1.
United States invasion of Afghanistan
–
The war in Afghanistan followed the 2001 United States invasion of Afghanistan. Supported initially by the United Kingdom, the US was later joined by the rest of NATO and its public aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda and to deny it a safe base of operations in Afghanistan by removing the Taliban from power. Key allies, including the United Kingdom, supported the U. S. from the start to the end of the phase and this phase of the war is the longest war in United States history. In 2001, U. S. President George W. Bush demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden and expel al-Qaeda, bin Laden had already been wanted by the United Nations since 1999. The Taliban declined to extradite him unless given evidence of his involvement in the September 11 attacks, the request for evidence was dismissed by the U. S. as a delaying tactic, and on 7 October 2001 it launched Operation Enduring Freedom with the United Kingdom. The two were joined by other forces, including the Northern Alliance which had been fighting the Taliban in the ongoing civil war since 1996. In December 2001, the United Nations Security Council established the International Security Assistance Force, at the Bonn Conference the same month, Hamid Karzai was selected to head the Afghan Interim Administration, which after a 2002 loya jirga in Kabul became the Afghan Transitional Administration. In the popular elections of 2004, Karzai was elected president of the country, NATO became involved in ISAF in August 2003, and later that year assumed leadership of it, with troops from 43 countries by this stage. NATO members provided the core of the force, one portion of U. S. forces in Afghanistan operated under NATO command, the rest remained under direct U. S. command. The Taliban was reorganised by its leader Mullah Omar, and in 2003, launched an insurgency against the government, the Taliban exploited weaknesses in the Afghan government, among the most corrupt in the world, to reassert influence across rural areas of southern and eastern Afghanistan. In the initial years there was fighting, but from 2006 the Taliban made significant gains. ISAF responded in 2006 by increasing troops for operations to clear and hold villages and nation building projects to win hearts. Violence sharply escalated from 2007 to 2009, while ISAF continued to battle the Taliban insurgency, fighting crossed into neighboring North-West Pakistan. On 2 May 2011, United States Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden in Abbotabad, in May 2012, NATO leaders endorsed an exit strategy for withdrawing their forces. UN-backed peace talks have taken place between the Afghan government and the Taliban. In May 2014, the United States announced that its combat operations would end in December 2014. In October 2014, British forces handed over the last bases in Helmand to the Afghan military, on 28 December 2014, NATO formally ended combat operations in Afghanistan and transferred full security responsibility to the Afghan government. Tens of thousands of people were killed in the war, over 4,000 ISAF soldiers and civilian contractors as well as over 15,000 Afghan national security forces were killed, as well as nearly 20,000 civilians
2.
Tora Bora
–
Tora Bora, known locally as Spīn Ghar, is a cave complex, part of the White Mountains of eastern Afghanistan. It is situated in the Pachir Aw Agam District of Nangarhar, Tora Bora was known to be a stronghold location of the Taliban, used by military forces against the Soviet Union during the 1980s. Tora Bora and the surrounding Safēd Kōh range had natural caverns formed by streams eating into the limestone, the lithological nature of Tora Bora is predominantly metamorphic gneiss and schist. During the U. S. invasion of Afghanistan the cave complex was one of the strongholds of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda and it was the location of the December 2001 Battle of Tora Bora, and suspected hideout of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Both the British and American press published detailed plans of the base, when shown a plan during an NBC interview, Donald Rumsfeld of the United States Secretary of Defense said This is serious business, theres not one of those, there are many of those. An elaborate military operation was planned which included deployment of the CIA-US Special Operations Forces team with laser markers to guide non-stop heavy air strikes during 72 hours. When Tora Bora was eventually captured by the U. S. and Afghan troops, Tora Bora turned out to be a system of small natural caves housing at most,200 fighters. While arms and ammunition stores were found, there were no traces of the advanced facilities claimed to exist, in an interview published by PBS, a Staff Sergeant from the U. S. Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha 572 described the caves, Again, with the caves, most of them were natural caves. Some were supported with pieces of wood maybe about the size of a 10-foot by 24-foot room. I know they made an out of that, and how are we going to be able to get into them. We worried about that too, because we see all these reports, then it turns out, when you actually go up there, theres really just small bunkers, and a lot of different ammo storage is up there. ODA572 The United States Air Force performed an air-strike at this location during December 2001, qanat Zhawar Photo Gallery – The Telegraph Article on photographs – The New York Post
3.
Pachir Aw Agam District
–
Pachir Aw Agam, or Pachir Wa Agam, is a district in the southeast of Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, bordering Pakistan. Its population, which is 100% Pashtun, was estimated at 39,280 in 2002, the district centre is the village of Pachir Aw Agam. The district has faced heavy conflict for at least a quarter of a century and it was a stronghold of the Mujahadeen during the Soviet war and was heavily bombed during the 2001 United States war. The cave complex of Tora Bora, one of the last strongholds of Al-Qaeda, Pachir Wa Agam district is consist of two parts first Upper Pachir and second lower Pachir. UNHCR District Profile, dated 2002-05-13, accessed 2006-07-20, map of Pachir Wa Agam district
4.
