party of
14. Provision of free education, medical aid, Afghanistan. Peshawar, Pakistan: University of
Peshawar.
and other basic necessities
15. Political and social freedom for women
16. An end to repression and injustice in civil PESHAWAR, TREATY OF (1856)
administration The Treaty of Peshawar, for which negotiations
17. Settlement of all Kuchis (seasonal began in 1885, was concluded in 1856 and opened
migrants) as soon as possible and an end to diplomatic relations between Britain and Afghani-
the tribal system stan and stated that perpetual peace and friendship
18. A peaceful and permanent foreign policy would exist between the two countries. Under the
based on: treaty, the British government agreed to respect the
• No participation in military pacts territories under the control of the Afghan amir,
• No participation in trade and military and Afghanistan, in turn, agreed to respect the ter-
pacts that benefit imperialism ritories of the British government. The treaty also
• Sympathizing with and providing help for stipulated that Britain would assist Afghanistan
all nations struggling to secure against its enemies “if they thought fit to do so”—a
independence from imperialism and stipulation that became a matter of contention
colonialism with Amir Dost Muhammad, who considered the
• Helping people in Pashtunistan to secure guarantee worthless.
freedom References
• Good relations with all socialist countries Noelle, Christin. 1987. State and Tribe in Nineteenth-
and countries that are well-wishers of Century Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Dost
Afghanistan Muhammad Khan. London: Curzon Press.
• Denouncement of all countries out to
disrupt the peace of the world for selfish PESHAWAR ACCORD
motives The Peshawar Accord was signed by the mujahideen
political party groups in March 1993 and was de-
As part of Najibullah’s efforts to form an accept- signed to lay the groundwork for the formation of
able government, the PDPA had renamed itself the an Islamic state of Afghanistan but was a failure
Watan (Homeland Party) in 1990. This change was from the outset.
designed to broaden the appeal of the party by The agreement provided for a fifty-one-member
moving away from its Marxist base and introduc- body to take over in Kabul for a period of two
ing some aspects of Islamic principles. It was an at- months under the leadership of Hazrat Sahib
tempt to defuse opposition from Islamic groups Sabghatullah Mujaddidi; it would also represent the
and to distance the party from its association with presidency of the state during the initial period. The
the Soviet occupation, in the hope that, in the body would then become an interim Islamic coun-
process, the regime’s chances of survival would be cil, which would endure for a period of four months
enhanced. with Burhanuddin Rabbani as president of the state.
The period of the council and the presidency would
See also Amin, Hafizullah; Daud, Sardar Muhammad;
not be extended even by a day. Provision was also
Najibullah, Muhammad; Saur Revolt; Taraki, Nur
Muhammad
made for a premiership and various key ministries,
References to be allocated among the various political parties.
People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan. 1980. The newly formed national government was to last
Fundamental Principles, Democratic Republic of for two years.
Afghanistan. Kabul: Ministry of Information and Cabinet posts and ministries were to be distrib-
Culture. uted as follows:
204 POLLOCK, FIELD MARSHAL SIR GEORGE
Prime ministership—Islamic Party POTTINGER, MAJ. ELDRED (1811–1843)

Deputy prime ministership and Ministry of the British officer Eldred Pottinger had been sent from
Interior—Islamic Union for the Liberation of India to explore Central Asia, and he ventured into
Afghanistan Kabul in the guise of a horse dealer. In 1837, he
Deputy prime ministership and Ministry of reached Herat and became involved in the defense of
Education—Islamic Party the city when it came under siege from the Persian
Deputy prime ministership and Ministry of army between 1837 and 1838. In recognition of his
Foreign Affairs—National Islamic Front efforts, he was appointed political officer to Prince
Deputy prime ministership and Ministry of Kamran, the ruler of Herat. During the First Anglo-
Defense—Islamist Movement Afghan War (1839 to 1842), he was one of only two
Supreme Court—Islamic Revolutionary Movement survivors of a British outpost at Charikar when it
was captured in November 1841 and the Fourth In-
See also Mujaddidi, Sabghatullah fantry was wiped out. One month later, he was the
References
senior surviving officer at Kabul and was responsible
Maley, William. 1992. Political Order in Post-Communist
for negotiating the Treaty of Capitulation with the
Afghanistan. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.
“The Peshawar Accord (March 1993).” 1993. Afghan tribal chiefs. He was among the British offi-
http://www.institute-for-afghan- cers taken into protective custody by Sardar Muham-
studies.org/Accords%20Treaties/peshawar_accord_1 mad Akbar, the leader of the Afghan forces attacking
993.htm (cited 11 February 2003). Kabul, and thus survived the massacre of the British
troops on their retreat from Kabul. He was involved
POLLOCK, FIELD MARSHAL SIR GEORGE in the negotiations for the release of the British
(1786–1872) hostages held by Saleh Muhammad Khan when
Following the rout of the British army in the First Field Marshal Sir George Pollock returned to Kabul
Anglo-Afghan War (1839 to 1842), George Pollock in September 1842 with his army of retribution. On
commanded an army of retribution, which entered his return to India, Pottinger faced a court of inquiry,
the Khyber Pass on 5 April 1842 and consisted of which accused him of signing the Treaty of Capitu-
about 8,000 troops arrayed in eight infantry regi- lation without authority and drawing bills of money
ments, three troops of cavalry, a troop of mounted (putting in claims for cash against promissory notes
Jazailchis (known as such because of their long-bar- or invoices) in favor of the Afghans. Although exon-
reled muskets), and two batteries of artillery. Pol- erated, he did not receive his back pay for the time he
lock initially resisted an attack by Afridi tribesmen spent as a hostage, and he was refused a medal for his
and marched on Jalalabad, where he rescued the services in Afghanistan, despite the fact that the
British garrison, which was close to surrender due to viceroy of India called him the “Hero of Herat” dur-
starvation. He then defeated Akbar Khan at the Bat- ing the Persian siege. He died of typhus in 1843 in
tle of Tezin before entering Kabul on 16 September Hong Kong.
1842, where he destroyed the fortifications of Bala See also Capitulation, Treaty of; First Anglo-Afghan War;
Hisar and the Kabul bazaar. Pollock allowed his Herat Province
troops to plunder the city, resulting in wholesale de- References
struction; hundreds of the citizens were killed or ex- Pottinger, George. 1983. The Afghan Connection: The
ecuted. He then negotiated, through Maj. Eldred Extraordinary Adventure of Major Eldred Pottinger.
Pottinger, the release of British hostages by granting Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press.
their guardian, Sahel Muhammad, a gift of 20,000
rupees and a pension of 12,000 rupees per annum POWINDAHS
for life. Before leaving Afghanistan on 12 October Also known as the Kuchis, the Powindahs were the
1842, Pollock’s forces destroyed the towns of Istalif merchant-nomads who seasonally migrated be-
and Charikar. tween Afghanistan and India. The majority being
See also First Anglo-Afghan War; Pottinger, Maj. Eldred Sulaiman Khel Pashtuns, members of one of the
References largest of the Ghilzai tribes, they led a pastoral life
Norris, James A. 1967. The First Afghan War, 1838–42. and followed a number of occupations, some
London: Cambridge University Press. being nomad shepherds, some being merchants,
PUZAMOV, ALEXANDR 205
and some owning camel trains and trade between PUL-I CHARKHI PRISON
the two countries. A few of the tribe traveled with- The village of Pul-i Charkhi on the Kabul River, east
out their families and earned a living as day labor- of Kabul, is the site of a modern but now infamous
ers or moneylenders. The Powindahs were often prison, built in the time of President Muhammad
scattered across northern India, and some of the Daud (completed around 1975) and heavily utilized
merchants traveled as far as Nepal and Burma. The by subsequent regimes. The prison was built with a
tribespeople are Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi capacity of 5,000 prisoners, but during the Khalq
School and adhere to a Sufi fraternity, leading their regime, it housed double that number. The prison
lives according to a combination of tribal code and has special wings for foreigners, political prisoners,
Shari’a law. and women, and in the year immediately following
The creation of Pakistan in 1947 meant that lim- the Saur Revolt of April 1978, large numbers of pris-
its were imposed on their migrations across the Af- oners were executed; in 1979, the government of
ghanistan-Pakistan border, which was reinforced Hafizullah Amin produced a list of some 12,000
when the border was closed because of the Pash- Afghan prisoners who had been executed. In 1980,
tunistan dispute. Consequently, the Powindahs had Babrak Karmal, secretary-general of the People’s
to redirect their migrations, and the Afghan gov- Democratic Party of Afghanistan and president of
ernment had only limited success in persuading Afghanistan from 1980 to 1986, disassociated him-
them to adopt a sedentary lifestyle. However, the self from the excesses of the Khalq regime, and most
nomads have adapted to the modern aspects of of the remaining prisoners were freed under an
trade by investing in motorized transport services, amnesty. In the civil war (from 1989 to 2001) parts
and they now control much of the transportation of the prison were destroyed, but it was still in use
of goods from the port of Karachi in Pakistan and during the regime of Burhanuddin Rabbani (1992
Afghanistan. to 1996) and was subsequently used by the Taliban
References regime after it captured the prison in September 1996.
Pedersen, G. 1994. Afghan Nomads in Transition. References
London: Thames and Hudson. Rostar, Mohammed Osman. 1991. The Pul-i-Charkhi
Prison: A Communist Inferno in Afghanistan,
POYA, NADIR ALI (C. 1940S–1982) Translated and edited by Ehsonullah Azari.
Nadir Ali Poya was second in command of the Or- Peshawar, Pakistan: Writers’ Union of Free
ganization for the Liberation of the Afghan People Afghanistan.
(Sazman-i-Azadibakhshi-i-Mardin-i-Afghanistan,
or SAMA), a left-wing, anti-Pashtun movement that PUZAMOV, ALEXANDR
was opposed to the Marxist government in Kabul. Alexandr Puzamov was the Soviet ambassador to
He succeeded Mujid Kalakani as leader of the Kabul in 1972 and was a political activist who was
SAMA in 1979. He was born in the vicinity of probably involved in the reunification of the Peo-
Mazar-i Sharif in the 1940s and educated there be- ple’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan in 1977. He
fore going to the Polytechnic Institute at Kabul. In was closely tied to internal Afghan politics and sup-
the 1960s, he was imprisoned for two years because ported Nur Muhammad Taraki in his struggle
of his involvement with the opposition, and on re- against Hafizullah Amin. However, an ambush on
lease, he became a member of SAMA, where he ac- Amin on 14 September 1979 failed, and Amin de-
quired a reputation as an organizer and an agitator. manded his recall to Moscow. Puzamov left Kabul
He was arrested again in 1981 for opposing the gov- on 19 November 1979.
ernment and executed one year later. See also Taraki, Nur Muhammad
Astute, J. Brice. 1986. Afghanistan: The First Five Years of Ashitov, Vladimir, Karen Gevorkian, and Vladimir
Soviet Occupation. Washington, DC: National Svetozarov. 1986. The Truth about Afghanistan.
Defense University. Moscow: Novasti Press Agency Publishing House.
QADIR, MAJ. GEN. ABDUL (1944– )
Abdul Qadir was a Parchami member of the Peo-
ple’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) and
was commander of the country’s air defense forces
in 1973. He used his position to support Muham-
Q
mad Daud in his coup against Zahir Shah in that
same year. And in April 1978, he actively partici- The organization is multinational and formed
pated in the Saur Revolt, which brought the Com- into loosely linked cells, which are thought to coop-
munists to power, and became head of the Revolu- erate but also function as separate, independent en-
tionary Council until the civilian government of tities. Primarily, al-Qaeda seeks to radicalize existing
Nur Muhammad Taraki was in place. In May 1978, Islamic groups with the goals of overthrowing Mus-
Qadir became minister of defense, but in August, he lim governments, which it sees as corrupt; driving
was sentenced to death for plotting against the Western influences from Muslim states; and abol-
Khalq regime. The sentence was commuted to fif- ishing boundaries between Muslim states.
teen years of imprisonment, but he was released The driving force of al-Qaeda was Osama bin
when Babrak Karmal took power in December Laden, who may or may not have been killed in
1979. He was restored to his positions within the fighting against Coalition forces in Afghanistan
PDPA and again served as minister of defense from sometime after October 2001; media evidence in
1982 to 1985, before resigning from the Politburo the form of audiotapes seems to indicate that he is
on the grounds of ill health. He was appointed am- still alive. The first contact between bin Laden and
bassador to Warsaw in November 1986 and recalled Afghanistan occurred when he went to that country
to Afghanistan in 1988 when he was elected as an in 1979 to fight against the Soviets. He funded and
ordinary member of parliament. He is thought to led groups of Arab fighters in mujahideen actions
have fled to Bulgaria in 1989 and sought political against Soviet and Afghan Marxist government
asylum on the fall of the Marxist government. forces. He remained in Afghanistan until the Soviet
Qadir was born in Herat Province of a Tajik fam- withdrawal in 1989, when he founded al-Qaeda and
ily and attended military school in Kabul before returned to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia
going to the Soviet Union for pilot training and a
course at Staff College. Arrival in Afghanistan
References In May 1996, bin Laden was expelled from Sudan,
Guistozzi, Antonio. 2000. War, Politics and Society in which was under pressure from Saudi Arabia and
Afghanistan, 1978–1992. Washington, DC: the United States and faced the threat of having
Georgetown University Press. sanctions imposed by the United Nations. He re-
turned to Afghanistan, where he renewed his sup-
AL-QAEDA (THE BASE) port for Islamic extremist activities through the al-
Al-Qaeda was founded in 1988 or 1989 by Osama Qaeda organization. During the period of
bin Laden and Muhammad Atef. It is renowned for Burhanuddin Rabbani’s rule in Kabul (1980 to
a number of terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia, So- 1986, bin Laden and his followers were moving
malia, Kenya, and Tanzania but mainly for the at- freely around the country, but their base was in
tack on the twin towers of the World Trade Center Jalalabad, where bin Laden had about fifty family
in New York and the Pentagon in Washington on 11 members and bodyguards. Camps were established
September 2001. by al-Qaeda to train terrorists to support extreme
207
208 AL-QAEDA
This undated photo shows Saudi-born dissident Osama Bin Laden (C) and top deputies Ayman Al-Zawahiri (L), a physician and the
founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and Muhammad Atef (R), who has been indicted in the United States for his alleged involvement
in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. (AFP/Corbis)
Islamic organizations and actions throughout the tion attempt on bin Laden; this event led him to
Islamic world. move his main al-Qaeda base to Kandahar, which
was the stronghold of the Taliban and its leader,
Relations with the Taliban Mullah Muhammad Omar. The Taliban claimed
The Taliban took power in Afghanistan in 1996, that bin Laden had been moved to Kandahar to
having defeated the forces of Rabbani, Ahmad Shah control his activities and to prevent his organization
Masood, and the Northern Alliance. It is clear that from using Afghan soil to harm any country.
al-Qaeda fighters assisted the Taliban in their ac- In 1998, bin Laden began to increase the influ-
tions against the mujahideen forces and enabled ence of al-Qaeda throughout the Islamic world by
them to gain control over about 90 percent of the creating a new alliance of terrorist organizations
country in the period after the 1996 capture of called the World Islamic Front for the Jihad against
Kabul. In February 1997, the Taliban regime re- Jews and Crusaders. The alliance included a number
jected a demand from the United States to hand of militant organizations in Egypt, and the Egyptian
over bin Laden in return for international recogni- Islamic Jihad merged with al-Qaeda. During all of
tion and assuming the country’s seat in interna- this activity, the Taliban continued to protect bin
tional organizations. The Taliban refusal to take ac- Laden and al-Qaeda and ignored resolutions of the
tion eventually led to the imposition of UN UN Security Council on 15 October 1999, which re-
sanctions against Afghanistan, as well as the U.S. sulted in the imposition of sanctions. The Taliban
Cruise missile attacks against al-Qaeda terrorist argued that bin Laden was a guest in Afghanistan
training camps on 28 August 1998. Previously, in and that he no longer had contact with his follow-
early 1997, two bombs had been detonated in Jalal- ers, even though al-Qaeda announced that it had
abad and were thought to have been an assassina- sent fighters to Chechnya, was present in Kashmir,
AL-QAEDA 209
and was possibly active in Tajikistan and Uzbek- Mazar-i Sharif, al-Qaeda prisoners led an uprising
istan. Today, it is also thought that al-Qaeda is active against their captors, and a bloody battle ensued,
in Algeria, Eritrea, the Philippines, Somalia, and with much loss of life, including the death of an op-
Yemen. It is unclear whether all activities are insti- erative of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
gated and directed by bin Laden or whether these Kabul itself was taken with very little resistance, and
groups operate independently but with funding by elsewhere, the Taliban crumbled as forces changed
al-Qaeda. sides, fighters melted away, and limited resistance
was put up against Coalition advances. The main re-
War against the Taliban sistance always occurred where the Taliban forces
Though the Taliban controlled 90 percent of Af- were bolstered by committed, dedicated al-Qaeda
ghanistan by 2001, opposition to the regime was al- and other foreign fighters. The United States and
ways present. The main opposition, under Ahmad Britain determined to try to oust the Taliban and al-
Shah Masood, was bottled up in the Panjshir Valley Qaeda, a move that was seen as critical to securing
in the northeast portion of the country. The Taliban peace in Afghanistan, and to strike a blow against
were pursuing a harsh policy in terms of oppressing the perceived worldwide terror network.
all things deemed un-Islamic; they also committed Taliban and al-Qaeda forces initially withdrew to
egregious human rights violations, particularly in their stronghold in Kandahar, but they were soon
relation to women and ethnic minorities, including under siege from opposition forces. However, a
Shi’a Muslims. The situation changed radically after major battle did not take place, as the fighters chose
the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States to leave the area and withdraw into the mountain-
on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, which ous regions to regroup.
were laid at the door of al-Qaeda and Osama bin U.S. ground forces, supported by air strikes and
Laden. helicopter gunships, mounted a series of operations
In October 2001, the United States began a cam- in the mountains, at a cave complex in Tora Bora
paign, with the support of Britain, to overthrow the and in the mountainous region of Shah-i-Kot in
Taliban regime and al-Qaeda and to bring bin Paktia Province. These operations succeeded in
Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders to justice. Ini- killing large numbers of Taliban and al-Qaeda fight-
tially, the United States and its allies provided sup- ers, capturing a few prisoners, and destroying arms
port to the Northern Alliance, to enable then to dumps and other caches of supplies. In all of these
move out of the Panjshir Valley and engage the Tal- engagements, al-Qaeda fighters fought to the death,
iban, and to Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, leader of partially because of their dedication but also be-
the Uzbeks in Mazar-i Sharif. The opposition suf- cause they had no other recourse when cornered.
fered a setback on 9 September 2001 when two Arab But inevitably, because of the nature of the terrain,
journalists assassinated Masood, and there is specu- many of them were able to escape the Coalition
lation that this killing was organized and funded by forces.
al-Qaeda. Additionally, Cruise missile attacks were Some major successes have been achieved in the
launched on key Taliban and al-Qaeda strongholds struggle against al-Qaeda. Their military comman-
and on the regime’s infrastructure. The early fight- der, Muhammad Atef, was killed in a U.S. air raid in
ing between the opposition forces and the Taliban November 2001, and another top member, Abu
was spasmodic and often conducted at long range, Zubaydah, was captured in March 2002 in Pakistan.
but as the fighting intensified, Arab and other for- However, the fate of Osama bin Laden is unknown.
eign fighters of al-Qaeda were the mainstay of the It is clear, however, that his deputy, Ayman al-Za-
Taliban resistance. wahiri, an Egyptian surgeon, is alive and function-
However, the opposition to the Taliban soon ing in the region, as evidenced by videotapes re-
gained momentum, particularly in the north of the leased to the Qatari satellite television station
country, and the regime began to lose territory. al-Jazeera. It is also evident that large numbers of al-
Mazar-i Sharif was taken after bitter fighting, with Qaeda and Taliban troops crossed the borders into
the support of Coalition special forces and air at- Pakistan and Iran following the Coalition opera-
tacks, and al-Qaeda fighters were at the heart of the tions at Tora Bora and Operation Anaconda in the
Taliban defense. Indeed, following the battle for Shah-i-Kot Mountains. Intelligence units in the CIA
210 QUDDUS, ABDUL
and Pakistan estimated that some 3,500 fighters these men was a coordinated operation between
have crossed into the frontier provinces and cities of Pakistani intelligence and CIA agents. The arrest
Pakistan. took place at the house of a member of Pakistan’s Is-
Many of the al-Qaeda fighters have sought refuge lamist Party. Mohammad is thought to have been
in Waziristan in Pakistan, which borders Afghani- the planner for al-Qaeda and responsible for a num-
stan, and although Pakistani forces have waged bat- ber of atrocities, including the 11 September 2001
tles against them, many are still on the loose. A attacks in the United States; after that event, he was
number are also thought to be in Peshawar, which responsible for the movement of al-Qaeda funds
was a breeding ground for the Taliban, and some and recruitment. He is now in U.S. custody and
hundreds of fighters of Arab origin have vanished being questioned by U.S. and Pakistani officials and
into Karachi. Pakistani intelligence officials also be- is regarded as a major capture in the ongoing oper-
lieve that al-Qaeda has established close working ation against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The Pak-
links with banned extremist groups of Pakistani ori- istan authorities also regard his apprehension as a
gin and may have been the driving force behind the clear demonstration of their effectiveness and role
murder of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002, the in the War on Terror.
bombing of a bus carrying French technicians in See also Coalition Air Campaign against the Taliban;
Karachi in May 2002, and the June 2002 bombing of Coalition Land Campaign against the Taliban;
the U.S. consulate in the city. Laden, Osama bin; Taliban
Clearly, the al-Qaeda operation is still alive and References
flourishing, with small groups present in Afghani- Gunaratna, Roham. 2001. Inside al-Qaeda: Global
stan and larger elements across the borders in Pak- Network of Terror. New Delhi: Roli Publishers.
istan and Iran. It is also thought that significant Yonak, Alexander. 2001. Usama bin Laden’s al-Qaida:
numbers of al-Qaeda fighters escaped to Yemen, the Profile of a Terrorist Network. New York:
Transnational Publishers.
Persian Gulf, and Indonesia, where they remain ac-
tive and are recruiting new members. The organiza-
tion is a worldwide network, which has been weak- QUDDUS, ABDUL (1842–1921?)
ened but not defeated by operations in Afghanistan Abdul Quddus was a nephew of Amir Dost
and Pakistan. It has connections with other militant Muhammad and a general in the Afghanistan army
Islamic organizations in countries such as the who was in exile with Amir Abdur Rahman in
Philippines, Indonesia, and Yemen, as evidenced by Bukhara and Samarkand. In 1866, he returned with
the attack on a French oil tanker off the coast of the amir to Afghanistan and worked to extend Rah-
Yemen and the bombing in Bali on 12 October man’s power over the whole country. In 1881, he led
2002, which may have been backed and financed by a small force of 400 cavalry and 400 infantry troops
al-Qaeda. However, some successes have been in an attack on Herat, which he captured from Ayub
achieved against the organization, as demonstrated Khan, the son of Amir Shir Ali. In a campaign last-
by the CIA-led missile attack, using an unmanned ing from 1890 to 1893, he conquered the Hazarajat
drone, that killed one of bin Laden’s chief followers, region and was awarded the title of “Confidence of
Salim Sinan al-Harethi, in the Yemeni desert. Al- the State” by Amir Habibullah, who appointed him
Harethi had been tracked for some months and was prime minister, a position later confirmed by King
wanted by the United States for involvement in the Amanullah. In the Third Anglo-Afghan War of
suicide bombing attack on the USS Cole in Aden 1919, he was placed in command of the Kandahar
harbor in October 2000. front and was viewed by the opposing British offi-
A further major breakthrough took place on 1 cers as a true apostle of “Afghanistan for the
March 2003 with the arrest of a Kuwaiti, Khalid Afghans.”
Sheikh Mohammad, who was reputed to be the References
number three man in the al-Qaeda hierarchy, at Tate, George Passman. 1975. The Kingdom of
Rawalpindi, Pakistan, together with two other sus- Afghanistan: A Historical Sketch. New York: AMS
pected members of the group. The raid that snared Press.
RABBANI, BURHANUDDIN (1940– )
Burhanuddin Rabbani became president of Af-
ghanistan on 28 June 1992 following the downfall
of the government of Muhammad Najibullah two
months earlier. Power had been handed over to a
R
leadership council made up of top mujahideen
leaders under the interim president Sabghatullah for power. Foremost of these was the Islamic Party
Mujaddidi. The council agreed to Rabbani’s ap- of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the fundamentalist mu-
pointment as president, though Mujaddidi was re- jahideen leader who had aspirations to lead Af-
luctant to relinquish power. This reluctance boded ghanistan but had been ejected from Kabul by
ill for the future. government troops. Hekmatyar was engaged in
Rabbani was born in 1940 in Faizabad and was sporadic shelling of Kabul by rockets from his
educated at a local primary school before moving to bases to the south of the city. In July 1992, some of
Kabul to attend the Abu Hanifa School, where he his troops moved back into the capital, and fierce
graduated in 1959. After Abu Hanifa, he went to the fighting ensued.
Faculty of Shari’a at Kabul University, graduating in Some doubt existed as to Rabbani’s ability to
1963 and then teaching in the faculty from 1963 to bring order to Kabul due to his policy of using con-
1966. He obtained an M.A. degree from the al- sensus and gradualism as means of achieving an Is-
Azhar University in Egypt in 1968. On his return to lamic state rather than the coercion favored by oth-
Afghanistan, he became a professor of philosophy ers, such as Hekmatyar. However, Rabbani did have
in the Faculty of Shari’a at Kabul University and a the backing of the renowned mujahideen leader
member of the University Research Department. Ahmad Shah Masood from the Panjshir Valley area
After returning from Egypt in 1968, Rabbani of northern Afghanistan, (Ironically, both Rabbani
began to recruit his students into the Organization and Masood were Tajiks in the largely Pashtun-
of Young Muslims, which developed into the Is- dominated area of southern Afghanistan.) The ri-
lamist Movement in 1972; Rabbani was elected as valry between the various groups soon developed
leader of the movement by the fifteen-member into a civil war, with alliances being made and bro-
council that year. In 1974, he was forced to flee from ken and the balance of power continually shifting
Kabul to avoid arrest for opposition to the govern- from one group to another. As a result, Afghanistan
ment of President Daud, and he ended up hiding in descended into a state of anarchy, though Rabbani
the tribal territory in the mountains. Following the was still recognized as president by the international
Saur Revolt of April 1978 and the advent of the community.
Communist regime, Rabbani traveled extensively Meanwhile, in 1994, the Taliban movement was
abroad. In 1980, he delivered an address to the Is- founded in Kandahar, and it soon grew in power
lamic Foreign Ministers Conference at Islamabad, with the backing of foreign fighters from the Mus-
Pakistan. lim world. Soon, it began to challenge the mu-
Rabbani’s term as president of Afghanistan ran jahideen warlords throughout Afghanistan with its
from 1992 to 1996 but was never secure, as the brand of Islamic fundamentalism. In 1996, the Tal-
consensus among the various mujahideen groups iban took Kabul, and the forces of Masood and
soon disintegrated. Even Kabul was not secure; in Rabbani were forced to withdraw to northern Af-
fact, it was said that there was a different govern- ghanistan. Rabbani then declared Mazar-i Sharif to
ment on each street of the city as the groups vied be the new capital, but following further Taliban
211
212 RAHMAN, AMIR ABDUR
RAHMAN, AMIR ABDUR (?–1901)

Abdur Rahman was amir of Afghanistan from 1880
to 1901, assuming the throne at the end of the Sec-
ond Anglo-Afghan War. He was reluctantly recog-
nized by the British occupation forces because of the
support that he was accorded by the populace, de-
spite the fact that he had the backing of Russia.
Abdur Rahman had been involved in a conflict
with his uncle, Amir Shir Ali, in 1864 and had been
forced to flee Afghanistan. He returned two years
later to defeat his uncle and recognize his father,
Afzal Khan, as king. However, Amir Shir Ali re-
gained his throne in 1869, and Abdur Rahman was
again forced into exile. On the amir’s death in Feb-
ruary 1879, Abdur Rahman returned to Afghani-
stan, raising a large army on his journey south.
British recognition came on 22 July 1880, and in the
following year, Rahman took possession of Kanda-
har and Herat, thus becoming the undisputed ruler
of Afghanistan.
Amir Abdur Rahman concluded an agreement
with Britain to protect Afghanistan from Russian
aggression; in return, Britain was given responsibil-
Burhanuddin Rabbani, ousted as Afghan president by the
ity for Afghanistan’s external affairs. He also received
Taliban, attends a news conference in Dushanbe, 11 October
2001. (Reuters NewMedia Inc./CORBIS) a subsidy from Britain to bolster his defenses, par-
ticularly along the northern borders, but without
giving Britain any real influence in Afghanistan’s in-
advances, he was forced to withdraw with Masood ternal affairs. In 1893, Afghanistan’s northern and
back to the Panjshir Valley. eastern borders were demarcated, and this effort in-
During the period of Taliban rule, Rabbani re- cluded the Durand Line agreement with the British
mained in Masood’s stronghold and was still recog- over the border with India, an agreement that was
nized by the international community as the legiti- accepted by Afghanistan under duress. During his
mate president of Afghanistan. After the rout of the reign, the amir also built fortifications in Khulm,
Taliban at the end of 2001 and the fall of Kabul to Mazar-i-Sharif, and Kabul to ensure stability and
the Northern Alliance, Rabbani attempted to re- control over the kingdom. He died in 1901 and was
assert his position as president in Kabul, but this buried in the capital city.
move was thwarted by the UN-sponsored Bonn References
Conference in December 2001, which formed an Kakar, M. Hasan. 1979. Government and Society in
interim government with Hamid Karzai as presi- Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Abd al-Rahman
dent. Rabbani’s hold on power was finally relin- Khan. Austin: University of Texas Press.
quished in July 2002 when, before the meeting of Khan, Sultan Mohamed. 1980. The Life of Abdur
the Loya Jirga (Great Council), he withdrew his Rahman, Amir of Afghanistan. Karachi, Pakistan:
Oxford University Press.
candidacy for president, thus leaving the way open
Martin, Frank A. 2000. Under the Absolute Amir of
for Karzai to be reelected as president of the In-
Afghanistan. New Delhi: Bhavana Books and Prints.
terim administration.
References
Maley, William. 1998. Fundamentalism Reborn? RASULI, MAJ. GEN. GHULAM HAIDAR
Afghanistan and the Taliban. London: Hurst. (1919–1978)
Rashid, Ahmed. 2001. Taliban: The Story of the Afghan Ghulam Haidar Rasuli was a supporter of Muham-
Warlords. London: Pan Books. mad Daud and was placed in charge of the Central
RECONSTRUCTION PROGRAM 213
Forces of Afghanistan in 1973; he became chief of Education, and Public Health. She relinquished all
the General Staff two years later. He was made min- of these government posts and became a member
ister of defense in 1977 but was killed during the of the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council
April 1978 Saur Revolt, which brought the Commu- from 1981 to 1988. Since the fall of the Marxist gov-
nist regime to power. ernment in 1992, she has held no official position
Rasuli was born in 1919 in Rustaq, the son of in Afghanistan.
Ghulam Rasul, a Muhammadzai of Kandahar. His See also People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan
received his early education at the Military High References
School, graduating in 1933, before receiving mili- Bradsher, Henry St. Amant. 1999. Afghan Communism
tary training in India from 1956 to 1958. He then and Soviet Intervention. London and New York:
occupied a number of military posts in Afghanistan: Oxford University Press.
in charge of the cavalry at Kabul from 1946 to 1954;
in Jalalabad from 1954 to 1956; and serving as chief RECONSTRUCTION PROGRAM
of staff at Mazar-i Sharif from 1958 to 1960, at Pul- After twenty-three years of war, almost the entire
i-Khumri from 1960–1964, and at Gardez from vital infrastructure in Afghanistan was destroyed,
1964 to 1966. He finally became a lieutenant colonel and initiating a rebuilding program represented a
and director of recruitment in the Ministry of Na- major challenge for the international community. In
tional Defense in 1966. He backed Muhammad addition, some 6 million citizens were suffering
Daud while in retirement and was active in organiz- from hunger, and the scarcity of food and water led
ing political support for him and was brought back to widespread malnutrition, leaving large numbers
to active service in 1973 after the coup that ousted of children vulnerable to life-threatening diseases.
King Mohammed Zahir. Among the priorities identified by the UN Develop-
References ment Program in December 2001 were mine-clear-
Ahmad, N. D. 1990. The Survival of Afghanistan, ing operations; the demobilization of former sol-
1747–1979: A Diplomatic History with an Analytic diers and militia; the reconstruction of public
and Reflective Approach. Lahore, Pakistan: Institute of institutions; and the restoration of health, educa-
Islamic Culture. tion, and agriculture. However, a prerequisite for re-
construction is security, and in Afghanistan, insecu-
RATEBZAD, ANAHITA (1931– ) rity, lawlessness, and continued unrest are making
Anahita Ratebzad holds the distinction of having the distribution of aid difficult.
been the highest-ranking woman in the People’s Although large-scale fighting seemed to have
Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) as a ended by the beginning of 2003, significant ele-
member of the Parcham faction. She was elected to ments of the Taliban and al-Qaeda are still at large,
parliament in 1965 and founded the PDPA-spon- and significant threats are still posed by dissident el-
sored Democratic Women’s Organization. Previ- ements, such as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and his
ously, she had been educated in Chicago and at Iranian-backed Islamic Party. In addition, the au-
Kabul University, graduating as the first woman thority of the government of President Hamid
doctor in Afghanistan. In the government of Nur Karzai does not really extend beyond Kabul, and in
Muhammad Taraki, formed after the April 1978 the provinces, local warlords are vying for control in
Saur Revolt, she was appointed minister of social a manner reminiscent of the chaos following the So-
affairs and tourism, and two months later, she was viet withdrawal in 1989. In the main, the assistance
made ambassador to Belgrade. However, she was a provided to Afghanistan up to the end of 2002 came
victim of the purge of the Parchami in 1979, having in the form of short-term humanitarian aid, total-
been accused of plotting against the Khalq regime, ing some $1.8 billion. However, the infrastructure
and she remained outside the country until Babrak needs to be rebuilt to provide a welcoming environ-
Karmal assumed power in 1980. In Karmal’s first ment for private investment and to create jobs for
administration, she served as minister of education the millions of unemployed. International support
from 1980 to 1981 and became a member of the is desperately needed, but it must be part of a sus-
PDPA Politburo and also oversaw the Ministries of tained program that will continue long after Af-
Information and Culture, Higher and Vocational ghanistan has faded from the headlines.
214 RECONSTRUCTION PROGRAM
The absence of a strong central government pre- employment and training for demobilized
sents problems for reconstruction. But Afghans fighters and support and education for
have, throughout their history, rejected the concept conflict resolution.
of a strong central state, and this situation is unlikely • Consideration should also be given to the
to change in the immediate future. As a result and needs of Afghanistan’s neighbors in Iran,
because of the breakdown in interethnic links, a Pakistan, and the Central Asian republics.
grassroots approach is vital, with links to local com-
munities and local organizations. Many observers It is clear that Afghanistan is a difficult case,
have also made the point that the lofty pledges of and an unrealistic Western reconstruction pro-
the international community have been received gram, based on the goal of creating a democratic
with some skepticism within the country, for secular state, is seen by many experts as an impos-
Afghans have been abandoned in the past with sup- sibility due to the extreme fragmentation and mil-
port being channeled only to military groups, not itarization of Afghan society. Thus, it is felt that
the broader society. Planners estimate that some- aid must be provided on a regional basis and,
thing in the region of $25 billion will be needed over wherever possible, to local organizations and vil-
a period of ten years in order to create a stable coun- lage communities. At the same time, however,
try with security, a government based on consent, some point out that it will be impossible to com-
and an administrative structure capable of handling pletely bypass local warlords and tribal leaders;
the reconstruction program. experience in other countries has shown that
In considering the implementation of a program armed groups and powerful individuals always in-
of reconstruction, bodies such as the International fluence how aid is used within their spheres of in-
Crisis Group, based in Brussels, have advocated the fluence. Some organizations, such as the Carnegie
use of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) Endowment for International Peace, advocate the
with proven track records in Afghanistan to deliver following key principles:
immediate aid and provide a bridge to the more ef-
fective work of reconstruction and development. In • Discarding assessments of what help
a report on the situation in Afghanistan, published Afghanistan needs to become a modern
in November 2001, the International Crisis Group democratic state and replacing them with a
determined that reconstruction efforts should be sober evaluation of the minimum a central
driven by the following standards: administration needs to foster a measure of
normal life, economic activity and, most
• Aid commitments should be considerable, important, trade
coordinated, and long-term. • Working directly with regional leaders
• Aid should be delivered in a decentralized whose power is well established but closely
way that recognizes the political realities in monitoring their behavior, using liaison
Afghanistan and the likely weakness of the officers, especially with respect to the
central government. leaders’ treatment of local ethnic minorities
• Local communities should have an and their relations with other regions and
important stake in projects, and the ethnic groups. They should also be
provision of assistance should be a vehicle prevented from providing shelter to any
to promote civil organization. terrorist groups.
• Small, fast-disbursing, and flexible • Instructing liaison officers to work with
community improvement programs, rather international and domestic NGOs to
than slow-moving infrastructure projects, ensure that they can function unhindered
should be implemented as a more effective and that they do not become entangled in
means of preventing future conflict. local politics.
• Conflict prevention should be considered • Considering seriously the standards to be
in the design of projects in order to ensure met by local leaders in exchange for aid
equitable distribution and reduce local and ensuring that they are realistic. All
tensions. Priorities should include parties involved should recognize that
RECONSTRUCTION PROGRAM 215
incremental change is more likely to be never had any health care provision at all, and 6 mil-
sustainable. lion Afghans currently having no access to health
care facilities, and even in major cities such as Kabul
The road construction program to be financed and Kandahar, hospitals are in dire shape.
by the Asian Development Bank aptly illustrates the At a conference held in Oslo on 18 December
problems faced by Afghanistan and by the funding 2002, donor nations promised to provide $1.24 bil-
and donor agencies. The bank initially agreed to lion to help rebuild Afghanistan in 2003 through a
take on the reconstruction of the Kabul-to-Kanda- series of projects ranging from road reconstruction
har highway, a critical artery, at an estimated cost of to the provision of education for girls. However, it
$150 million, making it the largest single infrastruc- was not clear how much of the pledges from twenty-
ture investment since the fall of the Taliban. How- three nations were new funds or, instead, part of the
ever, in July 2002, the deal fell apart when the gov- aid promised at Tokyo. Among the projects identi-
ernment refused the bank’s request to have the fied by Afghan Finance Minister Ahmadzai were:
government accept loans to finance the project as it providing education for girls, improving water and
could not meet the conditions. The Asian Develop- sanitation systems, rebuilding the shattered infra-
ment Bank maintained that there was a misunder- structure, training bureaucrats, and creating a new
standing, for the bank had $200 million for projects army. Additionally, work needed to start on 1,800
in Afghanistan, of which $150 million was to be in miles of roads and on reconstruction in Kabul and
the form of loans, and $50 million in grants from Kandahar. At the conference, President Karzai urged
the Japanese government that could only be used to donors to shift away from short-term humanitarian
improve secondary roads and therefore could not be aid, of which there has been a great deal, and focus
spent on the Kabul-to-Kandahar project. on the longer-term investment needed to rebuild
The outcome infuriated the Afghan government Afghanistan. This approach is seen as politically im-
because of the arbitrary conditions, and officials portant to the credibility and survival of the fledg-
questioned how donors could talk about secondary ling central government and to the success of elec-
roads when there are only 2,000 miles of tarmac tions scheduled to take place at the end of the
roads in the whole country, of which about 80 per- current government’s mandate.
cent are in an appalling condition. At a conference However, it must be recognized that reconstruc-
in Tokyo in January 2002, donors had promised to tion and long-term funding efforts are threatened
deliver $4.5 billion of aid over five years, yet little has by the growing insecurity in Afghanistan, which also
been forthcoming. Indeed, despite the critical needs affects neighboring countries such as Pakistan, Iran,
in this area of basic communication, only one road and Tajikistan. The lack of security outside of Kabul
project has been undertaken since the fall of the Tal- is a major constraint to reconstruction, as is the
iban and that is a road between Herat and Islam power of the regional warlords, corruption in
Qala on the Iranian border, funded by the Iranian provincial regimes, and tension along Afghanistan’s
government. The issue has become a critical one for borders because of the continued threat from the
the Karzai government, as highways are politically Taliban, al-Qaeda, and other Islamic militants,
important in integrating the country and linking among them Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. The situation
Afghanistan with its neighbors. is further compounded by the problem of returning
The situation in Afghanistan has also been high- refugees: since the fall of the Taliban, some 1.6 mil-
lighted by NGOs such as the Cooperative for Assis- lion have returned to Afghanistan, mostly to urban
tance and Relief Everywhere (CARE), which, in Sep- areas; the population of Kabul alone has risen from
tember 2002, asserted that only 5 percent of the aid 1.2 to 2.3 million. This ongoing issue will test the re-
pledged at Tokyo had been forthcoming, with the solve of the international community and deter-
result that no large highway or other infrastructure mine whether it has the will to be in Afghanistan for
projects had been started. The World Health Orga- the long haul.
nization (WHO), which stated that it had only re- In January 2003, after months of negotiations, the
ceived 7 percent of the $60 million it needed to Coalition commander, General Dan McNeill, an-
begin implementation of a health care reconstruc- nounced the formation of joint regional teams (JRTs)
tion plan, has reinforced this view. Many areas have in an endeavor to improve stability and security in
216 RED SHIRTS
Afghanistan while at the same time beginning re- References

construction programs. Each team will consist of International Crisis Group. 2001. Afghanistan and
seventy soldiers, civil affairs officers, engineers, Central Asia: Priorities for Reconstruction and
medical personnel, and U.S. State Department offi- Development. Asia Report no. 26. Brussels: ICG.
cials. The JRT initiative—a result of negotiations Ottaway, Marian, and Anatol Lieven. 2002. “Rebuilding
with the Afghan government, Coalition partners, Afghanistan: Fantasy versus Reality.”
http://www.ceip.org/pubs (cited January 2002).
the United Nations, and NGOs—came after
months of criticism from Afghan and Western aid
agencies that the United States was doing little to RED SHIRTS
help the Karzai government deal with the regional Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan founded the Red Shirts
warlords or begin reconstruction of the country. in 1921 as a Pashtun independence movement
The decision to form the JRTs was also shaped by among the tribes in the North-West Frontier
the belief that involvement in reconstruction pro- Province of India. The Red Shirts were mistrusted
jects would improve security and stability, while by the British government in India because of their
speeding up economic activity in the country. The demands for autonomy and their philosophy, based
main objective is to help local authorities, UN agen- on freeing the oppressed, feeding the poor, and
cies, and NGOs pave the way for the expenditure of clothing the naked, all of which aroused suspicions
$300 million in aid designated for the reconstruction that they had Communist leanings (an impression
of rural areas. The first JRT was destined for Gardez that was, of course, reinforced by their red uni-
in eastern Afghanistan, which had been the scene of forms). The movement was allied with the Congress
bitter fighting between rival warlords throughout Party of Mahatma Gandhi and organized in cells,
2002. According to plans, JRTs would also be operat- with a presence in most villages in the tribal border-
ing in Kunduz, Bamian, Mazar-i Sharif, Herat, Jalal- land. The movement had seven basic tenets: open-
abad, and Kandahar by the summer of 2003, with ing admission to all adults; rejecting the Indian caste
more to follow if the initial deployment proves suc- system; wearing national dress; being ready to serve
cessful. A further JRT began operations in Bamian in the people; dedicating one’s life to the interests of
March 2003, followed a month later by one in Kun- the people; recognizing all members as brothers;
duz and then a British-led JRT in Mazar-i Sharif in and obeying the orders of the party. The question of
July. Additional JRTs are planned for Herat, Jalal- Pashtunistan has concerned the governments of Af-
abad, and Kandahar, but these are awaiting a review ghanistan and Pakistan since the creation of the
of the effectiveness of operational JRTs. Pakistan state in 1947, and at the very least, the
Some small examples of efforts that offer real Pashtun independence movement wants autonomy
hope do emerge. One example is in the village of for the province and a change of name to reflect the
Farza, two hours north of Kabul, which has been makeup of the majority population.
devastated by war and is to be rebuilt by a group See also Pashtunistan Dispute
from the University of Colorado. The project will References
operate under the auspices of a group known as En- Jannson, Eland. 1981. India, Pakistan or Pakhunistan?
gineers without Borders and is regarded by the uni- Uppsala, Sweden: Almquist.
versity as a long-term commitment to the village.
An initial survey took place in March 2003 to scope REFUGEE PROBLEM
out the area, locate a source of water, and assess the The problem of refugees fleeing from Afghanistan
available manpower and equipment. The group re- began in the early 1980s after the Soviet occupation
turned in the spring to begin work and to aid the was under way and the mujahideen launched their
Afghans in their rebuilding efforts using new tech- war against the Soviets and the Communist govern-
niques designed to repair war damage. It is hoped ment in Kabul. The size of the problem, which was
that gestures such as this will keep Afghanistan from caused both by war and by the severe and prolonged
sliding back into anarchy and again becoming a safe drought in Afghanistan, is immense and poses
haven for terrorists. major problems for the government of Hamid
See also Humanitarian Airdrops; Humanitarian Relief; Karzai, for refugees have begun to return home fol-
Kabul City; Refugee Problem lowing the defeat of the Taliban. The returning
REFUGEE PROBLEM 217
Afghan refugees sit among their belongings in a truck on their way back to Afghanistan from Chaman, 20 May 2003. Part of a UNHCR-
sponsored repatriation program from Iran and Pakistan. (AFP/Corbis)
communities have expectations that the govern- drought and abject poverty. Most of the new
ment is finding difficult to meet due to the slow pace refugees were Tajiks and Turkomans, with a smaller
of reconstruction, high rates of unemployment, and percentage of Uzbeks and Pashtuns. They had to be
reliance on international aid agencies for food and accommodated in tents, with makeshift facilities
other supplies. provided through support from the UNHCR and
At one stage, estimates indicated there were some food distributed by nongovernmental organizations
5 million Afghan refugees—mainly in Iran and Pak- (NGOs). In the new camps, environmental condi-
istan but with smaller numbers in the Central Asian tions were conducive to the spread of epidemics of
republics, India, and Europe—as well as many dis- communicable diseases. Although the UNHCR per-
placed Afghans remaining within Afghanistan. In sonnel had been trying to provide basic services and
Pakistan, some 2 million refugees were spread over health facilities, they were working in difficult cir-
the country, though most were in the North-West cumstances and without the cooperation of the
Frontier Province around Peshawar and Quetta. Pakistan government that would have allowed them
The bulk of these refugees were living in camps, and to function systematically and in an official capacity.
it was from this population that the various mu- The influx of new refugees caused Pakistan to
jahideen groups drew their recruits. The UN High close its borders to new arrivals, and more than
Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) supported the 600,000 were living outside the official camps. The
refugees, and the camps consisted mainly of fixed situation was beyond the capacity of the Pakistani
housing. with water, sanitation, electricity, and government to handle. But the position of refugees
health services. in Iran was even worse, as the only support they re-
In early 2000, the number of refugees in Iran and ceived came from the Iranian government. Further,
Pakistan grew rapidly, largely as a result of the mili- as a consequence of Pakistan closing its borders,
tary successes of the Taliban but also because of tented camps grew up in the Taliban-held territory
218 REFUGEE PROBLEM
of eastern Afghanistan, relying solely on support ported from Tehran, a move criticized by the
from NGOs, operating with dwindling supplies, and UNHCR and the Afghan opposition.
receiving no support from the Kabul regime. Some suggest that the deportation from Iran
Inside Afghanistan, there was also the problem of might have been intended to encourage other
the many people who were displaced by war or by Afghans to participate in the voluntary repatriation
ethnic cleansing. In the middle of 1999, for example, efforts, and between April and December, some
the Taliban launched a major offensive into the 133,600 Afghans were repatriated from Iran under
Shomali Plains, north of Kabul, forcing back North- the UNHCR program. The UNHCR and the World
ern Alliance forces but also causing more than Food Program (WFP) gave refugees cash grants, a
150,000 civilians to flee either to the alliance strong- quantity of wheat, and items such as agricultural
hold in the Panjshir Valley or to Kabul. Although tools. Approximately half of the returnees originally
some of the displaced Afghans returned home in came from Herat Province. However, the UNHCR
2000, at least 60,000 remained in the Panjshir Valley, had only limited funds to implement the program
which continued to experience sporadic violence, and could only aid a finite number of refugees back
and others remained in Kabul. The internal disin their home environments. A U.S. NGO, the Inter-
placement continued throughout July, August, and national Rescue Committee, and the International
September 2000 in the face of further Taliban ad- Red Cross provided some aid, but only a small num-
vances, which reached almost as far as the Tajikistan ber of refugees were able to benefit from these pro-
border. This military action in Bangi and Taloqan grams. During the remainder of 2000, a further
displaced tens of thousands of civilians, the major- 50,000 refugees were repatriated from Iran, but it is
ity of whom were trapped in Afghanistan due to the not clear how many of them did so voluntarily and
closure of the border with Pakistan. These refugees how many were forcibly removed by overstretched
fared worse than those in neighboring countries, for Iranian authorities. Despite this, some 1.4 million
the United Nations had only received 48 percent of Afghan refugees remained in Iran at the end of
the funding needed to provide support; this situa- 2000.
tion was exacerbated by the most severe drought During the year, hundreds of thousands of
that Afghanistan had experienced in thirty years, af- Afghans became displaced (though the true number
fecting the whole country. Tens of thousands of is unknown), mainly due to the Taliban offensives
Afghans were forced to leave their homes in search throughout northern Afghanistan. Accurate records
of food. are not available, as many of the displacements were
In June 2000, more refugees moved into Pak- temporary, with the population returning home
istan, and this process accelerated in October as a re- once the lines of battle shifted to other areas. A sur-
sult of additional fierce fighting in northern Af- vey carried out in Kabul in 1999 by the International
ghanistan. Their numbers probably totaled around Red Cross revealed that 83 percent of those inter-
172,000. During the year, the UNHCR did repatri- viewed had been displaced from their homes on at
ate some 76,000 Afghans to Afghanistan, providing least one occasion. A minimum of 250,000 Afghans
them with a six-month supply of food, seeds, and were displaced, though many were able to return
materials to rebuild their homes, but the figure was home later in the year, but the United Nations
lower than hoped for, largely because of the drought recorded that 100,000 remained displaced in Takhar
situation. The UNHCR also provided returning and Badakhshan Provinces, 100,00 in Mazar-i Sharif
children with schoolbooks, helped communities and the immediate environs, and 46,000 in Kunduz
build wells, and funded income-generation projects and Baghlan Provinces. In Takhar Province, some
for returning women, but the operation lacked suf- 10,000 people were stranded on islands in a river
ficient international support. An agreement was along the border with Tajikistan; being refused entry
reached with Iran over the repatriation of undocu- by Tajikistan, they were subject to sporadic attacks
mented refugees from Iran, in return for Iran agree- by Taliban forces and could receive little aid, as ac-
ing to allow Afghans who claimed to be refugees to cess was only available from Tajikistan.
apply for asylum and, if classed as refugees, to re- Forced migration was also fueled by the drought,
main legally in Iran. But before repatriation could with more than 70,000 displaced in southern Af-
begin, hundreds of Afghans were arrested and de- ghanistan and a similar number in and around the
REFUGEE PROBLEM 219
city of Herat. Because these refugees were displaced were 500,000 displaced persons in the Mazar-i
by drought, they were not included in the UNHCR Sharif area, and 160,000 managed to enter Pakistan
figures for displaced persons. The situation in Herat despite the closure of the borders, having paid
was particularly bad, largely due to the lack of funds: smugglers to guide them through the high moun-
in December 2000, WFP warned that it only had tain passes. The Iranians attempted to prevent an
enough food in the area to last until the following influx by establishing two camps just inside the
February. The Taliban did little to provide aid to Afghan border, accommodating about 11,000
communities displaced by war or drought, prefer- refugees in inadequate conditions. However, as Tal-
ring to concentrate its resources on the war effort iban control in western Afghanistan collapsed,
and leave humanitarian relief to the international fighting broke out in one of the camps between Tal-
community. iban and opposition supporters. The U.S. bombing
The situation deteriorated further in 2001. The raids seriously disrupted relief work for the refugee
UNHCR estimated that some 4.5 million Afghans communities, and these efforts were further ham-
were living as refugees, mainly in Iran and Pakistan, pered by the Taliban seizure of two UN food com-
and the U.S. Committee for Refugees estimated that pounds and by the accidental U.S. bombing, on two
there were also some 1 million displaced persons in occasions, of International Red Cross warehouses in
Afghanistan. During 2001, more than 200,000 Kabul.
Afghans fled to Pakistan. Others fled to Iran; the With the collapse of the Taliban, the end of the
number is unknown but is thought to be tens of U.S. bombing campaign, and the arrival of the In-
thousands. Repatriation programs also continued, ternational Security Assistance Force (ISAF), hun-
with 21,000 returning from Pakistan under a dreds of thousands of displaced persons and tens of
UNHCR program, a further 45,000 of their own vo- thousands from Iran and Pakistan returned home
lition, and 3,000 expelled. About 144,000 Afghans to northern and western Afghanistan. However, in
were expatriated from Iran because they received no southern Afghanistan, another refugee problem was
assistance and were not allowed to work, and a fur- created by the campaign waged by Coalition and
ther 120,000 were forcibly repatriated. Afghan forces against Kandahar, with tens of thou-
In early 2001, NGOs described the situation in sands of civilians fleeing the fighting. Pakistan im-
Afghanistan as “apocalyptic” and assessed the need posed severe restrictions on this new wave of
for some $3.5 million for food, shelter, and blankets. refugees, allowing access only to the truly vulnera-
Yet only $200,000 was forthcoming. The situation of ble, so that most of these people were displaced into
displaced persons in Herat was particularly serious, villages in the mountains or makeshift camps near
as many of them lacked food and shelter; in January Spin Boldak, close to the border with Pakistan,
2001, over 100 died because of cold temperatures where they lived in extremely poor conditions.
and lack of shelter and blankets. Only an emergency Despite the establishment of a new government
airlift by the United States helped to ease the situa- in Kabul and the arrival of the ISAF, the UNHCR be-
tion, and the Europeans and Japanese committed lieved that at the end of 2001, there were still 1 mil-
further resources. The Hazaras also suffered because lion displaced people in Afghanistan. Delivery of
of the Taliban siege of the region and because aid food improved, and the WFP was satisfied with the
agencies were prohibited from providing assistance. level of aid (though this assessment was disputed by
In other areas, such as Ghor Province, relief opera- some NGOs), but some areas were still suffering due
tions were halted because of continued fighting and to adverse weather or poor security conditions.
attacks on aid workers by armed groups. On 6 Sep- Meanwhile, in northern Afghanistan, yet another
tember 2000, the WFP estimated that more than 5.5 problem arose when tens of thousands of Pashtuns
million Afghans were dependent on food aid and were forced to leave their homes because of ethnic
that in some areas, people were eating grass, locusts, tensions with Tajiks and Uzbeks following the col-
and bread crumbs. lapse of the Pashtun-dominated Taliban. The United
The start of the U.S. bombing campaign against Nations had to open up a new refugee camp in Zhare
the Taliban and al-Qaeda on 7 October caused Dasht, a desert area in the border region of Pakistan.
thousands of Afghans to move from their homes, The camp was to house about 60,000 refugees who
especially in the large cities. By November, there had been denied admittance by Pakistan on the
220 REGISTAN DESERT
grounds that the country no longer had the capacity these group now must be linked into a reconstruc-
to support them. Also in the camp were nomadic tion program incorporating the provision of
shepherds left destitute by the four-year drought schools, medical facilities, irrigation systems, and
who had nowhere else to go. The situation in the employment to secure long-term sustainability.
camp was poor because of the environment and the Clearly, this situation is a major challenge for the
fact that it was adjacent to a huge minefield laid by Karzai government and the international commu-
the Soviets and the mujahideen in the 1980s. nity alike.
The repatriation programs continued, and 2002 See also Humanitarian Airdrops; Humanitarian Relief
saw the largest numbers of returnees from Iran, References
Pakistan, and the Central Asian republics. The Hussain, Syed Shabbir. 1982. Afghan Refugees in
UNHCR assisted 1,603,000 to return between Pakistan: The Long Wait. Islamabad: Kamran
March and August, and a further 1,600,000 were Publishing House.
sent back by asylum countries. As part of the ongo- “Internal Displacement in Afghanistan: New
ing repatriation, the UNHCR operates thirty offices Challenges.” 2001. http://www.hspl.harvard.edu/hpct
in Afghanistan to coordinate protection and assis- (cited 28 March 2002).
Migration and Refugee Services. 1984. Refugees from
tance activities in what will be a multiyear program
Afghanistan: A Look at History, Culture and the
needing strong donor support. The UNHCR had Refugee Crisis. Washington, DC: United States
also experienced some problems with refugees re- Catholic Conference.
ceiving their repatriation assistance packages and Miller, Georgi Boris. 1985. Refugees from Afghanistan.
then not returning to Afghanistan, so recipients are London: Cleveland Press.
now screened before being accepted into the pro- Shalinsky, Audrey. 1994. Long Years in Exile: Central
gram. In 2002 in Pakistan, some 68,000 families Asian Refugees in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Lanham,
were refused assistance after the screening process MD: University Press of America.
because agency staff were not satisfied that they in- http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hpct.
tended to return to Afghanistan. http://www.un.org.pk/unhcr.
Toward the end of 2002 and in the beginning of http://www.unhcr.ch.
2003, figures for returning refugees dropped signifi-
cantly due to the onset of winter and concerns REGISTAN DESERT
about the security situation, given the ongoing The Registan is a desert area covering the southern
struggles between regional warlords in Paktia and parts of Kandahar, Helmand, and Nimruz Provinces
other provinces. In some areas, the situation re- and is known as “the Country of Sand.” The desert is
mained critical because of minimal rainfall and a higher than the surrounding alluvial plains—the
depleted water table; the provinces of Oruzgan, sand hills can be 200 to 300 feet high—and resembles
Bamian, and Wardak were badly affected. However, the deserts of Saudi Arabia. It is a large area of ridges
the WFP mounted a large-scale operation in De- and hillocks of loose red sand, and it has proved a
cember 2002 to move food into Afghanistan major natural barrier to conventional armed forces
through a variety of routes from adjacent countries, where it is bordered by Pakistan. The desert hosts a
thus preventing a return of famine to the nation, sparse coverage of bushes and vegetation on its edges,
though the situation in some areas was difficult be- with alluvial soils in the hollows being cultivated by
cause of continued fighting. The program was Baluch and Brahui nomads. The desert is also home
largely made possible by $320 million in supple- to broken clans or outcast robbers.
mental aid from the United States and further assis- References
tance from the European Union and Japan, together Amin, Hamidullah, and Gordon B. Schiltz. A Geography
with increased activity on the part of NGOs. of Afghanistan. Omaha: University of Nebraska,
The emphasis now is on the need to strengthen Center for Afghan Studies.
ties between humanitarian relief and rehabilitation
and reconstruction programs; thus far, the work of REVOLUTIONARY ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN
the UNHCR and the NGOs has been concentrated OF AFGHANISTAN (RAWA)
on the initial stages of reintegrating returning The Revolutionary Association of Women of Af-
refugees and displaced persons. The efforts of all ghanistan was founded in 1977 in Kabul as an inde-
REVOLUTIONARY ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN OF AFGHANISTAN 221
pendent organization of Afghan women committed The group is active in the following areas:
to the fight for human rights and social justice. The
founders were women intellectuals, and their objec- • Education: RAWA runs primary and
tive was to involve Afghan women in social and po- secondary schools for refugee girls and
litical activities aimed at acquiring human rights for boys and literacy courses for women, as
women; establishing a democratic government well as five orphanages for boys and girls.
based on secular values; and increasing women’s • Health care: RAWA has mobile health
presence in the arenas of education, health, income teams operating in the refugee camps at
generation, and political agitation. Peshawar and Quetta and also runs Malalai
After the Soviet intervention in the country in Hospital in Rawalpindi and a clinic in
1979, RAWA became heavily involved in the resis- Quetta.
tance movement. A number of members were sent • Human rights: The organization is
to work among refugee women in Pakistan, where providing human rights groups with
they established schools, hostels for children, and a details of violations committed by
hospital for refugee women and children in Quetta. fundamentalists, such as stoning,
RAWA also introduced nursing and literacy courses amputation, torture, beating, lashing,
and provided vocational training for women. Dur- killing, and imprisonment.
ing the Soviet occupation, members of RAWA were • Propaganda and political activity: RAWA
responsible for distributing antigovernment leaflets, organizes demonstrations and other
staging demonstrations, and organizing strikes in functions and uses the press and events of
schools and universities. A number of members Pakistani political parties or women’s
were arrested and tortured, and many of them were groups to expose actions of the Islamic
imprisoned for eight years in the Kabul prison; the fundamentalists. Members also provide
founding leader, Meena, and two of her associates assistance to the widows and families of
were murdered in 1987 in Quetta, with the associa- prisoners in both Afghanistan and Pakistan
tion accusing agents of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar of and to women being treated badly by their
committing the deed. The movement has been op- male relatives.
posed by the mujahideen fundamentalists operating • Sustainability: The organization runs
from Peshawar, Pakistan, and by similar groups in workshops in handicrafts, carpet making,
Afghanistan. tailoring, and bead knitting; it also operates
At the time of the fall of Muhammad Najibul- chicken and fish farms and produces jams
lah’s government in 1992 and the rise of the mu- and pickles.
jahideen government, RAWA began to focus more
on women’s rights, human rights, and the exposure Afghanistan
of the barbaric policies of the fundamentalist RAWA’s activities within Afghanistan are mainly
groups. The organization continues to be active in directed to the support of female victims of war
both Pakistan and Afghanistan. and atrocities committed by the various bel-
ligerent groups, particularly the Islamic funda-
Pakistan mentalists. Among the range of activities are:
RAWA’s work among women in the refugee camps transferring victims to Pakistan for medical
has been difficult because of the group’s stand treatment, transferring traumatized children to
against fundamentalism and its lack of financial re- Pakistan for rehabilitation, tracing missing fe-
sources to provide significant material help. Despite males, and assisting families in evacuating from
pressure from the fundamentalists, however, Afghan battlefield areas. Food is also distributed to poor
women refugees have approached the group for and needy families in areas affected by drought,
help, even though, in most cases, only moral sup- earthquake, and war. In addition, RAWA is pass-
port can be provided. RAWA also tries to attract the ing on information about human rights viola-
support of aid agencies, especially for their health tions to organizations such as Amnesty Interna-
and education projects, in order to compensate for tional and through the publication of pamphlets
their shortage of funds. and reports.
222 ROBERTS, GEN. SIR FREDERICK
The group is active in the following specific areas site for the restoration of peace and prosperity and
as well: the bringing to justice of the warlords through a
judicial commission.
• Education: Activities in this area have, See also Human Rights Violations
until recently, been mainly underground References
because of the restrictions imposed by the http://www.rawa.org
Taliban and, since the fall of the Taliban,
by some of the regional warlords (for ROBERTS, GEN. SIR FREDERICK (1832–1914)
example, in Herat). However, the group Frederick Roberts was commander of the Khurran
has had success in running home-based Field Force in the Second Anglo-Afghan War
schools and literacy courses for women. At (1878–1880) and was infamous in Afghanistan for
the same time, members have been his indiscriminate execution of prisoners. Roberts
organizing discussion groups covering led the invasion of Afghanistan through the Kurram
concepts such as women’s rights, social Valley, reaching Kabul on 12 October 1879, which
participation, concepts of democracy and he then controlled after the forced abdication of
civic freedoms, the right to education, and Yaqub Khan and his exile to India. Following the as-
the maintenance of human rights for sassination of the British envoy to the court at
women. Kabul, Sir Pierre Louis Cavagnari, on 3 September
• Health: RAWA operates eight mobile health 1879, Roberts took command of the Kabul Field
teams in eight provinces, providing Force. He engaged in a number of actions at Chara-
treatment for women who cannot afford to sia, Sharpur, Maiwand, and Kandahar and followed
go to a doctor, as well as midwifery. The a policy of retribution for aggressive acts committed
teams also run first-aid courses for young against British forces or British interests in Afghan-
girls and literate women. In 2001, the istan. He destroyed villages, ordered that no prison-
teams carried out the polio vaccination ers should be taken, and tried Afghans before a mil-
program in their areas. itary commission for the attack on the British
• Sustainability: RAWA operates chicken mission at Kabul, with the result that eighty of the
farms; small carpet-weaving, embroidery, accused were executed for a variety of offenses.
knitting, handicrafts, and tailoring These actions were reported by the British press, but
workshops; and bee-keeping projects. Roberts defended himself in official telegrams and
Women are also provided with short-term accounts of the campaign. Although Ayub Khan
loans to launch such projects, which are had been defeated at Kandahar, the Indian govern-
designed to help them feed their families, ment withdrew its forces from Afghanistan in April
for many of the participants having been 1881 to avoid a repeat of the First Anglo-Afghan
widowed by the various conflicts. War disaster.
See also Second Anglo-Afghan War
RAWA has plans for future development in all References
these areas of activity, but as an antifundamental- Forbes, A. 1982. The Afghan Wars, 1839–42 and
ist, feminist organization, it has not received any 1878–80. London: Seeley.
support from the United Nations or from non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) working for ROSHAN
Afghanistan. The group relies almost entirely on Roshan is a district in northern Badakhshan
individual supporters from around the world and Province on the left bank of the upper Amu Daria
from income-generating projects such as the vari- River, with an area of 1,413 square miles and a pop-
ous workshops and the sale of publications, cas- ulation of some 6,500 people who are engaged pri-
settes of folk songs, and posters. In terms of the marily in agriculture. In 1973, the Granville-Gor-
current situation in Afghanistan, the leader of chakoff Agreement defined the Amu Daria as the
RAWA, Saima Khan, at a meeting of Afghan elders northern boundary of Afghanistan, but at the same
held in Peshawar on 28 January 2003, argued for time, it was not known that Roshan and Shignan in-
the disarming of regional warlords as a prerequi- cluded territory on both sides of the Amu Daria
ROSHAN 223
River. The original size of Roshan was reduced as a district is populated by Ghilzais, Pashtuns, Tajiks,
result of the Durand Agreement of 1893, which and Isma’ilis.
brought a compromise, with Afghanistan gaining See also Durand Agreement; Granville-Gorchakoff
territory on its side of the river to compensate for Agreement
land lost across the river. The district lies at a height References
of 6,000 feet above sea level, has a moderate climate, Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political
and contains significant deposits of iron and copper, Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria:
some of which are mined by the inhabitants. The Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt.
SAADABAD PACT
The Saadabad Pact was concluded in 1937 between
Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. Renewed in
1943, it is also known as the Oriental Entente. The
pact was more a gesture acknowledging common
S
interests rather than a treaty with real political sig-
nificance, though it was seen by the Soviet Union as to occupy Afghanistan in December 1978 and was a
part of a British plot because Iraq, though indepen- vital supply line for the Soviet forces and the gov-
dent, was still under British control. ernment in Kabul. As such , it was a constant target
for attacks by mujahideen fighters, particularly
SAFRONCHUK, VASILY S. those led by Ahmad Shah Masood. Masood’s forces
Vasily Safronchuk was a Soviet economist and mounted numerous ambushes along the road, the
diplomat who was based in Kabul from 25 May most notable being the destruction of 70 fuel
1979 until 1982. Officially, he held the position of tankers en route to Kabul in March 1984 and an ex-
counselor envoy of the Soviet embassy in Kabul, but plosion in the tunnel that killed some 700 Soviet
unofficially, he was an adviser to the Afghan Foreign troops and 300 Afghan government forces in Octo-
Ministry. He tried, unsuccessfully, to prevent the rift ber 1984. The Soviets launched a series of unsuc-
between Nur Muhammad Taraki and Hafizullah cessful attacks against Masood’s stronghold in the
Amin (both members of the Khalq faction of the Panjshir Valley in attempts to undercut the mu-
People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan), seeing jahideen leader and secure this vital route to Kabul.
the solution as the formation of a broad-based na- References
tional government, which was to include non- Galeotti, Mark. 1995. Afghanistan, the Soviet Union’s
Communists. He suggested Nur Ahmed Etemadi, Last War. Portland, OR: Frank Cass.
who was in the Pul-i Charkhi prison, as prime min-
ister, but Amin rejected the suggestion, and Etemadi SALE, GEN. SIR ROBERT HENRY (1782–1845)
was executed in his cell. After the Soviet withdrawal Robert Henry Sale was commander of the First
from Afghanistan in 1989, Safronchuk published Brigade of the Infantry Division of the Bengal Col-
articles denying his role and maintaining that his umn of the Army of the Indus during the First
advice was limited to matters relating to the United Anglo-Afghan War (1839 to 1842). He led the ad-
Nations and international relations. vance brigade to Kandahar in April 1839 and cap-
References tured Ghazni, though not without difficulty. Sale’s
Astute, J. Brice. 1986. Afghanistan: The First Five Years of forces defeated Amir Dost Muhammad at Parwan
Soviet Occupation. Washington, DC: National Darra on 2 November 1840 and forced passage
Defense University. through Khurd Kabul, reaching Jalalabad on 12 No-
vember 1841. However, he was unable to withdraw
SALANG TUNNEL to Kabul when ordered to do so by Gen. Mountstu-
The Salang Tunnel was opened in 1964, together art Elphinstone, and he remained besieged in Jalal-
with an all-weather road over the Hindu Kush range abad until 7 April 1842, when he was relieved by
linking Kabul to northern Afghanistan. The tunnel Gen. George Pollock’s army of retribution. His
is 1.7 miles long and at an altitude of 11,000 feet; command abilities were questionable, and it is clear
like the highway, it was built by Soviet experts. The that he would have surrendered Jalalabad if it had
highway was one of the routes used by Soviet forces not been for the intervention of two of his officers.
225
226 SAMANGAN PROVINCE
A local Afghan appears at the north entrance after coming out of the Salang Tunnel, 160 kilometers (99.5 miles) north of Kabul, 29
December 2001. The Salang Tunnel, which links Kabul to the northern city of Mazar-i Sharif, was blown up by mujahideen commander
Ahmad Shah Masood in 1998 to prevent the Taliban from coming to the north. (AFP/Corbis)
His sally from the town in April 1842 against the References
forces of Akbar Khan was the result of pressure ap- Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Political and Historical
plied by his officers and was against his better judg- Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria:
ment. Sale was a severe disciplinarian and an advo- Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt.
cate of harsh floggings for any transgressions by his
troops. He returned to India in September 1842. SARABI, ABDUL WAHID (1926– )
See also First Anglo-Afghan War; Pollock, Field Marshal Abdul Wahid Sarabi (or Sorabi) was vice-president
Sir George of Afghanistan in 1988 and became deputy prime
References minister and minister of planning in the Khaliqyar
Norris, James A. 1967. The First Anglo-Afghan War,
government of May 1990. He became vice-president
1838–42. London: Cambridge University Press.
again in May 1991. Sarabi is a Hazara from Ghazni
Province and taught economics at Kabul University,
SAMANGAN PROVINCE where he was dean of the faculty in 1960 and from
Samangan Province, in north-central Afghanistan, 1965 to 1966 and deputy rector of the university in
occupies an area of some 14,640 square miles and 1963. In 1967, he entered government service as
has a population of about 180,000 inhabitants. The minister without portfolio before occupying the
province is bordered on the west by Jozjan and post of minister of planning from 1969 to 1973.
Balkh Provinces, in the north by the former Soviet Sarabi was arrested in 1974 (presumably suspected
Union, in the east by Kunduz and Baghlan, and in of plotting against the government) and was out of
the south by Bamian Province. A mainly agricul- office and favor until the Saur Revolt of April 1978,
tural region, Samangan relies heavily on irrigation which brought the Communists to power. He be-
and has suffered badly during recent droughts. came minister of irrigation in 1982, minister with-
SAUR REVOLT 227
out portfolio in 1985, and minister of higher educa- pelled from its Central Committee five years later.
tion in 1987. He is also a member of the Academy of Muhammad Najibullah appointed him ambassador
Sciences and deputy chair of the Committee of Haz- to Berlin until 1988 and then to South Yemen in
ara Nationality. However, he has claimed that he was 1989. At the time of the attempted coup by
not a member of the People’s Democratic Party of Shanawaz Tanai, the commander-in-chief, against
Afghanistan (PDPA). Najibullah, Sarwari was in India, where he was ar-
References rested, but Afghanistan’s request for extradition was
Arnold, Anthony. 1983. Afghanistan’s Two-Party refused. Sarwari was trained in the Soviet Union as
Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Stanford, CA: a helicopter pilot and was a participant in the 1973
Hoover Institution Press. coup staged by Muhammed Daud. After the Saur
Revolt of April 1978, he was appointed first deputy
SARAIS prime minister and vice-president of the Revolu-
Sarais are man-made structures that were once used tionary Council.
as fortifications but are now resting places for trav- See also Afghan Security Service; KHAD
elers. Surrounded by high walls for protection, References
which are maintained in the frontier areas by tribal Guistozzi, Antonio. 2000. War, Politics and Society in
chiefs, sarais have watchtowers for use in local skir- Afghanistan, 1978–1992. Washington, DC:
mishes. The advent of aerial and mechanized war- Georgetown University Press.
fare has rendered them obsolete as fortifications,
and they largely remain to shelter travelers in areas SAUR REVOLT
inaccessible to motorized transport. Initially, the The Marxist coup of 27 April 1978 was called the
sarais existed for garrisons of troops and storage of Saur Revolt after the Afghan month in which it took
ammunition, being built at roughly 12-mile inter- place. It brought the Communists to power and her-
vals along main roads and in major towns. They alded eleven years of rule by the People’s Demo-
varied in size, with some of them capable of hous- cratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Preparations
ing 300 troops and their equipment. The average for the revolt had been under way for a number of
area occupied by the sarai was from 80 to 100 square years after the secret formation of the party in 1965,
yards, and their walls were 20 feet high, 3 feet thick, with sleepers being placed within the bureaucracy
and equipped with firing platforms. Each sarai had and the military. The Khalq faction of the PDPA,
its own potable water supply and was the residence under Hafizullah Amin, organized further infiltra-
for governors and military officials; it was also used tion within the military, though the Parchami fac-
to provide hospitality for distinguished visitors. tion also operated in the military through Mir
References Akbar Khaibar.
Szabo, Albert, and Brenda Dyer Szabo. 1991. Although President Muhammad Daud had re-
Afghanistan: An Atlas of Indigenous Architecture. peatedly affirmed his policy of maintaining good
Austin: University of Texas Press. relations with the Soviet Union, he also wished for
Afghanistan to be a truly nonaligned state. Rela-
SARWARI, ASADULLAH (1930– ) tions became strained when, on a visit to Moscow
Asadullah Sarwari was a member of the Khalq fac- in April 1977, Daud refused to alter his policy of
tion of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghani- employing experts from countries other than the
stan (PDPA) and initially the head of the Afghan Se- Soviet Union. At the same time, the two wings of
curity Service set up by Nur Muhammad Taraki, the PDPA were having unification talks, which were
before being replaced by Asadullah Amin, the concluded in July 1977. The Soviet Union was now
nephew of Hafizullah Amin, in October 1979. After concerned about the situation in Afghanistan and
Babrak Karmal came to power in December 1979, unwilling to risk losing its investment there, both in
Sarwari was appointed vice-president and deputy terms of finances and in terms of the area’s poten-
prime minister, but he was quickly made ambas- tial as a springboard for future incursions in the
sador to Ulan Bator, Mongolia, where he served Middle East and South Asia. As a result, the PDPA
from 1980 to 1986. In 1981, he was stripped of was instructed by Moscow to plan a coup to depose
membership in the PDPA Politburo, and he was ex- the Daud regime.
228 SAYYAF, ABDUL RASUL
The spark for the revolt was the assassination of SAYYAF, ABDUL RASUL (1946– )
the Parcham strategist Mir Akbar Khaibar. The Abdul Rasul Sayyaf was a member of the Islamic Al-
killing was thought to have been initiated by the liance for the Liberation of Afghanistan and was
PDPA’s Khalq faction, whose members resented elected as its president in 1980. He was born at
Parcham attempts to recruit support in the army, Pagham, near Kabul, and graduated from the Han-
but the PDPA accused the government of responsi- ifa Theological School in 1963 and from the Islamic
bility. Khaibar’s funeral was followed by a proces- College of Kabul University in 1967. He then took a
sion that turned into a public demonstration post as a teaching assistant at the Shari’a College be-
against the government, with a crowd numbering fore going to al-Azhar University in Egypt, where he
some 15,000. The government arrested the leaders obtained an M.A. degree in 1972. On his return to
of the demonstration, but three days later, a coup Afghanistan, he became an assistant professor at
was staged by the military, resulting in the death of Kabul University. He was arrested in 1974 for polit-
President Daud and the members of his family dur- ical activities and sentenced to five years of impris-
ing the storming of the royal palace. The leaders of onment. He was freed under a general amnesty in
the PDPA feared Daud, and his execution had been 1980 and joined the mujahideen on his release. He
a prime objective of the coup. did not have a group of his own, which paved the
The coup resulted in the installation of a Marx- way for his presidency of the alliance of seven mu-
ist government and a total dependence on the So- jahideen groups based in Pakistan and recognized
viet Union for the next decade. Leaders of the by the Pakistan government to receive financial and
PDPA and members from within the military led military support from the United States.
the coup, but neither faction of the party had been See also Islamic Alliance for the Liberation of
aware that there were also sleepers within the mil- Afghanistan
itary and the bureaucracy who were already under References
the direct control of the Soviet Union; these sleep- Kaplan, Robert D. Soldiers of God: With the Mujahideen
ers only revealed themselves at the time of the in Afghanistan. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
coup. Such was the degree of infiltration that the
coup was a complete success and met with mini- SECOND ANGLO-AFGHAN WAR (1878–1879)
mal resistance. Members of the Central Commit- After the debacle of the First Anglo-Afghan War
tee of the PDPA were operating under the illusion (1839–1842), British policy toward Afghanistan be-
that they were in control of the relationship with came characterized by inactivity and an ethic of
the Soviet Union and that they would be allowed “leaving Afghanistan to the Afghans.” However, the
freedom to reconstruct Afghan society. However, situation ultimately changed, largely because of
the Soviets were not concerned with socioeco- pressure from some quarters to counter Russian
nomic change. They only sought control over Af- moves in Central Asia. Since the first conflict, British
ghanistan as a reward for their patience and invest- influence had extended to the passes leading into
ment over decades. Afghanistan and was accompanied by the construc-
See also Amin, Hafizullah; Daud, Sardar Muhammad; tion of railway lines and telegraph lines. In addition,
People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan; Taraki, the British India army had been reequipped with
Nur Muhammad breech-loading rifles, whereas the Afghan army was
References still equipped with muzzle-loading rifles.
Hammond, Thomas Taylor. 1984. Red Flag over The ruler of Afghanistan from 1863 was Shir
Afghanistan: The Communist Coup, the Soviet Ali, a son of Amir Dost Muhammad. Shir Ali had
Invasion, and the Consequences. Boulder, CO: succeeded to the throne after a bitter struggle with
Westview Press.
his rivals, but it was not until 1869 that he gained
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 1984. Achievements of the
British recognition. He was invited to meet Lord
April Revolution in Afghanistan. Kabul: Democratic
Republic of Afghanistan, Ministry of Foreign Mayo, the viceroy of India, at Ambala in the same
Affairs. year, and at that meeting, the amir raised his con-
Shahrani, M. Nazif, and Robert L. Caufield. 1984. cerns about Russian advances in Central Asia. Shir
Revolutions and Rebellions in Afghanistan. Berkeley, Ali wanted British guarantees of help in the event
CA: Institute of International Relations. of Russian aggression; further, in order to secure
SECRET OF THE NATION 229
the future of his dynasty, he sought Britain’s tember 1879 when British forces defeated the
recognition of his son Abdullah Jan as crown Afghan army under Ayub Khan.
prince and his successor. However, the amir’s re- However, the British India government re-
quests were not acceded to, and Shir Ali was garded the Battle of Maiwand as a sound reason
merely given a gift of 600,000 rupees and a few for disentangling itself from conflict in Afghani-
pieces of artillery. stan, fearing a debacle similar to the First Anglo-
Tensions rose between Afghanistan and Britain Afghan War. It therefore recognized Abdur Rah-
when the Russian governor of Tashkent, Gen. Kon- man as amir of Afghanistan and was able to
stantin Petrovich Kaufman, made overtures to the withdraw its forces across the border into India.
amir and again when these tentative contacts were The war could not, in any way, be counted as a
followed up with the uninvited arrival of General British success: casualties were high, with about
Stolietoff at Kabul on 22 July 1878, charged with 40,000 dead or wounded, including camp follow-
concluding a treaty with Afghanistan. The British ers, and at least 1,000 troops were lost at Maiwand.
India government viewed these developments with In addition, the operation represented a significant
alarm, and a decision was taken to send Gen. Neville economic burden for the Indian government, for
Chamberlain on a military mission to Kabul. He the cost of the operation was £19.5 million and the
was to be accompanied by 1,000 troops supplied by British taxpayers picked up only the costs of the
the autonomous frontier tribes, but the mission was original estimate, £5 million. The action was not
prevented from crossing the border into Afghani- supported by a significant number of the viceroy’s
stan by Afghan forces. advisers and ministers, who saw it as an economic
The move by the Afghans prompted the India drain and a serious depletion of the troops needed
government to issue an ultimatum, and this was fol- to guarantee the peace in India.
lowed up by the dispatch of a British force under See also Ambala Conference; Gandomak, Treaty of;
Gen. Frederick Roberts, which arrived at Kabul on Maiwand, Battle of; Shir Ali, Amir; Yaqub Khan,
24 July 1878. The amir fled to northern Afghanistan Amir Muhammad
to seek support from the Russians, but no assistance References
was forthcoming, and he died of natural causes in Cardew, F. G. 1908. The Second Afghan War, 1878–80.
Mazar-i Sharif on 21 February 1879. In the amir’s London: J. Murray.
absence, Britain had recognized his son Yaqub Khan Heathcote, T. A. The Afghan Wars, 1839–1919. London:
as the new ruler, with the price of this support being Osprey.
the signing of the Treaty of Gandomak on 26 May
1879. This document restored friendly relations be- SECRET OF THE NATION (SIRR-I-MILLI)
tween the two countries, but Afghanistan had to Secret of the Nation was a covert organization that
agree that its foreign policy would not be at variance was involved in a plot to mount a coup against
with British interests. Consequently, many Afghans Amir Habibullah in 1909, with the objective of set-
regarded this treaty as a capitulation. The British In- ting up a republican government. The campaign
dian government appointed Pierre Louis Cavagnari was waged largely through letters to the amir, which
as envoy to Kabul, but he was assassinated, together threatened retribution unless his style of govern-
with all of his staff, by mutinous Afghan troops on 3 ment was changed. It is thought that the organiza-
September 1879. tion was headed by Maulawi Muhammad Sarwar
This move was a signal for armed resistance to Wasif, a native of Kandahar, and Dr. Abdul Ghani,
break out at other locations where British troops an Indian Muslim and head of Habibia School in
were stationed, and despite British attempts to put Kabul. Habibia was an Islamic institution of higher
down these uprisings, the action intensified. The education, and the students proved to be willing re-
critical event in the war was the Battle of Maiwand cruits to the organization. Abdul Ghani was ar-
on 27 July 1880, during which a British force under rested, accused of implication in the plot to assassi-
Gen. G. R. S. Burrows was totally routed by Afghan nate Amir Habibullah, and remained in prison
troops and tribal forces. The survivors withdrew to until 1919 when King Amanullah became ruler of
Kandahar to join the garrison there, which then Afghanistan.
came under siege and was not relieved until 1 Sep- See also Habibullah, Amir
230 11 SEPTEMBER 2001
References hind operations against U.S. forces in Somalia, as

