Afghanistan at a glance

Capital (and largest city):
Kabul 34’31’N69°08’E/34.517’N 69.133’E /34.517°N69.133
Official language(s):
Dari (Persian) and Pashto
Demonym: Afghan
Government: Islamic Republic
President: Hamid Karzai
Vice-President: Mohammed Fahim
Vice-President: Karim Khalili
Chief Justice: Abdul Salam Azimi
Establishment: First Afghan state in October 1747
Independence: August 19, 1919
Area: Total 647,500km2 (41st) 251,772 sq mi
Water(%): Negligible
Population: 2010 estimate 28,395,716 (42nd) –
Currency: Afghani
Ethnic groups: An approximate distribution of the nation’s total ethnic groups are:
Ethnic group: Percentage(2004-10)
Pashtun: 42%
Tajik: 27%    Hazara: 9%
Uzbek: 9%    Aimak: 4%
Turkmen: 3%    Baloch: 2%
Others: (Pashai, Nuristani, Arab, Brahui, Pamiri, Gujjar, etc.): 4%

Afghanistan officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked and mountainous country in south-central Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south, Azad Kashmir in the east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast. The territory now forming Afghanistan has been an ancient focal point of the Silk Road and human migration. Archaeologists have found evidence of human habitation from as far back as 50,000 BC. Urban civilisation may have begun in the area as early as 3000 to 2000 BC.

The country sits at an important geostrategic location that connects the Middle East with Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent, which has been home to various peoples through the ages. The land has witnessed many military conquests since antiquity, notably by Alexander the Great, Chandragupta Maurya, and Genghis Khan. It also served as a source from which local dynasties such as the Greco-Bactrians, Kushans, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Timurids, Mughals and many others have established their empires. The political history of modern Afghanistan begins in the 18th century with the rise of the Pashtuns, when the Hotaki Dynasty rose to power at Kandahar in 1709 followed by Ahmad Shah Durrani’s conquest in 1747.

The capital of Afghanistan was shifted in 1776 from Kandahar to Kabul and part of the Afghan Empire was ceded to neighbouring empires by 1893. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a buffer state in the “Great Game” between the British and Russian empires. On August 19, 1919, following the third Anglo-Afghan War and the signing of the Treaty of Rawalpindi, the nation regained control over its foreign policy from the British.

Political divisions

Afghanistan is administratively divided into 34 provinces (wilayats), with each province having a capital and a governor in office. The provinces are further divided into about 398 smaller provincial districts, each of which normally covers a city or a number of villages. Each provincial district is represented by a sub-governor, usually called a district governor.

The provincial governors as well as the district governors are voted into office during the nation’s presidential election, which takes place every five years. The provincial governors are representatives of the central government in Kabul and are responsible for all administrative and formal issues within their provinces. The Provincial Chief of Police is appointed by the Ministry of Interior in Kabul and works together with the provincial governor on law enforcement for all the districts within the province.

There is an exception in the capital city of Kabul where the Mayor is selected directly by the President, and is completely independent from the Governor of Kabul.

Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces and every province is further divided into a number of districts
1. Badakhshan    2. Badghis
3. Baghlan    4. Balkh
5. Bamyan    6. Daykundi
7. Farah    8. Faryab
9. Ghazni    10. Ghor
11. Helmand    12. Herat
13. Jowzjan    14. Kabul
15. Kandahar    16. Kapisa
17. Khost    18. Konar
19. Kunduz    20. Laghman
21. Logar    22. Nangarhar
23. Nimruz    24. Nurestan
25. Oruzgan    26. Paktia
27. Paktika    28. Panjshir
29. Parvan    30. Samangan
31. Sare Pol    32. Takhar
33. Wardak    34. Zabol

Taliban 

The Taliban is an Islamist militia group that ruled large parts of Afghanistan from September 1996 onwards. Although in control of Afghanistan’s capital (Kabul) and most of the country for five years, the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan gained diplomatic recognition from only three states: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Taliban regime was overthrown by Operation Enduring Freedom.

The Taliban mostly fled to neighbouring Pakistan where they regrouped as an insurgency movement to fight the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (established in late 2001) and the Northern Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). In the Taliban’s (1996′ 2001) war against the United Front (Northern Alliance) regular battalions and regiments of Pakistan’s Frontier Corps and Army fought alongside the Taliban against the United Front. Al Qaeda supported the Taliban with regiments of imported fighters from Arab countries and Central Asia. In the late period of the war of an estimated 45,000 force fighting on the side of the Taliban only 14,000 were Afghans.

ISAF

NATO is in Afghanistan at the express wish of the democratically elected government of Afghanistan and is widely supported by the Afghan population. The Bonn Agreement of December 5, 2001, requested the United Nations to authorise the development of a security force to assist in maintaining security in Kabul and its surrounding areas. On December 20, 2001, the UN Security Council approved the first resolution authorising the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). ISAF aims to prevent Afghanistan from once again becoming a haven for terrorists, to help provide security, and to contribute to a better future for the Afghan people. NATO-ISAF, as part of the overall international community effort and as mandated by the United Nations Security Council, is working to create the conditions whereby the government of Afghanistan is able to exercise its authority throughout the country.