Nangarhar Province
–
Nangarhar is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. It is divided into districts and has a population of about 1,436,000. The city of Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province, the province was originally part of the Achaemenid Empire, in the Gandhara satrapy. The Nangarhar province territory and the Eastern Iranian peoples there fell to the Maurya Empire, the Mauryas introduced Hinduism and Buddhism to the region, and were planning to capture more territory in Central Asia until they faced local Greco-Bactrian forces. Seleucus is said to have reached a treaty with Chandragupta by giving control of the territory south of the Hindu Kush to the Mauryas upon intermarriage and 500 elephants. As soon as the forces, therefore, of all the confederates were united, a battle was fought, in which Antigonus was slain, having consolidated power in the northwest, Chandragupta pushed east towards the Nanda Empire. Afghanistans significant ancient tangible and intangible Buddhist heritage is recorded through wide-ranging archeological finds, including religious, Buddhist doctrines are reported to have reached as far as Balkh even during the life of the Buddha, as recorded by Husang Tsang. In this context a legend recorded by Husang Tsang refers to the first two lay disciples of Buddha, Trapusa and Bhallika responsible for introducing Buddhism in that country. Originally these two were merchants of the kingdom of Balhika, as the name Bhalluka or Bhallika probably suggests the association of one with that country and they had gone to India for trade and had happened to be at Bodhgaya when the Buddha had just attained enlightenment. Song Yun, a Chinese monk visited Nangarhar in 520 AD, Yun came across a vihara in Nangarhar containing the skull of Buddha, and another of Kekalam where 13 pieces of the cloak of Buddha and his 18 feet long mast were preserved. The region fell to the Ghaznavids after defeating Jayapala in the late 10th century and it later fell to the Ghorids followed by the Khiljis, Lodhis and the Moghuals, until finally becoming part of Ahmad Shah Durranis Afghan Empire in 1747. During the First Anglo-Afghan War, the invading British-led Indian forces were defeated on their way to Rawalpindi in 1842, British-led Indian forces returned in 1878 but retreated a couple of years later. Some fighting took place during the 1919 Third Anglo-Afghan War between the Afghan army that were led by King Amanullah Khan and British-Indians near the Durand Line border areas, the province remained relatively calm until the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan. Nangarhar was used by pro-Pakistani mujahideen fighting against the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, the Pakistani-trained mujahideen received funding from the United States and Saudi Arabia. Many Arab fighters from the Arab World had been fighting against the government forces of Mohammad Najibullah, in April 1992, Najibullah resigned as President and the various mujahideen took control over the country. When the 1992 Peshawar Accord failed, the mujahideen turned guns on each other and this was followed by the Taliban take-over in 1996 and the establishment of al-Qaeda training camps in Nangarhar province. Osama bin Laden held a position in Nangargar during the late 1990s. He led a fight against US-led forces in the 2001 Tora Bora campaign and he ultimately escaped to Abottabad, Pakistan, where he was killed in a night raid by members of Seal Team Six in 2011
5.
Afghan Interim Administration
–
After the September 11 attacks, the United States launched a Global War on Terrorism as part of its Operation Enduring Freedom, to remove the Taliban government from power in Afghanistan. The Bonn Agreement established an Afghan Interim Authority which would be established upon the transfer of power on 22 December 2001. The Interim Authority would consist of Interim Administration a Supreme Court of Afghanistan, the Emergency Loya Jirga was to be held within 6 months after the establishing of the AIA and would put in place an Afghan Transitional Authority which would replace the Afghan Interim Authority. Also decided was that Pashtun leader Hamid Karzai would be the chairman of the Interim Administration, at the Loya jirga of 13 July 2002 the Interim Administration was replaced by a Transitional administration. There was a lot of debate about who would lead the interim government, at the beginning of the conference it seemed that King Zahir Shah had a lot of support, but the Northern Alliance opposed this. Because of worries that Afghans Pashtun majority would be alienated by the selection of Uzbek Abdul Sittar Sirat, the Northern Alliance received about half of the posts in the interim cabinet, and members of the Rome group were named to eight positions. Subsequently the Interim cabinet was filled with warlords with private militias, among the most notable members of the interim administration were the trio Yunus Qanuni, Mohammad Fahim and Abdullah Abdullah, three of the most powerful leaders of the Northern Alliance. Frontline report of Bonn Conference Afghanland profile of interim administration
6.