Adamec, Ludwig, W. Afghanistan 1900–1923: A well as bomb attacks on U.S. military facilities in
Diplomatic History. Berkeley: University of California Saudi Arabia.
Press. Evidence for al-Qaeda’s involvement was largely
based on statements made by Osama bin Laden
11 SEPTEMBER 2001 prior to and immediately after the attacks. In June
On 11 September 2001, groups of terrorists hijacked 2001, he had told supporters that it was time to as-
four passenger jets on domestic flights in the United sault America and Israel where it would hurt them
States, crashing two of them into the twin towers of the most, and this pronouncement was followed by
the World Trade Center in New York City and one a report by the Middle East Broadcasting Center
into the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C. The quoting al-Qaeda supporters as forecasting a severe
fourth hijacked aircraft failed in its objective and blow to U.S. and Israeli forces in the immediate fu-
crashed in Pennsylvania—a crash that was later dis- ture. A warning had also been issued to leading al-
covered to have been caused by a struggle between Qaeda members around the world to return to Af-
the passengers and the terrorists. The death toll of ghanistan by 10 September 2001, and rumors
the multiple attacks was just under 4,000, and the circulated among bin Laden’s supporters that 11
site of the World Trade Center was so badly de- September was to be a major day of action.
stroyed that it became known as Ground Zero. The impact of the terrorist attack on the United
The victims of the attack were mainly Ameri- States and the sheer magnitude of the atrocity led
cans, including emergency personnel trying to res- President George W. Bush to declare the War on
cue trapped victims, but there were a large number Terror. As investigations proceeded into the hijack-
of British nationals among the victims as well; in ings, more evidence of the involvement of bin
fact, an estimated eighty countries lost nationals as a Laden and al-Qaeda surfaced. It became clear that
result of these attacks. The whole sequence of events the detailed planning for the attacks had been un-
was captured by tourist camcorders and broadcast dertaken by close associates of bin Laden, that al-
around the world, giving the tragedy a global di- Qaeda personnel in Europe had been activated, and
mension. The world was shocked at the scale and that the flight training for the hijackers, which took
the impact of the hijackings, and there was a general place in the United States, was funded by al-Qaeda,
sense that the world would never be the same again. as were all other aspects of the operation. Dossiers
The United States also had to come to terms with were produced by the U.S. administration and the
the fact that it was not immune to terrorist attacks, British government, largely based on intelligence re-
as had been experienced elsewhere in the world. ports, demonstrating the involvement of bin Laden
The tragedy of 11 September and its immediate and his followers. Evidence was also presented by
aftermath was played out before the world’s media, the U.S. administration to the North Atlantic Treaty
and it was to have a major impact within the United Organization (NATO), which found the informa-
States and throughout the world. However, the tion compelling; in response, NATO invoked Article
main concern in the present context is the relation- 5 of its founding treaty, which declared the attack on
ship of the events to the situation in Afghanistan the United States to be an attack on NATO itself.
and, in particular, the role played by Osama bin As a result of previous terrorist attacks against
Laden and the al-Qaeda network. The nature of the the United States, Osama bin Laden had already
atrocity and the nationality of the hijackers led to an been placed on the list of the ten most wanted fugi-
immediate suspicion that bin Laden and his follow- tives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),
ers were behind the operation. Initially, this belief with a reward of $5 million offered for his arrest or
was bolstered by bin Laden’s involvement in previ- conviction. Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress had given
ous attacks against the United States and U.S. inter- President Bush powers to pursue the parties behind
ests abroad, particularly the abortive attack on the the atrocity, including the use of military force, and
World Trade Center in 1993, the bombing of the the administration began to take measures against
U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and the al-Qaeda network. However, the administration
the attack on the USS Cole in Aden in October 2000. was extremely careful to try to ensure that public re-
There is also strong evidence that al-Qaeda was be- action was directed not against Arab Americans and
11 SEPTEMBER 2001 231
The site of the World Trade Towers in New York, destroyed in an attack on 11 September 2001 (US Air Force)
Muslims in general but specifically against the real strict them and cause al-Qaeda to rely more heavily
perpetrators, wherever they might be. on cash transactions, which would be almost im-
The administration invoked a number of secu- possible to trace.
rity measures, particularly at airports, but in terms The Bush administration had stated that its re-
of al-Qaeda, the first actions were directed against sponse would be directed not only against the ter-
its access to funds. On 24 September 2001, the U.S. rorists responsible for the 11 September attacks but
government announced a series of measures aimed also against states that harbored them. Attention
at trying to cut off al-Qaeda’s access to funds for its therefore centered on Afghanistan and specifically
operations. A freeze was immediately placed on the the Taliban regime because of its close links with
U.S.-based assets and transactions of individuals Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda fighters operating
and groups with alleged links to terrorist activities, in Afghanistan. The United States had already at-
and international banks were advised that assets and tempted to destroy al-Qaeda training camps in 1998
transactions would be frozen if they refused to co- through the use of Cruise missiles, but those sorties
operate in the antiterrorist campaign. A prohibition were considered to have been of little military value.
order was also made on transactions with groups Further, the United Nations had also been putting
believed to be linked to bin Laden and the al-Qaeda pressure on the Taliban regime, passing resolutions
network and on donations to nonprofit organiza- demanding that it cease providing sanctuary and
tions suspected of providing funds to terrorist orga- training facilities for terrorists and that Osama bin
nizations. The Foreign Terrorist Asset Tracking Cen- Laden be handed over for due judicial process in a
ter was also established to track down sources of country where he had been indicted. The failure of
funding for terrorist organizations. However, such the Taliban to respond to these resolutions had al-
moves would not cut off funds entirely but only re- ready led to the imposition of a range of sanctions
232 SEWWUM-I-AQRAB
beginning on 14 November 1999, which included a worthwhile military targets in a country denigrated
freeze on the funds of bin Laden and his associates. by ten years of Soviet occupation and civil war. Ob-
In the immediate aftermath of 11 September, it vious targets would be air bases housing the small
was evident that the Bush administration was com- air force of the Taliban at Kabul and Kandahar in
mitting itself to a long-term, open-ended campaign the south of Afghanistan, Shindand and Herat in
against international terrorism, and the nature of the west, and Mazar-i Sharif and Kunduz in the
the conflict, the initial military targets, and its objec- north and northeast. Other targets would be the
tives became the subject of debate within the ad- army bases and training camps at Qargah and
ministration. Two contrasting views manifested Rishkor just outside Kabul and Deh Dadi near
themselves within the administration. On one hand, Mazar-i Sharif. The U.S. decision to remove the Tal-
the Department of Defense and Deputy Defense iban regime and to destroy the al-Qaeda network in
Secretary Paul Wolfowitz advocated a broad cam- Afghanistan was supported by the United Kingdom,
paign, including the overthrow of regimes suspected both politically and militarily, and also by the Pak-
of harboring and supporting terrorists, with the Tal- istan government, which had broken with the Tal-
iban and Iraqi regimes identified as possible targets. iban and indicated its support for the War on Terror.
It was argued that such a policy would ensure that As an outcome, the United States and United King-
terrorists were denied any safe haven, and it would dom formed the mainstay of a coalition designed to
deliver a message that would deter other regimes overthrow the Taliban regime, destroy al Qaeda, and
that might consider sponsoring terrorism. On the bring Osama bin Laden to justice.
other hand, the State Department, under Secretary See also Coalition Air Campaign against the Taliban;
of State Colin Powell, adopted a more cautious ap- Coalition Land Campaign against the Taliban;
proach and advocated a limited and targeted use of Laden, Osama bin; al-Qaeda; Taliban
force, with an emphasis on the need to build a References
broad-based international coalition. It was argued “Blowback.” 2001. Jane’s Intelligence Review (August):
that the removal of the Taliban regime as a military 42–49.
objective could entangle the United States in the in- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news, 20 September 2001
ternal strife of Afghanistan, with no guarantee as to http://www.defenselink.mil
http://www.pm.gov.uk/news-asp?NewsId=2601
the final outcome.
http://www.whitehouse.gov
The Bush administration made it clear that ini-
tial military action would be restricted to the cap-
ture of Osama bin Laden and the defeat of the al- SEWWUM-I-AQRAB
Qaeda network. This policy was announced by the Sewwum-i-Aqrab is the Afghan date for a series of
president to a joint session of Congress on 20 Sep- demonstrations held on 25 October 1965, mounted
tember 2001, but Bush made it plain that the oper- by a leftist group of students protesting against a se-
ation would not end until every global terrorist cret session of parliament considering a vote of con-
group had been stopped and defeated. The Penta- fidence in the government of Muhammad Yusuf.
gon code-named the military campaign against ter- The troops lost control of the crowds when the stu-
rorism Operation Enduring Freedom, and Congress dents started throwing stones and opened fire,
voted $40 billion of extra funding to cover any mil- killing three students and wounding countless
itary response to the attacks of 11 September, as well more. This incident brought about the resignation
as national security needs. At a press briefing on 25 of the Yusuf government and became a rallying cry
September 2001, the U.S. secretary of defense, Don- of the Left in Afghanistan.
ald Rumsfeld, made it plain that the campaign References
would involve a sustained effort over a long period Dupree, Louise. 1980. Afghanistan. Princeton, NJ:
of time. Princeton University Press.
Initially, it was thought that actions against Af-
ghanistan would consist of selective air and missile SHAFIQ, MUHAMMAD MUSA (1930–1978)
strikes, together with raids by U.S. and UK Special Muhammad Musa Shafiq had a distinguished legal
Forces. However, a major problem regarding the use career in Afghanistan, becoming director-general of
of such strikes was the difficulty in identifying really the Legislative Department in the Ministry of Justice
SHINWARI TRIBE 233
and teaching at the College of Law and Political Sci- Sadeqi of Nasr to rid the Hazarajat of the Shura. A
ence at Kabul University. He also opened the first number of other radical Shi’a groups were also ac-
private law firm in Afghanistan, in 1961. He had tive in the region, such as the Union of Islamic
been born in 1930 in Kabul and was educated at an Fighters, which controlled small enclaves within
elementary madrasa (Islamic school) and a state the area. In 1987, the various groups came together
primary school in Kabul before going to Egypt, then as the Council of Islamic Alliance, joined by the
to Columbia University in New York City, where he Shura in 1988; the alliance reformed in 1990 as the
studied Islamic law and comparative law. Party of Islamic Unity of Afghanistan, led by Abdul
Between 1963 and 1966, he served as deputy Ali Mazari and then, following his assassination, by
minister in the Ministry of Justice, had a major role Karim Khalili. However, unity was impossible to
in the drafting of a new constitution, and partici- achieve, and there was ongoing rivalry between the
pated in the Loya Jirga (Great Council) that adopted traditionalists, the Islamic groups, and the radical
it. He was also an adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Islamists, all competing for the leadership. With
Affairs from 1966 to 1968 and then became ambas- the rise of the Taliban in September 1996, the Is-
sador to Cairo. In the period between 1970 and lamic Unity Party and the Uzbeks led by Gen.
1973, he was an active lobbyist for drought relief Abdul Rashid Dostum were the only real opposi-
from abroad, while occupying the post of foreign tion to the new regime, but initially, Dostum sup-
minister in 1971 and prime minister from 1971 to ported the Taliban government.
the time of the coup led by Muhammad Daud in See also Dostum, Gen. Abdul Rashid; Guardians of the
1973. In that year, he was the leading figure in the Islamic Revolution
negotiations to secure the Helmand Water Agree- References
ment with Iran. He was arrested in July 1973 for op- Roy, Olivier. 1998. “Has Islamism a Future in
posing President Daud and placed under house ar- Afghanistan?” In Fundamentalism Reborn?
rest until 1976. Afghanistan and the Taliban, edited by William
Shafiq was also a writer in Dari and Pashtu, pro- Maley, 199–211. London: Hurst.
ducing numerous short stories and poems for vari-
ous newspapers and journals. It was reported that SHINWARI TRIBE
he was executed in May 1978. The Shinwaris are members of a Pashtun tribe who
References migrated to the Nangarhar area in the sixteenth
Ahmad, N. D. 1990. The Survival of Afghanistan: A century. The tribe has a reputation for its fighting
Diplomatic History with an Analytic and Reflective capabilities, and members of one of its four divi-
Approach. Lahore, Pakistan: Institute of Islamic sions, the Alisher Khel, live in Pakistan, having
Culture. been separated from the rest of the tribe by the
Durand Line (drawn up by Britain to demarcate
SHI’A MUJAHIDEEN GROUPS the frontier between Afghanistan and British
The majority of the Shi’a people of Afghanistan India). The tribespeople have been intimately in-
live in the Hazarajat region, and in February 1979, volved in conflicts in the region for centuries. They
they rose against the Marxist regime in Kabul. By accompanied Mahmud of Ghazni in his invasions
the end of the year, control of the region had of India in the eleventh century, fought against the
passed to the mujahideen under the Revolutionary British in three Anglo-Afghan wars, and were ac-
Council of Islamic Unity of Afghanistan, which es- tive in rebellions against Amir Abdur Rahman in
tablished a government in the region, set up an ad- 1882 over management of the road that passed
ministration, and levied taxes on the population. through their territory to British-controlled
The dominant group in the administration was the Dakka. In 1883, Ghilan Haidar Khan was sent to
Shura (Council), but in 1983, the emergent radical quell the tribe, having successfully defeated the
Islamist groups challenged its supremacy. The Mangals. However, in 1888, their raiding com-
main opposition was led by the Guardians of the menced again, and sporadic operations continued
Islamic Revolution, whose adherents followed the throughout 1889. They also formed part of the
teaching of the Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini, and coalition that overthrew King Amanullah in 1928.
they allied themselves with Sheikh Mir Husain In a manifesto released by the Shinwari leaders
234 SHIR ALI, AMIR
Muhammad Alam and Muhammad Afzal in No- was succeeded by Yaqub, who was defeated by the
vember 1928, known as the Shinwari Manifesto, British. Abdur Rahman was recognized by Britain as
they detailed their grievances against King Aman- the new amir. During his short period of rule, Shir
ullah. In effect, this pronouncement amounted to Ali had initiated a modest program of reforms. He
a declaration of war and was an attack on the legal had established an advisory council to assist with
and social reforms of Amanullah, which included the governance of the state, tried to model his army
recommending monogamy, eliminating the pur- along European lines, set up a state postal system,
dah, and allowing cinemas and theaters in Kabul. abolished the feudal system of tax farming, and
The military actions of the Shinwaris enabled published the first newspaper in Afghanistan, called
Habibullah Kalakani to capture and claim the Sun of the Day (Shams al-Nahar).
Afghan throne. The tribe inhabits the area between See also Second Anglo-Afghan War
the Khugianis of Jalalabad and the Afridis of the References
Khyber range. Gregorian, Vartan. 1969. The Emergence of Modern
See also Amanullah, King Afghanistan: Politics, Reform and Modernization,
References 1880–1946. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Bellew, H. W. 1880. The Races of Afghanistan: Being a
Brief Account of the Principal Nations Inhabiting That SHUJA, SHAH (C. 1792–1842)
Country. London: Thaker. Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk was the seventh son of Timur
Wild, Roland. 1933. Amanullah: Ex-King of Afghanistan. Shah and was born around 1792, becoming gover-
London: Hurst and Blackett. nor of Peshawar in 1801 during the reign of his
brother, Shah Zaman. In 1802, he captured Kabul,
SHIR ALI, AMIR (?–1879) imprisoned his brother Mahmud, and seized the
Shir Ali was one of the sons of Amir Dost Muham- throne, proclaiming himself amir. However, Mah-
mad and ruled Afghanistan from 1863 to 1866 and mud effected his escape with the assistance of Dost
again from 1868 to 1869. However, his periods of Muhammad, the amir of Afghanistan from 1820 to
rule were characterized by a constant power struggle 1838 and again from 1842 to 1863.
with his brothers, who held positions as governors In 1809, Shah Shuja received a British mission
of provinces in the country. His position was not re- under Mountstuart Elphinstone and secured
ally secured until 1869 when he traveled to India to British support for his position as amir. He also
obtain guarantees from the British of protection concluded a treaty of alliance, which guaranteed
against Russian aggression and recognition of suc- British intervention in the event Afghanistan was
cession for his son. However, the viceroy of India subjected to an unprovoked attack, particularly
was not prepared to meet his requests and instead from France or Persia. In the same year, Fath Khan
gave Shir Ali a gift of money and some pieces of ar- and Mahmud captured Kandahar and moved on
tillery but no promises of military or political sup- Kabul, defeating Shah Shuja at Gandomak. The fol-
port. As a direct consequence of this rejection, the lowing year, he was forced to flee to India, where he
amir decided to listen to overtures from Russia, spent nearly thirty years in exile. On his journey to
which sent General Stolietoff to Kabul on 22 July India, he had to pass through the Sikh territory
1878 to provide backing for the Afghan state. The controlled by Ranjit Singh, who took from him the
moves alarmed the British Indian government. Koh-Nur diamond, now part of the British crown
Britain tried to send a representative to Kabul, but jewels.
he was refused entry; an ultimatum was then issued Internal unrest within Afghanistan saw the
by the British Indian government, followed by the Sadozai princes locked in an internecine struggle
invasion of a British army. The resultant conflict was that allowed Dost Muhammad, the first Muham-
the Second Anglo-Afghan War. madzai ruler, to come to power, marking the end of
The amir had left Kabul for the north, leaving his the Sadozai dynasty. In 1839, British India was still
son Yaqub in charge to try to seek support from the concerned about its northern frontiers and wanted
Russians. But the amir was advised by the Russians to ensure that a friendly regime controlled Afghani-
to make peace with Britain. Shir Ali died of natural stan; it was concerned as well about the apparent
causes at Mazar-i Sharif on 21 February 1879 and negotiations between the Russians and Dost
SOVIET WAR IN AFGHANISTAN 235
Muhammad, who was also unwilling to drop his References

claim to Peshawar. The viceroy of India, Lord Auck- Noelle, Christin. 1997. State and Tribe in Nineteenth-
land, decided to strike an alliance with the leader of Century Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Dost
the Sikhs, the aforementioned Ranjit Singh, and Muhammad Khan. London: Curzon.
wanted to restore Shah Shuja to the throne. How-
ever, the Sikhs were unwilling to risk troops in any SOVIET WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
venture into Afghanistan, and it was left to the The Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan in
British to invade the country in 1839, thus begin- the 1970s and 1980s was aimed at supporting the
ning the First Anglo-Afghan War. Marxist government in Kabul, which, under
The British returned Shah Shuja to the throne, Hafizullah Amin, was crumbling and in danger of
but he was never supported by the Afghan people collapse. The intervention began on 25 December
and was only able to rule with British protection. 1979, lasted for ten years, and proved to be a disas-
However, the British presence in Afghanistan was it- ter for the Soviet forces, who found themselves
self tenuous, and an uprising in Kabul led to the drawn into a guerrilla war that they were not
death of British representative Alexander Burnes, equipped to wage. Ultimately, they were forced to
the ignominious retreat of the British army, and its withdraw, having sustained heavy casualties and
total destruction during the retreat from Kabul. failed in their mission.
Shah Shuja himself was captured by Afghan militia The Communists had come to power in Afghan-
forces and killed by Shiya-ud-Daula, a leader of a istan on 27 April 1978 following the Saur Revolt,
Barakzai clan, on 3 April 1842. Thereafter, the which had been led by left-wing politicians and
throne was again assumed by Amir Dost Muham- backed by sympathetic military personnel, most of
mad, who was recognized by the British as ruler. whom had received training in the Soviet Union.
See also Burnes, Alexander; First Anglo-Afghan War The coup resulted in the assassination of President
References Muhammad Daud and his family and the rise to
Heathcote, T. A. 1980. The Afghan Wars, 1839–1919. power of Nur Muhammad Taraki. The new govern-
London: Osprey. ment introduced a program of land distribution,
Poullada, Leon B. Reform and Rebellion in Afghanistan, the dismantling of the traditional Afghan social
1929–1973. Omaha: University of Nebraska, Omaha. structure, and the emancipation of women, but it
ran into immediate opposition and armed resis-
SIMLA MANIFESTO (1838) tance. A revolt had already broken out in Herat and
Also known as the Tripartite Agreement or the was savagely put down, with the loss of some 5,000
Treaty of Simla, the Simla Manifesto was signed on lives, including about 100 Soviet advisers, and the
16 July 1838 between Ranjit Singh, ruler of the Sikh army began to disintegrate as the regime purged the
nation in the Punjab; Shah Shuja, the exiled king of officer corps.
Afghanistan; and the British government. The In September 1979, Hafizullah Amin, the Afghan
agreement was reached in order to determine fu- prime minister, seized power, and Taraki was sum-
ture relations between the parties once Shah Shuja marily executed. However, the leadership change
had been restored to the throne as a result of this al- did not bring stability; indeed, opposition to the
liance, which also required the Afghans to recog- regime intensified. Large sections of the armed
nize the independence of the Sikh nation from Af- forces defected to the resistance, and by the end of
ghanistan. This agreement was, in effect, a 1979, the army’s strength had been reduced from
declaration of war against Amir Dost Muhammad, 90,000 to 40,000, brought about by the combination
who did not respond to the manifesto. Afghanistan of defections, desertions, purges, and executions.
was invaded in 1839 by the British army. The Sikh The result was that the new regime was spinning out
ruler had not committed any forces to the opera- of control: it was in danger of complete collapse and
tion and thus avoided the disaster that faced the of falling out of the Soviet sphere of influence.
British in the conflict that ensued—the First Anglo- Taraki had already appealed for Soviet assistance in
Afghan War. March 1979, but his pleas went unanswered, and it
See also Dost Muhammad, Amir; First Anglo-Afghan was not until near the end of the year that the Soviet
War Politburo approved intervention as a temporary
236 SOVIET WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
A young Soviet soldier carries an AK-47 rifle on a busy shopping street in Kabul. (Patrick Robert/Corbis)
measure to stabilize the Kabul regime and to pre- the route for Soviet troops, and airborne troops
vent its defeat by the mujahideen. seized airfields (such as the Bagram air base) and
The Soviets followed an improved version of an critical government facilities in Kabul. Spetsnaz
invasion plan that had been successfully used in forces killed Hafizullah Amin, the leader of the
other stability operations within the Soviet bloc, as Khalq faction of the People’s Democratic Party of
in Czechoslovakia in 1968. The plan involved the es- Afghanistan and president of Afghanistan in 1979,
tablishment of an in-country presence to assist the in order to set up a puppet government under
invasion force. In August 1979, prior to the actual Babrak Karmal, and the invading Soviet troops very
intervention, Gen. Ivan G. Pavloski led a group of quickly subdued small pockets of Afghan military
sixty officers on a reconnaissance tour of Afghani- resistance. The initial aspects of the occupation were
stan to assess the situation and to conclude invasion a complete success, and the government in Moscow
plans. The initial Soviet objective was to capture expected resistance to end at that point.
strategic targets such as major airfields, key govern- However, like previous invaders, the Soviets had
ment buildings, and communication facilities and rashly miscalculated the situation in Afghanistan.
to win control of the major towns and lines of com- They did not foresee that the Afghans’ traditional
munication. values, their Islamic faith, and their love of free-
Soviet forces began moving into Afghanistan on dom—even from central control in Kabul—would
24 December 1979, Christmas Eve, which meant only intensify the resistance to the Soviet incursion.
that Western governments were not geared up for It had been expected that the Soviet military would
an immediate reaction. Soviet advisers who had prevail: after all, they must have had extensive
been brought in after the Saur Revolt disabled knowledge of Afghanistan, since they had had a
equipment, blocked arms stores, and sabotaged any presence in the country from the 1950s, had built
attempts at a coordinated response from the Afghan many of the airfields, and had constructed the road
military. The Salang Pass and Salang Tunnel were network and the Salang Tunnel. The occupation was
seized by the Spetsnaz, or special forces, to protect based on the concept of stabilizing the country by
SOVIET WAR IN AFGHANISTAN 237
occupying and holding key objectives, while allow- cope with guerrilla warfare. The inability to win the
ing Afghan forces to mount counterinsurgency war condemned the force to a slow process of
measures. The Soviets planned to provide logistic, bloodletting, which adversely affected the morale of
air, artillery, and intelligence support for Afghan the troops. Officially, the number of Soviet deaths
forces operating in the countryside but have only was put at 15,000 but could have been as high as
minimal contact with the local population them- 40,000, and beyond that, some 400,000 troops were
selves. A further prime objective was to keep Soviet wounded or contracted diseases such as hepatitis
casualties to a minimum and to strengthen the and typhoid.
Afghan military to defeat the mujahideen in order The Soviets were extremely slow to adopt new
to allow for a prompt Soviet withdrawal. tactics to cope with the terrain and the strategies of
The occupation was expected to last a few the mujahideen, and by the time the command de-
months, but in the end, it endured for ten years. In cided to use troops for close combat and mopping-
the process, the Soviets probably had about 40,000 up operations, it was too late. The soldiers preferred
men killed in action, and a further number were to stay with the relative safety of their armored car-
murdered, committed suicide, became dependent riers and to call on air strikes and artillery rather
on drugs, or suffered from a variety of diseases. than fight an enemy that did not seem to know the
Afghan casualties were between 1.5 and 2 million meaning of defeat. The situation was not helped by
dead, with 5 million fleeing Afghanistan as refugees the fact that the mujahideen refused to fight a con-
and another 2 million becoming internal refugees. ventional war and continued to deploy their effec-
In purely economic terms, it was estimated that the tive guerrilla tactics. One such tactic was to disrupt
war cost the Soviet economy some $8 billion a year the roads and pipelines essential to the supply chain
for each of the ten years. of Soviet forces; despite destroying villages and
The Soviet military had been prepared to fight a adopting a scorched-earth policy, the Soviet forces
conventional war, using tactics and operational could not break the morale of the mujahideen.
plans that a modern army would have used else- The mujahideen forces improved their sources of
where in the world. These tactics involved the use of supplies from Iran and Pakistan, and the latter also
massive firepower from fixed-wing aircraft, heli- channeled covert aid from the U.S. Central Intelli-
copter gunships, and artillery, with rocket attacks gence Agency (CIA). In addition, they captured
and tanks preceding any infantry advances. The So- equipment from Soviet and Afghan government
viets believed that such assaults would either destroy forces and from a steady stream of Afghan deserters.
their ill-equipped opponents or cause them to flee The Soviets used helicopter gunships to great ad-
in terror across the borders with Iran or Pakistan. vantage, but the guerrillas soon adapted by operat-
However, the mujahideen came from a traditional ing at night or by using intelligence reports to pro-
warrior society and proved to be a highly resource- vide air defense ambushes and setting up protective
ful and implacable enemy. They were adept at tem- bunkers. Eventually, the mujahideen received
porarily withdrawing in the face of Soviet assaults Stinger missiles through the CIA, and these were de-
and returning later to strike at exposed units of the ployed to great effect by the resistance forces, such
enemy. The harsh and inhospitable terrain and the that the Afghans began to win the war against the
reaction of the people who opposed and obstructed Soviets and the government forces of Babrak Kar-
the Soviets at every turn did not help the position of mal. The toll on Soviet equipment was also high,
the Soviet military on the ground. with estimates showing the loss of some 118 jets,
Despite the size of the Soviet commitment, 330 helicopters, 147 tanks, large numbers of ar-
which varied in strength from 90,000 to 104,000 mored personnel carriers, and, significantly, some
troops operating on a rotational basis, the invading 12,000 supply trucks.
force was strained to provide some level of security The Soviet military was never able to field full-
throughout the main towns in the twenty-nine strength forces because disease cut heavily into
provinces and could not extend its control to the troop numbers, largely due to poor sanitation in the
thousands of villages or any but the main lines of field and a poor diet. Even when they were able to
communication. In addition, Soviet forces found it mount a well-resourced operation, the Soviets were
extremely difficult to develop a methodology to never completely successful, as evidenced by a least
238 SOVIET WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
ten major assaults on the stronghold of Ahmad the Soviet-backed regime in Afghanistan did not
Shah Masood in the Panjshir Valley, which never immediately collapse. The Soviets left behind a con-
succeeded in dislodging the guerrillas from their siderable supply of weaponry and promised to con-
stronghold. Moreover, the Soviet uniforms and tinue providing supplies under the 1978 Treaty of
equipment were designed for a European theater of Friendship. Although the United States was sup-
war and did not suit the terrain, so the troops were posed to cease supplying the mujahideen, the agree-
never as agile as their mujahideen opposition and ment eventually reached between the two super-
were unable to catch opposition forces in the moun- powers was that each reserved the right to send
tainous terrain. supplies in response to shipments made by the other
It was evident that the morale of the Soviet forces side. The outcome was that both powers continued
had deteriorated with the length of the occupation, to supply arms to the opposing sides, and Pakistan
even as that of the mujahideen continued to grow. continued to allow the passage of arms through its
In addition, soldiers, particularly in the noncombat territory. Consequently, a civil war continued in Af-
areas, were exposed to the narcotics trade, and a ghanistan, although the Soviets had succeeded in
great deal of Soviet equipment ended up in mu- disentangling themselves from a campaign that was
jahideen hands, having been sold by troops to fund causing a financial drain, political unrest at home,
their drug habits. Soviet effectiveness was also ham- and heavy casualties without any success in stabiliz-
pered by political and domestic problems within the ing the Kabul regime.
Soviet Union and the attitude of the population at
See also Afghan-Soviet Relations; Amin, Hafizullah;
home to an unpopular war. The casualties inflicted, Central Intelligence Agency and Its Support for the
the problem of narcotics, and the stories relayed by Mujahideen; Geneva Accords; Inter-Services
rotating troops led to draft dodging, and returning Intelligence Service; Masood, Ahmad Shah;
troops were spurned by the population rather than Mujahideen; Saur Revolt; Taraki, Nur Muhammad
being welcomed as heroes. References
The Soviet Union had intimated in 1982 that it Alexiev, Alexander. 1988. Inside the Soviet Army in
would consider a withdrawal from Afghanistan Afghanistan. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation.
under certain conditions, and UN-sponsored talks Bocharov, G. 1990. Russian Roulette: Afghanistan through
were held at Geneva, lasting until 1988. The talks were Russian Eyes. New York: Hamish Hamilton.
primarily between Afghanistan and Pakistan and fo- Brigot, Andre, and Olivier Roy. 1988. The War in
cused on ending interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan: An Account and Analysis of the Country,
Afghanistan, but they also involved the United States Its People, Soviet Intervention and the Resistance. New
and the Soviet Union. An accord was signed between York: Harvester-Wheatsheaf.
Afghanistan and Pakistan, guaranteeing noninterfer- Cordovez, Diego, and Selig S. Harrison. 1995. Out of
Afghanistan: The Inside Story of the Soviet
ence and nonintervention in each other’s affairs; a
Withdrawal. New York: Oxford University Press.
similar agreement was signed between the United
Galeotti, Mark. 1995. Afghanistan, the Soviet Union’s Last
States and the Soviet Union, both of which promised War. Portland, OR: Frank Cass.
nonintervention in Afghanistan and consented to act Rogers, Tom. 1992. The Soviet Withdrawal from
as guarantors of the accords. These accords paved the Afghanistan: Analysis and Chronology. Westport, CT:
way for a Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, which Greenwood Press.
was completed in February 1989. Saikal, Amin, and William Maley. 1989. The Soviet
However, the accords failed because the mu- Withdrawal from Afghanistan. Cambridge and New
jahideen had not been represented at Geneva, and York: Cambridge University Press.
21_afghnc_t.qxd 11/14/2003 12:15 PM Page 239
TAIMARIS
The Taimaris are the largest of the Chahar Aimaq
tribes in Afghanistan and occupy the hilly regions in
the southeast of Herat, an area of some 12,000
square miles. The tribe has a large nucleus of Pathan
T
origin, and at one point in the eighteenth century,
the Taimaris controlled Farah and Sabzawar, a move trade. Although found all over Afghanistan, the
made possible by the breakup of the Safavid monar- Tajiks are concentrated in western, northern, and
chy. However, this independence ended in 1730 northeastern Afghanistan. The stronghold of the
when Nadir Shah’s forces defeated the Taimaris but Tajiks is the Panjshir Valley region north of Kabul,
granted Jafir Kali the governorship of the lands that but they are also found to the north in the country
he had held. Some 12,000 families were deported to of Tajikistan, formerly part of the Soviet Union.
Persia, the majority of whom returned after Nadir Tajik society is not organized on a tribal basis; in-
Shah was assassinated in 1747. stead, communities usually take on themselves the
The tribe members are mainly involved in agri- name of the valley or region in which they live, such
culture, raising cattle and sheep, and there tends to as Panjshiris. The economies of Tajik communities
be an absence of real conflict between them and are largely based on agriculture, with families being
other tribes in the area, including the nomads who farmers or herders, and the valley communities
use the hills for grazing. However, following the rule often move to the mountains in the summer to har-
of Ahmad Shah Durrani, the tribe came under vest crops such as wheat and melons.
closer government control, and the Afghans began The Tajiks have frequently migrated to the cities,
to interface with Taimari politics. They took little especially Kabul until it was declared a Pashtun cap-
interest in the general politics of Afghanistan, with ital in 1776 by Amir Timur. As a community in
their concerns being centered on the situation in urban areas, they tend to be better educated, more
Herat and Farah, but their power and presence responsive to change, and often engaged in govern-
waned toward the end of the nineteenth century as ment service or business, forming a significant sec-
more and more Afghanis settled in their territory tion of the upper middle class. The urban Tajiks
and took their lands, causing extensive migration of maintain close links with their kin in the rural areas,
families into Persia. who in the off-season often become temporary
See also Chahar Aimaqs; Jamshidi Tribe workers in factories in urban areas.
References Despite being the second largest ethnic group in
Clifford, Mary Louis. 1973. The Land and People of Afghanistan, they only held real political power in
Afghanistan. Philadelphia: Lippincott. 1928, under Bacha-i-Saqqau, because the country
has traditionally been ruled by the Pashtuns. How-
TAJIKS ever, the Tajiks have dominated the mujahideen of
The Tajiks are the second largest ethnic group in Af- the Northern Alliance, and one of their leaders,
ghanistan, are generally Dari-speakers, and number Burhanuddin Rabbani, served as president of Af-
about 5 million; most are Sunni Muslims, but there ghanistan from 1992 until 1996 until overthrown
are some members of the Isma’ilis Shi’a sect, living by the Taliban. Tajiks were given a number of sig-
in the mountainous areas of Badakhshan Province. nificant posts in the Afghan Interim Government
The Tajiks are from the ancient population of Kho- established after the Bonn Agreement of 27 Decem-
rasan and Sistan, whose economy was based on ber 2001, which attempted to represent the major
239
240 TALIBAN
factions in the country. They continued to be well the Taliban, having put its faith in the Islamic Party
represented in the Afghan Transitional Government led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar as the instrument for
approved by the Loya Jirga (Great Council) in June toppling the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani
2002. in Kabul. Throughout the operation, the ISI had
See also Masood, Ahmad Shah; Rabbani, Burhanuddin consistently favored Hekmatyar when it came to the
References allocation of funds and arms, including covert sup-
Jawad, Nassim. 1992. Afghanistan: A Nation of plies provided by the U.S. Central Intelligence
Minorities. London: Minority Rights Group. Agency (CIA). However, the Interior Ministry, fol-
“Tajiks of Afghanistan.” 2002. http://afghan-network. lowing the instructions of Pakistan Prime Minister
net/Ethnic-Groups/tajiks.html (cited 7 February Benazir Bhutto, had used the Taliban in November
2002). 1994 to rescue a trade caravan seized by a warlord in
Kandahar, although this action was viewed by the
TALIBAN ISI as a ploy by Bhutto to reduce its influence in
The Taliban regime of radical and extreme Muslims Afghan affairs.
governed most of Afghanistan from 1996 until 2002 However, Bhutto persisted with a policy of sup-
and was regarded by many governments and oppo- porting the Taliban and appointed a retired major
sition forces as representing a police state based on general, Nasrullah Babar, to pursue the Taliban op-
religion. The regime, which was infamous for its ex- tion as a means of developing another track, which
tensive human rights violations, particularly against might provide new options within Afghanistan.
women, and which harbored the al-Qaeda terrorist With their organization having begun in 1993
organization and its leader Osama bin Laden, was within the madrasas, Taliban members soon found
viewed by many observers throughout the world as themselves being trained and guided by the ISI,
being synonymous with the conflict in Afghanistan which was forced to recognize their success and to
at the turn of the twenty-first century. support the movement if it wished to retain its hold
The Taliban derived its name from the talibs over Pakistan’s policy toward Afghanistan. The
(students) who were studying at the madrasas (reli- ranks of the Taliban were also swelled by a few thou-
gious schools) in large numbers throughout Pak- sand mujahideen troops who were disillusioned by
istan. For many of those students, studying in Pak- the internecine fighting between the various mu-
istan was a way of improving their lot and avoiding jahideen groups after the Soviet withdrawal and the
the despondency and misery of life in Afghanistan. downfall of Muhammad Najibullah’s government.
The main support base for the Taliban was drawn Babar was instrumental in identifying the madrasa
from the leaders of the various madrasas. Early on, as fertile ground for the indoctrination of Afghan
important support was provided by Fezlu Rahman students to establish a new order in Afghanistan,
from Baluchistan, who organized the military train- with the objective of cleansing the country of the
ing of students in camps close to the border with Af- corrupt mujahideen leaders.
ghanistan. Another major source of recruits was the
madrasa run by Maulana Mohammed Yusuf Bin- Support for the Taliban
nori in Karachi, where Mullah Muhammad Omar, It is clear that the Taliban had been created, trained,
the subsequent leader of the Taliban, was believed to and equipped by Interior Ministry special forces
have studied. However, it also important to note and the ISI in Pakistan. Funding came from sup-
that the madrasas had students from all over the porters in the Arab world, including Saudi Arabia
Muslim world, and the Karachi school had some and the Arab gulf states; from proceeds collected at
8,000 students illegal tax checkpoints on the trade routes linking
Pakistan to the Central Asian republics; and from
Creation of the Taliban Pakistan itself. This funding enabled the Taliban to
The Taliban grew out of a battle within Pakistan be- equip itself with state-of-the-art weaponry and air
tween the Interior Ministry and the Inter-Services support, thus turning it into a cohesive fighting
Intelligence (ISI) division. The ISI had controlled force.
mujahideen operations in Afghanistan since the So- The growth of the Taliban ran parallel to the
viet intervention in 1979, and it was not in favor of growth of the madrasas in Pakistan, illustrated by
TALIBAN 241
the fact that there were fewer than 900 schools in Gen.Abdul Rashid Dostum to ally himself with Ma-
1975 but since 1987, the figure has grown to some sood instead of the Taliban, which would have re-
2,500. As such, the madrasas have extended their in- lieved pressure to the northwest of Kabul. The Tal-
fluence throughout Pakistan, with support for the iban were able to make slow advances on Kabul, and
Taliban permeating the religious schools and the they inflicted large-scale damage on the city, includ-
political infrastructure. Support from Pakistan was ing rocket attacks on residential areas designed to
also encouraged by the realization that the mu- destroy morale. At the same time, they were also
jahideen forces within Afghanistan were incapable cutting Masood’s links with Jalalabad, and the
of retaining their fighters, whose loyalty was only largely Tajik-based militia was forced to withdraw
being maintained through money. This situation from Kabul toward their stronghold in the Panjshir
had manifested itself during the period of Najibul- Valley.
lah’s rule after the Soviet withdrawal, during which Following the capture of Kabul in September
desertions and loyalty changes by local commanders 1996, the Taliban pushed farther north and achieved
became commonplace. The tact was used to great instant successes at Jabul-us-Sivaq, Gubahar, and
effect in 1992 when mujahideen attacks on Jalal- Bagram, which gave them control of the Bagram air
abad, backed by Pakistan, were repulsed by govern- base. However, the advance came to a grinding halt
ment forces following a series of defections from the at the Salang Pass, near the Salang Tunnel, when
local mujahideen forces. they suffered a comprehensive defeat at the hands of
the Northern Alliance forces. This defeat caused the
Rise to Power in Afghanistan Taliban to revert to the strategy of subverting the
The Talibs moved into Afghanistan with a force of opposition through defections prior to launching
probably around 2,500 and began their campaign any advances. In February 1997, Taliban forces
with the capture of a small town called Doorahi, moved into the Ghorband Valley, adjacent to Ma-
near Kandahar, before moving on Spin Boldak, sood’s stronghold in the Panjshir Valley—but only
which was controlled by forces led by Mullah Akhtar after bribing several opposition commanders to
Jan and loyal to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. From there, switch sides and to bring with them their men and
the Taliban moved on toward the outskirts of Kabul, equipment, a move that severely weakened Ma-
taking control of ten provinces on the way but with- sood’s position.
out any real military action. Success was achieved by In March 1997, the Taliban pushed farther
bribery in most cases, with mujahideen groups through the Ghorband Valley and were able to effect
switching sides and either joining with the Taliban a split in the Islamic Unity Party by arranging for
or agreeing to cease resistance against Taliban rule the desertion of two key commanders from the
over their particular area. The successes led the lead- Khalili faction. This advance opened up the route to
ership to seek more recruits from the madrasas and Mazar-i Sharif and was accompanied by the deser-
volunteers from other Muslim countries, so that by tion of two of Masood’s commanders, resulting in a
the end of 1995, their strength had increased from weakening of the Masood-Khalili alliance. At the
2,500 to about 30,000, with a large number of non- same time, Taliban leaders were also negotiating
Afghans in their ranks. with members of the Uzbek community, particu-
In the struggle against the mujahideen forces larly those belonging to the Rasul Pahalwan faction,
near Kabul, they were forced into real military ac- and they succeeded in attracting the support of Gul
tion in order to capture Farah and Nimruz Mohammad and Abdul Malik Pahalwan, the latter
Provinces, but they were less successful against the no doubt encouraged by a payment of $200 million.
battle-hardened forces of Ahmad Shah Masood, At one stroke, most of General Dostum’s field com-
who held the perimeter around Kabul until Decem- manders deserted him, forcing him to flee from
ber 1996; they also experienced defeat against the Mazar-i Sharif and leaving the way open for a Tal-
forces of Rabbani at Zabul and in areas of Helmand iban occupation. However, counterattacks followed
Province. Kabul was eventually taken due to a vari- from the forces of Abdul Malik and Karim Khalili,
ety of factors. The first was the desertion of the largely as a result of the Taliban’s failure to under-
Pashtun mujahideen, who switched their allegiance stand the nature of the Shi’a and Uzbek populations
to the Taliban. But most significant was the failure of of the region, and both sides committed a number
242 TALIBAN
of atrocities during these actions. Despite these re- The Taliban’s greatest impact, however, was on
verses, the Taliban controlled 95 percent of the the role and status of women within Afghan society.
country by 1999, with opposition troops being Under the regime, women were obliged to be totally
forced to withdraw to an enclave in the northeast of covered, from head to foot, by a garment known as
the country. a chadari when in public, and they were forbidden
to work, attend school, or pursue higher education.
Taliban Ideology Infringement of the codes of dress and other aspects
As noted, the Taliban originated on the Afghan of Shari’a law were met by severe beatings or other
scene as a militia drawn from the madrasas in Pak- punitive measures. Such restrictions had serious ef-
istan, with its ranks swollen by disenchanted mu- fects on an already depressed economy and infra-
jahideen leaders. However, following the capture of structure, and they crippled the education system
Kandahar, the true Islamic ideology of the Taliban and health services, which were heavily reliant on fe-
was revealed. Prior to this event, the ISI had secured male employees. Restrictions on health services
tacit support from the United States, solely based on were later relaxed to allow women doctors and
the Taliban’s attempts to curb poppy growing and nurses to work in female-only facilities, but many
heroin production, an approach that seemed to suc- women were afraid to return to work because of the
ceed where former programs had failed. The Islamic nature of the regime. The general ban on employ-
ideology of the Taliban found favor with the main ment also caused immense hardship to women who
financial backers—the Saudi Arabians, who were had been widowed as a result of the conflicts that
backing the madrasas in Pakistan and providing had been going on since 1979, and many were
funds for the Taliban. The main dissent was ex- forced to rely on aid from UN agencies or non-
pressed by the minority groups in Afghanistan, es- governmental organizations (NGOs) to support
pecially the Tajiks, the Uzbeks, and the Shi’a Haz- themselves and their families. Some women contin-
aras, backed by Iran, all of whom perceived the ued to hold clandestine classes in their homes and to
Taliban as a movement aimed at restoring Pashtun provide health services for other women and chil-
hegemony at the expense of the plural character of dren, but they did so at great risk to themselves.
Afghan society. The ideology of the Taliban led to the regime
The Taliban proceeded to impose a very narrow being recognized only by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia,
interpretation of Shari’a law in the territory that and the United Arab Emirates, with the Rabbani
they controlled, and draconian measures were in- government still being acknowledged as the legiti-
troduced. Many Western influences—such as TVs, mate representative to the United Nations. Interna-
videocassette recorders, music, films, and photogra- tional opinion was even more inflamed by the Tal-
phy—were banned, with items being seized and de- iban’s destruction of Afghanistan’s pre-Islamic
stroyed and owners punished. Enforcement was ad- heritage, particularly the destruction of the statues
ministered by the Department of Promoting Virtue of the Buddha at Bamian in March 2001. The Tal-
and Preventing Vice, which searched houses for ev- iban, under Mullah Omar, ignored all external pres-
idence of infractions of the religiously based de- sures to halt this destruction: the pleas of the United
crees. Individuals were beaten on the streets by the Nations, the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cul-
militia for breaking rules concerning dress, hair tural Organization (UNESCO), and other Muslim
length, and facial hair and for violating the restric- countries such as Egypt were totally dismissed. As a
tion that forbade women from appearing in public consequence of these actions, coupled with docu-
unless in the company of men. Edicts were issued mented human rights violations, the Taliban regime
requiring men to grow beards of a certain length, was largely isolated, and their society was regarded
and public servants were threatened with dismissal by many governments and oppositions forces as
for any infraction or failure to grow acceptable nothing more than a police state based on religion.
beards following the issuing of the edict. Capital
punishment and amputations were widely used, The Taliban’s Foreign Policy
with punishments often administered in public— The Taliban’s isolation in international terms has
for example, during halftime at football matches largely stemmed from its strict imposition of Shar-
held in the Kabul stadium. i’a law (particularly the measures aimed at women),
TALIBAN 243
which were at variance with trends elsewhere in the Council had also passed a resolution imposing sanc-
international community. The regime’s lack of ex- tions on Afghanistan if the Taliban failed to hand
perience, sophistication, and knowledge of world af- over bin Laden to face trial and answer the various
fairs also caused its recognition to be limited to charges levied against him. The Taliban refused on
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emi- the grounds that he was a guest in their country, but
rates. Russian enmity was assured when the Taliban they advised that he had been placed under house ar-
chose to recognize the government of an indepen- rest and that his communications and activities were
dent Chechnya, which existed only in name. In restricted. This response failed to satisfy the United
terms of a moral stance against Russia’s treatment of Nations, and sanctions were imposed.
fellow Muslims, the Taliban’s expressions of support All of this paled into insignificance when the sui-
would have been understandable, but recognition of cide attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade
a state not recognized by any other country in the Center and the Pentagon took place on 11 Septem-
world fostered Russian animosity and increased the ber 2001, with the loss of almost 4,000 lives. Osama
amount of aid supplied by Moscow to the forces of bin Laden and al-Qaeda were implicated in this
Ahmad Shah Masood. atrocity by the U.S. and UK governments, and the
Relations with Iran were also difficult because of attack was publicly welcomed by bin Laden and his
the Taliban’s treatment of the Shi’a minority in the supporters. The Taliban regime still vacillated over
Hazarajat region. A tense situation was further in- taking action, though Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
flamed by the killing of nine Iranian consulate Emirates, and Pakistan withdrew recognition from
workers and a journalist during the Taliban seizure the regime. As a consequence of the Taliban’s deci-
of Mazar-i Sharif in 1997, an incident that almost sion, the United States, backed by the United King-
resulted in an Iranian invasion of western Afghani- dom, launched bombing attacks against Afghani-
stan. India had been at odds with the Taliban as well, stan, with the expressed aim of dealing with Osama
over accusations that the regime had been aiding Is- bin Laden and al-Qaeda and toppling the Taliban
lamic insurgents in Indian-administered Kashmir. regime.
However, the Taliban’s weakness also resulted from This action was followed by the landing in Af-
efforts by neighboring states, including Tajikistan ghanistan of U.S. and UK Special Forces in October
and Uzbekistan, to isolate and undercut the regime, 2001, primarily to assist the opposition forces and to
primarily because of the treatment their minorities provide intelligence for subsequent military opera-
received in Afghanistan. Opposition from Tajikistan tions in Afghanistan under Operation Enduring
was also spawned by of its own internal Islamist in- Freedom, part of the War on Terror. Initially, action
surgency, which the authorities believed was sup- was directed toward supplying and training the op-
ported by the Taliban. position forces and supporting their military opera-
However, the most significant factor affecting the tions as they moved out of their northern enclaves
international standing of the Taliban was the to advance on Kabul. The efforts were largely suc-
regime’s position on Osama bin Laden, who was cessful, and the Taliban were soon forced to with-
granted refuge in Afghanistan following his expul- draw to their stronghold in Kandahar before fleeing
sion from Sudan, where he had been accused of var- into the mountains and the North-West Frontier
ious acts of terrorism. Subsequently, the leader of the Province of Pakistan. Significant territorial gains
al-Qaeda terrorist organization was charged with were made by the Northern Alliance and its sup-
being involved in operations against the United porters without much resistance from the Taliban,
States in Somalia in 1993; the bombing of the World except from its foreign fighters or when the Taliban
Trade Center in 1993; bomb attacks against Ameri- followed the Afghan expedient of persuading oppo-
can personnel in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, in 1997; nents to change sides.
and attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tan- At the time of this writing, the Taliban still rep-
zania in 1999. In Afghanistan, the al-Qaeda worked resent a distinct threat to the Afghan government of
closely with the Taliban, providing their best fighters, President Hamid Karzai, as they have not been com-
and the regime allowed terrorist training camps to prehensively defeated militarily, and al-Qaeda also
be set up; these camps were subjected to U.S. Cruise remains a potent threat within and without Afghan-
missile attacks on 20 August 1998. The UN Security istan. Despite military action by allied forces and
244 TANAI, LT. GEN. SHANAWAZ
Afghan troops in the mountains of eastern Afghan- corporation into the movement of mujahideen lead-
istan, it is clear that large numbers of Taliban and al- ers, often with their own agendas. Despite the appar-
Qaeda members are still at large in the mountains ent monolithic structure under Mullah Omar, the
and across the border in Pakistan. Neither Mullah Taliban was never able to produce a cohesive fighting
Omar, leader of the Taliban, nor Osama bin Laden force capable of crushing its opponents; indeed, most
have been located. of its successes were based on bribery and shifting
Evidence of the continuing Taliban and al-Qaeda loyalties, rather than military prowess.
activity came on 31 January 2003 when eighteen See also Civil War; Coalition Air Campaign against the
people were killed on a bus crossing the Rambasi Taliban; Coalition Land Campaign against the
Bridge, some 6 miles south of Kandahar. A bomb Taliban; Destruction of Pre-Islamic Heritage;
destroyed the bridge, and there were only two sur- Hazaras; Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin; Human Rights
vivors. It was thought that the attack was directed Violations; Inter-Services Intelligence Service; Laden,
against Afghan soldiers, loyal to the governor of Osama bin; Masood, Ahmad Shah; Omar, Mullah
Kandahar, who regularly patrol the road. Reports Muhammad; al-Qaeda
indicated that the Taliban and al-Qaeda were re- References
Griffin, Michael. 2001. Reaping the Whirlwind: The
sponsible, but intelligence sources also think that
Taliban Movement in Afghanistan. London and
fighters aligned with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar may Sterling, VA: Pluto Press.
have joined them. This band may have been linked Maley, William, ed. 1998. Fundamentalism Reborn?
with another band that had come under attack from Afghanistan and the Taliban. London: Hurst.
U.S. and Afghan forces on 27–28 January in the Marsden, Peter. 1998. The Taliban: War, Religion and the
mountains near Spin Boldak. New Order in Afghanistan. London and New York.
Ongoing Taliban activity is demonstrated by the Zed Books.
numerous attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces Nejumi, Neamatallah. 2002. The Rise of the Taliban in
and bases throughout southern Afghanistan. Tal- Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War and the
iban sources are said to have faxed a report to the Future of the Region. New York: Palgrave.
Afghan Islamic Press, based in Peshawar, Pakistan, Rashid, Ahmed. 2001. Taliban: The Story of the Afghan
on 3 March 2003, claiming responsibility for at least Warlords. London: Pan.
fifty attacks across the country. Most of the assaults
had been limited to ineffective rocket fire on Coali- TANAI, LT. GEN. SHANAWAZ
tion bases, but in Kandahar Province, at least twenty Shanawaz Tanai was a member of the Khalq faction
Afghan civilians had been killed since the start of the of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan
year, and attacks had been made on Afghan officials (PDPA), chief of the General Staff from 1986, and
in adjoining provinces. The fax also warned that any minister of defense from 1988 to 1990. He is a Pash-
Afghan helping the United States would be treated tun from the small Tani tribe in Paktia Province and
as a collaborator and an infidel in the ongoing jihad was considered to have a real future within the party
against the United States. but became disillusioned by the policies of the gov-
ernment of Muhammad Najibullah. On 6 March
Structure of the Taliban 1990, he joined with other Khalq officers in an at-
The Taliban was headed by Mullah Omar, who was tempted coup to topple the government. It was
elected as leader by Islamist clerics forming the Shura mounted from the Bagram air force base, and at-
(council) that controlled the movement, and after the tacks were made on key government installations in
capture of Kabul in September 1996, the infrastruc- Kabul and on the presidential palace. But the loyalty
ture of the government was established. However, of the air force and control over communications
there were divisions within the movement, with ensured the survival of the regime. Tanai and other
moderate and hard-line elements—the former repre- Khalq officers escaped by military aircraft from
sented by Mullah Mohammad Ghaus and Mullah Bagram and flew to Parachinar in Pakistan, where
Ehsan Ehsanullah and the latter by Mullah Khairul- they received support from Gulbuddin Hekmatyar,
lah and Mullah Mohammad Rabbani (no relation to leader of one of the most radical of the mujahideen
President Rabbani)—supported by Mullah Omar. groups—the Islamic Party of Afghanistan (Hizb-i-
Further divisions were also apparent following the in- Islami-yi Afghanistan).
TASHKENT DECLARATION 245
The alliance between the Khalq officers and the “black Khalqis.” The faction led by Hafizullah even-
Islamic Party of Afghanistan was seen as a serious tually gained dominance, and on 9 October 1979,
threat in Afghanistan, as it demonstrated that vari- Taraki was executed in secret.
ous factions were prepared to shelve ideological dif- Taraki was from a Ghilzai nomad family and was
ferences in an attempt to gain power. On 16 March born on 15 July 1917 in Ghazni Province. His edu-
1990, Tanai resurfaced in Logar Province in Afghan- cation was at a village school, followed by college
istan in one of Hekmatyar’s bases, where he planned credits in Kabul before he gained employment in
to continue the campaign against the Najibullah the Pashtun Trading Company in Kandahar and
government, while maintaining his loyalty to the then in Bombay. Due to his command of English, he
PDPA. After the fall of Najibullah’s government in held various posts in Afghan ministries and worked
April 1992, other Khalq officers also joined the Hek- at the Bakhtrar News Agency. He became known as
matyar group, but it is thought that Tanai joined a journalist and author, and in 1953, he served
with the Taliban in 1995. briefly as press attaché in the Afghan embassy in
See also Najibullah, Muhammad; People’s Democratic Washington. On his return to Kabul, he opened the
Party of Afghanistan New Translation Bureau, which translated material
References from Dari and Pashtu for various foreign embassies
Guistozzi, Antonio. 2000. War, Politics and Society in and missions in Kabul.
Afghanistan, 1978–1992. Washington, DC: See also Khalq; People’s Democratic Party of
Georgetown University Press. Afghanistan
References
TARAKI, NUR MUHAMMAD (1917–1979) Hammond, Thomas Taylor. 1984. Red Flag over
Nur Muhammad Taraki was a member of the Khalq Afghanistan: The Communist Coup, the Soviet
faction of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghan- Invasion and the Consequences. Boulder, CO:
istan (PDPA), and after the Saur Revolt of April Westview Press.
1978, which brought the Communists to power, he People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan. 1978. A Short
Biography of Noor Mohammad Taraki: Secretary
became president of the Revolutionary Council and
General of the Central Committee of the People’s
prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Af- Democratic Party of Afghanistan, President of the
ghanistan. He had converted to communism in the Revolutionary Council and Prime Minister of the
early 1960s and convened the founding congress of Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Kabul: Political
the PDPA on 1 January 1965. The congress elected Department of the People’s Democratic Party of
him as secretary-general of the PDPA in a competi- Afghanistan.
tion with Babrak Karmal, who was elected as secre-
tary of the Central Committee. In April 1966, Taraki TASHKENT DECLARATION
began to publish Khalq, the party newspaper, which The Tashkent Declaration was signed on 17 July
then became the name of his faction of the PDPA. 1999 by representatives of China, Iran, Pakistan,
The party split into two factions in 1967 in disputes Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, the Russian
over leadership, policies, and tactics, only to be re- Federation, and the United States, as well as a UN
united in 1978 prior to the April coup. observer. The declaration was issued because of the
After the Saur Revolt, Taraki was the object of a concerns of the signatory states regarding the con-
leadership cult, becoming known as “the Great flict in Afghanistan and the threat it posed to re-
Leader,” and a propaganda campaign was mounted gional security.
to legitimize his rule and his leadership of the Com- The declaration confirmed the commitment of
munist movement in Afghanistan. Possible opposi- the signatory states to the resolutions of the United
tion was removed by purging the leading Parchami Nations, the body’s role as an intermediary, and
(members of the Parcham faction) from the gov- the position of the special envoy of the UN secre-
ernment, and the Khalq faction reigned supreme. tary-general to Afghanistan. It also committed the
However, a split developed within the Khalqi, with signatories to supporting the independence, terri-
Hafizullah Amin attacking his former leader as unfit torial integrity, and national unity of Afghanistan.
to rule. The Taraki faction became known as the Concern was expressed about violations of human
“red Khalqis” and that of Hafizullah Amin the rights, particularly of ethnic minorities and
246 TAWANA, SAYYID MUSA
women, as well as violations of international hu- 2. The Taliban was urged to fully investigate
manitarian laws. Deep concern was also expressed the killings of diplomatic staff of Iran in
about the use of Afghan territory, particularly Mazir-i Sharif as well as a correspondent of
areas controlled by the Taliban, to harbor terrorists the Islamic Republic News Agency and to
and provide training facilities for them, with con- bring the guilty to justice.
sequences for the internal conflict in Afghanistan, 3. Afghan parties, especially the Taliban, were
its neighbors, and other states. The increase in urged to stop providing refuge and training
drug trafficking and its impact on the region and facilities for international terrorists and to
the rest of the world was also deemed a matter of bring such individuals to justice.
grave import.
The deputy foreign ministers of the signatory The remainder of the conclusions referred to
states came to the following conclusions: support for the Afghan government that was to be
formed as a result of the proposals, to aid the return
1. The Afghan conflict had to be settled of Afghan refugees to their homes, and to provide
through peaceful political negotiations in support for the reconstruction of Afghanistan
order to establish a broad-based, through relevant UN agencies and other interna-
multiethnic, and fully representative tional programs. A call was also made to the inter-
government. national community to support humanitarian relief
2. No further military support would be for Afghanistan and all other proposals in the dec-
provided to any Afghan party, and their laration.
territories were not to be used for such The declaration was not well received in Afghan-
purposes. An appeal was also issued to the istan, as many of the states that described them-
international community to support this selves as friends of Afghanistan were regarded as
objective. having been party to the destruction of the country
3. The readiness of the group to promote and continuing to fuel the current hostilities.
direct negotiations under the auspices of See also Drug Trade; Taliban
the United Nations and in line with References
General Assembly and Security Council “Tashkent Declaration on Fundamental Principles for a
resolutions was also affirmed. Negotiations Peaceful Settlement of the Conflict in Afghanistan.”
were to take place in two stages: 1999. http://www.institute-for-afghan-studies.
org/Accords%20Treaties/tashkent_declaration_1999.
Stage 1. htm (cited 28 June 2002).
The signing of an immediate, unconditional
cease-fire with no preconditions. Direct negotia- TAWANA, SAYYID MUSA
tions between representatives of the United Front Sayyid Musa Tawana was one of the founding
and the Taliban on the exchange of prisoners of war members of the Islamist Movement in Afghanistan,
and the lifting of internal blockades to facilitate working from his position as a professor at the Fac-
trade and humanitarian assistance. ulty of Shari’a at Kabul University. He had studied
at al-Azhar University in Egypt, where he had been
Stage 2. exposed to the teachings of the Muslim Brother-
The Afghans themselves were to draw up basic hood; those teachings influenced his philosophy.
principles for the future of the state, with the objec- Prior to graduating from Kabul University in 1963,
tive of establishing a broad-based, multiethnic, fully Tawana had been a member of a group of students
representative government. who were reacting against a growing secularism
among their fellow students and who formed a
1. Signatory states with a common border group to combat this trend with a three-pronged
with Afghanistan agreed to bilateral and plan of action:
multilateral measures designed to combat
illegal drug trafficking in accordance with • Refute the claims of secularists on
the UN Drug Program. questions of Islam
THIRD ANGLO-AFGHAN WAR 247
• Write and translate articles to propagate Amanullah began to assert his independence,
the teachings of Islamist scholars and on 13 April 1919, he announced to an assembly
• Study communism and European history of dignitaries that Afghanistan was a free and inde-
in order to understand the enemy pendent state and would resist any attempt by a for-
eign power to interfere in either its internal or exter-
On becoming a professor at Kabul in 1972, he nal affairs. His words were reinforced by action
was part of a group of academics who formed the when the amir sent three of his generals to the bor-
Organization of Muslim Youth, later to become the der with British India: Sahel Muhammad, the com-
Islamist Movement (Jami’at-i-Islami) headed by mander-in-chief, went to Dakka on the border on 3
Burhanuddin Rabbani with Engineer Habiburra- May 1919, and two days later, Abdul Quddus, the
ham as secretary and in charge of military affairs. prime minister, moved to the region of Qalat-i-
The movement was supported by Gulbuddin Hek- Ghilzai; the third general, Muhammad Nadir, who
matyar, who was in the Kabul prison at the time it later became king of Afghanistan, moved to Khost
was founded. After the coup staged by Muhammad on 6 May with several thousand lashkars (tribal
Daud on 17 July 1973, the movement was forced to forces) in addition to his regular forces.
go underground. The British government in India responded by
References halting the post–World War I demobilization of all
Carew, Tom. 2000. Jihad: The Secret War in Afghanistan. forces in India and initiated a recall of all British
Edinburgh: Mainstream. officers, with the intention of facing Afghanistan
with a superior force that would intimidate the
THIRD ANGLO-AFGHAN WAR (1919) Afghans and cause them to withdraw from the
The Third Anglo-Afghan War was the shortest of border regions. Although the British army viewed
the conflicts between Britain and Afghanistan, last- the Afghan troops as understrength, poorly
ing from 4 May 1919 until a cease-fire was agreed to trained, and badly paid, they were aware of the
on 3 June 1919. During World War I, Afghanistan power of the tribal forces on both sides of the bor-
had remained neutral (although some members of der, who were noted for their aggression and had
the government had favored an invasion of India), intimate knowledge of the terrain. The position
and Amir Habibullah had anticipated receiving a fi- was complicated by the fact that the Pashtun mem-
nancial reward from Britain and a recognition of bers of the British Khyber Rifles were unwilling to
Afghanistan’s status as an independent nation. fight against fellow Pashtuns, and the units had to
However, Britain was not prepared to relinquish its be disbanded after 600 soldiers of the 700-man
hold over Afghanistan, and Habibullah was assassi- force chose to be discharged rather than serve
nated in February 1919 without any progress having against their Afghan brothers.
been made. The first aggressive action came from the Afghan
His son, Amanullah, succeeded Habibullah and forces, who cut the water supply to Landi Kotal on
immediately demanded that the British negotiate a the Indian side of the frontier; Britain responding
treaty that would secure recognition of Afghani- by closing the Khyber Pass. The Afghans hoped to
stan’s independence and restore normal relations strengthen their position by causing the frontier
between the two states. However, the viceroy of tribes to take up arms against the British, particu-
India, Lord Chelmsford, insisted that no new larly in Peshawar. The situation in Peshawar was
treaty was necessary—a position that was at total contained when the British forces cut off supplies of
variance with earlier British arguments, which water, food, and electricity to the city, but the entire
consistently maintained that agreements with frontier area was seething with unrest. Although
Afghan rulers were personal and had to be renego- Sahel Muhammad’s forces had lost ground to the
tiated with each new ruler. Lord Chelmsford would British forces, the Afghans were able to break
only recognize Amanullah as ruler of Kabul and its through in Waziristan and lay siege to the British
immediate surroundings, maintaining that the base at Thal. On the southern front, British forces
amir did not have total control of the country. As a captured the town of Spin Boldak but were unable
consequence, the subsidy paid to former Afghan to advance farther, and in the area around Chitral,
rulers was withdrawn. no actions took place.
248 TIMUR SHAH
The siege of Thal prevented British forces from ghanistan, but in that year, the Turis rebelled against
moving on Jalalabad because of a shortage of mech- Afghan rule and were accorded British protection in
anized transport, which meant that two offensives 1882, with the region then coming into the orbit of
could not take place simultaneously. The govern- British India. The Kurram Valley was an important
ment in India allowed the Afghan envoy in India to supply route for the mujahideen forces operating in
return to Kabul to attempt to persuade Amanullah the Kabul area against the Communist government
to cease hostilities, and a cease-fire was agreed to. (1979 to 1992), and there was a great deal of friction
Peace negotiations were protracted, with negotia- between the mujahideen and the local population.
tions taking place at Rawalpindi and Mussoorie, be- References
fore a treaty was concluded at Kabul in 1921. The Bellew, H. W. The Races of Afghanistan: Being a Brief
treaty led to British India’s recognition of King Account of the Principal Nations Inhabiting That
Amanullah as ruler of an independent state, and Country. London: Thacker.
neighborly relations were established between the
two countries. TURKOMANS
See also Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1921; Mussoorie The Turkomans are a Sunni Muslim Turki people
Conference who number between 125,000 and 400,000 and in-
References habit the northwestern part of Afghanistan. The ma-
Heathcote, T. A. 1980. The Afghan Wars, 1839–1919. jority of the Turkomans had fled from the Soviet
London: Osprey. Union, having been driven from their pastures by the
Molesworth, George Noble. 1962. Afghanistan, 1919: An Soviet troops who were attempting to stop the flow
Account of Operations in the Third Afghan War. of Chinese armaments through the Wakhan Corri-
London and New York: Asia Publishing House. dor. The tribes speak an archaic form of Turkish and
Persian, with the nomadic tribes still living in the
TIMUR SHAH (1742–1793) yurt, a dome-shaped felt tent on a collapsible
Timur Shah was one of Ahmad Shah’s six surviving wooden frame found throughout Central Asia. They
sons. He served as governor of Herat and was named have contributed significantly to the traditional
as his father’s successor prior to his death in 1772. He Afghan economy through the breeding of Karakul
was opposed by his brother, Sulaiman Mirza, who sheep and the weaving of Turkoman carpets. The
was soon defeated, and Timur Shah was acknowl- Turkomans are recognized by their distinctive dress,
edged as successor to the throne at Kandahar. To with the men wearing belted cloaks, turbans, and
weaken the power of the Durrani chiefs, he moved soft leather boots and the women wearing long
his capital to Kabul, where he continued the alliance dresses in bright floral patterns over leggings. At one
with the Barakzais, further strengthened alliances time, the Turkomans were courted by the Marxist
through marriage, and secured his own position by government in its endeavor to win minority support,
creating a personal bodyguard of non-Pashtun sol- with Turkami being declared a national language
diers. Despite these alliances, he never realized the and newspapers and radio broadcasts being allowed
goal of creating a truly centralized state; he was as- in the same language.
sessed as a humane ruler who was more of a scholar
References
than a soldier. On his death in 1793, his five sons,
Clifford, Mary Louise. 1973. The Land and People of
who had been appointed governors of various Afghanistan. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
Afghan provinces, started an internecine struggle for Jarring, Gunnar. 1939. On the Distribution of Turki
power, which eventually lost the family the throne. Tribes in Afghanistan: An Attempt at a Preliminary
References Classification. Lund, Sweden: Gleerup.
Dupree, Louis. 1980. Afghanistan. Princeton, NJ: “Uzbeks and Turkoman of Afghanistan.” 2002. http://
Princeton University Press. www.afghan-network.net/Ethnic-Groups/uzbeks-
turkmen.html (cited 7 February 2002).
TURI TRIBE
The Turis are members of a Shi’a Pashtun tribe who TWELVER (ITHNA ‘ASHARIYA)
have been living in Kurram Valley since the six- The Twelvers make up the predominant category
teenth century. Until 1880, the area was part of Af- among the Shi’a peoples, deriving their name from
TWELVER 249
a belief in twelve Imams. They believe that Muham- Qizilbash, and the population of Herat are mem-
mad al-Qasim, the infant son of the Eleventh bers of this sect. They are a religious minority
Imam, went into a state of occulation, or hiding, in within Afghanistan and, as such, have been perse-
A.D. 873, leaving four special assistants. The last of cuted for their beliefs, particularly by the Taliban,
the assistants failed to name a successor, and the who declared then to be un-Islamic and indeed
line of divinely inspired Imams was deemed to have forcibly converted a number to the Sunni sect of
become extinct in A.D. 940. The Twelvers believe Islam.
that the last Imam will end his occulation at the end References
of time and will return to deliver the last judgment Oleson, A. 1995. Islam and Politics in Afghanistan.
and justice for mankind. Most of the Hazaras, the London: Curzon Press.
ULAMA
The ulama are doctors of Islamic sciences who tra-
ditionally were organized into a hierarchy by the
Afghan rulers. They were headed by the chief of the
ulama, judges, canon lawyers, and mullahs, and
U
during the reign of Amir Abdur Rahman (1880 to
1901), they were accorded status through member- UK SPECIAL FORCES
ship in the Royal Council. The ulama did not wield Naturally enough, detail as to the size and nature of
any real political power, but they have always exer- the operations of the United Kingdom’s Special
cised a great deal of influence among the popula- Forces is difficult to ascertain, but it is clear that
tion. This influence was evidenced by their mobi- they have been involved in operations against the
lization of the masses against King Amanullah in Taliban and al-Qaeda from the outset in autumn
1929 and against the Marxist regime in Kabul after 2001. The involvement of the Special Air Service
the Saur Revolt of April 1978, which brought the (SAS) and the Special Boat Service (SBS) was ini-
Communists to power. The traditional ulama were tially intended to collect intelligence in preparation
threatened by the arrival of the Taliban, who estab- for subsequent military action and to provide
lished their own hierarchy of ulama and Islamic covert support and assistance for the forces op-
students. posed to the Taliban regime, in an operation code-
References named Infinite Justice.
Ghani, Ashraf. 1978. “Islam and State Building in a Authorization was obtained from President Per-
Tribal Society.” Modern Asian Studies 12, no. 2: vez Musharraf of Pakistan for these forces to oper-
269–284. ate from bases within his country, with the initial
objective being to make contact with opposition
ULFAT, AZIZURRAHMAN (1936–1983) forces in northern Afghanistan. Predator un-
Azizurrahman Ulfat was born in 1936 in Kuhastan, manned aircraft were used to provide round-the-
Kapisa Province, and graduated from the Law Fac- clock surveillance, but they were also armed with
ulty of Kabul University in 1960. He then became a Hellfire antitank missiles, allowing the ground op-
government official in a number of provinces, in- erators to launch attacks on any potential targets.
cluding Kandahar, Jalalabad, Bagram, and Herat. The SAS and the SBS had experience operating in-
He went to the United States in 1964 and earned an side Afghanistan at the time of the Soviet occupa-
M.A. from the University of Indiana two years later. tion, when they had been involved in the training of
After the Marxist takeover in 1978 following the the mujahideen. The special forces operated in
Saur Revolt, he wrote extensively in support of the small units, planned to link up with troops oppos-
cause of the mujahideen but was also extremely ing the Taliban, and had access to close air support
critical of abuses of human rights, which were being in case of danger or when potential targets had been
carried out in the name of a jihad. An unknown as- pinpointed.
sailant assassinated Ulfat on 19 September 1983 in In October 2001, it was announced by President
Peshawar, Pakistan. George W. Bush that U.S. and UK Special Forces were
References operating in Afghanistan against al-Qaeda terrorists
Magnus, Ralph H., and Eden Naby. 2002. Afghanistan: and in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Although the
Mullah, Marx and Mujahid. Rev. ed. Boulder, CO: countries two forces tend to function separately be-
Westview Press. cause of their different modes of operation, there was
251
252 UK SPECIAL FORCES
coordination between the various units. This was es- forces rather than conventional troops to assault the
pecially the case in November 2001 when UK and cave complex. The operation was a limited success,
U.S. Special Forces were engaged in actions against as it is thought that a large number of the enemy es-
the Taliban and al-Qaeda while conventional ground caped by way of a track to the south that had not
forces were built up by the United States. Special been sealed off by U.S. and Afghan forces. Particu-
forces were heavily involved in the area around Kan- larly frustrating was the fact that intelligence reports
dahar, the stronghold of the Taliban, stopping travel- placed Osama bin Laden somewhere in the cave
ers to gather intelligence and plotting Taliban and al- complex, but he apparently was able to make his
Qaeda positions. The teams then cut off areas way, with close associates and family, into the fron-
containing opposition forces, disrupted supply lines, tier district of Pakistan.
and called in U.S. air strikes to destroy the enemy po- Such hunt-and-destroy actions have continued
sitions. Once these actions had been successfully con- in the mountain regions of southeastern Afghani-
cluded, local tribal leaders were appointed to control stan, and scores of al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters
the freed pocket of land. have been killed by SAS troops. Since the Tora Bora
A further example of an SAS operation was an campaign in December 2001, SAS squadrons have
assault on mountain caves near Kandahar during been operating in the mountains on their own and
the last week of November 2001, in an area where have been involved in a number of clashes with al-
al-Qaeda fighters were thought to be hiding. In a Qaeda fighters. In some cases, there have been re-
four-hour battle, eighteen al-Qaeda fighters were ports of engagements with well-armed groups of
killed, four SAS soldiers were wounded, and dozens fighters clearly under the influence of drugs, waving
of terrorists were wounded and captured, though their arms and shouting slogans before taking cover
none were high in the al-Qaeda leadership. The de- from volleys of fire from the SAS.
tails of this operation, which would normally be In April 2002, further operations of special forces
kept secret, were released in an endeavor to show from the United Kingdom, the United States, and
that British troops were involved in ground opera- Australia were mounted under the code name Op-
tions in Afghanistan. In general, however, the UK eration Mountain Lion. This action took place in
Ministry of Defense has banned discussion of spe- the mountainous region of Paktia Province and
cial forces operations in Afghanistan, and only consisted of intelligence gathering to inform Coali-
small, often unconfirmed snippets of information tion planning for future operations. However, only
emerge. small, isolated groups of al-Qaeda and Taliban
Further evidence of SAS involvement in covert fighters were encountered, and despite fierce fight-
operations came with the riot by Taliban and al- ing, casualties were light on both sides due to the na-
Qaeda prisoners at the Mazar-i Sharif fort in No- ture of the terrain and the enemy tactic of with-
vember 2001, with the incident being filmed by an drawing across the border into Pakistan to avoid air
Afghan cameraman. Soldiers thought to be from the strikes or large followups by conventional forces. Pa-
SAS were shown firing assault weapons and sniper trols were also successful in recovering large caches
rifles in an action in which hundreds of armed Tal- of arms and munitions.
iban and al-Qaeda were killed during furious ex- It is impossible to obtain official confirmation of
changes of fire. All the Ministry of Defense would the accounts of any of the SAS and SBS operations
confirm was that British troops were in the vicinity because it is the policy of the Ministry of Defense to
of Mazar-i Sharif, had acted in accordance with do- never discuss the activities of the special forces.
mestic and international law, and had followed their However, it is clear that they were effective in oper-
own rules of engagement. ations against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghani-
The SAS and SBS were also engaged with U.S. stan before the arrival of conventional ground
and Australian Special Forces in the action on the forces, in operations in cooperation with the oppo-
Tora Bora ridges to oust what was thought to be a sition to the Taliban, in support of conventional
large contingent of Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters Coalition forces, and especially in independent, on-
holed up in a complex of caves and bunkers. It was going, but undeclared operations.
evident that the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, See also Australian Special Forces; Coalition Land
Gen. Tommy Franks, had decided to use special Campaign against the Taliban; U.S. Special Forces
UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS 253
References On the diplomatic front, member states were in-

