Afghanistan

I
INTRODUCTION

Afghanistan Flag
Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Afghanistan, a country in southwestern Asia that is situated on a landlocked plateau between Iran,
Pakistan, China, and several countries in Central Asia. Afghanistan is a rugged place. Rocky mountains
and deserts cover most of the land, with little vegetation anywhere except the mountain valleys and
northern plains. The country has hot, dry summers and bitterly cold winters. Kbul is the capital and
largest city.
Afghanistan has long been known as the crossroads of Asia, with ancient trade and invasion routes
crossing its territory. Over the centuries many different people passed through Afghanistan, and some
made it their homeland. Today this history is reflected in the countrys ethnic and linguistic diversity.
The Pashtuns, who make up the largest ethnic group, were long known as Afghans, but in modern
times the term Afghan denotes nationality for all citizens of the country.

Kbul, Afghanistan
Kbul, Afghanistans capital and largest city, sits at an elevation of about 1,795 m (5,890 ft) in the Safed Koh
mountain range. The city occupies the main approach to the Khyber Pass, an ancient trade route linking
Afghanistan with Pakistan.
Patrick Rorbert/Sygma/Corbis
Afghanistan was a monarchy from 1747 to 1973, when military officers overthrew the king and
established a republic. In 1979 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) invaded Afghanistan,
starting the Soviet-Afghan War. The United States supplied military aid to the guerrilla insurgents who
fought the Soviet-backed Afghan government. After the Soviets withdrew in 1989, the country
erupted in civil war. An Islamic fundamentalist movement called the Taliban seized control of Kbul in
1996. The Taliban gave refuge to the al-Qaeda terrorist network, and after the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001, against the United States, U.S. military forces invaded Afghanistan and ousted
the Taliban from power in late 2001. Afghanistan adopted a new constitution establishing a
presidential form of government in 2004.
II

LAND AND RESOURCES
Geography of Afghanistan
Area 652,225 sq km
251,825 sq mi
Coastline 0 km
0 mi
Highest point Nowshk
7,485 m/24,557 ft
Afghanistan is bounded on the north by the Central Asian countries of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and
Tajikistan; on the east by China and the part of the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmr
controlled by Pakistan; on the south by Pakistan; and on the west by Iran.

Bmin Valley, Afghanistan
Fertile valleys such as the Bmin Valley in central Afghanistan provide scattered oases of arable land in an
otherwise mostly arid and mountainous country.
L.J. Oppenheim
Afghanistan is slightly smaller than the state of Texas in the United States, and it occupies a
landlocked highland at about the same latitude as Texas. The country covers an area of 652,225 sq
km (251,825 sq mi). Its maximum length from east to west is about 1,240 km (about 770 mi); from
north to south it is about 1,015 km (about 630 mi). The northwestern, western, and southern border
areas are primarily desert plains and rocky ranges, whereas in the northeast the land rises
progressively higher into the glacier-covered peaks of the Hindu Kush, an extension of the western
Himalayas. The northern border is formed by the Amu Darya river and its tributary, the Panj.
A
Natural Regions
High mountains cover much of Afghanistan. About half the land area is more than 2,000 m (6,600 ft)
in elevation. Small glaciers and year-round snowfields are common. The highest peak, Nowshk
(Noshaq), rises 7,485 m (24,557 ft) on the northeastern border and is a lower spur of the Tirich Mr
peak in Pakistan. It is part of the Hindu Kush mountain system, which is located primarily in
northeastern Afghanistan just south of another major system, the Pamirs. From the Hindu Kush, other
lower ranges radiate outward, with the main spurs extending in a southwesterly direction almost to
the western border with Iran. These lower ranges include the Paropamisus Range, which crosses
northern Afghanistan, and the Safed Koh range, which forms part of the eastern border with Pakistan
and contains the Khyber Pass, an important route linking the two countries. Lowland areas are
concentrated in the south and west. They include the Hert-Ferah Lowlands in the extreme northwest,
the Sstn Basin and Helmand River valley in the southwest, and the Rgestn Desert in the south.
Except for the river valleys and a few places in the lowlands where underground fresh water makes
irrigation possible, agriculture is difficult. Only 12 percent of the land is suitable for farming. Forests,
located primarily in eastern and southeastern Afghanistan, cover about 1 percent of the countrys land
area (2005). The ravages of war, the scarcity of fuel, and the need for firewood for cooking and
heating have caused rapid deforestation.
Because Afghanistan has so many high mountains, the passes through them have been of profound
importance in both the history of invasion of the country and in commerce. In 330 BC Alexander the
Great invaded the country through the Kushan Pass (about 4,370 m/about 14,340 ft) in the west and
left it to the east through the low Khyber Pass (1,072 m/3,517 ft) to invade India. These same passes
were used by the Mughal emperor Babur to conquer both Afghanistan and India in the 1500s. The
famous Slang Pass (3,880 m/12,720 ft) and its Soviet-built tunnel in the central Hindu Kush was one
of the main routes the Soviets used to invade Afghanistan in 1979.
B
Rivers and Lakes
Many of Afghanistans major rivers are fed by mountain streams. Most rivers in the country become
only trickles during the long dry season and have large flows of water only in the spring, when the
winter snow in the mountains melts rapidly. Most of the rivers end in lakes, swamps, or salt flats. The
Kbul River is an exception, flowing east into Pakistan to join the Indus River, which empties into the
Indian Ocean. The countrys only navigable river is the Amu Darya, on the northern border, although
ferry boats can cross the deeper areas of other rivers. The Amu Darya receives water from two main
tributaries, the Panj and the Vakhsh, which rise in the Pamirs. The Harrd River rises in central
Afghanistan and flows to the west and northwest to form part of the border with Iran. Water from the
Harrd is used to irrigate the Hert region of Afghanistan. The long Helmand River rises in the central
Hindu Kush, crosses the southwest of the country, and ends in Iran. This river is used extensively for
irrigation, although a buildup of mineral salts has decreased its usefulness in watering crops.
Afghanistans lakes are small in size and number, but include Lake Zarkol in the Wakhan Corridor
along the Tajikistan border, Shveh in Badakhshn, and the saline Lake Istdeh-ye Moqor, located
south of Ghazn. The Hamun-i-Helmand (Sstn Lake), which straddles the border between
Afghanistan and Iran, is located in a region of wetlands and salt marshes at the end of the Helmand
River. A number of hydroelectric dams have created artificial reservoirs on some of the countrys
rivers. These include the Sarowb (Sarobi) and Naghl dams on the Kbul River east of the capital city,
the Kajak Reservoir on the Helmand River, and the Arghandb Dam on a tributary of the Helmand
near the city of Kandahr.
C
Plant and Animal Life
Plant life in Afghanistan is sparse but diverse. Common trees in the mountains are evergreens, oaks,
poplars, wild hazelnuts, almonds, and pistachios. The plains of the north are largely dry, treeless
steppes, and those of the southwestern corner are nearly uninhabitable deserts. Common plants in the
arid regions include camel thorn, locoweed, spiny restharrow, mimosa, and wormwood, a variety of
sagebrush. Animals found in the wild in Afghanistan include the Pamirs argali (also known as Marco
Polo sheep), urials (a medium-sized wild sheep), ibex, bears, wolves, foxes, hyenas, jackals, and
mongooses. Wild boars, hedgehogs, shrews, hares, mouse hares, bats, and various rodents are also
found. Some mammals are nearing extinction. The most seriously endangered are the goitered
gazelle, leopard, snow leopard, markor goat, and Bactrian deer. More than 200 kinds of birds make
their breeding grounds in Afghanistan. Flamingos and other aquatic fowl breed in the lake areas south
and east of Ghazn. Ducks and partridges are also common, but all birds are hunted widely and many
are becoming uncommon, including the endangered Siberian crane.
D
Climate
Most of Afghanistan has a subarctic mountain climate with dry and cold winters, except for the
lowlands, which have arid and semiarid climates. In the mountains and a few of the valleys bordering
Pakistan, a fringe effect of the Indian monsoon, coming usually from the southeast, brings moist
maritime tropical air in summer. Afghanistan has clearly defined seasons: Summers are hot and
winters can be bitterly cold. Summer temperatures as high as 49C (120F) have been recorded in the
northern valleys. Midwinter temperatures as low as -9C (15F) are common around the 2,000-m
(6,600-ft) level in the Hindu Kush. The climate in the highlands varies with elevation. The coolest
temperatures usually occur on the heights of the mountains.
Temperatures often range greatly within a single day. Variations in temperature during the day may
range from freezing conditions at dawn to the upper 30s C (upper 90s F) at noon. Most of the
precipitation falls between the months of October and April. The deserts receive less than 100 mm (4
in) of rain a year, whereas the mountains receive more than 1,000 mm (40 in) of precipitation, mostly
as snow. Frontal winds sweeping in from the west may bring large sandstorms or dust storms, while
the strong solar heating of the ground raises large local whirlwinds.
E
Natural Resources
Despite a lengthy history of small-scale mining of gems, gold, copper, and coal, systematic exploration
of Afghanistans mineral resources did not begin until the 1960s. In the 1970s significant reserves of
natural gas were discovered in the northern part of the country. Fossil fuel resources also include
petroleum and coal. The country has significant deposits of copper and iron ores, barite, chromite,
lead, zinc, sulfur, salt, and talc. For many centuries Afghanistan has been an important source of
precious and semiprecious stones such as lapis lazuli, ruby, aquamarine, and emerald.
F
Environmental Issues
Afghanistan has long been a land of marginal environmenttoo dry and too cold for extensive
agriculture. Thousands of years of environmental stress by the countrys people have dramatically
altered the landscape and caused extensive environmental destruction. Because the Afghan people
lack the financial means to purchase fuel, they must cut trees, uproot shrubs, and collect dung for
burning. Domestic animals overgraze the range. The result is extensive soil erosion by water and
wind. Long-term irrigation without flushing has added salt to much of the arable land and destroyed
its fertility. Polluted water supplies are common, except in the high mountain regions where few
people live permanently. Ancient writings and archaeological evidence show that previously rich areas
of forest and grassland have been reduced to stretches of barren rock and sand. The government of
Afghanistan began to recognize environmental problems in the 1970s with the help of the United
Nations and other international agencies. The pressures of war, however, diverted attention from
these issues and further aggravated the countrys environmental degradation.
III

PEOPLE
People of Afghanistan
Population 32,738,376 (2008 estimate)
Population density 51 persons per sq km
131 persons per sq mi (2008 estimate)
Urban population distribution 23 percent (2003 estimate)
Rural population distribution 77 percent (2003 estimate)
Largest cities, with population Kabul, 2,956,000 (2003 estimate)
Kandahr, 225,500 (1988 estimate)
Hert, 177,300 (1988 estimate)
Main language Afghan Persian (Dari)
Chief religious affiliations Sunni Muslim, 84 percent
Shia Muslim, 15 percent
Other, 1 percent
Life expectancy 44.2 years (2008 estimate)
Infant mortality rate 155 deaths per 1,000 live births (2008 estimate)
Literacy rate 36.3 percent (2000)
Afghanistan is home to a variety of ethnic groups, the overwhelming majority of whom are Muslim.
Four major cultural areasCentral Asia, China, the Indian subcontinent, and the Iranian plateau
converge at Afghanistan, resulting in an enormous linguistic and ethnic diversity in the country. The
people of Afghanistan are related to many of the ethnic groups in Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, with cultural and genetic influences that go farther afield to other
places, including Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, China, and the Arabian Peninsula (the large peninsula south of
Jordan and Iraq). Centuries of human migrations, political upheavals, invasions, conquests, and wars
brought many different peoples to Afghanistan, and some settled to make it their homeland. Political
institutions and the concept of nationhood were only much later superimposed on an agglomeration of
diverse groups.