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
–
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was an Islamic state established in September 1996 when the Taliban began their rule of Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul. At its peak the Taliban established control over approximately 90% of the country, the regime ended on December 9,2001, having been forced out by the Northern Alliance backed by U. S. air forces. The Taliban and its rule arose from the chaos after the Soviet–Afghan War and it began as an Islamic and Pashtun politico-religious movement composed of madrasa students in southern Afghanistan. Overwhelmingly ethnic Pashtuns, the Taliban blended Pashtunwali tribal code with elements of Sunni Islamic teaching to form an anti-Western and anti-modern Islamic ideology with which it ruled and it began to receive support from neighboring Pakistan as well as from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In the meantime, countries like the United States and others were watching from a distance, the Taliban considered many of Afghanistans other ethnic communities as foreign. Pashtun people are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and comprised the vast majority of the Taliban movement, the Battles of Mazar-i-Sharif illustrated this ethnic tension. Spreading from Kandahar, the Taliban eventually ruled Kabul in 1996, by the end of 2000, the Taliban were able to rule 90% of the country, aside from the opposition strongholds primarily found in the northeast corner of Badakhshan Province. Areas under the Talibans direct control were mainly Afghanistans major cities, tribal khans and warlords had de facto direct control over various small towns, villages, and rural areas. The Taliban sought to impose a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law upon the country of Afghanistan. Communists were systematically executed and thieves were punished by amputating one of their hands or feet, meanwhile, the Taliban succeeded in nearly eradicating the majority of the opium production by 2001. Cabinet ministers and deputies were mullahs with a madrasah education, several of them, such as the Minister of Health and Governor of the State bank, were primarily military commanders who left their administrative posts to fight when needed. Military reverses that trapped them behind lines or led to their deaths increased the chaos in the national administration, at the national level, all senior Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara bureaucrats were replaced with Pashtuns, whether qualified or not. Consequently, the ministries by and large ceased to function, Rashid described the Taliban government as a secret society run by Kandaharis. They did not hold elections, as their spokesman explained, The Sharia does not allow politics or political parties and that is why we give no salaries to officials or soldiers, just food, clothes, shoes, and weapons. We want to live a life like the Prophet lived 1400 years ago and we want to recreate the time of the Prophet, and we are only carrying out what the Afghan people have wanted for the past 14 years. They modeled their decision-making process on the Pashtun tribal council, together with what they believed to be the early Islamic model, discussion was followed by a building of a consensus by the believers. Before capturing Kabul, there was talk of stepping aside once a government of good Muslims took power, as the Talibans power grew, decisions were made by Mullah Omar without consulting the jirga and without consulting other parts of the country. He visited the capital, Kabul, only twice while in power, instead of an election, their leaders legitimacy came from an oath of allegiance, in imitation of the Prophet and the first four Caliphs
7.
Taliban insurgency
–
The Taliban insurgency began shortly after the groups fall from power following the 2001 War in Afghanistan. The insurgency has spread to some degree over the Durand Line border to neighboring Pakistan, in particular the Waziristan region, the Taliban conduct low-intensity warfare against Afghan National Security Forces and their NATO trainers. Regional countries, particularly Pakistan and Iran, are accused of funding and supporting the insurgent groups. The leader of the Taliban is Hibatullah Akhundzada who heads the Quetta Shura, the Haqqani Network, Hezbi Islami, and smaller al Qaeda groups have also joined the insurgency. They often use terrorist attacks in which their victims are usually Afghan civilians, according to reports by the United Nations and others, the insurgents were responsible for 75-80% of civilian casualties between 2009 and 2011. In response to this, major operations were started inside Afghanistan against the insurgents and these are intended to disrupt the network of the insurgents and force them to the negotiation table. Pamphlets distributed in secret during the night began to appear in many villages in the former Taliban heartland in southeastern Afghanistan. Most of the new recruits were drawn from the madrassas or religious schools of the areas of Pakistan. Major bases, a few with as many as 200 men, were created in the tribal areas of Pakistan by the summer of 2003. The will of the Pakistani paramilitaries stationed at border crossings to prevent such infiltration was called into question, there are different groups in Afghanistan operating against the NATO coalition forces. Primarily these are the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network led by Sirajuddin Haqqani, additionally, there is the Hezb-e Islami of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar which is a separate entity from the Taliban. The Afghan Talibans main goal is a withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan. The Taliban leadership operates in so-called leadership councils, the main Taliban leader was Mullah Omar, who died in April 2013. He was replaced by Mullah Akhter Mansoor, although some senior Taliban members do not recognize him as their leader, while the pre-2001 Taliban suppressed opium production, the current insurgency relies on opium revenues to purchase weapons, train its members, and buy support. In 2001, Afghanistan produced only 11% of the opium, today it produces 93% of the global crop. The United States Agency for International Development is investigating the possibility that kickbacks from its contracts are being funneled to the Taliban, the reports author Matt Waldman spoke to nine Taliban field commanders in Afghanistan and concluded that Pakistans relationship with the insurgents ran far deeper than previously realized. Some of those interviewed suggested that the organization even attended meetings of the Talibans supreme council, a spokesman for the Pakistani military dismissed the report, describing it as malicious. Since opium is the source of existence of 60 to 70 percent of the farmers in Marja
8.