Borza, Julien, and Richard Norton-Taylor. 2001. “Special structed to significantly reduce staffing levels at mis-
Forces in Afghanistan.” Guardian (London), 24 sions and posts and to restrict the movement of all
September. remaining staff. All Taliban offices in member states
Evans, Michael. 2001. “SAS Already Gathering were to be closed, as would the offices of Ariana Air-
Intelligence in Afghanistan.” Times (London), 21 lines. In addition, all funds of Osama bin Laden, the
September.
al-Qaeda organization, and any individuals associ-
Norton-Taylor, Richard. 2002. “Scores Killed by SAS in
Afghanistan.” Guardian (London), 5 July.
ated with either were to be frozen. Previous sanc-
tions regarding flying facilities were also reaffirmed,
and the Taliban and others engaged in illegal drug
UN SANCTIONS activities were required to work to eliminate the ille-
The United Nations had passed a number of resolu- gal traffic.
tions on the situation in Afghanistan in 1988, none As with all other sanctions, humanitarian opera-
of which had an impact on the activities of the Tal- tions were exempt, provided that they were con-
iban regime that had taken control of the country. ducted through organizations approved by the
On 15 October 1989, the UN Security Council fi- United Nations. The Taliban were required to en-
nally adopted a resolution that would impose lim- sure the safe and unhindered access of relief person-
ited sanctions against the Taliban government un- nel and to guarantee the safety, security, and free-
less Osama bin Laden was handed over to a country dom of movement of all UN personnel.
where he had been indicted for crimes or to a coun- Sanctions were to remain in force for twelve
try that would see that he was brought to justice. months but could be reviewed in the light of the ac-
Earlier resolutions relating to violations of interna- tions of the Taliban regime. The Security Council
tional humanitarian law, human rights, discrimina- also indicated that further sanctions would be im-
tion against women, drug trafficking, and the mur- posed against the Taliban if necessary. The sanction
der of diplomats were also reaffirmed. against the international flights of the Ariana airline
These sanctions were extremely limited: flights was lifted as from 16 January 2002 as a gesture of
owned, leased, or operated by the Taliban were support for the new government
banned from taking off or landing internationally, References
and the funds and other financial assets of the UN Security Council. 1999. Resolution 1560. New York:
regime were frozen. Only humanitarian flights United Nations.
and those connected with the hajj were exempted. ———. 2000. Resolution 1333. New York: United
The Security Council also determined that the Nations.
Taliban regime should cease to give sanctuary and
provide training facilities for terrorists or allow UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS
their territory to be used for the planning of ter- The UN Security Council passed a number of reso-
rorist actions. lutions relating to Afghanistan under the Taliban
Sanctions were reinforced on 19 December 2000 regime from August 1998 forward, with Resolutions
by Security Council Resolution 1333, which called 1189 of 13 August, 1193 of 28 August, and 1214 of 8
again for an end to the practice of providing sanc- December all concerned with violations of human
tuary and training for international terrorists, for rights, opium production, the murder of Iranian
indicted terrorists to be brought to justice, and for diplomats in Mazar-i Sharif, and the continuing re-
Osama bin Laden to be surrendered. The resolution fusal to hand over Osama bin Laden and close al-
also required that all states should cease to allow the Qaeda terrorists camps.
supply of any military equipment or ammunition to
areas controlled by the Taliban or to provide techni- UN Security Council Resolution 1267
cal assistance or training to armed personnel oper- (15 October 1999)
ating under Taliban control. Member states were This resolution imposed limited sanctions against
also required to withdraw all personnel operating as the Taliban regime because of its failure to comply
advisers or under contract to the Taliban working in with any of the previous sanctions. It reaffirmed all
military or security areas. the previous resolutions, reiterated the Security
254 UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS
Council’s determination to ensure respect for its 1. Reaffirmed its previous resolutions on
resolutions, and laid down the following demands: Afghanistan and, in particular, Resolution
1267 of 15 October 1999.
1. That the Taliban comply with all previous 2. Reaffirmed its strong commitment to the
resolutions, cease providing sanctuary and sovereignty, independence, territorial
training for international terrorists and integrity, and national unity of
their organizations, and take measures to Afghanistan, together with respect for its
ensure that Afghan territory was not used cultural and historical heritage.
for terrorist activities against other states. 3. Recognized the critical humanitarian
2. That Osama bin Laden be turned over needs of the Afghan people and
without delay to an appropriate country, supported the efforts of the UN special
where he would be arrested and effectively representative to Afghanistan in trying to
brought to justice. establish a peace process through the
3. That on 14 November 1999, sanctions various Afghan parties. The objective was
would be imposed unless the Security the establishment of a broad-based,
Council had decided, on the basis of a multiethnic, and fully representative
report from the secretary-general, that the government. All warring factions were
Taliban had fully complied with its called on to cooperate fully in the
obligations. process.
4. That in order to reinforce paragraph 2 of 4. Strongly condemned the continuing use of
the resolution, all states should: areas of Afghanistan for the sheltering and
• Deny permission for any aircraft to take off training of terrorists and the planning of
from or land in their territory if it is terrorist acts. The Security Council
owned, leased, or operated by or on behalf reaffirmed its conviction that the
of the Taliban, unless the particular flight suppression of international terrorism was
has been approved, in advance, on the essential for the maintenance of
grounds of humanitarian need, including international peace and security.
religious obligations such as performance 5. Noted that the Taliban had benefited
of the hajj. directly from opium by taxing its
• Freeze funds and other financial resources production and was able to use these
controlled directly or indirectly by the resources to strengthen its capacity to
Taliban or any undertaking owned or harbor terrorists.
controlled by the Taliban. No funds or 6. Reiterated its deep concerns over the
financial resources were to be made continued violations of international
available to the Taliban or any undertaking humanitarian laws and human rights,
controlled directly or indirectly by the particularly the discrimination against
Taliban, unless authorized on a case-by- women and girls and the murder of
case basis on humanitarian grounds. Iranian diplomats and journalists at
Mazar-i Sharif.
All states were called on to act in accordance with 7. Deplored the continuing safe haven being
the provisions of the resolution and to bring pro- granted to Osama bin Laden and the
ceedings against powers or entities that violated the continued operation of terrorist training
measures and impose appropriate penalties. camps as bases for the sponsoring of
international terrorist organizations.
UN Security Council Resolution 1333
(19 December 2000) The Security Council issued the following de-
This Security Council resolution called for the clo- mands as part of the resolution:
sure of terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and
the expulsion of Osama bin Laden. In this resolu- 1. That the Taliban comply with Resolution
tion, the Security Council: 1267 and, in particular, cease providing
UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS 255
sanctuary and training for international who remained, including those attached to
terrorists and their organizations. The international organizations.
Taliban was also required to ensure that 5. It was also determined that states should
territory under its control was not used for take further measures to:
the preparation of terrorist attacks against • Close immediately all Taliban offices in
other states, and it was directed to their territory
cooperate with international efforts to • Close immediately all offices of Ariana
bring indicted terrorists to justice. Afghan Airlines in their territories
2. That the Taliban meet the demands of • Freeze without delay all funds and other
Resolution 1267 to turn over Osama bin assets of Osama bin Laden and individuals
Laden to appropriate authorities in a associated with him, including members of
country where he had been indicted or to a the al-Qaeda organization
country that would see he was effectively 6. The Taliban were ordered to halt illegal
brought to justice. drug activities and to work to eliminate the
3. That the Taliban close all camps where illicit cultivation of the opium poppy. All
terrorists were trained in the territory states were to prevent the sale, supply, or
under its control, with the closures to be transfer of the chemical acetic anhydride to
confirmed by the United Nations. areas under Taliban control.
4. That all states remember that they had an
obligation to implement the sanctions The resolution concluded by reinforcing the sanc-
imposed under Resolution 1267. tions already imposed under Resolution 1267 and
setting up the mechanism to monitor the sanctions
In addition, the Security Council resolved to and to rule on exceptions on a case-by-case basis. The
impose further sanctions on the Taliban regime as Taliban regime did not fulfill any of the conditions of
follows: these resolutions except for the ban on poppy culti-
vation, which did not stop the trade because it con-
1. States should prevent the direct or indirect tinued in areas outside of Taliban control and because
supply, sale, and transfer to territory under a great deal of raw opium had been stockpiled.
Taliban control of arms and related
material of all types, including weapons UN Security Council Resolution 1386
and ammunition, military vehicles and (20 December 2001)
equipment, paramilitary equipment, and This resolution gave approval for the formation and
associated spare parts. deployment of the International Security Assistance
2. No state was to provide technical advice, Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan with an initial mandate
assistance, or training related to military for six months, renewable by the Security Council if
personnel under control of the Taliban, deemed necessary. The initial force was to be made
and all states were to withdraw from up of contributions of various sizes and specializa-
Afghanistan any nationals involved in these tions from eighteen countries, later joined by
services. Czechoslovakia with the provision of a military field
3. The preceding measures were not intended hospital.
to apply to supplies of nonlethal The tasks detailed for the ISAF were as follows:
equipment or protective clothing required
by UN personnel, representatives of the 1. Aid the interim government in the
media, and humanitarian workers for their development of national security structures
own personal use. 2. Assist Afghanistan’s reconstruction
4. All states having diplomatic links with the 3. Assist in developing and training future
Taliban were urged to reduce the number Afghan security forces
and level of the staff at Taliban missions
and restrict or control the movement The rules of engagement for the force were to be
within their territory of Taliban staffers settled by a military-technical agreement between
256 U.S.-AFGHANISTAN RELATIONS
the ISAF and the Afghan Interim Government. The dom and acknowledged the willingness of Germany
force was initially to be headed by the United King- and the Netherlands to assume the leadership func-
dom. The mandate of the ISAF was restricted to tion in turn. It was also asserted that the Security
Kabul and its immediate environs. Council remained committed to international ef-
forts to root out terrorism and was strongly com-
UN Security Council Resolution 1413 (23 May 2002) mitted, as well, to the sovereignty, territorial in-
This resolution extended the mandate of the Inter- tegrity, independence, and national unity of
national Security Assistance Force for a further six Afghanistan.
months. Specifically, the resolution: References
UN Security Council. 1999. Resolution 1267 of 15
1. Extended the mandate for a period of six October. New York: United Nations.
months from 20 June 2002 ———. 2000. Resolution 1333 of 19 December. New
2. Authorized the member states in the ISAF York: United Nations.
to take all necessary measures to fulfill the ———. 2001. Resolution 1386. New York: United
mandate of the force Nations.
3. Called on member states to contribute ———. 2002. Resolution 1444. New York: United
Nations.
personnel, equipment, and other resources
to the ISAF and to the trust fund established
to assist elsewhere in Afghanistan U.S.-AFGHANISTAN RELATIONS
4. Called up the head of the ISAF to provide Relations between the United States and Afghani-
monthly reports on progress to the UN stan have become particularly close since the U.S.
secretary-general intervention in 2001 and have built upon the re-
sults of the Soviet military intervention in Afghan-
At the same time, the Security Council recorded istan in 1979, which led to U.S. backing for the op-
its thanks to the United Kingdom for having led the position mujahideen forces. However, relations
ISAF and welcomed Turkey’s agreement to assume were bad during the Taliban regime from 1996 and
leadership over the ensuing six months. became even worse with the appearance in Af-
ghanistan of the wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden
UN Security Council Resolution 1444 and the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York
(27 November 2002) and Washington, resulting in U.S. intervention in
This resolution arose from a determination that the Afghanistan and support for the Northern Alliance
security situation in Afghanistan still represented a and other opposition groups in an attempt to rid
threat to international peace, and it extended the the country of the Taliban regime and Al-Qaeda
mandate of the International Security Assistance fighters.
Force for a further twelve months. The United States had been slow to establish
The resolution: diplomatic relations with Afghanistan following its
independence, secured by the Third Anglo-Afghan
1. Extended the authorization of the ISAF for War of 1919, the Mussoorie Conference of 1920,
one year from 20 December 2002 and the 1921 Anglo-Afghan Treaty. A variety of fac-
2. Authorized all member states of the force tors contributed to this reluctance, the foremost
to take all necessary measures to fulfill the being the view that Afghanistan was still within the
mandate of the ISAF British sphere of influence. In addition, Afghanistan
3. Directed all member states to contribute was not seen as a market for U.S. exports or as a
personnel, equipment, and other resources source of strategic raw materials. It is also true that
to the ISAF most Americans had little or no knowledge of the
4. Required the provision of quarterly reports country, and there was no public interest in the re-
from the ISAF to the UN secretary-general gion. Washington therefore relied on Britain to fur-
nish information about the area, and the British
The resolution also thanked Turkey for taking government had no desire to encourage U.S. com-
over leadership of the force from the United King- petition in Afghanistan.
U.S.-AFGHANISTAN RELATIONS 257
In July 1921, a delegation from Afghanistan, led though the German defeat at Stalingrad meant that
by Wali Muhammad, arrived in Washington after Afghanistan was not needed as a supply route for
making a tour of European capitals, with the objec- the Allies. Following the end of World War II, Af-
tive of establishing diplomatic relations with the ghanistan received economic aid from the United
United States. However, the delegation’s reception States: loans were made in 1950 and 1954 for the
was not auspicious, as the U.S. government merely Helmand Valley irrigation and electrification pro-
expressed regret at the death of Amir Habibullah jects, which were led by the Morrison Knudsen
and congratulated King Amanullah on his acces- Construction Company, a U.S. firm. However, the
sion. The delegates left Washington extremely disap- ambitious project did not achieve the desired results
pointed, for Amanullah had hope to avoid his coun- and was a significant drain on Afghanistan’s foreign
try’s dependency on Britain or the Soviet Union by currency reserves.
introducing the United States as a balancing third The Cold War complicated U.S. relations with
power and as a provider of Western know-how to Afghanistan because, in its quest for allies to contain
further his policy of modernization. the Soviet Union, the United States would not guar-
Afghanistan made further overtures to the antee to protect Afghanistan against Soviet aggres-
United States and tried to use commerce to forge sion, preferring to deal with Pakistan for the defense
closer links by offering attractive incentives to U.S. of the Indian subcontinent. As a consequence, Pak-
companies. However, Britain negated some of the istan became a member of the Baghdad Pact, and
attractiveness of these commercial agreements by Afghanistan was forced to adopt a policy of positive
creating problems in terms of access from Indian neutrality, which gradually led to a growing depen-
ports, insisting that all goods had to be transported dence on the Soviet Union. The United States con-
by Indian railways—even vehicles capable of pro- tinued to provide assistance to Afghanistan via loans
ceeding under their own power. The U.S. consul at and grants of $286 million between 1950 and 1971,
Karachi was approached about establishing diplo- with an emphasis on aid for communications infra-
matic relations during a visit to Kabul in 1931, but structure, education, and agriculture. But it did not
he could give no reason to the Afghan government provide military support to guarantee Afghanistan’s
for the unwillingness of the United States to open an independence. During the same period, aid from
embassy in Kabul. In 1935, it appeared that some the Soviet Union totaled some $672 million and was
progress was being made: the Afghan foreign minis- spread across a range of activities and materials, in-
ter discussed with a U.S. State Department official cluding some military equipment.
the offer of an oil concession to the United States in In the latter part of the 1970s, Afghanistan was
return for a permanent U.S. legation in Kabul; with tacitly left in the Soviet sphere of influence, and the
such an arrangement, the Afghan government U.S. Department of State downgraded the status of
would not have to consider Britain or the Soviet the embassy in Kabul to the category of a mission to
Union as alternative partners. A concession was a country of least importance to the United States.
signed and ratified with the Inland Oil Exploration After the Saur Revolt of April 1978, which brought
Company in April 1937, but the company withdrew the Communists to power, Washington recognized
from the concession in 1938 because of the interna- the new Marxist government, but relations between
tional situation in Europe. the two countries began to deteriorate. They were
World War II provided the motivation for the es- extremely strained when, in February 1979, the U.S.
tablishment of diplomatic relations between the ambassador, Adolf Dubs, was assassinated by kid-
United States and Afghanistan when, in 1942, the nappers during an inept rescue attempt mounted by
German advance on Stalingrad led to fears that the the Kabul police.
logistic link through western Iran would be denied In December 1979, the Soviet Union launched a
to the Allies. Eastern Iran or western Afghanistan military intervention in Afghanistan. This interven-
were considered as ideal locales for an alternate tion almost amounted to an occupation of the
route, and a U.S. presence in Kabul was seen as an country and led the United States to transfer its sup-
essential prerequisite for securing this route. On 6 port to the mujahideen, who were opposing the So-
June 1942, Cornelius Van Engert became the U.S. viet presence and the Marxist government in Kabul.
first resident ambassador in Afghanistan, even Much of the U.S. assistance was provided covertly
258 U.S. SPECIAL FORCES
through the Central Intelligence Agency and chan- and members of the government, and there is a sin-
neled through the Inter-Services Intelligence Service gular lack of real progress on a program of recon-
of Pakistan. By the beginning of 1989, it was clear struction. Washington’s use of local warlords and
that the Soviet presence in Afghanistan was coming their private armies in the war against al-Qaeda and
to an end due to pressure from the mujahideen the Taliban is also causing some resentment within
forces operating from within Afghanistan and from Afghanistan, as it is seen as contributing to instabil-
bases in Pakistan. The U.S. Department of State, ity rather than strengthening the hand of the Kabul
fearing a quick collapse of the Marxist government government.
and a possible massacre in Kabul, closed the U.S. See also Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1921; Central
embassy for security reasons. Following the civil war Intelligence Agency and Its Support for the
and the capture of Kabul in September 1996, Wash- Mujahideen; Coalition Air Campaign against the
ington reconsidered its decision but opted not to es- Taliban; Coalition Land Campaign against the
tablish diplomatic relations with the new govern- Taliban; Helmand Province; Inter-Services
ment because of the harshness of the regime and its Intelligence Service; Laden, Osama bin; Mujahideen;
continuing violations of human rights. Mussoorie Conference; al-Qaeda; Taliban; Third
Relations with Afghanistan continued to deteri- Anglo-Afghan War
References
orate and reached a new low when the Taliban
Chase, Robert, et al. 1999. The Pivotal States. A new
regime gave refuge to Osama bin Laden, who was Framework for US Policy in the Developing World.
wanted by the U.S. government for a number of ter- New York: W. W. Norton.
rorist attacks against U.S. interests and personnel, Colley, John K. 2000. Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, America
and allowed him to set up camps in Afghanistan to and International Terrorism. 2nd ed. Sterling, VA:
train al-Qaeda terrorists. This led to U.S. Cruise Pluto Press.
missile attacks on the al-Qaeda camps in August Mackenzie, Richard. 1999. The United States and the
1998 and exacerbated tensions between Washington Taliban. In Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan and
and Kabul. Ultimately, the attacks on 11 September the Taliban, edited by William Maley. 90–103.
2001 in New York and Washington by al-Qaeda ter- London: Hurst.
rorists brought a complete break in relations due to Margolis, Eric S. 2000. War at the Top of the World: The
the failure of the Taliban regime to obey UN resolu- Struggle for Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Tibet. London:
Routledge.
tions demanding the extradition of Osama bin
Laden to face international justice. As a conse-
quence, the United States, with British support, at- U.S. SPECIAL FORCES
tacked Afghanistan with Cruise missiles and bomb- U.S. Special Forces fighting in Afghanistan have pro-
ing raids on al-Qaeda and Taliban strongholds; it vided the bulk of the manpower in this area of op-
also started to give overt aid to the Northern Al- erations since actions began in 2001. These troops
liance and other anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan. comprise the Green Berets, Rangers, Delta Forces,
U.S. involvement in the overthrow of the Taliban Seals, and the U.S. Air Force 160th Special Opera-
and support for the Afghan interim government led tions Aviation Regiment, together with their Night
by President Hamid Karzai has led to a strengthen- Stalker helicopters. In company with their UK col-
ing of ties between Washington and Kabul. As part leagues the Special Air Service (SAS) and the Special
of its War on Terror, the United States is now heavily Boat Service (SBS), these forces have been operating
committed militarily, diplomatically, and economi- in Afghanistan since September 2001, being joined
cally to the future of Afghanistan, though, at the later by detachments from other Coalition partners,
time of writing, it is unclear how that future will de- such as Australia and New Zealand. The special
velop due to continuing unrest and instability in the forces initially linked up with the Afghan fighters
country; this is especially true because it is clear that opposed to the Taliban to provide advice and intel-
al-Qaeda, although severely weakened, has not been ligence and to help direct B-52 bombing attacks on
destroyed. Also, the mandate of the new govern- the Taliban’s infrastructure and positions. They
ment does not extend much beyond Kabul, and were aided by intelligence provided by reconnais-
warlords still control the various provinces. Assassi- sance data from unmanned Predator aircraft,
nation attempts have been made on the president which, unlike in previous operations, were armed
U.S. SPECIAL FORCES 259
with Hellfire antitank missiles, enabling the ground toward Kandahar, to be replaced by troops under a
operators to strike at identified potential targets. local tribal leader, Gul Agha Shirzai, who was op-
The U.S. Special Forces also maintained a rescue posed to the Taliban but lacked the capacity to take
force based in Afghanistan to intervene in an emer- them on militarily.
gency, using a helicopter-borne rescue unit. Evidence also exists that U.S. Special Forces
Unconfirmed sources in Washington reported played a role in operations with Northern Alliance
that U.S. forces had entered Afghanistan on 13 Sep- troops around Mazar-i Sharif, particularly during
tember 2001, two days after the terrorist attacks on the riot by armed Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners
the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with or- being held in the fort there after the fall of the city.
ders to capture or kill Osama bin Laden or pin him A film shot by an Afghan cameraman showed U.S.
down until the United States could launch air and UK Special Forces were involved in the action,
strikes. The troops had initially landed in Peshawar which claimed the lives of hundreds of Taliban and
and Quetta, Pakistan, and were infiltrated into Af- al-Qaeda prisoners. During the riot, an operative of
ghanistan using Black Hawk helicopters. The official the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was also
confirmation was not released until 29 September, killed while interrogating one of the captives. The
and the activity was described as a routine deploy- death toll numbered some 800, with the bulk of the
ment ahead of a major operation. dead being prisoners, as well as some Northern Al-
An engagement between U.S. Special Forces and liance troops. Both the United States and the United
the Taliban on 20 October resulted in the loss of two Kingdom rejected calls by Amnesty International
men, and this was followed two days later by the that an inquiry into the riot be held.
downing of another helicopter, with the loss of be- In December 2001, U.S. Special Forces formed
tween twenty and twenty-five troops. The Taliban the bulk of the Coalition troops sent to the Tora
claimed that the helicopter had entered Afghanistan Bora region on a search-and-destroy mission
from Pakistan and was shot down after the Taliban against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters believed to be
had moved mobile antiaircraft equipment and hiding in a complex of caves and bunkers. It was ev-
rocket-propelled grenades into the mountainous re- ident that the U.S. commander for Afghanistan,
gion of Paktia Province. Taliban sources claimed Gen. Tommy Franks, had determined that the
that they were utilizing the same military strategy Coalition troops would consist of special forces,
that was employed against the Soviets and that the backed by Afghan forces, and that conventional
United States would pay a high price for any further forces would not be deployed. This operation also
incursions into Afghanistan. signaled the start of a more aggressive ground cam-
At the beginning of November 2001, it was an- paign by the Coalition, with UK and Australian Spe-
nounced that the number of U.S. Special Forces had cial Forces also being part of the attacking unit. The
been significantly increased, with the objectives of terrain in the Tora Bora mountain region is harsh,
working with Afghan opposition troops and bol- and because of the altitude, the air is thin; conse-
stering U.S. air strikes against the Taliban front lines. quently, the operation was slow, as any advance had
Also as part of the campaign against the Taliban and to be made with care and each cave complex had to
al-Qaeda, U.S. Special Forces worked with their UK be checked for booby traps.
counterparts to force back the Taliban toward their Although the campaign was a success in that a
Kandahar stronghold, stopping travelers on the number of the enemy were killed or captured, it was
road to build up an intelligence picture of Taliban not totally effective due to a tactical error in respect
and al-Qaeda locations. Once the data had been an- to sealing off the area. Routes to the north of the re-
alyzed, special forces cut off the occupied area, sev- gion had been closed down, but the U.S. and Afghan
ered supply lines, and then called in U.S. air strikes troops had failed to seal off a snow-covered track to
to destroy the enemy positions. Local Pashtun tribal the south, and it is believed that at least 4,000 Tal-
leaders opposed to the Taliban were then appointed iban and al-Qaeda fighters managed to escape into
to control the relieved areas. One example was the Pakistan, with a few going to Iran. A particular frus-
capture of Takhteh Pol, 25 miles from Kandahar, tration was the fact that intelligence reports had
which was sealed off by Delta Forces who then placed Osama bin Laden in the region, but it is
called in air strikes; survivors were forced to retreat known that he escaped with twenty-six followers
260 UZBEKISTAN
and family members into the North-West Frontier cluded assassination strikes. Since this change of tac-
Province of Pakistan, having been escorted to safety tic was introduced, it is apparent that U.S. Special
by frontier tribesmen in return for a large payment. Forces are now operating within Pakistan, working
In April 2002, further operations of special forces together with the Pakistan army, in actions against
from the United States, the United Kingdom, and al-Qaeda fighters who had sought refuge in the law-
Australia were carried out under the code name less frontier areas bordering Afghanistan. It is not
Mountain Lion. This operation took place in the possible to determine whether UK Special Forces are
mountainous region of Paktia Province and con- also involved in these operations.
sisted of intelligence gathering to inform future See also Australian Special Forces; al-Qaeda; UK Special
Coalition planning. However, only small groups of Forces
al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters were encountered, References
and despite fierce fighting, casualties were light on Beaumont, Peter. 2002. “Special Forces Take Over Hunt
both sides due to the nature of the terrain and the for al-Qaeda.” Observer (London), 4 August.
fact that the enemy was quick to withdraw across Berger, Julian, and Richard Norton-Taylor. 2001.
the border. This was demonstrated by the fact that “Special Forces in Afghanistan.” Guardian (London),
followups of engagements or sightings using con- 29 September.
Evans, Michael. 2001. “SAS Already Gathering
ventional troops failed to locate any enemy pres-
Intelligence in Afghanistan.” Times (London), 21
ence. There were, however, discoveries of numerous September.
caches of arms and ammunition, indicating that the
enemy were active in the area.
The major operations were not the end of such UZBEKISTAN
activities, as smaller-scale efforts were launched in Role in Operation Enduring Freedom
the mountains of Paktia Province, near Kandahar Uzbekistan’s policy toward the current situation in
and bordering Pakistan. However, no senior mem- Afghanistan has been primarily driven by a desire to
bers of al-Qaeda were captured, and it was clear that guarantee all international frontiers in the region in
they had gone to ground in the frontier areas of Pak- order to prevent the destabilization of Central Asia.
istan, in the cities of Peshawar and Karachi, and in Although there are Afghan refugees in Uzbekistan,
Iran. In July 2002, the U.S. defense secretary, Donald they are strictly controlled and only number a few
Rumsfeld, was reported to have ordered the head of thousand. The border with Afghanistan is seen as
U.S. Special Forces, Gen. Charles Holland, to as- important to preventing the secular regime from
sume total control in the hunt for al-Qaeda fighters, being opposed by Islamist forces emanating from
in an effort to counter the feeling in the Bush ad- Afghanistan or, indirectly, Tajikistan, where an Is-
ministration that the War on Terror was running lamic insurgency exists. The Islamic Front of Abdul
out of steam. The classified order included instruc- Rashid Dostum has been backed by Uzbekistan,
tions to capture or kill the leading figures in al- which sees it as an ally to guard the country’s south-
Qaeda and to organize the campaign against the ter- ern border with Afghanistan, not primarily because
rorist organization. of ethnic solidarity.
General Holland made a case for U.S. Special The Uzbek nationalism of the movement is not
Forces, including Delta Forces, to fight alongside the seen as being in Uzbekistan’s interest, for the
troops of countries in which al-Qaeda fighters had Tashkent government seeks to preserve the border
taken refuge. The action was directed against Osama but feels an alliance is necessary to counter backing
bin Laden and a number of key al-Qaeda figures for an insurgency similar to that of Tajikstan. Al-
who had been identified as posing the greatest threat though Uzbekistan’s support is limited, it has al-
in the coordination and ordering of new terrorist at- lowed its base at Termez to be used for landings by
tacks against the United States and its interests Dostum and Coalition forces. However, Uzbek-
abroad. The classified order allowed special forces to istan’s policy will be determined by the future of the
take advantage of the law that permitted them to en- Islamic Front, which, if confined to a small part of
gage in counterterrorism, or “direct-action,” mis- Afghanistan, would prevent Uzbekistan from hav-
sions to kill enemy forces. Such missions were to be ing any influence in future political developments in
aggressive, unilateral, and secretive and possibly in- Kabul.
UZBEKS 261
Uzbekistan also allowed the United States to use They established strong principalities, which some-
a former Soviet air base near Tashkent for C-130 times acknowledged the authority of Kabul. But the
cargo planes and AC-130 gunships employed in op- leaders were constantly vying for power among
erations in Afghanistan during the air campaign themselves, though it was not until the reign of
against the Taliban in October 2001. Bases in Amir Abdur Rahman that they were consolidated
Uzbekistan were also used by the Tenth Mountain into the Afghan state. Fresh immigrations of Uzbeks
Division to launch land operations in Afghanistan took place in the 1920s and 1930s due to further un-
against Taliban and al-Qaeda forces. rest in the Soviet Union, but at that same time, Pash-
References tuns also migrated into Uzbek territory, so that the
Gregory, Feifer. 2002. “Uzbekistan’s External Realities.” Uzbeks became a minority in the areas they had
World Policy Journal 19, no. 1: 81–89. once dominated. The Uzbeks are mainly sedentary
Zardykhan, Zharmukhamad. 2002. “Kazakhstan and agriculturalists, but the urban dwellers have become
Central Asia: Regional Perspectives.” Central Asian astute businesspeople or skilled artisans working in
Survey 21, no. 2: 167–183. silver, gold, or leather. They are also distinguished by
their dress, which consists of a kaftan, a small tur-
UZBEKS ban, and soft leather boots that fit over wool stock-
The Uzbeks are members of the largest Turki lan- ings and reach to the knees.
guage group in Afghanistan and number about 1.3 During the period of Communist rule (1979 to
million, inhabiting northern Afghanistan from 1992), some Uzbeks served the government in
Fariab Province in the west to Badakhshan militia forces in areas largely dominated by the
Province. They mingle with the Turki population, Pashtuns. However, Uzbeks also became part of the
and many of the villages in this area are mixed com- mujahideen fighting against the Kabul-based gov-
munities, though the Uzbeks live in separate resi- ernment, and following the rise of the Taliban
dential areas. The Uzbeks are Sunni Muslims and Uzbek forces, led by Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum,
speak a central Turki dialect called Uzbeki, which they joined with the Northern Alliance in the
was made a national language by the Marxist gov- struggle against the Pashtun-dominated Taliban
ernment in order to win their support; additionally, regime.
the Uzbeks were allowed to use their language in ed- See also Dostum, Gen. Abdul Rashid
ucation, the press, and broadcasting. Uzbek society References
is strictly patriarchal, and the leaders of the tribes, or Bellew. H. W. 1880. The Races of Afghanistan: Being a
khans, have considerable authoritarian power. Most Brief Account of the Principal Nations Inhabiting That
marriages involve people of the same ethnic groups; Country. London: Thaker.
Clifford, Mary Louise.1973. The Land and People of
although some Uzbeks do marry Turkomans and
Afghanistan. Philadelphia:: Lippincott.
Tajiks, there is widespread antipathy to marriages Shalinsky, Audrey C. 1994. Long Years of Exile: Asian
with Pashtuns. Refugees in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Lanham, MD:
The Uzbeks originated in Central Asia, and they University Press of America.
became a dominant political force in north Afghan- “Uzbeks and Turkoman of Afghanistan.” 2002. http://
istan in the sixteenth century, following the 1506 www.afghan-network.net/Ethic-Groups/uzbeks-
demise of the Timurid regime centered on Herat. turkmen.html (cited 7 February 2002).
VICTORY ORGANIZATION (SAZMAN-I NASR)
Victory Organization is a mujahideen group whose
membership is drawn solely from the Hazara popu-
lation. It was formed by Sheikh Mir Husain Sadeqi
and three other ulama (Islamic scholars) as an out-
V
come of the Saur Revolt of April 1978, which brought
the Communists to power. The group was officially tions with Afghanistan, backed by credentials from
announced in 1980 and was originally composed of the Russian ambassador to Tehran and an un-
Hazaras living in Iran, receiving some initial support signed letter that was supposedly from the czar. At
from the Iranian government but seemingly free the same time, Alexander Burnes was in Kabul as a
from political control. The group became a major representative of the British East India Company,
force in the Hazarajat region, and it allied with the and he persuaded Afghanistan’s amir, Dost
Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (Pasdaran), to Muhammad, to receive Vitkevich in order to dis-
overthrow the traditional Shura (Council). The cover his objectives. Meanwhile, the amir was anx-
Shura was headed by Sayyid Ali Beheshti, who sup- ious to take the city of Peshawar back from the
ported the unity of the Afghan state, whereas Sadeqi Sikhs, but Burnes advised that he should forget his
was an advocate of armed action against the Pash- claim and make peace with the Sikh ruler. Con-
tuns as well as the Soviets. Sadeqi had long ques- cerned about lack of support from Britain in the
tioned why the Hazaras were forced to be ruled by matter of Peshawar, Dost Muhammad negotiated
non-Hazara appointees from Kabul and had fled to with Vitkevich in hopes of securing Russian assis-
Iran in 1974 because of his political views, becoming tance for Afghanistan. But the Russian govern-
involved in the Islamist movement. The group he ment repudiated these moves, and the captain was
founded was a radical Islamist organization and recalled to St. Petersburg, where he committed sui-
ruled through ideological committees; it is now part cide. Given Vitkevich’s mission, Britain grew fear-
of the Islamic Unity Party (Hizb-i Wahdat). ful that the amir was going to forge an alliance
See also Beheshti, Sayyid Ali; Guardians of the Islamic with Russia, and the leaders in London deter-
Revolution mined that their nation’s interests would be best
References
served by his removal from the throne. This situa-
Fuller, Graham E. 1991. Islamic Fundamentalism in
Afghanistan: Its Character and Prospects. Santa tion led to the Simla Manifesto and the First
Monica, CA: Rand Corporation. Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842).
Roy, Olivier. 1986. Islam and Resistance in Afghanistan. See also Burnes, Alexander; First Anglo-Afghan War;
London and New York: Cambridge University Press. Simla Manifesto
References
VITKEVICH, CAPT. IVAN (?–1838) Norris, James A. 1967. The First Afghan War, 1838–42.
In December 1837, the Russian soldier Ivan Vitke- Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
vich arrived in Kabul to establish commercial rela-
263
WAHDAT
Wahdat was a weekly newspaper published in both
the Dari and Pashtun languages and was the official
publication of the National Unity Party (Wahdat-i-
Milli). The party was headed by the poet Khalilullah
W
Khalili, who also edited the newspaper. Due to fi-
nancial problems, the publication lasted only six after, it then came under the administrative control
months, but in an issue dated 31 January 1966, the of the governor of Badakhshan. The area is inhab-
manifesto of the party was set out. Specifically, the ited by some 6,000 Isma’ilis and a small number of
party was committed to: Sunni Qirghiz, many of the latter having migrated
to Turkey following the Soviet invasion of Afghani-
• The rule of law stan in 1979. The high valleys of the Wakhan corri-
• Constitutionalism dor are inhabited by Uzbeks and Wakhis (Isma’ilis),
• Nonalignment in foreign relations and the Bactrian camel and the yak are the main
• The struggle for human rights beasts of burden. The Qirghiz herders live together
• Peaceful coexistence with Afghanistan’s with the agricultural Wakhis in a mutually depen-
neighbors dent way of life.
• Policies to further agricultural References
development and an Afghan cultural Adamec, Ludgwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political
revival Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria:
• Expansion of medical and educational Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt.
facilities
• Equal rights for women WALI, ABDUL (1924– )
Abdul Wali was commander-in-chief of the Cen-
References tral Forces of Afghanistan until 1973 but was im-
Newell, Richard S. 1972. The Politics of Afghanistan. prisoned following the coup led by his cousin
Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Muhammad Daud. He is married to the daughter
of the deposed king, Mohammed Zahir, and has
WAKHAN DISTRICT been in exile in Rome since 1976. He has been act-
The district of Wakhan lies in the northeastern part ing as a spokesman for the former king, and in
of Badakhshan Province and extends from 1995, he went to Pakistan and addressed crowds
Ishkashim in the west to the borders of China in the of Afghan refugees on the monarch’s behalf. Wali
east, separating Tajikistan from the Indo-Pakistan has also been involved in the king’s negotiations
subcontinent. The district had been awarded to Af- with Afghan leaders and the Afghan diaspora fol-
ghanistan by the Anglo-Russian Boundary Com- lowing the downfall of the Taliban, as well as the
mission (1895–1896) in order to create a buffer be- formation of an interim government in Decem-
tween the two empires. At first, Amir Abdur ber 2001.
Rahman was reluctant to accept this award of terri- Wali was born in 1924, the son of Shah Wali (a
tory because of its strategic location, but he eventu- cousin of King Zahir), and was educated in France
ally agreed when the proposal was sweetened by an and England. He received a military education in
annual British subsidy of 50,000 rupees. Until 1882, England, attending both Sandhurst and the Com-
the area was ruled by an independent amir; there- mand and General Staff College at Camberley.
265
266 WALI, MUHAMMAD
References the National Council that year and again in 1933.

Kakar, Hasan. 1978. “The Fall of the Afghan Monarch in Wardak also served on the commission that negoti-
1973.” International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies ated with Iran in June 1933 over the Helmand water
9, no. 2: 195–224. dispute, which was brought to a satisfactory conclu-
sion, though changes in the water course in later
WALI, MUHAMMAD (?–1933) years caused the dispute to flare up again, with final
Muhammad Wali was Afghan foreign minister from resolution not achieved until 1973. His involvement
1922 to 1924, minister of war from 1924 to 1925, with the National Council continued, for he was re-
and regent during King Amanullah’s journey elected in 1934, from 1937 to 1940, and in 1943. He
abroad from 1927 to 1928. He was a descendant of died in 1949.
the royal family of the previously independent See also: Helmand Province
province of Darwaz and had been appointed to the References
position of Amir Habibullah’s correspondence. In Khan, Sultan Muhammad. 1980. The Life of Abdur
1922, he headed a mission to Moscow and other Eu- Rahman, Amir of Afghanistan. Karachi, Pakistan:
ropean capitals to establish diplomatic relations, but Oxford University Press.
a visit to Washington in July 1922 proved unsuc-
cessful, for the mission failed to convince President WARDAK PROVINCE
Warren Harding to establish relations with Afghan- Wardak Province in east-central Afghanistan occu-
istan. After King Amanullah was deposed and Nadir pies an area of 3,745 square miles. It has a popula-
Shah ascended to the throne in Afghanistan in 1929, tion of some 310,000, though several thousand have
Wali was imprisoned and subsequently received a become refugees in Pakistan. The administrative
sentence of eight years. In September 1933, he was center of the province is the recently constructed
executed with a number of other supporters of King town of Maidanshahr, built in the 1970s and located
Amanullah. just to the west of the Kabul-to-Kandahar highway.
References The province is extremely mountainous and is tra-
Khan, Sultan Muhammad. 1980. The Life of Abdur versed by that road and by the highway west into the
Rahman, Amir of Afghanistan. Karachi, Pakistan: Hazarajat region and northwest to Bamian
Oxford University Press. Province. The inhabitants of the province are
Ghilzais and Durrani Pashtuns in the south and
WARDAK, ABDUL AHAD (C. 1880–1949) Hazaras in the north and west. About 89 percent of
Abdul Ahad Wardak was an Isma’il Khel Ghilzai the province is pastureland, but the farms are ex-
who was born around 1880 and served as chief tremely small; the majority of the holdings are
usher to Amir Habibullah from 1909 to 1916. Three about half an acre in size. The whole province suf-
years later, he was arrested for complicity in the as- fered considerably during the civil war from 1989 to
sassination of the amir and banished but was later 2001, and the infrastructure that was built up in the
acquitted. In 1922, he was restored to favor and be- 1970s has been largely destroyed.
came aide-de-camp to King Amanullah, and be- References
tween 1924 and 1925, he was entrusted with the task Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political
of going to Wardak Valley to ensure the loyalty of Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria:
the Wardakis during the Mangal Rebellion. Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt.
In 1927, he became minister of the interior and
was a loyal supporter of the deposed Amanullah in WARLORDS
his attempts to regain the throne in 1929, fleeing The history of Afghanistan is marked by the lack of
with him into India in May when the attempts failed a strong central government, with the result that
and then to exile in Iran. However, he returned to power and authority have been widely dispersed
Afghanistan in December 1929 and became presi- and tribes and factions have long had de facto con-
dent of the National Council (Rais-i-Shura-i-milli) trol of the country outside of Kabul. Local strong-
in 1930, and in November 1931, he became supreme men have dominated since the creation of the mod-
military and civil administrator of Farah Province. ern Afghan state in 1747 and have drawn their
He returned to Kabul in 1932 and was reelected to power from ethnically homogeneous constituen-
WARLORDS 267
cies, for the country has always been divided pri- army, could not handle without assistance from
marily along ethnic lines. In essence, the warlords coalition forces. The warlords have filled the secu-
have become regional power brokers, and most rity vacuum in the provinces that was created in the
often, they are tribal chiefs or militia commanders wake of the Taliban regime’s demise, and in their
asserting control over territories of varying sizes and own areas, they are seen as having the only forces ca-
importance. pable of providing security for the populace. Be-
Regional warlords thrive during periods of war, cause of this, the Kabul government will probably,
violence, and political instability—conditions that in the short term, have to consider allowing them
are necessary for the consolidation of power and the some measure of regional autonomy in order to
raising of revenues. As a result, they often try to pro- gain their acquiescence in recognizing the central
voke unrest and instability in the interest of self- authority of the government in Kabul.
preservation. Resources are generated not only by The work of the Loya Jirga (Great Council) of
taxes imposed on the areas they control but also June 2002, which approved President Karzai’s tran-
through duties on trade and, in many cases, crimi- sitional government, was a major achievement after
nal activities, including the drug trade. In return, the twenty-three years of war, but the process was
warlords provided their populations with protec- marred by intimidation, bribery, violence, and the
tion, security, and sometimes a minimal level of continual harassment of delegates by local warlords
public services. Prime examples of regional war- pursuing their own agendas. The chair of the Loya
lords on the contemporary scene are Abdul Rashid Jirga Commission had accorded delegate status to
Dostum, with his base at Mazar-i Sharif, and Isma’il the governors of all thirty-three provinces and a
Khan, based at Herat, both of whom maintain well- number of major and minor warlords, all of whom
armed militias to enforce their rule. should have been excluded under the provisions of
The tradition of the warlord is well established in the Bonn Agreement because of their past records of
Afghanistan, and throughout the country’s history, violence. Many of the delegates and the Afghan peo-
only the threat of foreign invasion has been able to ple had hoped that delegates to the Loya Jirga would
unite the tribes and ethnic groups. In times when no take the opportunity to distance the government
external threats have been present, Afghans have from the warlord culture, but instead, several of the
usually withdrawn into their ethnic communities warlords were awarded cabinet posts. Karzai advised
and fought with their rivals over resources or terri- delegates that his choices had been dictated by a
tory. Warlords are very much a feature of contem- need to strike an ethnic balance. But Afghans who
porary Afghanistan, with many of them having sought reform felt that the cabinet composition had
grown in strength since the Soviet withdrawal in undermined efforts to distance the government
1989 and the civil war between the various mu- from the warlords; it also did little to reduce the in-
jahideen groups and factions from 1989 to 2001. fluence of the Panjshiri Tajiks, for members of this
The most influential factor in generating conflict ethnic group were given one of the vice-president
between rival warlords is the personal ambitions of posts and two of the three most powerful ministries.
the warlords themselves. The continued existence of The Pashtun, Hazara, and Uzbek communities did
warlords is a violation of the Bonn Agreement of not welcome the cabinet appointments, and Karzai
December 2001:— the agreement, which was en- was charged with failing to use his popularity to
dorsed by Dostum and Isma’il Khan, stated that all usurp the power of the warlords and assert the
the mujahideen forces and armed groups in the Kabul administration’s control of the country.
country should come under the control of the Clearly, Karzai had no alternative but to incorpo-
Afghan Interim Government. rate the warlords and the Panjshiri Tajiks into his
It is clear that stability in Afghanistan is chal- administration, as the latter possessed the most
lenged by the power of the warlords, and their exis- powerful military force in the country: to have ex-
tence poses problems for the regime of President cluded them would have been a major risk in terms
Hamid Karzai. However, attempts by the Kabul gov- of military instability. The move was also made in
ernment to sideline them or confront their power the belief that bringing the warlords into the ad-
head on would cause a violent reaction that the cen- ministration would encourage them to see the bal-
tral government, with only an embryonic national lot box as an alternative to civil war. However, the
268 WARLORDS
two critical figures, Abdul Rashid Dostum and Is- stagnation, have affected several of the provinces
ma’il Khan, have resisted efforts to accept the con- and spawned serious violations of human rights,
trol of the Karzai government and have turned with women suffering badly in some areas. Indeed,
down appointments that would have required them the situation in places such as Paktia Province is so
to take up a presence in Kabul. Indeed, both of these bad that some Afghans look back on the years of the
regional warlords have flouted the authority of the repressive regime of the Taliban as a period of secu-
Kabul government, and it is critical to future stabil- rity and law and order.
ity that they recognize and cooperate with the Tran-
sitional Government. Northern Afghanistan
Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban has been The northeast part of Afghanistan is controlled by
subjected to continuing factional violence, demon- the Tajik-dominated Islamist Movement, with the
strating the fragility of President Karzai’s govern- rest of the northern provinces being dominated by
ment. The Karzai administration has a limited man- the Uzbek militia of General Dostum and the Haz-
date that does not extend beyond Kabul, where it is ara militia of the Islamic Unity Party. Major con-
protected by the International Security Assistance flicts have taken place between Dostum, who is the
Force (ISAF). And despite the presence of the ISAF, deputy defense minister and the Transitional Gov-
Kabul is still insecure. This was made clear by the as- ernment’s representative in the north, and Muham-
sassination of Vice-President Abdul Qadir, a Pashtun mad Ustad Atta of the Islamist Movement, who is
warlord from the Northern Alliance, on 6 July 2002; corps commander for four northern provinces. In
this was a serious setback for the administration, as January 2002, dozens were killed in a large battle be-
Qadir was considered one of the few people in the tween the forces of the two factions around Mazar-
government who could have bridged the gap be- i Sharif, and further clashes were recorded in May
tween the Pashtuns and the other ethnic communi- 2002, with fighting at Sar-i-Pul and Sholgara result-
ties. A detailed investigation, aided by the ISAF, has ing in thirty deaths. A truce brokered by the United
been conducted on this killing, but no real progress Nations was supposed to result in Mazar-i Sharif
has been made on the case, apart from the arrest of being policed by a force drawn from all the factions,
several of Qadir’s bodyguards for complicity. with everyone else in the city prohibited from car-
After the assassination, President Karzai replaced rying arms. However, the truce was short-lived, and
his Afghan bodyguards with U.S. Special Forces, since then, there have been numerous clashes in the
who were, in turn, replaced by U.S. State Depart- area. The 2 million people in the region have suf-
ment diplomatic security personnel in September fered greatly from this instability, which has dam-
2002. The Pashtun community has also protested aged the social and economic fabric of the region.
against the killing, holding a big rally on 26 July Instability in the region has resulted in a general
2002 in Jalalabad and again on 2 August in Khost, lawlessness, which has also hampered the work of the
demanding the arrest of the killers in order to avoid humanitarian aid agencies of the United Nations and
unrest among the Pashtuns themselves. Signs of the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Assaults
insecurity of the Kabul government were further have also been made on aid workers; for example, a
demonstrated by an al-Qaeda and Taliban attack on U.S. aid convoy was attacked, two Afghan members
an Afghan army outpost on the edge of Kabul on 7 of the Swedish Committee were shot and wounded
August 2002 and by an attempt to assassinate Presi- by militiamen, and a French aid worker was gang-
dent Karzai on 5 September as his motorcade was raped near Mazar-i Sharif. The situation became so
passing through Kandahar. These attacks have been serious that the United Nations withdrew all female
laid at the door of the Taliban and al-Qaeda but may aid workers from the north in May 2002 and issued a
actually have been joint ventures with the forces of warning to President Karzai about the future of hu-
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Islamic Party. In 2002, the manitarian efforts in the region. The repatriation of
number of attacks increased throughout Afghani- refugees to the north has also added to the instability,
stan, indicating that the Taliban and al-Qaeda are and there have been several instances of abuses
far from beaten. against the minority Pashtun community.
The situation outside Kabul is even worse. Vio- The problem in the north is made worse by the
lence and ethnic tensions, together with economic fact that both sides possess heavy weaponry, includ-
WARLORDS 269
ing tanks and artillery. The situation deteriorated ullah Khan and Kareem Khan in July and August
again in April 2003 with further outbreaks of fac- 2002.
tional fighting in Maimana, resulting in at least sev- The first outbreak took place in July 2002 at a
enteen deaths and a number of wounded; some of former military base some 80 miles west of the city
the casualties were children. The fighting was so se- of Herat, an area heavily fought over since the Soviet
vere that the United Nations withdrew all of its aid withdrawal in 1989. The base is located where the
workers from the area until it was able to organize a Tajik north meets the Pashtun south. The Kabul
cease-fire after a break in the fighting. By 17 April, government mediated in the dispute and arranged a
rival militia had withdrawn from the city, and a neu- truce, which was brokered by a vice-president and
tral police force had been established to ensure se- three cabinet ministers. Although Isma’il Khan af-
curity. Another complicating factor is that Dostum firms support for the central government, he has
receives support from Uzbekistan and Atta is sup- failed to cooperate over the formation of the new
ported by the Afghan Defense Ministry, headed by Afghan National Army and only remits to Kabul an
Gen. Mohammad Fahim, the military leader of the extremely small percentage of his significant tax rev-
Northern Alliance. Mazar-i Sharif is so significant enues, which largely come from cross-border trade
that the long-term stability of the Kabul govern- with Iran.
ment rests, to an extent, on this situation being re- In August 2002, there were further clashes be-
solved. But as of March 2003, there were no signs tween Isma’ili’s militia and the Pashtun militia
that the hostilities would cease, and efforts to relo- under Mohammed Kareem Khan, with a battle at
cate Dostum to Kabul as security adviser to the pres- Ghurian, west of the city of Herat, on 1 August re-
ident also seem to have failed. sulting in at least fifty deaths. The administration
In March 2003, at least sixty-four Afghans were in Herat stressed that the governor was trying to
killed in factional fighting in Badghis Province; curb Pashtun involvement in smuggling and loot-
thirty-eight civilians, including women and chil- ing, but the Pashtuns claimed that they were trying
dren, were among those killed. The United Nations to protect their villages from raids and looting by
also discovered the bodies of twenty-six fighters of a Tajik forces. Sporadic outbreaks are still occurring,
local commander—Juma Khan, from the minority and Isma’il Khan is still operating independently
Pashtun ethnic group—executed, with their hands of the Kabul government, which, to date, does not
tied behind their backs. Most of the Pashtuns in the have the capability to impose its control over west-
province are nomadic herders, and because of the ern Afghanistan.
Taliban regime, they have been subjected to human
rights abuses from other factions in the area. The Eastern Afghanistan
bulk of the fighting was in the village of Akazi and Eastern Afghanistan is predominantly Pashtun but
the surrounding area, and the Afghan Human is controlled by a variety of Pashtun commanders.
Rights Commission also found evidence that The most prominent is Badsha Khan (also known as
women had been raped by factional fighters. Pacha Khan Zadran), who has been a major thorn
in the side of the central government. He was ini-
Western Afghanistan tially named governor of Paktia Province, but this
The dominant power in western Afghanistan is Is- appointment was withdrawn and was also rejected
ma’il Khan, the governor of Herat Province, who is by the council of Gardez, the provincial capital. As a
being supported by Iran and is an extremely power- result, a new appointment came from Kabul.
ful leader: in fact, it would be impossible for the Throughout 2002, there were continual outbreaks
Karzai government to extend its authority over of fighting between the forces of Badsha Khan and
western Afghanistan without his support. Although those loyal to the Gardez authorities and the new
nominally a member of the Islamist Movement, he governor. A similar situation existed in Khost
is fiercely independent, and his influence also ex- Province, where Badsha Khan’s brother had also
tends into neighboring provinces. However, despite been ousted from the post of governor; President
his dominance, the region has not been immune Karzai threatened to send in troops but later with-
from conflict, for clashes erupted between Isma’il drew the threat, which again damaged the credibil-
Khan’s forces and those of his Pashtun rivals Aman- ity of the central government.
270 WARLORDS
Badsha Khan’s opposition to Karzai was made lence within the region have resulted in an ex-
apparent at the June 2002 Loya Jirga when, as a sup- tremely volatile situation that the Karzai govern-
porter of the Zahir Shah, he walked out in protest at ment does not have the capacity to resolve.
the former king’s withdrawal from the presidential
election, warning that bloodshed would follow. Ini- Summary
tially, Badsha Khan had exercised control over Pak- It is clear that the security situation is extremely un-
tia, Logar, Paktika, and Khost Provinces and had stable throughout Afghanistan, with that in the
dreams of creating a greater Paktia. However, these northern area probably presenting the greatest in-
provinces were in a state of anarchy and lawlessness ternal threat. Instability in the east and south has led
and had little in the way of security. Widespread vi- to greater activity on the part of remnants of the
olence continued throughout 2002, with hundreds Taliban and al-Qaeda; it has also compelled the
of deaths and injuries. The situation was further United States to continue to rely on support from
complicated by Badsha Khan’s active support for the the local warlords, which further complicates the
U.S. forces in their campaign against the remnants situation. Among the challenges facing the Kabul
of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in the region. government is the need to speed up reconstruction
However, in September 2002, Badsha Khan’s aid and use it effectively so that the population can
forces fell out with the U.S. Special Forces, and begin to see benefits accruing from Operation En-
Afghan government troops immediately moved in, during Freedom. The disbursement of aid by the
pushing Badsha Khan’s fighters out of Gardez and Karzai administration would enhance its prestige
Khost. These forces are now reduced to manning il- and bring warlords under some control in the ex-
legal roadblocks on the road between Gardez and pectation of receiving funds.
Khost, and they are proving to be an irritant to sol- It is also crucial that the United States recon-
diers and government officials trying to use the sider its strategy in dealing with local warlords in
road. This area is particularly crucial to the central the ongoing military campaign and convince them
government due to its proximity to Pakistan and the that they have not been accorded immunity be-
continuous outbreaks of fighting with remnants of cause of their cooperation. The United States must
the Taliban and al-Qaeda. also avoid civilian casualties in the campaign if it is
to win the hearts and minds of the population and
Southern Afghanistan not discredit its reputation and that of the Karzai
The southern part of Afghanistan is a Pashtun area administration. Further, it must make clear its
controlled by a number of Pashtun warlords, and continuing support for President Karzai and un-
there was evidence in late 2002 and early 2003 of a derscore its commitment to remain engaged until
resurgence of Taliban and al-Qaeda activity there, in security and stability have been secured. The train-
cooperation with fighters from Gulbuddin Hekmat- ing of the new National Afghan Army must also be
yar’s Islamic Party, who have issued a fatwa against advanced and expanded to ensure that the Kabul
U.S. forces and their Afghan allies. An examination government has the means to impose its authority
of the area shows that the former Taliban adminis- in the provinces, and a national police force must
tration is largely intact, with Shari’a law being be created to provide law and order throughout
strictly enforced. The city of Kandahar is also being Afghanistan.
subjected to rampant violence and criminal activity, It is also essential that the disarmament process
and there is a general absence of law and order be implemented and the militias either recruited
throughout the region. Again, the situation is com- into the National Army or reintegrated into society
plicated by the support of the warlords for U.S. mil- and the civilian economy. A concerted effort must
itary activity; this situation needs to be addressed, as also be made to halt human rights abuses, and the
the warlords believe that such cooperation entitles central government must ensure that the Afghan
them to behave with impunity. Human Rights Commission, established by the
Instability has increased in the region with the Bonn Agreement, has the power and authority to
repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan and deal with those guilty of violations. At the same
the problems related to assimilation, humanitarian time, efforts to integrate the regional warlords into
aid, and ethnic tensions. However, eruptions of vio- the central government’s decisionmaking process
WOLUSMAL, MUHAMMAD HASAN 271
must continue, so that their status is not threatened, WAZIRI TRIBE

though their power is reduced. If problems related The Waziris are Ghurghusht Pashtuns whose origi-
to the regional warlords and the general level of in- nal home was in Paktika Province, but in the four-
security are not resolved, Afghanistan will again de- teenth century, they migrated eastward to settle in
scend into total anarchy as soon as the Coalition present-day Waziristan, now part of Pakistan, and in
forces have been withdrawn. the adjacent portions of Afghanistan. The Waziris
See also: Afghan Army; Dostum, Gen. Abdul Rashid; number about 250,000, most of whom inhabit the
Isma’il Khan; Paktia Province Pakistan side of the border, and they are divided
References into two main branches, the Ahmadzais and the Ut-
Baldauf, Scott. 2003. “Once Powerful Warlord Is manzais. The tribe had supported Nadir Khan in his
Shunted Aside.” http://www.afgha.com/ war against Habibullah Kalakani in 1929, and their
?af=article&sid=29422 (cited 22 January 2003). forces had been responsible for the capture of Kabul
Davis, Anthony. 2002. “Karzai Struggles to Consolidate and the royal palace in October 1929.
Afghanistan’s Fragile Peace.” Jane’s Intelligence Review
References
(August): 20–23.
Hammerton, J. A. 1984. Tribes, Races and Cultures of
Human Rights Watch. 2002. Return of the Warlords. New
India and Neighbouring Countries: Afghanistan,
York: Human Rights Watch.
Bhutan, Burma, Ceylon, Nepal, and Tibet. Delhi,
Rashid, Ahmed. 2001. Taliban: The Story of the Afghan
India: Mittal.
Warlords. London: Pan.
WOLUSMAL, MUHAMMAD HASAN (1940– )