The countrys modern borders were drawn in the late 1800s to establish a buffer state between the
Russian and British empires. These borders divided the traditional homelands of various ethnic groups
in the region, including the Pashtuns, Tajiks, and Uzbeks. Years of war heightened ethnic divisions
within Afghanistan. For many, ethnic and kinship ties tended to remain stronger than national ones.
A
Population and Settlement

Afghan Refugee Camp, Pakistan
This Afghan refugee camp in Jallozai, Pakistan, is one of many set up in the country to accommodate millions of
Afghans who fled their war-torn country beginning in the 1980s. Many Afghans also fled to camps in Iran or were
displaced within Afghanistan.
Reuters NewMedia Inc./Corbis
In the countrys first and most recent official census, conducted in 1979, a population of 15,551,358
was recorded. The population was estimated to be 32,738,376 in 2008. After two decades of war
with its casualties and refugeesany estimate is highly speculative. Demographic uncertainty will
prevail until a new reliable census is taken.
Beginning with the Soviet invasion in 1979, the number of Afghan refugees outside the country
escalated dramatically. As many as 3 million refugees went to Pakistan and 1.5 million to Iran. About
150,000 Afghans were able to migrate permanently to other countries, including the United States,
Australia, and various European countries. Many refugees began returning to Afghanistan after the fall
of the Taliban regime in late 2001. Their numbers surpassed expectations, with more than 1.5 million
refugees returning from Pakistan and more than 400,000 from Iran by the end of 2002. The rapid
return of refugees led to a national humanitarian crisis as the government and international aid
agencies struggled to provide adequate food and medical supplies. Many refugees had returned to
farms and fields studded with land mines or devastated by air strikes, as well as chronic water
shortages following several years of drought.
Before the Soviet-Afghan War, Afghanistan had an estimated annual population growth rate of 3.5
percent. Urban areas had a growth rate of 4.8 percent, reflecting migration to places of greater
employment. In 2008 the growth rate was estimated at 2.63 percent. Afghanistans infant mortality
rate is one of the highest in the world, with 155 deaths for every 1,000 live births. The average life
expectancy is 44 years.
The population of Afghanistan is overwhelmingly rural, with about 77 percent living in rural areas in
2003. Of urban dwellers, probably about half reside in Kbul, the countrys capital and largest city.
B
Principal Cities

Kandahr, Afghanistan
A street in Kandahr, the largest city in southern Afghanistan, bustles with activity in the early morning hours.
Small three-wheeled vehicles, a type of gas-powered rickshaw, are a common mode of transportation in
Afghanistan cities.
REUTERS
Kbul, the capital, is situated in east central Afghanistan. Other important cities include Kandahr
(Qandahr) in the south, Hert in the west, and Mazr-e Sharf in the north. Smaller cities include
Jallbd in the east, Chrkr just north of Kbul, and the northern centers of Kondoz and Feybd
(Faizabad).

Open-Air Market, Kbul
This open-air market in the Afghan capital of Kbul specializes in songbirds. Keeping caged birds and bird fighting,
a popular pastime in Afghanistan, were forbidden under the Taliban regime, but this market reopened shortly after
the Taliban were ousted from power in late 2001.
Oleg Popov/REUTERS
During the Soviet-Afghan War and immediately after it ended in 1989, the populations of the largest
cities increased as internally displaced people sought the anonymity and perceived security of more
densely populated areas. The population of Kbul, for example, swelled to more than 2 million in the
late 1980s. However, many people fled from Kbul during the ensuing civil war, as rocket attacks and
other combat destroyed much of the city. Only about 700,000 inhabitants remained there in 1993,
although the population again grew to more than 2 million after 2001. Many other cities, including
Hert and Kandahr, also suffered extensive war damage. Reconstruction has been slow and
investment in infrastructure minimal. Most cities lack sewer systems, water treatment plants, and
public transportation.
C
Ethnic Groups and Languages
The population of Afghanistan includes many different ethnic groups, some of which also live in
neighboring countries. Afghanistans largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns, long dominated the central
government. After the Soviets withdrew in 1989, a coalition government that included Tajiks, Uzbeks,
Hazaras, and other minority groups came to power. In 1996, however, the Taliban seized control and
reasserted Pashtun dominance over other groups.
After the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001, the countrys major ethnic groups agreed to share
power in government. The 2004 constitution contains provisions to protect the rights of Afghanistans
diverse ethnic groups. For example, it gives significant language rights to minorities, allowing local
languages such as Uzbek and Turkmen to be considered official languages in areas in which they are
primarily spoken. The countrys two most widely spoken languages, Pashto and Dari, are recognized
as the official national languages.
The Pashtuns (also Pushtuns or Pakhtuns) make up about two-fifths of Afghanistans population. Their
traditional homeland lies south of the Hindu Kush. Although Pashtuns live in many areas of
Afghanistan, their power base is centered in the south, especially in the region around Kandahr.
Many Pashtuns also live in the northwestern border regions of Pakistan. Male Pashtuns live by ancient
tribal code called Pashtunwali, which stresses courage, personal honor, resolution, self-reliance, and
hospitality. The mother tongue of the Pashtuns is an Indo-Iranian language called Pashto (also Pashtu
or Pushto).
The Tajiks (Tadzhiks), a people of Iranian origin, are the second largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.
They make up about one-quarter of the population. The Tajiks are closely related to the people of
Tajikistan. They live in the valleys north of Kbul and in the northeastern province of Badakhshn. The
mother tongue of the Tajiks is Dari (also known as Afghan Persian), which is an Indo-Iranian language
closely related to Persian. Dari is more widely spoken than Pashto in Afghanistan. Although Pashto is
the language of the countrys largest ethnic group, Dari is commonly used by the countrys
linguistically diverse ethnic groups to communicate with one another.
The central mountain ranges are the traditional homeland of the Hazaras. The region is known as
Hazarajat. The Hazaras suffered extreme persecution under the Taliban, in part because they make up
most of the countrys minority Shia Muslim population. Many Hazaras fled to Iran, which had long
provided political backing and military support for Shia groups in Afghanistan. Although their ancestors
may have come from northwestern China or Mongolia, the Hazaras speak an archaic dialect of Persian.
In the east, north of the Kbul River, is an isolated wooded mountainous region known as Nuristan.
The Nuristani people who live there speak a wide variety of Indo-Iranian dialects. In the far south live
the Baluch (Baloch), whose Indo-Iranian language is also spoken in southwestern Pakistan and
southeastern Iran. Their traditional homeland, a region known as Baluchistan, crosses national
borders.
To the north of the Hindu Kush, on the steppes (grassy plains) near the Amu Darya, live several
groups who speak Turkic languages. The Uzbeks are the largest of these groups, which also include
Turkmen and, in the extreme northeastern Wakhan Corridor, the Kyrgyz people. The Kyrgyz were
mostly driven out by the Soviet invasion and largely emigrated to Turkey.
In addition to the countrys major ethnic groups there are many smaller groups, both ethnic and
tribal, scattered throughout Afghanistan. Together, these groups speak more than 70 languages and a
great variety of dialects.
In northwestern Afghanistan live a seminomadic people known as the Chahar Aimak (also Char
Aimaq), meaning four western tribes. While the term does not denote an ethnic group in the proper
sense, it has been used this way in practice, mainly to differentiate these people from the Hazaras.
The Chahar Aimak formed their tribal groupings centuries ago from various ethnic origins, including
Hazara. Unlike the Hazaras, the Chahar Aimak are predominantly Sunni Muslims and speak dialects
similar to Dari.
The nomads of Afghanistan are popularly known as Kuchis. Following ancient migration routes, they
move with the seasons to provide grazing lands for their flocks of sheep and goats. Before the Soviet
invasion of 1979, there were about 2 million nomads in Afghanistan. Their lifestyle, based on
thousands of years of pastoral traditions and culture, was nearly destroyed by the subsequent wars.
Their traditional routes were severely disrupted, and remained so after the wars due to the dangers
posed by land mines.
D
Religion

Mosque at Mazr-e Sharf
Muslims from all over the country make pilgrimages to the 15th-century mosque at Mazr-e Sharf in northern
Afghanistan. The religious significance of the site derives from 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. More than 99 percent of the
population of Afghanistan practices Islam.
George Hunter/ALLSTOCK, INC.
Religion is the strongest common bond among Afghanistans various ethnic groups. The overwhelming
majority of Afghans, or about 99 percent, are Muslims. About 84 percent are Sunni Muslims and about
15 percent are Shia Muslims. Small groups of Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, and Jews are scattered in the
towns. Since the 1960s many Afghan Jews have migrated to Israel. Mazr-e Sharf, where the tomb of
the Muslim leader Ali is said to be located in a 15th-century mosque, is a leading place of Muslim
pilgrimage.
An important figure in Muslim life is the mullah (a male religious leader or teacher). Any man who can
recite the Quran (Koran), the sacred scripture of Islam, from memory can be a mullah. In
Afghanistan, however, the mullah may not understand either the words or the meaning because the
book was written and is memorized in Arabic, which is not a local language. The mullah conducts the
Friday sermon and prayers, marriages, and funerals. Mullahs also teach the laws and doctrines of
Islam to both adults and children. Mullahs arbitrate local disputes, based upon Islamic legal principles,
and they are also called upon to provide advice and resolution of many other physical, social, and
personal problems, including such things as medicines, local water disputes, or a family feud. In some
of the more remote rural areas, the local mullah and the local khan (landlord) dictate what their
followers may or may not do.
E
Education