Pakistan
–
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a federal parliamentary republic in South Asia on the crossroads of Central Asia and Western Asia. It is the sixth-most populous country with a population exceeding 200 million people, in terms of area, it is the 33rd-largest country in the world with an area covering 881,913 square kilometres. It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistans narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, Pakistan is unique among Muslim countries in that it is the only country to have been created in the name of Islam. As a result of the Pakistan Movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and it is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country, with a similarly diverse geography and wildlife. Initially a dominion, Pakistan adopted a constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic, an ethnic civil war in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh. The new constitution stipulated that all laws were to conform to the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Quran. Pakistan has an economy with a well-integrated agriculture sector. The Pakistani economy is the 24th-largest in the world in terms of purchasing power and it is ranked among the emerging and growth-leading economies of the world, and is backed by one of the worlds largest and fastest-growing middle classes. The post-independence history of Pakistan has been characterised by periods of military rule, the country continues to face challenging problems such as illiteracy, healthcare, and corruption, but has substantially reduced poverty and terrorism and expanded per capita income. It is also a member of CERN. Pakistan is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, the name Pakistan literally means land of the pure in Urdu and Persian. It is a play on the word pāk meaning pure in Persian and Pashto, the letter i was incorporated to ease pronunciation and form the linguistically correct and meaningful name. Some of the earliest ancient human civilisations in South Asia originated from areas encompassing present-day Pakistan, the earliest known inhabitants in the region were Soanian during the Lower Paleolithic, of whom stone tools have been found in the Soan Valley of Punjab. The Vedic Civilization, characterised by Indo-Aryan culture, laid the foundations of Hinduism, Multan was an important Hindu pilgrimage centre. The Vedic civilisation flourished in the ancient Gandhāran city of Takṣaśilā, the Indo-Greek Kingdom founded by Demetrius of Bactria included Gandhara and Punjab and reached its greatest extent under Menander, prospering the Greco-Buddhist culture in the region. Taxila had one of the earliest universities and centres of education in the world. At its zenith, the Rai Dynasty of Sindh ruled this region, the Pala Dynasty was the last Buddhist empire, which, under Dharampala and Devapala, stretched across South Asia from what is now Bangladesh through Northern India to Pakistan. The Arab conqueror Muhammad bin Qasim conquered the Indus valley from Sindh to Multan in southern Punjab in 711 AD, the Pakistan governments official chronology identifies this as the time when the foundation of Pakistan was laid
9.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
10.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
11.
Germany
–
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
12.
Northern Alliance
–
The United Front was assembled by key leaders of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, particularly president Burhanuddin Rabbani and former Defense Minister Ahmad Shah Massoud. Initially it included mostly Tajiks but by 2000, leaders of ethnic groups had joined the Northern Alliance. This included Abdul Rashid Dostum, Mohammad Mohaqiq, Abdul Qadir, Asif Mohseni, the Northern Alliance fought a defensive war against the Taliban government. They received support from Iran, Russia, Turkey, India, Tajikistan and others, while the Taliban were backed by al-Qaeda, the Northern Alliance was mostly made up of ethnic Tajiks, but later included Uzbeks and Hazaras. The Taliban government was dominated by Pashtuns with other groups being the minority, the US invaded Afghanistan providing support to Northern Alliance troops on the ground in a two-month war against the Taliban, which they won in December 2001. With the establishment of the Karzai administration, the Northern Alliance broke apart, the United Front was formed in late 1996 against the Taliban government by opposition factions. Massoud decided on the political line and the general military strategy of the alliance. The accords created the Islamic State of Afghanistan and appointed a government for a transitional period to be followed by general elections. With the exception of Gulbuddin Hekmatyars Hezb-e Islami, all of the parties were unified under this government in April 1992. Hekmatyars Hezb-e Islami, for its part, refused to recognize the government for most of the period discussed in this report and launched attacks against government forces, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar received operational, financial and military support from Pakistan. Afghanistan expert Amin Saikal concludes in Modern Afghanistan, A History of Struggle and Survival, islamabad could not possibly expect the new Islamic government leaders to subordinate their own nationalist objectives in order to help Pakistan realize its regional ambitions. Had it not been for the ISIs logistic support and supply of a number of rockets, Hekmatyars forces would not have been able to target. In addition, Saudi Arabia and Iran as competitors for regional hegemony – supported Afghan militias hostile towards each other, according to Human Rights Watch, Iran was backing the Shia Hazara Hezb-i Wahdat forces of Abdul Ali Mazari in order to maximize Wahdats military power and influence. Saudi Arabia supported the Wahhabite Abdul Rasul Sayyaf and his Ittihad-i Islami faction, a publication by the George Washington University describes, utside forces saw instability in Afghanistan as an opportunity to press their own security and political agendas. Conflict between the two militias soon escalated into a full-scale war, because of the chaos, some leaders increasingly had only nominal control over their commanders. Meanwhile, southern Afghanistan was under the control of local leaders not affiliated with the government in Kabul. In 1994, the Taliban - a movement originating from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-run religious schools for Afghan refugees in Pakistan - also developed in Afghanistan as a politico-religious force. In late 1994, most of the factions which had been fighting in the battle for control of Kabul were defeated militarily by forces of the Islamic States Minister of Defense Ahmad Shah Massoud
13.