WATANJAR, MUHAMMAD ASLAM (1946– ) Muhammad Hasan Wolusmal had a checkered ca-
Muhammad Aslam Watanjar held positions as reer as a government official and a journalist, spend-
minister of communications, interior, and defense ing several terms in prison because of his journalis-
in the Khaliqyar government that assumed power tic activities. He was born in Gahik in 1940 and at
in Afghanistan in May 1990. He was a member of first seemed destined for a career in agriculture, at-
the Khalq faction of the People’s Democratic Party tending an agricultural high school in 1950. How-
of Afghanistan (PDPA) and a leading figure in the ever, by 1959, he had changed the course of his ca-
1973 coup by Muhammad Daud, leading the as- reer by obtaining a B.A. in journalism from Kabul
sault on the Royal Palace with armored vehicles. University, becoming editor of the Pashtu programs
He was also involved in the Saur Revolt of April for Radio Afghanistan in 1962.
1978, again leading the attack on the palace. And He moved into government service in 1964 as di-
he was subsequently joined by Gen. Abdul Qadir in rector-general of the Smuggling Prevention Depart-
heading the Revolutionary Council, which formed ment and later assuming the district governorship
the government until Nur Muhammad Taraki be- in various provinces, including Baghlan, Jozjan, and
came president. In September 1979, Watanjar was Herat. He resigned from government service in
implicated in a plot to remove Hafizullah Amin 1968. He then returned to journalism and owned
from power, and he was forced to take refuge in the and edited a publication called Afghan Weekly,
Soviet embassy in Kabul until the Parcham which was published from 1969 to 1972, when it
takeover. Following the revolt of Shanawaz Tanai was banned by the Ministry of Information and
in March 1990, Watanjar was appointed minister Culture. Despite the problem he had with the au-
of defense by Dr. Muhammad Najibullah. He fled thorities in regard to the periodical, he returned to
Afghanistan after the collapse of the Marxist government service, becoming district governor of
regime in April 1992. Watanjar was born in 1946 in Balkh in 1972 and Kahdaman in 1973.
Paktia Province of a Ghilzai family and had been Wolusmal was unemployed between 1973 and
educated at military schools in Kabul and in the 1976, before returning to government service in
Soviet Union. 1976 as director of inspection in the Land Develop-
References ment Agency and director-general for coordination
Arnold, Anthony. 1983. Afghanistan’s Two-Party in 1977. However, he was then arrested and was a
Communism: Parcham and Khalq. Stanford, CA: political prisoner from 1978 to 1979 in the Deh,
Hoover Institution Press. Mazany, and Pul-i Charkhi prisons. One year later,
272 WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN
he fled to Pakistan. In Peshawar, he founded another fore on the international scene; in fact, they were
publication, Afghan Mujahid, which began publica- cited as one of the reasons for Coalition involve-
tion in 1981 and ceased in 1984 when it was banned ment in Afghanistan in October 2001, though it had
by the authorities in Pakistan. In 1985, he became taken the terrorist attacks in the United States to
owner and editor of Afghan Wolus, but he again ran generate real action in this area.
afoul of the authorities; the publication was banned, After the fall of Kabul in September 1996, the
and he was sentenced to three months of imprison- Taliban set up the Ministry for the Promotion of
ment. His brother and brother-in-law were both as- Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which placed
sassinated in Peshawar in 1983. harsh, systematic restrictions on women’s rights.
References Immediately thereafter, girls over the age of eight
Guistozzi, Antonio. 2000. War, Politics, and Society in were prohibited from attending school, the
Afghanistan, 1978–1992. Washington, DC: Women’s University of Kabul was closed, and fe-
Georgetown University Press. males were forced to leave their employment. Fur-
ther, all women had to stay at home, out of sight of
WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN male passersby, and they were only allowed in pub-
Women had long played significant roles in Afghan- lic places if they were clad from head to foot in
istan’s education, health, and civil service sectors, chadaris (long garments that covered the entire per-
but they began to figure on the political scene with son) and accompanied by a close male relative. The
the arrival of the Marxist regime in Kabul in 1978 burqa (veil) had been introduced from the Arab
and the subsequent Soviet intervention. In 1977, the world during the Soviet invasion, but the Taliban
Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghani- did not consider use of the burqa alone as sufficient.
stan (RAWA) was founded, with the objective of A large percentage of women under the Tal-
fighting for human rights and social justice for iban—probably as high as 64 percent—had no ac-
women in the country. RAWA wanted to involve cess to health facilities because of the problems of
more women in social and political activities, to ac- finding a female doctor or the high cost of the
quire human rights for women, and to aid the strug- chadaris they were required to wear in public. Be-
gle to establish a government based on democratic cause the chadari is an expensive garment, women
and secular values. in poor villages sometimes shared one such garment
However, after the Saur Revolt of April 1978, and had to take turns to visit the local market, other
which brought the Communists to power, and the public places, or their doctors. If no female doctor
Soviet intervention in the next year, members of was available and women had to visit a male doctor,
RAWA and other women in Afghanistan became they had to remain fully dressed during the visit,
embroiled in the resistance movement, suffered se- making diagnosis difficult.
vere deprivation, and were often the victims of acts This situation represented a radical change in the
of violence from forces on both sides of the fight. fortunes of women in Afghanistan: prior to the civil
The ten years of conflict against the Soviets and the war and the advent of the Taliban, they had been
Kabul government and the four years of civil war left both educated and employed. Indeed, in the early
many women widowed and with dependent fami- 1990s, women accounted for 50 percent of all stu-
lies, and they tended to form the bulk of the refugee dents, 70 percent of all teachers, 50 percent of all
and internally displaced persons population. university lecturers, and 50 percent of all civilian
The fall of the mujahideen government in Sep- government workers. In Kabul itself, 40 percent of
tember 1996 brought with it the rise of the funda- all doctors were female. These figures illustrate the
mentalist Taliban government—a regime based on impact the Taliban directives had on the society and
a strict interpretation of the Koran and the applica- economy of Afghanistan. It was also thought that,
tion of Shari’a law. It was the type of regime that before the Taliban, some 90 percent of the popula-
women in organizations such as RAWA opposed, tion believed women had the right to equal access to
just as they had consistently opposed the funda- education, the right to work opportunities, freedom
mentalist mujahideen groups from 1979 onward. of expression, protection under the law, and oppor-
However, the excesses of the Taliban regime brought tunities to participate in government. The Taliban
the issue of women’s rights in Afghanistan to the maintained that their policy with regard to women
WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN 273
Afghan women wait for food in a refugee camp, at Jallozai, Pakistan, 112 kilometers (70 miles) west of the capital Islamabad, 10 January
2001. The UN says renewed fighting in September displaced more than 70,000 civilians from the northeast Afghan province of Takhar,
driving thousands into Pakistan. (Reuters NewMedia Inc./Corbis)
emanated from their religion and culture, but the so many women were widows with dependant
Afghan belief system demonstrated that the Taliban families who relied on their income for suste-
had no right to claim that their human rights viola- nance. It therefore became critical for the UN
tions of women were culturally validated. agencies and NGOs to try to direct aid to women
The Taliban government had also blatantly vio- and children, but even this was made more diffi-
lated all agreements on women’s rights, including cult by the edict issued by the Taliban forbidding
the International Covenant of Economic, Social, women to work for NGOs. In addition, male aid
and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which had been workers were not allowed to make contact with
signed by Afghanistan on 24 January 1983. The women, and as a result, agencies were forced ei-
covenant is supposed to protect women from gen- ther to withdraw from Afghanistan or to curtail
der-based violence and guarantee them specific their activities. Throughout this period, areas not
rights: the right to life; the right not to be subjected under Taliban control did not follow these edicts,
to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treat- and in the Panjshir Valley, Herat, and Mazar-i
ment or punishment; the right to liberty and secu- Sharif, women still continued to fully participate
rity; and the right to equality before the law, with in Afghan life. But once areas came under Taliban
definitive protection against gender-based discrimi- control, the situation changed. However, the area
nation. The treatment of women by the Taliban was controlled by the Northern Alliance in the Pan-
in contravention of every agreement that had been jshir Valley was never under Taliban control, and
entered into by former Afghan governments. at the Bonn Conference held in December 2001,
The ban on the employment of females was es- one of the representatives of the Northern Al-
pecially significant because, as a result of the wars, liance was Amena Afzali, a woman.
274 WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN
The fall of the Taliban and the formation of the including the wearing of the chadari and the ban-
Interim Government in December 2001 brought ning of music. The group has asked the government
new hope for women in Afghanistan. The first evi- in Kabul to prohibit harassment and abuse of
dence of a resurgence of pre-Taliban conditions was women and to appoint new governors in provinces
the return to education of some 3 million children, where abuses are taking place. It has also urged in-
30 percent of them girls, in 2002. In addition, a spe- ternational donors to support the work of Afghan
cial scheme was launched in Kabul by the UN Chil- women and women’s groups throughout Afghani-
dren’s Fund (UNICEF) to help females catch up on stan. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has
the lost years of education, with a three-month pro- been asked to expand monitoring activities and to
gram during the schools’ winter break in 2001and make efforts to strengthen the Afghan Human
2002 that attracted some 15,000 girls. The figure far Rights Commission. Human Rights Watch has crit-
exceeded expectations, and the program was ex- icized the Coalition forces, as well, charging that
tended to girls whose schooling had also suffered their support of repressive warlords is damaging
when they were exiled from Afghanistan’s long-run- women’s right in Afghanistan and betraying the
ning conflicts. promises made regarding the liberation of Afghan
The United Nations also launched a campaign, women.
beginning on 26 January 2003, to immunize Afghan On 27 January 2003, the Afghan minister of
women against tetanus, with the goal of having all women’s affairs, Habiba Suraby, expressed concern
women of childbearing age immunized by 2005; about the situation in Herat and announced plans
currently, on a countrywide basis, only 13 percent of to visit the region. The United Nations also an-
women have been inoculated. In February 2003, nounced plans to send a human rights team into
UNICEF, in cooperation with the Afghan govern- the region to discuss the restrictions on women’s
ment, launched a teacher-training program aimed education imposed by the provincial authorities.
at reaching 70,000 educators, with an emphasis on According to these restrictions, for example, men
retraining women to enable them to take up their were not able to teach women and girls, mixed-sex
educational professions again. The courses focus on classes were no longer allowed, and boys and girls
Afghan traditional literature and folklore, new styles were not permitted to be in school at the same
of teaching, Afghan languages, child development, time. Furthermore, because female teachers were in
and land-mine awareness training. The latter is seen short supply, opportunities for education became
as a important element in education, for land mines severely limited for females. In some areas, schools
and unexploded ordnance cause about 300 deaths have been burned or shelled, and pamphlets warn
or injuries a month in Afghanistan, with the major- families not to send their daughters to school. The
ity of the victims being children. situation had been complicated by the fact that Is-
However, concerns are currently being expressed ma’il Khan’s ruling had been upheld by the Afghan
by human rights and women’s groups in regard to chief justice, Maulavi Fazel Hadi Shinwari, who re-
the treatment of women in the western province of fused to allow mixed-sex education, though it was
Herat, under the governor Isma’il Khan. Clearly, unclear whether this ruling would be enforced by
women and girls are being forced to live under the the Kabul government.
very restrictions that were imposed by the Taliban. On another front, support for women is being
Human Rights Watch found that women’s rights provided by organizations such as the Foundation
and jobs had improved slightly since the fall of the for International Community Assistance (FINCA),
Taliban but that the improvement had been tem- which, on 12 November 2002, announced the estab-
pered by growing government repression of social lishment of a microcredit program to provide small
and political life, with women’s groups being cen- amounts of capital, ranging from $50 to $300, to
sored and female leaders being intimidated and also begin or expand businesses. In Afghanistan, FINCA
sidelined from the administration in Herat. aims to provide credit and other financial services
Human Rights Watch has also reported that out- for returning female refugees and other women,
side of Kabul, government troops and officials are many of whom are widows with dependent fami-
regularly targeting women and girls for abuse and, lies, and orphans. Although it is recognized that
in some areas, even reimposing Taliban restrictions, small loans will not make an impact on the coun-
WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN 275
try’s economy, it is felt that they will have a major ef- outside, and women and their children live in a
fect on individual women. FINCA also intends to state of hopelessness. Much remains to be done in
introduce village banking to provide seed capital this area if the basic human rights for women are to
and to ensure that women dependent on their own be realized.
activities can obtain more reliable sources of in- See also: Humanitarian Relief; Reconstruction Program;
come. This operation is similar to that conducted by Refugee Problem; Revolutionary Association of
RAWA, though on a much larger scale and with in- Women of Afghanistan
ternational backing. References
It is evident that women are still suffering at the Coursen-Neff, Zama, and John Sifton. 2003. “ Afghan
hands of conservative Islamic judges, who often Regression.” http://www.postconflict.unep.ch/high1
take a skeptical view of victimized women. A re- .htm (cited 21 January 2003).
porter visiting Kabul’s women’s prison in February Dupree, Nancy Hatch. 1998. Afghan Women under the
2003 came across several examples of injustice to- Taliban. In Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan and
ward women and disproportionate sentences for the Taliban, edited by William Maley, 145–166.
women as compared to those meted out to men London: Hurst.
Lindgreen, Rose V. “Women under the Taliban.”
found guilty of the same offense. Women with little
Humanist 62, no. 4: 21–25.
status or no education have almost no recourse Marsden, Peter. 1998. The Taliban: War, Religion and the
against actions brought by husbands or in-laws. In New Order in Afghanistan. London and New York:
the rural areas, some of the restrictions imposed by Zed Books.
the Taliban have been lifted, but the fundamental “‘We Want to Live as Humans’: Repression of Women
primacy of Islamic and tribal law still prevails. Con- and Girls in Western Afghanistan.” 2002. http://www.
ditions in the women’s prison are harsh, conditions hrw.org/reports/2002/afghanwmn1202/ (cited 2
are filthy, food is poor unless supplemented from December 2002).
YALANTUSH KHAN (?–1886)
Until 1837, Yalantush Khan was chief of the
Jamshidis of Herat and was then sent by the amir, to-
gether with 1,000 families, to colonize Bala Murghab.
In March 1884, he was appointed governor of Pan-
Y
jdeh and took part in military actions against the
Russians on 30 March 1885 but was then placed In an attempt to preserve his throne,Yaqub sought
under surveillance by the authorities. At the time, the to make peace with Britain and signed the Treaty of
Afghan Boundary Commission was operating in Gandomak, which forced him to accept a British mis-
northern Afghanistan trying to resolve boundary is- sion to Kabul under Sir Pierre Louis Cavagnari, who
sues, and Yalantush was banned from having contact arrived in July 1879. However, on 3 September, rebel-
with the team. He was removed as chief of the lious soldiers and Kabul citizens attacked the British
Jamshidis and replaced by a weak leader, Hadir Kuli mission and killed Cavagnari and his staff. As a result,
Khan, but he still retained the respect of the British Yaqub was forced to abdicate in October 1879, to be
officers in the commission. In June 1886, he was replaced as ruler by Abdur Rahman Khan. He then
taken, with his family, to Kabul, suspected of having left for India, where he died in exile in 1923. Britain,
been in contact with the Russian authorities. How- meanwhile, had extricated its troops from Afghani-
ever, it is thought that this charge was fabricated by stan for fear of another disastrous involvement simi-
the governor of Herat to gain control of the Jamshidi lar to the First Anglo-Afghan War.
and Firozkoti tribes. Nevertheless, Yalantush was be- References
lieved to have been executed in December 1886. Gregorian, Vartan. 1969. The Emergence of Modern
References Afghanistan: Politics of Reform and Modernization,
Tate, George Passman. 1975. The Kingdom of Afghanistan: 1880–1946. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
A Historical Sketch. New York: AMS Press.
YAQUBI, GEN. GHULAM FARUQ (1938–1992)
YAQUB KHAN, AMIR MUHAMMAD Gen. Ghulam Faruq Yaqubi was a significant figure
(C. 1849–1923) in the Afghan Security Service, KHAD, from 1980
Yaqub Khan was the son of Amir Shir Ali and gov- to 1985, becoming president of the organization in
ernor of Herat but had designs on Kandahar and 1985 after Dr. Muhammad Najibullah. He was
was angered when the amir gave the governorship then upgraded to minister of state security, and he
to another son, Abdullah Jan. In 1871, Yaqub Khan held this position in 1988 and 1990 as an impor-
rebelled and marched on Kabul, but he was defeated tant ally of Najibullah. In 1986, he had also be-
and forced to return to Herat; he was pardoned by come a member of the Politburo of the People’s
the amir and reappointed as governor. On promise Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), proba-
of safe conduct, he went to Kabul, but the amir did bly as a result of his alliance with Najibullah. His
not hold to the safe conduct promise, and Yaqub formal education had taken place within the
Khan was kept in confinement until December Afghan police force, for he had studied at the
1978 when the British invaded Afghanistan. Follow- Kabul police academy, and then in West Germany
ing the British invasion, Amir Shir Ali left for north- before becoming a lecturer at the Kabul academy
ern Afghanistan to seek Russian support, having ap- in 1961. He then became director of operations
pointed Yaqub as his regent. When Shir Ali died on and general director of the criminal department of
21 February 1879, Yaqub proclaimed himself amir. the Ministry of Interior before moving into state
277
278 YAR MUHAMMAD, WAZIR
security. Yaqubi is said to have committed suicide the elder man died in 1863. In May 1886, after Amir
on 16 April 1992, but other reports contend that he Shir Ali was defeated by Afzal Khan at the Battle of
was assassinated by a Parchami rival. Saidabad, he deserted Shir Ali to join the victor, but
References when Shir Ali regained power, he switched sides
Grover, Verinder. 2000. Afghanistan: Government and again. In 1877, Yussuf became governor of Girishk,
Politics. New Delhi: Deep and Deep Publications. but when Shir Ali fled from Kabul in 1878, he also
fled to Herat. However, he was ordered to return to
YAR MUHAMMAD, WAZIR (?–1851) Kabul by Amir Yaqub Khan and dispatched again to
Wazir Yar Muhammad was the prime minister Girishk as governor, a post he held until the out-
under Prince Kamran, who ruled Herat from 1830 break of war on 3 September 1879.
to 1842, and in this position, he held the real power. Yussuf was a member of a mission sent to meet
Reputed to be a capable administrator but with a Abdur Rahman and he remained in Kabul for the
cruel nature, he is best remembered for his defense proclamation of Abdur Rahman as amir on 22 July
of Herat against Persian incursions in 1833 and 1880. Yussuf was then made governor of Kabul, a
from 1837 to 1838. In the latter siege, the Persians post he held until 1881, when he was supposed to
were supported by the Russian General Borovski, take up a post as governor of Kandahar. This move
whereas the British officer, Maj. Eldred Pottinger, was opposed by factions within the province, and he
supported Prince Kamran; as a reward, the major accompanied the amir in charge of forces to defeat
was appointed political officer to the ruler. In 1842, the opposition led by Sardar Ayub. However, rather
the wazir (chief adviser to the ruler) had the prince than moving into the governor’s position, he was in-
assassinated and embarked on a conquest of the stead sent by the amir to Herat with a small force of
western region of Afghan Turkestan, having allied cavalry and infantry to retake the province from the
himself through marriage with Akbar Khan, the son forces of Ayub Khan. He returned from Farah in
of Amir Dost Muhammad. 1883 when Herat was captured by Quddus Khan
References and was sent to depose Ibrahim Khan of
Pottinger, George. 1983. The Afghan Connection: The Chamnkarsur, which he achieved with only a regi-
Extraordinary Adventures of Major Eldred Pottinger. ment of troops. In April 1884, he was appointed as
Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. governor of Farah, a post he held until 1888.
See also: Herat Province
YUSSUF KHAN, MUHAMMAD (1855–?) References
Muhammad Yussuf Khan was the son of Amir Dost Dupree, Louise. 1980. Afghanistan. Princeton, NJ:
Muhammad and was with his father at Herat when Princeton University Press.
ZABIBULLAH, ABDUL QADIR (1951–1984)
A member of the Organization of Muslim Youth,
which became part of the Islamist Movement,
Abdul Qadir Zabibullah became a successful mu-
jahideen commander operating with Ahmad Shah
Z
Masood, military commander of the Northern Al-
liance. He was born in Mazar-i Sharif in 1951 and Ghilzai tribe. The area is constantly swept by winds
was educated at elementary and secondary school and is extremely arid, with the only productive land
in the town before taking a job as a teacher at being in the valleys of the Tarnak and Arghastan
Bakhtar High School. He became a supporter of the Rivers, together with a few areas irrigated by the tra-
Jawanan-i-Muslimin (an Islamic movement and ditional qanat or kariz systems. The province is,
forerunner of the Islamic Society of Afghanistan) however, noted for its almond trees: almonds are a
but left for Pakistan following the Saur Revolt of major export and important to the economy of the
April 1978, which brought the Communists to area. The Zabulis are also renowned for their
power. He returned to Pakistan in 1979 and joined prowess at the traditional game of tent pegging
the mujahideen movement, becoming active in the (maiza bazi), which requires great skill in spearing
resistance in Baghlan Province and in Mazar-i pegs that have been fixed in the ground.
Sharif, where he linked up with Masood, adopting References
the nom de guerre Zabibullah. His activities were Adamec, Ludwig W. 1972–1985. Historical and Political
initially in the Panjshir Valley; he became an ex- Gazetteer of Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria:
tremely capable coordinator of guerrilla activities in Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt.
the area and an able administrator of the territory
controlled by the mujahideen. On 11 November ZAHIR SHAH, MOHAMMED (1914– )
1984, he was killed when his vehicle struck a land Mohammed Zahir Shah was the only surviving son
mine. His death led to the collapse of organized re- of Nadir Shah and reigned as king of Afghanistan
sistance in the Mazar-i Sharif area. He was a mem- from 1933 to 1973 before being forced to abdicate.
ber of the Islamic Society of Afghanistan. He was educated in Kabul and France, becoming
References king on 8 November 1933 following the assassination
Karp, Craig. 1984. Afghan Resistance and Soviet of his father. During the early part of his reign until
Occupation: A Five-Year Summary. Washington, DC: 1946, real power rested with his uncles Muhammad
U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs. Hashim and Shah Mahmud Ghazi, with the former
holding the position of minister of war and com-
ZABUL PROVINCE mander-in-chief and the latter prime minister. The
Zabul is a province in south-central Afghanistan, king’s cousin Muhammad Daud succeeded Ghazi as
occupying an area of 6,590 square miles and having prime minister in 1953, a position he held until 1963
a population of some 181,000. The administrative when the king forced his resignation.
center is Qalat, which is located 87 miles northeast During the early period of Zahir’s rule, a prolif-
of Kandahar; the British occupied its fort during the eration of newspapers and journals instigated a de-
Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878 to 1879). The bate among intellectuals on the problems of mod-
population of the province is largely Pashtun in the ernization, the relationship of Islam to society and
north and Hazara in the south, and the capital has a the individual, and the relationship between mod-
population of about 40,000, mainly from the ernization and Islam. Archaeological explorations
279
280 ZAHIR SHAH, MOHAMMED
were also taking place in Afghanistan during this pe- Afghan control or securing independence or auton-
riod and revealing evidence of the country’s past omy for the region—thus guaranteeing support
glories, leading modernizers to see the exploration from the powerful Pashtun tribes.
of the past as a means of restoring Afghan glory and Daud’s policies required outside assistance, but
diminishing the role of religion. It must be noted, due to the prevailing Cold War politics, the United
however, that these discussions were restricted to States was not prepared to meet Daud’s needs, es-
the elite and did not percolate down to the largely pecially in the military sector, and he was forced to
conservative general populace. turn to the Soviet Union for assistance and tech-
The economy of Afghanistan also developed nical expertise. As a consequence, Afghanistan be-
during this period, with the introduction of bank- came ignored by the West and was increasingly
ing institutions, the development of trade in exports drawn into the orbit of the Soviet Union, even as
of agricultural products, and an increase in the tran- its relations with neighbor Pakistan continued to
sit trade with Central Asia following improved rela- deteriorate. On the social front, Daud pursued re-
tions with the Soviet Union. The country had also forms in women’s issues and education, though
benefited from remaining neutral during World the effects on the female population were mainly
War II, and it became a haven for refugees from restricted to women living in Kabul. A road sys-
Central Asia, many of whom provided cheap tech- tem connecting all the major cities and providing
nical expertise for the development program. On links with Pakistan was also constructed, with as-
the political scene, there was a relaxation of control sistance from the United States. Ultimately, how-
and an increase in international ties, especially with ever, because of the continued clashes with Pak-
the United States. Further political reforms were in- istan over the Pashtunistan issue and his own
stituted in 1949, resulting in the reformists securing autocratic methods, Daud became a liability to the
a third of the seats in the new assembly. In addition, government, and the king forced his resignation
laws were passed to establish a free press, and there- in 1963.
after, new newspapers and journals sprang up In 1964, Zahir Shah promulgated a new consti-
overnight, most of them pursuing a reformist tution, one objective of which was to exclude certain
agenda while still pledging loyalty to the monarch. A members of the royal family from holding govern-
student union was also established at Kabul Univer- ment positions, particularly those of prime minis-
sity, with many of its leading participants having ter, Supreme Court judge, or member of parlia-
been members of Awakened Youth, an organization ment. The measure was largely directed against
founded in 1947. The student union began to pur- Muhammad Daud, whose foreign policy had been
sue an agenda directed against the abuses of the extremely unsuccessful, based as it was on Pashtun
royal family and the misuse of Islam to sustain in- nationalism. The constitution had several liberal el-
justice. However, the government closed the student ements: it provided for a bicameral parliament, free
union in 1951, which was followed by press closures elections, a free press, and the formation of political
in 1952. parties. This period of political tolerance was largely
One year later, Muhammad Daud, cousin and unsuccessful because members of parliament could
brother-in-law of the king, became prime minister, not establish working coalitions to bring about a
and his policies were very much of a reformist na- stable government. Measures regarding the estab-
ture: he regarded the government as too conserva- lishment of political parties were never ratified by
tive, the religious bodies as too reactionary, and the the king, and so parties were not legally permitted.
newly emerging capitalists as too powerful. It was They were, however, tolerated, and political mani-
Daud’s intention to pursue reformist policies by festos appeared in periodicals and privately printed
bringing the intellectuals into government and by newspapers. As a result, all members of parliament
increasing the strength of the military to ensure sta- were independent, and political infighting ensued. It
ble government. At the same time, he sought to was evident that Zahir Shah had not seized the op-
court public support for military expenditures by portunity of constitutional reform to take a firm
highlighting the question of Pashtunistan—which grasp on the reins of government, and his rule dur-
the Pashtuns pursued with the objective of either ing this period was characterized by indecision and
bringing the Pashtun tribes in Pakistan back under procrastination.
ZHAWAR, BATTLE OF 281
However, Afghanistan received considerable Province in a successful quelling of the Dare Khal
amounts of foreign aid from both the West and the Revolt. Although he lived most of his life in Kabul,
Soviet Union, and the capital area experienced sub- he was nonetheless an important and influential fig-
stantial economic growth. But the economic boom ure in the area occupied by the Mangal tribe.
was not experienced throughout Afghanistan or See also Khost Rebellion
across all strata of society. In July 1973, while the References
king was abroad, Muhammad Daud staged a suc- Poullada, Leon B. Reform and Rebellion in Afghanistan,
cessful coup, resulting in the abdication of Zahir 1919–1929. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Shah and his exile in Rome. At the fall of the Taliban
in 2001, there were calls for the king to return from ZAMAN, SHAH (1772–1844)
exile to lead the Interim Government, but he indi- Shah Zaman was one of the twenty-three sons of
cated an unwillingness to take on this role. However, Timur Shah, and at the time of his father’s death in
members of his entourage were involved in the De- 1793, he was governor of Kabul. He succeeded to
cember 2001 Bonn negotiations to establish an in- the throne. Although he ruled for ten years, most of
terim government, and the Rome group of exiles the period was spent in civil war struggles with his
were represented in the new body. It was also agreed brothers Mahmud and Humayun. He also planned
that Zahir Shah would chair the first meeting of the to invade India to defeat the Maratha Confedera-
Loya Jirga (Great Council), which was charged with tion (an alliance of Indian rulers opposed to British
setting up a representative government at the expi- conquest of India), but the British concluded a
ration of the Interim Government’s mandate. The treaty with Persia in order to keep the Afghans out
former king still retains a large measure of political of India.
support among some of the Pashtun tribes and else- In 1798, the Sikhs revolted in Lahore and massa-
where has been accepted as a leading member of cred the Afghan garrison there, but Shah Zaman re-
Afghan society, though he still maintains that he has stored order and appointed Ranjit Singh governor
no interest in a position of power within the post- of Lahore. He also abolished the hereditary posts es-
Taliban government. tablished by Ahmad Shah Durrani and operated a
References repressive regime that carried out numerous execu-
Dixit, J. 2000. An Afghan Diary: Zahir Shah to Taliban. tions, thus antagonizing much of the population.
New Delhi: Konark Publishers. While he was on a visit to the Punjab, there was a re-
Magnus, Ralph, and Eden Naby. 2000. Afghanistan: volt in Kandahar, which brought his brother Mah-
Mullah, Marx and Mujahid. Boulder, CO: Westview mud to power, and Shah Zaman was forced to flee
Press. to Peshawar. Subsequently, he was captured and
taken back to Kabul, where he was blinded and im-
ZALMAI KHAN (?–1960) prisoned. However, he escaped and fled to India,
Zalmai Khan was one of the leaders of the Khost Re- where he lived in exile until his death in 1844.
bellion in 1925, which was led by the Mangal tribe References
and was a protest against the reform program of Malleson, George B. History of Afghanistan from the
King Amanullah. After the defeat of the rebel forces, Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878.
Zalmai took refuge in Kurram, but he was arrested London: W. H. Allen.
and deported to Abbottabad in 1925. A year later, he Schofield, Victoria. 1984. North West Frontier and
was taken back to Kabul as a guest of the king and Afghanistan. New Delhi: D. K. Agencies.
pardoned, enabling him to return to Khost later that
year. He was active in politics again in 1929, aiding ZHAWAR, BATTLE OF (1986)
Nadir Shah in his successful campaign against Zhawar is a village located south of Parachinar in
Habibullah Kalakani, thus securing the Afghan Khost Province, some 6 miles from the Pakistan
throne for Nadir Shah. In 1930, he was appointed border. It was the location of a major base along the
Naib Sular, and on 30 May, he was responsible for supply route used by the mujahideen for attacks on
negotiating a successful customs duties agreement the government garrison at Khost; indeed, its signif-
with the Ghilzais in Ghazni. In November 1932, he icance is illustrated by the fact that 60 percent of
accompanied Shah Mahmud to Gardez in Paktia mujahideen supplies moved along that route. The
282 ZIRAI, SALEH MUHAMMAD
base had been built by a Pakistani construction hours later. Claims and counterclaims were made
company and featured large, underground facilities with regard to the casualties inflicted, with Kabul
with tunnels containing living quarters, medical fa- saying government forces killed 2,000 mujahideen
cilities, and storage for weapons and ammunition. and wounded 4,000, whereas the mujahideen put
The facility had electricity provided by its own gen- their losses at 300 and claimed to have killed or
erators, which also permitted radio communica- wounded 1,500 of the government forces and taken
tions. The base was defended by commanders of the 100 prisoners. Regardless of these conflicting claims,
forces of Sayyed Ahmad Gailani, Gulbuddin Hek- it is clear that the government campaign was unsuc-
matyar, and Muhammad Nabi, with one of the cessful, as the mujahideen were not displaced from
noted commanders being Jalaluddin Hagani. the area.
The base was administered and protected by See also Soviet War in Afghanistan
some 400 mujahideen, and there were some 10,000 References
mujahideen forces patrolling between Zhawar and Galeotti, Mark. 1995. Afghanistan, the Soviet Union’s Last
Ali Khel, with reinforcements readily available War. Portland, OR: Frank Cass.
from across the Pakistan border. The base was well
defended, as the mujahideen had antiaircraft pro- ZIRAI, SALEH MUHAMMAD (1936– )
tection, blowpipe missiles, shoulder-fired SA-7s, Saleh Muhammad Zirai was a founding member of
heavy artillery, mortars, and an antitank minefield. the Khalq faction of the People’s Democratic Party
The base was a thorn in the side of the Kabul gov- of Afghanistan (PDPA) and was a member of
ernment, which sought to destroy the facility and PDPA’s Central Committee in 1988. In July 1979, he
to close off the supply lines of the mujahideen had been appointed minister of health, and in the
forces. following May, Babrak Karmal appointed him to the
In April 1986, the government in Kabul, with So- PDPA Politburo and made him secretary of the
viet assistance, began a campaign against Zhawar, Central Committee. His success continued under
with Gen. Shanawaz Tanai in overall control and the Muhammad Najibullah, who appointed him in
Soviet-Afghan contingent being led by Brig. Abdul 1986 to the Council of Ministers and, in 1988, made
Ghafur. The combined forces numbered some him a chair of the House of Representatives. How-
12,000 men, with the Soviets providing one air as- ever, he was implicated in the attempted coup staged
sault regiment and the Afghans deploying units by Shanawaz Tanai and was expelled from the PDPA
from the Seventh and Eighth Divisions from Kabul, on 8 March 1990 and imprisoned.
the Twelfth Division from Gardez, and the Four- He was born in Kandahar and educated in the
teenth Division from Ghazni and Khost. Progress Faculty of Medicine at Kabul University. In 1969, he
toward Zhawar was slow because resistance was stood for parliament but was arrested and impris-
heavy, but the base was reached on 11 April 1986. oned for six years for opposing the government.
The Kabul government forces isolated the base and References
destroyed the underground facilities with laser- Brigot, Andre, and Olivier Roy. 1988. The War in
guided bombs. Although the base was captured, the Afghanistan: An Account and Analysis of the Country,
government forces withdrew shortly after, and the Its People, Soviet Intervention, and the Resistance.
mujahideen reoccupied the area some forty-eight New York: Harvester-Wheatsheaf.
2000–1000 B.C. Arians move from northern
522–486
Afghanistan to northern India
Afghan region comes under

Chronology
Achaemenid Empire of Darius I
330–327 Alexander the Great arrives and rules

1716 Abdali revolt occurs in Herat
Bactria; Balkh becomes province of
Greek Empire
1747 Ahmad Shah Durrani crowned,
beginning twenty-six-year reign; he
50 A.D.–250 Afghanistan region is part of
will unite Afghan tribes and establish
Kushanid Empire
Sadozai dynasty
225–600s Sassanids establish control over
1748 Durrani attacks Lahore, and India is
region
invaded for third time; Ahmad Shah
becomes suzerain ruler of India;
652–664 First conquests made by Arab
coins struck in his name
Muslims
1761 Afghans defeat Maratha
Eighth–Tenth Hindushahis rule Kabul and eastern
Confederation; Ahmad Shah’s
Centuries Afghanistan
empire incorporates Kashmir, the
Punjab, and part of Baluchistan
997–1150 Ghaznavids rule Afghanistan
1186 Ghorids succeed Ghaznavids 1769–1770 Ahmad Shah advances into

Khorasan
1227–1350 Kurt dynasty rules in Balkh, Ghazni,
and Sarakhs 1772 Ahmad Shah dies on 16 October
1370 Timur-i-Lang crowned in Balkh 1773 Timur Shah crowned, beginning

twenty-year reign; he will move
1405–1506 Timurid rule in Balkh and Herat capital from Kandahar to Kabul and
wage campaigns in Sind and
1504–1525 Region invaded by Babur; Kabul Bukhara
established as capital
1793 Zaman Shah comes to power,
1600 British East India Company beginning six-year reign
established
1798 British policy of containing
1648 Kandahar captured by Persians Afghanistan is established in effort
to prevent further invasions of
1709–1738 Ghilzais dynasty established; also India; Persia seen as partner in this
rules Iran policy; Sikh revolt occurs in
Lahore, and Afghan garrison is
1713 Mir Wais revolt erupts in Kandahar massacred
283
284 CHRONOLOGY
1800 Mahmud Shah deposes Shah Shuja, Shah Shuja to restore latter to Afghan
beginning three-year rule throne
9 September Siege of Herat lifted
1803 Shah Shuja regains throne from 1 October Britain breaks diplomatic relations
Mahmud Shah with Dost Muhammad and declares
war
1805 Persia launches unsuccessful attack
on Herat 1839 First Anglo-Afghan War is waged,
beginning on 14 April
1809 British envoy Mountstuart 25 April British forces under Sir John Keane
Elphinstone and Shah Shuja sign arrive at Kandahar
defensive alliance, first official 23 July British forces capture Ghazni
contact between Afghanistan and 2 August Amir Dost Muhammad flees from
European power; Shah Mahmud Kabul
defeats Shah Shuja at Gandomak 7 August Kabul occupied by British Army of
and will rule until Barakzai revolt in the Indus
1817 15 October Bengal regiments begin return march
to India
1816 Another Persian attack on Herat is 18 October Bombay regiments begin to move
unsuccessful back to India
1818 Civil war erupts in Afghanistan; 1840

kingdom becomes a series of August Amir Dost Muhammad leaves
virtually independent states; Ranjit Bukhara
Singh seizes Peshawar and conquers 2 November Dost Muhammad surrenders to
Kashmir British army
12 November Dost Muhammad leaves for exile in
1826 Dost Muhammad, ruler of Ghazni, India
captures Kabul
1841
1833 Persians lay siege to Herat 2 November Sir Alexander Burnes and staff of
British mission killed in Kabul
1834 Dost Muhammad defeats Shah Shuja 7 November Sardar Muhammad Akbar returns to
and occupies Kandahar; Afghanistan Bamian
loses Peshawar to Sikhs 18 November Sir William Macnaghten
recommends continued defense of
1835 Dost Muhammad’s first period of Kabul
rule begins 13 December British forces evacuate Bala Hisar
22 December British troops ordered to evacuate
1837 Lord Auckland appointed governor- Ghazni, Kandahar, and Jalalabad
general of India; Akbar Khan, son of 23 December Macnaghten assassinated by Sardar
Dost Muhammad, defeats Sikhs at Muhammad Akbar; mutiny occurs at
Jamrud Kandahar
August Eldred Pottinger arrives at Herat
20 September Alexander Burnes arrives in Kabul as 1842
British emissary January Treaty of Capitulation ratified
23 November Herat besieged again by Persians 6 January British forces begin retreat from Kabul
19 December Capt. Ivan Vitkevich arrives in Kabul 13 January British army makes last stand at
as an emissary from Russia Jagdalak; sole survivor, surgeon
Brydon, arrives at Jalalabad
1838 5 April General Pollock’s forces cross the
26 April Alexander Burnes leaves Kabul Khyber Pass
26 June Treaty signed between Ranjit Singh, 7 April Afghans defeated in Battle of
British East India Company, and Jalalabad
CHRONOLOGY 285
25 April Shah Shuja assassinated by Shiya-ud- 1866 Afzal becomes amir; Shir Ali flees to
Daula at Kabul Kandahar
May General Pollock arrives at Jalalabad;
Kalat-i-Ghilzai relieved; Sardar 1867 Amir Afzal dies
Akhbar captures Bala Hasir
June Fateh Khan becomes amir until 1868 Azam becomes amir
September
7 August Kandahar evacuated 1869 Shir Ali defeats Azam; Abdur
20 August General Pollock moves from Rahman goes into exile in
Jalalabad, skirmishes with Afghan Samarkand; Britain recognizes Shir
forces near Gandomak Ali as amir but refuses to recognize
5 September British forces reenter Ghazni his son, Abdullah Jan, as successor
15 September General Pollock arrives at Kabul; March Ambala Conference held between
bazaar set on fire, city plundered, and Amir Shir Ali and the viceroy of
much destroyed India, Lord Mayo
19 September General Nott arrives in Kabul
12 October British forces leave Kabul
1872 Granville-Gorchakoff Agreement
December Dost Muhammad returns to Kabul,
between Britain and Russia
is recognized as amir by Britain, and
guarantees Afghanistan is outside of
begins rule of twenty-one years
Russia’s sphere of influence; Sistan
boundary marked by British
1845 Akbar Khan dies
commission; Abdullah Jan named as
heir to throne; Yaqub Khan, eldest
1855 Treaty of Peshawar reestablishes
son of Shir Ali, revolts and flees to
diplomatic links between Britain and
Herat; Russians take Khiva
Afghanistan; Dost Muhammad
retakes Kandahar
1872 Ayub Khan imprisoned in Kabul by
1856 Shir Ali; Russia establishes boundary
October Persian forces capture Herat and between Afghanistan and its new
occupy city for some months territories and promises to respect
Afghan territorial integrity
1857
January Anglo-Afghan Treaty signed in 1876 Quetta occupied by the British
Peshawar, which guarantees
Afghanistan’s territorial integrity and 1878
provides subsidy for Dost 22 July Russian mission led by General
Muhammad Stolietoff arrives in Kabul for talks
with Shir Ali
1859 Britain captures Baluchistan, and 21 September British envoy Gen. Sir Neville
Afghanistan becomes landlocked Chamberlain denied passage to
Kabul by Gen. Faiz Muhammad,
1863 Dost Muhammad retakes Herat but commander of Ali Masjid; Britain
dies shortly afterward; Shir Ali gives Shir Ali an ultimatum,
ascends Afghan throne and will demanding his apology to
spend two years putting down revolts Chamberlain
by his half brothers Azam and Afzal November General Grodekoff arrives in Herat
and his brother Muhammad Amin; from Samarkand
Abdur Rahman and Azam attack 21 November Second Anglo-Afghan War begins;
Kabul and free Abdur Rahman’s Sir Samuel Brown attacks Fort Ali
father Masjid; General Roberts crosses
Afghan border at Thal; Gen. Donald
1865 Russia takes Bukhara, Tashkent, and Steward sets out from Quetta for
Samarkand Kandahar
286 CHRONOLOGY
22 November Fort Ali Masjid captured by British 31 August General Roberts arrives at
forces Kandahar
20 December Jalalabad occupied by General Brown 1 September Ayub Khan defeated at Baba Wali by
23 December Shir Ali leaves Kabul for the north General Roberts
and appoints Yaqub Khan governor 9 September British troops withdraw from Paiwar
of Kabul Kotal and the Kurram Valley and
return to India; withdrawal from
1879 Jalalabad begins
12 January Kandahar captured by General
Stewart; Qalat-i-Ghilzai captured 1881
thereafter 21 April British complete withdrawal from
21 February Amir Shir Ali dies at Mazar-i Sharif; Kandahar, marking end of Second
Yaqub Khan proclaimed as amir Anglo-Afghan War
26 May Treaty of Gandomak signed by Amir
Yaqub Khan and British 1883 Britain annexes Quetta district;
representative, Sir Louis Cavagnari Amir Abdur Rahman occupies
24 July Cavagnari takes up post as British Shignan and Roshan and is granted
envoy to Kabul a subsidy of 1.2 million rupees by
3 September Cavagnari and staff killed by Britain
rebellious Afghan soldiers and
civilian protestors 1884 Britain and Russia begin negotiations
6 October General Roberts’s army wins Battle of on northern boundary of
Charasia Afghanistan; British mission sent to
12 October Roberts occupies Kabul Herat, and Quetta railway started;
28 October Amir Yaqub Khan forced to abdicate Pul-i-Khatun occupied by Russia
14 December General Baker driven from Asmai
hills with large losses; Roberts 1885 Russia takes Zulfikar, Akrobat, and
abandons positions at Bala Hisar and the Panjdeh
Kabul and redeploys to Sharpur
15–22 December Communication lines of British 1886 Bolan railway to Quetta constructed
army cut by Muhammad Jan, who by Britain; British boundary
lays siege to Sharpur commission returns to India after
23 December Muhammad Jan defeated, and British visiting Kabul
move back to Bala Hisar
1887 Russia occupies Karki; final
1880 settlement reached between Britain
Mid-June Sardar Ayub Khan moves from Herat and Russia on demarcation of
to attack Kandahar Afghan-Russian frontier; Ayub Khan
10 July General Burrows and brigade of escapes from Persia and begins
troops move against Ayub Khan rebellion in Afghanistan, which fails;
22 July Abdur Rahman recognized by Britain he surrenders at Mashhad and is
as amir of Afghanistan exiled to India
27 July Battle of Maiwand occurs; General
Burrows is routed, and survivors seek 1888
security in Kandahar January Quetta railway extended by Britain to
6 August Ayub Khan moves into Kandahar Kila Abdullah
8 August British under General Roberts move July Ishaq Khan revolts in Turkestan but
from Kabul to Kandahar is forced to retreat to Samarkand
11 August General Stewart withdraws from
Kabul, and Amir Abdur Rahman 1891 Amir Abdur Rahman introduces
moves into city oath of allegiance on Koran for his
16 August Sortie launched on Kandahar by counselors
British garrison repulsed, with heavy
losses 1892 Hazara uprising suppressed
CHRONOLOGY 287
1893 1911 Afghan Young Movement (Wish

12 November Durand Agreement signed between Zalmyan) founded by Mahmoud
Britain and Afghanistan, demarcating Tarzi, with anti-British and pro-
eastern and southern borders of Turkish sentiments
Afghanistan; subsidy to Amir Abdur
Rahman is increased, and Britain 1914 Afghanistan declares neutrality
allows Afghanistan to import during World War I; Gen.
military equipment Muhammad Nadir Khan becomes
commander-in-chief of Afghan army
1896 Amir Abdur Rahman brings Kafiristan
into the Afghan state and renames area 1915
as the Province of Nuristan September German Hentig-Niedermayer
Expedition arrives in Afghanistan
1900 Russia presses Britain for right to and remains for nine months;
negotiate directly with Afghanistan members meet Amir Habibullah in
over northern borders Kabul
1901 1918 Kabul Museum opens

1 October Amir Abdur Rahman dies
3 October Habibullah proclaimed as amir and 1919
begins eighteen-year reign 20 February Amir Habibullah assassinated in
Laghman Province; Nasrullah Khan
1902 Sir Henry Dobbs begins reerection of named amir in Jalalabad
border pillars on Afghan-Russian 25 February Amanullah proclaimed amir in
border, with work completed in 1903 Kabul
28 February Nasrullah arrested by Amanullah
1903 Boundary with Sistan demarcated by 3 March Amanullah requests treaty
British mission led by A. H. negotiations with Britain
McMahon; Habibia Secondary 13 April Afghanistan’s independence
School opened in Kabul; Quetta-to- proclaimed by Amanullah.
Nushki railroad construction begun 1 May Afghan troops under Saleh
by Britain Muhammad Khan move to Indian
border, ostensibly on inspection tour
1905 Signing of Anglo-Afghan Treaty, 3 May British mission to Afghanistan
under which Amir Habibullah stopped by Afghan troops in
confirms agreements reached disputed border region between
between Britain and Amir Abdur Landi Khana and Torkham; Britain
Rahman in 1880 and 1893 responds by issuing ultimatum, and
Third Anglo-Afghan War begins
1905 McMahon arbitration award over 4 May Afghan troops occupy Bagh and cut
Sistan rejected by Iran water supply to Landi Kotal; jihad is
proclaimed
1905 7 May Afghan positions at Bagh reinforced;
January Amir Habibullah visits India Nadir Khan moves with troops to
31 August Anglo-Russian Convention signed to Khost
agree on spheres of influence in 8 May Uprising in Peshawar suppressed by
Afghanistan, Iran, and Tibet Britain
9 May British advance on Bagh held off by
1909 Attempt to assassinate Amir Afghan forces
Habibullah fails 11 May Second Battle of Bagh takes place
13 May British forces occupy Dakka
1910 Telephone is introduced in 21 May Gen. Nadir Khan crosses Indian
Afghanistan with opening of line frontier and advances on Thal
between Kabul and Jalalabad 24 May British Royal Air Force bombs Kabul
288 CHRONOLOGY
27 May Battle of Spin Boldak occurs October Criminal code adopted by

28 May Wali Muhammad Khan sent to government
Tashkent, Moscow, and European November Statute on marriage issued
capitals as envoy of King Amanullah December German legation opened in Kabul
2 June Armistice agreed to by Britain and
Afghanistan 1924
8 August Preliminary Anglo-Afghan Treaty January Amani High School founded; first
signed at Rawalpindi peace hospital for women and children
conference; Third Anglo-Afghan War established in Kabul
ends March Tribes in Khost Province rise in
September Soviet envoy arrives in Kabul protest against reforms of Amir
10 October Wali Muhammad Khan arrives in Amanullah
Moscow
1925
1920 January Khost rebellion put down
17 April Mussoorie Conference opens with
Mahmud Tarzi representing 1926 Afghan introduces the Afghani as
Afghanistan and Sir Henry Dobbs new monetary unit
representing Britain 3 March Treaty of Friendship signed with
18 July Mussoorie Conference concludes Germany
7 June Amir Amanullah adopts title of
1921 Amir of Bukhara seeks asylum in king
Afghanistan 15 August Soviet Union agrees to cede Urta
20 January Kabul conference between Tagai Islands in the Amu Daria River
Afghanistan and Britain opens to Afghanistan
28 February Afghanistan signs Treaty of 31 August Treaty of neutrality and
Friendship with Soviet Union nonaggression signed between
1 March Treaty of Friendship signed with Afghanistan and Soviet Union
Turkey
30 May Fundamental law of government of 1927 Anis founded as biweekly
Afghanistan comes into force newspaper; later becomes main
3 June Treaty of Friendship signed with national daily
Italy 27 November Treaty of neutrality and
22 June Treaty of Friendship signed with Iran nonaggression signed between
2 December Afghan-Anglo Treaty signed; Britain Afghanistan and Persia
recognizes Afghanistan as December King Amanullah goes on tour of
independent state in terms of India, Egypt, and Europe
internal and external relations;
diplomatic ties established 1928
25 May Treaty of Friendship and
1922 Collaboration signed with Turkey
28 April Diplomatic and commercial relations July King Amanullah returns to
agreed to between Afghanistan and Afghanistan and begins to introduce
France further reforms, particularly
9 September Afghanistan reaches agreement with regarding dress codes and purdah
France on conducting archaeological November Uprising of Shinwari tribesmen in
excavations in Afghanistan Jalalabad area takes place
December Uprising occurs in Kohistan, led by
1923 Habibullah Kalakani
January Istiqal High School founded 1929
10 April First Afghan constitution adopted 14 January King Amanullah renounces throne
5 June British-Afghan trade convention and abdicates; he is replaced by his
signed brother Enayatullah, who abdicates
September French legation opened in Kabul after three days
CHRONOLOGY 289
18 January Habibullah Kalakani proclaimed 1935

amir April W. H. Hornibrook becomes
14 October Nadir Khan’s forces seize Kabul nonresident U.S. ambassador to
3 November Habibullah Kalakani caught and Afghanistan
executed May Turkey begins arbitration over
Afghanistan’s boundary dispute with
1930 Persia
May Nadir Shah confirms validity of 8 June Zahir Shah opens National Assembly
1921 and 1923 Anglo-Afghan
agreements and all other 1936
international treaties Pashtu becomes official language of
20 September Nadir Shah agrees to statute Afghanistan
governing elections of members to March Treaty of noninterference and
National Assembly commerce signed with Soviet Union
26 March Treaty of Friendship signed with
1931 United States
24 June New treaty of neutrality and mutual
nonaggression signed by Afghanistan 1937
and Soviet Union Weekly air service between Berlin and
July National Assembly opened by Nadir Kabul started by Lufthansa; Turkish
Shah military mission arrives in Kabul
31 October Nadir Shah confirms adoption of 7 July Treaty of Saadabad signed by
new constitution Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Turkey
1932 Medical school is opened in Kabul; 1938

schools closed under Habibullah May Afghan air force expanded with
Kalakani are reopened planes purchased from Britain and
5 May Treaty of Friendship signed with Italy; arms purchased from Britain
Saudi Arabia and Czechoslovakia; officers sent to
24 August Statute sets up new administrative Britain, Soviet Union, and Italy for
divisions, with five major and four training
minor provinces formed
October Further unrest occurs in Khost 1939
Province 3 September World War II breaks out; Afghanistan
8 November Ghulam Nabi executed for mobilizes as precautionary measure
complicity in Dar Khel Ghilzai
revolt 1940
12 January National service introduced for all
1933 Road over Shibar Pass into north of men over seventeen; special taxes
country opened imposed to pay for military
6 June Muhammad Aziz, Afghan equipment and radio station in Kabul
ambassador to Germany, assassinated May Joint stock company established to
8 November Nadir Shah assassinated; his son handle all aspects of cotton industry;
Muhammad Zahir becomes king beet production encouraged by
government
1934 29 July Trade agreement signed with Soviet
16 February Zahir Shah orders elections for Union
General Assembly 17 August National Assembly advised by Zahir
March Bank-i-Milli established; state takes Shah that Afghanistan will maintain
over control of purchase and export neutrality in World War II
of Karakul skins
21 August Afghanistan formally recognized by 1941
United States 28 July Afghanistan restates its neutrality in
25 September Afghanistan joins League of Nations World War II
290 CHRONOLOGY
19 October Afghanistan agrees to demands from 26 July Afghan prime minister visits
Britain and Soviet Union to expel London
German and Italian residents 3 August Afghan prime minister visits New
York
1942 18 September Iran claims that Afghan diversion of
27 April Cornelius Van Engert named U.S. Helmand River causes crop failures
ambassador to Afghanistan in Sistan
5 November Afghanistan reaffirms World War II 30 September Afghanistan lodges only vote against
neutrality Pakistan joining United Nation
because of concerns about future of
1943 Pashtuns in border regions
16 May Afghanistan consulate opened in
New York 1948
5 June Abdul Husain Aziz presents 1 April Muhammad Naim named Afghan
credentials as ambassador to United ambassador to United States
States 23 April Sir Giles Squire named British
28 December Treaty of Saadabad Pact ambassador to Kabul
automatically renewed 6 May Faiz Muhammad named Afghan
ambassador to Britain
1944 5 June United States elevates Kabul legation
5 March Treaty of Friendship signed with to embassy status; Ely E. Palmer
China presents himself as first U.S.
ambassador
1946 16 June Pakistan arrests Abdul Ghaffar
Kabul University formed through Khan and other Pashtun dissidents;
amalgamation of existing higher Afghanistan begins media
education faculties campaign for an independent
22 January Election to National Assembly Pashtunistan
announced by King Zahir 29 September Afghan-Soviet border mission
13 June Boundary treaty signed with Soviet completes demarcation mission,
Union, giving Soviets water rights to and agreement is signed to fix
Kushka River boundary
9 November Afghanistan admitted to United
Nations 1949
19 November Abdul Husain Aziz becomes 24 March Afghanistan argues against Pakistani
Afghanistan’s first UN representative claim that tribal territory is integral
part of Pakistan
1947 2 April Afghanistan withdraws diplomats
24 April Afghan delegation goes to Tashkent from Karachi after Pakistani
to discuss demarcation of Afghan- bombing in Waziristan
Soviet border 20 April Louis G. Dryfus named U.S.
13 June Afghanistan writes to Britain and ambassador to Afghanistan
India, stating inhabitants of region 4 June Afghanistan institutes border
between Afghan-Indian border and restrictions with Pakistan
Indus River are Afghans and must be 12 June Pakistani plane bombs Moghalgai
allowed to decide whether region will inside Afghanistan
be part of Afghanistan, Pakistan, or 30 June Afghanistan National Assembly
India or become independent state opens
3 July Britain responds to note from 11 July Pakistan rejects Afghanistan claim to
Afghanistan, reaffirming Durand tribal territory but offers talks on
Line and asking Afghanistan to economic issues
refrain from intervention 26 July Afghan National Assembly
10 July Afghanistan reiterates its position on repudiates treaties with Britain,
border regions which relate to tribal territory
CHRONOLOGY 291
1950 Husain Aziz made ambassador to

4 January Treaty of Friendship signed with India
India 20 April Afghanistan joins UN Economic
13 January People’s Republic of China Commission for Asia and the Far
recognized by Afghanistan East
8 March King Zahir visits Europe 17 September Talks held with Pakistan to improve
26 May Pakistan asked to recall embassy staff relations between the two countries
member for breaking Afghan laws 7 November Afghanistan’s foreign minister,
18 July Afghanistan signs four-year trade Muhammad Naim, says issue of
agreement with Soviet Union Pashtunistan is not one of territory
October Government authorizes emigration but of allowing Pashtuns to express
of Afghan Jews to Israel their wishes
1951 1955
9 February Afghanistan signs technical assistance 19 January Relations with People’s Republic of
agreement with United States China upgraded to embassy status
19 March George R. Merrell appointed as U.S. 25 January National Assembly passes legislation
ambassador to Afghanistan to strengthen armed forces
25 April Prime Minister Shah Mahmud visits 2 March Fine Arts College opened in Kabul
United States 29 March Prime Minster Daud warns Pakistan
28 May United Nations provides assistance to not to include Pashtun areas of
enable drilling of exploratory oil North-West Frontier Province in
wells in northern Afghanistan West Pakistan
30 March Demonstrations held outside
1952 Pakistani embassy in Kabul and the
15 January United States suspends technical Pakistan ambassador’s residence in
assistance agreement, pending Kandahar
signing of Mutual Security Act 1 April Demonstrations staged against
bilateral agreement Pakistani consulate at Jalalabad;
23 September Soviet Union’s objection to oil well Afghan consulate in Peshawar
exploration in areas near border is attacked
rejected by Afghanistan 12 April Pakistan rejects Afghan replies to its
protests and evacuates families of
1953 diplomats and other nationals;
8 January United States provides $1.5 million consulate at Jalalabad closed
loan to enable Afghanistan to buy 29 April Afghanistan expresses willingness to
U.S. wheat and flour apologize and pay compensation for
6 September Shah Mahmud resigns as prime damages, provided similar amends
minister due to illness; he is replaced are made by Pakistan
by Muhammad Daud 1 May Pakistan demands closure of all
November U.S. Export-Import Bank makes Afghan diplomatic facilities in
£18.5 million loan to finance Pakistan and says it will close all its
development of Helmand Valley consulates in Afghanistan
30 December Offer of U.S. military aid regarded as 4 May Afghan forces mobilize
a grave danger to peace and security 13 May Afghanistan and Pakistan agree to
by Prime Minister Daud Saudi-chaired arbitration
21 June Trade agreement signed with Soviet
1954 Union, allowing goods of each nation
27 January Soviet Union grants $3.5 million free transit across each other’s
loan for construction of grain mills territory
and silos and for technical 28 June Saudi Arabian arbitration award
assistance. rejected by Afghanistan and Pakistan
8 February Muhammad Atiq Rafiq named 14 July Afghanistan tells Pakistan it will be
ambassador to Pakistan, and Abdul held liable for loss or damage to
292 CHRONOLOGY
goods in transit to Kabul or Quetta; 18 February Technical cooperation agreement

Afghanistan becomes member of signed with United States
International Monetary Fund and 1 March Technical assistance agreement
International Bank signed with Soviet Union to cover
28 July Afghan army stands down, and state building of hydroelectric plants,
of emergency is ended reservoirs, airfields, highway through
14 August Postal agreement signed with Soviet Hindu Kush, and motor repair
Union facility
17 August India agrees to export four Dakota 6 March Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
aircraft for internal use by (SEATO) declares region up to
Afghanistan Durand Line is Pakistani territory
9 September Afghanistan and Pakistan agree to and within treaty area
stop hostile propaganda 21 March Afghanistan protests SEATO decision
13 September Diplomatic facilities reopened in to uphold Durand Line
Afghanistan and Pakistan 26 March U.S. International Cooperation
11 October Afghanistan requests meeting with Administration announces $997,000
Pakistan to postpone incorporation grant to Teachers College of
of Pashtun land into Pakistan; Columbia University to set up
Pakistan refuses, and ambassadors English language program for
are recalled one week later Afghan secondary schools and to
8 November Pakistan imposes further restrictions train Afghan teachers of English
on transit of goods to Afghanistan 31 March Soviet Union donates 15 buses and
20 November Five-day Loya Jirga approves equipment for 100-bed hospital in
resolutions calling for plebiscite to Kabul
determine future of Pashtun area, 4–18 April Afghanistan sends military mission
recommends government find ways to Czechoslovakia
to reestablish balance of power 7 May Air agreement with Pakistan opens
following receipt of arms by Pakistan up regular air service to Europe via
from United States, and refuses to Karachi
recognize Pashtunistan as part of 27 June Agreement signed with United States,
Pakistan providing $14 million to develop
6 December Defense Minister Muhammad Arif civil aviation in Afghanistan
resigns 26 July Nangarhar irrigation project to be
15–18 December Official visit to Afghanistan made by carried out by Soviet Union
Soviet prime minister Bulganin and 7–11 August Pakistan president, Iskander Mirza,
Communist Party secretary visits Kabul
Khrushchev 25 August Prime Minister Daud announces
16 December Soviet Union supports Afghan arms agreements with
position on Pashtunistan Czechoslovakia and Soviet Union
18 December Agreements signed with Soviet 12 September Pan American Airlines begins
Union to obtain $100 million loan, training flight and ground crews for
extension of 1931 treaty of neutrality Ariana Airlines; Kandahar airport to
and nonaggression, and joint be developed as part of U.S. aid
statement on foreign policy announced 27 June
24 September Air service to Iran launched
1956 27 September Military arms and equipment begin
8 January Pakistan requests recall of Afghan to arrive from Czechoslovakia and
consul from Quetta; Pakistani Soviet Union
military attaché asked to leave 17–30 October Prime Minister Daud visits Soviet
Afghanistan Union
24 January Soviet Union delegation arrives to 28 October Soviet Union supplies eleven jet
discuss use of $100 million loan planes to Afghan air force
30 January Illyushin 14 presented to Zahir Shah 10 November Gen. Muhammad Oman appointed
by Soviet Union Afghan ambassador to India
CHRONOLOGY 293
16 November Afghanistan offers troops for UN Boldak to Kabul; Pakistan granted

peacekeeping force in Suez $7,708,000 to improve transport
24 November Pashtunistan question discussed in links with Afghanistan
Karachi by Prime Minister Daud 17 July Agreement on transport of goods by
road signed with Pakistan
1957 11 September Contract for Kandahar telephone
8 January Trade pact signed with Soviet Union exchange awarded to Czechoslovakia
19–23 January Chinese prime minister, Chou En- 18 November Foreign Investment Law
Lai, visits Afghanistan promulgated
27 January M. C. Gillett appointed British
ambassador to Afghanistan 1959
10 February Pashtu language program launched 1–6 January Foreign Minister Naim visits Soviet
by Radio Moscow Union
14 April–19 May Prime Minister Muhammad Daud 12 January United States agrees to ship 50,000
visits European capitals tons of wheat to Afghanistan
27 April Czechoslovakia agrees to increased 20 January Henry A. Byroade named U.S.
aid for Pakistan ambassador to Afghanistan
8–11 June Pakistan and Afghanistan agree to 9 March Prime Minister Daud calls Baghdad
restore diplomatic relations Pact an aggravation of international
30 June United States agrees to $5,750,000 tension
loan for Helmand River Authority 23 April Protocol signed with Soviet Union
and $2,860,000 for road building and on exchange of goods
training program 18–22 May Prime Minister Daud visits Soviet
17 July Series of communications are issued Union
28 May Agreement signed with Soviet Union
by Soviet Union concerning aid for
on Kandahar-Herat-Kushka highway
Afghanistan in oil exploration,
15 July Afghan military mission visits Turkey
creation of commission to settle
and United Arab Republic
boundary issues, and agreement on
23 August Soviet Union agrees to provide
use of waterways crossing the two
further aid for Nangarhar irrigation
countries
project
28 July Trade agreement signed with People’s
31 August Afghan women appear in public for
Republic of China
Jashen celebration without veils
31 August Foreign Minister Naim announces
14 September India prime minister Nehru visits
$25 million in military assistance Afghanistan, and women appear
from the Soviet Union under 1956 without veils at welcoming dinner;
agreement thereafter, veil no longer considered
22 October Prime Minister Daud visits China obligatory
21 December Afghan mission sent to Moscow to 28 October Afghan-Soviet Friendship Society
negotiate new frontier agreement founded
1 December Survey of Amu Daria River is begun
1958 with Soviet Union for construction
8 January Soviet Union agrees to oil deposit of dam to provide electricity and
survey in Afghanistan water for irrigation
18 January Treaty signed with Soviet Union 21 December Riots in Kandahar suppressed by
regulating Afghan-Soviet frontier police and army; Radio Kabul claims
1–6 February Zahir Shah visits Pakistan rioters were trying to evade payment
11–27 February Zahir Shah visits India of taxes, but other reports state riots
26 June Cultural agreement signed with were religiously motivated because of
United States; protocol for utilization unveiling of women and acceptance
of Amu Daria River signed with of Soviet assistance
Soviet Union
30 June Prime Minister Daud visits United 1960
States; agreement announced on aid 19 January Agreement signed with Soviet
to improve highway from Spin Union on construction of
294 CHRONOLOGY
irrigation and power project on 6 June Afghanistan denies invoking Pashtun

Kabul River revolt and accuses Pakistan of
2–5 March Soviet prime minister Khrushchev bombarding Afghan populations
visits Afghanistan to inspect Soviet with arms supplied by United States;
aid projects, sign a cultural 1,200 Pashtun leaders arrested in
cooperation agreement, and assure Peshawar by Pakistan
Afghanistan of Soviet support over 8 June National Assembly opens; King
Pashtun question Zahir stresses Afghan support for
6 March Pakistan rejects Soviet stance on self-determination of Pashtunistan
Pashtun question and welcomes economic
7 March Prime Minister Daud accuses Pakistan development
of issuing propaganda against reforms 15 June Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of acts
in Afghanistan, especially regarding of aggression in border regions
emancipation of women; announces 22 June Pakistan announces ban on entry of
amir has given Afghans freedom to nomads unless they possess valid
choose form of government and to passports, visas, and health
organize political parties certificates
3 April Work begins on Kandahar-Herat- 28 June During visit to London, Foreign
Kushka highway Minister Naim states question of
26 April Former king Amanullah dies in Pashtun is only problem in Afghan-
Switzerland Pakistani relations
18 May Afghanistan protests to Pakistan and 23 July Afghan ambassador to United States,
United States over violation of Muhammad Hashem Maiwandal,
airspace by U.S. U-2 plane expresses concerns over Pakistan’s
15 July Soviet Union announces petroleum use of U.S.-supplied arms against
and natural gas finds in northern Pashtuns
Afghanistan 23 August Pakistan announces closure of
4 August Czechoslovakia announces $200,000 Afghan consulates and trade offices
technical assistance grant to and considers banning transit goods
Afghanistan 30 August Afghanistan protests closure of
10 August Two-year barter agreement signed consular facilities and threatens to
with Soviet Union break diplomatic relations; Prime
13 August Two Pakistan planes violate Afghan Minister Daud leaves for Conference
airspace and land at Kandahar; of Non-aligned Nations at Belgrade
Pakistan apologizes for error, and 3 September Afghanistan seals border with
pilots and planes are returned on 17 Pakistan; transfer of goods between
September these countries is suspended.
18 August Darunta Canal, built with Soviet 6 September Diplomatic relations with Pakistan
assistance, opens are severed
21–26 August Chinese foreign minister, Chen Yi, 12 September Islamic Congress of Jerusalem
visits Afghanistan; treaty of friendship appeals for resolution of differences
and nonaggression signed, and between Afghanistan and Pakistan
commercial agreements are renewed 18 September Iran offers to mediate in dispute with
3 December Agreements on trade and transit Pakistan
signed with Iran 19 September Saudi Arabia agrees to look after
Pakistani interests in Afghanistan
1961 21 September United Arab Republic agrees to look
5 April Soviet Union reaffirms support for after Afghan interests in Pakistan
Afghanistan over Pashtun question 27 September Afghanistan refuses to allow its
18 April Cultural agreement signed with transit trade to pass through Pakistan
Federal Republic of Germany unless consular and trade offices are
19 May Afghanistan denies Pakistan claim reopened
that troops are taking part in border 29 September President Ayub Khan of Pakistan
unrest rejects reopening of consulates and
CHRONOLOGY 295
trade offices, maintaining they were 25 February New trade and assistance agreement
used for subversive activities signed with Soviet Union
4 October United States offers to assist in 10 March Prime Minister Daud announces
making proposals to improve resignation
Afghan-Pakistani relations 14 March Muhammad Yusuf asked to form
11 October Soviet Union military delegation new government by Zahir Shah
arrives in Kabul for eleven-day visit 28 March Constitutional Review Committee
16 October Afghan-Soviet technical and established under new minister of
economic cooperation agreement justice, Shamsuddin Majruh
signed 18 April Prime Minister Yusuf states
19 November Agreement signed with Soviet Union introduction of democracy and
on expansion of facilities for Afghan improvements to economy are main
foreign trade objectives of government
26 April United States grants $2,635,00 loan
1962 for purchase of aircraft by Ariana
23 January Agreement signed with Soviet Union Afghan Airways
to develop meteorological services 29 April Cultural cooperation agreement
24 January John M. Steeves named U.S. signed with Soviet Union
ambassador to Afghanistan 25 May Afghan and Pakistani representatives
29 January Border with Pakistan opened for meet in Tehran to resolve
eight weeks to allow entry of aid Pashtunistan dispute
goods from United States 28 May Iran announces agreement between
14 April Second Five-Year Plan announced by Afghanistan and Pakistan on
Prime Minister Daud, with projected reestablishing diplomatic and
expenditure of Afghani 31.3 billion commercial relations
for economic development 29 May Afghanistan and Pakistan confirm
20 April Five-year transit agreement signed reestablishment of relations
with Iran 18 July On visit to United States, president of
6 May Pul-i-Khumri power station, built National Assembly, Abdul Zahir,
with Soviet assistance, is announces plans for new form of
commissioned government, with separation of
1 July Pakistan accepts Iranian arbitration legislative, executive, and judicial
over dispute with Afghanistan powers
27–31 July Separate talks held between Iran and 20 July Afghan consulates reopen in
Afghanistan and Pakistan Peshawar and Quetta
6 August Pakistan president Ayub Khan 25 July First trucks cross Afghan-Pakistan
proposes confederation of border, and Ariana Airlines resumes
Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan flights
6–15 August Zahir Shah visits Soviet Union 12 August Afghanistan and Pakistan exchange
24 October Afghanistan and Federal ambassadors
Government of Germany sign 6 September Agreement signed with Soviet Union
agreement for DM 200 million loan for construction of atomic reactor in
to finance various projects, including Afghanistan and training of
new power station, sewage network, specialists in peaceful use of nuclear
improved drinking water system, and energy; United States provides
industrial development $125,000 for surveys of assorted
industrial politics
1963 12–17 October Soviet president Leonid Brezhnev
5 February Government approves establishment visits Afghanistan and lays
of Nangarhar University, to begin foundation stone for new Kabul
with medical school in Jalalabad Polytechnic
12 February United States decides to ship aid to 16 October Agreement signed with Soviet
Afghanistan through Iran because of Union for technical assistance in
Afghan-Pakistan dispute extraction and exploitation of
296 CHRONOLOGY
natural gas in northern 1965