Afghan Girls Attend Class
The Taliban regime closed most schools in Afghanistan and forbade girls and women from receiving an education.
Only Afghan girls in refugee camps outside Afghanistan, such as those shown here in a camp in Pakistan, were able
to attend classes. Schools reopened in Afghanistan after the collapse of the Taliban regime in late 2001.
Claro Cortes/REUTERS
Two separate systems of education exist in Afghanistan. The older system is a religious one, taught by
the mullahs, who conduct classes in the madrassas (mosque schools). They teach the religious
precepts of the Quran, reading, writing, and arithmetic. The other system was introduced in
Afghanistans 1964 constitution, which provided for free and compulsory education at all levels,
although this was rarely achieved. This system was based on Western models. Special emphasis was
placed on primary education. Secondary schools existed in Kbul and the larger towns. Five years of
primary school and five years of secondary school were expected, although many Afghans could not
attend because they lived in areas where there were no schools.
Decades of war effectively eliminated most education, and an entire generation grew up without any
formal schooling. The civil war resulted in the closing or dismantling of most lower, middle, and higher
educational facilities in the country. Many teachers quit their posts and left Afghanistan. The
subsequent Taliban regime suppressed all schooling except in the madrassas, and forbade it for girls
and women. Only rote memorization of the Quran in Arabic was officially allowed. Opposition groups
in a few places in the country tried to maintain some education, but under very difficult circumstances.
With the removal of the Taliban from power in late 2001, people in Afghanistan began to rebuild a
national education system. Schools such as Kbul University reopened, and student enrollments
soared. However, the country was sorely lacking the educational facilities and resources it needed to
meet the burgeoning demand. A mobile school system was set up to bring education to rural areas,
and foreign universities and nongovernmental organizations donated books and teaching materials. By
the 2003-04 academic year 4.2 million boys and girls attended about 7,000 schools around the
country. The male-female ratio had returned to pre-Taliban levels, although boys still outnumbered
girls. A major project to improve literacy rates throughout Afghanistan was launched in January 2003
with the help of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The average
literacy rate was estimated to be 36 percent for all Afghans aged 15 and older in 2000, with 51
percent literacy among males and 21 percent among females.
According to the 2004 constitution, Afghans are free to choose the language in which they receive
their education. Primary and secondary educations are available in both Dari and Pashto, as well as in
Afghanistans other languages, such as Uzbek. University courses are mostly taught in Dari. Kbul
University, founded in 1932, is the countrys largest and most prestigious academic institution. Nine
other colleges were established within it from 1938 through 1967. The University of Nangarhr in
Jallbd was established in 1962 to teach medicine and other disciplines. Important but small
universities are also located in Kandahr, Hert, Balkh, and Bmin. Before 1961 only men could
receive a higher education; that year the government opened all public institutions of higher learning
to women.
F
Way of Life

Afghan Women Shrouded in Burkas
These Afghan women in Hert, northwestern Afghanistan, are wearing full-length veils called burkas. Wearing the
burka is part of the ancient custom of purdah, which requires the concealment of women from men. Purdah was
revived in recent times by Islamic fundamentalist movements such as the Taliban, which held power in Afghanistan
from 1996 until late 2001.
Jeremy Hartley/Panos Pictures
Although the Afghan population is composed of many distinct ethnic groups, certain elements of their
way of life are much the same. Characteristically, the family is the mainstay of Afghan society.
Extremely close bonds exist within the family, which consists of the members of several generations.
The family is headed by the oldest man, or patriarch, whose word is law for the whole family. Family
honor, pride, and respect toward other members are highly prized qualities. Among both villagers and
nomads the family lives together and forms a self-sufficient group. In the villages each family
generally occupies either one mud-brick house or a walled compound containing mud-brick or
stonewalled houses. The same pattern prevails among the nomads, except they live in round, felt-
covered tents called yurts, which are portable yet extremely sturdy.
Each village has three sources of authority within it: the malik (village headman), the mirab (master
of the water distribution), and the mullah (teacher of Islamic laws). Commonly, a khan (landlord) will
control the whole village by assuming the role of both malik and mirab. The village mosque is the
center of religious life and is often used as the village guest house.
Baggy cotton trousers are standard dress for both men and women. Afghan men wear long cotton
shirts, which hang over their trousers, and wide sashes around their waists. They also wear a skullcap,
and over that, a turban. Afghan women wear a long loose shirt or a high-bodice dress with a swirling
skirt over their trousers; they drape a wide shawl around their heads. Many women wear jewelry,
which is collected as a form of family wealth. Some Afghan women wear a tentlike garment called a
burka (also known as a chador or shadri), which covers them from head to foot and hides their faces
behind mesh screens. Wearing the burka is part of the ancient custom of purdah, which requires
women to be concealed from men outside the home. Purdah is prevalent in some Islamic societies.
Educated urban Afghan women had discarded the custom as backward, but the Taliban enforced a
strict dress code that required all Muslim women to wear a burka in public. After the fall of the
repressive Taliban regime, women continued to wear the burka in some places, usually not of their
own choosing but as a requirement imposed by local maliks and mullahs.

Playing Buzkashi
Buzkashi is a traditonal Afghan game in which teams of players on horseback compete to get a headless calf
carcass into a goal.
Robert Cundy/Robert Harding Picture Library
Twice a year groups of nomads may pass through villages on their routes from summer highland
grazing grounds to the lowlands where they camp during the winter. The villagers traditionally permit
the nomads to graze their animals over the harvested fields, which the flocks fertilize by depositing
manure. The nomads buy supplies such as tea, wheat, and kerosene from the villagers; the villagers
buy wool and milk products from the nomads. For food and clothing, the nomads depend on the milk
products, meat, wool, and skins of their flocks; for transportation they depend on their camels.
Nomadic women are freer and less secluded than village women.
A favorite sport in northern Afghanistan is a game called buzkashi, in which teams of horsemen
compete to deposit a calf carcass in a goal circle. Afghans also play polo and ghosai, a team sport
similar to wrestling. The most important holiday in Afghanistan is Nowruz, or New Years Day, which is
celebrated on the first day of spring in March.
G

Social Issues
A variety of social ills are common in Afghanistan, such as poverty, interethnic strife, inequality of
women, and widespread thievery, kidnapping, and banditry. Blood feuds handed down through
generations are legendary, and revenge is regarded as a necessary redress of wrongs. The civil war
strengthened these tendencies to the point where little travel was safe in the country without an
adequate supply of money to buy safe passage. The civil war killed, wounded, and displaced hundreds
of thousands of civilians. Water and telephone systems and sewage ditches were destroyed. Years of
war separated and impoverished extended families that traditionally cared for widows and fatherless
children. Some provinces began experiencing famine in the 1990s, and diseases of malnutrition began
to be reported for the first time in decades.
Traditional Afghan custom, which was revived by the Taliban and other fundamentalist rebel groups,
imposes limits on womens activities outside the home. In 1996, after the Taliban came to power, the
United Nations reported a series of 21 new ordinances governing the behavior of women in
Afghanistan. Women were prohibited from working outside the home, attending school, wearing
perfume, participating in sports, and walking outside the home without the escort of a male relative.
Women were reportedly stoned to death for infractions, a practice that had been suppressed for
decades.
IV
CULTURE
Since ancient times Afghanistan has been a cultural crossroads for many different peoples and their
traditions. Although the people of Afghanistan may have been sorely stressed by centuries of warfare
and a difficult environment, their arts have prospered nonetheless. The Islamic traditions of
calligraphy and graphic arts are evoked in the fine filigreed flourishes that decorate many buildings.
Poetry and poets are revered. Afghans take pride in their handicrafts; even common grain bags to
carry produce to market are often embroidered to make them beautiful. A caravan of nomads often
looks like a colorful parade, with the animals decked out in woven finery.
A
Literature
The ancient art of storytelling continues to flourish in Afghanistan, partly in response to widespread
illiteracy. This age-old practice of telling folktales, through music and the spoken word, is a highly
developed and much appreciated art form. The use of folklore has become the thread that links the
past with the present in Afghan society. Folktales concern all parts of Afghan life and often teach
traditional values, beliefs, and behaviors. They are also a major form of entertainment in Afghanistan.
Literature in both the Dari and Pashto languages originated in the Islamic era of Persian literature,
when the Arabic script became widely used. Shah nameh (Book of Kings), the great epic poem
completed in 1010 by the Persian poet Firdawsi, consists of 60,000 rhyming couplets in Dari. Many
other poems and tales were written in Dari and Turkic languages as well. In the 13th century Jalal al-
Din Rumi, a Sufi mystic and poet originally from Balkh, composed the epic poem Masnavi-ye Manavi
(Spiritual Couplets), which had an enormous influence on Islamic literature and thought. Khushhal
Kattak, a famous 17th-century Pashtun warrior and poet, used verse to express the tribal code.
Modern writings have attempted to bring Afghans closer to understanding the changes associated with
the modern world, and especially to comprehend the destruction of their country by war. In 1972
Sayyed Burhanuddin Majruh wrote several volumes in classical, rhythmic Dari prose about a traveler
who joins his countrymen in exile, where they exchange ideas and narratives from ancient times in
the light of modern concepts of reason, logic, science, and psychoanalysis. During the war with the
Soviets, writings focused on the twin concerns of Islam and freedom. Resistance to the Soviets was
especially pronounced in the Pashto province of Pakt; in 1983 Gulzarak Zadran published
Afghanistan the Land of Jihad: Paktin Uprising Waves in the Pashto language. The Afghanistan
Historical Society and the Pashto Academy published literary magazines and encouraged new writers
in recent years, although much of their effort was stopped by the civil war.
B
Art and Architecture