Taliban
–
Until his death in 2013, Mullah Mohammed Omar was the supreme commander and spiritual leader of the Taliban. Mullah Akhtar Mansour was elected as his replacement in 2015, and following Mansours killing in a May 2016 U. S. drone strike, Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada became the groups leader. The Taliban emerged in 1994 as one of the prominent factions in the Afghan Civil War, under the leadership of Mohammed Omar, the movement spread throughout most of Afghanistan, sequestering power from the Mujahideen warlords, whose corruption and despotism Afghans had tired of. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was established in 1996 and the Afghan capital transferred to Kandahar and it held control of most of the country until being overthrown by the American-led invasion of Afghanistan in December 2001 following the September 11 attacks. At its peak, formal recognition of the Talibans government was acknowledged by only three nations, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The group later regrouped as a movement to fight the American-backed Karzai administration. The Taliban have been condemned internationally for the enforcement of their interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. In its post-9/11 insurgency, the group has accused of using terrorism as a specific tactic to further their ideological and political goals. According to the United Nations, the Taliban and their allies were responsible for 76% of Afghan civilian casualties in 2010, 80% in 2011, Pakistan states that it dropped all support for the group after the September 11 attacks. Al-Qaeda also supported the Taliban with fighters from Arab countries and Central Asia, hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee to United Front-controlled territory, Pakistan, and Iran. The word Taliban is Pashto, طالبان ṭālibān, meaning students and this is a loanword from Arabic طالب ṭālib, using the Persian plural ending -ān ان. In Arabic طالبان ṭālibān means not students but two students, as it is a form, the Arabic plural being طلاب ṭullāb—occasionally causing some confusion to Arabic speakers. Since becoming a loanword in English, Taliban, besides a plural noun referring to the group, has also used as a singular noun referring to an individual. For example, John Walker Lindh has been referred to as an American Taliban, in the English language newspapers of Pakistan, the word Talibans is often used when referring to more than one Taliban. The spelling Taliban has come to be predominant over Taleban in English, in the meantime, the United States and Saudi Arabia joined the struggle against the Soviet Union by providing all the funds. Zia-ul-Haq aligned himself with Pakistans Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and later picked General Akhtar Abdur Rahman to lead the insurgency against the Soviet Union inside Afghanistan, about 90,000 Afghans, including Mohammed Omar, were trained by Pakistans ISI during the 1980s. After the fall of the Soviet-backed regime of Mohammad Najibullah in 1992, several Afghan political parties agreed on a peace and power-sharing agreement, the accord created the Islamic State of Afghanistan and appointed an interim government for a transitional period. With the exception of Gulbuddin Hekmatyars Hezb-e Islami, all of the parties, were ostensibly unified under this government in April 1992
14.
Al-Qaeda
–
It operates as a network made up of Islamic extremist, Salafist jihadists. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military targets in various countries, including the 1998 U. S. embassy bombings, the September 11 attacks, the U. S. government responded to the September 11 attacks by launching the War on Terror. Characteristic techniques employed by al-Qaeda include suicide attacks and the bombing of different targets. Al-Qaeda ideologues envision a complete break from all foreign influences in Muslim countries, among the beliefs ascribed to al-Qaeda members is the conviction that a Christian–Jewish alliance is conspiring to destroy Islam. Al-Qaeda also opposes what it regards as man-made laws, and wants to replace them with a form of sharia law. Al-Qaeda has carried out attacks on targets it considers kafir. Al-Qaeda is also responsible for instigating violence among Muslims. Al-Qaeda leaders regard liberal Muslims, Shias, Sufis and other sects as heretics and have attacked their mosques, examples of sectarian attacks include the Yazidi community bombings, the Sadr City bombings, the Ashoura massacre and the April 2007 Baghdad bombings. Since the death of bin Laden in 2011, the group has been led by the Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaedas management philosophy has been described as centralization of decision and decentralization of execution. Many terrorism experts do not believe that the global jihadist movement is driven at every level by al-Qaedas leadership, marc Sageman, a psychiatrist and former Central Intelligence Agency officer, said that al-Qaeda is now just a loose label for a movement that seems to target the west. We like to create an entity called in our minds. This view mirrors the account given by Osama bin Laden in his October 2001 interview with Tayseer Allouni and this matter isnt about any specific person and. is not about the al-Qaidah Organization. We are the children of an Islamic Nation, with Prophet Muhammad as its leader, and all the true believers are brothers. So the situation isnt like the West portrays it, that there is an organization with a specific name and that particular name is very old. It was born without any intention from us, created a military base to train the young men to fight against the vicious, arrogant, brutal, terrorizing Soviet empire. So this place was called The Base, as in a base, so this name grew. We arent separated from this nation, and so we discuss the conscience of this nation. Bruce Hoffman, however, sees al-Qaeda as a network that is strongly led from the Pakistani tribal areas
15.