Afghanistan 1 January People’s Democratic Party of
2 December Border agreement signed with Afghanistan (PDPA) is founded
People’s Republic of China 12 January United States agrees to provide $7.7
million loan for construction of
1964 Herat-to-Islam Kala highway
29 February Consultative Constitutional 18 January Soviet Union loans Afghanistan
Commission begins hearings $11.1 million to import consumer
31 May Aliabad campus of Kabul University, goods
built with U.S. assistance, opens 20 January UN Special Fund makes grant of
13 July Soviet Union grants $25.2 million $7,178,200 for soil and water surveys,
loan for construction of highway Hazarajat highway survey,
connecting Pul-i-Khumri, Mazar-i telecommunication projects, and
Sharif, and Sheberghan teacher-training schools
21 July Zahir Shah announces session of 22 January Water distribution network for
Loya Jirga for 9 September 110,000 Kabul residents is
26 July Prime Minister Yusuf warns completed, with assistance from
students not to engage in political Japan
activity 24 February U.S. ambassador-at-large, Averill
27 July Cabinet approves new constitution Harriman, meets Zahir Shah and
4 August New constitution is released to press; Prime Minister Yusuf in Kabul
it allows for freedom of speech and 2 March New five-year trade transit
formation of political parties, calls agreement signed with Pakistan
for two-house parliament and 11 March Nangarhar irrigation and power
independent judiciary, and bars project, built with Soviet assistance, is
members of royal family from key opened
government posts; king is to appoint 22–25 March Chinese deputy prime minister, Chen
prime minister and command armed Yi, and foreign minister visit
forces Afghanistan and sign boundary
3 September Zahir Shah and Soviet deputy prime protocol, cultural agreement, and
minister, Kosygin, open Kabul-to- technical cooperation agreement
Doshi highway, built with Soviet 5 April All high schools start entrance exams
assistance to maintain standards and avoid
6 September Demarcation of border with China overcrowding
completed 18 April World Bank agrees to finance foreign
9–19 September Loya Jirga meets and approves exchange costs to survey Kunduz and
constitution Khanabad basins for possible
21 September Federal Republic of Germany loans irrigation and agricultural projects
DM 400, 000 for dental and 20 April Cultural agreement signed with
maternity clinics in Afghanistan Great Britain
22 September Afghan-Chinese Friendship Society 28 April Kunduz airport completed, built with
established U.S. assistance
1 October Zahir Shah endorses new 11 May New law implemented providing for
constitution and dissolves National universal direct vote by secret ballot
Assembly; transitional government to for all Afghan men and women over
serve for twelve months twenty
27 October Soviet Union agrees to provide $6.2 23 May Ariana Airlines begins flights to
million loan to build Polytechnic Tashkent
Institute in Kabul 5 June Mazar-i Sharif airport opens, built
19 November Discovery announced of first Greek with U.S. assistance
city in Afghanistan, at confluence of 6 June First of three regional appellate
Kokcha and Amu Daria Rivers; site, courts opened in Kabul; others are
abandoned in 130 B.C. now called Ai planned for Kandahar and Mazar-i
Khanum Sharif
CHRONOLOGY 297
22 June Jangalat smelts first iron ore from details of property held before vote
Afghan mines of confidence taken
1 July Land survey and statistics law comes 24 October Presentation of members of cabinet
into effect to Wolesi Jirga halted when
7 July Zahir Shah announces plan to demonstrators occupy seats of
rebuild old Kabul deputies and refuse to leave
15 July United States agrees to help increase 25 October Wolesi Jirga decides to hold vote of
wheat production and provide up to confidence for cabinet in closed
150,000 tons of wheat; other credits session; students demonstrate against
and loans are made available for decision and are dispersed by police
machinery purchases, construction and army, with three deaths; all
of Kajakai power plant, importation schools are closed and public
of diesel generators, and further meetings banned; cabinet approved
project planning in Helmand Valley; by Wolesi Jirga
also provided is a $5 million long- 29 October Prime Minister Yusuf resigns after
term loan for construction unit of demonstration, citing poor health;
Helmand River Authority Muhammad Hashem Maiwandal
20 July Direct telephone link between Kabul, asked to form cabinet
Rawalpindi, and Lahore is 2 November New cabinet approved by Wolesi
inaugurated Jirga; to ensure transparency,
24 July Soviet Union agrees to build 97- proceedings are broadcast by Radio
kilometer pipeline from Sheberghan Afghanistan
gas fields to Soviet border and 88- 4 November Prime Minister Maiwandal attends
kilometer pipeline from fields to condolence ceremony at Kabul
fertilizer and power plants in Balkh University for those killed in 25
Province October demonstrations; conveys
28 July Soviet loans to Afghanistan extended message of sympathy from king and
by thirty years and Soviet Union promises to heed student demands;
agrees to provide teachers for Kabul Toryalai Etemadi elected president of
Polytechnic Kabul University
3–14 August Zahir Shah visits Soviet Union; treaty 7 November Property holdings of cabinet
on neutrality and nonaggression members debated and accepted by
extended by ten years Wolesi Jirga
8 August First census of Kabul reveals 27 November Kabul University senate rejects
population of 435,203 student demands for lower passing
26 August Elections held to fill 216 seats in grade and postponement of exams
Wolesi Jirga and 28 elective seats in 13 December Kabul University’s Science Faculty
Meshrano Jirga closed because of disturbances
9 September New press law grants freedom of 14 December Ministry of Interior bans public
expression but with safeguards for gatherings after demonstrations
fundamental values of Islam and the
constitution 1966
12 October Abdul Zahir elected president of 31 January Wahdat, first privately owned
Wolesi Jirga; Abdul Hadi Dawai newspaper for fourteen years, is
appointed president of Meshrano published in Kabul in both Dari and
Jirga by King Zahir; Dawai appoints Pashtu languages
members on following day 10 February Ghulam Muhammad Sulaiman
13 October Prime Minister Yusuf presents report appointed ambassador to Afghanistan
of Interim Government to king and 11 February Payam-i Imruz, twice-weekly
tenders his resignation; King Zahir newspaper published by Ghulam
asks him to form new government Nabi Kater, is first issued
14 October Parliament opened by king 15 February Muhammad Asif Sohail named
19 October Wolesi Jirga decides proposed Afghan ambassador to People’s
members of cabinet must declare Republic of China
298 CHRONOLOGY
23 February Nasir Zia appointed Afghan 20 August Direct telephone line between Kabul
ambassador to India and Herat completed
2 March Cabinet approves new constitution 11 October Prime Minister Maiwandal resigns
for Kabul University due to ill health; Abdullah Yaflati
15 March Khalilullah Khalili appointed appointed acting prime minister
ambassador to Saudi Arabia 15 October Supreme Court inaugurated
5 April Afghan Millat, a Pashtu newspaper, is 1 November King Zahir asks Nur Ahmed Etemadi
published by Ghulam Muhammad to form government
Farhad 13 November New cabinet submitted to Wolesi
11 April Khalq, owned by Nur Muhammad Jirga; will be approved on 15
Taraki, is published in Pashtu and November, after three-day debate
Dari
13 April Wolesi Jirga begins discussion of 1968
political parties draft law 25 January Commission established to
4 May Meshrano Jirga debates publication determine national education policy
of Khalq and determines any for Afghanistan
publication against values of Islam 4 February Chakhansur Province renamed
should be stopped Nimruz, after name given in Pahlavi
22 May Wolesi Jirga asks government to take literature
action against Khalq 22 April Sheberghan gas pipelines officially
23 May Khalq distribution banned by opened by Second Deputy Prime
government under Article 48 of Press Minister Yaftali and president of Soviet
Law Union’s Council of External Affairs
25 May Payam-i Imruz ceases publication on
instructions of Ministry of 1969
Information and Culture; lack of 25 May U.S. Secretary of State Rogers visits
editor constituted breach of press law Kabul for talks with government
20 June Foreign Minister Etemadi and 22 June All primary and secondary schools in
Interior Minister Shalizi named first Kabul closed after student unrest and
and second deputy ministers student boycott of Kabul University
19 July Wolesi Jirga approves political parties 17 July Soviet military delegation begins visit
draft law to Afghanistan
20 August Supreme Judiciary Committee set up 25 December Soviet military delegation, led by
as foundation for future Supreme Defense Minister Grechko, arrives for
Court official visit
28 August Former prime minister Yusuf named
ambassador to Federal Republic of 1970
Germany 21 January Soviet Union signs protocol for
20 September Abdul Rahman Pazhwak, Afghan export of 2.5 billion cubic meters of
representative to United Nations, natural gas in 1970
elected president of UN General 26 January Defense Minister Khan Mohammed
Assembly visits United States
1967 1971
25 March–9 April Prime Minister Maiwandal visits 17 May Government of Prime Minister Nur
United States Ahmed Etemadi resigns but remains
10 May Deal reached with Soviet Union on in power pending formation of new
export of natural gas; anticipated to government
earn £320 million over following 8 June Abdul Zahir, former ambassador to
eighteen years, with production target Italy, asked to form a new
of 3 billion cubic meter by 1971 government
30 May–2 June Nikolai Podgorny, chair of Presidium 26 July National Assembly gives Abdul Zahir
of Supreme Soviet of the Soviet vote of confidence after seventeen-
Union, visits Afghanistan day debate
CHRONOLOGY 299
August Afghanistan is in middle of worst 1975

recorded drought in its history 26 February Government protests U.S. decision to
lift arms embargo on Pakistan
1972 1 May All banks and associated financial
3 January Soviet Union signs agreement to services nationalized by government
expand natural gas operations in 28 July Terrorist group captured in Panjshir;
northern Afghanistan Pakistan accused of providing arms
16 May Kabul Radio broadcasts demand for to group
creation of independent Pashtunistan 2 December Afghanistan denies mobilizing troops
21 July U.S. special envoy John Connolly on border with Pakistan
tells Afghan government no further
aid commitments will be 1976
forthcoming 23 April About 100,000 Afghanis left
25 August Major natural gas discovery made at homeless by earthquakes, torrential
Jarquduq rain, and floods
5 December Muhammad Zahir resigns as prime 7 June President Bhutto of Pakistan meets
minister and is replaced by Musa with President Daud
Shafiq 4 July Indian premier Indira Ghandi arrives
in Kabul for three-day visit
1973 9 December At least fifty people arrested by
17 January Diplomatic relations established with Afghan security service, accused of
East Germany plotting to overthrow government
13 March Agreement signed with Iran to settle
dispute over Helmand River 1977
8 July King Zahir leaves for vacation in Italy 30 January Loya Jirga convened by President
17 July King Zahir deposed by cousin Daud to approve draft of new
Muhammad Daud; Afghanistan constitution
proclaimed as a republic 14 February New constitution approved
18 July Daud proclaimed president and 15 February Daud sworn in as president, and
minister of defense Loya Jirga is dissolved
19 July New government accorded 24 February Constitution promulgated
diplomatic recognition by Soviet 29 March Agreement reached to restore air
Union and India links between Afghanistan and
27 July Parliament dissolved and Pakistan
constitution abrogated 16 November Minister of Planning Ali Ahmad
2 August New cabinet announced, with Daud Khurram assassinated in Kabul
holding portfolios of prime minister,
defense minister, and foreign affairs 1978
minister 24 February Trial of twenty-five people accused of
24 August King Zahir announces abdication plotting to assassinate President
23 September Number of senior army officers Daud begins
arrested because of plot to overthrow 17 April Mir Akbar Khaibar, a founder of
government; Pakistan accused of PDPA, assassinated in Kabul
complicity in plan 20 April Funeral of Khaibar turns into
demonstration against government
1974 26 April PDPA leaders arrested on orders of
5 April New trade and payments agreement president
reached with Soviet Union 27 April Pro-Communists stage coup in
19 July Soviet Union agrees to assist with Kabul, known as the Saur Revolt,
development of Jarquduq gas field with support from military; Nur
and further oil exploration Mohammad Taraki becomes prime
24 July Agreement reached with Iran over minister; President Daud is
joint development of Helmand River overthrown and killed by PDPA
region supporters
300 CHRONOLOGY
29 April Kabul Radio reports a number of 28 March Revolts break out across Afghanistan,
ministers in former government also and army collapses
killed in coup 2 April Soviet Union accuses United States of
30 April Revolutionary Council is established, arming mujahideen; Washington
and Nur Muhammad Taraki is denies involvement
installed as president 30 April President Taraki accuses Pakistan of
May First mujahideen camp established in involvement in unrest in eastern
Pakistan provinces
6 May Afghanistan declared to be 23 June Kabul Radio announces that
nonaligned and independent antigovernment protests by Hazaras
17 August Taraki assumes minister of defense in Kabul were put down, with a
portfolio number killed
18 August Government announces plot to 5 August Heavy fighting occurs between
overthrow government is foiled; government troops and rebellious
Defense Minister Abdul Qadir units at Bala Hissar Fort in Kabul;
arrested for his role in conspiracy authorities impose curfew
23 August PDPA Politburo orders arrest of 19 August Presence of 1,600 Soviet advisers in
Planning Minister Sultan Ali Afghanistan is confirmed
Keshtmand and Public Works 14 September Taraki removed from power by
Minister Muhammad Rafi’i for their Hafizullah Amin
roles in conspiracy 15 September Interior and frontier affairs ministers
17 September Diplomatic relations with South removed from their posts;.
Korea broken explosions and gunfire in Kabul
22 September Taraki dismisses six ambassadors follow announcement
who were members of Parcham 16 September Hafizullah Amin becomes president
faction of PDPA after reports of Taraki being ill
19 October Red flag adopted as new national 8 October Death sentences passed on former
emblem defense minister Abdul Qadir and
5 December Twenty-year Treaty of Friendship former planning minister Sultan Ali
and Cooperation signed with Soviet Keshtmand are commuted to fifteen
Union years of imprisonment; rebellious
tribes claim to have cut road between
1979 Kabul and Gardez after fighting with
28 January Guerrilla action begins against government troops
government in eastern provinces 9 October Taraki assassinated by supporters of
2 February Reports say mujahideen are Amin; President Amin publishes a
beginning to train at Pakistani list of 12,000 killed by the Taraki
military establishment near regime
Peshawar 14 October Fighting breaks out at Rishkhur
14 February U.S. ambassador Adolph Dubs killed barracks near Kabul, but mutiny
in rescue attempt after being taken crushed by government troops two
hostage by terrorists in Kabul; United days later; Soviet forces move in to
States protests Afghanistan’s use of Shindand air base
force to free hostages 9 November Two hundred government troops
19 February Foreign Minister Hafizullah Amin and mujahideen killed in ambushes
rejects protest from United States near Kabul
22 February President Carter announces cut in 7 December Soviet special forces occupy Bagram
aid to Afghanistan air force base
16 March Revolt erupts in Herat, with support 21 December Soviet Union moves forces to border
of military garrison; it is put down with Afghanistan, and 1,500 troops
by government troops, but thousands are sent to Bagram air base
are believed killed 24 December Soviet invasion of Afghanistan begins
27 March Hafizullah Amin becomes prime 26 December Large-scale Soviet airlift into Kabul is
minister reported
CHRONOLOGY 301
27 December Further fighting breaks out in Kabul; 25 February All commercial premises in Kabul are
President Amin is overthrown and closed, and civil servants strike
assassinated, reputedly by Soviet 26 February Mass arrests of demonstrators in
special forces Kabul
28 December Babrak Karmal becomes president 28 February Shops reopen, and civil servants
and announces offer of political, return to work
moral, economic, and military aid by 3 March Gulbuddin Hekmatyar announces
Soviet Union his group will withdraw from
negotiations to form alliance of six
1980 mujahideen groups
January Administration of President Carter 7 March Soviet forces appear on streets of
requests $30 million to provide Kabul
covert aid to mujahideen groups; 10 March Government announces arrest of
Soviet-made weapons are secretly forty-two associates of former
channeled to mujahideen in Pakistan president Hafizullah Amin
by CIA 22 May Conference of Islamic Foreign
1 January President Karmal announces Soviet Ministers in Islamabad calls for
forces have been invited into immediate withdrawal of Soviet
Afghanistan because of aggressive forces from Afghanistan
stance of enemies of the state 24 May Further demonstrations against
2 January Karmal calls on people to support Soviet presence held in Kabul
the revolution 8 June Kabul Radio announces execution of
5 January United Nations opens debate on ten supporters and aides of former
situation in Afghanistan president Amin
7 January UN resolution calling for withdrawal 14 June News reports mention execution of
of all foreign forces in Afghanistan is three ministers in former president
vetoed by Soviet Union Amin’s government
14 January UN General Assembly votes for total 2 July Soviet Union argues that peace
withdrawal of foreign troops from settlement in Afghanistan will only
Afghanistan be achieved if incursions from
23 January United States announces sanctions adjoining states ceased
against Soviet Union, including 14 September Foreign Affairs Minister Faiz
significant wheat embargo Muhammad killed while trying to
29 January Conference of Islamic Foreign obtain tribal support for government
Ministers condemns Soviet military October Masood supplied with SAM-7
intervention in Afghanistan missiles by CIA
13 February Egypt announces it will provide 13 November President Karmal threatens expulsion
some training to mujahideen from PDPA for anyone not working
14 February UN Human Rights Commission for good of the party, regardless of
condemns Soviet aggression in their past records
Afghanistan 20 November UN General Assembly calls for
15 February U.S. press reports indicate United unconditional withdrawal of all
States has begun to supply foreign troops from Afghanistan
mujahideen with light weapons 21 November Afghanistan rejects UN resolution as
19 February European Community proposes interference in Afghanistan’s internal
Afghanistan be declared a neutral affairs
country, guaranteed by international 25 December President Anwar Sadat of Egypt
community, if Soviet forces are confirms he is supplying weapons to
withdrawn the mujahideen
22 February Soviet Union agrees to withdraw
forces if all forms of outside 1981
interference are terminated; January Pakistan government announces it
demonstrations and rioting against will recognize only six mujahideen
government erupt in Kabul groups
302 CHRONOLOGY
9 March U.S. president Ronald Reagan says December CIA increases volume and range of
mujahideen requests for weapons weapons sent to mujahideen
will be considered seriously
7 April Saudi Arabia announces severing 1983
of diplomatic links with 19 January UN deputy secretary-general begins
Afghanistan peace mission to Geneva, Tehran,
9 May At least 2 million Afghan refugees are Islamabad, and Kabul to try to
in Pakistan resolve Afghan crisis
11 May Sultan Ali Keshtmand becomes 21 March Bomb explodes in Kabul mosque,
prime minister with four dead and seven injured
12 July Gen. Fateh Muhammad, member of 14 May Afghanistan announces boycott of
the national committee of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los
National Fatherland, is killed by Angeles
rebels 17 May U.S. vice-president George Bush
22 July Heavy fighting reported between visits Khyber Pass and voices support
mujahideen and Soviet forces at for Afghan resistance movement
Paghman, 16 miles from Kabul 26 July Intelligence sources announce U.S.
12 August Government lifts acreage restrictions House of Representatives approved
on land held by religious and tribal $50 million in covert aid for
leaders mujahideen
22 August President Sadat announces United 27 August Afghanistan and Pakistan foreign
States had been buying old Soviet ministers meet UN intermediary in
weapons from Egypt to supply separate talks in Geneva
mujahideen forces in Afghanistan 31 August Bomb explodes at Kabul airport
18 November UN General Assembly votes, for third 4 November Nine people executed after being
time, that Soviet Union must convicted of Kabul airport explosion
withdraw forces from Afghanistan
1985
1982 18 January United States announces it will
6 January Soviet troops in Afghanistan are increase aid to mujahideen to $280
estimated to be between 110,000 and million; aid also said to be coming
120,000 from China, Israel, and Saudi Arabia
20 February Archer K. Blood rejected as U.S. 26 January Mujahideen leader Khan Gul
chargé d’affaires to Kabul; U.S. State sentenced to death in Paktia Province
Department imposes travel 29 January A leader of Islamist Movement,
restrictions on Afghan diplomats in Zabiullah, killed when his jeep strikes
Washington land mine
1 April WFP announces additional $18.5 3 March Iran announces merger of four Shi’a
million in aid for Afghan refugees in mujahideen groups: Nasr, Pasdaran,
Pakistan Guardians of the Islamic Revolution,
16 May PDPA conference in Kabul endorses and United Front of the Islamic
purging of dissidents and a Revolution
continuing program of land reform 23 April Loya Jirga convened by Babrak
8 June Soviet and government forces Karmal to win support for war
succeed in driving mujahideen out of against mujahideen
Panjshir Valley 10 May Mujahideen leaders in Peshawar
16–25 June UN-sponsored direct talks between reject attempt by Abdul Rasul Sayyaf
Afghanistan and Pakistan held in to appoint himself leader of Alliance
Geneva of Afghan Mujahideen
2 August Afghan government extends length 20 June UN-sponsored proximity talks held
of service for conscripted troops in Geneva between Afghan and
30 October More than 1,000 people, including Pakistani governments; they will
700 Soviet troops, killed by explosion conclude on 25 June and be
in Salang Tunnel described as intense and fruitful
CHRONOLOGY 303
30 August United Nations announces progress 11 April Joint Afghan-Soviet operation

of plan for peace in Afghanistan but launched against Zhawar
stresses stumbling point on 4 May Babrak Karmal resigns as secretary-
withdrawal of Soviet troops general of PDPA on grounds of ill
23 October All Afghan males up to forty years health and is replaced by Najibullah,
of age ordered to enlist for three former head of KHAD
years of military service; Afghani 5 May Further round of UN-sponsored
foreign minister stresses withdrawal peace talks between Afghanistan and
of Soviet troops can only be Pakistan open in Geneva
discussed in direct negotiations with 15 May Collective leadership in Afghanistan
Pakistan announced by Najibullah, with
13 November UN General Assembly again votes for himself as party leader, Babrak
withdrawal of Soviet troops from Karmal as head of Revolutionary
Afghanistan Council Presidium, and Sultan Ali
22 November Abdul Qadir, Ghulam Dastagir Keshtmand as prime minister
Panjshiri, and Ismail Danesh 19 May Seventh round of UN-sponsored
removed from PDPA Politburo indirect talks between Afghanistan
6 December Ghulam Faruq Yaqubi named as and Pakistan resume in Geneva
director of KHAD (Afghan secret 28 May Najibullah announces that bicameral
police) parliament will be established, based
13 December United States agrees to act as on free and democratic elections
guarantor of peace in Afghanistan, 16 June President Reagan meets mujahideen
based on Soviet troop withdrawal leaders in Washington and reaffirms
and termination of U.S. aid to commitment to their cause
mujahideen 17 June Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Abdul
31 December UN-sponsored talks at Geneva lead Rasul Sayyaf criticize mujahideen
to Afghan government drawing up meeting in Washington
informal table for withdrawal of
Soviet troops as part of an overall 1987
accord 26 February Further round of peace negotiations
between Afghanistan and Pakistan
1986 opened in Geneva by United
11 January President Karmal rejects U.S. offer to Nations
act as guarantor for a peace 4 March Soviet territory attacked by
settlement mujahideen rockets from Imam
4 February Kandahar-based mujahideen group Sahib in Kunduz Province
led by Asmatullah Achakzai Muslim 20 July President Najibullah meets with
changes allegiance and backs Soviet leader Gorbachev and raises
government prospect of Soviet withdrawal
20 February Revolutionary Council sets up 11 August UN special human rights investigator
commission to draft new allowed to visit Afghan political
constitution prisoners in three prisons
17 March Foreign Ministry rejects UN report 10 October Najibullah announces government
on human rights violations as will pay mujahideen fighters who
groundless surrender their weapons
20 March Pakistan denounces Afghan attack on 18 October Maulawi Yunis Khales elected
border post and refugee camp at spokesman of the seven-party
Khurram, which resulted in six mujahideen alliance
deaths 24 October New alliance of Shi’a mujahideen
2 April United States reported to be groups based in Iran is announced
supplying hundreds of Stinger 10 November Revolutionary Council Presidium
missiles to mujahideen announces endorsement of decree
6 April Car bomb in Kabul reported to have providing for formation and
wounded twenty-two civilians registration of political parties
304 CHRONOLOGY
24 November Lt. Gen. Muhammad Nabi Azimi Soviet Union ceases arms supplies to
commits suicide after failure of an Kabul government
offensive against mujahideen 14 March Gulbuddin Hekmatyar appointed
29 November Loya Jirga called to approve new spokesman of mujahideen alliance
constitution 24 March Reports state Pakistan has withdrawn
30 November Najibullah confirmed as president by demand that interim government be
Loya Jirga under new Islamic formed to oversee a Soviet
constitution withdrawal
6 December Mujahideen alliance refuses to accept 26 March Reports from United States say
any Communist participation in supplying of Stinger missiles has
Afghan government ceased in anticipation of peace
10 December UN envoy Cordovez opens talks settlement at Geneva
between exiled King Zahir and 29 March President Najibullah promises
mujahideen leaders on formation of opposition leaders will get seats in
transitional coalition government new parliament if they participate in
forthcoming elections
1988 30 March President Najibullah’s offer of a
6 January Soviet foreign minister, on visit to coalition government rejected by
Kabul, states he hopes Soviet forces mujahideen
will leave Afghanistan by end of year, 3 April Sari-Pul Province is created by Kabul
provided United States ceases to aid government as part of the Hazarajat;
mujahideen Gharib Husain appointed as
12 January Pakistan states members of pro- governor
Moscow Afghan government must 9 April Mujahideen refuse to be bound by
be able to participate in any future any agreement reached at Geneva
government as a condition of the 14 April Geneva Accords signed by
withdrawal of Soviet forces Afghanistan, Pakistan, Soviet Union,
17 January Mujahideen leader Yunis Khales and United States; under the
refuses to accept Pakistani insistence agreement, Soviet Union will
on a role for Communists in Afghan withdraw troops within nine
government months, and United States will be
20 January President Najibullah pledges guarantor of the agreement; military
continuance of nonalignment policy aid to both sides will be halted, and
following a withdrawal of Soviet provision will be made for return of
forces Afghan refugees
22 January Bombs explode at funeral of Khan 25 April UN group arrives in Islamabad to
Abdul Ghaffar Khan in Jalalabad, assist in overseeing implementation
killing at least seventeen of Geneva Accords
8 February Soviet leader Gorbachev promises a 28 April President Najibullah announces
pullout on 15 May if settlement is Soviet military advisers will remain
reached in Afghanistan by March in Afghanistan following Soviet
10 February President Reagan says United States troop withdrawal
will cease support for mujahideen 11 May UN appoints Sadruddin Aga Khan to
sixty days after peace settlement coordinate relief and resettlement in
and concurrent with Soviet Afghanistan
withdrawal 15 May Soviet troops begin to withdraw
11 February Head of Afghan Information Office from Afghanistan
in Peshawar, Sayyid Baha’uddin 19 May Afghan army’s Maj. Gen. Fazil
Majruh, assassinated Ahmad Samadi defects to
23 February Mujahideen alliance in Peshawar mujahideen
announces formation of Interim 25 May Soviet Union announces losses of
Government 13,310 killed, 35,478 wounded, and
4 March U.S. administration states aid to 311 missing in action in
mujahideen will stop only when Afghanistan
CHRONOLOGY 305
31 May United States announces continued Deputy Director in the Foreign

aid for mujahideen because of Soviet Ministry Sayyid Kamaluddin have
plans to leave $1 billion of defected to mujahideen
equipment for Kabul government 19 November Soviet commander in Afghanistan
7 June In address to United Nations, warns mujahideen that escalation in
President Najibullah accuses Pakistan conflict could halt Soviet withdrawal
of violating Geneva Accords 28 November Muhammad Gul, brigadier general in
9 June President Najibullah announces KHAD and cousin of President
243,900 soldiers and civilians had Najibullah, reportedly defects
died in war in Afghanistan 1989
15 June Pir Sayyid Ahmad Gailani, head of 2 January Sabghatullah Mujaddidi succeeds
National Islamic Front, becomes Rabbani as spokesman for
spokesman for mujahideen alliance mujahideen alliance
16 June President Najibullah announces 18 January Mujaddidi visits Tehran but fails to
formation of new government gain Shi’a mujahideen participation
18 July UN envoy Cordovez proposes peace in an interim government
plan based on formation of a neutral 21 January West Germany withdraws diplomatic
government; proposal is endorsed by staff from Kabul
Sabghatullah Mujaddidi, leader of 25 January United States announces intention to
National Front for the Liberation of close embassy in Kabul
Afghanistan, and Sayyid Ahmad 26 January Mujahideen delegation, led by
Gailani, leader of National Islamic Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, visits Tehran
Front of Afghanistan to meet with Iranian foreign minister
21 July Creation of Nuristan Province 27 January Britain, France, Japan, and Italy
approved by President Najibullah announce they will withdraw
23 July Formation of new political party, the diplomats from Kabul
Self-Sacrificing Afghan People’s 28 January Meeting between Soviet defense
Solidarity Movement, approved by minister and President Najibullah
President Najibullah reiterates continued Soviet support
27 July Government announces approval for for regime
formation of a new party, the Union 30 January U.S. embassy in Kabul is closed
of God’s Helpers 2 February Closure of Western embassies
8 August Soviet troops begin to withdraw denounced by President Najibullah;
from Kabul large demonstration occurs in
17 August Lt. Gen. Shanawaz Tanai appointed Peshawar, staged by Afghan refugees
defense minister calling for return of King Zahir
25 September U.S. administration appoints 13 February President Bush pledges continued
Edmund McWilliams special envoy support for mujahideen
to mujahideen 14 February Soviet troop withdrawal completed;
5 October Hekmatyar’s forces in Nejrab kill seven-party alliance of mujahideen
Maulawi Zahir, a commander in in Peshawar announces formation of
forces of Burhanuddin Rabbani Afghan Interim Government, with
17 October Rabbani becomes spokesman for Sabghatullah Mujaddidi as president
mujahideen alliance 15 February United States rejects Soviet demands
21 October UN special representative for to end arms shipments to
Afghanistan calls on former king mujahideen
Zahir to assist in establishing a 18 February State of emergency declared by Kabul
government of national government; Muhammad
reconciliation Muhammadi becomes spokesman
26 October Governor of Herat Province, for mujahideen alliance
Khaliqyar, also appointed governor 20 February Prime Minister Sharq resigns
of Badhis and Ghor Provinces 21 February Sultan Ali Keshtmand appointed
17 November Reports indicate Deputy Foreign chair of Council of Ministers’
Minister Abdul Ghafur Lakanwal and executive committee
306 CHRONOLOGY
23 February Interim Government is set up by two bodyguards, who are arrested

mujahideen commanders in and executed
Peshawar, with Abdul Rasul Sayyaf as 11 August Prime minister of Interim
acting prime minister, Sabghatullah Government, Abdul Rasul Sayyaf,
Mujaddidi as acting president and rejects suggestion by Hekmatyar that
remainder of portfolios spread mujahideen seize power through
around other groups; legitimacy of backing an army coup
government challenged by Pir Sayyid 14 August Government announces 183 civilians
Gailani killed in Kabul by rocket attacks in
5 March Major offensive launched by one week
mujahideen against Jalalabad 20 August Maj. Gen. Muhammad Faruq Zarif
20 March Mujahideen attack on Jalalabad defects to opposition
repulsed 25 August Ahmad Shah Masood accuses Islamic
24 March Government convoy breaks through Unity Party of colluding with
mujahideen positions and reaches government
Jalalabad 29 August Groups headed by Sayyaf and
27 March Mujahideen commanders offered Muhammadi battle for control of
autonomy if they end armed bridge in Helmand Province to
resistance; offer rejected by council of secure tax and toll revenues
thirty-five commanders 30 August Gulbuddin Hekmatyar withdraws his
12 April Cabinet of Interim Government group from mujahideen alliance
holds meeting on Afghan territory 11 October Muhammad Asghar becomes
23 April Report in New York Times states president of National Salvation
that the 5 March attack on Society, which seeks peaceful end to
Jalalabad was made by Pakistan the war
government against advice of the 7 November Fighting breaks out at Kandahar, and
Inter-Services Intelligence Service Lt. Gen. Ali Akbar is killed
of Pakistan 14 November Three-pronged assault launched by
24 April Afghan protests against Pakistani mujahideen on Jalalabad; attack is
aggression repulsed
9 May Sayyid Ahmad Gailani challenges 21 November Government extends state of
legitimacy of Interim Government emergency for six months
16 May Reports indicate head of KHAD, 30 November Rabbani and Hekmatyar agree on a
Abdul Rahman, defected to cease-fire and exchanging prisoners
mujahideen group led by Yunis and territory
Khales 2 December 127 people arrested in Kabul, accused
17 May Kabul-Jalalabad road reopened by of plotting coup; Brig. Gen. Ghulam
government forces Haidar killed in renewed fighting at
21 May President Najibullah invites Jalalabad
mujahideen leaders to participate in 21 December Islamist Movement executes four
a loya jirga members of Islamic Party, including
24 May Government again offers regional Sayyid Jamal, for ambush on Islamic
autonomy to mujahideen Movement commanders
5 July Tor Kham recaptured by government 31 December President Najibullah calls for change
forces of name for PDPA
19 July Fighting occurs between groups led
by Burhanuddin Rabbani and 1990
Muhammad Nabi Muhammadi over 24 January President Najibullah promises to
territory in Helmand Province stand down if defeated in UN-
24 July Defense Minister Shanawaz Tanai supervised elections
placed under house arrest 2 February Demonstration of some 10,000
1 August Tanai implicated in attempted coup Afghan refugees takes place in
7 August Haji Abdul Latif, a commander with Quetta, Pakistan, in favor of return of
National Islamic Front, poisoned by King Zahir
CHRONOLOGY 307
12 February Farid Ahmad Mazdak becomes 15 October Masood visits Pakistan for meeting
acting chair of National Front’s with Pakiststani president and
Central Council Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
5 March Trial begins of Afghans arrested in 25 October U.S. Congress scales down assistance
December, accused of plotting coup to mujahideen
6 March Defense Minister Tanai launches 19 November President Najibullah visits
coup against President Najibullah Switzerland for discussions with
7 March Hekmatyar announces support for exiled Afghan personalities to try to
Tanai coup form coalition government in
9 March Government forces recapture Afghanistan
Bagram air base; other mujahideen
refuse to back Tanai coup 1991
18 March Twenty-four members of PDPA 9 January General Hashim is captured and
expelled for treachery against party executed by mujahideen forces
and country 22 January Head of progovernment militia,
6 April Supposed mujahideen surrender talks Esmat Muslim, dies
result in death of two generals and 23 January Embassy of the resistance opened by
eleven others when mujahideen troops Rabbani in Khartoum
open fire on government troops; 5 February Severe problems recorded in
governor of Herat, Fazl Haq Khaliqyar, southwestern Afghanistan due to
wounded in exchange of fire floods
14 April United Nations accused by 8 February Afghan resistance sends 300 fighters
government of failing to police to Saudi Arabia to participate in war
Geneva Accords with Iraq; decision opposed by
21 May New government formed by Prime Sayyaf and Hekmatyar
Minister Khaliqyar 31 March Khost captured by mujahideen, with
28 May Government convenes a loya jirga to 2,200 prisoners taken, including
consider proposals to amend seven government generals
constitution 2 April Government declares day of mourning
29 May Najibullah announces formation of 6 April Muhammad Nurzad elected mayor
multiparty system of Kabul following defection of
16 June Nine Shi’a mujahideen groups unite Abdul Karim Misaq, who fled to
to form Islamic Unity Party Germany
30 June Meeting held between former 10 April Vice-President Sultan Ali Keshtmand
prominent government officials, dismissed
President Mujaddidi of Interim 16 April President Najibullah offers amnesty
Government, and representatives of to all Afghan exiles who agree to
Islamic Unity Party return home
18 July Italy reopens embassy in Kabul 20 April Explosion occurs at headquarters of
25 July United Nations begins repatriation of Wahhabi movement in Kunar
Afghan refugees from Pakistan Province, with some 500 dead and
29 July– President Najibullah visits Moscow, 700 wounded, including Arabs and
25 August and Abdur Rahim Hatef becomes Pakistanis; reports suggest explosion
acting president was a car bomb, but Wahhabis claim
4 September Forces of Islamist Movement and it was Scud missile attack
Islamic Party clash near Kabul, and 26 April Geneva meeting held between
sixteen deaths are recorded representatives of Pakistan’s
5 September Government forces expel militias intelligence services and Kabul
from Kabul government
11 September Legalization of political parties 21 May UN secretary-general issues five-
announced by President Najibullah point proposal for political
5 October Administrative capital of Oruzgan settlement in Afghanistan; AIG
Province, Tirin Kot, captured by rejects any compromise with
mujahideen Najibullah government
308 CHRONOLOGY
27–28 May Soviet-Pakistan talks about 24 April Mujahideen leaders set up interim
Afghanistan held in Moscow Islamic Council, headed by
31 May Ammunition depot explodes in Mujaddidi, with fifty-one members
Nowshera, Pakistan 25 April President Najibullah resigns in order
22 July Masood captures Jahkashem, for UN-brokered, broad-based
followed by Wakhan Corridor government to be formed; mujahideen
30 August Jamilur Rahman, chief of self- forces enter Kabul; fighting breaks out
proclaimed Wahhabi republic in between Islamic Party of Hekmatyar
Kunar Province, assassinated in and forces of Masood
Pakistan 26 April Masood’s forces take control of
13 September United States and Soviet Union agree presidential palace and oust
to end all arms supplies to Hekmatyar’s forces from military
Afghanistan on 1 January 1992 barracks;. Shi’a forces take missile
14 October Supreme justice in Kabul declares all base at Darulaman
legal decisions must conform to 28 April Mujaddidi arrives in Kabul and
Islamic law proclaims an Islamic state of
4 November Former king Zahir slightly wounded Afghanistan, together with general
in assassination attempt amnesty
5 December United Nations agrees on solution 29 April Islamic Party fighters expelled from
for transfer of government in Ministry of the Interior; Masood
Afghanistan arrives in Kabul
15 December Soviet Union stops arms shipments May Ahmad Shah Masood named Afghan
to Afghanistan defense minister
3 May Egypt formally recognizes Islamic
1992 state of Afghanistan; Hekmatyar’s
14 January President Najibullah annuls decree forces threaten to attack Kabul unless
that confiscated property of royal General Dostum leaves capital
family 6 May First meeting of Islamic Council held
6 February Generals Dostum, Naderi, and under Rabbani
Momen rebel against government 10 May Sayyid Ahmad Gailani arrives in
15 March Samangan Province captured by Kabul
mujahideen 21 May Yunis Khales arrives in Kabul;
18 March President Najibullah agrees to step Masood and Hekmatyar agree to a
down as soon as Interim cease-fire
Government is installed 30 May Fighting occurs between Dostum
29 March National Unity Party captures Sar-i- and Hekmatyar for control of district
Pul of Karte Nau
8 April General Dostum takes control of 19 June Clashes reported between forces of
Mazar-i Sharif Dostum and Masood
12 April Masood takes over Salang Tunnel 28 June Mujaddidi surrenders presidency to
15 April Kabul airport captured by militia of Rabbani
General Dostum 4 July Artillery battle erupts between forces
16 April President Najibullah takes refuge in of Dostum and Hekmatyar
UN compound in Kabul; Gardez 2 August Yunis Khales resigns from Islamic
and Ghazni captured by Council
mujahideen, military junta takes 15 August United Nations withdraws a number
control of Kabul, and mujahideen of staff from Kabul
seize Herat 27 August Rabbani concludes cease-fire with
18 April Kunduz and Jalalabad fall to Hekmatyar
mujahideen; Rahim Hatef 5 September Uzbek militia of General Dostum
nominated as interim president leaves Kabul
21 April Pul-i-Alam in Logar Province taken 17 September Rabbani and Hekmatyar reach
by Islamic Party agreement at Paghman over
CHRONOLOGY 309
designation of assembly to select they agree to exchange prisoners and

Rabbani’s successor maintain a cease-fire
December Rabbani elected president under 7 April Claim made by Kabul government
multiparty agreement that Islamic Unity Party and Islamic
Party of Hekmatyar had been
1993 supplying arms to insurgents in
19 January Rabbani’s forces launch attack on Tajikistan
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who 9 April Cease-fire between Islamic Unity
responds with rocket attack on Kabul Party and Islamist Movement breaks
3 February United Nations suspends aid down
shipments through southern and 15 April Agreement reached between
eastern Afghanistan for security governors of Herat in Afghanistan
reasons and Khorasan in Iran on cooperation
5 February India withdraws diplomats from to halt drug traffic
Kabul 25 April Hekmatyar’s mujahideen fighters
6 February General Dostum nominated deputy blockade Kabul
defense minister 3 May Some fifty fighters from Shi’a Islamic
7 February Fighting breaks out in Soviet Unity Party killed in fighting in
embassy compound between rival Tajikistan
groups 9–10 May Major clashes in Kabul between
8 February Turkish embassy in Kabul is closed forces of Rabbani and Hekmatyar
11 February Imam of Kabul University issues plea 11 May Kabul Museum set on fire during
for mujahideen to cease fighting intergroup fighting
among themselves 12 May Hekmatyar’s forces continue rocket
16 February Kabul has first peaceful day since attacks on Kabul
entry of mujahideen in January 13 May General Dostum agrees to assist
7 March Islamabad Accord reached between Masood in struggle against
Afghan parties, except Dostum and Hekmatyar
Khales; Rabbani nominated as 19 May Hekmatyar and Rabbani agree to
president for eighteen months; cease-fire
Hekmatyar nominated as prime 20 May Masood resigns as defense minister
minister; OIC, Pakistan, and Afghan 6 June Hekmatyar presides over first
parties are to supervise cease-fire meeting of his government at
8 March Islamic Unity and Islamic Party of Charasyab
Khales subject Kabul to missile 17 June Government meets in Paghman;
attack Hekmatyar formally sworn in as
11 March Afghan leaders meet in Mecca to prime minister
agree on details of Islamabad Accord 21 June Meeting of Council of Ministers in
and power of Uzbek militia; King Darulaman
Fahd of Saudi Arabia endorses 23–28 June Heavy fighting between Islamists and
accord forces of Masood
19–20 March Meeting of Afghan parties at 3 July Meeting held between President
Jalalabad fails to resolve differences Rabbani and General Dostum
22 March Fighting between Islamic Union for 12 July Dostum and Hekmatyar agree to
the Liberation of Afghanistan and cease-fire
Islamic Party continues in Kabul 15 July Further fighting between
28 March Spokesperson for General Dostum Hekmatyar’s and Masood’s forces
declares peace is impossible without around airport
Uzbek representation in Kabul 26 July Masood’s forces capture Bagram air
government base from Hekmatyar
1 April Islamic Unity Party and Islamist 31 August Cease-fire agreed to between
Movement form committee to Rabbani’s group and Islamic Unity
resolve differences, and one day later, Party
310 CHRONOLOGY
14 September Islamic Party again bombards 18 May Forces of Abdul Rasul Sayyaf oust
Kabul Hekmatyar’s troops from Maidan
2 October Islamic fighters active again in Shahr
Tajikistan; force reportedly composed 21 May General Dostum claims to have
of about 300 fighters downed two aircraft of Rabbani’s
19 October Kabul-Jalalabad highway reopened forces, using Stinger missiles
24 October Agreement signed with Tajikistan for 22 May General Jali, head of Dostum’s air
export of natural gas force, claims to have 32 operational
9 November U.S. undersecretary of state for South planes, 100 pilots, and large supply of
Asia visits Kabul to discuss bombs
humanitarian and economic aid; 28 May Internecine conflict erupts within
meetings held with Rabbani, Islamic Unity Party, involving groups
Hekmatyar, Dostum, and Masood loyal to Akbari and Mazari
23 December Sher Khan Bandar retaken by 3 June Clashes occur between forces of
General Dostum Dostum and Isma’il Khan at
Shindand; Herat bombed by Dostum
1994 8 June Rabbani proposes his successor
1 January Dostum and Hekmatyar ally to should be selected by a loya jirga
attack Rabbani’s forces in Kabul 10 June Renewed fighting erupts in Kabul
5 January Rabbani’s forces capture Kabul 15 June Rabbani arbitrarily extends his
airport mandate by six months
6 January Fighting breaks out in Bala Hisar and 19 June Assassination attempt on Isma’il
Microrayon areas, with forces of Khan fails
Mujaddidi joining Dostum- 25 June Islamic Revolutionary Movement
Hekmatyar alliance recaptures Darulaman palace from
10 January Mosque at Pul-Khishti destroyed Islamic Party
during fighting 26 June Dostum’s forces expelled from Bala
2 April UN emissary, Mestiri, arrives in Hisar and Maranjan hill by Rabbani’s
Kabul for discussions with Rabbani, forces
Masood, and Hekmatyar 17 June Yunis Khales declares himself interim
4 April Masood launches attack on Pul-i- president
Khumri, which has been held by 8 July Commission formed between
forces of Dostum and Hekmatyar Dostum, Gailani, Hekmatyar, Mazari,
6 April UN emissary leaves Afghanistan Muhammadi, and Muhseni, to
without agreeing to cease-fire negotiate with Rabbani and Sayyaf
19 April President Rabbani announces 20 July Herat Assembly opens with 700
intention to extend his mandate until participants
December 1994 due to refusal of 24 July Rabbani visits Herat but does not
opposing groups to respect address assembly
agreements reached at Jalalabad in 29 July BBC reporter, Mir Wais Jalil, killed in
March area controlled by forces of
27 April International Committee of the Red Hekmatyar
Cross estimates civil war in Kabul has 7 August Meeting held in Kabul between
killed 2,500, left 17,000 injured, and Rabbani, Gailani, Muhammadi, and
made 632,000 refugees since January Muhseni
1994; at least 20,000 houses had been 16 August Ariana Airlines banned from flying
destroyed over Pakistan because of breach of
1 May Hekmatyar’s offensive against Kabul international regulations
is stopped 8 September Islamic Party takes control of
9 May Kabul government air force bombs Khenjan, north of strategic Salang
Mazar-i Sharif and Pul-i-Khumri Pass
13–14 May Dostum’s forces bombard 12 September Fighting occurs at Darulaman
government troops at Qargha, near between Islamic Unity Party and
Kabul Islamic Revolutionary Party; Akbari
CHRONOLOGY 311
reported to have defected from with Hekmatyar; Rabbani meets with

Islamic Unity Party U.S. ambassador to Pakistan
25 September Iran brokers a cease-fire between 10 January Rabbani offers to hand over
various Shi’a mujahideen groups presidency to UN-brokered interim
October Kandahar falls to militia composed administration if Hekmatyar forces
of religious students led by Mullah stop shelling Kabul
Omar 12 January Cease-fire announced, on condition
2 October Pakistan holds transit goods for that Rabbani relinquishes power
Afghanistan due to security concerns 17 January UN aid convoy plundered by
11 October Red Cross announces 1,100 people Hekmatyar’s forces in Sarobi
were killed and 23,000 wounded in 19 January Hekmatyar’s forces bomb Kabul,
Kabul during September resulting in twenty-two deaths and
2 November Pakistani convoy destined for many injuries
Turkmenistan stopped by troops 22 January Access to Kabul again closed by
between Spin Boldak and Kandahar; forces of Hekmatyar
clash occurs between mujahideen 24 January Ghazni captured by Taliban
and Taliban forces over convoy 26 January Heavy fighting occurs in Kunduz
5 November Kandahar captured by Taliban, and Province between government forces
leader of defenders is executed and Ahmad Rashid Dostum; at least
7 November Uzbekistan accused of interference in 100 troops die, and 120 are injured
Afghanistan’s internal affairs due to 28 January United Nations announces plans are
supplying thirty tanks to General being finalized to transfer power
Dostum from Rabbani to interim council of
11 November United Nations appeals for $106.4 all opposing factions
million to meet humanitarian needs 27–31 January Hekmatyar forces pushed out of
of Afghanistan for twelve months Ghazni Province by alliance between
13 November Taliban repel counterattack on Rabbani and Taliban forces;.
Kandahar Hekmatyar suffers large loss of men
5 December First delivery of aid to Kabul for six and armor
months arrives by convoy of sixty- 5 February Uzbek forces of Dostum take Kunduz
four trucks; aid equally split between town; widespread looting of city
Rabbani and his opponents occurs
12 December Rabbani leaves for OIC meeting in 10 February Hekmatyar’s stronghold of Maydan
Morocco Shar in Wardak Province falls to
13 December First UN aid convoy for two years Taliban
arrives in Kunduz 11 February Taliban claim to have captured Pul-i-
19 December India prepares to reopen embassy in Alam and to control Logar Province
Kabul 13 February Kunduz recaptured by forces of
20 December Dostum goes to Islamabad for Rabbani; capital of Loghar Province,
discussions Pul-i-Alam, captured from
28 December UN envoy Mestiri arrives in Hekmatyar forces by Taliban
Islamabad to reopen peace efforts 14 February Hekmatyar’s forces defeated by
30 December Sudanese delegation arrives in Taliban at Charasyab headquarters in
Afghanistan for talks with Logar Province;. Hekmatyar’s troops
Hekmatyar cease to be major factor in civil war
15 February Taliban occupy Pul-i-Charkhi and
1995 Khost
1 January Rabbani refuses to step down as 16 February Kunduz recaptured by forces of
president at end of term; UN peace Rabbani
envoy endeavors to find a solution; 17 February Kabul airport reopens after year’s
Maulawi Yunis Khales returns to closure
Jalalabad after a nineteen-year exile 19 February Taliban take Sharan in Paktika
4 January UN envoy Mestiri opens new UN Province and Gardez in Paktia
office in Jalalabad and begins talks Province
312 CHRONOLOGY
22 February Rabbani refuses to step down until 20 March Taliban expelled from Kabul by
21 March unless Taliban included in government forces following killing
interim administration; talks of Abdul-Ali Mazari, Shi’a
unsuccessful due to Taliban demands mujahideen leader
for participation 26 March Ali Mazri buried in Mazar-i Sharif
25–27 February Forces of Rabbani and Hizb-i 30 March Mass grave discovered at Charasyab,
Wahdat fight for control of with twenty-two male corpses all
southwestern areas of Karte Seh, Kote shot in head, most of whom were
Sangi, and Karte Chahar Shi’a Hazaras; since town changed
6–10 March Action against Hizb-i Wahdat hands between Hizb-i-Islami,
continues, and on 8 March, Wahdat Taliban, and Rabbani, it is not
leader strikes deal with Taliban who possible to ascribe guilt for killings
were blocking his escape routes; 1 April Hekmatyar removed as head of anti-
Taliban move into Darulaman and Rabbani alliance and replaced by
occupy Wahdat front lines, disarm Mujaddidi, head of Jabha-yi-Najat-yi
forces of Abdul Ali Mazari, and Milli-yi Afghanistan
attack Rabbani forces; casualties are 4 April About 800 Rabbani soldiers killed
heavy, with at least 100 to 1,500 and 300 captured by Taliban forces in
killed and 1,000 wounded, the Farah Province; Shindand air base
majority being civilians and Herat also attacked by Taliban
9 March After discussions with Taliban, 7 April Iran bans commercial transit to
Harakat leader Muhammad Nabi Afghanistan
withdraws support from Rabbani, 19 April Taliban impose fuel blockade on
and members resign from Kabul
government 27 April Taliban free 300 prisoners of
12 March Rabbani launches attack on Taliban Dostum’s forces
and drives them out of Karte Seh May Rabbani forces continue actions
and back to Charasyab; Taliban against Taliban around Maydan
shell Kabul during their retreat;. Shahr, where they regrouped
reports indicate Rabbani forces following retreat from Kabul
wreak vengeance on Hazara 3–4 May India and Pakistan agree to reopen
population of Karte Seh, with diplomatic missions in Kabul
looting, beating, rape, and murder 5 May Kabul offices of independent weekly
of civilians Subh Omid raided by militants; in
Iran announces plans to repatriate October, Rabbani will replace entire
500,000 Afghan refugees over editorial staff and control its content
ensuing year, withdraws temporary 11 May Forces of Rabbani and Jamiat
living permits, refuses to renew work governor Isma’il Khan complete
permits, and withdraws welfare recapture of Farah Province from
facilities Taliban
13 March Ali Mazari, Wahdat leader, dies under 15 May Taliban lose Helmand Province to
unclear circumstances while a captive Rabbani and Isma’il Khan forces;
of Taliban; Karim Khalili named Nimruz Province falls on 16 May
provisional leader, but split develops 24 May Negotiations between representatives
in party of Dostum and Rabbani continue,
14 March Taliban claim to have complete covering opening of Salang highway
control of Ghor and Nimruz and lifting of fatwa proclaiming holy
Provinces war against Dostum
16 March Rabbani delays resignation, and 5 June General Dostum attacks Rabbani
transfer of power scheduled for 21 forces in Samangan Province, and
March is delayed for fifteen days fighting continues in Baghlan
19 March Government forces expel Taliban Province
from Charasyab headquarters into 9 June Government and Taliban agree to
hinterland of Logar Province ten-day truce to allow for exchange
CHRONOLOGY 313
of prisoners, free movement of September Northwestern province of Badghis

civilian traffic, and extension of lost by government to forces of
peace talks Dostum
15 June Dostum carries out bombing raids 2 September Taliban capture province of Farah
over Kabul and Kunduz City and city of Shindand, site of largest
20 June Rabbani forces and pro-Rabbani air force base
faction of the Wahdat, Akbari, 3 September Supreme Coordination Council of
capture town of Bamian from Khalili opposition warns that its airspace is
Wahdat faction closed and nonapproved flights will
22 June Iran begins repatriation of 400,000 be forced down or shot down
Afghan refugees through Herat 5 September Herat falls to Taliban; Governor
29 June Fighting resumes in Maydan Shahr Isma’il Khan flees to Iran; city had
between Taliban and forces of been bombed by Dostum, and
Rabbani; envoy of former king Zahir observers felt alliance between
holds talks in Islamabad with Afghan Taliban, Dostum, and Hekmatyar
tribal leaders and Pakistani officials, was responsible for fall of city;
and indicates former king’s regime now controls thirteen of
willingness to participate in peace thirty provinces, SCC holds eight,
process and Rabbani has Kabul and five
23 July Forces of Dostum and Khalili other provinces
Wahdat faction recapture Bamian 6 September Iran closes border with Afghanistan
Province after fall of Herat; repatriation of
30 July Rabbani proposes to United Nations refugees halted; Afghanistan
setting up commission of complains about Pakistani
intellectuals to form grand assembly interference in Afghan affairs; 5,000
for a year, elect leader, draft new attack Pakistan embassy in Kabul,
constitution, and form parliament and one member of staff is killed and
from among commission members twenty-six injured, including
3 August Taliban hijack Russian cargo plane in ambassador; embassy closed by
Kandahar loaded with arms for Pakistan, though diplomatic ties not
Rabbani, and crew taken prisoner; severed
they demand release of all Afghan 7 September Taliban take Ghor Province
prisoners in Russia in return for 15 September Anti-Taliban explosions occur in
release of Russian crew; Russians will Herat
be held for a year 16 September BBC correspondent Kasra Naji
17 August Further repatriation of Afghan expelled from Herat by Taliban,
refugees from Iran’s Sistan Province accused of biased reporting
takes place 21 September Taliban force down Ariana airliner in
21 August Kabul cinemas closed for month to Kandahar carrying military spare
halt spread of immoral films, all parts; Pakistan expels thirteen
centers of cultural corruption are Afghan diplomats without
closed, foreign videos are destroyed, explanation
and female singers are banned from 24 September More explosions and acts of sabotage
media by enemies of Taliban occur in Herat
28 August Government forces capture Girishk 9 October Ambassador to Pakistan Masud
and Helmand Province from Taliban, Halili expelled, and six more Afghan
but Girishk will be retaken on 30 diplomats will be expelled on 18
August October in retaliation for 6
31 August Female delegation banned from September attack on Pakistan
leaving Afghanistan to attend World embassy in Kabul
Conference on Women in Beijing 11 October Taliban capture Charasyab and attack
due to un-Islamic nature of the Kabul; large numbers of civilians
agenda—for example, family killed and injured by heavy shelling;
planning, abortion, premarital sex National Reconciliation Commission
314 CHRONOLOGY
presents peace proposals to Rabbani 25 December Further rocket attacks hit Kabul,
and plans to show them to officials in repeated on 27 and 30 December
other provinces 30 December Delegation from Rabbani meets with
15 October Rabbani’s forces lose Bamian to Dostum in Mazar-i Sharif to try to
Taliban but capture Sanglakh reach negotiated settlement
Valley, close to Taliban-held
Maydan Shahr 1996
6 November President Rabbani advises United 2–3 January Taliban rocket attacks hit residential
Nations he is prepared to resign in areas of Kabul, with twenty-four
exchange for immediate cease-fire by dead and fifty injured; government
Taliban and end to foreign claims attack was aimed at
intervention; fighting breaks out in undermining peace proposals
Kabul before offer can be considered, 10 January Government makes peace offer to
and talks are suspended Taliban and opposition; it calls for
10 November UNICEF suspends education and cease-fire, exchange of prisoners, and
training programs in Taliban-held peace talks; Rabbani makes no move
territory in protest against closure of to resign
girl’s schools in Herat and Jalalabad 10–12 January Residential areas of Kabul again
11 November Taliban attack Kabul with rockets shelled by Taliban
and shells, cause widespread damage, 14 January All routes from Kabul blocked by
and kill at least thirty-five civilians; opposition forces; Rabbani
Rabbani’s forces retake Balashiar, government and Shi’a party of Hizb-
Abdolabad, Zerka, Madrasa, and i Wahdat, Khalili faction sign peace
Labani regions of Balkh Province agreement that includes cease-fire,
from forces of Dostum exchange of prisoners, and reopening
13 November Taliban again shell Kabul, and at least of Kabul-Bamian road; Kabul suffers
another twenty-one civilians killed from lack of food and fuel
26 November Taliban launch air strikes on Kabul; 20 January Bitter fighting reported between
at least 40 civilians are killed and 140 Taliban factions in Kandahar and the
wounded; Rabbani’s forces push provinces of Ghazni, Wardak, and
Taliban back Logar; rift caused by Mullah Omar’s
27 November Jabha leadership withdraws from faction wishing to hold peace talks
SCC, and Mujaddidi resigns as SCC with Rabbani, the Mullah Borjan
president faction wishing to continue the
30 November Taliban again shell Kabul, resulting in struggle, and the faction of Mullah
seventeen deaths and at least twenty- Rabbani remaining neutral
six wounded, all civilians 29 January Demonstrations by Kabul civilians
1 December Government forces bomb Taliban against Rabbani take place,
positions outside Kabul; Taliban demanding he hand over presidency
return fire and hit residential areas to interim government; Taliban again
and airport launch rocket attacks on Kabul
5 December Demonstrations take place in Kabul 1 February Taliban bomb residential area near
against civil war and bombing of Kabul’s grand mosque; ten civilians
residential areas; submit resolution to killed and many injured
United Nations seeking action to 3 February Red Cross emergency food supplies
prevent attacks on civilians reach Kabul to supply 100,000
9 December Government forces bomb Taliban citizens, via planes from Peshawar
positions at Charasyab; residential 6 February 400 trucks arrive in Kabul with basic
areas and civilians hit, and thirty- food supplies and fuel; militias
seven Taliban fighters are killed demand bounty on all trucks
12 December Taliban shell Kabul again, with much traveling highways from Pakistan,
destruction of property and heavy through Jalalabad to Kabul
civilian casualties; another attack will 11 February Taliban and government forces
be launched on 19 December engage in area of southern Kabul
CHRONOLOGY 315
13 February Mujaddidi rejoins SCC 12 May Forces of Hekmatyar arrive in Kabul

14 February At initiative of Pakistan and United to assist Rabbani in defending city
Nations, peace talks held in against Taliban
Islamabad between Hekmatyar, 20 May Iran reports Taliban have executed
Dostum, Taliban, Shi’as, and Isma’ilis their commander in Wardak
but end without agreement Province, Mullah Abdur Rahman, for
22 February Rabbani attempts new set of talks establishing contact with opposition
with Hekmatyar in Kabul and Sarobi forces
26 February Fighting breaks out in Baghlan 24 May Rabbani and Hekmatyar sign peace
Province between various opposition agreement and agree to organize
faction, with hundreds of deaths, elections and form “real Islamic
injuries, and refugees government”; Taliban call a counter
27 February UNHCR report 391,000 Afghan meeting of Yunis Khales,
refugees were repatriated in 1995 but Muhammad Nabi, Ahmad Gailani,
400,000 internal refugees are still and representatives of General
living in camps near Jalalabad Dostum
March Opposition forces report that in 30 May Afghans demonstrate at UN offices
Taliban-controlled areas, one in Kabul, requesting UN and
member of each household is forced international aid in mine-clearing
into hard labor, a tax of 10 percent is operations
levied on all earnings, and vehicles 1 June Taliban take Chaghcharan, capital of
are commandeered Ghor Province
4 March Save the Children, UK suspends all 7 June SCC suspends Hekmatyar’s
operations in Taliban- controlled membership because of alliance with
areas because of restrictions Rabbani
7 March Rabbani government and Hekmatyar 11 June General Dostum creates Balkh
sign agreement to take joint action airline to transport passengers and
against Taliban; agreement also freight between Mazar-i Sharif and
signed to restore electricity to Kabul Pakistan, Iran, and Central Asia;
12–13 March Government forces bomb Taliban Pakistan grants landing rights at
positions in towns of Charasyab and Peshawar
Muhammad Agha 18 June Taliban take government positions at
13 March Iran announces further repatriation Nimruz
of 250,000 Afghan refugees to 19 June Hekmatyar and Rabbani sign peace
northern Afghanistan via accord; Hekmatyar becomes prime
Turkmenistan; Taliban shell Kabul, minister in Kabul
and government bombs Taliban 24 June Rasool Pahalwan, an influential
positions northern warlord, killed in ambush
30 March Taliban call a meeting of 1,000 ulama near his base in the Shor desert,
in Kandahar to determine future Mazar-i Sharif
policy; Mullah Omar elected leader 26 June Hekmatyar becomes prime minister
on 3 April, but SCC rejects this in Rabbani’s government; Taliban
3 April Mullah Omar elected by 1,000 clergy respond by bombing Kabul, killing
as “commander of the faithful” about 60 people and wounding
11 April Government forces capture Taliban- about 150
controlled district of Saghar in Ghor 3 July Rabbani names broadly based, ten-
Province, but Taliban retaliate by member cabinet but leaves twelve
capturing Sharak district, with heavy places for other Afghan factions not
government losses present in Kabul
18 April Civil servants in Herat forced to wear 22 July Prime Minister Hekmatyar closes
turbans and grow beards or lose jobs cinemas in Kabul and bans music
4 May Iranian embassy in Kabul shelled by and television broadcasts as un-
Taliban; two embassy staffers are Islamic; women are ordered to dress
wounded modestly, but restrictions on work
316 CHRONOLOGY
and education imposed by Taliban 12 September Government forces bomb Jalalabad;

are not emulated Taliban advance on Sarobi, which
18 July Islamic National Front for Peace in controls access to Bagram airport,
Afghanistan formed by parties the only airport open to government;
headed by Gailani, Dostum, government reinforces Sarobi in
Mujaddidi, Khalili, and Saiq anticipation of assault; Taliban
Moddabir, to work for broad-based capture Mehtarlam, capital of
government Laghman Province
5 August Fierce fighting reported in provinces 15 September Iran announces intention to
of Paktia, Paktika, Nimruz, and repatriate 250,000 Afghan refugees to
Ghor; opposition forces accuse northern Afghanistan via
Taliban of forcible recruitment of Turkmenistan with cooperation of
young people and levying heavy taxes United Nations and UNHCR
to support war 16 September Rabbani sends emissaries to Tashkent
8 August Opposition captures Chaghcharan, Uzbekistan to try to secure support
capital of Ghor Province, but it is from General Dostum
immediately retaken by Taliban; 22 September Taliban take province of Kunar
Taliban arrest people who cooperated 25 September Taliban capture Sarobi and large
with opposition forces and fire on quantities of arms from fleeing
women protesting arrests, with five government troops
women shot dead 26 September Kabul attacked by Taliban from
13 August Hekmatyar’s government and southeast and southwest; hundreds
General Dostum agree to formal of citizens flee to Mazar-i Sharif in
cease-fire agreement allowing for the north; Rabbani, Hekmatyar, and
reopening of Salang highway from Masood withdraw forces from capital
Kabul to the north and are declared national criminals
14 August Pakistan reopens embassy in Kabul by Taliban; Masood and Rabbani
16 August Russian crew of plane hijacked in regroup forces at Masood’s base at
Kandahar by Taliban in 1995 escape Jalal Saraj
and return to Russia via United Arab 27 September Kabul falls to Taliban, and Taliban
Emirates declare Shari’ a law throughout
28 August Eastern provinces of Laghman, Afghanistan; thousands of civilians
Nangahar, and Nuristan declare flee city; Mullah Muhammad
neutrality in war between forces of Rabbani appointed to head six-man
Taliban and Rabbani ruling council; amnesty offered to all
29 August Salang highway linking Kabul to former government soldiers in Kabul
north of Afghanistan reopens and Kandahar; former president
4 September About 200 women participate in Najibullah and brother Shahpur
march in Kabul, protesting Taliban Ahmadzai forcibly removed from
restrictions on females; march is UN compound and executed, with
supported by Afghan Women’s their bodies hung on public display
Islamic Movement (AWIM) and from lampposts
Afghan Women’s Islamic Renaissance 28 September Taliban issue decree compelling
(AWIR); letter submitted to UN women to wear burqas when outside
secretary-general, Boutros Boutros- the home; women are also prohibited
Ghali from working, and girls are banned
5 September Taliban launch attack in eastern from attending school; films, music,
Afghanistan television, cassette recorders, and
11 September Jalalabad, capital of Nangahar videorecorders are also banned;
Province, falls to Taliban; route from Mujaddidi announces his support for
Kabul to Peshawar is cut, and Taliban
majority of population flees to 29 September Taliban take Jabal-us-Siraj; civil
Pakistan; all UN offices temporarily servants and military personnel given
shut to protect staff six weeks to grow beards of
CHRONOLOGY 317
acceptable length or face dismissal attacks on Kabul airport; Dostum

and punishment also advances on Kabul from
30 September Taliban announce continued salary northeast
payments for women no longer 21 October Dostum proposes cease-fire to
allowed to work, but no detail given Taliban, using Pakistan interior
as to time limit; Kapsia Province minister as intermediary; Masood
captured by Taliban, followed by also accepts proposal, subject to
towns of Charikar and Jabal Saraj; Kabul being demilitarized, but
Masood retreats to Panjshir Valley, Taliban insist on exchange of
but Taliban advance is halted by prisoners and commission to
forces of General Dostum monitor cease-fire; talks collapse
3 October Schools and colleges in Kabul remain without any agreement
closed because of ban on female 22–30 October Anti-Taliban forces stall in their
teachers and insufficient number of advance on Kabul
male teachers; hospitals also suffer— 22 October Village of Sar Cheshma, 5 miles
although women are allowed to work north of Kabul, destroyed by Taliban
in female-only hospitals, many stay as collective punishment due to
away from work for fear of shelling from village by Masood’s
harassment forces, who then withdraw
7 October UNHCR ceases operations in 23 October Women in Mazar-i Sharif
Afghanistan because of staff demonstrate against Taliban and
shortages caused by women not wear Western-style dress
being allowed to work; Save the 25 October Taliban claims to have captured
Children suspends its land-mine Badghis Province rejected by Dostum
awareness program: Taliban 27–28 October Anti-Taliban alliance again attacks
introduce a 9:00 P.M. TO 4:00 A.M Kabul but is repulsed
curfew on Kabul; Rabbani, Dostum, 29 October Regional conference held in Tehran
and Khalili form anti-Taliban to try to bring about peace in
alliance, the Council for the Defense Afghanistan, but talks fail; Pakistan,
of Afghanistan Saudi Arabia, and Uzbekistan refuse
12–19 October Masood’s forces retake strategic to attend
towns of Jabul Siraj and Chaikar, 30 October Anti-Taliban forces take Dar-ye Nur,
north of Kabul, from Taliban administrative capital of Nangarhar
14 October Taliban accused of conscripting Province, but Taliban forces soon
young men to fight at front from retake it
mosques and bazaars and “press- 30 October– Heavy fighting occurs in Badghis
ganging” young men arrested for 3 November Province with both sides claiming
being sympathizers of former victory, but independent reports
government claim a stalemate; anti-Taliban forces
15 October Pakistan offers to broker peace talks are led by Dostum and former
and sends minister of the interior, governor of Herat Isma’il Khan, who
Naseerullah, to meet with Taliban had troops flown in from Iran to take
leaders in Kabul and General part in offensive
Dostum; market town of Qara Bagh 1 November Taliban announce girls can return to
retaken by Taliban, without school in Kabul, as fighting has
resistance, but seized again on 19 ceased around city; indication given
October by forces of Dostum and that women might be allowed to
Masood; Rabbani’s forces lose return to work
Bamian to Taliban but recapture 4 November Dostum calls for peace talks, but call
Sanglakh Valley is rejected by Taliban unless cease-fire
18 October Bagram air base retaken by forces of and exchange of prisoners takes place
Dostum and Masood first; anti-Taliban alliance air force
20 October Masood’s forces take Hussein Kot, 12 bombs Herat airport and takes
miles from Kabul, and mount rocket control of Mangoi district in Konar
318 CHRONOLOGY
Province, but it is soon retaken by Islam and that women must wear the
the Taliban full burqa
5 November General Taina, former defense 7 December Taliban forbid women to work for
minister in Najibullah government, relief agencies
comes out in support of Taliban 9 December Reports from Kabul seem to indicate
9 November Dostum’s air force bombs Taliban ethnic minorities are being targeted
positions at Kabul airport by Taliban, with increased
10 November Several hundred refugees flee north harassment of non-Pashtun
because of heavy fighting around inhabitants; Norbert Holl, UN envoy,
Kabul, but there is little movement in holds separate meetings with
the frontline positions Dostum, Masood, and Taliban to try
11–16 November Further heavy fighting in Badghis to secure cease-fire; claims are made
Province, resulting in some 50,000 of success and agreement to establish
refugees moving on Herat and Qale- a commission to begin direct talks
e-Naw; as nearly all refugees are between factions, but some Taliban
Pashtuns, UNHCR and other aid officials deny this
agencies maintain their move is 18 December Public executions held by Taliban in
outcome of ethnic cleansing Herat and Kabul
17 November Taliban regime calls on United 21–22 December Anti-Taliban demonstrations held in
Nations to recognize it as legitimate Herat by women demanding aid
government in Afghanistan and to from international organizations;
allocate UN seat to a Taliban demonstrators are dispersed by
representative Taliban militia; this leads to violent
18 November UN-sponsored one-day conference clashes, arrest of twenty women,
on Afghanistan held in New York, imposition of curfew, and streets
with delegates from nineteen patroled by tanks and personnel
countries and groups, including carriers
Security Council, but no 24 December Clashes between different factions of
representatives of warring factions; Islamic Unity Party break out in
conference calls for an immediate Wardak Province, resulting in
cease-fire and demilitarization of seventeen deaths
Kabul 27–28 December Taliban launch major offensive
20 November UNHCR suspends operations in against Bagram air base and by 28
Kabul due to arrest of four staffers December control all access to base;
but resumes activities after they are they also take Qarabagh, Kalakan,
released on 11 December and Istalif; opposition retaliates by
23–24 November Taliban claim to have captured Mir launching air strikes on Kabul and
Bachakot and Guldra, north of the airport
Kabul, representing first movement
of front line since October 1997
26 November Sixty people arrested in Jalalabad by 2 January Taliban warn that failure to pray five
Taliban for failure to attend prayers times a day will result in
regularly punishment
27 November Dostum’s forces capture Bala 5 January Dostum’s air force strikes against
Morghab region in Badghis Province, Wazir Akbar suburb of Kabul, with
and 10,000 Pashtun refugees flee to four deaths and ten people
Turkmenistan; Taliban capture wounded; Taliban threaten to hang
villages of Kalakan and Istalif, moving anti-Taliban alliance prisoners if
front line north by some 10 miles, but attacks continue
heavy fighting continues in area 9 January Taliban decree that nonobservance of
29 November Taliban push back former Ramadan will result in sixty days of
government troops imprisonment; two men are
4 December Taliban decree that the chadari does subsequently charged for not
not conform to requirements of meeting their obligations
CHRONOLOGY 319
9–14 January Fierce fighting continues between in Ghorband Valley from Islamic
Dostum’s forces and Taliban in Unity Party of Khalili
Badghis Province 27 January Alliance forces blow up part of
13–15 January UN-brokered talks take place on Salang highway to slow Taliban
possible peace negotiations with advance; Taliban propose cease-fire
Taliban and anti-Taliban delegates; and prisoner exchange; refugees are
Taliban indicate a willingness to arriving in Kabul in such large
negotiate but refuse to accept numbers that aid agencies cannot
demilitarization of Kabul, a key cope; some refugees also head for
alliance demand Jalalabad and Peshawar
16 January Bagram air base recaptured by 28 January Alliance jets bomb the Taliban-held
Taliban, as is Charikar, capital of town of Jebel Siraq, with at least
Parwan Province; people in town and three civilians killed; UNHCR
surrounding villages are ordered to reports refugees in Badghis are dying
evacuate to eliminate any uprising from hunger and cold, and
from pro-Masood Tajik population continued heavy fighting is causing
17–18 January Taliban forces continue to advance number of refugees to swell
northward and take several towns 29 January Taliban troops continue evacuation
and villages in Kapsia Province of frontline villages as they advance
21 January Thousands of refugees head south to along Salang highway; as most
Kabul due to heavy fighting near inhabitants are Tajiks, ethnic
Charikar cleansing is suspected; refugees are
21–22 January UN-sponsored forum on aid held in totally reliant on outside agencies, as
Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan, Taliban show no real interest in
and donor countries and agencies problem
agree to continue aid 30–31 January Taliban continue to advance north in
22 January United States refuses to recognize Ghorband Valley and capture
Taliban government in Kabul Chardehi and Bakhan, some 80 miles
23 January Taliban capture Jebul Siraj and north of Kabul
Gulbahar, which had been 2 February Taliban radio announces Shi’a
strongholds of Masood; first town is residents of Tagab and Behsoud
close to strategic Salang Pass and was districts in Wardak Province have
a gateway to Dostum’s power base in rebelled against Islamic Unity Party
northern Afghanistan; Gulbahar lies forces led by Karim Khalili; Taliban
at mouth of Panjshir Valley, forces take Hazara districts of Shekali
Masood’s traditional power base; and Sorkhi Parsa in Parwan Province
alliance forces blast hillsides near from forces of Khalili; Khalili gathers
Salang Pass to slow Taliban advance; fresh troops in Bamian Province in
UNHCR reports arrival of about preparation for Taliban assault
another 30,000 refugees in Kabul 19 March Major explosion at ammunition
from frontline towns and villages depot in Jalalabad kills fifty, injures
25–26 January Peace talks held in Tehran but hundreds, and destroys many houses;
without Taliban representation; explosion is thought to have been an
Rabbani, Hekmatyar, and accident
representative of General Dostum 13 May Opposition, under Rabbani, forms
call for cease-fire, exchange of new government in Mazar-i Sharif
prisoner, and safe, secure 19 May Gen. Abdul Malik, governor of
environment in Kabul; without Fariab Province, mutinies and allies
Taliban presence, no real progress is with Taliban; Dostum flees to Turkey
made 24 May Taliban forces enter Mazar-i Sharif;
26 January Taliban are accused of ethnic Dostum moves to Uzbekistan
cleansing of Tajiks in Gulbahar to 25 May Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and United
prevent uprising; Taliban claim to Arab Emirates recognize Taliban
have captured Shinwari and Siagird government
320 CHRONOLOGY
28 May General Malik turns on Taliban and 13 July Two UN staff members murdered in
drives them from Mazar-i Sharif; Jalalabad
hundreds are killed, and 2,000 21 July Foreign nongovernmental
Taliban troops are captured organizations leave Kabul
30 May Islamic Unity Party troops capture 7 August U.S. embassies in Kenya and
Ghorband Valley; forces of Masood Tanzania attacked; 224 people are
take Jabul Siraq killed and 5,000 wounded
June Mazar-i Sharif falls to Taliban, and 18 August Mazar-i Sharif falls to Taliban;
General Dostum flees to Turkey; city between 4,000 and 5,000 people
is retaken shortly after by forces of killed, including 9 Iranian diplomats
General Malik 20 August United States launches Cruise missile
20 July Masood leads anti-Taliban forces to attack against bin Laden’s training
retake areas north of Kabul camps in Afghanistan, near Khost,
24 July Masood-led forces advance to within following attacks on U.S. embassies
12 miles of Kabul in Kenya and Tanzania
29 July Opposition advance held back by 21 August UN observer murdered in Kabul; UN
Taliban north of Kabul and International Committee of the
21 August Taliban lose ground north of Kabul; Red Cross withdraw all foreign staff
fighting erupts in Mazar-i Sharif 27 August UN representatives attacked at
between forces loyal to Dostum and Jalalabad in protest against U.S.
Malik missile attacks
August Taliban begin blockade of 30 August Taliban recapture Mazar-i Sharif
Hazarajat September Saudi Arabia withdraws diplomats;
8 September Mazar-i Sharif besieged by Taliban Taliban capture Bamian
12 September Dostum returns from Kabul to 13 September Taliban take control of the Hazarajat
northern base; order restored in region from Islamic Unity Party, giving
Mazar-i Sharif them 80 percent of country; only
4 October Taliban forces expelled from air base Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and United
at Mazar-i Sharif; massacre of Arab Emirates recognize Taliban
Taliban militia takes place in city; regime as legitimate government
grave of 2,000 Taliban militia will be 21 October United Nations defers decision on
discovered recognition of Taliban regime
November General Malik and family flee into 8 November United States posts $5 million reward
exile for capture of Osama bin Laden;
18 November Taliban treatment of women Taliban offer to try him in
condemned by United States Afghanistan, and they find him
innocent of all charges by end of
1998 month
4 February Earthquake hits Takhar in northern
Afghanistan, leaving at least 5,000 1999
dead and more than 1,500 homes 12 February United Nations returns to Kabul;
destroyed Taliban announce disappearance of
23 February Osama bin Laden calls on Muslims Osama bin Laden
to kill Americans and their allies 14 March Taliban and opposition meet in
25 March United Nations withdraws staff from Turkmenistan and agree to create
Kandahar shared government, exchange
17 April U.S. ambassador to the United prisoners, and open negotiations
Nations holds peace talks with 21 April Taliban recapture Bamian
Taliban 4 July bin Laden found at Jalalabad
26 April Talks begin between Afghan factions 6 July United States imposes trade
in Pakistan sanctions on Taliban regime
3 May U.S.-Taliban peace talks collapse; 28 July Taliban launch three-pronged assault
Taliban launch offensive against on forces of Masood; Bagram air
Northern Alliance base captured
CHRONOLOGY 321
4 August Ethnic cleansing across Shomali Committee approves Ariana flights