Great Buddha of Bmin
The Great Buddha of Bmin was the worlds largest statue of Buddha, standing 55 m (180 ft) tall in Afghanistans
Bmin Valley, before Taliban militants destroyed it with explosives in March 2001. The colossal statue and a
smaller one of a seated Buddha nearby, also destroyed, were carved in about the 6th century by Buddhist monks.
The statue had withstood centuries of erosion, although some of its features had been diminished by windstorms.
Paul Almasy/Corbis
Afghanistan contains striking architectural remnants of all ages, including Greek and Buddhist stupas
(shrines or reliquaries) and monasteries, arches, monuments, intricate Islamic minarets (the tall,
slender towers on mosques), temples, and forts. Among the most famous sites are the great mosques
of Hert and Mazr-e Sharf; the minaret of a mosque at Jm in the west central highlands; the 1,000-
year-old Great Arch of Qaleh-ye Bost; the Chel Zina (Forty Steps) and rock inscriptions made by
Mughal emperor Babur in Kandahr; the Great Buddha of Bmn, destroyed by Taliban militants in
March 2001; the Towers of Victory in Ghazn; and Emperor Baburs tomb and the great Bala Hissar
fort in Kbul.
In the smaller arts, magnificent light blue-green fired tile work is famous in Hert, along with other
fine work in book illumination (colored or gilded calligraphy), illustration, bronze, stone, and wood.
Afghan cultural life is characterized by traditional arts and pastimes; gold and silver jewelry,
marvelous decorative embroidery, and various leather goods are still made in homes. By far the
greatest art forms known widely from Afghanistan are the Persian-style woven carpets.
C
Music
Music is represented chiefly by traditional folk songs, ballads, and dances. Among the stringed
instruments, the six-stringed rohab is thought to be the ancestor to the Western violin and cello.
Other instruments include the santur (a kind of zither), a hand-pumped harmonium, the chang (a
plucked mouth harp), and a variety of drums beaten with the palm and fingers. The attan dance
derived from Pashtun areas is the national dance. It is performed in a large circle with the dancers
clapping their hands and quickening the movements of their feet to the beat of the music. On vacation
holidays or weekends Afghans often gather to play music and sing at a picnic on a river bank or in a
woodland. The Taliban government forbade singing, clapping, playing musical instruments and
recorded music, and all forms of dance. Many of these activities continued illicitly during Taliban rule,
and once the regime fell in late 2001 many Afghans publicly rejoiced by singing and dancing.
D
Libraries and Museums
The few major libraries are located in Kbul. However, most of the materials in the Kbul University
Library (founded in 1931) were dispersed during the war with the Soviets and the subsequent civil
war; the National Archives was also looted and its collections removed. Taliban militants burned many
thousands of library and museum books in their zealous mission to enforce their strict interpretation of
Islam. The Kbul National Museum (1922), the largest in the country, was once known for its
collection of early Buddhist relics. Some of the more valuable of these were reported to have been
removed to the USSR during the years of the Soviet occupation; their present location is unknown.
Ancient gold coins and jewelry were reported to have been taken as well. In 1993 the National
Museum was blown open by rockets and subsequently looted by soldiers. The majority of the
enormously rich collection was taken out through Pakistan and sold to wealthy collectors in other
countries. The trade in Afghan antiquities was reported to be one of the largest producers of illicit
revenues after illegal drugs. More than 2,700 works of art in the museums remaining collection,
including many ancient cultural treasures, were destroyed in 2000 by Taliban religious police. In the
regimes interpretation of Islam, the works were considered to be idolatrous renderings of living
things. After the fall of the Taliban widespread looting of Afghanistans archaeological sites was
reported.
V
ECONOMY
Economy of Afghanistan
Gross domestic product (GDP in U.S.$) 8.4 billion (2006)
GDP per capita (U.S.$) 160 (2003)
Monetary unit 1 afghani (AF), consisting of 100 puls
Number of workers 11,696,531 (2003)
Unemployment rate Not available
A decade of Soviet occupation, war, and economic manipulation followed by years of civil war left the
economy of Afghanistan in shambles. Even in the 1970s, prior to the wars, Afghanistan had one of the
lowest standards of living in the world. As the Soviet-Afghan War and its effects spread throughout the
country in the early 1980s, two separate economies emerged: the urban financial and industrial
facilities, tied especially to the Soviet Union, and the largely independent rural subsistence economy.
The production, trafficking, and movement of drugs and weapons became a major hidden part of the
economy.
Over the centuries, Afghans have developed a number of different strategies to earn a living from
their difficult environment. Most Afghans are settled farmers, herders, or both, depending upon
ecological, economic, and political factors. They are usually self-sufficient in foodstuffs and other
necessities. Industry and mining developed considerably in the 20th century, but local handicrafts
remained important.
In 1956 the government launched the first of several five-year plans. Irrigation efforts and
development of a better road and telecommunications network had top priority, with later efforts
toward production of textiles, cement, electricity, fertilizer, and grain storage facilities. Progress was
made to develop better trade with the outside world, especially with Europe, the United States, and
Japan. Major nations aided Afghanistan in building roads, dams, hydroelectric facilities, airports,
factories, and irrigation networks. After the Soviet invasion in 1979, development aid from the West
ceased, and until 1991 Afghanistan was economically dependent on the USSR. Following the collapse
of the Taliban regime in late 2001, Afghanistan began the reconstruction of its war-ravaged economy
with assistance from international financial institutions and individual countries.
A
Labor

Afghan Shopkeeper
An Afghan shopkeeper tends his small-town store, which is stocked with locally produced food. Most of
Afghanistans workers raise crops or livestock for a living.
L.J. Oppenheim
In 2003 the total labor force was estimated to be 11.7 million. Some 70 percent of the working
population is engaged in agriculture or the raising of livestock. Many other kinds of employment were
eliminated because of war. Widespread unemployment and a lack of skilled workers and
administrators are among the most pressing labor problems.
B
Agriculture
Only a very small share of Afghanistans land, mostly in scattered valleys, is suitable for farming, and
a majority of this farmland requires irrigation. Water is drawn from springs and rivers and is
distributed through surface ditches and through underground channels, or tunnels, which are
excavated and maintained by a series of vertical shafts. Such a tunnel is known as a karez or qanat.
Wheat is the most important crop, followed by barley, corn, and rice. Cotton is another important and
widely cultivated crop. Fruit and nuts are among Afghanistans most important exports. Afghanistan is
noted for its unusually sweet grapes and melons, grown mostly in the southwest, north of the Hindu
Kush, and in the fertile regions around Hert. Raisins are also an important export. Other important
fruits are apricots, cherries, figs, mulberries, and pomegranates.
Livestock is nearly as important as crops to Afghanistans economy. Karakul sheep are raised in large
numbers in the north. The tight curly fleece of Karakul lambs is used to make Persian lamb coats.
Other breeds of sheep, such as the fat-tailed sheep, and goats are also raised.
Afghanistan has long been a major supplier in the international drug trade. In the late 1990s
Afghanistan replaced Myanmar (Burma) as the worlds biggest producer of opium, producing about
4,600 metric tons in 1999. Significant quantities of hashish were also produced in Afghanistan. In July
2000 the Taliban regime banned the cultivation of opium poppies, declaring that drug use was
contrary to Islam. However, the ban ultimately raised opium prices on the international drug market,
and the Taliban were widely suspected of profiting from the drug trade. With the collapse of law and
order in 2001, many fields were sown with opium poppies, and Afghanistan again became the worlds
largest supplier. Although the interim government of Afghanistan decreed the cultivation and
processing of opium poppies illegal in early 2002, many impoverished local farmers remained
financially dependent on the crop.
C
Handicrafts
Distinctive carpets are made by Turkmen and some Uzbeks; characteristically these have parallel rows
of geometric figures on a dark red ground, although many other patterns also exist. The Baluch, well-
known producers of prayer rugs, also make carpets mainly of wool, using a blend of dark colors.
Camel hair and cotton are also used in some of these carpets. A variety of beautiful embroideries are
also made for bridal trousseaus (the cloth in which the bride wraps her clothes and other personal
possessions) and for sale.
D
Mining
Large natural gas deposits in northern Afghanistan were exploited jointly with the USSR starting in
1967. In the 1980s large quantities of natural gas were exported to the USSR, but that was
terminated after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989. In the early 2000s the extraction of natural gas
resumed at the primary fields located near the city of Sheberghn. Afghanistan is one of the worlds
only sources of high-grade lapis lazuli, a blue rock used since ancient times for ornamental purposes.
The country also has significant deposits of gemstones, including emeralds, and of copper and iron
ores.
Decades of warfare severely impeded the exploitation of Afghanistans natural resources.
Reconstruction efforts in the early 2000s included an extensive project to assess the countrys mineral
resourcesoil, gas, and coalas well as its water resources.
E
Manufacturing
Industrial development increased substantially in the decades following World War II (1939-1945).
With the opening in 1965 of a large West German-built wool mill, woolen-textile production more than
doubled. Prior to the Soviet-Afghan War, more than 200 state-owned factories were operating in
Afghanistan. These plants produced cotton textiles, food (especially dried fruit and nuts), chemical
fertilizers, cement, leather goods, and coal briquettes. As with other aspects of the economy, the
decades of war were a major obstacle to industrial production and expansion.
F
Energy
Afghanistans principal energy sources are petroleum, coal, natural gas, and hydroelectricity.
Petroleum is imported from Iran and from former Soviet republics in Central Asia, notably
Turkmenistan. Afghanistans own modest reserves of oil are located in the north near the Amu Darya.
The country relies heavily on its large reserves of coal and natural gas. Firewood is an important
source of fuel in many homes, but it is increasingly difficult to find due to deforestation. Major dams
on the Kondoz, Kbul, Arghandb, and Helmand rivers provide hydroelectricity, mainly to the cities,
while also storing water for crop irrigation. Prior to the civil war, less than 10 percent of the countrys
hydroelectric potential had been developed. After the war began, hydroelectric production dropped off
severely as turbines were destroyed, floodgates were blown open, and transmission lines were
brought down. Private diesel-fired generators were about all that remained to supply electricity.
Reconstruction of the countrys power supply network began in 2002.
G