Turkistan Islamic Party
–
Its stated goals are to establish an independent state called East Turkestan in Xinjiang. According to a Chinese report, published in 2002, between 1990 and 2001 the ETIM had committed over 200 acts of terrorism, resulting in at least 162 deaths and its Syrian branch Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria is active in the Syrian Civil War. The area was subjected to Turkification and Islamification at the hands of invading Turkic Muslims during the Islamicisation and Turkicisation of Xinjiang, in the 18th century the Qing Dynasty reorganized the territory as a province, Xinjiang. Russian Orthodox Old Believers emigrated from Russia to Xinjiang in the early 19th century, the Second East Turkestan Republic dissolved itself on Soviet orders when the Chinese communists established the Peoples Republic of China after the Chinese Civil War. Nevertheless, the Soviet Union distributed Soviet passports among the Central Asian ethnics in Xinjiang to facilitate emigration to Kazakh SSR, China accused the Soviets of engineering riots, and improved the military infrastructure there to combat it. Abdul Hameed, Abdul Azeez Makhdoom, and Abdul Hakeem Makhdoom launched the Islamic Party of Turkistan in 1940, after being set free from prison in 1979, Abdul Hakeem instructed Hasan Mahsum and other Uyghurs in fundamentalist Islam. In 1989 Ziyauddin Yusuf started the group which was originally called East Turkistan Islamic Party, the name in Uyghur was Sherqiy Türkistan Islam Partiyisi, and in Turkish it was called Doğu Türkistan İslam Partisi. The movement was reshuffled by Hasan Mahsum and Abudukadir Yapuquan in 1997 into its present incarnation and this group was referred to as East Turkestan Islamic Movement by the Chinese government but the group itself never used that name. In 1998 Mahsum moved ETIMs headquarters to Kabul, taking shelter under Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, in Afghanistan, ETIM leaders met with Osama bin Laden and other leaders of Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan to coordinate actions. There, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement dropped the East from its name as it increased its domain, however, ETIM resurged after the Iraq War inflamed mujaheddin sentiment. In 2006, ETIM circulated a video calling for a renewed jihad, the ETIM is said to be allied with the Pakistani Taliban prompting China to urge Pakistan to take action against the militants. The new organization called itself the Turkistan Islamic Party and abandoned usage of the name ETIM, although China still calls it by the name ETIM, tIPs Ṣawt al-Islām media arm releases video messages. The East Turkestan Islamic Movement is allied with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan along with the Pakistani Taliban, one of the grievances against China by the TIP was that China implemented female and male equality. Al-Qaeda aligned al-Fajr Media Center distributes TIP material, the Uyghurs East Turkestan independence movement was endorsed in the serial Islamic Spring”s 9th release by Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the chief of Al-Qaeda. During the Battle of Kunduz in Afghanistan, foreign Islamist militants of Uyghur, Chechen, Rohingya, Kyrgyz, Tajik, and Uzbek ethnicity joined the Taliban in their attack. TIP sent the Turkistan Brigade, also known as the Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria to take part in the Syrian Civil War, Al-Qaeda linked groups in Syria include the Syrian branch of the Chechen Caucasus Emirate, Uzbek militants, and the Turkistan Islamic Party. In Jisr al-Shughur a Churchs cross had a TIP flag placed on top of it after the end of the battle, the Uzbek group Katibat al-Tawhid wal Jihad released a video featuring themselves and the Uyghur Turkistan Islamic Party attacking and desecrating Christian Churches in Jisr al-Shughur. The Saudi news agency Al-Arabiya said that the area was Alawite, camps training children for Jihad are being run by the Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria
16.