Plain conducted by Taliban; Masood for the hajj
launches successful counterattack 10 February Mullah Omar demands hijackers in
24 August Attempted assassination attack made Britain face British or international
on Mullah Omar at Kandahar law for action
7 October Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence 11 February UN World Food Program warns of
unit denounces presence of terrorist food crisis in Afghanistan, with a
training camps on Afghan soil million-ton shortfall of wheat in
13 October Gen. Pervez Musharraf becomes relation to demand
president of Pakistan after military 12 February Taliban guarantee safe passage for all
intervention Ariana hijacking hostages who wish
14 November UN sanctions against Taliban come to return to Afghanistan
into effect, including air embargo 14 February Seventy hijacked hostages fly back
from London to Afghanistan; Taliban
2000 air force bombs Panjshir Valley, and
1 February Taliban maintain they do not at least eight civilians are killed
support terrorism but reject 17 February United Nations condemns death of
demands for expulsion of Osama civilians in Panjshir Valley, bombed
bin Laden; opposition accuses by Taliban air force on 14 February
Taliban of atrocities again Hazara, 23 February Pakistan seeks world assistance to
Tajik, and Uzbek minorities in curb opium production in
Gosfandi and claim eighty are dead; Afghanistan, which has reached 4,600
CIA warns bin Laden is acquiring tons (75 percent of world supply)
biological, chemical, and nuclear 25 February President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan
weapons and accuses him of complains about drug trafficking and
involvement in hijacking of Indian acts of terrorism emanating from
airliner by Kashmiri separatists in Afghan and Pakistani refugee camps;
December 1999 UN report on human rights accuses
3 February New UN representative to Taliban regime of serious human
Afghanistan, Fransec Vendrell, arrives rights violations.; UNHCR announces
in Pakistan for tour of region repatriation of 200,000 refugees from
6 February Ariana airliner hijacked on route to Iran and Pakistan after agreement
Mazar-i Sharif by Afghans and flies with Taliban; logistical support to be
to London via Uzbekistan, provided by United Nations
Kazakhstan, and Moscow; some 28 February NGOs in Afghanistan express
hostages freed at various stops, but concern about effects of UN
165 passengers on board when plane sanctions on civilian population
arrives in London on 7 February; 29 February Bomb explodes outside Ministry of
hijackers demand release of Information and Culture; opposition
opposition leader Isma’il Khan from forces deny responsibility; killings
Taliban imprisonment; incident ends and looting of Kabul money market
on 10 February also reported
7 February Taliban delegation received in France; 1 March Forces of Taliban and Masood clash
French government takes firm line north of Kabul in first serious action
on international terrorism, opium for some months; Taliban claim to
production, human rights, and have seized river port of Sher Kan
position of women Bandar on border with Tajikstan
9 February Bomb explodes outside Ministry of 2 March Further fighting between Taliban and
Interior in Kabul; opposition rejects forces of Masood, with exchanges of
Taliban claims of responsibility; artillery in Shomali Plains near Kabul
Taliban arrest number of airport and on Tajikstan border; Iran’s police
workers, including women, force demands better border security
allegedly complicit in 6 February from all Afghan neighbors to combat
Ariana hijacking; UN Sanctions drug trafficking
322 CHRONOLOGY
3 March Taliban consolidate position in Sher further clashes reported from Nejran
Khan Bandar and Imam Sahib; district, north of Kabul
Russia assists Tajikstan with troops to 8 April Taliban warned of further UN
guard border as a result of fighting in sanctions unless fighting and human
Afghanistan; UN Security Council rights abuses of minorities cease and
demands end to Taliban military bin Laden is extradited; Taliban
action and threatens further, capture Darra-i-Kalan Valley in
unspecified sanctions Nejrab district, but fierce
7 March Peace talks sponsored by counterattacks launched by
Organization of the Islamic opposition forces
Conference attended by warring 12 April Taliban warn Russia not to become
parties involved in Afghanistan’s internal
8 March UN representative to Afghanistan affairs
sees some softening of Taliban policy 13 April Opposition forces claim to have
toward women, particularly on captured Sagha and Sharak districts
access to health facilities and of Ghor Province; intense fighting
education reported around Albak, capital of
26 March Isma’il Khan, the “Lion of Herat,” Samangan Province; UN team
escapes Taliban custody after three returns to Kandahar following
years of imprisonment in Kandahar, guarantees of security from Taliban
together with Abul Zaher, another regime
opposition leader 18 April U.S. secretary of state Madeline
27 March Afghan drug traffickers shot dead by Albright and President Karimov of
Iranian police in eastern Iran; Uzbekistan agree Taliban regime is
UNHCR begins repatriation threat to regional stability
program from Pakistan, with each 19 April Food prices in Afghanistan rise 25
family receiving $100, food, and percent due to taxes imposed by
plastic sheets for shelter Taliban regime, collapse of Afghan
28 March Bomb blast in Torkam on border currency, drought-affected poppy
with the Khyber Pass kills four crop, threat of further UN sanctions,
people, and a number are injured and printing of currency by
29 March UN operations halted in southern opposition forces; UN representative
Afghanistan following Taliban raid meets Masood in Tajikistan, who
on UN offices in search for Isma’il agrees to negotiate with Taliban, but
Khan; Iran announces Khan is in no formal proposals follow
Iran 21 April All warring factions agree to three-
31 March Afghan opposition forces of Dostum, day truce to enable UNICEF polio
Malik, and Masood combine to vaccination program to take place
oppose Taliban; pro-Western 24 April Maulavi Mohammed Siddiquillah
government in Afghanistan is assassinated by unknown gunmen in
favored, and new grouping is backed Peshawar; Siddiquillah was a
by Iran and Russia mujahideen commander in alliance
4 April Taliban governor of Kunduz with Hekmatyar
Province, Mohammad Arif Khan, 25 April European Union provides $26
killed in Peshawar, Pakistan million to aid displaced Afghan
5 April Taliban governor of Nangarhar refugees
Province begins implementation of May Taliban torture and kill civilians in
decree by Mullah Omar to reduce Robatak Pass area on border between
poppy cultivation by one-third, with Baghlan and Samangan Provinces
poppy fields along Jalalabad-Pakistan 8 May Indirect peace talks sponsored by
border road plowed up OIC at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, begin
7 April Reports from Afghanistan indicate between Taliban and opposition
military buildup on both sides in 9 May At OIC peace talks, Taliban and
preparation for spring offensive; opposition agree to exchange
CHRONOLOGY 323
prisoners; United States provides $4 7 June Pressure mounts in United Nations

million for UNHCR Afghan for tougher sanctions because of
operations Taliban refusal to extradite bin Laden
18 May United States supports plan by 10 June Taliban mass troops in north of
former king Zahir to hold Loya Jirga Afghanistan, ready for attack on
to bring peace to Afghanistan; Northern Alliance territory;
proposal rejected by Taliban Uzbekistan reinforces border
19 May President Putin of Russia and 14 June UN Security Council considers use of
President Karimov of Uzbekistan “intelligent” sanctions against Taliban
pledge to fight terrorism and regional leaders to protect general population,
effects of Taliban regime; Pakistan but doubts expressed about
and Taliban agree to fully recognize Pakistan’s commitment; opposition
Durand Line and streamline refugee sources claim Northern Alliance has
repatriation, and Pakistan agrees to taken Chaghcharan, capital of Ghor
close mujahideen training camps; Province; Central Asian Economic
United States donates $500,000 for Association leaders contend
emergency drought relief in southern international community not doing
Afghanistan enough to end conflict in
20 May Taliban bomb opposition-held town Afghanistan
of Taloqan in Takhar Province; UN 23 June UNHCR warns drought could cause
aid worker and six children killed massive population displacement to
22 May Russia accuses Taliban of supporting Pakistan and Iran unless aid is
and training Chechen guerrillas; forthcoming. U.S. agrees to donate
preventive strikes against Afghanistan further $6 million to drought
not ruled out if there is perceived program in Afghanistan and parts of
threat to Russia’s security India and Pakistan
23 May Taliban claim to have captured area 26 June Opposition forces claim Taliban is
around strategic Salang Tunnel from preparing for summer offensive and
Masood after two days of intensive say attack has started on Dara-i-Suf
fighting in Samangan Province; Taliban agree
26 May Major explosion occurs at Taliban to stop poppy production, provided
ammunition store in Kabul; international aid is received to repair
opposition denies responsibility; damaged infrastructure
United States and Russia agree 30 June OIC emphasizes impossibility of
Security Council must take further solving Afghan conflict by military
action against Taliban regime if it means, calling for end to hostilities
continues to ignore world opinion and for all states to cease supplying
27 May U.S. undersecretary of state, Thomas arms
Pickering, meets Taliban deputy 1 July Fighting flares up near Bagram,
foreign minister, Abdul Jallil, to press north of Kabul, which spoils plans
for handover of Osama bin Laden for exchange of some 4,000 prisoners
28 May Mullah Omar denies presence of and delays opening of OIC-
terrorist training camps in sponsored peace talks
Afghanistan; Pakistani and Western 4 July U.S. consul-general in Karachi states
intelligence agencies identify Rishkor sanctions will remain in force until
base and camps in Laghman and bin Laden is handed over by
Khost Provinces as training camps Afghanistan
2 June Repatriation of Afghan refugees to 6 July Turkmenistan signs contract with
southern Afghanistan suspended Taliban to supply electricity to city of
because of drought Herat
4 June Taliban accuse opposition of 9 July Opposition admits losing ground to
breaking cease-fire in Parwan and Taliban in fighting north of Kabul
Gorband Provinces during UNICEF 10 July Anti-Taliban forces blamed for bomb
vaccination program attack on Pakistani embassy in
324 CHRONOLOGY
Kabul; Taliban issues ban on NGOs 3 August Taliban capture strategic town of
using female workers, but it is Ishkamish in Takhar Province,
unclear as whether ban applies only regarded as great setback for
to Afghan employees Masood; United Nations again
12 July Iran seals border with Afghanistan to pressures Taliban to ease ban on
stop flow of drugs; U.S. aid worker female NGO workers
Mary MacMakin expelled from 5 August Opposition forces claim to recapture
Afghanistan after being accused of of territory along Salang highway,
spying for United States; United exposing Khinjan to artillery; seven
Nations begins negotiations with workers of Organization for Mine
Taliban in attempt to lift ban on Clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation
female relief workers killed in Herat Province; Taliban
15 July Mullah Omar refuses to hand over blame opposition for attack
Osama bin Laden to United States 6 August Taliban take town of Banji in Takhar
17 July Opposition blamed for bomb attack Province from opposition
on house of Pakistani diplomat in 7 August Taliban forces advance on opposition
Kabul stronghold of Taloqan, with heavy
18 July Pakistan footballers playing in casualties on both sides
Kandahar arrested by religious police 8 August United Nations calls for arrest and
for wearing shorts, and their heads punishment of those responsible for
are shaved as punishment; Taliban OMAR murders
apologize after protests from 9 August Fighting near Taloqan escalates;
Islamabad; UN World Food Program opium prices in Afghanistan rise
announces major relief operation to steeply because of drought and
aid 1.6 million Afghanis threatened Taliban ban on opium production
by famine because of drought 10 August Fighting near Taloqan abates, and
20 July United Nations admits no progress opposition declares willingness to
on talks to reinstate female NGO accept UN mediation
workers 11 August Russia claims most fighters in
21–22 July Bomb explosions in Kabul blamed by Chechnya Province are Afghan
government on opposition forces mercenaries; Russian border troops
25 July Pakistan requests extradition of aiding Tajikistan repel attempt by
Pakistanis suspected of involvement Afghan fighters to cross border
in terrorist activities and sectarian 13 August Taliban intensify assault on Taloqan
violence; Taliban agree, if evidence is and make further ground
produced; Taliban arrest commander 16 August Taliban authorities close WFP
in northern Baghlan Province on bakeries for women in Kabul due to
suspicion of collusion with ban on female NGO workers;
opposition; opposition claim arrest decision is reversed on 17 August
was due to refusal by Bashir Baghlani after UN protests
to supply recruits to Taliban forces 19 August Opposition forces announce capture
28 July Intense fighting breaks out in eastern of Daray-i-Noor district in Jalalabad
Baghlan Province; ban on cultivation and parts of Khiva district; Taliban
of opium poppy announced by authorities reaffirm decision not to
Mullah Omar extradite Osama bin Laden
29 July Taliban forces cut communications 21 August WFP delivers emergency supplies to
between Masood’s stronghold in besieged, opposition-held Dara-i-Suf
Panjshir Valley and Takhar Province in Samangan Province
on Tajikistan border 22 August UN Security Council receives report
30 July Strategic district of Burqa seized by stating Afghan people would not be
Taliban able to sustain further sanctions,
31 July Some 65,000 illegal Afghan refugees except for arms embargo
expelled by Iran under plan aided by 25 August Forces allied to Masood make gains
United Nations in fighting northeast of Kabul
CHRONOLOGY 325
26 August Taliban appeal for lifting of sanctions 21 September Hazarbagh, north of Taloqan, and
because of suffering to Afghan Khawajaghar airport captured by
people Taliban
30 August Taliban indicate willingness to begin 22 September Taliban appeal for international aid
peace talks and release some political as compensation for losses due to
prisoners; peace proposals initiated cuts in opium production and
by Turkmenistan protest UN decision to cease supply
31 August Afghan opposition claims capture of of substitute crops to farmers;
strategic territory in Baghlan Tajikistan complains its stability is
Province; Turkmenistan peace threatened by Islamic extremists
proposals are backed by Pakistan trained by Taliban militia; Taliban
1 September Pakistan embassy in Jalalabad hit by make significant gains by capturing
bomb attack; UN land-mine Shir Khan border port on the Oxus
clearance program threatened by lack River, the Imam Sahib and Dashte
of funds Archi districts in Kunduz Province,
2 September Masood meets Turkmenistan officials and the Ai Khanoum border area of
to discuss ending of civil war Takhar Province; President Rabbani
4 September Taliban launch all-out assault on appeals for aid to rid Afghanistan
Taloqan, which falls on 6 September of Taliban, arguing neighboring
to a combined Taliban-Pakistani- states will pay high price if
Arab force; thousands of refugees flee Afghanistan becomes extreme
to Tajikistan and Pakistan borders Islamic state
9 September Taliban forces attempt to clear 23 September Two men publicly executed by
opposition forces from outskirts of Taliban, accused of working for
Taloqan opposition and carrying out bomb
10 September Fighting erupts again around attacks in Kabul
Bagram air base, north of Kabul 28 September Italy proposes setting up
13 September Rocket attack hits Kabul airport, humanitarian corridor in
suspected to have come from nearby Afghanistan to allow aid to all areas
villages due to nature of weapons controlled by warring factions
14 September Iranian police kill eleven Afghan 29 September Bomb attack launched on offices of
bandits near town of Tobat-e- Al-Rasheed Trust aid agency and a
Heydarieh; opium production weekly religious newspaper that
declines 28 percent, but Afghan backs Taliban movement; 8,000
remains world’s largest supplier Afghan refugees flee into Pakistan to
15 September UNHCR high commissioner, Sadako escape fighting
Ogata, raises issue of Taliban regime’s 30 September Taliban captures Karkhar gorge east
treatment of women of Taloqan after fierce fighting; gorge
17 September Opposition forces claim to have links Taloqan with Badakhshan
seized hilltops around Taloqan; Province, heartland of Northern
Taliban offer to hold peace talks with Alliance
Masood 1 October Uzbekistan opens dialogue with
18 September At meeting with UNHCR high Taliban to bolster security in Central
commissioner, Taliban press for Asia
lifting of economic sanctions and for 2 October Taliban publicly hang two men in
international recognition Kandahar for murder and robbery
19 September WFP launches operation to supply 5 October UN special envoy Vendrell arrives in
food to civilians displaced by fighting Kabul for talks with Taliban and
around Taloqan; Taliban capture finds regime willing to hold peace
Imam Sahib district in Kunduz talks with opponents to secure
Province, further cutting off supply political settlement
route to Masood’s territory; ground 6 October Opposition commanders meet in
retaken by opposition on following Iran and form the United Front to
day combat Taliban regime
326 CHRONOLOGY
8 October Masood urges international 2 November U.S. and Taliban ambassadors meet
community to pressure Pakistan to in Islamabad to discuss drug trade
end Afghan civil war and try to resolve impasse over
9 October Crossfire on border of Tajikistan kills Osama bin Laden
one Russian border guard and 3 November Taliban and opposition agree to
wounds five Tajik soldiers peace talks backed by United Nations
12 October United States warns Taliban 6 November Edict issued by Mullah Omar
government Afghanistan will be banning men without beards from
attacked if Osama bin Laden found employment or any other services;
responsible for strike on the USS Kazakhstan advises it is ready to talk
Cole in Yemen to Taliban, despite its opposition to
15 October Bomb explodes outside Ministry of regime, for purely pragmatic reasons
Communications in Kabul; 7 November United Nations votes against
opposition forces make gains in recognition of Taliban, and Afghan
Khoja Ghar district in Takhar UN seat remains with opposition;
Province and Imam Sahib and Dashti Iranian police kill thirteen Afghans in
Archi districts in Kunduz Province drug battle in border region
16 October Taliban deny al-Qaeda was involved 9 November Russia refuses to negotiate with
in Yemen attack on U.S. warship that Taliban and urges sanctions be
killed seventeen sailors intensified; North-West Frontier
19 October UNHCR criticizes effects of religious Province of Pakistan bans entry of
extremism in Afghanistan more Afghan refugees on economic
20 October United Nations estimates drought and security grounds; move
and antidrug measures on Afghans welcomed by Taliban but opposed by
borders have reduced opium poppy opposition
revenue from £230 million to $90 10 November British and Taliban ambassadors
million meet in Islamabad for wide-ranging
23 October Former president Rabbani urges discussions; mortar bombs from
Pakistan to stop arming Taliban Afghanistan land in Tajikistan,
regime and predicts opposition will provoking threat of retaliatory action
mount offensive before winter; from Russia
however, Rabbani feels a revolt in 12 November Taliban threaten Russia and its
Taliban areas will be necessary, in Central Asian allies if support for
addition to international pressure, Masood is not withdrawn; Taliban
for negotiations to take place; request Pakistan to withdraw ban on
opposition takes river crossing near refugees
Taloqan, cutting off Taliban-held city 13 November Opposition commander in Samangan
of Kunduz Province, Paydel Pahlwan, joins
24 October United Nations reports renewed Taliban with 150 soldiers due to
fighting has resulted in another Russian support for Northern Alliance
60,000 displaced persons 14 November Former king Zahir and opposition
26 October Russian defense minister, Sergeyev, leaders meet in Rome to prepare
meets with Masood; Taliban warns peace proposals, including holding of
Russia against supporting Northern a loya jirga to determine future of
Alliance; Masood’s forces begin Afghanistan; overtures rejected by
shelling Taloqan, but Taliban deny Taliban
loss of territory 17 November United Nations asks Pakistan and
27 October WFP warns that hundreds of Tajikistan to reopen borders to
thousands of Afghans will not refugees
survive winter unless more funding 19 November Pakistan agrees to allow entry of
is forthcoming to support emergency Afghan refugees with relevant
food supply program documentation
29 October Taliban issues edict banning poppy 20 November Taliban reject peace proposals put
planting in following season forward by former king Zahir from
CHRONOLOGY 327
exile in Rome; heavy fighting occurs 9 January Yemeni authorities suspect al-Qaeda
around Taloqan, with rival claims on link in attack on U.S. warship in
gains and losses 2000
21 November India and Russia press for intensified 10 January Religious groups in Pakistan back
sanctions if Taliban do not stop Taliban because of UN sanctions
violence 31 January United Nations reports 110 people
22 November Ministry of Information in Kabul have died in Herat from cold and
rocked by explosion hunger
23 November UN special envoy and Taliban foreign 9 February Pakistan refuses entry to new
minister meet in Kandahar to discuss refugees; United States closes Taliban
agenda for peace talks office in New York despite protests
24 November Taliban accuses Russia of providing from United Nations
Northern Alliance with ammunition 10 February Anti-Taliban Alliance offers to hold
to sustain attack of Taloqan peace talks with Taliban
26 November Taliban detain foreign aid workers in 14 February Taliban regime closes UN offices in
Kabul because of perceived Kabul in retaliation for closure of its
irregularities in papers New York office; opposition captures
27 November Russia reports Afghan refugees have Bamian town, but it is retaken by
been fired on at border with Tajikistan Taliban three days later
28 November United Nations says $229 million in 19 February Human Rights Watch issues report
emergency relief is needed for on Taliban atrocities in May 2000
Afghanistan; Pakistan claims part of and January 2001
funding is required for dealing with 20 February United Nations warns of starvation
2.6 million refugees conditions in Afghanistan
30 November Taliban condemn further sanctions 26 February Mullah Omar orders destruction of
on Afghanistan, claiming ordinary all statues in Afghanistan and arouses
people will suffer; they again refuse condemnation from international
to extradite bin Laden, arguing that community
ban on his activities in Afghanistan is 1 March Despite world pressure, Taliban begin
sufficient destruction of giant statues of
30 November Iran says drug traffickers from Buddha at Bamian
Afghanistan will be shot on sight in 2 March UNESCO asks Taliban authorities to
attempt to halt drug trade across halt destruction of pre-Islamic
border, with its accompanying heritage and begins series of
violence international visits, which are
10–19 December UN and NGO foreign staff withdraw ignored by Taliban
from Afghanistan for fear of reprisals 13 March Destruction of statues at Bamian
20 December UN sanctions renewed by Security confirmed by Afghani freelance
Council and tightened, with arms photographer
embargo imposed, Taliban offices 5 April Abdul Shah Masood goes on
abroad closed, and Taliban officials European tour to elicit support for
forbidden to leave Afghanistan; Northern Alliance
Taliban leave peace talks and threaten 22 May Taliban issue edict requiring non-
to shut UN offices in retaliation Muslims to wear identifying badges
28 December Heavy fighting resumes in Bamian on clothing
Province around Imam Sahib, July Taliban arrest eight international aid
Taloqan, and Panjshir Valley, with workers on charges of Christian
claims of territorial gains by propaganda activities
opposition forces 7 August Taliban refuse outside access to aid
workers arrested for preaching
2001 Christianity
7 January Taliban retake Yakaolang in Bamian 27 August Delegation of diplomats and
Province, and accusations of war relatives visit detained foreign aid
crimes against Hazaras follow workers
328 CHRONOLOGY
5 September Trial begins for eight foreign aid Washington; 1,000 U.S. Special
workers arrested by Taliban and Forces arrive in Uzbekistan
charged with preaching Christianity 7 October Operation Enduring Freedom
9 September Suicide bombers, posing as Arab begins; first U.S.-led air and missile
journalists, assassinate Masood with strikes hit Afghanistan; videotape
bomb concealed in videocamera; released by bin Laden, praising 11
attack now thought to have been an September terrorist attacks on
al-Qaeda operation on behalf of United States
Taliban 8 October United States begins humanitarian
11 September About 4,000 people killed as hijacked aid drops in Afghanistan, using C-17
planes are flown into World Trade cargo planes; Kabul and Kandahar
Center in New York and Pentagon in attacked by U.S. Air Force
Washington 9 October U.S. bombing of Afghanistan
14 September U.S. and British governments name continues, including first daylight
Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda as raids
prime suspects in U.S. terror attacks 11 October United States mounts daylight raid
15 September Death of Masood announced by on Kabul and on suspected al-Qaeda
Northern Alliance; all foreigners compound at Kandahar
ordered to leave Afghanistan by 13 October Taliban reject further U.S. demands
Taliban to expel bin Laden; Kabul airport
20 September President Bush calls on Afghanistan subjected to U.S. airstrikes; four
to hand over Osama bin Laden; civilians killed in adjoining
mullahs call on Taliban to ask bin neighborhood
Laden to leave Afghanistan 15 October Further daylights raids occur near
voluntarily to avoid U.S. action; Kabul and on suspected training
Taliban agree to act on ruling but camps near Jalalabad
plead for time 16 October U.S. air strikes hit Red Cross
24 September Taliban admit loss of Zaare, near warehouses outside Kabul; Taliban
Mazar-i Sharif positions at Jalalabad attacked by
25 September Saudi Arabia cuts ties with Kabul U.S. gunships; UN World Food
26 September Pakistan abandons official support Program announces plans to restore
for Taliban and agrees to cooperate supply route to Northern
in War on Terror Afghanistan, and first Russian aid
1 October Opposition decides to form Interim shipment arrives in region
Government after talks with former 18 October Further air strikes on Kabul made by
king Mohammed Zahir in Rome United States, and opposition forces
2 October Taliban regime again rejects demands announce intention to advance on
to expel bin Laden; Rome Accord Kabul
agreed to by opposition 19 October U.S. Special Forces arrive in
4 October British government releases dossier Afghanistan
of evidence linking bin Laden to 21 October Taliban positions north of Kabul
attacks of 11 September; President bombed by United States to aid
Bush pledges another $320 in advancing northern forces
humanitarian aid for food, medicine, 22 October U.S. air strikes hit Taliban front lines
blankets, and shelter before winter at Mazar-i Sharif and north of Kabul
5 October U.S. Army sends 1,000 troops of to aid opposition advance
Tenth Mountain Division to 24 October U.S. forces continue to bomb Taliban
Uzbekistan forces north of Kabul; fierce fighting
6 October Taliban offer release of eight takes place between Taliban forces
imprisoned foreign aid workers if and opposition south of Mazar-i
United States will ensure Afghanistan Sharif
will not be attacked and provided 25 October Heavy U.S. airstrikes hit Taliban
propaganda war against regime forces north of Kabul and the capital
ceases; offer is rejected by itself
CHRONOLOGY 329
26 October Abdul Haq executed by Taliban 23 November Taliban still resist in Kunduz, and
following mission to persuade heavy bombing by United States
Pashtuns to rise against regime; continues; 15,000-pound “Daisy
United States again bombs Red Cross Cutter” bombs dropped around
warehouses outside Kabul Kandahar
27 October U.S. Air Force mounts daylong strike 26 November After two-week siege of Kunduz, last
on Taliban positions in northern remaining Taliban stronghold falls to
Afghanistan; armed militants move Northern Alliance; 500 U.S. Marines
from Pakistan into Afghanistan to arrive in Afghanistan and seize air
join Taliban forces base near Kandahar
28 October United States bombs Taliban 30 November Uprising by Taliban prisoners at
positions near border with Tajikistan, Mazar-i Sharif ends; hundreds killed,
near Kakala River including CIA operative; anti-Taliban
30 October Opposition forces deployed near forces, with U.S. air support, move
Taliban lines north of Kabul on Taliban stronghold at Kandahar
31 October Taliban front line in northern December World Food Program moves 90,000
Afghanistan pounded by U.S. heavy tons of wheat into Afghanistan to
bombers avert famine
5 November Heavy U.S. air assaults occur in 3 December Caves of Tora Bora and surrounding
Samangan and Balkh Provinces and area bombed by U.S. forces in
on Taliban positions near Taloqan support of anti-Taliban troops’ attack
6 November Further heavy bombing occurs at on airport near Kandahar
Mazar-i Sharif; town of Ogopruk 4 December U.S. Marines occupy air base
seized by Northern Alliance southwest of Taliban stronghold of
8 November Eighty-five Pakistani militants killed Kandahar; United Nations pulls
in U.S. air strike near Mazar-i Sharif; international staff out of Mazar-i
Northern Alliance forces move in Sharif due to factional fighting
from south of city 5 December Four rival Afghan groups sign Bonn
9 November Mazar-i Sharif captured by Northern Agreement to form Interim
Alliance, and gains made elsewhere Government under UN auspices;
in northern Afghanistan, including royalist, Pashtun leader Hamid
city of Herat Karzai appointed head of interim
12 November Anti-Taliban forces capture city of administration; Coalition position
Herat; UK ground forces operate near Kandahar bombed in error,
alongside Northern Alliance with three U.S. Special Forces killed
13 November Kabul entered by Northern Alliance and Karzai injured
forces after overnight withdrawal by 6 December Taliban surrender their last
Taliban stronghold of Kandahar on
14 November Opposition forces capture Jalalabad; guarantee of general amnesty by
al-Qaeda military chief Mohammed Karzai
Atef killed in air strike 7 December U.S. troops and U.S. air strikes hit
15 November Eight foreign aid workers held by al-Qaeda and Taliban positions in
Taliban freed by anti-Taliban forces Tora Bora caves in eastern
at Kunduz, which has been besieged Afghanistan
by Northern Alliance forces aided by 10 December U.S. Marines reoccupy U.S. embassy
U.S. air strikes in Kabul; Dostum voices opposition
17 November Former president Rabbani returns to to Bonn Agreement
Kabul, promising to form broad- 16 December After two weeks of fighting by U.S.
based government troops and Afghan militia, together
19 November Northern Alliance attacks Chagatai with U.S. bombing raids, al-Qaeda
Ridge to open up assault on Taloqan; fighters are cleared from Tora Bora
United States continues bombing of caves
Kunduz, last northern Taliban 19 December Agreement reached on international
stronghold peacekeeping force for Kabul, to be
330 CHRONOLOGY
known as International Security 5 February U.S. air strikes hit Mafazatoo area of
Assistance Force and headed by Gorboz district, 12 miles south of
Britain Khost, in hunt for remnants of
20 December British Royal Marines arrive to Taliban and al-Qaeda
spearhead ISAF; al-Qaeda fighters 14 February Afghan aviation minister, Abdul
leave Tora Bora area Rahman, killed by angry Muslim
21 December Opposition captures Pul-i-Khumri, pilgrims at Kabul airport; crowd
north of Kabul, and Qala-i-Nau in angered by delays in flights to hajj
Badghis Province 21 February Thousands of Pashtuns reported to
22 December Karzai sworn in as head of interim be fleeing northern Pakistan in face
administration, together with thirty of ethnic cleansing by anti-Taliban
other members forces
29 December Six-hour bombing raid kills 110 1 March Operation Anaconda launched with
Paktia villagers, probably the result of 1,000 U.S. troops, Coalition special
bad intelligence from local warlord forces, and Afghan militias at Shah-i-
Pacha Khan Zadran Kot to oust Taliban and al-Qaeda
fighters
2002 3 March Chinook helicopter destroyed in
1 January U.S. forces airlifted from Kandahar heavy fighting with Taliban and al-
air base to Helmand Province in Qaeda forces, with deaths of seven
search for Mullah Omar U.S. troops
4 January Agreement signed between Afghan 6 March U.S. troops airlifted to Tora Bora cave
interior minister, Younus Qanooni, complex to flush out Taliban and al-
and British general John McColl on Qaeda forces
deployment of international security 10 March U.S. troops involved in fierce battle
force with Taliban and al-Qaeda in the
7 January U.S. bombing occurs near Khost in Shah-i-Kot Valley, near Gardez, as
hunt for Taliban leader, Jalaluddin part of Operation Anaconda
Haqqani, who is high on U.S. most- 20 March Al-Qaeda attack hits U.S. and other
wanted list Coalition forces at Khost
9 January Karzai calls for creation of national Mid-April Operation Snipe launched by UK
army to unite country commandos and Afghan forces in
11 January Governor of Kandahar announces southeast Afghanistan
surrender of three Taliban leaders: 11 April Al-Qaeda attack on mosque in
Mullah Obaidullah, former minister Tunisia results in nineteen dead,
of defense, Mullah Nooruddin most of them German tourists
Rurabi, former minister of justice, 15 April Operation Mountain Lion launched
and Mullah Saadudin, former in eastern Pakistan by Coalition
minister of mines and industry; special forces
Mullah Haqani, former ambassador 16 April Operation Ptarmigan launched by
to Pakistan, also surrendered UK troops in conjunction with
21 January Tokyo Conference pledges $2.6 Operation Mountain Lion
billion in aid for reconstruction of 17 April Four Canadian soldiers killed by U.S.
Afghanistan. aircraft while engaged in live-fire
24 January U.S. ground action in Oruzgan exercise, having been mistaken for
Province results in sixteen deaths and Taliban forces
the capture of twenty-seven, but 18 April Former king Mohammed Zahir Shah
none turn out to be Taliban or al- returns to Afghanistan
Qaeda fighters 29 April Turkey announces it will head up
31 January Forces of governor of Paktia Kabul International Security
Province, Padsha Khan, defeated by Assistance Force, taking over from
rival warlord Saif Ullah, Pashtun Great Britain
tribal leader who had taken control 2 May Loya Jirga Independent Commission
after withdrawal of Taliban announced by Interim Government
CHRONOLOGY 331
and United Nations in Kabul; British 8 August Thirteen escaped al-Qaeda killed in
marines begin Operation Snipe in gun battle with Afghan security
southeast Afghanistan forces in Kabul; group consists of
15 May UN high commissioner for refugees twelve Pakistanis and one Kyrgyz
highlights plight of 500,000 refugees 9 August Explosion, thought to be a car bomb,
who have returned to Afghanistan hits Jalalabad construction firm’s
23 May 512 Taliban prisoners freed from building; ten are killed and twenty-
Sheberghan prison in northern five injured
Afghanistan in liaison with 14 November Kabul University students are
International Committee of the Red threatened and beaten by police;.
Cross many injured are in hospital
24 May Bomb attack in Kandahar targets 2 December Kabul government brokers truce
music shop between ethnic Pashtun commander
25 May Five hundred Taliban prisoners freed Amanullah Khan and Isma’il Khan,
from Sheberghan prison under the Tajik governor of Herat Province,
supervision of International after fighting at Zer-e-Koh near
Committee of the Red Cross Shindand air base, leaving sixty dead
26 May U.S. forces raid compound near (mostly civilians); conference on
Gardez and hold two suspected Afghanistan held in Bonn, Germany,
Taliban members to discuss security and
29 May Operation Buzzard launched by UK reconstruction issues
and Afghan forces in Khost region of 11 December Factional fighting breaks out between
southeast Afghanistan rival warlords for control of Gardez
19 June President Karzai inaugurated by Loya in Paktia Province
Jirga as head of transitional
government 2003
28 June Major explosion in ammunition 13 January Joint regional teams established by
store near Spin Boldak, near United States to operate in key cities
Pakistan border, kills at least ten, to improve security and begin
injures thirty-five, and damages reconstruction programs
property 21 January World Bank announces grant aid of
1 July United States bombs villagers $100 million for projects in
celebrating a wedding in central Afghanistan
Afghanistan after reports indicate 26 January Police vehicle escorting UNHCR
military unit came under fire; at least convoy attacked some 25 miles west
forty villagers are killed, but United of Jalalabad; two police and four
States maintains antiaircraft gun had attackers dead; UN staff returns
been firing from nearby compound safely to Jalalabad
3 July Four al Qaeda militants and three 27–28 January Taliban and al-Qaeda force of eighty
Pakistani police killed in gunfight at fighters attacked by U.S. and Afghan
checkpoint at Kohat in North-West forces in the mountains near Spin
Frontier Province Boldak; eighteen rebels killed in air
6 July Afghan vice-president Abdul Qadir, and ground assault on cave
veteran Pashtun leader, assassinated complexes
by gunmen 28 January Government announces political
12 July Six Afghan governors demand parties will not be allowed in new
United States obtain permission to legislature designed to serve until
mount military operations in their 2004; conference of Afghan elders in
provinces Peshawar criticizes performance of
13 July U.S. convoy attacked on road linking Karzai government
Bagram air base with Kabul 29 January Interior Minister Wardag replaced by
29 July Fighting occurs between U.S. forces Ali Ahmad Jalali due to Wardag’s
and al-Qaeda at village of Ab Khail, handling of student unrest in
10 miles east of Khost November 2002
332 CHRONOLOGY
31 January Eighteen civilians killed in bus blown 26 February Afghan government forces find huge
up by bomb on Rambasi Bridge, near cache of weapons at Bander in
Kandahar; incident thought to have Nangarhar Province, including
been aimed at Afghan troops and missiles, antitank mines, mortars,
mounted by Taliban and al-Qaeda guns, and ammunition
13 February U.S. operation launched in Helmand 27 February Afghan police make seven arrests in
Province, with seven suspected Kandahar and recover stock of
fighters arrested, but troops are explosives and land mines
accused of killing civilians; Afghan 28 February Two rockets explode in Kandahar,
government opens investigation but no casualties are reported;
14 February Audiotape purported to be by Osama regional leaders in northern
bin Laden broadcast by al-Jazeera Afghanistan, Gen. Abdul Rashid
television; in it, he announces Dostum, Gen. Ustad Atta
support for people of Iraq and urges Mohammed, and Saradar Saeedi,
attacks on United States and Israel agree to end ethnic conflict at
16 February Pakistan’s army provides submachine meeting convened by United Nations
guns, mortar rockets, and in Mazar-i Sharif
ammunition to new Afghan army 1 March Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, thought
19 February Gulbuddin Hekmatyar designated by to be al-Qaeda’s planner of 11
United States as global terrorist September atrocities, among other
20 February Fifteen Tajik generals reassigned in actions, arrested by Pakistani security
Defense Ministry and replaced by with CIA cooperation in Rawalpindi,
Hazara, Pashtun, and Uzbek generals; Pakistan
Gen. Gul Zarak Zadran, a Pashtun, 3 March United States announces new anti-
appointed as fourth deputy defense Taliban push in a second valley in
minister; major demobilization Helmand Province; Taliban claim
conference held in Tokyo responsibility for recent attacks in
22 February Conference held in Tokyo to discuss Afghanistan
demobilization and disarmament of 4 March Group from University of Colorado
Afghan militias; fighting occurs in announces it will rebuild Farza
Fariab Province between forces of village, north of Kabul
Rashid Dostum and Ustad Atta 10 April Afghanistan applies to join World
Mohammed, leaving six dead Trade Organization
24 February Five suspected terrorists arrested by 11 April Afghan national army troops engage
Afghan police at Spin Boldak; Taliban fighter in battle 108 miles
clashes take place between U.S. south of Kabul; former Taliban
forces and unidentified attackers at minister Amanullah killed; further
Tarin Kot in Oruzgan Province and outbreak of fighting between forces
near Wazir in Nangarhar Province; of Dostum and Atta Mohammed in
road between Gardez and Khost Maimana, Fariab Province; four of
blocked by forces of Bacha Zadran in Atta’s soldiers killed and at least four
retaliation for government seizure of wounded, United Nations and other
vehicles being used for illegal aid agencies evacuate personnel;
checkpoints eleven Afghan civilians killed in U.S.
25 February Taliban fighter killed in Ata Ghar bombing raid at Shkin near the
region of Zabal Province in clash Pakistan border; bombing was in
with Afghan security force; Afghan response to attack on Afghan
minister for mines and industry, military checkpoint in Paktia
Juma Mohammed Mohammedi, Province; U.S. forces mount raids in
killed when plane crashes in Arabian southern Helmand Province in area
Sea on flight to southwestern where two U.S. Special Forces
Pakistan; bomb attack hits home of ambushed and killed on 29 March
education minister, Dawood Barak, 2003; arrests made, and cache of
in Kandahar but with no casualties weapons and explosives seized;
CHRONOLOGY 333
Afghan authorities announce launch mission in Kabul as of late summer

of National Solidarity Program 2003; three caches of heavy
designed to deliver $95 million in ammunition, including antitank
grants to 4,000 villages with the rockets, antiaircraft rounds, and
objective of reaching every village in rocket-propelled grenades discovered
three to four years by Coalition forces at Khar Bolah in
12 April Two Afghan soldiers shot near Khost Ghazni Province; Romanian troop
when hand grenades thrown at an find cache of weapons near Qalat in
Italian patrol; one Taliban suspect Zabul Province
arrested; car loaded with explosives 17 April Afghan-Pakistani security forces
blows up near Khost, killing exchange fire across border at
occupants, two Pakistanis, a Yemeni, Ghulam Khan; no casualties
and a former intelligence officer of reported, and accounts of size of
the Taliban suspected of planning a Pakistani incursion confused; bomb
terrorist attack on an unidentified explodes in Kabul while bomb-
target; U.S. commander in disposal team defusing second bomb;
Afghanistan calls for joint U.S.- grenade attack hits UNICEF offices
Afghan forces and Pakistani border in Jalalabad; Afghan forces announce
patrols to halt infiltration of Taliban arrest of Maulawi Qalamuddin,
13 April Relatives of governor of Kandahar, fomer deputy head of Taliban
Gul Agha Sherzai, killed by Taliban religious police, in area south of
militants in Pakistani border town of Kabul, but no details released; United
Chaman; complaints made to Nations brokers agreement to secure
Pakistan about continued support withdrawal of rival militia from
for Taliban; Pakistan authorities seize Maimana, and UN offices reopened
ton of drugs being brought through 19 April U.S. special representative to
the Murda Karez Mountains near Afghanistan warns Pakistan that
border town of Chaman, and 1,100 border clash that threatens the
pounds of morphine seized in stability of Afghanistan is also a
former Afghan refugee camp at challenge to U.S. interests; border
Chaghi district, 130 miles west of dispute resolved in meeting between
Quetta Afghan and Pakistani officials
15 April Commander Shahi and two 20 April Five reported dead in floods in
bodyguards from militia of General Baghran district of Helmand
Dostum ambushed and killed on the Province; Afghan military leaders
way to Mazar-i Sharif, but assailants agree on need for national army at
not identified; some 500 Afghan meeting in Kabul
refugees leave Pakistan under 21 April Cable television in Kabul resumes
repatriation program sponsored by broadcast of programs banned by
United Nations; pamphlets released Supreme Court in January 2003;
in Afghan refugee camps in Afghan authorities announce arrest
Pakistan’s North-West Frontier of five former Taliban supporters for
Province urge Afghans to revolt killing four foreign journalists at
against Karzai government and U.S. Tangi Abishu, 55 miles east of Kabul,
allies; leaflets unsigned but thought in November 2001
to be work of Taliban; UNICEF 22 April President Karzai, on visit to Pakistan,
begins three-day immunization stresses more must be done to seal
program against polio, aimed at porous border and prevent Taliban
reaching 6 million Afghan children; incursions; U.S. forces kill one
FAO announces outbreaks of animal Taliban fighter and arrest seven
diseases are major threat to food others in raid in southern
security in Afghanistan Afghanistan; UN Development Fund
16 April NATO announces takeover of for Women launches research
command of UN peacekeeping program to determine how
334 CHRONOLOGY
disadvantaged women are in terrorist attack in Pakistan;

Afghanistan; U.S. forces believed to explosives, detonators, and weapons
have killed Taliban fighter seized in the raid and Yemeni
responsible for death of International suspected of complicity in attack on
Red Cross worker in March 2003 in USS Cole among those detained;
Shah Wali Kot district of Kandahar Human Rights Department formed
23 April NATO announces takeover of to train police in observance of
command of the ISAF in summer human rights
2003 under UN mandate; two 2 May Sixty Taliban rebels arrested in
Afghan soldiers and three Taliban Helmand Province after unsuccessful
killed in ambush in the Gizab district attack on Kajakai Dam in north of
of Oruzgan Province, 50 miles north province
of Tarin Kot; Pakistan announces 5 May Eight fighters from Hekmatyar’s
agreement to train Afghan security Islamic Party arrested in Wardak
personnel and offers to establish free Province following attack on Afghan
industrial zone near Torkim and Development Agency group engaged
Chaman on Pakistan border to aid in mine clearing
economic development in 6 May Small protest in Kabul complaining
Afghanistan that United States has not done
24 April National Emergency Employment enough to rebuild country or
Program started under UN auspices provide jobs and security
to secure employment for Afghans, 8 May Further violence reported in Gardez,
particularly in rural areas, on labor- and United Nations complains about
intensive works programs increasing attacks on aid workers and
25 April Public consultations begin on new Afghan civilians
draft constitution designed to pave 9 May Two Afghans, including former
way for democratic elections in 2004; Taliban official, arrested by Pakistani
Hindu businessman becomes first police in Karachi, and weapons and
non-Muslim appointed to satellite telephone seized; U.S. troops
commission to examine draft call up air support in Helmand
constitution Province to calm clash between two
27 April UN and Afghan Human Rights rival Afghan forces
Group discover twenty-six prisoners 10 May Muslim cleric Mullah Habibullah,
executed with hands tied behind close to President Karzai, killed
backs after fighting in Badghis outside of mosque 90 miles north of
Province Kandahar; two Afghan soldiers
28 April Two U.S. soldiers killed after gun wounded when bomb explodes
battle with twenty rebels at Shkin in outside governor’s residence in
eastern Afghanistan; Pakistani Helmand Province
authorities seize huge cache of 11 May Customs raid in village of Zard, 300
weapons in North-West Frontier miles west of Quetta, seizes 200
Province, including mortar shells, pounds of heroin smuggled across
remote-controlled fuses, missiles, and border from Afghanistan;
guns, and promise to act against demonstration staged in Kabul
Taliban leaders operating out of against Karzai’s decision to offer
Pakistan while denying presence of amnesty to former members of
Mullah Omar in Pakistan Taliban who are “not stained with
29 April Preliminary survey by UN and Afghan’s blood”; one Afghan soldier
Afghan antinarcotics division shows killed and U.S. soldier injured in
rise in poppy production, making firefight near Khost, two rebel fighters
Afghanistan world’s largest producer killed in action, and remainder killed
again in subsequent air strike
30 April Six al-Qaeda suspects arrested in 12 May British army announces
Karachi, thought to be planning establishment of provincial
CHRONOLOGY 335
reconstruction team to be based in adopt, and power of central

Mazar-i Sharif to work on rebuilding government
and security in area 16 June Taliban circulate leaflets in Spin
22 May U.S. troops kill five of an attacking Boldak promising suicide attacks on
force near Gardez Coalition forces and members of
1 June Some 2,000 Afghan refugees return Afghan government
home from Chitral Valley in Pakistan 17 June al-Qaeda suspect arrested by Pakistan
as part of voluntary program; authorities in Peshawar; suspect is
refugees are returning to Jalalabad, Arab national thought to be top
Nangarhar, and Kunar facilitator in terrorist network;
2 June Governor of Kunar Province asserts Afghanistan to begin disarmament
poor people are being paid about program of Afghan fighters in July
$10 dollars by guerrillas to launch 2003, and Karzai promises reform of
rockets on U.S. and government Defense Ministry
bases 18 June Report by Council on Foreign
3 June Fighting near Spin Boldak between Relations states United States could
rival Afghan factions results in four lose the peace in Afghanistan due to
deaths; Isma’il Khan agrees to hand lack of control over warlords and
over $2 million in customs revenues slow process of reconstruction
from Herat to central government, 19 June Pakistan president calls for increase
enabling defense force salaries to be in size of international force in
paid; home of Ahmad Wali Karzai Afghanistan to fill growing vacuum
bombed in Kandahar, but no outside of Kabul
casualties reported; four fuel trucks 21 June Air assault launched in eastern
on way to U.S. forces at Urgan base Afghanistan to clear area for troop
in Paktia Province attacked, but no deployment to seal border with
reported casualties Afghanistan in attempt to prevent
4 June Forty-seven Taliban killed in battle Taliban and al-Qaeda incursions;
with troops loyal to governor of Afghan court to try two journalists
Kandahar at Populzai, near Spin for blasphemy; weekly newspaper
Boldak Aftaab closed down
5 June Homemade bomb explodes near U.S. 22 June Bomb attack on U.S. military base in
Special Forces convoy on Gardez city of Kunduz but with no casualties
highway but with no casualties 24 June Taliban announce formation of ten-
6 June World Bank announces grant of man leadership council to organize
$59.6 million to provide health care resistance against Coalition and
for women and children Afghan forces; council consists
7 June Four German peacekeepers from primarily of former Taliban military
ISAF killed and thirty-one injured in commanders from southwest
suicide car bomb attack on bus in Afghanistan
Kabul; troops were heading to Kabul 25 June Journalists charged with blasphemy
airport at end of tour of duty released on bail on instructions of
9 June Karzai blames foreign elements for Karzai; two Afghan soldiers killed in
car bomb attack on ISAF troops and ambush by Taliban 3 miles from U.S.
vows to step up activity against base at Spin Boldak; Afghan soldier
terrorist elements; leaflets distributed wounded in attack on home of
in Zabul Province urging police and militia commander in Maruf district,
military to join Taliban in 110 miles northeast of Kandahar;
antigovernment and anti-U.S. U.S. Special Operations soldier killed
campaign and two wounded on patrol near
10 June National debate launched on Gardez in Paktia Province
proposed new constitution to 26 June Karzai states on visit to Poland that
determine form of government, bin Laden probably alive and living
which interpretation of Islam to as fugitive in Afghan-Pakistan
336 CHRONOLOGY
borderlands; at forum in Switzerland, 8 July Afghans hold demonstrations in

Karzai delivers upbeat speech on Kabul to protest Pakistan’s alleged
Afghanistan’s reconstruction, saying “invasion” of Afghanistan; Pakistan
country starting to rise from ashes as embassy is attacked, computers and
result of national and international phones are smashed, and embassy is
cooperation closed by Pakistan in protest against
27 June U.S. military begins Operation the outrage; attack is condemned by
United Resolve in border areas of President Karzai
eastern Afghanistan, primarily in 10 July Senior ousted Taliban official seized
Nangarhar Province, to prevent in Kandahar city, and detonators and
Taliban insurgents from crossing light and heavy machine guns are
into Afghanistan to launch attacks; also found; official is not identified
military objectives combined with but is thought to be brother of
program to assess humanitarian former Taliban defense minister,
needs in area; Pakistan troops begin Mullah Obaidullah
coordinated series of patrols in 11 July Governor of Ghazni Province, Hajj
Mohmand tribal region of North- Asadullah, warns of coordinated
West Frontier Province, much to Taliban strikes in Ghazni, Khost,
anger of Islamist parties in Pakistan; Paktia, Paktika, and Wardak Provinces;
Mullah Malang charged by Taliban governor claims this was outcome of
with organizing mobile training planning meeting in Pakistan held
camps for new generation of fighters between Taliban commanders and
28 June Fresh outbreak of violence between Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Tajik and Uzbek forces in three 12 July UN refugee transit center in Jalalabad
villages in Samangan Province but no attacked by explosive device, but no
reports of casualties injuries reported; Bagram air base
30 June Several rockets fired into city of attacked by rocket, but no damage or
Jalalabad, hitting a house and military casualties reported
compound and near UNICEF office; 13 July Afghan forces seize 300 rocket-
bomb blast at Kandahar mosque propelled grenades, antitank rifles,
injures nine worshipers at evening AK-47 rifles, ammunition, and
prayer, thought to be because explosives in raid on Taliban training
preacher, Malawi Abdullah Fayaz, camp 6 miles from Spin Boldak
refuses to sanction Taliban call for 14 July 5 Afghan policemen killed in attack
jihad against government; follows by Taliban on police station in
battle by Afghan forces against Ghorak district of Kandahar
Taliban fighters north of Kandahar Province; among those killed was the
4 July U.S. forces launch Operation Haven chief of police, Sahak Mama; car
Denial against Taliban fighters in carrying Coalition personnel is
Paktia and Khost Provinces bombed in Kabul, but no casualties
5 July Explosion in Kabul kills three Dutch reported
members of International Security 15 July Census teams are being deployed
Assistance Force across Afghanistan to count civilians
6 July Fighting erupts again between forces in preparation for 2004 elections;
of Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum and after meeting with the U.S. secretary
Ustad Atta Mohammad in the Dara-i- of state, Colin Powell, Foreign
Suf district of Samangan Province; Minister Abdullah Abdullah
forces of Dostum and Atta expresses belief in U.S. commitment
Mohammad agree to a cease-fire in to Afghanistan reconstruction and
the Shalgara district of Balkh Province the road to democracy;
after intervention by UN officials representatives of Afghanistan,
7 July Cross-border fire between Afghan Pakistan, and United States meet in
and Pakistani forces confirmed in Kabul to discuss border clashes
Nangarhar Province between Afghanistan and Pakistan
CHRONOLOGY 337
16 July Afghan soldiers and police launch from France and UN Development
house-to-house searches in Ghorak Program
district of Kandahar Province for 25 July Telecom Development Company of
gunmen who killed five policemen Afghanistan announces launch of
on 14 July new mobile phone service called
17 July Afghan Ministry of the Interior Roshan (meaning “light”); Coalition
announces that four Afghans were sweep in Zormat region of Paktia
arrested for planning 8 July attack on Province locates no guerrillas but
Pakistan embassy in Kabul uncovers hundreds of rockets and
18 July Three Coalition soldiers hurt when other weapons; Afghan aid groups
improvised bomb explodes in middle plead for international security forces
of their convoy near Bagram; to operate throughout country, as
remote-controlled mine in Khost poor security is slowing
Province kills eight Afghan soldiers; reconstruction efforts
rockets also fired at border 26 July U.S. military spokesman, Col.
checkpoint, but no casualties Rodney Davis, warns of Taliban and
reported al-Qaeda terror attacks in
19 July U.S. forces launch air strike on Afghanistan
Taliban position close to Pakistan 27 July Six Afghan policemen killed by
border, near Spin Boldak; about 200 Taliban and al-Qaeda guerrillas in
guerrillas, thought to be led by ambush in Girishk district of
former Taliban minister Mullah Helmand Province; Afghans in Zabul
Abdul Razaq, attack government Province plead for major Coalition
checkpoint operation to rid area of at least 500
21 July NGOs stress urgent need for medical Taliban fighters operating freely in
treatment for at least half of Deh Chopan district; Taliban
Afghanistan’s population; women spokesman admits one of group’s
and children, especially those who leading commanders, Mullah Abdur
have lost husbands and fathers, are Rahim, was severely wounded in
considered extremely vulnerable clash with Afghan forces three
22 July UNHCR uses iris validation tests to months earlier, near Spin Boldak
weed out refugees who try to effect 28 July Human Rights Watch warns that
multiple repatriations in order to Afghan warlords are creating
receive multiple aid packages climate of fear that could threaten
23 July B-52 bomber raid is made on drafting of new constitution and
suspected rebel position near elections in 2004; United States
Asadabad, Kunar Province; new announces $1 billion aid package to
Afghan army launches sweep in speed reconstruction in
Sumad district, Paktia Province, Afghanistan, with emphasis on
code-named Warrior Sweep; Pakistan schools and roads; Taliban issue
and Afghanistan representatives, posters and pamphlets naming
meeting in Islamabad, vow to twenty-eight collaborators who will
enhance cooperation in fight against be killed unless they stop supporting
terrorism; Iran announces it is government; most of those listed
holding a large number of al-Qaeda live in Spin Boldak and are
members but refuses to release members of Nurzai tribe
identities; John Abizaid, U.S. general, 29 July Progovernment Mullah Jenab killed
meets President Musharraf of by Taliban gunmen outside mosque
Pakistan and praises him for in Kandahar; three Afghan troops
cooperation in War on Terror killed in Taliban ambush at Naish, 40
24 July Pilot project to launch public miles north of Kandahar
Internet service announced by 30 July UN Food and Agriculture
Afghanistan Ministry of Organization announces bumper
Communications, backed by finance harvest for Afghanistan but warns of
338 CHRONOLOGY
problems caused by continued 4 August Explosion among weapons handed

drought in southern part of country in as part of voluntary disarmament
31 July U.S. Special Forces base near Spin process kills thirteen and injures
Boldak attacked, with attackers twenty-one at Mazar-i Sharif but is
withdrawing across border into thought to be an accident; Farouq
Pakistan; U.S. troops in Kabul fire on Khan, of Northern Alliance in Jozjan
taxi and wound three Afghan soldiers; Province, refuses to participate in
three guerrillas killed by U.S. troops disarmament process, which was
near their base in Asadabad, capital of instigated by General Dostum in
Kunar Province; Afghanistan interior advance of national program
minister promises intensified training 5 August Fresh outbreak of fighting occurs
of police and border guards to create between militias of General Dostum
disciplined, nationwide, nonpartisan and Ustad Atta Mohammad in
force; Russian border guards seize 1.5 Fariab Province
tons of Afghan heroin on border with 7 August Government offices in Deshu district
Tajikistan; President Karzai announces of Helmand Province attacked, with
urgent reforms in Defense Ministry six Afghan soldiers and an Afghan
that will pave way for implementation driver for U.S. aid group killed;
of demobilization program; China thirty women graduate from
trade company opens office in Kabul business training course in Kabul
to market imported Chinese goods and hope to start their own small
1 August U.S. gunships kill four guerrillas businesses
north of Kandahar city, but others in 8 August Afghan troops mount operation in
group cross back into Pakistan; UN Helmand Province to hunt Taliban
secretary-general, Kofi Annan, says fighters responsible for attack on
Afghanistan will need international government offices in Deshu district.
security presence for some years; 9 August Six rockets fired on U.S. base at
severe flooding causes twenty deaths Shkin, Paktia Province, near Pakistan
in Panjshir Valley of Parwan Province border; no casualties reported, and
2 August Operation mounted by Afghan U.S. forces return fire with unknown
troops backed by U.S. forces and results; ex-king, Zahir Shah, returns
helicopters kills four Taliban fighters, to Kabul from France, where he had
with twelve others arrested, in Tora been recovering from a broken leg,
Ghar Mountains, 6 miles north of thus dispelling rumors of his death
Kandahar; three Taliban mullahs 10 August Mohammad Amin, Taliban
among those arrested; Afghan spokesman, announces in Peshawar
women’s group Negar presents that Taliban intends to extend
document to commission drafting guerrilla attacks to northern
new constitution, calling for equal Afghanistan, under command of
rights for women under that Mullah Mohammad Asim Muttaqi,
constitution who has already moved into Fariab
3 August United Nations and NGOs warn of Province; United Nations announces
deteriorating security situation in suspension of missions in southern
Afghanistan, though President Karzai Afghanistan due to rise in attacks on
does not think violence is of serious aid workers and general deterioration
concern; reports indicate increasing in security
levels of political violence, especially 11 August NATO formally takes over command
in Kandahar Province, and marked of ISAF in Kabul but with no
rise in Taliban activity; UNICEF expansion of mandate; Pakistan
announces that campaign to announces arrest of Hajji Jamil,
vaccinate millions of Afghan children former mujahideen commander
cut measles deaths from 400 a month from Khost and close ally of
to 50 a month over 18-month period Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Abbreviations
AGSA Afghan Security Department
and
AIG
APA
ASDP
Afghan Interim Government
Afghanistan Peace Organization
Afghan Social Democratic Party
Acronyms
AWIM Afghan Women’s Islamic Movement
AWIR Afghan Women’s Islamic Renaissance
CAEA Central Asian Economic Association
CIA Central Intelligence Agency OIC Organization of the Islamic Conference
FINCA Foundation for International Community OMAR Organization for Mine Clearance and
Assistance Afghan Rehabilitation
GRU Chief Intelligence Directorate (Soviet PDM Progressive Democratic Movement
Union) PDP Progressive Democratic Party
ICESCR International Covenant of Economic, PDPA People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan
Social, and Cultural Rights PKK Kurdistan Workers Party
ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross RAWA Revolutionary Association of Women of
INFPA Islamic Front for National Peace in Afghanistan
Afghanistan SAMA Organization for the Liberation of the
ISAF International Security Assistance Force Afghan People
ISI Inter-Services Intelligence Service SAS Special Air Service—UK Special Forces
(Pakistan) SBS Special Boat Service—UK Special Forces
JRT Joint regional teams SAZA Organization of Revolutionary Toilers of
JSTARS Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar Afghanistan
System SCC Supreme Coordination Council
KAM Workers’ Security Institution SCN Supervisory Council of the North
KGB Soviet State Security Committee SEALS Sea Air Land—U.S. Navy Special Forces
KHAD State Information Service SEATO Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
LCSFA Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces in UNHCR UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Afghanistan UNICEF UN Children’s Fund
NIFA National Islamic Front of Afghanistan WAD Ministry of State Security
NNF National Fatherland Front WATAN Homeland Party (formerly the PDPA)
NRP National Revolutionary Party WFP World Food Program of the United
NWFP North-West Frontier Province (Pakistan) Nations
339
Amir Commander, nobleman, prince, ruler, or chief.
Used by the mujahideen for a commander with civil
and military powers.
Burqa Woman’s garment that covers the face. Wearing
Glossary
the burqa was considered insufficient by the Taliban
regime, which required women to be covered from
head to foot.
Pamirs A mountain range running north to south
Buzgars Farm managers employed by wealthy
and dividing the River Oxus from the plains of
landowners, usually of the Durrani tribe.
Kashgar, China.
Chadari Woman’s garment that completely covers the
Qarliq A small ethnic community of Sunni Turks in
wearer from head to foot. The requirement that
Badakhshan, Kunduz, and Takhar Provinces.
women wear this garment was strictly enforced by
Qazi A judge with jurisdiction in cases of civil and
the Taliban.
criminal law.
Eid al-Azha Feast held to celebrate the end of
Qirghiz A Turki Sunni community from the Qirghiz
Ramadan.
Soviet Republic; some members of this community
Fatwa A legal ruling based on the Koran and the
lived in eastern Badakhshan. After the Soviet
Sunnah and issued by an Islamic scholar in response
invasion in 1979, most fled to Pakistan and thence to
to a specific question.
Turkey.
Ghazis Holy warriors.
Rais-i-Shura-i-milli National Council.
Hajj Pilgrimage to Mecca
Safi A tribe located in northeast Jalalabad of Nuristani
Hizbullah A small Shi’a mujahideen group led by
origin and one of the last tribes to convert to Islam.
Sheikh Ali Wusuki, with a presence in Herat and
From 1947 to 1949, the Safis rebelled against the
other scattered areas in the province. Also known as
government and were forcefully resettled in
the Party of Allah, it has close ties to the Guardians
northern Afghanistan.
of the Revolution (Pasdran) in Iran.
Shura Shi’a elected ruling council in the Hazarajat.
Jihad Holy war.
Spetsnaz Russian Special Forces.
Laskhars Afghan tribal armies.
Sunnah A collection of sayings and actions of the
Madrasa Religious school.
prophet Muhammad, designed to explain the
Maulwai A graduate from a college of Islamic studies,
meaning of the Koran.
or, madrasa.
Ulama Muslim clergy.
Meshrano Jirga House of Elders in Afghan
Wolesi Jirga House of the People in Afghan
Parliament.
Parliament.
Mir A chief of the Hazaras in the Hazarajat.
Muhammadzai tribe A branch of the Barakzai of the
Durrani tribe, who ruled Afghanistan from 1826
until the Marxist coup of April 1978.
341
Bibliographies
Black, Joseph Laurence. 1984. The Soviet Union and
Afghanistan: A Select List of Titles Published Before 30
December 1983, With Subject Index. Ottawa: Institute
Bibliography
of Soviet and East European Studies, Carleton
University.
Hall, Lesley A. 1981. A Brief Guide to Sources for the
Study of Afghanistan in the India Office Records. Wilber, Donald N. 1968. Annotated Bibliography of
London: British Library, Oriental and India Office Afghanistan. New Haven, CT: Human Relations Area
Collection. Files.
Hanifi, Mohammed Jamil, and Donald Newton Wilber. Witherell, Julian W. 1986. Afghanistan: An American
1982. Annotated Bibliography of Afghanistan. 4th ed. Perspective—A Guide to U.S. Official Documents and
New Haven, CT: HRAF Press. Government-Sponsored Publications. Washington,
Jones, Schuyler. 1966, 1969. An Annotated Bibliography DC: Library of Congress.
of Nuristan (Kafiristan) and the Kalash Kaifirs of
Chitral: Selected Documents From the Secret and Biographies
Political Records, 1885–1900. Parts 1 and 2. Adamec, Ludwig W. 1987. A Biographical Dictionary of
Copenhagen: Royal Danish Academy of Sciences Contemporary Afghanistan. Graz, Austria:
and Letters. Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt.
———. 1992. Afghanistan. Oxford and Santa Barbara, ———. 1975. Historical and Political Who’s Who of
CA: ABC-CLIO Press, World Bibliographical Series. Afghanistan. Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck-u
McLachlan, Keith Stanley, and William Whittaker. 1983. Verlagsansalt.
A Bibliography of Afghanistan: A Working Habib, Mohammad. 1951. Sultan Mahmud of Ghaznin.
Bibliography of Materials on Afghanistan With Special Delhi, India: G. S. Sharma.
Reference to Economic and Social Change in the Habibullah, Amir. 1990. My Life: From Brigand to
Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Middle East and King—Autobiography of Amir Habibullah. London:
North African Studies Press. Octagon Press.
Miller, Eugene Willard, and Ruby M. Miller. 1989. The Khan, Sultan Muhammad. 1980. The Life of Abdur
Third World: Afghanistan and Pakistan: A Rahman, Amir of Afghanistan. Karachi, Pakistan:
Bibliography. Monticello, IL: Vance Bibliographies. Oxford University Press.
Ovesen, J. 1979. “An Annotated Bibliography of Sources Lockhart, L. 1988. Nadir Shah: A Critical Study Based
Relating to the Pashai People of Afghanistan.” Mainly on Contemporary Sources. London: Luzac.
Afghanistan 32, no. 1:. 87–98. Nazim, M. 1931. The Life and Times of Sultan Mahmud
Rahimi, Wali M. 1991. Status of Women: Afghanistan. of Ghazne. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bangkok: UNESCO Principal Regional Office for People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan. 1978. A Short
Asia and the Pacific. Biography of Noor Mohammad Taraki: Secretary
Wahab, Shaista. 1995. Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection General of the Central Committee of the People’s
Bibliography. Vol. 1, Pashto and Dari Titles. Lincoln, Democratic Party of Afghanistan, President of the
NE: Dageforde Publishing. Revolutionary Council and Prime Minister of the
———. 1995. Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Kabul: Political
Bibliography. Vol. 2, English and European Languages. Department of the People’s Democratic Republic of
Lincoln, NE: Dageforde Publishing. Afghanistan.
White, Anthony G. 1986. A Military Look at the Singh, G. 1959. Ahmad Shah Durrani, Father of Modern
Afghanistan Invasion: A Selected Bibliography. Afghanistan. Bombay, India: Asian Publishing
Monticello, IL: Vance Bibliographies. House.
343
344 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wild, Roland. 1933. Amanullah: Ex-King of Afghanistan. Senzai, M. O., and R. K. Harlan. 1965. Agri-Facts: Report
London: Hurst and Blackett. on Economic Survey of Agriculture in Nangarhar
Province. Kabul: Kabul University.
Agriculture Stevens, I. M., and K. Tarzi. 1965. Economics of
Allen, R. H. 1965. Agricultural Development in Agricultural Production in the Helmand Valley,
Afghanistan. Kabul: Nathan Associates. Afghanistan. Denver, CO: U.S. Department of the
Amin, H. 1974. Agricultural Geography of Afghanistan. Interior, Bureau of Reclamation.
Kabul: Kabul University Press. Swedish Committee for Afghanistan. 1993. Agricultural
Arez, G. J. n.d. The Pattern of Agriculture in Afghanistan. Survey of Afghanistan: Repatriation and
Kabul: Kabul University. Rehabilitation of Afghan Refugees. Peshawar, Pakistan:
Assifi, A. Tawab.1970. Helmand Valley Shamalan Land Swedish Committee for Afghanistan.
Development Project Plans. Kabul: Communications Tkachev, N. D. 1965. Survey of Land and Water
Media, USAID. Resources: Afghanistan, General Report. Rome: UN
Baron, Lloyd, and David Levintow. 1973. Sector Analysis- Food and Agriculture Organization.
Helman-Argandah Valley Region: An Analysis. Kabul: United States Mission to Afghanistan. 1972. Agricultural
USAID. Research in Afghanistan: Report of Survey and
Coleman, J. C. 1967. Afghanistan: Helmand-Argandab Recommendations. Kabul: USAID.
Valley Project Executive Management. Kabul: Whiting, Gordon C., Rufus B. Hughes, and Robert
USAID. Nathan Associates. The Afghan Farmer: Report of a
Dawlaty, Khairullah, Zarghuna Saleh, and Gerald P. Survey. Washington, DC: Robert Nathan Associates.
Owens. 1970. Wheat Farming in Afghanistan: Cost of
Production and Returns. Kabul: University of Kabul, Architecture
Faculty of Agriculture. Bechhoefer, William B., and Tami Beth Katz. 1975. Serai
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. n.d. The Lahori: Traditional Housing in the Old City of Kabul.
Democratic Land Reforms in Afghanistan: Full Action College Park: University of Maryland School of
to Uproot Feudalism. Kabul:. Government Press. Architecture.
Field, Neil C. 1954. “The Amu Daria: A Study in Edelberg, Lenart. 1984. Nuristani Buildings. Jutland,
Resource Geography.” Geographical Review 44, no. 2: Denmark: Archaeological Society Publications.
528–542. Etemadi, Goya. 1953. “The General Mosque of Herat.”
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Afghanistan 8, no. 2: 40–50.
Nations. 1971. Kunduz-Khan Abad Irrigation Frye, R. N. 1946. “Notes on the History of Architecture
Feasibility Study, Afghanistan, Final report. New York: in Afghanistan.” Ars Islamica 11, no. 12: 200–202.
Development and Resources Corporation. Hallet, Stanley Ira, and Rafi Samizay. 1980. Traditional
———. 1972. Report to the Government of Afghanistan Architecture of Afghanistan. New York: Garland
on the Improvement and Development of Marketing Publishing.
of Table Grapes and Raisins in Afghanistan. Rome: Najimi, Abdul Wasay. 1988. Herat: The Islamic City: A
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Study in Urban Conservation. Copenhagen:
Nations. Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies.
Gul, Azam. 1994. The Agricultural Survey of Afghanistan: Scherr-Thoss, Sonia P., and Hans Christoph Scherr-
Eighteenth Report, Reference Manual, Agricultural Thoss. 1968. Design and Colour in Islamic
Surveys. Peshawar, Pakistan: Swedish Committee for Architecture: Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey. Washington,
Afghanistan. DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation. 1957. First Five Sofi, Lutfullah. 1982. “Historical Development of Cities
Year Plan of the Ministry of Agriculture. Kabul: in Afghanistan.” Afghanistan 34, no. 1: 54–69.
Government Printer. Szabo, Albert, and Brenda Dyer Szabo. 1991.
Pastidis, Stelios L. 1964. Report to the Government of Afghanistan: An Atlas of Indigenous Architecture.
Afghanistan on Agricultural Marketing. Rome: Food Austin: University of Texas Press.
and Agriculture Organization.
Pillsbury, Harold W., and Noorgul Hamzakheyl. 1970. Culture, Arts, Folklore, and Music
An Afghan Farmer’s Guide to How Plants Grow. Ali, Mohammed. 1964. A Cultural History of
Kabul: Faculty of Agriculture, University of Kabul. Afghanistan. Lahore, Pakistan: Punjab Educational
———. 1974. An Afghan Farmer’s Guide to How Press.
Vegetables Grow. Kabul: Faculty of Agriculture, ———. 1958. Manners and Customs of Afghans. Lahore,
University of Kabul. Pakistan: Punjab Education Press.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 345
Allchin, F. R., and N. Hammond. 1978. The Archaeology Mills, Margaret Ann. 1978. Cupid and Psyche in
of Afghanistan from the Earliest Times to the Timurid Afghanistan: An International Tale in Cultural
Period. New York: Academic Press. Context. New York: Afghanistan Council of the Asia
Anderson, Ewan W., and Nancy Hatch Dupree. 1990. Society.
The Cultural Basis of Afghan Nationalism. London ———. 1990. Oral Narrative in Afghanistan: The
and New York: Pinter. Individual in Tradition. New York: Garland
Auboyer, Jeannine, and Dominique Darbois. 1968. The Publishing.
Art of Afghanistan. Translated from the French by ———. 1991. Rhetorics and Politics in Afghan
Peter Kneebone. London: Hamlyn. Traditional Storytelling. Philadelphia: University of
Baily, John. 1988. Music of Afghanistan: Professional Pennsylvania Press.
Musicians in the City of Herat. Cambridge and New Olesen, Asta. 1994. Afghan Craftsmen: The Culture of
York: Cambridge University Press. Three Itinerant Communities. London: Thames and
Ball, Warwick. 1982. Archaeological Gazetteer of Hudson.
Afghanistan. 2 vols. Paris: Editions Recherches sur les Oudenhoven, N. J. A van. 1979. Common Afghan Street
Civilisations. Games. Lisse, the Netherlands: Swets and Zeitlinger.
Barfield, Thomas Jefferson. 1981. The Central Asian Rapin, Claude. 1996. Indian Art from Afghanistan: The
Arabs of Afghanistan: Pastoral Nomadism in Legend of Sakuntala and the Indian Treasure of
Transition. Austin: University of Texas Press. Eucratides at Ai-Khanum. New Delhi: Manohar.
Bellew, H. W. 1880. The Races of Afghanistan: Being a Raverty, Henry G. 1976. Notes on Afghanistan and Part
Brief Account of the Principal Nations Inhabiting That of Baluchistan, Reprint from 1888 Edition. Quetta,
Country. London: Thaker. Pakistan: Gosha-ye Adab.
Bray, Denys. 1913. The Life and History of a Brahui. Rice, Frances Mortimer, and Benjamin Rowland. 1971.
London: Royal Asiatic Society. Art in Afghanistan: Objects from the Kabul Museum.
Bruce, C. E. 1929. The Tribes of Waziristan. London: London: Allen Lane, the Penguin Press.
India Office. Robertson, George Scott. 1974. The Kafirs of the Hindu-
Centlivres-Demont, Micheline. 1976. Popular Art in Kush. Karachi and New York: Oxford University Press.
Afghanistan: Paintings on Trucks, Mosques, and Tea- Robinson, J. A. 1978. Notes on Nomad Tribes of Eastern
Houses. Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck-u Afghanistan. Quetta, Pakistan: Nisa Traders. (Reprint
Verlagsansalt. of 1934 edition)
Clifford, Mary Louise. 1973. The Land and People of Sakata, Hiromi Lorraine. 1983. Music in the Mind: The
Afghanistan. Philadelphia: Lippincott. Concepts of Music and Musician in Afghanistan. Kent,
General Staff, India. 1910. A Dictionary of the Pathan Ohio: Kent State University Press.
Tribes on the North-West Frontier of India. Calcutta: Schurmann, H. F. 1962. The Mongols of Afghanistan.
Government of India. Gravenhage, the Netherlands: Mouton.
Hammerton, J. A. 1984. Tribes, Races and Cultures of India Shahrani, M. Nazif Mohin. 1979. The Kirghiz and Wakhi
and Neighbouring Countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, of Afghanistan: Adaptation to Closed Frontiers.
Burma, Ceylon, Nepal and Tibet. Delhi, India: Mittal. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Harvey, Janet. 1996. Traditional Textiles of Central Asia. Slobin, Mark. 1976. Music in the Culture of Northern
London and New York: Thames and Hudson. Afghanistan. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Institute for Afghan Studies. “How the Precious Statues Storr, Lillian A. 1920. Frontier Folk of the Afghan
of Afghanistan Got Destroyed.” http://www.institute- Border–and Beyond. London: Church Missionary
for-afghan-studies.org (cited 26 April 2001). Society.
Jarring, Gunnar. 1939. On the Distribution of Turki
Tribes in Afghanistan: An Attempt at a Preliminary Economy
Classification. Lund, Sweden: Gleerup. “Afghanistan Starts Arduous Task of Rebuilding Kabul.”
Jettmar, Karl. 1974. Cultures of the Hindukush. 2002. http://www.afgha.com/article.php?sid=17391
Wiesbaden, Germany: Franz Steiner. (cited 3 November 2002).
Komnieczny, M. G. 1979. Textiles in Baluchistan. Ahmed, Akbar S. 1980. Pukhtum Economy and Society:
London: British Museum. Traditional Structure and Economic Development in a
Mark, William Rudolph Henry. 1984. The Mohmands. Tribal Society. London and Boston: Routledge and
Lahore, Pakistan: Vanguard Books. Kegan Paul.
Marsden, Peter. 2001. Afghanistan—Minorities: Conflict ———. 1977. Social and Economic Change in Tribal
and the Search for Peace. London: Minority Right Areas, 1972–1976. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford
Group International. University Press.
346 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barry, Michael. 1972. Personal Account of Famine Lieberman, Samuel S. 1980. Afghanistan: Population and
Conditions in North-Western Afghanistan. Kabul: Development in the Land of Insolence. New York:
USAID. Population Council.
Christensen, Hanne. 1995. Aiding Afghanistan: The McChesney, R. D. 1968. “The Economic Reforms of
Background and Prospects for Reconstruction in a Amir Abdur Rahman Khan.” Afghanistan 21, no. 3:
Fragmented Society. Copenhagen: NIAS Books. 11–34.
———. 1990. Afghan Refugees in Pakistan: From Maierhofer, Charles R. 1961. Drainage and Related
Emergency towards Self-Reliance: A Report on the Problems of the Helmand Valley Development Project
Food Relief Situation and Related Socio-Economic Afghanistan. Denver, CO: U.S. Department of the
Aspects. Geneva, Switzerland: UN Research Institute Interior, Bureau of Reclamation.
for Social Development. Manly, Robert. 1961. Investment Opportunity List: Basic
Conolly, Violet. 1933. Soviet Economic Policy in the East: Data on Projects Which May Be Feasible for
Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan, Mongolia and Tana Tuva, Afghanistan. Kabul: Ministry of Commerce.
Sin Kiang. London: Oxford University Press. Michel, Aloys Arthur. 1959. The Kabul, Kunduz, and
Ekker, M. H. 1952. Economic Aspects of Development in Helmand Valleys and the National Economy of
Afghanistan. New York: United Nations. Afghanistan: A Study of Regional Resources and the
Fry, Maxwell J. 1974. The Afghan Economy: Money, Comparative Advantages of Development.
Finance, and the Critical Constraints to Economic Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences.
Development. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill. Najafi, Abdul Wasay. 1988. Herat, the Islamic City: A
———. 1973. The Financial Institutions of Afghanistan: Study in Urban Conservation. London: Curzon.
Description and Analysis. Kabul: USAID. Newberg, Paula R. 1999. “Politics at the Heart: The
———. 1973. Kabul and Kandahar Money Bazaars: Architecture of Humanitarian Assistance to
Their Role in Afghanistan Foreign Trade. Kabul: Afghanistan.”
USAID. http://www.ceip.org/files/Publications/wp2.asp?from
Glassner, Martin Ira. 1983. Transit Problems of Three =pubauthor (cited 3 January 2000).
Asian Land-Locked Countries: Afghanistan, Nepal, Noorzoy, M. Siddieq. 1976. Planning and Growth in
and Laos. Baltimore: School of Law, University of Afghanistan. London. Pergamon Press.
Maryland. Norvell, Douglas G. 1973. Markets and Men in
Gopal, Darvesh, and M. A. Qureshi. 1987. Science, Afghanistan. Kabul: U.S. Agency for International
Technology and Development in Afghanistan. New Aid.
Delhi: Navrang. Opic, James. 1992. Tribal Rugs: Nomadic and Village
Helmand River Delta Commission. 1951. Report of the Weaving from the Near East and Central Asia.
Helmand River Delta Commission: Afghanistan and Portland, OR: Tolstoy Press.
Iran. Washington, DC: Helmand River Delta People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan. 1979.
Commission. Kabul: The Cradle of Revolution, the Capital of
Hinrichs, Harley H. 1967. The Role of Public Finance in Afghanistan towards Development under Twenty-
Economic Development in Afghanistan. Washington, Five Years Master Plan. Kabul: Government
DC: Robert R. Nathan Associates. Publishing House.
Hobbs, Frank B. 1988. Afghanistan, a Demographic Poulin, Roger. 1990. Private Sector Agribusiness Support.
Profile. Washington, DC: Center for International Peshawar, Pakistan: Development Alternatives.
Research, Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Salim, Malik Arshad. 1986. The Socio-Economic Impact
Commerce. of Afghan Refugees on the Rural and Urban
Kamrany, Nake M. 1969. Peaceful Competition in Population of Peshawar District. Peshawar, Pakistan:
Afghanistan: American and Soviet Models for Institute of Development Studies, North-West
Economic Aid. Washington, DC: Communication Frontier Province Agricultural University.
Service. Strauss, A. A. 1965. Industrial Development in
Lake, Anthony, and Selig. S. Harrison. 1990. After the Afghanistan: A Forward Look. Washington, DC:
Wars: Reconstruction in Afghanistan, Indochina, Robert R. Nathan Associates.
Central America, Southern Africa, and the Horn of Tabibi, Abdul Hakim. 1970. The Right of Transit of Land-
Africa. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. Locked Countries: A Study of Legal and International
Lalvani, G. H., and Amiruddin Shahed. 1972. The Fact Development of the Right of Free Access to the Sea.
Book on Manpower in Afghanistan. Kabul: UNESCO Kabul: Afghan Book Publishing House.
Educational Planning Team and Afghanistan Thompson, Jon. 1988. Oriental Carpets: From the Tents,
Ministry of Education. Cottages and Workshops of Asia. New York: Dutton.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 347
Geography U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. 1985. Afghanistan:

Abdullah, Shareq. 1977. Mineral Resources of Afghanistan. Major Insurgency Groups. Washington, DC: Central
Kabul: Ministry of Mines and Industries. Intelligence Agency.
Ali, Muhammad. 1953. “Afghanistan’s Mountains.” U.S. Office of Geography, Geographic Names Division.
Afghanistan 8, no. 1: 47–52. 1971. Afghanistan: Official Standard Names.
Amin, Hamidullah, and Gordon B. Schiltz. 1976. A Washington, DC: U.S. Board on Geographic
Geography of Afghanistan. Omaha: University of Names.
Nebraska, Center for Afghan Studies. Volin, M. E. 1950. Chromite Deposits in Logar Valley,
Arez, G. J. 1970. “Geography of Afghanistan.” Kabul Kabul Province, Afghanistan. Washington, DC: U.S.
Times Annual, pp. 19–28. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines.
Bowersox, Gary W., Richard T. Liddicoat, Bonita E. Weippert, Dietrich, Hanspeter Wittekindt, and Reinhard
Chamberlain, and Peter C. Keller. 1995. Gemstones of Wolfart. 1970. On the Geological Development of
Afghanistan. Tucson, AZ: Geoscience Press. Central and South Afghanistan. Kabul: Afghan
Desio, Ardito. 1975. Geology of Badakhshan (North-East Geological and Mineral Survey.
Afghanistan) and Surrounding Countries. Leiden, the Westfall, Arthur O. 1969. Surface Water Investigation in
Netherlands: E. J. Brill. Afghanistan: A Summary of Activities from 1952 to
Dupree, Nancy Hatch. 1967. The Road to Balkh. Kabul: 1969. Washington, DC: U.S. Geological Survey.
Afghan Tourist Organization. Zanettin, Bruno. 1964. Geology and Petrology of
Field, Neil C. 1954. “The Amu Daria: A Study in Haramosh–Mango Gusor Area. Leiden, the
Resource Geography.” Geographical Review 44, no. 2: Netherlands: E. J. Brill.
528–542.
Formoli, Tareq A., M. Afzal Rashid, and James P. Du History and Politics
Bruille. 1994. An Overview and Assessment of Abdul, Ghani. 1989. A Brief Political History of
Afghanistan’s Environment. Sacramento, CA: Afghanistan. Edited by Abdul Jaleel Nafji. Lahore,
Afghanistan Horizon. Pakistan: Najaf Publishers.
Gopalakrishnan, Ramamoorthy. 1980. The Geography Abu Khalil, A. 2002. Bin Laden, Islam and America’s New
and Politics of Afghanistan. New Delhi: Concept. “War on Terrorism.” Washington, DC: Seven Stories
Hahn, Helmut. 1962. “Geography in the Frame of the Press.
Social Sciences. Geographical Review of Afghanistan Adamec, Ludwig W. 1967. Afghanistan, 1900–1923: A
1, no. 2: 38–40. Diplomatic History. Berkeley: University of California
Latkovich, Vito J. 1968. Activities of the Senior Field Press.
Engineer, Surface-Water Research Project, Afghanistan, ———. 1974. Afghanistan’s Foreign Affairs to the Mid-
1964–68. Washington, DC: U.S. Geological Survey. Twentieth Century: Relations with the USSR,
McClymonds, N. E. 1972. Shallow Ground Water in the Germany and Britain. Tucson: University of Arizona
Zamin Dawar Area, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Press.
Reston, VA: U.S. Geological Survey. ———. 1996. Dictionary of Afghan Wars, Revolutions
Maraini, Fosco, and Peter Green. 1964. Where Four and Insurgencies. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
Worlds Meet: Hindu Kush, 1959. London: Hamish ———. 1972–1985. Historical and Political Gazetteer of
Hamilton. Afghanistan. 6 vols. Graz, Austria: Akademische
Matthai, James. 1966. A Geographical Introduction to Druck-u Verlagsansalt.
Herat Province. Kabul: Faculty of Education, Kabul ———. 1991. Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan.
University. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press.
Michaud, R., and S. Michaud. 1972. “Winter Caravans ———. 1985. Kabul and Southeastern Afghanistan.
to the Roof of the World.” National Geographic Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck-u Verlagsansalt.
Magazine (April): 435–465. “Afghan Interim Government.” 2001. http://www.
Reshtya, Sayed Qasim. 1947. “The Rivers of afghanland.com/history/interim.html (cited 5
Afghanistan.” Afghanistan 2, no. 2: 8–14. January 2002).
Robert Nathan Associates and Louis Berger Afghan National Liberation Front. 1978. The
International, Inc. 1992. Final Report: Mineral Declaration of the Afghan National Liberation Front.
Resources in Afghanistan. Arlington, VA: Robert Peshawar, Pakistan: Afghan National Liberation
Nathan Associates and Louis Berger International. Front.
UN Environment Program. 2003. Afghanistan: Post- ———. 1981. The Objectives of the Afghan National
Conflict Environmental Assessment. Geneva, Liberation Front. Peshawar, Pakistan: Afghan
Switzerland: UNEP. National Liberation Front.
348 BIBLIOGRAPHY
“Afghan Peace Accord or the Islamabad Accord of Anderson, Ewan W., and Nancy Hatch Dupree. 1990.
March 1993.” 1993. http://www.forisb.org. The Cultural Basis of Afghan Nationalism. London
afghan_docs/15islbad.htm (cited 11 April 2003). and New York: Pinter.
“Afghan President Says He May Not Be a Candidate in Anderson, J. H. 1991. The Afghan War, 1878–1880.
Elections.” 2003. http://www.afgha.com/?af=article& London: R. H. Keach.
side=29914 (cited 15 May 2003). Ansary, Mir Tamin. 1991. Afghanistan: Fighting for
“Afghan Transitional Government.” 2002. Freedom. New York: Dillon Press.
http://www.afghanland.com/history/transitional.htm Anwar Khan, M. 1963. England, Russia and Central Asia:
l (cited 6 January 2003). A Study in Diplomacy, 1857–1878. Peshawar,
Ahmad, N. D. 1990. The Survival of Afghanistan, Pakistan: Institute of Central Asian Studies,
1747–1979: A Diplomatic History with an Analytic University of Peshawar.
and Reflective Approach. Lahore, Pakistan: Institute of Anwar, Raja. 1989. The Tragedy of Afghanistan: A First-
Islamic Culture. Hand Account. London and New York: Verso.
Ahmad, Syed Iqbal. 1992. Balochistan: Its Strategic Arghandawi, Abdul Ali. 1989. British Imperialism and
Importance. Karachi, Pakistan: Royal Book. Afghanistan’s Struggle for Independence, 1914–21.
Aitchison, C. U. 1933. A Collection of Treaties, New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers.
Engagements and Sanads Relating to India and Arney, George. 1990. Afghanistan. London: Mandarin.
Neighbouring Countries. Vol. 13, Persia and Arnold, Anthony. 1985. Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion
Afghanistan. Calcutta, India: Superintendent of in Perspective. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press.
Government Printing. ———. 1983. Afghanistan’s Two-Party Communism:
Alder, G. J. 1963. British India’s Northern Frontier, Parcham and Khalq. Stanford, CA: Hoover
1896–95: A Study in Imperial Policy. London: Institution Press.
Longman. ———. 1993. The Fateful Pebble: Afghanistan’s Role in
Alexiev, Alexander. 1988. Inside the Soviet Army in the Fall of the Soviet Empire. Novato, CA: Presidio
Afghanistan. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation. Press.
———. 1988. The United States and the War in Ashitov, Vladimir, Karen Gevorkian, and Vladimir
Afghanistan. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation. Svetozarov. 1986. The Truth about Afghanistan.
———. 1984. The War in Afghanistan: Soviet Strategy Moscow: Novosti Press Agency Publishing House.
and the State of Resistance. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Asia Watch Committee. 1991. Afghanistan: The Forgotten
Corporation. War—Human Rights Abuses and Violations of the
Ali, Mohammed. 1959. Afghanistan (the Mohammadzai Laws of War since the Soviet Withdrawal. New York:
Period): A Political History of the Country since the Asia Watch.
Beginning of the Nineteenth Century with Emphasis Astute, J. Brice. 1986. Afghanistan: The First Five Years of
on Its Foreign Relations. Lahore: Pakistan. Punjab Soviet Occupation. Washington, DC: National
Educational Press. Defense University.
———.. 1958. Afghanistan: The National Awakening. Baker, Anne, and Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman. 1975. Wings
Lahore, Pakistan: Punjab Educational Press. over Kabul: The First Airlift. London: Kimber.
———. 1955. “The Battle of Maiwand.” Afghanistan 10, Baldauf, Scott. 2003. “Once Powerful Warlord Is
no. 2: 26–38. Shunted Aside.” http://www.afgha.com/?af=article&
Ali, Sharifah Enayat. 1996. Afghanistan. New York: sid=29422 (cited 22 January 2003).
Marshall Cavendish. Banuazizi, Ali, and Myron Weiner. 1986. The State,
Amnesty International. 1995. Afghanistan: International Religion and Ethnic Politics: Afghanistan, Iran, and
Responsibility for Human Rights Disaster. New York: Pakistan. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
Amnesty International. Baryalay, Mahmood, Abdullo Spantgar, and V. F. Grib.
———. 1986. Torture of Political Prisoners. New York: 1984. Afghanistan: The Revolution Continues.
Amnesty International. Moscow: Planeta Publishers.
———. 1988. Afghanistan: Unlawful Killings and Beaumont, Peter. 2002. “Special Forces Take Over Hunt
Torture. New York: Amnesty International. for al-Qaeda.” The Observer (London), 4 August.
———. 1983. Democratic Republic of Afghanistan: Bellew, Henry W. 1979. Afghanistan and the Afghans.
Background Briefing on Amnesty International’s London: Sampson Low.
Concerns. New York: Amnesty International. Bennigsen, Alexandre. 1981. The Soviet Union and
Amstutz, J. Bruce. 1986. Afghanistan: The First Five Years Muslim Guerrilla Wars, 1920–1981: Lessons for
of Soviet Occupation. Washington, DC: National Afghanistan. Santa Monica, CA: Rand
Defense University Press. Corporation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 349
Bergen, Peter L., and Rachel Klayman, eds. 2001. Holy Chase, Robert, Emily B. Hill, and Paul Kennedy, eds.
War Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden. 1999. The Pivotal States: A New Framework for US
New York: Free Press. Policy in the Developing World. New York: W. W.
Berger, Julien, and Richard Norton-Taylor. 2001. Norton.
“Special Forces in Afghanistan.” Guardian (London), Chopra, V. D. 1988. Afghanistan, Geneva Accord and
29 September. After. New Delhi: Patriot Publishers, on behalf of
Bilgrami, Asghar H. 1972. Afghanistan and British India, Indian Centre for Regional Affairs.
1793–1907: A Study in Foreign Relations. New Delhi: Coalition Information Center. 2001. “Fact Sheet: Al-
Sterling Publishers. Qaeda and Taliban Atrocities.” http://www.usinfo.
“Blowback.” 2001. Jane’s Intelligence Review (August): state.gov/regional/nea/sasia/afghan/fact/1123tlbn
42–49. (cited 15 January 2002).
Bocharov, G. 1990. Russian Roulette: Afghanistan through Cogan, Charles. 1993. Holy Blood: An Inside View of the
Russian Eyes. New York: Hamish Hamilton. Afghan War. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Bodansky, Yossef, and Helen Deliel Bentley. 1999. Bin Collins, Joseph J. 1985. The Soviet Invasion of
Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America. Afghanistan: A Study of the Use of Force in Soviet
Rocklin, CA: Forum. Foreign Policy. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
Bokari, Farhan. 2003. “Poverty Fuels Afghanistan’s Drug Cooley, John K. 1999. Unholy Wars: Afghanistan,
Trade.” http://www.japantimes.co.ip/cgi-bin/getedp/ America and International Terrorism. New York: Free
5?eo2002024b.htm (cited 24 February 2003). Press.
Bonosky, Phillip. 1985. Washington’s Secret War against Cordovez, Diego, and Selig S. Harrison. 1995. Out of
Afghanistan. New York: International Publishing. Afghanistan: The Inside Story of the Soviet
Borovik, Artem. 1990. The Hidden War: A Russian Withdrawal. New York: Oxford University Press.
Journalist’s Account of the Soviet War in Afghanistan. Cranfield, Robert L. 1977. Hazara Integration into the
New York: Atlantic Monthly Press. Afghan Nation: Some Changing Relations between
Borza, Julien, and Richard Norton-Taylor. 2001. “Special Hazaras and Afghan Officials. New York: Afghan
Forces in Afghanistan.” Guardian (London), 24 Council of the Asia Society.
September. Curzon, G. N. 1967. Russia in Central Asia in 1889 and
Bosworth, Clifford E. 1963. The Ghaznavids: Their the Anglo-Russian Question. New York: Barnes and
Empire in Afghanistan and Eastern Iran, 944–1040. Noble.
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Czacka, Tony. 2002. “Afghanistan Conference Sets Track
Bradsher, Henry St. Amant. 1999. Afghan Communism for Army, Election, a Year after Taliban Ousted.”
and Soviet Intervention. London and New York: http://www.story.nes.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2
Oxford University Press. %cid:524=u=/ap/200221202/ap (cited 2 December
Brentjes, Burchard. 2000. Taliban: A Shadow over 2002).
Afghanistan. Varanasi, India: Rishi Publications. Daraglai, Borzov. 2002. “Afghan Governor Spurns
Brigot, Andre, and Olivier Roy. 1988. The War in Instability Fears.” http://www.washingtontimes.com
Afghanistan: An Account and Analysis of the Country, (cited 2 December 2002).
Its People, Soviet Intervention and the Resistance. New Data Collection for Afghan Repatriation Project. 1989.
York: Harvester-Wheatsheaf. Laghman Province. Islamabad: UN High
Bruce, George Ludgate. 1969. Retreat from Kabul. Commissioner for Refugees.
London: Howard Baker Publishers. ———. 1989. Logar Province. Islamabad: UN High
Burrell, Robert Michael, and Alvin J. Cottrell. 1974. Iran, Commissioner for Refugees.
Afghanistan, Pakistan: Tensions and Dilemmas. ———. 1989. Nangahar Province. Islamabad: UN High
Beverley Hills, CA: Sage. Commissioner for Refugees.
Canfield, Robert Leroy. 1977. Hazara Integration into the Davis, Anthony. 2002. “Karzai Struggles to Consolidate
Afghan Nation: Some Changing Relations between Afghanistan’s Fragile Peace.” Jane’s Intelligence Review
Hazaras and Afghan Officials. New York: Afghan (August) 20–23.
Council of the Asia Society. ———. 2002. “Makeover for a Warlord.” Time Atlantic
Cardew, F. G. 1908. The Second Afghan War, 1878–80. 159, no. 22: 60–63.
London: J. Murray. De Gaury, Gerald, and Harry Victor Frederick
Carew, Tom. 2000. Jihad: The Secret War in Afghanistan. Winstone. 1981. The Road to Kabul: An Anthology.
Edinburgh: Mainstream. London: Quartet Books.
Caroe, Olaf. 1958. The Pathans, 550 B.C.–A.D. 1957. Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. 1980. Babrak
London: Macmillan. Karmal’s Speeches. Kabul: Government Press.
350 BIBLIOGRAPHY
———. 1982. Documents and Records of the National ———. 1990. State, Revolution and Superpowers in
Conference of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan. New York: Praeger.
Afghanistan. Kabul: Government Press. Entekhabi, Camelia. 2002. “Iranian Leader Plans Visit to
Dey, Kelly Prosono. 1881. The Life and Career of Major Afghanistan.” http://www.eurasianet.org/
Sir Louis Cavagnari, C.S.I., K.C.B., British Envoy at departments/insight/articles/eav052402.shtml (cited
Cabul, with a Brief Outline of the Second Anglo- 24 May 2002).
Afghan War. Calcutta, India: J. N. Ghose. Evans, Michael. 2001. “SAS Already Gathering
Diver, Maud. 1924. The Hero of Herat. London: John Intelligence in Afghanistan.” Times (London), 21
Murray. September.
Dixit, J. 2000. An Afghan Diary: Zahir Shah to Taliban. “Examination of Human Rights Violations.” 2000.
New Delhi: Konark Publishers. http://www.ishr.ch/About%20UN/Reports%20
Dorn, Allen E. 1989. Countering the Revolution: The Analysis/Sub%2053%20.%20examination.htm
Mujahideen Counterrevolution. New York: (cited 2 August 2001).
Afghanistan Forum. Eyre, Vincent. 1879. The Kabul Insurrection of 1841–42.
Duffield, Mark, and Patricia Grossman. 2001. Review of London: W. H. Allen.
the Strategic Framework for Afghanistan (Final Draft): Farr, Grant M., and John G. Merriam, eds. 1987. Afghan
Report Commissioned by the Strategic Monitoring Resistance: The Politics of Survival. Boulder, CO:
Unit Afghanistan. Islamabad: UNOCHA. Westview Press.
Dundas, A. D. F. 1938. Precis on Afghan Affairs, Fazelly, Mohammad K. 1990. La Loya Djirqa. Paris:
1927–1936. New Delhi: Government of India. Centres de Recherches et d’Etudes Documentaire sur
Dupree, Louise. 1980. Afghanistan. Princeton, NJ: l’Afghanistan.
Princeton University Press. Fletcher, Arnold. C. 1965. Afghanistan: Highway of
Dupree, Louise, and Linette Albert, eds. 1974. Conquest. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Afghanistan in the 1970s. New York: Praeger. Forbes, A. 1982. The Afghan Wars, 1839–42 and
Dupree, Nancy Hatch. 1977. An Historical Guide to 1878–80. London: Seeley.
Kabul. Kabul: Afghan Tourist Organization. Fraser-Tytler, W. Kerr. 1953. Afghanistan: A Study of
Durand, Algernon George Arnold. 1974. The Making of Political Developments in Central and Southern Asia.
a Frontier. Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck-u London: Oxford University Press.
Verlagsansalt. (Reprint of 1899 edition. London: Fuller, Graham E. 1991. Islamic Fundamentalism in
John Murray) Afghanistan: Its Character and Prospects. Santa
Edwardes, Michael. 1975. Playing the Great Game: A Monica, CA: Rand Corporation.
Victorian Cold War. London: Hamish Hamilton. Fullerton, John. 1984. The Soviet Occupation of
Edwards, David B. 1993. “Summoning Muslims: Print, Afghanistan. Hong Kong: Far Eastern Economic
Politics and Religious Ideology in Afghanistan.” Review.
Journal of Asian Studies 52, no. 3: 609–628. Galeotti, Mark. 1995. Afghanistan, the Soviet Union’s Last
Effendi, M. A. 1948. Royals and Royals Mendicant: A War. Portland, OR: Frank Cass.
Tragedy of Afghan History, 1791–1947. Lahore, ———. 2001. “Business as Usual for Afghan Drugs.”
Pakistan: Lion Press. http://www.theworldtoday.com (cited 10 January
Eliot, Theodore L. 1988. Gorbachev’s Afghan Gambit. 2002).
Cambridge, MA: Institute for Foreign Policy Galiullin, Rustem. 1988. The CIA in Asia: Covert Actions
Analysis. against India and Afghanistan. Moscow: Progress
Elliot, H. M., and J. Dowson. 1953. History of Ghazni. Publishers.
Calcutta, India: Sasil Gupta. Gall, Carlotta. 2003. “Holdout Afghan Warlord May Join
Elliott, Michael, Mike Billips, Tim McGirk, Michael Karzai Camp.” http://www.iht.com/articles/83722.
Ware, Sean Scully, and Mark Thompson. 2002. “The html (cited 18 January 2003).
Battle over Peacekeeping.” Time Atlantic 158, no. 9: Gall, Sandy. 1988. Afghanistan, Agony of a Nation.
33–34. London: Bodley Head.
Elphinstone, Mountstuart. 1815. An Account of the ———. 1984. Behind Russian Lines: An Afghan Journal.
Kingdom of Caubul, and Its Dependencies in Persia, New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Tartary and India. London: Longman. Galster, Steven R. 1990. Afghanistan: The Making of U.S.
Emadi, Hafizullah. 1998. “New World Order or Policy, 1973–1990: Guide and Index. Alexandria, VA:
Disorder: Armed Struggle in Afghanistan and United Chadwyck-Healey; Washington, DC: National
States’ Foreign Policy Objectives.” Central Asian Security Archive. (Accompanies set of 424
Survey 18, no. 1: 49–64. microfiches with the same title.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY 351
Ganjoo, Satish. 1990. Soviet Afghan Relations. Delhi, Gregorian, Vartan. 1969. The Emergence of Modern
India: Akashdeep Publishing House. Afghanistan: Politics of Reform and Modernization,
Garrity, Patrick J. 1982. The Soviet Penetration of 1880–1946. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Afghanistan, 1950–1979. Claremont, CA: Claremont Gregory, Feifer. 2002. “Uzbekistan’s External Realities.”
Institute. World Policy Journal 19, no. 1: 81–89.
“Geneva Accords of 1998 (Afghanistan).” 1988. Griffin, Michael. 2001. Reaping the Whirlwind: The
http://www.institute-for-afghan-studies.org/Accords Taliban Movement in Afghanistan. London and
%20Treaties/geneva_accords_1988_pakistan_ Sterling, VA: Pluto Press.
afghanistan.htm (cited 2 August 2001). Griffiths, John C. 1967. Afghanistan. London: Pall Mall
“Genocide in Afghanistan.” 1991. Press.
http://www.members.tripod.com/MillateHazara/ Grover, Verinder. 2000. Afghanistan: Government and
(cited 12 February 2002). Politics. New Delhi: Deep and Deep Publications.
Ghani, Abdul. 1989. A Brief Political History of Gulzad, Zalmay. 1994. External Influences and the
Afghanistan. Edited by Abdul Jaleel Nafji. Lahore, Development of the Afghan State in the Nineteenth
Pakistan: Najaf Publishers. Century. New York: P. Lang.
Ghaus, Abdul Samad. 1988. The Fall of Afghanistan: An Gunaratna, Rohan. 2001. Inside al-Qaida: Global
Insider’s Account. Washington, DC.: Pergamon- Network of Terror. New Delhi: Roli Press.
Brassey. Gupta, Bhabani Sen. 1986. Afghanistan. London: Francis
Ghobar, G. 1968. Afghanistan dar masir-i-tarikh Pinter.
(Afghanistan in the path of history). Kabul: Habberton, William. 1937. Anglo-Russian Relations
Government Press. Concerning Afghanistan, 1837–1907. Urbana:
Gibbs, David. 1987. “Does the USSR Have a Grand University of Illinois Press.
Strategy? Reinterpreting the Invasion of Halliday, Fred. 1989. From Kabul to Managua: Soviet-
Afghanistan.” Journal of Peace Research, 21, no. 4. American Relations in the 1980s. New York: Pantheon
———. 1986. “The Peasant as Counter-Revolutionary: Books.
The Rural Origins of the Afghan Insurgency.” Studies Hamilton, Angus. 1906. Afghanistan. London:
in Comparative International Development 21, no. 1: Heinemann.
36–59. Hammond, Thomas Taylor. 1984. Red Flag over
Giradet, Edward. 1985. Afghanistan: The Soviet War. Afghanistan: The Communist Coup, the Soviet Invasion,
New York: St. Martin’s Press; London: Croom Helm. and the Consequences. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Giustozzi, Antonio. 2000. War, Politics and Society in Hanna, Henry B. 1910. The Second Afghan War,
Afghanistan, 1978–1992. Washington, DC: 1878–1880: Its Causes, Its Conduct, and Its
Georgetown University Press. Consequences. 3 vols. London: Constable.
Gohari, M. J. 2000. The Taliban: Ascent to Power. Harpviken, Kristian Berg. 1995. Political Mobilization
Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press. among the Hazara of Afghanistan. Oslo: University of
Goodhand, Jonathan. 2000. “From Holy War to Opium Oslo, Department of Sociology.
War? A Case Study of the Opium Economy in North ———. 1999. “The Taliban Threat.” Third World
Eastern Afghanistan.” Central Asian Survey 19, no. 2: Quarterly 20, no. 4: 861–870.
265–280. Harrison, Selig S. 1981. In Afghanistan’s Shadow: Baluch
Goodson, Larry P. 2001. Afghanistan’s Endless War: State Nationalism and Soviet Temptations. New York:
Failure, Regional Politics, and the Rise of the Taliban. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Seattle: University of Washington Press. Hauner, Milan, and Robert Leroy Canfield, eds. 1989.
Goodwin, Jim. 1987. Caught in the Crossfire. New York: Afghanistan and the Soviet Union: Collision and
Dutton. Transformation. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Graham, Stephen. 2003. “Afghan Leader Appeals for Heathcote, T. A. 1980. The Afghan Wars, 1839–1919.
More Security.” http://www.afghan.com (cited 20 London: Osprey.
May 2003). Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin. 1998. Clues to the Solution of the
Grasselli, Gabriella. 1966. British and American Afghan Crisis. Peshawar, Pakistan: Directorate of
Responses to the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan. International Affairs.
Aldershot, VT: Dartmouth Publishing. Herda, D. J. 1990. The Afghan Rebels: The War in
Grassmuck, George, and Ludwig W. Adamec. 1969. Afghanistan. New York: Franklin Watts.
Afghanistan: Some New Approaches. Ann Arbor: Hiro, Dilip. 2002. War without End: The Rise of Islamist
University of Michigan, Center for Near Eastern and Terrorism and the Global Response. London and New
North African Studies. York: Routledge.
352 BIBLIOGRAPHY
“Hizb-i Wahdat (The Unity Party).” 2000. ———. 1999. The Other Side of the Mountain:
http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/hizbi_wahdat.ht Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War.
m (cited 10 December 2001). Quantico, VA: U.S. Marine Corps, Studies and
Hopkirk, Peter. 1990. The Great Game. London: John Analysis Division.
Murray. Jamiat-i-Islami. 1961. Aims and Goals of Jamiat-i-Islami
Huldt, Bo, and Erland Jannson, eds.1988. The Tragedy of Afghanistan. Peshawar, Pakistan: Jamiat-i-Islami
Afghanistan: The Social, Cultural, and Political Impact Afghanistan.
of the Soviet Invasion. London and New York: Croom Jannson, Eland. 1981. India, Pakistan or Pakhunistan?
Helm. Uppsala, Sweden: Almquist.
Human Rights Watch. 1991. Afghanistan, the Forgotten Jasjet Singh. 1990. Superpower Detente and Future of
War: Human Rights Abuses and Violations of the Laws Afghanistan. New Delhi: Patriot Publishers.
of War since the Soviet Withdrawal. New York: Jawad, Nassim. 1992. Afghanistan: A Nation of
Human Rights Watch. Minorities. London: Minority Rights Group.
———. 2002. Return of the Warlords. New York: Joffe, Lawrence. 2001. “Abdul Haq: Veteran Afghan
Human Rights Watch. Leader Seeking Post-Taliban Consensus Rule.”
Hussain, Syed Shabbir. 1982. Afghan Refugees in Pakistan: http://www.guardian.co.uk (cited 26 October 2001).
The Long Wait. Islamabad: Kamran Publishing House. Jones, A. 1967. The First Afghan War, 1838–42. London:
Hussein, Waseem. 1999. Afghan-Pakistani Relations: The Cambridge University Press.
Afghan Perspective. Bern: Swiss Peace Foundation for Kakar, M. Hasan. 1971. Afghanistan, a Study in
Conflict Resolution. International Political Developments, 1880–1886.
Hyman, Anthony. 1984. Afghan Resistance: Danger from Lahore, Pakistan: Punjab Educational Press.
Disunity. London: Institute for the Study of Conflict. ———. 1995. Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the
———. 1984. Afghanistan under Soviet Domination, Afghan Response, 1979–1982. Berkeley: University of
1964–83. New York: St. Martin’s Press. California Press.
Ikbal, Ali Shah. 1939. Modern Afghanistan. London: S. ———. 1978. “The Fall of the Afghan Monarch in
Low, Marstons. 1973.” International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies
Ilinskii, Mikhail Mikhailovich. 1982. Afghanistan, 9, no. 2: 195–224.
Onward March of the Revolution. New Delhi: Sterling ———. 1979. Government and Society in Afghanistan:
Publishers. The Reign of Amir Abd al-Rahman Khan. Austin:
ILO, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner University of Texas Press.
for Refugees. 1982. Tradition and Dynamism among Kamrany, Nake M. 1983. The Six Stages of the
Afghan Refugees: Report of an ILO Mission to Sovietization of Afghanistan. Boulder, CO: Economic
Pakistan, November 1982, on Income-Generating Institute for Research and Education.
Activities for Afghan Refugees. Geneva, Switzerland: Kaplan, Robert D. 1990. Soldiers of God: With the
International Labor Office, UN High Commissioner Mujahideen in Afghanistan. Boston: Houghton
for Refugees. Mifflin.
“Insecure and Suddenly Even the Capital Is Dangerous.” Karp, Craig. 1984. Afghan Resistance and Soviet
2002. Economist (London) 364, no. 8289: 42–43. Occupation: A Five-Year Summary. Washington, DC:
Institute for Afghan Studies. 2001. “Masoud’s Role as a U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs.
Political Leader Questioned.” http://www.institute- Kartha, Tara. 2000. “Pakistan and the Taliban: Flux in an
for-afghan-studies.org (cited 28 November 2001). Old Relationship.” http://www.institute-for-afghan-
“Internal Displacement in Afghanistan: New studies.org . . ./2001_kartha_idsa_pakistan_and_the
Challenges.” 2001. http://www.hspl.harvard.edu/hpct _taliban.ht (cited 12 December 2001).
(cited 28 March 2002). Keddie, N. R., ed. 1993. An Islamic Response to
International Crisis Group. 2001. Afghanistan and Imperialism: Political and Religious Writings of Sayyid
Central Asia: Priorities for Reconstruction and Jamal al-Din ‘al-Afghani. Berkeley: University of
Development. Asia Report no. 26. Brussels: ICG. California Press.
Isby, David C. 1986. Russia’s War in Afghanistan. Khaflin, N. A. 1958. “The Rising of Ishaq Shah in
London: Osprey. Southern Turkestan (1888).” Central Asian Review 6,
“Islamabad Accord.” 1993. http://www.ariaye.com/ no 2: 253–263.
islamabad.html (cited 11 February 2003). Khalilzad, Zalmay. 1980. “Soviet-Occupied Afghanistan.”
Jalali, Ali A., and Lester W. Grau. 2001. “Expeditionary Problems of Communism 29, no. 6: 23–40.
Forces: Superior Technology Defeated—The Battle ———. 1991. Prospects for the Afghan Interim
of Maiwand.” Military Review 81, no. 3: 71–82. Government. Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 353
Khan, Riaz Mohammad. 1991. Untying the Afghan Knot: McGirk, Tim, Massimo Calabresi, Mark Thompson,
Negotiating the Soviet Withdrawal. Durham, NC: Ron Stodgill II, and Charles P. Wallace. 2001. “The
Duke University Press. Great New Afghan Hope.” Time Atlantic 158, no. 25:
Khurassani, Hamid. 1986. Facts and Fiction: Human 41–42.
Rights in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. McMichael, Scott. 1991. The Stumbling Bear: Soviet
Kabul: Kabul Peace Publishing House. Military Performance. London: Brassey’s.
Klass, Rosanne. 1990. Afghanistan, the Great Game MacMunn, George Fletcher. 1929. Afghanistan, from
Revisited. Lanham, MD: Freedom House. Darius to Amanullah. London: Bell and Sons.
Klass, Rosanne, and Theodore L. Elits. 1989. “The Maconachie, R. R. 1928. Precis on Afghan Affairs,
Geneva Accords, Excerpts and Short Commentaries.” 1919–1927. Simla: Government of India.
Defence Journal 15, no. 1-2: 49–57. Macrory, Patrick Arthur. 1986. Kabul Catastrophe: The
Kleiner, Jurgen. 2000. “The Taliban and Islam.” Story of the Disastrous Retreat from Kabul, 1842.
Diplomacy and Statecraft 11, no. 1: 19–32. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
Krushelnycsky, Askold. 2002. “Afghanistan: Human Magnus, Ralph H. 1997. “Afghanistan in 1996: Year of
Rights Abuses Threaten Peace Process.” the Taliban.” Asian Survey 37, no. 2: 111–117.
http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2002/04/11042002 Magnus, Ralph H., ed. 1985. Afghan Alternatives: Issues,
083542.asp (cited 11 April 2002). Options and Policies. New Brunswick, NJ.:
———. 2002. “Afghanistan: Musharraf and Karzai Transaction Books.
Exchange Warm Words and Pledge Cooperation.” Magnus, Ralph H., and Eden Naby. 2002. Afghanistan:
http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2002/04/02042094 Mullah, Marx and Mujahid. Rev. ed. Boulder, CO:
053.asp (cited 2 April 2002). Westview Press.
Laber, Jeri, and R. Rubin Barnett. A Nation Is Dying: Male, Beverley. 1982. Revolutionary Afghanistan: A
Afghanistan under the Soviets, 1979–87. Evanston, IL: Reappraisal. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Northwestern University Press. Maley, William. 1999. Fundamentalism Reborn?
Labeviere, Richard. 2000. Dollars for Terror: The United Afghanistan and the Taliban. London: Hurst.
States and Islam. New York: Algora Publishing. ———. 1996. “Taliban Triumphant.” World Today 52,
Lal, M. M. 1978. Life of Amir Dost Mohammad Khan of no. 11: 275–276.
Kabul. 2 vols. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Maley, William, and F. S. Saikal. 1992. Political Order in
Press. Post-Communist Afghanistan. Boulder, CO: Lynne
Lansdell, Henry. 1887. Through Central Asia; with a Map Rienner.
and Appendix on the Diplomacy and Delimitation of Malleson, George B. 1879. History of Afghanistan from
the Russo-Afghan Frontier. London: S. Low, Marston, the Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878.
Searle and Rivington. London: W. H. Allen.
Lessing, Doris May. 1987. The Wind Blows Away Our Manuel, Anja, and P. W. Singer. 2002. “A New Model
Words, and Other Documents Relating to the Afghan Afghan Army.” Foreign Affairs 81, no. 4: 44–89.
Resistance. New York: Vintage Books. Manz, Beatrice F. 1988. Central Asia in Historical
———. 1984. Jihad: Holy War. Washington, DC: Perspective. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Regnery Gateway. Manzar, A. M. 1980. Red Clouds over Afghanistan.
Lockhart, Laurence. 1958. The Fall of the Safavi Dynasty Islamabad: Institute of Policy Studies.
and the Afghan Occupation of Persia. Cambridge: Maprayil, Cyriac. 1983. Britain and Afghanistan: In
Cambridge University Press. Historical Perspective. London: Cosmic Press.
Lohbeck, Kurt. 1993. Holy War, Unholy Victory: ———. 1982. The Soviets and Afghanistan. London:
Eyewitness to the CIA’s Secret War in Afghanistan. Cosmic Press.
Washington, DC: Regnery Gateway. Margolis, Eric S. 2000. War at the Top of the World: The
Ma’aroof, Mohammad Khalid. 1990. United Nations and Struggle for Afghanistan, Kashmir and Tibet. London
Afghanistan Crisis. New Delhi: Commonwealth and New York: Routledge.
Publishers. Marsden, Peter. 1998. The Taliban: War, Religion and the
McGirk, Tim. 2002. “Lonely at the Top.” Time Atlantic New Order in Afghanistan. London and New York:
159, no. 9: 36–38. Zed Books.
———. 2002. “Murder in the Airport.” Time Martin, Frank A. 2000. Under the Absolute Amir of
Atlantic159, no.8: 25. Afghanistan. New Delhi: Bhavana Books and Prints.
McGirk, Tim, Hannah Bloch, and Massina Calabresi. Matinnusin, Karmal. 1999. The Taliban Phenomenon:
2002. “Has Pakistan Tamed Its Spies.” Time Atlantic Afghanistan, 1994–1997. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford
159, no. 18: 54–57. University Press.
354 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Maxwell, Leigh. 1979. My God—Maiwand! Operations of Muhammad Daud, Sardar. 1973. The Republic of
the South Afghanistan Field Force, 1878–80. London: Afghanistan: Statements, Messages, and Press
Leo Cooper. Interviews of the National Leader and the Founder of
Mehreban, Abdullah. 1982. “National Jirgas the Republic. Kabul: Government Press.
(Assemblies) and Their Role in the Socio-Political Muhammad, Fayz. 1999. Kabul under Siege: Fayz
Life of the People of Afghanistan.” Afghanistan Muhammad’s Account of the 1929 Uprising,
Quarterly 35, no. 2: 50–58. Translated, Abridged, Re-worked, and Annotated by R.
Mendelson, Sara Elizabeth. 1998. Changing Course: Ideas, D. McChesney. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener
Politics, and the Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan. Publishers.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Mukherjee, Sadhan. 1984. Afghanistan from Tragedy to
Migration and Refugee Services. 1984. Refugees from Triumph. New Delhi: Sterling.
Afghanistan: A Look at History, Culture, and the “National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan and Its
Refugee Crisis. Washington, DC: U.S. Catholic Indispensable Duties at Present.” 2001. http://www.
Conference, Migration and Refugee Services. angelfire.com/ny/Chapandaz/index.html (cited 12
Miller, Charles. 1977. Khyber: British India’s North West December 2001).
Frontier. London: Macdonald and James. Newell, Nancy Peabody, and Richard S. Newell. 1981.
Miller, George Boris. 1985. Refugees from Afghanistan. The Struggle for Afghanistan. Ithaca, NY: Cornell
London: Cleveland Press. University Press.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Afghanistan). 1984. Newell, Richard S. 1972. The Politics of Afghanistan.
Achievements of the April Revolution in Afghanistan. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Kabul: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Nikolayev, Lev. 1986. Afghanistan: Between the Past and
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. the Future. Moscow: Progress Publishers.
———. 1984. Undeclared War: Armed Intervention and Noelle, Christin. 1997. State and Tribe in Nineteenth-
Other Forms of Interference in the Internal Affairs of Century Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Dost
the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Kabul: Muhammad Khan. London: Curzon Press.
Information and Publications Department, Ministry Nojumi, Neamatallah. 2002. The Rise of the Taliban in
of Foreign Affairs. Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Information and Press Future of the Region. New York: Palgrave.
Department (Afghanistan). 1985. White Book: Norris, James A. 1967. The First Afghan War, 1838–42.
China’s Interference in the Internal Affairs of the London: Cambridge University Press.
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Kabul: Norton-Taylor, Richard. 2002. “Scores Killed by SAS in
Information and Press Department, Ministry of Afghanistan.” Guardian (London), 5 July.
Foreign Affairs. O’Ballance, Edgar. 2002. Afghan Wars: Battles in a
Misra, Kashi Prasad. 1981. Afghanistan in Crisis. New Hostile Land. New York: Brassey’s.
York: Advent Books. ———. 1993. Afghan’s Wars, 1839–1992: What Britain
Mitchell, Richard P. 1969. The Society of Muslim Gave Up and the Soviet Union Lost. London and New
Brothers. London: Oxford University Press. York: Brassey’s.
Moaveri, Azedeh. 2002. “In Bush’s Shadow.” http://www. Objectives of the Afghan National Liberation Front. n.d.
ahran.org/2002/600/re4.htm (cited 10 December Peshawar, Pakistan: National Liberation Front.
2002). Oleson, A. 1995. Islam and Politics in Afghanistan.
Mohana, Munshi Lala. 1846. Life of the Amir Dost London: Curzon Press.
Muhammad Khan of Kabul: With his Political “Once Powerful Warlord Is Shunted Aside.” 2003. http://
Proceedings towards the English, Russian, and Persian www.afgha.com/?af=article&side=25422 (cited 25
Governments, Including the Victory and Disasters of April 2003).
the British Army in Afghanistan. London: Longman. Ottaway, Marion, and Anatol Leven. 2002. “Rebuilding
Molesworth, George Noble. 1962. Afghanistan, 1919: An Afghanistan: Fantasy versus Reality.”
Account of Operations in the Third Afghan War. http://www.ceip.org/pubs (cited 16 January 2002).
London and New York: Asia Publishing House. Overby, Paul. 1993. Holy Blood: An Inside View of the
Monks, Alfred L. 1981. The Soviet Intervention in Afghan War. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Afghanistan. Washington, DC: American Enterprise Oxfam. 2000. “Crisis in Afghanistan: Humanitarian
Institute for Public Policy Research. Situation.” http://www.oxfam.org.uk/atwork/
Morgan, Gerald, and Geoffrey Wheeler. 1981. Anglo- emerg/afghanprogramme.htm.
Russian Rivalry in Central Asia,1810–1895. London Pazhwak, Abdur Rahman. 1955. Pakhtunistan. Hove,
and Totowa, NJ: Frank Cass. England: Key Press.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 355
People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan. 1980. 2001. “Bombs Away.” Time Atlantic 158, no. 20:
Fundamental Principles, Democratic Republic of 22–28.
Afghanistan. Kabul: Ministry of Information and Raverty, H. G. 1976. Notes on Afghanistan and
Culture. Baluchistan. Quetta. Pakistan: Gasha-a-Adeb.
Perry, Alex, and Johnny Michael Spann. 2001. “Inside Reeve, Simon. 1999. The New Jackals: Ramzi Yousef,
the Battle at Qala-i-Jangi.” Time Atlantic 158, no. 24: Osama bin Laden, and the Future of Terrorism.
28–35. Boston: Northeastern University Press.
“The Peshawar Accord (March 1993).” 1993. Reid, Robert H. 2003. “Man Thought to Be Osama bin
http://www.institute-for-afghan-studies.org/ Laden Urges Followers to Back Saddam; US Says It
Accords%20Treaties/peshawar_accord_1993.htm. Shows Iraqi Ties to al Qaeda.” http://story.nes.
(cited 15 April 2003). yahoo.com/news (cited 15 April 2003).
Poladi, Hassan. 1989. The Hazaras. Stockton, CA: “Repeated Massacres of Hazaras.” 2002. http://www.
Mughal Publishing. members.tripod.com/MillateHazara (cited 30 June
Porter, Charlene. 2003. “Afghanistan Improves 2002).
Performance in International Anti-drug Reshtia, Sayed Qassem. 1990. Between Two Giants:
Cooperation.” http://www.washingtonpost.com Political History of Afghanistan in the Nineteenth
(cited 25 April 2003). Century. Peshawar, Pakistan: Afghan Jehad Works
Pottinger, George. 1983. The Afghan Connection: The Translation Centre.
Extraordinary Adventures of Major Eldred Pottinger. ———. 1984. The Price of Liberty: The Tragedy of
Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. Afghanistan. Rome: Bard Editore.
Poullada, Leon B. 1995. The Kingdom of Afghanistan and Richards, Donald Sydney. 1990. The Savage Frontier: A
the United States: 1828–1973. Lincoln: University of History of the Anglo-Afghan Wars. London:
Nebraska, Omaha. Macmillan.
———. 1970. The Pushtun Role in the Afghan Political Richardson, Bruce G. 1996. Afghanistan: Ending the
System. New York: Afghanistan Council of the Asia Reign of Soviet Terror. Bend, OR: Maverick
Society. Publications.
———. 1973. Reform and Rebellion in Afghanistan, Rittenberg, Stephen Alan. 1988. Ethnicity, Nationalism
1919–1929. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. and the Pakhtuns: The Independence Movement in
———. 1969. “Some International Legal Aspects of India’s North-West Frontier Province. Durham, NC:
Pashtunistan Dispute.” Afghanistan 21, no. 4: 10–36. Carolina Academic Press.
Quinn-Judge, Paul. 2001. “So Many Warlords, So Little Roashan, G. Rauf. 2002. “Is the Afghan Government
Time.” Time Atlantic 159, no. 4: 23. Meeting the Challenge.” http://www.institute-for-
Rais, Rasul Bux. 1994. War without Winners: afghan-
Afghanistan’s Uncertain Transition after the Cold War. studies.org/Contribution/Commentaries/DRRoshan
New York: Oxford University Press. /7-12-01 (cited 7 December 2002).
Rasham, G. Rauf. 2001. “Loya Jirga: One of the Last Robson, Brian. 1986. The Road to Kabul: The Second
Political Tools for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan.” Afghan War, 1878–1881. New York: Arms and
http://www.institute-for-afghan-studies.org (cited 8 Armour Press.
June 2002). Rogers, Tom. 1992. The Soviet Withdrawal from
Rashid, Ahmed. 2000. Taliban: Islam, Oil and the New Afghanistan: Analysis and Chronology. Westport, CT:
Great Game in Central Asia. London: I. B. Tauris. Greenwood Press.
———. 2001. Taliban: The Story of the Afghan Warlords. Rostar, Mohammed Osman. 1991. The Pul-i-Charkhi
London: Pan. Prison: A Communist Inferno in Afghanistan,
———. 1999. “The Taliban: Exporting Extremism.” Translated and Edited by Ehsomullah Azari.
Foreign Affairs 78, no. 6: 22–35. Peshawar, Pakistan: Writers’ Union of Free
Ratnesar, Romesh, Hannah Beech, Anthony Davis, Afghanistan.
Michael Fathers, Terry McCarthy, Alex Perry, Roy, Olivier. 1994. From Holy War to Civil War.
Johanna McGeary, and Rahimullah Yusufzai. 2001. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
“The Afghan Way of War.” Time Atlantic 158, no. 21: ———. 1998. Has Islamism a Future in Afghanistan? In
28–37. Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan and the
Ratnesar, Romesh, Massimo Calabresi, James Carney, Taliban, edited by William Maley, 199–211. London:
Mark Thompson, Karen Tumulty, J. F. O. Hurst..
McAllister, Hannah Beech, Anthony Davis, Alex ———. 1986. Islam and Resistance in Afghanistan.
Perry, Johanna McGeary, and Rahimullah Yusufzai. London and New York: Cambridge University Press.
356 BIBLIOGRAPHY
———. 1991. The Lessons of the Soviet/Afghan War. Samdani, Zafar. 1980. Afghan Refugees: The Long Wait.
London: Brassey’s for the International Institute for Islamabad: Pakistan Publications.
Strategic Studies. Sarin, Oleg Leonidovich, and Lev Semenovich
———. 1988. “The Origin of the Afghan Communist Dvoretskii. 1993. The Afghan Syndrome: The Soviet
Party.” Central Asian Review 7, nos.2–3: 77–99. Union’s Vietnam. Novato, CA: Presidio Press.
———. 1984. “The Origins of the Islamist Movement Schofield, Victoria. 1984. North West Frontier and
in Afghanistan.” Central Asian Survey 3, no. 2: Afghanistan. New Delhi: D.K. Agencies.
117–127. Sen Gupta, Bhabani. 1986. Afghanistan: Politics,
Rubin, Barnett R. 1999. “Afghanistan under the Taliban.” Economics, and Society. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner
Current History 98, no. 625: 79–91. Publishers.
———. 2002. The Fragmentation of Afghanistan: Shah, Ikbal Ali. 1982. Afghanistan of the Afghans. Quetta,
State Formation and Collapse in the International Pakistan: Nisa Traders.
System. 2nd ed. New Haven, CT: Yale University ———. 1933. The Tragedy of Amanullah. London:
Press. Alexander-Ouseley.
———. 1992. “Political Elites in Afghanistan: Rentier Shah Wali, Sardar. 1970. My Memoirs. Kabul: Education
State Building, Rentier State Wrecking.” Press.
International Journal of Middle East Studies 24, no. 1: Shahrani, M. Nazif, and Robert L. Caufield, eds. 1984.
77–99. Revolutions and Rebellions in Afghanistan. Berkeley:
———. 1995. The Search for Peace in Afghanistan: From Institute of International Relations, University of
Buffer State to Failed State. New Haven, CT: Yale California.
University Press. Shalinsky, Audrey. 1979. Central Asian Emigrés in
———. 1988. ”Soviet Militarism, Islamic Resistance, Afghanistan: Problems of Religious and Ethnic
and Peace in Afghanistan.” Typescript. Afghan Identity. New York: Afghan Council of the Asia
Research Center, University of Nebraska, Omaha. Society.
Rubinstein, Alvin Z. 1982. Soviet Policy toward Turkey, ———. 1994. Long Years in Exile: Central Asian Refugees
Iran, and Afghanistan. New York: Praeger. in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Lanham, MD:
Ryan, Nigel. 1983. A Hitch or Two in Afghanistan: A University Press of America.
Journey behind Russian Lines. London: Weidenfeld Shams, Abdul Halim. 1987. In Cold Blood: The
and Nicolson. Communist Conquest of Afghanistan. Boston, MA:
Saikal, Amin. 1999. “The Rabbani Government, Western Islands.
1992–1996.” In Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan Sikorski, Radek. 1989. Dust of the Saints: A Journey to
and the Taliban, edited by William Maley, 29–42. Herat in Times of War. London: Chatto and Windus.
London: Hurst. ———. 1987. Moscow’s Afghan War: Soviet Motives and
Saikal, Amin, and William Maley. 1991. Regime Change Western Interests. London: Alliance Publishers for
in Afghanistan: Foreign Intervention and the Politics of the Institute for European Defence and Strategic
Legitimacy. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Studies.
———. 1989. The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan. Singhal, D. P. 1963. India and Afghanistan, 1876–1907: A
Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Study in Diplomatic Relations. Melbourne, Australia:
Press. University of Queensland Press.
Salahuddin, Sayed. 2002. “Karzai Arrives at Loya Jirga Smucker, Philip. 2002. “New Afghan Leader Faces a
for Inauguration.” http://www.afgha.com/asp/ Rouges Gallery.”
yest.html (cited 19 June 2002). http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/p07s02-wsosc.htm
Sale, F. 1843. A Journal of the Disasters in Afghanistan, (cited 21 June 2002).
1841–1842. London: John Murray. Spain, J. W. 1962. The Way of the Pathans. London: Hale.
Samad, Omar. 2001. “Ismail Khan Opens Up New Srivastava, Mahavir Prasad. 1980. Soviet Intervention in
Front.” http://www/afghan-info.com (cited 12 Afghanistan. New Delhi: Ess Publications.
February 2003). Stewart, Rhea Talley. 1973. Fire in Afghanistan,
———. 1999. “UN Rapporteur Tells of ‘Evidence of 1914–1928: Faith, Hope and the British Empire. New
Widespread Human Rights Violations’ by Taliban; York: Doubleday.
Accuses ‘External Forces’ of Interference and Calls Stone, Andrea. 2002. “Afghan Governor De Facto Ruler
for Total Comprehensive Solution.” http://www. in West.” http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?templ:
afghanvoice.org/ARTICLES/SAMAD.shtml (cited 12 story2&sid=675&u=ustoday/20021219/ts (cited 19
February 2003). December 2002).
BIBLIOGRAPHY 357
“Summit to Tackle Afghan Woes.” 2002. http://www. Pacific of the Committee on International Relations,
afgha.com (cited 19 December 2002). House of Representatives, One Hundred Fourth
Supreme Council of the Afghan Social Democratic Congress, Second Session, 9 May 1996. Washington,
Party. 1988. Aims and Objectives of the Afghan Social DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Democratic Party. Peshawar, Pakistan: Afghan Social U.S. Department of the Army. 1980. Afghanistan: A
Democratic Party. Country Study. Area Handbook Series. Washington,
Swing, John Temple. 1990. Afghanistan after the Accords: DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
What Happens Now? New York: Council on Foreign Ved, Sreedhar Mehedra. 1998. Afghan Turmoil:
Relations. Changing Equations. New Delhi: Himalayan Books.
Sykes, Sir Percy. 1940. History of Afghanistan. London: Vogel, Renate. 1976. Die Persien und Afghanistan
Macmillan. expedition: Oskar Ritter Von Niedermayer, 1915–16
Tabibi, Abdul Hakim. 1985. Afghanistan: A Nation in (The Persian and Afghanistan expedition: Oskar
Love with Freedom. Cedar Rapids, IA: Igram Press. Ritter Von Niedermayer, 1915–16). Osnabruck,
———. 1986. The Legal Status of the Afghan Resistance Germany: Biblio-Verlag.
Movement. Cedar Rapids, IA: Igram Press. Volodarski, Mikhail I. 1994. The Soviet Union and Its
“Tashkent Declaration on Fundamental Principles for a Southern Neighbours: Iran and Afghanistan,
Peaceful Settlement of the Conflict in Afghanistan.” 1917–1933. Portland, OR: Frank Cass.
1999. http://www.institute-for-afghan-studies.org/ Wakman, Mohammad Amin. 1985. Afghanistan, Non-
Accords%20Treaties/tashkent_declaration_1999.htm alignment and the Super Powers. New Delhi:. Radiant
(cited 28 June 2002). Publishers; London: Sangam Books.
Tate, George Passman. 1975. The Kingdom of Waller, John H. 1990. Beyond the Khyber Pass: The Road
Afghanistan: A Historical Sketch. New York: AMS to British Disaster in the First Afghan War. New York:
Press. Random House.
Trousdale, William. 1985. War in Afghanistan, 1879–80. Warman, Mark. 1982. “Kabul’s Urban Guerrillas: Killing
Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press. Russians House-to-House.” Soldier of Fortune
United Nations. 1988. Geneva Accords. New York: United (November): 28–33.
Nations. Watkins, Mary Bradley. 1963. Afghanistan: Land in
———. 2002. “Immediate and Transitional Assistance Transition. Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand.
for the Afghan People, 2002: Updated Financial Weinbaum, Marvin G. 1994. Pakistan and Afghanistan:
Requirements.” http://www.reliefweb.int (cited 12 Resistance and Reconstruction. Boulder, CO:
March 2002). Westview Press.
———.. 2000. Security Council Resolution 1383. New Wilber, Donald Newton. 1962. Afghanistan: Its People,
York: United Nations. Its Society, Its Culture. New Haven, CT: HRAF
———. 2001. Security Council Resolution 1386. New Press.
York: United Nations. Yapp, Malcolm E. 1964. “The Revolutions of 1841–1842
———. 2002. Security Council Resolution 1413. New in Afghanistan.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and
York: United Nations. African Studies 26, no. 2: 338–345.
———. 2002. Security Council Resolution 1444. New ———. 1980. Strategies of British India: Britain, Iran
York: United Nations. and Afghanistan, 1838–42. New York: Clarendon
———. 1999. Security Council Resolution 1560. New Press.
York. United Nations. Yate, Charles Edward. 1888. Northern Afghanistan; or,
Urban, Mark. 1988. War in Afghanistan. London. Letters from the Afghan Boundary Commission.
Macmillan; New York: St. Martin’s Press. London: Blackwood and Sons.
U.S. Congress, House Committee on International Yonak, Alexander, and Michael S. Swetnan. 2001. Usama
Relations. 2001. The Future of Afghanistan: Hearing bin Laden’s al-Qaida: Profile of a Terrorist Network.
before the Committee on International Relations, New York: Transnational Publishers.
House of Representatives, One Hundred Seventh Yousaf, Mohammad, and Mark Adkin. 1992. The Bear
Congress, First Session, 7 November 2001. Trap: Afghanistan’s Untold Story. Lahore, Pakistan:
Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Jang Publishers.
U.S. Congress, House Committee on International Yunas, S. Frida. 1977. History of People’s Democratic
Relations, Subcommittee of Asia and the Pacific. Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) Watan Party of
1996. Afghanistan: Civil War or Uncivil Peace? Afghanistan. Peshawar, Pakistan: University of
Hearing before the Subcommittee on Asia and the Peshawar.
358 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Zardykhan, Zharmukhamad. 2002. “Kazakhstan and Morgenstienne, G. 1967. “The Language of

Central Asia: Regional Perspectives.” Central Asian Afghanistan.” Afghanistan 20, no. 3: 81–90.
Survey 21, no. 2: 167–183. Penzl, Herbert. 1965. A Reader of Pashto. Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press.
Language and Literature Raverty, Henry George. 1980. Dictionary of the Pukhto,
Badakhshi, Shah Abdullah. 1960. A Dictionary of Some Pushto, Language of the Afghans. Karachi, Pakistan:
Languages and Dialects of Afghanistan. Kabul: Indus Publications.
Government Press. ———. 1986. The Pushto Manual: The Language of the
Bellew, Henry Walter. 1986. Pusht Instructor: A Afghans. New Delhi: Cosmo.
Grammar of the Pukkhto or Pukshto Language, on a Trummp, Ernest. 1969. Grammar of the Pashto or
New and Improved System. Peshawar, Pakistan: Language of the Afghans, Compared with Iranian and
Sacred Book Bank and Subscription Agency. North-Indian Idioms. Osnabruck, Germany: Biblio
Bray, Denys. 1986. The Brahui Language: An Old Verlag.
Dravidian Language Spoken in Parts of Baluchistan
and Sind. Delhi, India: Gian Publishing House. Law
Chaveria-Aquiler, Oscar Luis. 1962. A Short Introduction Amin, Sayed Hassan. 1991. Law, Reform and Revolution
to the Writing System of Pashto. Ann Arbor: in Afghanistan: Implications for Central Asia and the
University of Michigan Press. Islamic World. 3rd ed. Glasgow, Scotland: Royston
Dames, Mansel Longworth, and Jamiat Rai. 1911. Text Publishers.
Book, Part I and II of the Baluchi Language. Lahore, Anwar Khan, Mohammed. 1977. The New
Pakistan: Punjab Government Press. Constitution of Afghanistan. Peshawar, Pakistan:
Dorn, Boris Andreevich. 1982. A Chrestomathy of the Institute of Central Asian Studies, University of
Pushto or Afghan Language: To Which Is Subjoined a Peshawar.
Glossary of Afghan and English. Osnabruck, Cerkel, David, and Ralph LeRoy Miller. 1958. Petroleum
Germany: Biblio Verlag. Law for Afghanistan. Kabul: Ministry of Mines and
Dulling, G. K. 1973. The Hazaragi Dialect of Afghan Industries.
Persia. London: Central Asian Research Centre. Chishti, Nighat Mehroze. 1998. Constitutional
Dvorjankov, N. A. 1966. “The Development of Pushtu Development in Afghanistan. Karachi, Pakistan: Royal
as the National and Literary Language of Book.
Afghanistan.” Central Asian Review 14, no. 3: Committee on Constitution Secretariat. 1964. Draft of
210–220. the New Constitution of Afghanistan. Kabul: Franklin
Edelman, D. I. 1983. The Dardic and Nuristani Book Programs.
Languages. Moscow: Nauka. Constitution of Afghanistan. 1964. Kabul: Franklin Book
Elfenbein, J. H. 1966. The Baluchi Language: A Programs.
Dialectology with Texts. London: Royal Asiatic English Translation of Some of the New Laws
Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Promulgated by the Republic of Afghanistan. 1975.
Foreign Service Institute. 1957. Spoken Afghan Persian. New York: Afghanistan Council of the Asia
Kabul: U.S. Embassy. Society.
Gilbertson, George W. 1923. The Baluchi Language: A Huqugi, Walid A. 1971. Judicial Organization in
Grammar and Manual. Hartford, CT: Gilbertson. Afghanistan. Kabul: Government Press.
Habibi, A. H. 1967. “Pashto Literature at a Glance.” Kamali, Mohammad Hashim. 1985. Law in Afghanistan:
Afghanistan 20, no. 4: 51–64, and 21, no. 1: 53–57. A Study of the Constitutions, Matrimonial Law and
Jarring, Gunar. 1938. Uzbek Texts from Afghan Turkestan, the Judiciary. Leiden, the Netherlands: E. J. Brill.
with Glossary. Lund, Sweden: W. K. Gleerup. Khan, Sultan Muhammad. 1900. The Constitution and
Lorimer, D. L. R. 1915. Pashtu, Syntax of Colloquial Laws of Afghanistan. London: J. Murray.
Pashtu, with Chapters on the Persian and Indian Vafai, Gholam H. 1988. Afghanistan: A Country Law
Elements in the Modern Language. Oxford: Study. Washington, DC: Law Library, Library of
Clarendon Press. Congress.
Miran, M. Alan. 1977. The Functions of National
Language in Afghanistan. New York: Afghanistan Religion
Council of the Asia Society. Canfield, Robert Leroy. 1973. Faction and Conversion in
———. 1974. Some Linguistic Difficulties Facing Dari a Plural Society: Religious Alignments in the Hindu
Speakers Learning Pashto. New York: Afghanistan Kush. Ann Arbor: Museum of Anthropology,
Council of the Asia Society. University of Michigan.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 359
Dupree, Louise. 1966. “Afghanistan, Islam in Politics: A Mousavi, Sayed Asker. 1998. The Hazaras of Afghanistan:
Symposium.” Moslem World 46, no. 2: 269–276. An Historical, Cultural, Economic, and Political Study.
Gaulier, Simone, Robert Jera-Bezard, and Monique London: Curzon Press.
Maillard. 1976. Buddhism in Afghanistan and Central Pedersen, G. 1994. Afghan Nomads in Transition.
Asia. Leiden, the Netherlands: E. J. Brill. London: Thames and Hudson.
Ghani, Ashraf. 1978. “Islam and State Building in a ———. 1981. “Socio-Economic Change among a
Tribal Society.” Modern Asian Studies 12, no. 2: Group of East Afghan Nomads.” Afghanistan Journal
269–284. 8, no. 4: 115–122.
Jettmar, Karl, Adam Nayyar, Schuyler Jones, and Max Poladi, Hassan. 1989. The Hazaras. Stockton, CA:
Kliburg. 1986. The Religions of the Hindukush. Mughal Publishing.
Warminster, England: Aris and Phillips. Robinson, J. A. 1978. Notes on Nomad Tribes of Eastern
Keddie, N. R., ed. 1983. An Islamic Response to Afghanistan. Quetta, Pakistan: Nisa Traders.
Imperialism: Political and Religious Writings of Sayyid Shalinsky, A. 1979. Central Asian Emigrés in
Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani. Berkeley: University of Afghanistan: Problems of Religious and Ethnic
California Press. Identity. New York: Afghanistan Council of the Asia
Nawid, Senzil K. 1999. Religious Response to Social Society.
Change in Afghanistan, 1919–29: King Amanullah ———. 1994. Long Years of Exile: Asian Refugees in
and the Afghan Ulama. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Afghanistan and Pakistan. Lanham, MD: University
Publishers. Press of America.
Roy, Olivier. 1994. The Failure of Political Islam. Strand, R. F. 1975. “The Changing Herding Economy of
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. the Kom Nuristani.” Afghanistan Journal 2, no. 4:
———. 1998. Has Islamism a Future in Afghanistan? In 123–134.
Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan and the Swinson, A. 1979. North-West Frontier: People and
Taliban, edited by William Maley, 199–211. London: Events, 1839–1947. London: Hutchinson.
Hurst. Tapper, Nancy. 1991. Bartered Brides, Politics, Gender,
Tabibi, A. H. 1977. “The Great Mystics of Afghanistan.” and Marriage in an Afghan Tribal Society.
Afghanistan 30, no. 2: 25–39. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University
Wilber, D. N. 1952. “The Structure and Position of Press.
Islam in Afghanistan.” Middle East Journal 6, no. 1: Tapper, R., ed. 1983. The Conflict of Tribe and State in
41–48. Iran and Afghanistan. London: Croom Helm.
Society Women
Afghan Network. 2001. “Pashtuns.” http://afghan- Amnesty International. 1995. Women in Afghanistan: A
network.net/ethnic-groups (cited 28 November Human Rights Catastrophe. London and New York:
2001). Amnesty International.
Ahmed, A. S. 1977. Social and Economic Change in Tribal Boesen, I. W. 1980. “Women, Honour and Love: Some
Areas. Karachi, Pakistan: Oxford University Press. Aspects of the Pashtun Woman’s Life in Eastern
Anderson, J. 1978. “There Are No Khans Anymore: Afghanistan.” Afghanistan Journal 7, no. 2: 50–59.
Economic Development and Social Change in Tribal Christensen, Hanne. 1990. The Reconstruction of
Afghanistan.” Middle East Journal 32, no. 2: 167–183. Afghanistan: A Chance for Rural Women. Geneva,
Bacon, E. E. 1951. “An Enquiry into the History of the Switzerland: UN Research Institute for Social
Hazara Mongols of Afghanistan.” Southwestern Development.
Journal of Anthropology 7, no. 2: 230–247. Ellis, Deborah. 2000. Women of the Afghan War.
Broguetti, Michele. 1982. The Current Situation in the Westport, CT: Praeger.
Hazarajat. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Schultz, J. J, and L. Schultz. 1999. “The Darkest of Ages:
Ferdinand, K. 1962. “ Nomad Expansion in Central Afghan Women under the Taliban.” Peace and
Afghanistan: A Sketch of Some Modern Trends.” Folk Conflict 5, no.3: 237–254.
4: 123–159. Tapper, Nancy. 1991. Bartered Brides: Politics, Gender
Harpviken, Kristian Berg. 1995. Political Mobilization and Marriage in an Afghan Tribal Society. Cambridge
among the Hazara of Afghanistan, 1078–1992. Oslo: and New York: Cambridge University Press.
Oslo University, Department of Sociology. ———. 1977. “Pashtun Nomad Women in
Hart, David M. 1985. Guardians of the Khaibar Pass: The Afghanistan.” Asian Affairs 64, no. 2:, 163–170.
Social Organization and History of the Afridis of “‘We Want to Live as Humans’: Repression of Women
Pakistan. Lahore, Pakistan: Vanguard Books. and Girls in Western Afghanistan.” 2002.
360 BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/afghanwmn 1202/ http://www.globalspecops.com/oefportal.html

(cited 2 December 2002). http://www.guardian.co.uk
Woodsmall, Ruth Frances. 1960. Women and the New http://www.gulf-news.com
East. Washington, DC: Middle East Institute. http://www.hrw.org/reports
http://www.institute-for-afghan-studies.org
Web Sites http://www.nytimes.com
http://www.afgha.comhttp://www.afghan-network.net http://www.operations.mod.uk/veritas
http://www.AfghanistanPeace.com http://www.pm.gov.uk/news-asp?Newsld=2601
http://www.afghanland.com http://www.rawa.org
http://www.ahran.org http://www.rferl.org
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news http://www.time.com
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/southasia http://www.unhcrich
http://www.ceip.org/files/Publications http://www.un.org.pk/unhcr
http://www.cnn.worldnews.com http://www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.csmonitor.com http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases
http://www.defenselink.mil http://www.whitehouse.gov/response/military.response.
http://www.eurasianet.org html
Index
Abdali, Ahmad Shah. See Durrani, Ahmad Shah
Abdali revolt, 283
Abdalis, 81
Abdullah, Abdullah, 1–2, 2 (photo)
Abdur Rahim, Naib Sular, 2–3, 3 (photo)
Administrative divisions, 3–4
Afghan Arabs, 4
Afghan army, 4–6, 5 (photo)
Afghan Communication: Voice of the Young Generation history, xxxii
publication, 23 overview, 24–26
Afghan Historical Society, 95 Afghanistan’s New Beginnings Program (ANBP), 72
Afghan Information Center, 164 Afridi Tribe, 26, 149
Afghan Literary Society, 95 Afridis territory, 27 (photo)
Afghan Millat newspaper, 298 Aftaab newspaper, 335
Afghan Mujahid publication, 272 Afzal, Amir, 285
Afghan Nation, 85 Afzal, Mohammed, xvii
Afghan National Liberation Front, 11 Afzali, Amena, 273
Afghan, original definition, xiv Agreement of Islam magazine, 163
Afghan Peace Accord, 124 Agriculture
Afghan Security Service, 15–16 Kandahar Province, 140
Afghan Security Service Department (AGSA), 15–16 Kunar Province, 151
Afghan Social Democratic Party (ASDP), 16, 85 Kunduz Province, 151
Afghan Weekly publication, 271 opium production, 76–79
Afghan Wolus publication, 272 AGSA (Afghan Security Service Department), 15–16
Afghan Women’s Islamic Movement (AWIM), 316 Ahmad, Ali, 26
Afghan Women’s Islamic Renaissance (AWIR), 316 Ahmad, Shah, 26
Afghan Young Movement (Wish Zalmyan), 287 Ahmadzai tribe, 28
Afghan-Anglo Treaty, 288 Ai Khanum, 296
AFGHANews newspaper, 172 Aid
Afghan-German relations, 6–8 chronology, 311, 319
Afghan-Iranian relations, 8–11 during Cold War, 257
Afghan-Pakistani relations, 11–15 humanitarian airdrops, 113–114, 114 (photo), 328
Afghan-Soviet relations, 16–19 humanitarian relief, 115–117
Afghani, Jamaluddin, 129 reconstruction program, xxxi, 213–216
Afghani monetary unit, 288 Tokyo Conference, 330
Afghani, Sayyid Jamaluddin, 19–20 U.S. aid for mujahideen, 302
Afghanis, 20 WFP. See World Food Program
Afghanistan, history of name, xiv World Bank, 331, 335
Afghanistan interim cabinet, 20–21, 21 (photo) AIG. See Afghanistan Interim Government
Afghanistan Interim Government (AIG) Aimaq, xvi
chronology, 304, 306, 308, 328 Air campaign against the Taliban, 55–58
conditions for candidates and voters, 157, 158–159 Air force, 289
cooperation with ISAF, 119–120 Airdrops, humanitarian, 113–114, 114 (photo)
formation of, 125, 174, 329 Airlines
Islamic Party-Khales support, 127 Ariana Afghan Airways, 295, 296
overview, 21–22, 46 Ariana Airlines. See Ariana Airlines
Afghanistan Peace Association (APA), 22–24 Balkh, 315
Afghanistan Transitional Government Lufthansa, Berlin and Kabul service (1937), 7, 289
foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, 1 service between Afghanistan and Pakistan, 299
361
362 INDEX
service to Europe, 292 Arab Muslims, 283 Baker, General, 286