Foreign Trade
Afghanistans chief exports are dried fruits and nuts, hand-woven carpets, wool, cotton, animal hides
and pelts, and precious and semiprecious gems. Afghanistan imports food, motor vehicles, petroleum
products, and textiles. The USSR was Afghanistans chief trading partner even before the 1979 Soviet
invasion, and this relationship intensified in the 1980s. After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the
leading purchasers of Afghan products were the former Soviet republics, Pakistan, Britain, Germany,
and India. The United States suspended normal trade relations with Afghanistan from 1986 to 2002.
India, Japan, and Pakistan were the principal trading partners in 2003. Meanwhile, Afghanistan
improved trade relations with the Central Asian republics, the United States, and the European Union
(EU). In 2000 the total value of exports amounted to $125 million, while imports cost $524 million.
H
Currency and Banking
The unit of currency in Afghanistan is the afghani, which is divided into 100 puls. The exchange rate of
the afghani has fluctuated widely over time. High inflation rates of up to 57 percent contributed to a
drastic decrease in the purchasing power of the afghani from 1981 to 1994, a trend that continued
during the Taliban regime. The afghani was so devalued by two decades of wartime inflation that the
government issued a new afghani, with a higher value per note, in late 2002. The exchange rate
subsequently stabilized, and in 2005 one U.S. dollar was worth about 49.50 afghanis.
Afghanistans central bank, founded in 1938, is the largest bank in the country. The central bank
issues all notes, executes government loans, and lends money to cities and to other banks. All private
banks in Afghanistan were nationalized in 1975, mostly because a lack of clear terms for borrowers
and lenders had made it difficult for people to use the countrys credit resources. No stock market or
other modern form of economic development exists in Afghanistan. Instead, traditional money
bazaars exist to provide money-lending and foreign exchange dealings. This informal and largely
undocumented money transfer system, called hawala, is common throughout the Middle East and
South Asia, and is considered to be one of the means by which terrorism from this part of the world
has been funded.
I
Transportation
Travel within Afghanistan is severely limited by the rugged terrain and by the general lack of
infrastructure. About 24 percent of the countrys roads are unpaved. The most important road is a
circular route connecting the major cities. Beginning at Kbul, this highway leads north through the
Salang Tunnel to Kholm (Tshkurghn) and west to Mazr-e Sharf, continues west to Meymaneh and
Hert, then swings southeast to Kandahr, and finally goes northeast to return to Kbul. Afghanistans
road system links the country with Pakistan; in the north the cities of Jallbd and Peshwar are
connected, and in the south the cities of Kandahr and Chaman are connected. Another major road
leads from Hert to Iran. Damaged and neglected roads were being rebuilt and resurfaced as part of
the countrys postwar reconstruction. The Salang Tunnel, which is the main route between Kbul and
the north, reopened in early 2002 for the first time in ten years.
Long-distance travel by road usually involves hazardous journeys on potholed dirt roads. Some roads
are temporarily impassable in winter and spring due to snowfall. Small three-wheeled vehicles, a type
of gas-powered rickshaw, are a common mode of transport in cities. Horse-drawn carts are still used
in many areas. In the countryside most Afghans travel by foot, donkey, horseback, and occasionally
by camel. Pack animals are commonly used for transporting goods to local markets. Because
Afghanistan is a landlocked country without any seaports, it depends on neighboring countries for the
shipment of goods to and from its borders. Once inside Afghanistan, goods are usually transported by
road due to the very limited reach of railroads in the country.
River transport is largely limited to the Amu Darya, which has 1,400 km (900 mi) of navigable waters
deep enough for large vessels. Ports on the Amu Darya include Keleft, Kheyrbd, and Shr Khn.
Kbul and Kandahr have international airports. The Kbul airport was severely damaged by U.S.
bombing raids in 2001, but it was one of the countrys first reconstruction projects. The airport is now
Afghanistans lifeline to the outside world. Smaller airports are scattered around the country. The
national carrier is Ariana Afghan Airlines, which makes international flights. The countrys first private
airline, Kam Air, began domestic flights in 2003.
J
Mass Media
The first Afghan television station, built with Japanese aid, went on the air in Kbul in 1978. After the
Taliban took control of the capital, they closed the countrys television stations and outlawed television
and movies. Television stations began broadcasting again soon after the Taliban were driven from the
capital by Northern Alliance forces in November 2001.
The history of newspapers, magazines, and other publications in Afghanistan has varied, depending
upon the level of censorship in the ruling government. The first printed newspaper was distributed in
1875, and two other small newspapers were printed just after 1900. With the beginning of the reign of
King Amanullah in 1919, the press flourished with the publication of more than 15 newspapers and
magazines. By the 1950s, 95 percent of the nations printed materials came from the government.
The small remainder was produced by provincial hand-operated presses.
In 1962 the Kbul Times appeared as the first English-language paper. Bakhtar News Agency
subscribed to a variety of international press services and its news bulletin was available as well.
Following the 1978 coup the Kbul Times was renamed the Kbul New Times and began publishing
communist rhetoric that was reminiscent of the worst days of the Cold War. The newspaper was highly
confrontational and hostile to the West. In reaction to the suppression of the free press, antiregime
shabnamah (night letters) were secretly printed (primarily in Kbul) with uncensored news and
opinions. In 1996 Afghanistan had 12 daily newspapers, but most ceased publication after the Taliban
came to power. The Taliban officially revived two newspapers in 1998 to serve as organs of their
regime.
In early 2002 the countrys new interim government passed a law declaring freedom of the press.
Subsequently, more than 100 newspapers began to be published and distributed in Afghanistan. Kbul
Weekly is the largest newspaper in circulation.
VI
GOVERNMENT
Afghanistan is governed under a constitution that went into effect in 2004. The constitution provides
for a strong presidency, a two-chamber legislature, and an independent judiciary. It guarantees
freedom of religion while recognizing Islam as the countrys official religion. It also recognizes that
men and women are equal before the law, and it guarantees language rights of minorities.
A
Historical Overview
Until the 1960s Afghanistans king and the kings relatives dominated the central government,
although conservative ethnic and religious leaders exerted considerable influence. In 1963, for the
first time, a prime minister was appointed from outside the royal family in order to distance the
monarchy from policymaking. In 1964 a new constitution introduced a more democratic system of
government, establishing a constitutional (rather than absolute) monarchy with an elected parliament.
However, the king refused to allow the legalization of political parties, primarily to keep ethnic and
leftist parties from emerging.
In 1973 a military coup overthrew the monarchy and established Afghanistan as a republic. Another
coup in 1978 brought a formerly banned leftist party, the Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan
(PDPA), to power. Its communist regime strengthened Afghanistans already close relations with the
Soviet Union. However, traditionalist Islamist rebels known as mujahideen led an armed insurrection
against the new regime.
To bolster the PDPA government, the Soviet Union mounted a full-scale invasion of the country in
December 1979. The invasion imposed a moderate PDPA member as prime minister in an effort to
conciliate the mujahideen and form a more broadly based government. However, the Soviet-installed
government failed to attract the support of the mujahideen, who fought a guerrilla war against the
Soviet occupation. While the PDPA government depended entirely on Soviet military and financial
backing, the mujahideen received aid from the United States, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and other
Muslim countries.
After Soviet troops finally withdrew in early 1989, Afghanistan was torn by civil war as mujahideen
groups stepped up their offensive against the PDPA government. That government fell in 1992, but
the civil war continued among the various mujahideen factions, which failed to agree on sharing
power. One mujahideen faction established an Islamic fundamentalist movement known as the
Taliban, which captured the capital, Kbul, in 1996 and established a brutal regime. It was toppled in
November 2001 by a coalition of opposition Afghan forces known as the Northern Alliance, with the
help of United States and British forces.
After the fall of the Taliban regime, the United Nations (UN) began pursuing efforts to establish a
multiethnic government in Afghanistan. Afghan delegates from the countrys major ethnic, religious,
and political factionsexcept the Talibanmet in Bonn, Germany, for UN-sponsored negotiations on
the countrys political future. The resulting UN-brokered agreement established a temporary, interim
government in December 2001 to run the country for six months, at which time a transitional
government took over. A new constitution, adopted in January 2004, established a presidential form of
government. General elections were held in October 2004 to choose Afghanistans first directly elected
president.
B
Executive
The president is head of state and head of government, as well as commander in chief of the armed
forces. The president is directly elected to a term of five years and may serve no more than two
terms. The 2004 constitution established a strong presidency, but it imposes some restrictions on
presidential power. For example, some of the presidents appointments and policy decisions are
subject to parliamentary approval, including those of government ministers and Supreme Court
justices.
C
Legislature
Under the 2004 constitution, the parliament of Afghanistan is the bicameral (two-chamber) Meli Shura
(National Assembly). The lower chamber is the Wolesi Jirga (House of the People) and the upper
chamber is the Meshrano Jirga (House of Elders). The members of the Wolesi Jirga are directly elected
to serve five-year terms. The Wolesi Jirga is made up of no more than 250 members, with each
province accorded a number of representatives in proportion to its population. One-quarter of the
seats are reserved for women. The Meshrano Jirga is composed of one representative from each
provincial council, one representative from each district council, and a number of presidential
appointees (half of which are required to be women).
D
Judiciary
Afghanistans status as an Islamic state was first codified in the 1931 constitution, which established
the Hanafi school of Islam as the basis of law. The Hanafi school, one of four orthodox systems of
jurisprudence in Sunni Islam, is an interpretation of the Sharia (Islamic law). The 1964 constitution
established the supremacy of secular law. It stated that while no laws could contradict the basic
principles of Islam, the actual laws were to be resolutions passed by the parliament. This was reversed
under the Taliban regime, which enforced its own fundamentalist interpretation of Sharia by imposing
extreme punishments such as stonings, amputations, hangings, and beheadings for certain offenses.
The 2004 constitution states that no laws may be passed that are contrary to the laws of Islam. It also
contains human rights provisions and articulates the equal rights of men and women before the law.
The constitution established an independent judiciary with a Stera Mahkama (Supreme Court) as the
highest court. The nine members of the Stera Mahkama are appointed by the president with approval
of the Wolesi Jirga. Subordinate courts include high courts and appeals courts.
E
Local Government
For administrative purposes, Afghanistan is divided into 34 velayat (provinces): Badakhshn, Bdghs,
Baghln, Balkh, Bamian, Dykond, Farh, Faryab, Ghazn, Ghowr, Helmand, Hert, Jowzjn, Kbul,
Kandahr, Kps, Konar, Kondoz, Khowst, Laghmn, Lowgar, Nangarhr, Nmroz, Norestn, Paktk,
Pakt, Panj Shr, Parvn, Samangn, Sar-e Pol, Takhr, Orzgn, Vardak, and Zbol. The provinces
are divided into districts and subdistricts.
Each province is officially administered by a governor who is appointed by the president. However, a
number of locally based commanders and leadersoften called warlords because they control private
militiaswield considerable power at the regional level. Many of these individuals are former
mujahideen commanders who rose to power during the civil war, when the central government lost
control over all or parts of the provinces in some areas. These individuals developed strong power
bases through alliances with various ethnic, religious, and tribal groups. These alliances heightened
the long-held rivalries and differences between these groups. The warlords resistance to giving up
powerspecifically, disarming their militias or integrating them into the national armyposed the
most formidable challenge to government efforts to reestablish central control outside Kbul after the
fall of the Taliban.
F
Political Parties and Movements
The Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), a communist party that was unofficially founded
in 1965, came to power in 1978 and remained the dominant political party through the 1980s. In
1967 it had split into two rival factions, known as Khalq (Masses), a more radical group, and Parcham
(Flag), a moderate, pro-Soviet group. The Khalq faction was strongest among Pashto speakers in the
mountains of eastern Afghanistan. The Parcham faction was strongest among Dari-speaking urban
intellectuals. After the PDPA came to power, the Khalqis began a purge of Parchamis. However, the
Soviet invasion in 1979 brought Parchami leaders to power in the central government.
During the guerrilla war against the Soviet occupation, the Jamiat-i Islami (Islamic Society) became
the largest political wing within the mujahideen movement. It had been formed as a relatively
moderate Islamist party in the 1970s by Burhanuddin Rabbani, who served as president of
Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996. After the defeat of the Taliban in late 2001, the Jamiat-i Islami
remained the most prominent of several active Islamic parties. These included the Jonbesh-i Melli-i
Islami (National Islamic Movement), led by former mujahideen leader Abdul Rashjid Dostum. In
addition, the Taliban remained an active Islamic fundamentalist movement in some areas of the
country.
Immediately after the Taliban regime was ousted, the United Nations worked with Afghan leaders from
across the political spectrum to build a broad-based transitional government in Afghanistan. In
September 2003 the transitional government approved a law that, for the first time in the countrys
history, officially allowed political parties to form. By that time a number of new political parties had
already emerged. As many as 45 new parties united under a loose coalition called the National Front
for Democracy in Afghanistan, which primarily sought to counteract divisive faction politics. Numerous
other new political groups and parties subsequently began forming ahead of the countrys general
elections. Many parties represented various ethnic groups in the country, while others were aligned
according to political and religious ideologies. Meanwhile, former members of the defunct PDPA
founded a new communist party, the Hizb-i Muttahid-i Melli (United National Party), but in 2003 it was
deemed anti-Islamic and banned by the Supreme Court.
G