Tommy Franks
–
Tommy Ray Franks is a retired general in the United States Army. His last Army post was as the Commander of the U. S, Central Command, overseeing U. S. military operations in a 25-country region, including the Middle East. Franks succeeded General Anthony Zinni to this position on July 6,2000, Franks was the U. S. general leading the attack on the Taliban in Afghanistan in response to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon in 2001. He also led the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Franks was born Tommy Ray Bentley in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, and was adopted by Ray and Lorene Pete Parker Franks. Franks attended Midland High School and graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in Midland and he attended the University of Texas at Austin where he was a brother of Delta Upsilon International Fraternity. He dropped out of college two years due to subpar grades and lack of motivation. Franks decided to give himself a jolt and joined the United States Army, later, through the military, Franks was able to enroll at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1971. Additionally, he holds a Master of Science in Public Administration from the Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and is a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College and he also served as Fire Direction Officer and Fire Support Officer with 5th Battalion, 60th Infantry during this tour. In 1968, Franks returned to Fort Sill, where he commanded a battery in the Artillery Training Center. He also commanded the 84th Armored Engineer Company, and served as Regimental Assistant S-3 during this tour, Franks, after graduating from the Armed Forces Staff College, was posted to The Pentagon in 1976, where he served as an Army Inspector General in the Investigations Division. In 1977 he was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Staff, Army where he served on the Congressional Activities Team, in 1981, Franks returned to West Germany where he commanded 2nd Battalion, 78th Field Artillery for three years. He returned to the United States in 1984 to attend the Army War College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania and he was next assigned to Fort Hood, Texas, as III Corps Deputy Assistant G3, a position he held until 1987 when he assumed command of 1st Cavalry Division Artillery. He also served as Chief of Staff, 1st Cavalry Division during this tour and his initial general officer assignment was Assistant Division Commander, 1st Cavalry Division during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. During 1991–1992, he was assigned as Assistant Commandant of the Field Artillery School at Fort Sill. S, from 1995–1997, General Franks commanded the 2nd Infantry Division, Korea. Franks was the U. S. general leading the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and he also led the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. General Franks retirement was announced on Thursday, May 22,2003, secretary Donald Rumsfeld reportedly offered him the position of Army Chief of Staff, but he declined. On 7 July 2003 Franks retirement took effect. S. and he wears the Army Staff Identification Badge and the Aircraft Crewmembers Badge. He is a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Franks wanted to retire after the major combat phase of the war, tired from having planned for and prosecuted two major wars and led a war on terrorism since September 2001
17.
Michael Boyce, Baron Boyce
–
Admiral of the Fleet Michael Cecil Boyce, Baron Boyce, KG, GCB, OBE, DL is a former Royal Navy officer who now sits as a crossbench member of the House of Lords. As Chief of Defence Staff he is believed to have had concerns about US plans for a missile defence system. In early 2003 he advised the British Government on the deployment of troops for the invasion of Iraq, the son of Commander Hugh Boyce DSC and Madeline, Boyce was educated at Hurstpierpoint College and the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. Promoted to the rank of commander on 30 June 1976, Boyce became commanding officer of the submarine HMS Superb in 1979 and he was given command of the frigate HMS Brilliant in January 1983, and returned to the Ministry of Defence as Captain, Submarine Sea Training in 1984. He attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1988 and then became Senior Naval Officer in the Middle East in 1989 and he went on to be Director of Naval Staff Duties at the Ministry of Defence in August 1989. Following promotion to rear admiral he became Flag Officer Sea Training in July 1991 and he became Flag Officer, Surface Flotilla and NATO Commander of the Anti-Submarine Warfare Striking Force in November 1992. Promoted to vice admiral in February 1994, Boyce was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1995 New Year Honours. Boyce became First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff in October 1998 and was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1999 Birthday Honours. He was appointed Chief of the Defence Staff in February 2001, in early 2003 he advised the British Government on the deployment of troops for the invasion of Iraq, seeking assurances as to the legitimacy of the deployment before it was allowed to proceed. He was appointed a Knight of Justice of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem on 27 November 2002, and retired as Chief of Defence Staff on 7 November 2003. Boyce was created a Life Peer as Baron Boyce, of Pimlico in the City of Westminster, on 16 June 2003 and was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London on 19 December 2003. He was also appointed a director of WS Atkins plc in May 2004 and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports on 10 December 2004. He became chairman of the Royal Navy Club of 1765 &1785 in 2004 and he gave evidence to The Iraq Inquiry on 3 December 2009. He takes a keen interest in sports, in 2013 he was elected Master of the Drapers Company. He has been the president of the Pilgrims Society and the Royal Navy Submarine Museum as well as a trustee of the Naval and he was appointed as an honorary admiral of the fleet in the Queens 2014 Birthday Honours. In 1971 Boyce married Harriette Gail Fletcher, by whom he had one son, following the dissolution of his first marriage, he married Fleur Margaret Anne Rutherford. Lady Boyce died in 2016 at the age of 67
18.