Soviet aid and, 18 Arabs, Afghan, 4 Balkh administrative center, 4
Airports Archaeological remains, excavation of, Balkh airline, 315
Bagram, 316 xix–xx, 288 Balkh Province, 38, 167
bomb explosion (1983), 302 Arian, Abdul Rashid, 32 Baluchs, xvi, 39
Kunduz, 296 Ariana Afghan Airways, 295, 296 Bamian administrative center, 4
Mazar-i Sharif, 296 Ariana Airlines Bamian destruction of Buddha statues,
opening of Kabul, 311 banned over Pakistan, 310 70–71, 188, 242, 327
Airspace restrictions, 313 hijacking, 321 Bamian Province, 39, 313, 320
Akbar, Ali, 306 Taliban takeover of plane, 313 Bank-i-Milli, 289
Akbar, Sardar Muhammad traffic manager Sayyid Kalillulah Banks
background, 28 Hoshimian, 110 nationalized by government, 299
chronology, 284 Arians, 283 World Bank aid, 331, 335
Alexander the Great, xv, 283 Arif, Muhammad, 292 al-Banna, Hannas, 175
Ali, Amir Shir, 4, 29 Arms embargo, 327 Baraki tribe, 40
Ali, Caliph, 38, 39 (photo), 171 Army, Afghan, 4–6 Barakzais, 40
Ali, Shir, 285 Arsari tribe, 33 Bar-al-Habib, 67
Aliabad campus of Kabul University, ASDP (Afghan Social Democratic Party), Barechi tribe, 40
296 16, 85 Bareq-Shafi’i, Muhammad Hasan,
Amani High School, 288 Asghar, Muhammad, 33, 306 40–41
Amanullah, King, 288 Asian Development Bank financing, 215 Barter agreement with Soviet Union, 294
Afghan army development, 5 Ata, Muhammad, 33 Baryalai, Mahmud, 41
Afghanistan’s independence, 7 Atef, Muhammad, 208 (photo), 209, 329 The base. See Al-Qaeda
background, 28–29 Auckland, Lord George Eden, 33–34, 284 Battle of Bagh, 287
chronology, 287, 294 Australian Special Air Service (SAS), 34 Battle of Charasia, 286
history, xviii–xix Australian Special Forces Battle of Gulnabad (1772), xvi, 98
Third Anglo-Afghan War, 247 in Operation Enduring Freedom, Battle of Jamrud, 74
Ambala Conference, 29, 285 192, 252, 259 Battle of Maiwand (1880), xvii, 163, 229,
Amin, Hafizullah overview, 34 286
background, 29–30 Awakened Youth (Wish Zalmayan), 35, Battle of Panipat (1761), 197
chronology, 300, 301 280 Battle of Spin Boldak. See Spin Boldak
history, xx, xxi, xxii–xxiii AWIM (Afghan Women’s Islamic Battle of Zhawar (1986), 281–282
photo, 30 Movement), 316 Beet production, 289
Amir, Muhammad, 30–31 AWIR (Afghan Women’s Islamic Beg, Ibrahim, xviii, 33, 93
Amu Daria River (Oxus) Renaissance), 316 Beheshti, Sayyid Ali, 41, 104
dam construction for electricity and Axis nationals evacuation, 7 Bengal regiments, 284
irrigation, 293–294 Ayub, Khan Muhammad, 35 Bhau, Sadashiv, 197
overview, 31 Azam, Mohammad, xvii Bhutto, Benazir, 240
Pakistan water source, 55 Azimi, Muhammad Nabi, 304 “Black Khalqis,” 245
water resources, 91 Aziz, Abdul Husain, 290, 291 Blood, Archer K., 302
ANBP (Afghanistan’s New Beginnings Aziz, Muhammad, 289 Bolan railway, 286
Program), 72 Bolsheviks, xviii
Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1857, 285 Babu Jan (Sayyid Mahmud Pacha), 161 Bombay regiments, 284
Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1905, 31, 287 Babur, 283 Bombing raid, 59 (photo)
Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919, 26, 31, 288 Bacha-i-Saqqau. See Kalakani, Bonn Agreement
Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1921, 17, 31–32 Habibullah formation of Interim Government,
Anglo-Afghan War Badakhshan administrative center, 3 21–22, 329
First (1839–1842), 86, 284 Badakhshan Province, 37 formation of Loya Jirga, 157–158
second. See Second Anglo-Afghan Badakhshi, Tahir, 37 history, xxx, xxxi
War (1978–1879) Badal, 201 Northern Alliance and, 184
third. See Third Anglo-Afghan War Badghis administrative center, 3 warlords as a violation of, 267
(1919) Badghis Province, 37–38 Bonn Conference (2001), 1, 42
Anglo-Russian Convention (1905), 287 Bagh, Battle of, 287 Bonn Conference (2002), 41–42
Anglo-Russian Convention (1907), 32, Baghdad Pact, 18 Booby traps, 64
99 Baghlan administrative center, 4 Border dispute with Britain (1947), 290
Anis newspaper, 163, 288 Baghlan Province, 15, 38 Boundary treaty, Soviet Union, 290
Anti-Taliban forces, xiii, 317, 319 Bagram, 38 Brahuis, 42
APA (Afghanistan Peace Association), Bagram air base, 317–320, 325 Brest-Litovsk, Treaty of, 7
22–24 Bagram airport, 316 Brezhnev, Leonid, 295
INDEX 363
Britain and Afghanistan Chacknau Mullah, 30. See also Amir, Coalition government
border dispute, 290 Muhammad history, xiii, xxvi
chronology, 283, 285, 286, 287, 288 Chadaris, 68, 242, 272. See also Veils mujahideen, 50–52
history, xiii, xvi–xvii worn by women terms of, 49
British East India Company, 283 Chahar Aimaqs, 47, 134 Coalition land campaign against the
British India, xvii–xviii, 11, 247 Chamberlain, Neville, 285 Taliban
Brown, General, 286 Charasia, Battle of, 286 joint regional team, 65–66
Brown, Samuel, 285 Charkhi, Ghulam Nabi, 47 ongoing situation, 64–65
Buddha Chelmsford, Lord, 247 Operation Anaconda. See Operation
destruction of giant statue, 70–71, Chief Intelligence Directorate (GRU), Anaconda
327 xxi Operation Buzzard, 63, 331
destruction of statues, 188, 242 Child labor, 92 Operation Eagle Fury, 63–64
photo, 70 China Operation Enduring Freedom. See
Bukhara, amir of, xviii border agreement (1963), 296 Operation Enduring Freedom
Bulnabad, Battle of (1772), 98 embassy status, 291 Operation Mountain Lion. See
Bunkers recognition of Afghanistan (1950), Operation Mountain Lion
al-Qaeda intelligence material, 61 291 Operation Ptarmigan, xxx, 63, 330
Daisy Cutter attacks, 57 trade agreement (1957), 293 Operation Snipe, xxx, 62–63
Burnes, Alexander Treaty of Friendship (1944), 290 Operation Valiant Strike, 64–65
background, 42–43 Treaty of Friendship (1959), 294 Operation Viper, 63–64
chronology, 284 Christian propaganda, arrests for, overview, 58–66
history, xvi 327–328, 329 Tora Bora campaign, 59–61
Burqa, 272, 316. See also Veils worn by Chronology Communist Party, Taraki leadership,
women 1800–1899, 284–287 245. See also People’s Democratic
Burrows, General, 286 1900–1949, 287–290 Party of Afghanistan
Bush, George, Sr., 302, 305 1950–1959, 291–293 Conference of Afghan Organizations of
Bush, George W. 1960–1969, 293–298 New York in Support of the
Special Forces against al-Qaeda, 1970–1979, 298–301 Emergency Loya Jirga, 23
251–252 1980–1989, 301–306 Conference of Islamic Foreign Ministers
War on Terror. See War on Terror 1990–1994, 306–311 (1980), 301
Byroade, Henry A., 293 1995, 311–314 Confidential protocol, 7
1996, 314–318 Congress Party of Mahatma Gandhi,
Canadian Coalition forces, 193 1997–1999, 318–321 147, 216
Capitulation, Treaty of (1841) 2000 B.C.–1799, 283 Constitution (1923), xviii, 288
British retreat to India, 87 2000, 321–327 Constitution (1931), 171, 289
negotiator Maj. Eldred Pottinger, 2001, 327–330 Constitution (1964), 3, 171, 280, 296
204 2002, 330–331 Constitution (1977), xxi, 68, 299
overview, 45 2003, 331–338 Constitution (1986), 303
ratification, 284 CIA. See Central Intelligence Agency Constitutional Review Committee,
CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Cinema closings, 313, 315 establishment of, 295
Relief Everywhere), 117, 215 Civil war Consultative Constitutional
Carnegie Endowment for International chronology, 284 Commission, 296
Peace, 214–215 mujahideen coalition government, Cooperative for Assistance and Relief
Carter, Jimmy, 301 50–52 Everywhere (CARE), 117, 215
Cavagnari, Pierre Louis Northern Alliance reverses, 53–54 Cotton industry and joint stock
chronology, 286 overview, 47–54 company, 289
background, 45 Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, Council for the Defense of Afghanistan,
photo, 46 47–50 317
Caves Taliban military success, 52–53 Council of Islamic Alliance, 233
al-Qaeda intelligence material, 61 Cleansing. See Ethnic cleansing Council on Foreign Relations, 335
attacks on, 57 Climate Counterterrorism, 260
military use, 62 Afghanistan, 55 Country of Sand (Registan Desert), 220
use by al-Qaeda, 60 Hazarajat, 102 Creeping invasion, 13
Central Committee, xxi, xxii Hindu Kush, 109–110 Criminal code, 288
Central Highlands, 90–91 Pakistan, 55 Cultural agreement with Germany, 294
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Clinton, Bill, 154
Coalition land campaign, 59 Coalition air campaign against the Da Kargaron Amniyyati Mu’assan
mujahideen support, 45–47, 237 Taliban, 55–58 (KAM, Workers’ Intelligence
Qala-i-Jangi uprising, 170 Coalition campaign, xxix Institute), 140
364 INDEX
Dadullah, Mullah, 189 Drought Islamabad Accord requirements,

Dai Kundi Hazaras, 104 impact on poppy production, 326 124
Dai Mirdad Hazaras, 103–104 impact on refugees, 218–219 warlord climate of fear for, 337
Dai Zangi Hazaras, 104 suspension of repatriation because Electric plants
Daisy Cutter bomb, 57, 329 of, 323 atomic power, 295
Dar-al-Funun, 67 U.S. aid for, 323 Kajakai power plant, 297
Dargad Island, Soviet occupation, 17 WFP aid, 324. See also World Food Pul-i-Khumri, 295
Dari language, 67, 156, 199 Program See also Hydroelectric plants
Darius I, 283 Drug trade Elphinstone, Mountstuart, 83, 284
Darulaman, 29, 67 Afghanistan-Iran agreement, 309 Elphinstone, William, 45, 83
Darunta Canal, 294 flow from Afghanistan to Iran, 9–10, Embassy
Darunta Dam, 178 324 closings, 305
Das, Naranjan, 179 opium production. See Opium Kenya and Tanzania attacks, 320
Daud, Muhammad, founding of National production Employment of women, 272–273, 334
Revolutionary Party, 180 overview, 76–79 Enayatullah, Sardar, 83–84
Daud, Sardar Muhammad traffickers killed, 322, 327 Engineers without Borders, 216
chronology, 294, 295, 299 Dryfus, Louis G., 290 En-Lai, Chou, 293
history, xix, xx, xxi Dubs, Adolph, 300 Environment and geography, 90–92
overview, 67–69 Durand Agreement (1893) Environmental impact assessment, xxxiii
Pakistan relations and, 12 background, 79 Etemadi, Nur Ahmed, 225, 298
Soviet military assistance and, 18 chronology, 287 Etemadi, Toryalai, 297
Da’ud Shah, 69 impact on Afghan-Pakistani Eternal Flame (Shala-yi Javid) party, 140
Dawai, Abdul Hadi, 297 relations, 12 Ethnic cleansing
Defense council required by Islamabad impact on borders, xvii–xviii, 149 ending of, 1
Accord, 124 impact on diversity, xiv Hazaras in northern Afghanistan,
Delta Force commandos in Coalition impact on Roshan, 223 106
land campaign, 59 Durand Line Mazar-i Sharif, 168–169
Democratic Women’s Organization, 213 chronology, 292 Shomali Plain, 321
Department of Promoting Virtue and impact on Shinwari tribe, 233 Tajiks in Gulbahar, 319
Preventing Vice, 242 Kalakani Habibullah and, 100 UNHCR aid and, 318
Destruction of Pre-Islamic heritage, Mohand tribe territory split, 172 Ethnic composition, xv–xvii
69–71 Pashtunistan dispute and, 199 Ethnic divide and Abdullah, 1
Deutsch-Afghanische Companie, 7 purpose of, 30 Ethnic imbalance in the army, 6
Din Muhammad, Mashk-il-Alam, 71 Durrani, Ahmad Shah
“Direct-action” missions, 260 chronology, 283 Fahim, Mohammad, 25
Disarmament program, 71–72 history, xiii, xiv, xv–xvi, 162 Faizabad, 37
Disinformation campaigns, 64 tomb in Kandahar, 140 Farah administrative center, 4
Dobbs, Henry, 73, 287 Durrani, Ahmad Shah Abdali Farah Province, 85
Dost Muhammad, Amir background, 79, 81 Farhad, Ghulam Muhammad, 16, 85
Afghan army development, 4 photo, 80 Fariab administrative center, 4
background, 73–74 Durrani dynasty, 81 Fariab Province, 85–86, 162
chronology, 284, 285 Durrani tribe, 81–82 Farsiwan, 86
photo, 73 Farza, 216
Treaty of Capitulation (1841), 45 Earthquakes Fateh Khan, 86
Dost, Shah Muhammad, 73 of 1976, 299 Fath, 86
Dostum, Abdul Rashid Baghlan Province and Pakistani aid, FINCA (Foundation for International
background, 74–76 15 Community Assistance),
chronology, 309, 312–314, 316–320, Takhar, 320 274–275
336, 338 Economy during Independent Fine Arts College, 291
control of Mazar-i Sharif, 167–168 Monarchy, xx First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842),
history, xxvi–xxviii Education 86, 284
Islamic Front, 125 Daud reforms, xx First Five-Year Plan (1956), 68
Northern Alliance president, 51 RAWA activity, 221, 222 Firuzkuhi tribe, 87–88
photo, 75 See also Schools Five-Year Plan
Dress code Elections first (1956), 68
civil servant, 29, 315 census for 2004 elections, 336 second (1962), 295
women. See Veils worn by women direct voting, 296 Food aid, 113–114, 117
women’s demonstration in Mazar-i Independent Commission Food price rise due to Taliban taxes, 322
Sharif, 317 observations of, 158 Foreign Investment Law, 293
INDEX 365
Foreign Terrorist Asset Tracking Center, German Development Service, 8 Habibullah, Mullah, 334
231 German Hentig-Niedermayer Haidar, Ghulam, 306
Fort Ali Masjid, 286 Expedition. See Hentig- al-Haj, Abdul-Aziz, 157
Foundation for International Niedermayer Expedition Halili, Masud, 313
Community Assistance (FINCA), Germany Hamad, Abdul Samad, 100
274–275 Coalition forces, 193 Haq, Abdul, xxix, 100–101, 101 (photo),
France cultural agreement, 294 329
Coalition forces, 193 Treaty of Friendship (1926), 288 Haqani, Maulawi Jajaluddin, 101
policy on Taliban, 321 Ghani, Abdul, 92 Haqani, Mullah, 330
relations with Afghanistan, 288 Ghaus, Abdul Samad, 93 Haqqani, Jalaluddin, 330
Free press, establishment of, xx, 280 Ghazi, 28, 93. See also Akbar, Sardar Harakat-i-Inqliab-i-Islami (Islamic
Freedom fighters. See Mujahideen Muhammad; Amanullah, King Revolutionary Movement), 127,
Friendship Bridge, 96 Ghazi, Shah Mahmud, xix, xx, 93 310
Friendship Society, 293 Ghaznavid dynasty, xv, 283 Harazas, xiv
Friendship, Treaty of (1921), 17, 288 Ghazni administrative center, 4 Al-Harethi, Salim Sinan, 210
Friendship, Treaty of (1926), Germany, Ghazni, city of, xv Hari Rud-Murghab water system, 91
288 Ghazni Hazaras, 104 Harriman, Averill, 296
Friendship, Treaty of (1928), Turkey, 288 Ghazni Province, 94 Hashim, Muhammad, xix, 307
Friendship, Treaty of (1932), Saudi Ghilzai tribe, 87, 94, 283 Hashim Khan, Muhammad, 101–102
Arabia, 289 Ghobar, Mir Ghulam Muhammad, Hasht-Nafari, 102
Friendship, Treaty of (1944), China, 290 94–95 Hatef, Abdur Rahim, 102, 307
Friendship, Treaty of (1950), India, 291 Ghor administrative center, 4 Hazara uprising, 286–287
Friendship, Treaty of (1959), China, 294 Ghor Province, 95, 313 Hazarajat
Friendship, Treaty of (1978), 18–19, 90, Ghorids, 283 ethnic composition, xiv
238, 300 Ghulam, Jilani Charkhi, 95 Hazara heartland, 103
Frontier districts, xvii Gillett, M. C., 293 overview, 102
“Frontier Ghandi,” 147 Goethe Institute, 8 Shura ruling council, 41
FRU (Chief Intelligence Directorate), Goldsmid Award, 95 Hazaras
xxi Gorbachev, Mikhail, xxv, 48 massacres, 105, 106, 112
Governor (wali), responsibilities, 3 overview, 103–106
Gailani, Sayyid Ahmad Grand Council. See Loya Jirga photo, 103
background, 89 Granville-Gorchakoff Agreement (1873), Taliban war crimes, 327
chronology, 305, 306, 308 95–96, 285 Health care
photo, 180 Great Amir, xviii, 73. See also Dost hospital assistance from Soviet
in Transitional Government, 25–26 Muhammad, Amir Union, 292
Gailani, Sayyid Hasan, 89 Great Council. See Loya Jirga immunizations. See Immunizations
Gandhi, Mahatma, 147, 216 Great Game RAWA activity, 221
Gandomak, Treaty of history, xiii, xvi, 17 WHO, 215
chronology, 286 impact of World War II, 18 Herat-to-Islam Kala highway, 296
control of Khyber Pass, 149 Grobba, Fritz, 7 Hekmatyar, Gulbuddin
history, xvii, 229 Grodekoff, General, 285 background, 106–107
overview, 89–90 Gromov, Boris V., 96, 97 (photo) chronology, 304–306, 308, 309,
signatory Sir Pierre Louis Cavagnari, GRU (Chief Intelligence Directorate), 311–312, 315–316
45, 277 xxi civil war issues, 49–50
Gardez, capital of Paktia Province, 196, Guardians of the Islamic Revolution history, xxvi–xxvii
216 (Pasdaran-I-Jihad-I-Islami), 96, ISI support, 121–122
Gas fields 233 Islamic Party, 126, 301
Jarquduq gas field, 299 Gul, Khan, 302 Helmand administrative center, 4
Sheberghan gas field, 297, 298 Gul, Muhammad, 305 Helmand Province, 107–108, 189, 312
See also Natural gas Gulbazoi, Sayyid Muhammad, 98 Helmand River
Geneva Accords “Gulf Battalion,” 153 dispute with Iran, 108, 299
chronology, 304, 307 Gulnabad, Battle of (1772), xvi, 98 irrigation and hydroelectric power,
history, xxv 107–108
overview, 90 Habibia Secondary School, 137, 287 Helmand River Authority, 293, 297
Soviet Union and, 238 Habibullah, Amir Helmand Valley Authority, 108
terms of agreement, 48 Afghan army development, 5 Helmand Water Treaty (1973), 108, 233
Geography and environment, 90–92 background, 99 Helmand-Arghendab water system, 91
Geopolitics, xiii chronology, 287 Hentig-Niedermayer Expedition
German-Afghan relations, 6–8 Third Anglo-Afghan War, 247 Abdul Majid and, 163
366 INDEX
Afghan-German relations and, 6–7 Hizb-i-Islami-yi Afghanistan (Islamic International Bank, 292
Amir Habibullah and, 99 Party of Afghanistan), 244–245 International Cooperation
chronology, 287 Hizb-i Wahdat. See Islamic Unity Party Administration, 292
overview, 108 Holl, Norbert, 318 International Covenant of Economic,
Herat Holland, Charles, 260 Social, and Cultural Rights
administrative center, 4 Homeland Party, xxvi, 74, 203 (ICESCR), 273
ethnic composition, xiv Hoquqmal, Mahbooba, 157 International Crisis Group, 25, 214
Herat Assembly, 310 Hornibrook, W. H., 289 International Monetary Fund, 292
Herat Province, 108–109, 130–132 Hoshimian, Sayyid Kalillulah, 110 International Red Cross
“Hero of Herat,” 204 Hospitals, Soviet Union equipment chronology, 314
Heroin assistance, 292 refugee aid, 218
customs raid, 334 Hostages, United States, 300 report on civil war casualties, 310,
production, 78 Hotaki Ghilzais, 94 311
See also Drug trade House of Notables, 171 Taliban prisoners freed, 331
Highways Human Rights Department formation, withdrawal of staff (1998), 320
Asian Development Bank financing, 334 International Rescue Committee, 218
215 Human Rights Group discovery of International Security Assistance Force
Five-Year Plan (1956), 68 executed prisoners, 334 (ISAF)
Herat-to-Islam Kala, 296 Human rights violations extending role to entire country, 42
Kandahar-Herat-Kushka, 293, 294 Mazar-i Sharif, 168–169 formation of, 329–330
reconstruction program, 215 Northern Alliance–United Front, 111 history, xxx
Salang, 316, 319 overview, 111–113 internal security, 2
Soviet Union grant (1964), 296 RAWA activity, 221 overview, 119–121
Hijrat Movement, 109 Taliban, xxviii, 111–113, 188 photo, 120
Hindu Kush, 109–110, 110 (photo), 138 UN report, 321 Protection of Karzai’s government,
(photo) Human Rights Watch 268
Hindu Raj Mountains, 91 (photo) Taliban atrocities report, 327 suicide car bomb attack, 335
Hindus, xiv violence against Pashtuns, 111 U.K. forces, 192
Hindushahis, 283 warlord climate of fear, 337 UN Security Council resolution,
History women’s rights and jobs, 274 255–256
652–1747, arrival of Islam to Ahmad Humanitarian airdrops, 113–114, Internet service pilot project, 337
Shah Durrani, xv–xvi 114 (photo), 328 Inter-Services Intelligence Service (ISI)
1747–1825, emergence of modern Humanitarian relief, 115–117 Coalition land campaign, 59
Afghanistan to the Great Game, Husain, Gharib, 304 creation of the Taliban, 240
xvi Hydroelectric plants history, xxi
1826–1919, Great Game to Amu Daria River, 293–294 military control, 13
independent monarchy, xvi–xviii Helmand River, 107–108 overview, 121–123
1919–1973, independent monarchy, Kabul River, 178 Intra-Afghan International Conference
xviii–xx Sarobi, 8 in Search of Peace, 23
1973–1978, Republic to Saur Revolt, Soviet Union assistance, 8, 292 Iran, Treaty of Friendship (1921), 288
xx–xxi Iranian-Afghan relations, 8–11, 294
1978–1979, Saur Revolt to Soviet ICESCR (International Covenant of Irrigation
Intervention, xxi–xxiv Economic, Social, and Cultural Amu Daria River, 293–294
1979–1989, period of Soviet Rights), 273 Helmand River, 107–108, 297, 299,
intervention, xxiii–xxv Ilkhanid Empire, xv 233
early history, xv Illyushin 14, 292 Nangarhar irrigation project, 292,
ethnic composition, xiii–xv Immunizations 293, 296
fall of Najibullah to Taliban, measles, 338 ISAF. See International Security
xxv–xxvii polio, 322, 323, 333 Assistance Force
geopolitics, xiii tetanus, 274 Ishaq, Muhammad, 123–124
Post-Taliban period, xxx–xxxii Independent Commission, 157–158 ISI. See Inter-Services Intelligence Service
Taliban to Operation Enduring Independent monarchy, xvi–xx Islam, early history, xv
Freedom, xxvii–xxx India, Treaty of Friendship (1950), 291 Islamabad Accord (1993), 124, 309
Hizb-i Inqilab-i Milli (National Inland Oil Exploration Company, 257 Islamic Alliance for the Liberation of
Revolutionary Party), xxi, 180 Interim cabinet, 20–21 Afghanistan, 124–125
Hizb-i-Islami-Hekmatyar (Islamic Party- Interim Government. See Afghanistan Islamic Congress of Jerusalem, 294
Hekmatyar), 126 Interim Government Islamic Front (Jumbesh-i-Milli Islami),
Hizb-i-Islami-Khales (Islamic Party- Interior Ministry, creation of the Taliban, 125
Khales), 126–127, 146 240 Islamic Martyrs Brigade, 107
INDEX 367
Islamic National Front for Peace in Jadran tribe, 133 overview, 137–139
Afghanistan, 316 Jagran, Sayyid Muhammad Hasan, 133 photo, 138
Islamic Party, civil war issues, 49–50 Jaji tribe, 133 Kabul Declaration, 2
Islamic Party-Hekmatyar (Hizb-i-Islami- Jalal, Masooda, 158 (photo) Kabul Museum
Hekmatyar), 126 Jalalabad chronology, 287, 309
Islamic Party-Khales (Hizb-i-Islami- ammunition depot explosion, 319 use of Darulaman municipality
Khales), 126–127, 146 attack by mujahideen, 306 building, 67
Islamic Party of Afghanistan (Hizb-i- base for Osama bin Laden, 154 Kabul Polytechnic, 295, 297
Islami-yi Afghanistan), 244–245 bombing of, 316 Kabul River water system, 91, 92, 178
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, 165 capital city of Nangarhar Province, Kabul-to-Kandahar highway project, 215
Islamic Revolutionary Movement 178 Kabul University
(Harakat-i-Inqliab-i-Islami), 127, Jalil, Mir Wais, 310 Aliabad campus, 296
310 Jamal, Sayyid, 306 building project, 8
Islamic Revolutionary Party, 310–311 Jam’iat-i Islami (Islamic Society), 128 condolence ceremony, 297
Islamic Society (Jam’iat-i Islami), 128. Jam’iat-i Islami (Islamist Movement), enrollment of women, xx
See also Islamist Movement 128–130. See also Islamist Faculty of Letters, 110
Islamic Society of Afghanistan (Jam’iat-i Movement Faculty of Medicine, 177
Islami-Yi Afghanistan), 127–128, Jam’iat-i Islami-Yi Afghanistan (Islamic formation of student union, xx
173 Society of Afghanistan), 127–128, founding of, 290
Islamic Union for the Liberation of 173 professor Hoshimian, 110
Afghanistan (Ittihad-i-Islami Jam’iat-i-’Ulama, 133–134 student demand rejected, 297
Barayi Azadi-Y-Afghanistan), 26, Jamil, Hajji, 338 Kafir War (1895), 139
128, 164 Jamilurrahman, Maulawi Husain, 134 Kafiri tribe, 139–140
Islamic Unity of Afghan Mujahideen, 125 Jamrud, Battle of, 74 Kafiristan, 139–140
Islamic Unity Party (Hizb-i-Wahdat) Jamshidi tribe, 134 Kajakai power plant, 297
Ali Mazari and, 167 Jan, Abdullah, 285 Kala Nai Hazaras, 103
chronology, 309, 310–311, 312, 314, Jan, Muhammad, 286 Kalakani, Abdul Majid, 140
320 Jangalat, 297 Kalakani, Habibullah
during civil war, 51 Japanese Coalition forces, 193 background, 99–100
clashes between factions, 318 Jarquduq gas field, 299 chronology, 288, 289
formation of, 104–105, 147, 174, 307 Jawanan-i-Muslimin, 279 history, xix
overview, 128 Al-Jazeera television station, xxix KAM (Workers’ Intelligence Institute),
Islamic Youth Movement, 128 Jews, ethnic composition, xiv 140
Islamist Movement (Jam’iat-i Islami) Jirga. See also Loya Jirga KAM (Workers’ Security Institution), 15
chronology, 309 overview, 134 Kamaluddin, Sayyid, 305
during civil war, 49 photo, 135 Kandahar
formation of, 211 Joint regional team (JRT), 65–66, 121, administrative center, 4
founding member Sayyid Musa 215–216 chronology, 283, 311
Tawana, 246–247 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar overview, 140
overview, 128–130 System (JSTARS), 57 photo, 141
Isma’il, Imam, 132 Journalism. See also Publications Kandahar Province, 140
Isma’il Khan, xxviii, 130–132 debate issues, xix Kandahar-Herat-Kushka highway, 293,
Isma’il, Muhammad, 130–132 freedom of expression law, 297 294
Isma’ilis, 132 history of, xviii Kapisa administrative center, 4
Istiqlal High School, 288 Jozjan administrative center, 4 Karim, Aga Khan IV, 132
Italian Coalition forces, 193 Jozjan Province, 135 Karmal, Babrak
Italy, Treaty of Friendship (1921), 288 JRT (joint regional team), 65–66, 121, Amin replacement, xxiii
Ithna ’Ashariya (Twelver), 248–249 215–216 background, 141–142
Ittihad-i-Islami Barayi Azadi-Y- JSTARS (Joint Surveillance Target Attack chronology, 301, 303
Afghanistan (Islamic Union for Radar System), 57 coalition government, xxvi
the Liberation of Afghanistan), Jumbesh-i-Milli Islami (Islamic Front), founder of National Fatherland
26, 128, 164 125 Front, 179
history, xx, xxi, xxii
Jabha-Yi-Milli-Yi Padar Watan (National Kabul party unity attempts, xxv
Fatherland Front), 157, 179–180, administrative center, 4 Karzai, Hamid
302 chronology, capital city, 283 Afghan army development, 4
Jabha-Yi-Najat-Yi Milli-Yi Afghanistan drinking water, 92, 195 background, 142–145
(National Liberation Front), 173, ethnic composition, xiv boundary of authority, xxx–xxxi
180 mosque bomb explosion, 302 chronology, 338
368 INDEX
disarmament program, 71–72 Khan, Mohammad Arif, 322 Laden, Saad bin, 155
history, xv, xxix, xxx Khan, Muhammad Akbar, 45 Lafrance, Pierre, 69–71
Interim Government head, 22, 330 Khan, Muhammad Nadir, 287 Laghman administrative center, 4
Iranian relations and, 10–11 Khan, Nadir, 287, 289 Laghman Province, 156
photo, 75, 143 Khan, Sadruddin Aga, 304 Lakanwal, Abdul Ghafur, 305
Transitional Government formation, Khan, Saima, 222 Lala Pir (Sayyid Lal Shah), 156
xxx, 24–26, 331 Khan, Saleh Muhammad, 287 Land campaign against the Taliban, 58–66
Kaspia Province, 198 Khan, Sardar Ayub, 286 Land mines
Katawazi, Khilzal Muhammad, 145 Khan, Shir Ali, xvii, 4 clearance program and lack of funds,
Kazaks, ethnic composition, xiv Khan, Wali Muhammad, 288 325
Kazim, Ahang Mohammad, 157 Khan, Yaqub, xvii, 286 impact on civilians, 64
Keane, John, 284 Khatami, Mahmud, 10 Organization for Mine Clearance
Keshtmand, Ali Khattack, Khushhal Khan, xv and Afghan Rehabilitation, 324
background, 145–146 Khedamat-i Ettela’at-i Daulati (KHAD, UN Mine Action Program, xxxi
chronology, 300, 302, 303, 305, 307 State Security Service), 146, Languages, 156
KGB (Soviet State Security Committee), 277 Dari, 67, 156, 199
xxi, 15 Khilafat Movement, 109 Pashto, 67, 156, 199
KHAD (State Information Service), Khomeini, Ayatollah, 96, 233 Turki, 156, 261
15–16 Khost, 147–148, 307 Latif, Haji Abdul, 306
KHAD (State Security Service, Khost Rebellion (1924) Layeq, Sulaiman, 156–157
Khedamat-i Ettela’at-i Daulati), ending of, 288 LCSFA (Limited Contingent of Soviet
146, 277 leader Zalmai Khan, 281 Forces in Afghanistan), 19
Khaibar, Mir Akbar overview, 148 League of Nations, 289
cause of Saur Revolt, 228, 299 social reform opponents, 29 Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces in
history, xxi Soviet Union and, 17 Afghanistan (LCSFA), 19
overview, 146 Khrushchev, 294 “Lion of Panjshir,” 165, 198. See also
Khales, Yunis, 303 Khugiani tribe, 149 Masood, Ahmad Shah
background, 146 Khurram, Ali Ahmad, 149, 299 Literacy, 117
chronology, 304, 308, 310, 311 Khurran Field Force, 222 Logar administrative center, 4
founder of Islamic Party-Khales, Khyber Pass, xvii, 149, 150 (photo) Logar Province, 157
126–127 Koh-i-Baba (Abdul Karim Misaq), 171 Loya Jirga (Great Council)
Khalili, Karim, 103 (photo), 312, 319 Koh-i-Baba mountains, 102, 109 Abdullah appointment, 1
Khalili, Khalilullah, 265, 298 Kuchis (Powindahs), 204–205 background, 157–159
Khalilullah, Lieutenant General, 147 Kunar administrative center, 4 future of Pashtun, 292
Khaliqyar, 307 Kunar Province, 134, 150–151 history, xx, xxx
Khalq faction Kunduz administrative center, 4 photo, 135
formation of, 202 Kunduz airport, 296 warlords and, 267
history, xxi, xxii Kunduz Province, 151 Lufthansa airline, Berlin and Kabul
overview, 147 Kurdistan Workers party (PKK), 77 service, 7, 289
red and black, 245 Kurram Valley, 248
Khalq newspaper Kurt dynasty, 283 Macnaghten, William, 161, 284
banning of, 171 Kushanid Empire, 283 Madrasas (religious schools)
editor Abdul Qayyum Nurzai, Kyrguz, xiv founded by Mushk-i-Alam Din
185–186 Muhammad, 71
history, 147, 298 Labiabi (riverbank silk), 33 Taliban network, 13
PDPA newspaper, 201 Laden, Osama bin Magazine, Agreement of Islam, 163
publisher Taraki, 245 background, 153–155 Mahaz-i Milli-Yi Afghanistan (National
Khan, Akbar, 284, 285 chronology, 320, 321 Islamic Front of Afghanistan),
Khan, Amir Dost Muhammad, xvi–xvii formation of al-Qaeda, 53. See also 89, 180, 305
Khan, Ayub, 285, 286, 294–295 Al-Qaeda Mahmud Pacha, Sayyid, 161
Khan, Badsha (Pacha Khan Zadran), history, xxviii Mahmud, Shah
196–197, 269–270 ISI policy, 122 Afghan army development, 5
Khan, Fateh, 285 photo, 208 background, 161–162
Khan, Genghis, xv protection by Taliban, 154, 188–189, chronology, 284, 291
Khan, Haji, 162 243–244 history, xvi
Khan, Ishma’il, 322 Taliban association, 54. See also photo, 162
Khan, Isma’il, 310, 312, 313 Taliban Maimana, 162–163
Khan, Khan Abdul Ghaffar, 35, 147, 304 World Trade Center terrorist attack, Maiwand, Battle of (1880), xvii, 163, 229,
Khan, Mir Wais, xv–xvi xxix, 230–232, 328 286
INDEX 369
Maiwandal, Muhammad Hashem Mineral resources Shi’a, 53, 86

Afghan ambassador to U. S., 294 Afghanistan, 91 Sunni. See Sunni Muslims
background, 163 Jozjan, 135 Mussoorie Conference
formation of cabinet, 297 Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue chronology, 288
resignation, 298 and the Prevention of Vice, 272 overview, 175–176
Majid, Abdul, 163–164 Mir Wais revolt, 283 Mutual Security Act, 291
Majruh, Sayyid Baha’uddin, 164, 304 Miszq, Abdul Karim, 171–172 Myers, Richard B., 192 (photo)
Malik, Abdul, 319–320 Mohammad, Khalid Sheikh, xxx, 210
Mangal tribe, 164 Mohammad, Usta Atta, 336, 338 Nabi, Ghulam, xix, 289
Maqsudi, Abdul Husain, 164 Mohmand tribe, 172 Nadir, Shah Muhammad, 177, 177
Maratha Confederation, 197, 283 Monarchy, independent, xvi–xx (photo)
Marriage statute, 288 Monetary unit, Afghani, 288 Naim, Muhammad
Marxist government, xxi–xxiii Monthly Bulletin periodical, 164 chronology, 290, 291, 293
Marxist Shala-yi Javid (Eternal Flame) Mortality rates, 117 Pashtunistan issue, 12
party, 140 Mosque Naji, Kasra, 313
Masood, Ahmad Shah Kabul explosion, 302 Najibullah, Muhammad
assassination, xxix Mazar-i Sharif, 39 (photo) chronology, 304–306
attacks on the Hazara, 105 Pul-Khishti, destruction of, 310 head of KHAD, 15, 48–50
attacks on Salang Tunnel, 225 Muhammad, Faiz, 290, 301 history, xxiv–xxvi
background, 165–166 Muhammad, Fateh, 302 overview, 178
chronology, 308–309, 317, 320–321, Muhammad, Ishaq, 172 secretary-general of PDPA, 303
323, 325–328 Muhammadi, Maulawi Muhammad Taliban assassination, 53
history, xxvii–xxviii, xxiv, xxvi Nabi, 172–173 Nanawati, 201
photo, 165 Muhammadi, Muhammad Nabi, 127 Nangarhar administrative center, 4
Massacre of Hazaras, 105, 106, 112 Muhsini, Ayatollah Muhammed Asef, Nangarhar irrigation project, 292, 293,
Mayo, Lord, 29 173 296
Mazari, Abdul Ali, 105 Mujaddidi, 173 Nangarhar Province, 178
Mazari, Ali, 167, 312 Mujaddidi, Sabghatullah Nangarhar University, 295
Mazar-i Sharif background, 173–174 Naqib Shah of Chaharbagh, 89
airport, 296 chronology, 305, 308, 310, 312, 315 Naranjan Das, 179
atrocities, 168–169 history, xxvi Narcotics. See Drug trade
ethnic composition, xvi Mujahideen Nasir tribe, 179
fall to the mujahideen, 167 Central Intelligence Agency support, Nasrullah, xviii, 287
historical significance, 171 45–47 Nasrullah Khan, 179, 287
mosque, 39 chronology, 306 National Army, Kabul parade, 5
overview, 167–171 civil war, 47–49 (photo)
Qala-i-Jangi uprising, 170–171 establishment of, 300 National Council. See Loya Jirga
recapture by Northern Alliance, fall of Mazar-i Sharif, 167 National Democratic Front, xxxi
169–170, 183 history, xxiii–xxvi National Emergency Employment
strategic significance, 167 Islamic Alliance for the Liberation of Program, 334
Taliban capture and control, Afghanistan, 124–125 National Fatherland Front (NFF)
167–168, 320 leader Ahmad Shah Masood, 165 (Jabha-Ui-Milli-Yi Padar Watan),
Mazdak, Farid Ahmad, 307 Mullah Muhammad Omar and, 157, 179–180, 302
McMahon, A. H., 287 187–188 National Front of the Republic of
McNeill, Dan, 65–66, 120–121, 215–216 overview, 174 Afghanistan, 180, 307
Measles immunization, 338 Pakistani operations bases, 13 National Islamic Front of Afghanistan
Medical school, Kabul, 289 photo, 175 (Mahaz-i Milli-Yi Afghanistan),
Mehtarlam, 156 United States aid, 302 89, 180, 305
Melmastia, 201 See also Northern Alliance National Islamic Movement, 76
Merrell, George R., 291 Multiparty system, 307, 309 National Liberation Front of Afghanistan
Meshrano Jirga, 171, 298 Mundigak, xv (Jabha-Yi-Najat-Yi Milli-Yi
Migration routes, impact of Durand Musawat newspaper, 163 Afghanistan), 173, 180
Agreement of 1893, xiv Museum. See Kabul Museum National Reconciliation Commission,
Military equipment Musharraf, Pervez, xxix, 123, 321 313–314
Pakistan, 6 Muslim Brotherhood, 175 National Revolutionary Party (NRP)
Soviet Union as supplier, xx, 5–6, 18, Muslim, Esmat, 307 (Hizb-i Inqilab-i Milli), xxi,
308 Muslim Ottoman Empire, xviii 180
United States as supplier, xx, 308 Muslims National Salvation Society, 33, 306
Mine Action Program, xxxi Arab, 283 National Solidarity Program, 333
370 INDEX
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty human rights violations, 111 chronology, 330
Organization), 230 overview, 181–184 details, 63
Natural gas “president” Dostum, 51 history, xxx
expanded operations with Soviet recapture of Mazar-i Sharif, 169–170, use of special forces, 252, 260
Union, 299 183 Operation Ptarmigan, xxx, 63, 330
export agreement, 310 reverses, 53–54 Operation Snipe, xxx, 62–63, 330
Jarquduq gas field, 299 troop photo, 182 Operation United Resolve, 336
Jozjan, 135 Northern Plains, 91 Operation Valiant Strike, 64–65
resources, 91 Nott, General, 285 Operation Viper, 63–64
sales to Soviet Union, 298 NRP (National Revolutionary Party), Opium production
Sheberghan gas field, 297, 298 xxi, 180 decline in, 325
Nazar, Muhammad, 181 Nur, Nur Ahmad, 185 drug trade, 76–79
Neutrality policy Nuristan Province impact on prices, 324
with Soviet Union, 288, 289, 292 chronology, 305 Omar’s ban on cultivation, 322, 324
World War I, 287, xviii history, 139, 140 world assistance to curb production,
World War II, xx, 7 overview, 185 321
Newspapers Nuristani, Abdul Wakil, 185 Organization for Mine Clearance and
Afghan Millat, 298 Nuristanis, xiv Afghan Rehabilitation, 324
AFGHANews, 172 Nurzai, Abdul Qayyum, 185–186 Organization for the Liberation of the
Aftaab, 335 Nurzai tribe, 186 Afghan People (SAMA), 140,
Anis, 163, 288 205
debate issues, xix Obaidullah, Mullah, 330 Organization of Muslim Clergy, 174
editor Muhammad Hasan Bareq- Ofuq, Muhammad Zahir, 187 Organization of Muslim Youth
shafi’i, 40 Ogata, Sadako, 325 basis of Islamic Party-Hekmatyar,
founding of, xviii OIC (Organization of the Islamic 126
free press laws, xx, 297 Conference), 71, 322 founder Ghulam Muhammad Niazi,
Khalq. See Khalq newspaper Oil exploration, 293 181
Musawat, 163 Oil resources, 91, 135 founder Sayyid Musa Tawana, 247
Parcham, 141, 146, 156–157, 199 Olympics boycott, 302 member Abdul Haq, 100
Payam-i Imruz, 297, 298 Oman, Muhammad, 292 Organization of the Islamic Conference
Sitare-yi-Afghan, 95 Omar, Mullah Muhammad (OIC), 71, 322
Sun of the Day, 234 background, 187–189 Organization of Young Muslims, 211
Wahdat, 265, 297 chronology, 311, 314, 315, 321, 324 Oriental Entente (Saadabad Pact), 225
Watan Party, 95 destruction of pre-Islamic heritage, Oruzgan administrative center, 4
See also Publications 69–71 Oruzgan Province, 142, 189, 193
NFF (National Fatherland Front), 157, first Taliban leader, 52, 244 Oslo Conference, xxxi
179–180, 302 history, xxvii, xxviii Oxus, 31, 91. See also Amu Daria River
NGOs. See Nongovernmental Operation Anaconda
organizations chronology, 330 Paghman, 195
Niazi, Ghulam Muhammad, 181 Coalition air campaign, 56 Paghmani, Taj Muhammad, 195
“Night letters,” 110, 201 history, xxx Pahalwan, Rasool, 315
Nimruz administrative center, 4 overview, 61–62 Pahlawan, Malik, 168
Nimruz Province, 181 Operation Buzzard, 63, 331 Pakhto dialect, 199
Nizamnama, 181 Operation Condor, 34 Pakistan
Nongovernmental organizations Operation Eagle Fury, 63–64 chronology, 292, 294
(NGOs) Operation Enduring Freedom climate, 55
food distribution, 217 chronology, 328–338 demonstrations, 291
reconstruction program, 214, 215, history, xiii, xxxi, 232 impact of Afghanistan on economy,
216 Osama bin Laden and, 154–155 13
refugee repatriation, 220 overview, 189–193 military army assistance, 6
Noninterference treaty (1936), 289 role of Uzbekistan, 260–261 Pashtunistan problem, xx
North Atlantic Treaty Organization tonnage dropped during, 56 RAWA in refugee camps, 221
(NATO), 230 U.K. forces, 191–192 refugees and, 217–218, 302
Northern Alliance U.S. forces, 190 (photo), 190–191, relations with Afghanistan, 11–15,
anti-Taliban air support, 56–58, 191 (photo) 303
183–184 use of Pakistani military bases, 14 restoring diplomatic relations
anti-Taliban land support, 58–66, Operation Haven Denial, 336 (1957), 293
183–184 Operation Mountain Lion Talibanization, 14
history, xxix–xxx, 50 Australian special forces, 34 tribal territory, 290
INDEX 371
Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI). Mir Akbar Khaibar and, 146 Bamian, 39, 313, 320
See Inter-Services Intelligence Muhammad Najibullah and, 178 Farah, 85
Service Nur Muhammad Taraki and, 245 Fariab, 85–86, 162
Paktia administrative center, 4 overview, 201–203 Ghazni, 94
Paktia Province Revolutionary Society of Afghan Ghor Province, 95, 313
Jaji tribe, 133 Toilers and, 187 Helmand, 107–108, 189, 312
overview, 195–197 Sulaiman Layeq and, 156–157 Herat, 108–109, 130–132
Taliban and al-Qaeda hiding places, Sultan Ali Keshtmand and, 145 Jozjan, 135
189 woman member Anahita Ratebzad, Kandahar, 140
Paktika administrative center, 4 213 Kaspia, 198
Paktika Province, 197 See also Homeland Party Kunar, 134, 150–151
Palmer, Ely E., 290 Persia Kunduz, 151
Pamir Mountain Range, 91 (photo) Afghan control of, xvi Laghman, 156
Panipat, Battle of (1761), 197 chronology, 284, 285 Logar, 157
Pan-Islam, 129 Persian-Afghan Boundary Commission, Nangarhar, 178
Panjdeh incident, 198 3 Nimruz, 181
Panjshir, 198 Peshawar, 284 Nuristan. See Nuristan Province
Panjshir Valley, 91 (photo), 198 Peshawar Accord, 203–204 Oruzgan, 142, 189, 193
Panjshiri, Dastagi, 198 Peshawar, Treaty of (1856), 203, 285 Paktia, 133, 189, 195–197
Parcham newspaper, 141, 146, 156–157, Pi Naqib of Baghdad, 89 Paktika, 197
199 PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), 77 Parwan, 199
Parchami faction, xxi, xxii, 202 Plan Formulation and Coordination Samangan, 226
Party of Islamic Unity of Afghanistan, Department, Ali Ahmad Sar-i-Pul, 104, 304
233 Khurram, 149 Wardak, 266
Parwan administrative center, 4 Podgorny, Nikolai, 298 Zabul, 279
Parwan Province, 199 Polio immunization, 322, 323, 333 Publications
Pasdaran-I-Jihad-I-Islami (Guardians of Political reform in 1949, xx Afghan Communication: Voice of the
the Islamic Revolution), 96, 233 Pollock, George, 204, 284–285 Young Generation, 23
Pashto language, 67, 156, 199 Poppy production Afghan Mujahid, 272
Pashtoon, Yusef, 138 ban by Taliban, 116, 326 Afghan Weekly, 271
Pashtu language on Radio Moscow, 293 heroin trade, 78–79 Afghan Wolus, 272
Pashtunistan, 8, 12 impact of drought, 326 Agreement of Islam magazine, 163
Pashtunistan dispute, 199 Omar’s ban on cultivation, 322, 324 editor Muhammad Hasan Bareq-
Pashtuns photo, 77 shafi’i, 40
Afghan control of, xx 2003 increase, 334 Monthly Bulletin, 164
history, xiv–xv Positive symmetry, 90 Subh Omid, 312
overview, 200 Postal agreement, 292 Voice of Peace, 23
Pashtunwali, 201 Post-Taliban period, xxi, xxxii See also Newspapers
Pathans, 200 Pottinger, Eldred Pul-i-Charkhi prison, 205
Payam-i Imruz newspaper, 297, 298 background, 204 Pul-i-Khumri power station, 295
Pazhwak, Abdul Rahman, 298 chronology, 284 Pul-Khishti, destruction of, 310
Pazhwak, Faze Rabbi, 201 Treaty of Capitulation (1841), 45 Puzanov, Alexandr, 205
Pazhwak, Ne’matullah, 201 Poverty, 117
PDM (Progressive Democratic Powell, Colin, 232 Qadar, Abdul, xxii
Movement), 163 Powindahs (Kuchis), 204–205 Qadir, Abdul, 207, 300
PDPA. See People’s Democratic Party of Poya, Nadir Ali, 205 Al-Qaeda (the base)
Afghanistan Pre-Islamic heritage, destruction of, arrival in Afghanistan, 207–208
Pearl, Daniel, 210 69–71 formation of, 53
People’s Democratic Party of Presidium of the Revolutionary Council, history, xxviii, 153
Afghanistan (PDPA) 213 ISI policy, 122–123
Babrak Karmal and, 141 Primrose, J. M., 163 overview, 207–210
Daud as founder, 68 Prison, Pul-i-Charkhi, 205 Taliban and, 208–210
founding of, 296 Progressive Democratic Movement World Trade Center terrorist attack,
founding of National Fatherland (PDM), 163 xxix, 230–232
Front, 179 Provinces See also Laden, Osama bin
history, xx–xxi, xxiv Badakhshan, 37 Qala-i-Jangi uprising, 170–171
Khalq faction, xxi, xxii, 147 Badghis, 37–38 Qalat-i-Ghilzai, 286
Khilzal Muhammad Katawazi and, Baghlan, 15, 38 Qizilbash, xiv
145 Balkh, 38, 167 Quddus, Abdul, 210
372 INDEX
Quetta, 285, 286 problem overview, 216–220 Sanctions

Quetta-to-Nushki railroad, 287 RAWA among refugee camp women, arms embargo, 327
Qulba land divisions, 81 221 “intelligent,” 323
repatriation program. See Taliban, 255, 320, 321, 322
Rabbani, Burhanuddin Repatriation of refugees Taliban request for lifting of, 325
background, 211–212 return of, 335 United Nations, 253
chronology, 309, 311–316, 326, 329 Registan Desert (Country of Sand), Sarabi, Abdul Wahid, 226–227
coalition leader, 50 220 Sarais, 227
history, xxvi–xxvii Repatriation of refugees Sar-i-Pul Province, 104, 304
Islamic Society of Afghanistan leader, effect of multiple repatriations, 337 Sarobi hydroelectric power station, 8
127 forced, by Iran, 10 Sarwari, Asadullah, 227
Islamist movement leader, 128–129 halt of (1995), 313 SAS (Special Air Service) in Coalition
photo, 129, 212 from Iran, 315, 316, 321 land campaign, 59, 251–252,
Tajik ethnic group, 239 from Pakistan, 321, 322 258
Taliban and, 13–14 plight of, on return to Afghanistan, Sassanids, 283
Rafi’i, Muhammad, 300 331 Satellite towns, 138
Rafiq, Muhammad Atiq, 291 problems of, xxxi, 218–220 Saudi Arabia, 289, 302
Rahman, Amir Abdur, xvii–xviii, 4, 212, suspension because of drought, 323 Saudi Intelligence Service, 122
285, 286, 287, 306, 330 United Nations assistance, 307 Saur Revolt
Rahman, Habibullah, xviii Resolutions. See UN Security Council Afghan army and, 6
Rahman, Jamilur, 308 resolutions history, xiii, 299
Rahman, Mullah Abdur, 315 Revolutionary Association of Women of Muhammad Daud and, 18, 68–69
Railways Afghanistan (RAWA), 220–222, overview, 227–228
Bolan, 286 272 Save the Children, 115, 315, 317
Khyber Pass, 149 Revolutionary Council of Islamic Unity Sayyaf, Abdul Rasul
Quetta-to-Nushki, 287 of Afghanistan, 233 chronology, 306, 310
Ramadan observance, 318 Revolutionary Society of Afghan Toilers, founder of Islamic Union for the
Rao, Wishwas, 197 187 Liberation of Afghanistan, 26,
Rasuli, Ghulam Haidar, 212–213 Robatak Pass, 322 128
Ratebzad, Anahita, 213 Roberts, Frederick, xvii, 222, 286 leader of Islamic Alliance for the
RAWA (Revolutionary Association of Rome Accord, 328 Liberation of Afghanistan, 124,
Women of Afghanistan), Roshan, Bayazid, xv 228
220–222, 272 Roshan district, 222–223 overview, 228
Rawalpindi Peace Conference (1919), Roshan mobile phone service, 337 Sayyids of Kunar, 161
92 Royal Military College, 5 Sazman-i-Azadibakhshi-i-Mardin-i-
Reagan, Ronald, 302, 303, 304 Rumsfeld, Donald, 192 (photo), 232 Afghanistan (SAMA), 140, 205
Reconstruction program, xxxi, 213–216 Rurabi, Mullah Nooruddin, 330 Sazman-i Nasr (Victory Organization),
Red Cross. See International Red Cross Russia. See Soviet Union 263
“Red Khalqis,” 245 Russo-Afghan Treaty of 1921, 32 SBS (Special Boat Service), 251–252,
Red Shirts, 35, 147, 216 258
Refugees Saababad treaty, 289, 290 Schools
after Soviet invasion, 15 Saadabad Pact (Oriental Entente), 225 Aliabad campus of Kabul University,
from Bolshevik Russia, 17 Saadudin, Mullah, 330 296
cause of inaccurate population Sadat, Anwar, 301, 302 Amani High School, 288
count, 90 Sadeqi, Mir Husain, 263 attendance of children, 117
entry refusal to Pakistan, 327 Safronchuk, Vasily S., 225 entrance exam standards, 296
European Union aid, 322 Salang highway, 316, 319 Fine Arts College, 291
history, xxiv, xxvi Salang Tunnel Habibia Secondary School, 137,
illegals expelled by Iran, 324 chronology, 308, 323 287
impact of fighting, 326 explosion, 168, 302 Istiqlal High School, 288
impact of Soviet intervention, 47, 50 overview, 225 in Kabul, 137
impact on Pakistani economy, 13 photo, 226 Kabul Polytechnic, 295, 297
impact on reconstruction program, Sale, Robert Henry, 225–226 Kabul University. See Kabul
215 SAMA (Organization for the University
Iranian relations and, 10 Liberation of the Afghan People), madrasas, 13, 71
in Kabul, 138, 319 140, 205 medical school in Kabul, 289
in Pakistan, 217–218, 302, 327 Samadi, Fazil Ahmad, 304 Nangarhar University, 295
Pashtun, 318 Samangan administrative center, 4 RAWA activity, 221
photo, 217 Samangan Province, 226 religious school, 71
INDEX 373
shut down during Taliban control, Shir Ali, Amir, 234 Soviet war in Afghanistan, 235–238, 236
168, 317 Shir, Amir, 286 (photo)
Taliban network, 13 Shuja, Shah Spann, Johnny Michael, 170
SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty background, 234–235 Special Air Service (SAS), 59, 251–252,
Organization), 12, 292 chronology, 284–285 258
Sebuktegin, Nasir al-Daulav, xv First Anglo-Afghan War, 86–87 Special Boat Service (SBS), 251–252, 258
Second Anglo-Afghan War (1978–1879) history, xvi–xvii Special forces
Battle of Maiwand, 163 Shura, 41 Australian, 252, 259
chronology, 285 Siddiquillah, Maulvi Mohammed, 322 United Kingdom, 251–253, 258
overview, 228–229 Sikh revolt, 283 United States, 251–252, 258–260, 328
reason for, 45 Sikhs, xiv Spin Boldak
Second Five-Year Plan, 295 Silk Road, xiii chronology, 288, 331, 335, 338
Secret of the Nation (Sirr-i-Milli), 92, Simla Manifesto (1838) (Tripartite Operation Buzzard, 63
229 Agreement), xvi–xvii, 235 Operation Valiant Strike, 64–65
Security Council resolutions. See UN Singh, Hari, xvi Squire, Giles, 290
Security Council resolutions Singh, Ranjit, 284 State Information Service (KHAD),
Self-Sacrificing Afghan People’s Sirr-i-Milli (Secret of the Nation), 92, 229 15–16
Solidarity Movement, 305 Sistan boundary arbitration (1872), 95 State Security Service (KHAD,
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks Sitare-yi-Afghan newspaper, 95 Khedamat-i Ettela’at-i Daulati),
chronology, 328 Sleepers, xxi, 68 146, 277
history, xxix Society of Muslim Brethren, 175 Status of Armed Forces Agreement
impact on attitude toward Osama Sohail, Muhammad Asif, 297 (1980), 19
bin Laden, 154 Southeast Asia Treaty Organization Steeves, John M., 295
impact on Hamid Karzai, 142 (SEATO), 12, 292 Stewart, General, 286
overview, 230–232 Southwestern Plains, 91 Stock company, joint, 289
Pakistan non-recognition of Taliban, Soviet State Security Committee (KGB), Stolietoff, General, xvii, 285
14 xxi, 15 Strategic Framework for Afghanistan
Pakistan’s support of Taliban, 123 Soviet Union (SFA), 115
Servants of God, 147 Afghanistan aggression, 301, 302 Subh Omid publication, 312
Sewwum-i-Aqrab, 232 Afghan-Soviet relations, 16–19 Sulaiman, Ghulam Muhammad, 297
SFA (Strategic Framework for barter agreement (1959), 294 Sun of the Day (Shams al-Nahar)
Afghanistan), 115 boundary treaty (1946), 290 newspaper, 234
Shafiq, Muhammad Musa, 232–233 cede Urta Tagai Islands, 288 Sunni Chahar Aimaq tribe, 87
Shafiq, Musa, 299 chronology, 285 Sunni Islam, 8–9
Shah, Ahmad, 283 financial aid, 291 Sunni Muslims
Shah, Mahmud, 284 Friendship Society, 293 Barechis, 40
Shah, Nadir history, xvii Chahar Aimaqs, 47
Afghan army development, 5 hospital equipment assistance, 292 Jaji tribe, 133
chronology, 289 impact on Afghan-Pakistani Tajiks, 127
founder of Jam’iat-i-’Ulama, 133 relations, 12–13 Turkomans, 248
history, xvi, xix improved relations, xx Uzbeks, 261
Shah, Ranjit, xvi invasion of Afghanistan, 235–238, Supreme Coordination Council, 51
Shah, Sayyid Lal (Lala Pir), 156 300 Suraby, Habiba, 274
Shah, Timur, xvi, 248, 283 military supplier, xx, 5–6
Shah, Zahir, 289, 293 postal agreement, 292 Taher, Mohammed, 157
Shah, Zaman, 283 Saur Revolt and dependence on, Taimaris, 239
Shah-i-Kot Valley, 61 xxi–xxv Taina, General, 318
Shala-yi Javid (Eternal Flame) party, 140 tank (photo), 48 Tajiks, xiv, 239–240
Shams al-Nahar (Sun of the Day) technical assistance, 292, 295 Tajiks, Sunni Muslim, 127
newspaper, 234 trade agreements, 289, 291, 293 Takhar administrative center, 4
Sharif, Muhammad Nawaz, 51 trade and payments agreement Taliban
Sheberghan gas fields, 297, 298 (1974), 299 Al-Qaeda and, 208–210
Shi’a Islam, 8–9 Treaty of Friendship (1921), xviii, 17, amnesty, 334
Shi’a Islamic sect Isma’ilis, 132 288 background, 13–14
Shi’a Mujahideen groups, 233 Treaty of Friendship (1978), 18–19, capture of Mazar-i Sharif, 167–169
Shi’a Muslims, 53, 86 90, 238, 300 chronology, 311, 313, 315–321, 323,
Shinwari, Kamal, 25 treaty of neutrality (1931, 1955), 292 325, 326, 334–335
Shinwari Manifesto, 234 withdrawal from Afghanistan, 47–50, Coalition air campaign, 55–58
Shinwari tribe, 233–234 303, 304 Coalition land campaign, 58–66
374 INDEX
creation of, 240 Soviet Union (1950), 291 Sunni Chahar Aimaq, 87
destruction of pre-Islamic heritage, Soviet Union (1955), 291 Turi, 248
69–71 Soviet Union (1957), 293 Waziri, 271
foreign policy, 242–244 Trade convention, British-Afghan, 288 Tripartite Agreement (Simla Manifesto),
history, xxvii–xxx, 52 Trade, impact on diversity, xiv xvi–xvii, 235
human rights violations, xxviii, Transitional Government. See Tunnels, attacks on, 57
111–113, 188 Afghanistan Transitional Turi tribe, 248
ideology, 242 Government Turkey
impact on women, 242, 272–273 Transportation of goods, impact of Treaty of Friendship (1921), 288
leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, Afghan-Soviet Treaty of Treaty of Friendship (1928), 288
187–188 Friendship of 1921, 17 Turki language, 156, 261
military successes, 52–53 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 7 Turkomans, xiv, 248
overview, 240–244 Treaty of Capitulation (1841) Twelver (Ithna ’Ashariya), 248–249
post-Taliban period, xxx–xxxii British retreat to India, 87
rise to power, 241–242 negotiator Maj. Eldred Pottinger, 204 UK. See United Kingdom
structure, 244 overview, 45 Ulama
support, 240–241 ratification, 284 defined, xix, 14
World Trade Center terrorist attack, Treaty of Friendship (1921) Jam’iat-i-’Ulama, 133–134
231–232 Iran, 288 overview, 251
Taloqan assault by Taliban, 325, 327, 329 Italy, 288 Ulfat, Azizurrahman, 251
Tanai, Shanawaz Soviet Union, xviii, 17, 288 Ullah, Saif, 196
background, 244–245 Turkey, 288 UN. See United Nations
chronology, 305, 307 Treaty of Friendship (1926), Germany, UN Children’s Fund
history, xxv 288 measles vaccination program, 338
Taraki, Nur Muhammad Treaty of Friendship (1928), Turkey, 288 polio vaccination program, 322, 323,
background, 245 Treaty of Friendship (1932), Saudi 333
chronology, 299–300 Arabia, 289 suspension of operations, 115
establishment of security service, 15 Treaty of Friendship (1944), China, 290 women’s education, 274
history, xxi, xxii Treaty of Friendship (1950), India, 291 UN High Commission for Refugees
Treaty of friendship with the Soviets, Treaty of Friendship (1959), China, 294 (UNHCR)
18–19 Treaty of Friendship (1978), Soviet chronology, 315, 317, 318
Tarzi, Mahmoud, 287 Union, 18–19, 90, 238, 300 count of displaced persons, 218–219
Tarzi, Mahmud, xviii Treaty of Gandomak. See Gandomak, refugee camps, 217
Tashkent Declaration, 245–246 Treaty of refugee repatriation, 10, 218, 220
Tawana, Sayyid Musa, 246–247 Treaty of neutrality, Soviet Union (1931, UN Security Council resolutions,
Telecom Development Company, 337 1955), 292 253–256
Telephone Treaty of noninterference (1936), 289 resolution 1267 (15 October 1999),
chronology, 287, 293 Treaty of Peshawar (1856), 203, 285 253–254
Kabul and Herat, 298 Treaty of Saababad, 289, 290 resolution 1333 (19 December 2000),
Kabul, Rawalpindi, and Lahore, 297 Treaty of Simla, xvi–xvii, 235 254–255
Roshan mobile phone service, 337 Tribes resolution 1386 (20 December 2001),
Terrorism. See Laden, Osama bin; War Afridi, 26, 149 255–256
on Terror Ahmadzai, 28 resolution 1413 (23 May 2002), 256
Tetanus immunization, 274 Arsari, 33 resolution 1444 (27 November
Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919) Baraki, 40 2002), 256
chronology, 287, 288 Barechi, 40 Underground Union of University
Germany and, 7 Durrani, 81–82 Professors, 201
history, xviii Firuzkuhi, 87–88 UNESCO (United Nations Educational,
King Amanullah and, 28 Ghilzai, 87, 94 Scientific, and Cultural
Muhammad Nadir and, 177 Jadran, 133 Organization), 69, 71
overview, 247–248 Jaji, 133 UNHCR. See UN High Commission for
Soviet Union and, 17 Jamshidi, 134 Refugees
Timurid, 283 Kafiri, 139–140 UNICEF. See UN Children’s Fund
Timur-i-Land, 283 Khugiani, 149 Union of God’s Helpers, 305
Tokyo Conference, xxxi Mangal, 164 United Front, human rights violations,
Tora Bora campaign, 59–61, 155, 330 Mohmand, 172 111
Trade agreements Nasir, 179 United Kingdom (UK)
China, 293 Nurzai, 186 Northern Alliance support. See
Soviet Union (1940), 289 Shinwari, 233–234 Northern Alliance
INDEX 375
Operation Enduring Freedom forces, polio, 322, 323, 333 unsafe drinking water, 92
191–192 tetanus, 274 Waziri tribe, 271
Special Forces, 251–253 Van Engert, Cornelius, 257, 290 Weather, 55. See also Climate
United National Front, 140 Veils worn by women WFP. See World Food Program
United Nations (UN) burqa, 272, 316 WHO (World Health Organization), 215
admittance of Afghanistan, 290 chadaris, 68, 242, 272 Wish Zalmayan (Awakened Youth), 35,
Assistance Mission, 274 history, xviii–xix, xx 280
Development Fund for Women, King Amanullah reforms, 29 Wish Zalmyan (Afghan Young
333–334 non-obligatory dress (1959), 293 Movement), 287
environmental impact assessment, Sardar Muhammad Daud reforms, Wolesi Jirga, 297, 298
xxxi 68 Wolfowitz, Paul, 232
Environmental Program, 91–92 Taliban requirements, 316 Wolusmal, Muhammad Hasan, 271–272
Mine Action Program, xxxi Taliban requirements for use, 272 Women
request for aid, 327 Victory Organization (Sazman-i Nasr), Afghan Women’s Islamic Movement
sanctions, 253 263 (AWIM), 316
Security Council resolutions. See UN Vitkevich, Ivan Afghan Women’s Islamic Renaissance
Security Council resolutions background, 263 (AWIR), 316
UNHCR. See UN High Commission chronology, 284 in Afghanistan, 272–275
for Refugees First Anglo-Afghan War, 86 banned on streets of Mazar-i Sharif,
UNICEF. See UN Children’s Fund history, xvi 168
vote on Soviet withdrawal, 301, 302 Voice of Peace publication, 23 Democratic Women’s Organization,
WFP. See World Food Program von Hentig, Werner Otto, 108 213
United Nations Children’s Fund von Niedermayer, Oskar, 108 dress code. See also Veils worn by
(UNICEF). See UN Children’s women
Fund Wahdat newspaper, 265, 297 emancipation (1959), 294
United Nations Educational, Scientific, Wahhabi networks, Saudi Arabia, 128, employment, 272–273, 334
and Cultural Organization 134 forced unemployment, 317, 318, 324
(UNESCO), 69, 71 Wakhan Corridor impact of the Taliban, 242, 272–273
United Nations International Drug in Badakhshan Province, 37 RAWA, 220–222, 272
Control Program, 77–78 ethnic composition, xiv refugee camp, 273 (photo)
United States Wakhan district, 265 repression by Taliban, 112
and Afghanistan relations, 256–258 Wakhis, xiv UN Development Fund for Women,
aid to mujahideen, 302 Wali, Abdul, 265 333–334
anti-Taliban forces. See Operation Wali, Muhammad, 266 World Conference on Women in
Enduring Freedom War on Terror Beijing, 313
Export-Import Bank loan, 291 chronology, 230–232 Workers’ Intelligence Institute (KAM, Da
history, xiii history, xxix Kargaron Amniyyati Mu’assan),
International Cooperation Osama bin Laden and, 154 140
Administration, 292 Pakistan involvement, 14 Workers’ Security Institution (KAM), 15
military supplier, xx, 303 reason for, 189 World Bank aid, 331, 335
Northern Alliance support. See Wardak, Abdul Ahad, 266 World Food Program (WFP)
Northern Alliance Wardak administrative center, 4 aid for refugees from Iran, 218
Operation Enduring Freedom forces, Wardak Province, 266 aid for refugees in Pakistan, 302
190 (photo), 190–191, 191 Warlords, 266–271 aid to Hazaras, 105
(photo) chronology, 337 chronology, 321, 324, 329
recognition of Afghanistan (1934), eastern Afghanistan, 269–270 funding for winter months, 326
289 northern Afghanistan, 268–269 refugee dependence of food aid, 219
Soviet Union sanctions, 301 overview, 266–268, 270–271 routing food into country, 220
Special Forces, 251–252, 258–260, southern Afghanistan, 270 World Health Organization (WHO), 215
328 western Afghanistan, 269 World Islamic Front, 154, 208
technical assistance, 291, 292 Watan Party, xxvi, 95, 203 World Trade Center terrorist attack, xxix,
Unity Party. See Islamic Unity Party Watanjar, Muhammad Aslam, 271 231 (photo), 328
Upper House of Parliament, 171 Water World Trade Organization, Afghanistan
USS Cole attack, 230, 326 climate and, 55 application for membership,
Uzbekistan, 260–261 geography, 91 332
Uzbeks, xiv, 261 Hari Rud-Murghab system, 91 World War I neutrality policy, xviii, 287
Kabul distribution network, 296 World War II neutrality policy
Vaccination programs Kabul water source at Paghman, 195 chronology, 289, 290
measles, 338 Nangarhan irrigation project, 292 history, xx, 7
376 INDEX
Yaflati, Abdullah, 298 Zabul administrative center, 4 chronology, 299

Yalantush, Khan, 277 Zabul Province, 279 history, xix, xx–xxi
Yaqub Khan, Amir Muhammad, 277 Zadran, Pacha Khan (Badsha Khan), Al-Zawahiri, Ayman, 208 (photo), 209
Yaqubi, Ghulam Faruq, 15, 277–278, 196–197, 269–270 Zakdalek, Anwar, 138
303 Zadran, Zarak, 6 Zalmai Khan, 281
Yar Muhammad, Wazir, 278 Zaher, Abul, 322 Zaman, Shah, xvi, 281
Yussuf Khan, Muhammad, 278 Zahir, Abdul, 297, 298 Zarif, Muhammad Faruq, 306
Yusuf, Muhammad, 295, 297 Zahir, Maulawi, 305 Zhawar, Battle of (1986), 281–282
Zahir Shah, Mohammed Zia, Nasir, 298
Zabibullah, Abdul Qadir, 279 Afghan army development, 5 Zoaster, xv
Zabiullah, 302 background, 279–281 Zubaydah, Abu, 209
About the Author
Frank A. Clements is director of information ser-
vices at the College of St. Mark and St. John in Ply-
mouth, England.
377

Conflict in Afghanistan PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Conflict in Afghanistan PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Cover-image not available

Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia

Conflict in Northern Ireland

Santa Barbara, California Denver, Colorado Oxford, England

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Capitulation, Treaty of (1841), 45 Farsiwan, 86 Hazarajat, 102

Jagran, Sayyid Muhammad Macnaghten, Sir William National Revolutionary Party

Powindahs, 204 Second Anglo-Afghan War Victory Organization (Sazman-i

political development in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, is critical to the country’s economic development,

FÀRÀH Kandahar & South PAKTÌKÀ

Main refugee camp/settlement 0 50 100 mi

Map 2 Main Afghan Refugee Flows, 1979–1990 (Courtesy UN Refugee Agency/Europa

0 50 100 150 km Sparsely populated

Map 3 Ethnolinguistic Groups in Afghanistan. (Courtesy of the General Libraries,

0 50 100 150 km INDIA

Faràh Tarìn Kowt

Map 5 Pakistan/Afghan border. (Courtesy of the General Libraries, University of Texas

0 50 100 150 km Military airfield

Map 6 Cities and Attacks. (Courtesy National Geographic Image Collection)

economy moving and enable the government to re-

Baghlan Baghlan and have retained some of their nomadic instincts

AFRIDI TRIBE AHMAD, SHAH (1943– )

See also Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan References

ARSARI TRIBE where he was ordered to render secret assistance to

ATA, MUHAMMAD (DATES OF BIRTH AUCKLAND, LORD GEORGE EDEN

References AYUB, KHAN MUHAMMAD (1857–1914)

BALUCHS BAMIAN PROVINCE

BARAKI TRIBE BARECHI TRIBE

of Khalq dominance, Bareq-Shafi’i was forced to References

dealing with regional warlords, General McNeill has References

DOBBS, SIR HENRY bassies in Washington, Islamabad, and Peshawar. He

on 18 January 1929, he was evacuated, together See also Amanullah, King

GULBAZOI, LT. GEN. SAYYID MUHAMMAD References

Ottoman Turkey regiment in Kabul in 1919. How- References

rized by the Taliban. It was Haq’s view that the Tal-

HAQANI, MAULAWI JAJALUDDIN (1930– )

Travelers on a highway near Hindu Kush (Carl and Ann Purcel/Corbis)

References dropped cluster bombs on the residential area of

Financial Requirements.” http://www.reliefweb.int quent resumption of fighting among the various

ISLAMIC PARTY—HEKMATYAR groups, accompanied by the usual switching of alle-

References The Jozjanis also provided forces for a militia of

KHALILULLAH, LIEUTENANT GENERAL References

KHUGIANI TRIBE the border of Afghanistan to Peshawar in Pakistan.

LAGHMAN PROVINCE LANGUAGES

The regional centers from which the elections

Candidates had to: the meeting of 1,600 delegates, many participants

hostilities on the side of the Axis powers in World MANGAL TRIBE

MASOOD, AHMAD SHAH (1953–2001)

MAZARI, ALI (1935– ) The Fall to the Mujahideen

gated for three days, and then freed. In 1974, he References

Mujahideen at Kabul Airport (Patrick Robert/Corbis)

NAJIBULLAH, MUHAMMAD (1947–1996) attempted to achieve some reconciliation by offer-

NATIONAL REVOLUTIONARY PARTY

References was arrested two years later and was executed in

Khalq, the faction’s newspaper. He then became ed- NURZAI TRIBE

Army. The first army commitment to Afghanistan Other Coalition Forces

Canada. The Canadian government deployed a Other Forces

Khan’s forces out of Gardez and Khost, leaving the References

PANJDEH INCIDENT The Panjshir Valley became a major center of activ-

References (PDPA), which was dominated by Pashtuns, and all

PASHTUNWALI commission set up to sue the government for in-