Social Services

Food Aid Distribution in Afghanistan
Residents of a remote mountain village in northern Afghanistan cluster around trucks distributing sacks of wheat as
part of the United Nations World Food Program. Relief workers distributed record amounts of food aid in the
impoverished, war-torn country after the collapse of the Taliban regime in December 2001, just as the cold winter
months were making food even more scarce.
Bullit Marquez/AP/Wide World Photos
Near the end of Soviet involvement in Afghanistan, more than 100 national government organizations
and private volunteer relief agencies from more than 20 countries were bringing relief and assistance
to Afghans, both inside the country and outside to the refugee population. The government
maintained hospitals to raise the level of public health. Mass vaccinations eliminated smallpox and
greatly reduced typhoid fever. Government campaigns also greatly reduced the incidence of malaria.
In the 1990s, however, civil war and extreme poverty prohibited improvements in the countrys
welfare system.
After the Soviets departed in 1989, life in Afghanistan became desperate. In 1993 there was on
average only 1 physician for every 7,000 Afghans. In the mid-1990s there was only 1 functioning
hospital for every 500,000 people in some areas. Medical supplies were in short supply because of
frequent hijacking of relief convoys. Trachoma (a contagious eye disease that can result in blindness)
and dysentery remained widespread, and skin diseases were rampant. Tuberculosis reached epidemic
levels with surveys showing 80 percent of families with at least one member sick. Large numbers of
people sustained injuries, especially lost limbs, during the war. By the mid-1990s the Red Crescent
Society (the equivalent of Red Cross in Muslim countries) had opened a clinic in Kandahr. Other
humanitarian relief agencies, including the United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP),
subsequently began efforts to help feed Afghanistans starving population. Immediately after the
Taliban regime was ousted in late 2001, the UNWFP stepped up its efforts to deliver food to the
population, particularly in remote areas that the relief agencies had been denied access to by the
Taliban. Such humanitarian assistance remained crucial through the countrys postwar reconstruction
because so many Afghan people had been without enough food, adequate shelter, or medical care for
so long.
H
Defense
Prior to the Soviet-Afghan War, the government of Afghanistan had long relied on the USSR for
military equipment and advisers. In 1978 the Afghan army numbered 110,000 men, but desertions
reduced it to 50,000 by 1986. Many deserters joined the mujahideen in fighting a guerrilla war against
the Soviet occupation until 1989. During the subsequent civil war, elements of the former army,
national guard, border guard, national police, and ethnic militias were broken up among the various
mujahideen factions. Thereafter, mujahideen commanders maintained control over their own private
militias, which enabled them to hold power over most of the country outside Kbul.
In early 2002 Kofi Annan, secretary general of the United Nations, and Hamid Karzai, then the interim
leader of Afghanistan, discussed the urgent need to form a well-trained and disciplined Afghan police
force and army. In 2003 U.S. and French forces began training recruits for a new multiethnic Afghan
National Army (ANA). Karzai ordered all private militias to disarm and merge into the ANA to help
bring a goal of 70,000 soldiers into the national army. Many regional commanders resisted disbanding
their private militias, however, and the disarmament and army-building process progressed slowly.
VII
HISTORY
Excavation of prehistoric sites suggests that early humans lived in northern Afghanistan at least
50,000 years ago and that farming communities in Afghanistan were among the earliest in the world.
After 2000 BC successive waves of people from Central Asia moved into the area. Since many of these
settlers were Aryans (speakers of the parent language of the Indo-European languages), a people who
also migrated to Persia (now Iran) and India in prehistoric times, the area was called Aryana, or Land
of the Aryans.
By the middle of the 6th century BC the Persian Empire of the Achaemenid dynasty controlled the
region of Aryana. About 330 BC, Alexander the Great defeated the last Achaemenid ruler and made his
way to the eastern limits of Aryana and beyond. After his death in 323 BC several kingdoms fought for
control of his Asian empire. These kingdoms included Seleucids, Bactria, and the Indian Mauryan
Empire.
A
Buddhist Period
About the 1st century AD the Kushans, a central Asian people, won control of Aryana. Buddhism was
the dominant religion from the 3rd century to the 8th century AD. Ruins of many monasteries and
stupas, or reliquary mounds (structures where sacred relics are kept or displayed), from that period
still remain. They line what was once a great Buddhist pilgrimage road from India to Balkh, in
northern Afghanistan, and on into Central Asia.
Kushan power was destroyed at the end of the 4th century AD by a Turkic people of central Asian
origin called the White Huns or Ephthalites. After the Ephthalites, the area was divided among several
kingdoms, some Buddhist, some Hindu.
B
Islamic Period
In the 7th century AD Arab armies carried the new religion of Islam to Afghanistan. The western
provinces of Hert and Sistan came under Arab rule, but the people of these provinces revolted and
returned to their old beliefs as soon as the Arab armies passed. In the 10th century Muslim rulers
called Samanids, from Bukhara in what is now Uzbekistan, extended their influence into the Afghan
area. A Samanid established a dynasty in Ghazn called the Ghaznavids. The greatest Ghaznavid king,
Mahmud, who ruled from 998 to 1030, established Islam throughout the area of Afghanistan. He led
many military expeditions into India. Ghazn became a center of literature and the arts.
The Ghaznavid state grew weaker under Mahmuds descendants and gave way in the middle of the
12th century to the Ghurid kingdom, which arose in Ghur, in the west central region of present-day
Afghanistan. The Ghurids in turn were routed early in the 13th century by the Khwarizm Shahs,
another central Asian dynasty. They were swept away in about 1220 by the Mongol conqueror Genghis
Khan, who devastated the land.
Near the end of the 14th century the central Asian military leader Tamerlane (Timur Lang) conquered
the region of Afghanistan and moved on into India. His sons and grandsons, the Timurids, could not
hold Tamerlanes empire together. However, they ruled most of present-day Afghanistan from Hert.
The period from the Ghurid through the Timurid dynasty produced fine Islamic architectural
monuments. Many of these mosques, shrines, and minarets still stand in Hert, Qaleh-ye Bost,
Ghazn, and Mazr-e Sharf. An important school of miniature painting flourished at Hert in the 15th
century.
A descendant of Tamerlane on his fathers side and Genghis Khan on his mothers side, Babur
(Zahiruddin Muhammad) took Kbul in October 1504 and then moved on to India, where he
established the Mughal Empire.
Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, Afghanistan was fought over by the rulers of the Mughal
Empire, centered in India, and those of the Safavid dynasty, in Persia. Usually the Mughals held Kbul
and the Persians held Hert, with Kandahr frequently changing hands. The Pashtun tribes increased
their power, but they failed to win independence.
C
An Afghan Empire

Nadir Shah
Turkoman military leader Nadir Shah fought the Afghan occupiers of Iran in the 1720s and eventually expelled
them. He took the Iranian throne in 1736 and built an empire that included Iraq, Afghanistan, and parts of India.
The empire disintegrated after his assassination in 1747.
SEF/Art Resource, NY
In the 18th century, Nadir Shah, the king of Persia, employed the Abdali tribe of Pashtuns in his wars
in India. Ahmad Shah, an Abdali chief who had gained a high post in Nadir Shahs army, established
himself in Kandahr after Nadir Shahs assassination in 1747. An assembly of tribal chiefs proclaimed
him shah, and the Afghans extended their rule as far east as Kashmr and Delhi, north to the Amu
Darya, and west into northern Persia.
Ahmad retired from the throne in 1772 and died in Kandahr, whereupon his son Timur Shah assumed
control. The Afghan empire survived largely intact through the next 20 years. He established his
capital in Kbul to draw power away from his rivals in Kandahr, as well as to be closer to his richest
province, the Punjab of India. Following Timurs death in 1793, palace rivalries and internal conflicts
led to the disintegration of the empire. Two sons of Timur, Shah Shuja and Shah Mahmud, fought over
the remnants of the Afghan empire, with Shuja finally going into exile in India and Mahmud
withdrawing to Hert, as a number of other small principalities emerged throughout Afghanistan.
Dost Muhammad Khan emerged as the new ruler, or emir, in Kbul by 1826. Among the most
pressing problems he faced was repelling the westward encroachment of the Sikhs, who gained
control of the Punjab and the region up to the Khyber Pass, including the important trading post of
Peshwar. In 1837 Dost Muhammads forces defeated the Sikhs at Jamrd, but failed to recover
Peshwar. This conflict and the arrival of a new Russian envoy in Kbul made the British, who were
allies of the Sikhs, extremely nervous about the security of the western frontier of their growing
empire in India. These events played out during the so-called Great Game between the Russian bear
and the British lion, with both empires vying for regional dominance and Afghanistan becoming
caught between them. In 1838 Lord Auckland, the British governor-general of India, ordered military
intervention in Afghanistan to protect British interests, thereby setting off the First Anglo-Afghan War
(1838-1842). With British and Sikh manipulation and support, Shah Shuja returned to Afghanistan to
overthrow Dost Muhammad, as a British garrison was established in Kbul and elsewhere south of the
Hindu Kush mountains.
A revolt by Dost Muhammads son Muhammad Akbar Khan led to the forced withdrawal of the British
garrison from Kbul in the winter of 1842. Ambushed during the retreat, nearly all of the some 4,500
British troops and their 12,000 camp followers were killed. Dost Muhammad was able to return to
Kbul, from where he spent the next 20 years reunifying parts of Afghanistan until his death in 1863.

Second Anglo-Afghan War
This British camp in Afghanistan served British troops during the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880). The
British invaded Afghanistan when Afghan ruler Sher Ali entertained Russian interests in the region. The war
resulted in British control of Afghanistans foreign affairs and the delineation of the present-day borders of
Afghanistan to create a buffer state between the Russian Empire and British India.
Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis
Dost Muhammad designated his third son, Sher Ali, as his successor, but civil war erupted as rivals to
Sher Ali vied for control. Sher Ali defeated his rivals, notably his brother Afzul Khan, by 1868. At the
same time he tried to maintain good relations with the British Raj (British-ruled India). However, the
Russian conquests in Central Asia had brought that empire to the Amu Darya river on the northern
border of Afghanistan by 1847. The negotiations of a Russian envoy in Kbul renewed the unease of
the British, who consequently invaded Afghanistan, instigating the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-
1880). Sher Ali was deposed in 1879, but the British, realizing the difficulties of ruling from within
Afghanistan, in 1880 invited a nephew of Sher Ali, Abdur Rahman Khan (Afzul Khans son), to rule at
their behest. However, the British limited his power beyond the borders of Afghanistan by securing
control of Afghan foreign relations.
Known as the Iron Emir, Abdur Rahman recognized the threat from the expansionistic Russians and
the defensive British. As a result he allowed the foreign delineation of his borders to encompass a
smaller territory than he actually considered to be Afghanistan. The emergence of the present-day
configuration of the country, with its narrow panhandle of the Wakhan Corridor projecting to China on
the northeast, is an example of the establishment of a classic buffer state, in which, to avoid
inadvertent conflict, the borders of the Russian and British empires were to have no contact points in
common. Similarly, the establishment of the Durand Line, the southeastern border of Afghanistan,
divided the territory of the militant Pashtun tribe into two halves, with one half under the control of
the British Raj, and the other inside Afghanistan. This divide-and-rule policy allowed some nominal
control of a difficult region, but problems related to the tribally unpopular (and for them,
unrecognized) border have continued to the present day.
D
Modern Afghanistan
Abdur Rahman Khan extended his control throughout the territory within the new boundaries of
Afghanistan. His son, Habibullah, who reigned from 1901 until 1919, took the first steps toward the
introduction of modern education and industry. Habibullahs son and successor, Amanullah, initiated a
brief war, the Third Anglo-Afghan War, in 1919 to end British control over Afghan foreign affairs. The
resulting peace treaty recognized the independence of Afghanistan.
Amanullah was determined to modernize his country. In 1926 he took the title of king. His reforms,
including efforts to induce women to give up the burka, or full-length veil, and to make men wear
Western clothing in certain public areas, offended religious and ethnic group leaders. Revolts broke
out, and in 1929 Amanullah fled the country.
Order was restored in 1930 by four brothers who were relatives of Amanullah. One of them,
Muhammad Nadir Shah, became king, but he was assassinated in 1933. His son, Muhammad Zahir
Shah, succeeded him. Power remained concentrated in the hands of Zahir and the royal family for the
next four decades. In 1946 Afghanistan joined the United Nations (UN).
In 1953 Muhammad Daud, a nephew of Nadir Shah, became prime minister. Daud began to modernize
Afghanistan rapidly with the help of economic and especially military aid from the USSR; the modern
Afghan army was largely created with Soviet equipment and technical training. The United States
declined to assist in this process. Social reform proceeded slowly because the government was afraid
to antagonize conservative ethnic group leaders and devout Muslims. Relations with Pakistan
deteriorated after Daud called for self-determination for the Pashtun tribes of northwestern Pakistan.
In 1963, hoping to halt the growth of Soviet influence and to improve relations with Pakistan, Zahir
Shah removed Daud as prime minister. In 1964 Afghanistan adopted a new constitution, changing the
country from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy. The armed forces still depended on the Soviet
Union for equipment and training. A severe drought in the early 1970s caused economic hardship, and
the popularity of the regime declined.
E
End of Monarchy
In 1973 Muhammad Daud overthrew the king in a coup. He declared Afghanistan a republic with
himself as president. Daud announced ambitious plans for economic development and tried to play the
USSR against Western donors, but his dictatorial government was opposed both by radical left-wing
intellectuals and soldiers and by traditionalist ethnic leaders. The leading leftist organization was the
Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), which had been founded in 1965 and in 1967 split
into a pro-Soviet Parcham faction and a much more radical Khalq faction. The two groups joined
forces in 1976 to oppose Daud.
F
Leftist Coup and Soviet Invasion