ISAF

key priorities in Afghanistan are to:
protect the Afghan people;
build the capacity of the Afghan security forces so they can take lead responsibility for security in their own country;
counter the insurgency; and
enable the delivery of stronger governance and development.

Durand Line

The Durand Line refers to the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which is poorly marked and approximately 2,640 kilometers (1,610 miles) long. It was established after the 1893 Durand Line Agreement between the Government of colonial British India and Afghan Amir Abdur Rahman Khan for fixing the limit of their respective spheres of influence. It is named after Henry Mortimer Durand, the Foreign Secretary of British India at the time. The single-page agreement which contains seven short articles was signed by H. M. Durand and Amir Abdur Rahman Khan, agreeing not to exercise interference beyond the frontier line between Afghanistan and what was then colonial British India (now Pakistan).

The Salang Tunnel located in Parwan province, is a link between northern and southern Afghanistan crossing the Hindukush mountain range under the difficult Salang. The Salang Tunnel is the only pass going in a north-south direction to remain in use throughout the year. It is known for a deadly fire which occurred in November 1982, and several avalanche incidents. A series of avalanches led to the deaths of as many as 172 people in February 2010 either as a direct result of the avalanche or through being trapped.

1982 fire

During the Soviet-Afghan war, the tunnel was a crucial military link to the South yet prone to ambushes by the mujahideen. On November 3, 1982, the Salang Tunnel fire killed 64 Soviet soldiers and 112 Afghans; apparently after a collision, a tanker truck blew up in the tunnel and the fire engulfed a military convoy. Other sources offer some variation in the number of fatalities; for example the Guinness Book of World Records 2007 cites a figure of “about 176”.

2002 avalanche

Several weeks after reopening several hundred people were trapped in the tunnel due to an avalanche at its southern end. While most people were rescued, fatalities occurred due to asphyxiation and freezing. After further rehabilitation, in July 2004, the tunnel could carry two-way traffic.

Avalanches in the approach to the tunnel killed at least 10 people in January 2009

2010 avalanches

On February 8, 2010, a series of at least 17 avalanches struck the area around the tunnel, burying miles of road, killing dozens of people and stranding hundreds more. Hundreds of cars were buried in the snow. More than 150 people are expected to have been killed in total, according to officials. At least 400 injuries were reported.

Loya Jirga

A Loya Jirga is a type of jirga regarded as “grand assembly,” a phrase in the Pashto language meaning “grand council.” A Loya Jirga is a mass meeting usually prepared for major events such as choosing a new king, adopting a constitution, or discussing important national political or emergency matters as well as disputes in the Pashtun areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Afghanistan, the Loya Jirga was originally attended by the Pashtuns, but later included other ethnic groups. It is a forum unique among the Pashtun tribes of Afghanistan and Pakistan in which, traditionally, tribal elders
meet together.

Ahmad Shah Durrani being crowned as the first Emir of Afghanistan in October 1747.

1707-1709 ‘Loya Jirga was gathered by Mir Wais Hotak at Kandahar in 1707, but according to Ghulam Mohammad Ghobar it was gathered in Manja in 1709.

October 1747 ‘a jirga at Kandahar was attended by Afghan representatives who appointed Ahmad Shah Durrani as their new leader.

The war in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the US Armed Forces launched Operation Enduring Freedom along with the British Armed Forces and Afghan United Front (Northern Alliance) in response to the September 11 attacks with the stated goal of dismantling al-Qaeda and ending its use of Afghanistan as a base for terrorist operations. The US also promised to remove the Taliban regime from power and create a viable democratic state.

The prelude to the war were the September 11 attacks on the US, in which 2,752 civilians lost their lives in New York City, Washington DC and Pennsylvania, and on September 9, 2001, assassination of anti-Taliban leader Ahmad Shah Masood took place, two days prior the September 11 attacks. The US identified members of al-Qaeda, an organisation based in, operating out of and allied with the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as the perpetrators of the attacks.

American war in Afghanistan

In January, 2010, American officials said privately that the Pakistanis are reluctant to go after the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network because they see them as a future proxy against Indian interests in Afghanistan when the Americans leave. However, in their public statements US officials had previously praised Pakistan’s military effort against the militants during its offensive in South Waziristan in November 2009. Afghan President Hamid Karzai also started peace talks with Haqqani network groups in March 2010. President Asif Ali Zardari said that Pakistan has lost over $35 billion during the previous eight years as a result of the fight against militancy.

 Death of Osama bin Laden

On May 1, 2011, US officials reported that al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, was killed after a firefight with US armed forces in Pakistan. Crowds gathered outside the White House in Washington, DC, chanting “USA, USA” after the news emerged.