Afghanistan
–
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located within South Asia and Central Asia. It has a population of approximately 32 million, making it the 42nd most populous country in the world. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan in the north and its territory covers 652,000 km2, making it the 41st largest country in the world. The land also served as the source from which the Kushans, Hephthalites, Samanids, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Khiljis, Mughals, Hotaks, Durranis, the political history of the modern state of Afghanistan began with the Hotak and Durrani dynasties in the 18th century. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a state in the Great Game between British India and the Russian Empire. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, King Amanullah unsuccessfully attempted to modernize the country and it remained peaceful during Zahir Shahs forty years of monarchy. A series of coups in the 1970s was followed by a series of wars that devastated much of Afghanistan. The name Afghānistān is believed to be as old as the ethnonym Afghan, the root name Afghan was used historically in reference to a member of the ethnic Pashtuns, and the suffix -stan means place of in Persian. Therefore, Afghanistan translates to land of the Afghans or, more specifically in a historical sense, however, the modern Constitution of Afghanistan states that he word Afghan shall apply to every citizen of Afghanistan. An important site of historical activities, many believe that Afghanistan compares to Egypt in terms of the historical value of its archaeological sites. The country sits at a unique nexus point where numerous civilizations have interacted and it has been home to various peoples through the ages, among them the ancient Iranian peoples who established the dominant role of Indo-Iranian languages in the region. At multiple points, the land has been incorporated within large regional empires, among them the Achaemenid Empire, the Macedonian Empire, the Indian Maurya Empire, and the Islamic Empire. Archaeological exploration done in the 20th century suggests that the area of Afghanistan has been closely connected by culture and trade with its neighbors to the east, west. Artifacts typical of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, urban civilization is believed to have begun as early as 3000 BCE, and the early city of Mundigak may have been a colony of the nearby Indus Valley Civilization. More recent findings established that the Indus Valley Civilisation stretched up towards modern-day Afghanistan, making the ancient civilisation today part of Pakistan, Afghanistan, in more detail, it extended from what today is northwest Pakistan to northwest India and northeast Afghanistan. An Indus Valley site has found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan. There are several smaller IVC colonies to be found in Afghanistan as well, after 2000 BCE, successive waves of semi-nomadic people from Central Asia began moving south into Afghanistan, among them were many Indo-European-speaking Indo-Iranians. These tribes later migrated further into South Asia, Western Asia, the region at the time was referred to as Ariana
19.
Bismillah Khan Mohammadi
–
Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, or Bismillah Khan, is the former Defense Minister of Afghanistan. From 2002 to 2010, he served as Chief of Staff of the Afghan National Army and he has an anti-Taliban background and once served as a senior commander under Ahmad Shah Massoud. Bismillah Khan Mohammadi was born in 1961 in the Panjshir Province of Afghanistan, an ethnic Tajik, he is the son of Ghausuddin of the Panjshir Valley. After graduating from 14th grade in Abu Hanifa Seminary he enrolled at Kabul Military University, Mohammadi was a former PDPA Parcham member, but after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan he aligned himself with mujahideen resistance commander Ahmad Shah Massoud. He was a commander in the anti-Taliban resistance, the United Front. During that period the security situation in Kabul was better than in parts of Afghanistan. In 2002, Bismillah Khan became Chief of Staff of the Afghan National Army, in June 2010, Bismillah Khan was transferred from his position as Army Chief of Staff to the post of Interior Minister by President Hamid Karzai. Mohammadi is committed to base police leadership appointments upon merit, the challenging tasks to prevent politics, ethnicity, tribalism, cronyism, and nepotism from influencing appointments will take perseverance and patience by Mohammadi. When Mohammadi was the chief of staff, he was able to achieve substantial improvements in the army’s capabilities by championing meritocracy. With the police, he will need to redouble his efforts, for Karzai, mohammadi’s ties to the army also make him uniquely qualified to increase cooperation between the police and the army in the field. Such cooperation is essential, above all because most police units are not adequately prepared to deal with sizable groups of armed insurgents on their own. The departure of Mohammadi from the Ministry of Defense leaves no one who can rival Wardak in stature, one of Mohammadis strategies is to push greater authority down to local police commanders. A decentralized command requires a range to regulate due to the fact that some commanders lack the abilities. Upper-echelon commanders must get out of their headquarters and visit the field commanders, Mohammadi undoubtedly will expect other senior commanders to do the same. As the Minister of the Interior, Mohammadi stressed the need to curb the corruption that has corroded the government, Mohammadi has already begun taking some of the actions essential to the reduction of corruption. He is, for example, keeping tabs on the movements of Ministry of Interior officials, Bismillah Khan Mohammadi has received the Sayed Jamaluddin Afghani, Ghazi Amanullah Khan and Ahmad Shah Baba awards for his efforts in bolstering the Afghan National Army. Interview, General Bismillah Khan Mohammadi, Chief of General Staff, Afghan National Army Afghanistans New Minister of Interior, A Potential Game Changer