Surveying the Damage
These workers in Afghanistan explore the wreckage of a truck, presumably bombed by guerrilla fighters. From
1979 to 1989 Soviet troops occupied major cities and roads in Afghanistan. Afghan rebels harassed the Soviets
with guerrilla tactics such as ambushes, sniper fire, and booby traps. The civil war that followed the Soviet
withdrawal increased damage to Afghanistan as rebel factions fought for control of the country.
Ross Greetham/Robert Harding Picture Library
In April 1978, after Daud launched a crackdown against the PDPA, leftist military officers overthrew
him. PDPA leader Noor Muhammad Taraki became prime minister, subsequently assuming the title of
president as well. Taraki and his deputy prime minister, Hafizullah Amin, both members of the Khalq
faction, purged many Parcham leaders. Taraki announced a sweeping revolutionary program, including
land reform, the emancipation of women, and a campaign against illiteracy. In late 1978 Islamic
traditionalists and ethnic leaders who objected to rapid social change began an armed revolt against
the government. By the summer of 1979 the rebels controlled much of the Afghan countryside. In
September Taraki was deposed and later killed. Amin, his successor, tried vigorously to suppress the
rebellion and resisted Soviet efforts to make him moderate his policies. The governments position
deteriorated, however, and on December 25, 1979, Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan. They quickly
won control of Kbul and other important centers. The Soviets executed Amin on December 27 and
installed Babrak Karmal, leader of PDPAs Parcham faction, as president. Karmal, whom the Soviets
considered to be more susceptible to their control, denounced Amins repressive policies, which
reportedly included mass arrests and torture of prisoners, and promised to combine social and
economic reform with respect for Islam and for Afghan traditions. But the government, dependent on
Soviet military forces to bolster it, was widely unpopular.
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan played out in the waning days of the Cold War, as the leaden
economy and political repressions of the Soviet Union were just beginning to show signs of strain.
Despite the Soviet Unions own domestic difficulties and high-level internal advice against such a
move, the Soviet takeover of Afghanistans government and eventual full military invasion was a long-
considered and reasonably well-thought-out plan. From its earliest foreign aid in construction of
military-quality bridges and highways, to its progressive planting of special agents within the
Afghanistan bureaucracy and military, the Soviet Union displayed an unremitting interest in expanding
its influence in the country and moving farther south toward the warm-water ports and hydrocarbon
riches of the Persian Gulf. Afghanistans location along part of the Soviet Unions southern border
made the installation of a Soviet-friendly government there all the more desirable. The leftist coup of
1978 in Kbul seemingly assured that the Soviets would not lose the strategic position that they had
patiently established through expensive and pervasive efforts over the prior quarter-century.
Elsewhere in the country, however, there was only minimal support for the emerging Communist
government in Kbul; opposition to it mounted nationwide, eventually even including significant
portions of the Afghan military. The Soviet Unions large-scale military intervention aimed to protect
its interests in the region by helping the Soviet-installed government to put down this widespread
opposition.
Nevertheless, resistance to the Communist government and the Soviet invaders grew spontaneously
throughout Afghanistan so that by the mid-1980s there were about 90 areas in the country
commanded by guerrilla leaders. The guerrillas called themselves mujahideen (Muslim holy warriors).
They had gained prominence by their fighting prowess rather than through the customary routes
within traditional social structures. The resistance was roughly organized into seven major mujahideen
parties, largely of Sunni background, based in Peshwar, Pakistan, in the 1980s. Other mujahideen
parties were based in Iran. The mujahideen were sustained by weapons and money from the United
States, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and China. By the mid-1980s the United States was spending hundreds of
millions of dollars each year to aid Afghan rebels based in Pakistan.
During the 1980s Soviet forces increasingly bore the brunt of the fighting. By 1986 about 118,000
Soviet troops and 50,000 Afghan government troops were facing perhaps 130,000 mujahideen
guerrillas. Although the Soviet troops used modern equipment, including tanks and bombers, the
mujahideen were also well armed, and they had local support and operated more effectively in familiar
mountainous terrain. In 1986 the United States began supplying the mujahideen with Stinger missiles
able to shoot down Soviet armored helicopters.

Afghan-Soviet War
Mujahideen (Islamic guerrillas) stand on top of a Soviet helicopter they brought down in Afghanistans Panjsher
Valley, north of Kabul, in 1979. The mujahideen fought against the Soviet military occupation of Afghanistan during
the Afghan-Soviet War (1979-1989). They used guerrilla-war tactics to ambush Soviet troops.
Archive Photos/Getty Images
The effects of the war on Afghanistan were devastating. Half of the population was displaced inside
the country, forced to migrate outside the country, wounded, or killed. About 3 million war refugees
fled to Pakistan and about 1.5 million fled to Iran. Estimates of combat fatalities range between
700,000 and 1.3 million people. With the school system largely destroyed, industrialization severely
restricted, and large irrigation projects badly damaged, the economy of the country was crippled.
Despite some negative reaction, the presence of so many refugees in neighboring Pakistan and Iran
actually improved Afghan relations with those countries. In addition, many of the refugees improved
their lives considerably by leaving Afghanistan and the dangers of war therein. Because the majority
of the refugees were religious, their fellow Muslims in Iran and Pakistan accepted them, even while the
Iranian and Pakistani governments were striving to bring about the fall of the Communist regime in
Kbul.
In May 1986 Karmal was replaced as PDPA leader by Mohammad Najibullah, a member of the
Parcham faction who had headed the Afghan secret police. In November 1987 Najibullah was elected
president.
G

Soviet Withdrawal

Soviet Troops Leaving Afghanistan
Soviet tanks and troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, finally bringing the decade-long Afghan-Soviet War to
a close. Soviet forces had occupied the country since December 1979, bolstering a Soviet-installed government and
fighting an unwinnable guerrilla war against insurgents known as mujahideen.
Gueorgui Pinkhassov/Magnum Photos
When Mikhail Gorbachev became the Soviet leader in 1985, he gave high priority to getting Soviet
troops out of the costly, unpopular, and apparently unwinnable war in Afghanistan. In May 1988
Afghanistan, Pakistan, the USSR, and the United States signed agreements providing for an end to
foreign intervention in Afghanistan, and the USSR began withdrawing its forces. The Soviet withdrawal
was completed in February 1989. See also Soviet-Afghan War.
H
Civil War

Civil War Destruction
From 1992 until 1996, when the Taliban took control of the city, Kbul suffered heavy damage from warring rebel
factions, leaving the city in near ruins.
I. Uimonen/Sygma
The mujahideen, who did not sign the agreement concerning the Soviet withdrawal, maintained their
fight against the Afghanistan central government with weapons that they continued to get from the
United States via Pakistan. They rejected offers from Najibullah to make peace and share power, and
refused to consider participating in any national government that included Communists. Thus the civil
war continued. The United States and Pakistani sponsors prompted the Peshwar-based rebels to
besiege Jallbd, a strong point for Najibullah in southern Afghanistan. After months of fighting,
however, the Afghan government scored a clear victory. A March 1990 coup attempt also failed to
bring down Najibullah. He continued to receive Soviet food, fuel, and weapons to help maintain his
control. However, rebels persisted in terrorizing the civilian population by rocket bombardment of
Kbul and other cities. Finally in late 1991 the USSR and the United States signed an agreement to
end military aid to the Kbul government and to the mujahideen rebels.
In 1992 as the resistance closed in on Kbul, the Najibullah government fell, in part because of the
defection of General Abdul Rashid Dostum, an Uzbek from northern Afghanistan whose militia had
served the PDPA government. Two mujahideen parties from Peshwar, both considered
fundamentalist, joined forces with Dostum and Ahmad Shah Massoud, a Tajik military commander, in
the north and central mountains of Afghanistan. They won control of Kbul, and Burhanuddin Rabbani,
an ethnic Tajik, became interim president from July through December 1992, taking office as full
president in January 1993. A strong attempt was made to keep the Pashtun leaders, who traditionally
held the power in Afghanistan, out of the most important government positions. Kbul was besieged
beginning in 1992, first by various mujahideen groups and then by the Pashtun-dominated Taliban,
which sought to reestablish Pashtun dominance in the capital.
The Taliban emerged in the fall of 1994 as a faction of mujahideen soldiers who identified themselves
as religious students. The movement started in the south and worked its way toward Hert in the
northwest and Kbul in the east. It made outstanding military gains using armor, heavy rocket
artillery, and helicopters against government forces. The Talibans stated mission was to disarm the
countrys warring factions and to impose their strictly orthodox version of Islamic law. Some experts
suspected the Pakistani government of supporting the Taliban, in order to keep the combat within
Afghanistan and out of the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, which is a major part of the
Pashtun homeland. During the many vagaries of shifting alliances, as Afghans sought a new political
equilibrium, one fundamentalist and one moderate party from the Peshwar-based mujahideen groups
contributed considerable personnel to the Taliban.
The term of Rabbanis government expired in December 1994, but he continued to hold office amid
the chaos of the civil war. Factional fighting since the beginning of January 1994 kept government
officers from actually occupying ministries and discharging government responsibilities. Most cities
outside of Kbul were administered by former resistance commanders and their shuras (councils). In
June 1996 Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who had resigned as prime minister in 1994 to launch a military
offensive against forces loyal to Rabbani, again assumed the post, this time to help Rabbanis
government fight the Taliban threat. Despite their efforts, the Taliban took Kbul in September 1996.
By that time, the capital had been devastated by the civil war.
Rabbani and Hekmatyar fled north to join the northern-based anti-Taliban alliance led by the military
commanders Massoud and Dostum. The alliance was a coalition of ethnic Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Hazaras
who were opposed to the Pashtun-dominated Taliban. The alliance took the name United Islamic Front
for the Salvation of Afghanistan, commonly known as the United Front or the Northern Alliance.
Massoud was the military commander of its chief political wing, Jamiat-i Islami (Islamic Society). The
Taliban advanced north toward the mountain strongholds of the Northern Alliance and by the late
1990s had taken control of almost all of Afghanistan. Northern Alliance forces held a small portion of
the countrys territory in the north.
I
Taliban Regime

Taliban Troops on the Kbul Front
Taliban forces patrol the front north of Kbul, Afghanistan, during the civil war that ravaged the country in the
1990s. The civil war was fought between the Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist movement composed of ethnic
Pashtuns, and the Northern Alliance, a coalition of several minority ethnic groups. The Taliban seized control of
Kbul in 1996 and controlled most of the country until 2001.
Martin Adler/Panos Pictures
After taking over Kbul, the Taliban created the Ministry for Ordering What Is Right and Forbidding
What Is Wrong to impose and enforce its fundamentalist rules of behavior. The Talibans laws
particularly affected women, who were ordered to cover themselves from head to toe in burkas (long,
tentlike veils), forbidden from attending school or working outside their homes, and publicly beaten if
they were improperly dressed or escorted by men not related to them. The Taliban also made murder,
adultery, and drug dealing punishable by death and made theft punishable by amputation of the hand.
Many of the laws alarmed human-rights groups and provoked worldwide condemnation. Most
countries did not recognize the Taliban regime as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.

Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden, a Saudi multimillionaire, was active in the guerrilla war against Soviet occupation forces in
Afghanistan during the 1980s. After his return to Afghanistan in 1996, he directed an international terrorist
network, al-Qaeda, that trained Islamic fundamentalists to carry out terrorist attacks against the United States.
REUTERS
In 1998, after terrorist bombings struck U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the United States
launched cruise missiles at alleged terrorist training camps in eastern Afghanistan. The camps were
reportedly connected to an international terrorist ring allegedly run by Osama bin Laden, a wealthy
Saudi Arabian expatriate named by U.S. officials as the mastermind behind the embassy bombings.
Bin Laden was active in the Afghan resistance to Soviet occupation forces during the 1980s, and
toward the end of that war he established al-Qaeda (Arabic for the Base), an organization based in
Afghanistan that, according to U.S. officials, connects and coordinates fundamentalist Islamic terrorist
groups around the world. Al-Qaeda also supported the Taliban regime, with its special forces, called
the Arab Brigade, fighting alongside Taliban troops in the civil war against the Northern Alliance.

Northern Alliance Troops Enter Kbul
Northern Alliance troops march victoriously into Kbul on November 13, 2001, after the Taliban fled the Afghan
capital amid United States-led bombings of the area. The decade-long civil war between the Northern Alliance and
the Taliban gained worldwide attention during the U.S.-led war on terrorism, which helped oust the Taliban regime
in late 2001.
Yannis Behrakis/REUTERS
On September 9, 2001, pro-Taliban suicide bombers assassinated Ahmad Shah Massoud, the leader of
the Northern Alliance. Two days later in the United States, terrorists hijacked passenger airplanes and
deliberately crashed them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and the
Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, killing thousands of people (see September 11 Attacks). The U.S.
government identified bin Laden as the prime suspect behind the attacks. Mullah Muhammad Omar,
the supreme leader of the

Taliban, refused U.S. demands that the Taliban surrender bin Laden. The
U.S. government built an international antiterrorism coalition, securing the approval of many nations
for a war on terrorism. American and British forces began aerial bombings of al-Qaeda camps and
Taliban military positions on October 7. The Northern Alliance, meanwhile, continued its front-line
offensive north of Kbul and other strategic areas. Many Afghans fled to refugee camps in border
areas of Pakistan and Iran to escape the bombings, adding to the millions of Afghans already
displaced from more than two decades of war.

U.S. Marines in Afghanistan
U.S. Marines and local Afghan men patrolled the airport in Kandahr, Afghanistan, after the Taliban surrendered
the city in December 2001. U.S. Marines formed the first large contingent of U.S. ground troops to be deployed in
Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11.
REUTERS
While the United States and Britain continued the aerial bombardment in November, Northern Alliance
forces captured several strategic cities, including Kbul. In late November hundreds of U.S. marines
landed near Kandahr in the first major infusion of American ground troops into Afghanistan. The
Taliban surrendered Kandahr, their last remaining stronghold, by December 10. The U.S.-led
offensive then focused on routing out al-Qaeda forces holed up in the rugged Tora Bora cave region of
eastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan. In March 2002 U.S. troops undertook a mission,
known as Operation Anaconda, to clear Taliban and al-Qaeda forces from the Shah-i-Kot Valley, in the
vicinity of Gardz in eastern Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the whereabouts of bin Laden remained
unknown.
J
Afghanistan After the Taliban

Hamid Karzai and Zahir Shah
Hamid Karzai, left, leader of the transitional Afghan government, receives a Quran (the holy book of Islam) from
former Afghan king Zahir Shah in Rome, Italy, where Zahir lived in exile after the overthrow of the Afghan
monarchy in 1973. Karzai made more than a dozen high-level diplomatic trips abroad after he took office as
interim leader of Afghanistan in December 2001. He was elected transitional head of state in June 2002.
Dylan Martinez/REUTERS
United Nations-sponsored negotiations in Bonn, Germany, resulted in agreement on December 5,
2001, among four major Afghan factions to create an interim post-Taliban administration in
Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai, a widely respected Pashtun leader, was chosen to head the interim
administration, which took power in Kbul on December 22. An international peacekeeping force
maintained a measure of law and order in the capital.
J1
Transitional Government
Karzais administration was given up to six months to prepare the country for the introduction of a
broad-based, multiethnic transitional government. In January 2002 international donorsincluding
more than 60 countries, major development institutions, and nongovernmental organizationspledged
more than $4.5 billion in aid to Afghanistan over a period of five years. In April deposed Afghan king
Zahir Shah returned to Afghanistan, ending nearly three decades of exile, in order to serve a symbolic
role in the country. In June he formally convened the loya jirga, or grand council, which was
responsible for electing a transitional government to rule the country for 18 months, until general
elections scheduled for 2004. The loya jirga elected Karzai interim president of Afghanistan.
J2
New Constitution
In January 2004 the loya jirga ratified a new constitution and Karzai signed it into law. The new
constitution created a strong presidency, a two-chamber legislature, and an independent judiciary. It
recognized Islam as the countrys sacred religion but guaranteed protections for other religions. It also
recognized equal rights for women and language rights for minorities.
The adoption of the new constitution paved the way for elections, originally scheduled for June 2004
but then postponed due to the continued lack of security in many parts of the country. The Taliban
and its al-Qaeda allies, who had regrouped as a military force despite new U.S.-led offensives to
combat them, were waging a sporadic guerrilla campaign against the Karzai government and the
international forces stationed in the country. In March 2004 Pakistan conducted a military operation
along its border with Afghanistan in an attempt to flush out the insurgents.
About 18,000 non-Afghan troops were stationed in Afghanistan in 2004 to fight Taliban forces and
offer protection for the Karzai government. Of these, about 8,500 were U.S. troops, and about 3,000
soldiers came from other coalition partners. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) stationed
about 6,000 troops in Afghanistan. NATO took charge of the International Security Assistance Force
(ISAF) in August 2003 and for the first time played a military role outside of Europe. The ISAF was
authorized by the United Nations Security Council to act as peacekeepers in the Afghan capital, Kbul,
and surrounding areas. By the end of 2005, about 19,000 U.S. troops and about 9,200 ISAF troops
remained in Afghanistan.
In October 2006 about 12,000 of the 20,000 U.S. troops then serving in Afghanistan became part of
the ISAF forces as NATO reportedly assumed primary responsibility for international military
operations in Afghanistan. The remaining 8,000 U.S. troops were assigned to counterterrorism efforts
and to training Afghan security forces as part of Combined Forces Command Afghanistan. The ISAF
consisted of about 31,000 troops and faced an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 Taliban fighters in October
2006.
J3
Presidential Election
Afghanistan held its first-ever presidential election on October 9, 2004. Large numbers of Afghans
turned out to vote in the election, which was largely free of the violence threatened by the countrys
former Taliban leaders. Karzai won 55.4 percent of the vote, easily beating 15 other candidates in the
first round of voting. His victory was officially announced on November 3, following an investigation
into charges of electoral fraud. According to a three-member United Nations panel set up to examine
the complaintsmade mostly by the losing candidatesthe elections shortcomings...could not have
materially affected the overall result.
Karzais top goals after forming a new government included curbing the power of regional warlords,
building an effective national security force, and pursuing national redevelopment plans. Uniting the
country despite its longstanding ethnic, religious, and regional rivalries remained one of Karzais
highest priorities.
J4
Parliamentary Elections
Elections to the lower house of the National Assembly took place in September 2005, and in December
2005 President Karzai used his constitutional powers to appoint the members of the upper house. On
December 19 Afghanistans first democratically elected legislature in more than 30 years officially
convened. The new legislature represented a wide spectrum of the countrys political groupings and
factions, including former warlords and former Taliban officials.
J5
Continued War Against a Taliban Insurgency
Despite its initial defeat following the U.S. invasion of 2001, the Taliban regrouped, using remote
areas of Pakistan for refuge and staging sporadic guerrilla attacks in areas of Afghanistan near the
Pakistan border. By 2007 the Taliban adopted tactics that included suicide bombings and roadside
bombs, while also besieging remote U.S. and NATO outposts in the countryside. In June 2007 U.S.
defense secretary Robert Gates expressed cautious optimism that the military campaign was having
success against the resurgent Taliban. Defense Department officials said they believed NATO
operations had helped thwart a planned spring offensive by the Taliban.
However, Afghan civilian support for the U.S. and NATO military operations waned in the spring of
2007, particularly after a series of attacks that resulted in civilian casualties. In early May, following
an April ground attack and air strike on a small village in western Hert province in which about 50
civilians were reportedly killed, Afghan president Karzai told U.S. and NATO officials that civilian
deaths had reached an unacceptable level. About a week later lawmakers in the upper house of
parliament, the Meshrano Jirga (House of Elders), passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire with the
Taliban and for setting a date for the withdrawal of foreign troops. Many of the legislators cited an
incident in March in which a U.S. Marine Special Operations force opened fire on civilians lining a
highway as the marines fled the scene of a suicide bombing attack. The incident in the eastern
Afghanistan province of Nangarhr resulted in the deaths of 19 Afghan civilians and the wounding of
about 50 others. A U.S. military commander later determined that the marines had used excessive
force and he referred the incident for a possible criminal inquiry.
By June 2007 the Associated Press reported a death toll of 2,300 in insurgency-related violence in
2007 alone. The International Red Cross said that violence was occurring throughout Afghanistan. The
Department of Defense reported nearly 400 U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan since the 2001
invasion, and Great Britain reported the deaths of 60 British soldiers during that same period.

Contributed By:
John Ford Shroder
Microsoft Encarta 2009. 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.