AFGHANISTAN

Islamic State of Afghanistan

Dowlat-e Eslami-ye Afghanestan

CAPITAL: Kabul

FLAG: The national flag has three equal vertical bands of black, red, and green, with a gold emblem centered on the red band; the emblem features a temple-like structure encircled by a wreath on the left and right and by a bold Islamic inscription above.

ANTHEM: Esllahte Arzi (Land Reform), beginning "So long as there is the earth and the heavens."

MONETARY UNIT: The afghani (af) is a paper currency of 100 puls. There are coins of 25 and 50 puls and 1, 2, and 5 afghanis, and notes of 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 afghanis. af1 = $0.02000 (or $1 = af50) as of 2004.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is the legal standard, although some local units are still in use.

HOLIDAYS: Now Rooz (New Year's Day), 21 March; May Day, 1 May; Independence Day, 18 August. Movable religious holidays include First Day of Ramadan, 'Id al-Fitr, 'Id al-'Adha', 'Ashura, and Milad an-Nabi. The Afghan calendar year begins on 21 March; the Afghan year 1376 began on 21 March 1997.

TIME: 4:30 pm = noon GMT.

LOCATION, SIZE, AND EXTENT

Afghanistan is a landlocked country in South Asia with a long, narrow strip in the northeast (the Wakhan corridor). Afghanistan is slightly smaller than the state of Texas, with a total area of 647,500 sq km (250,001 sq mi), extending 1,240 km (770 mi) ne–sw and 560 km (350 mi) se–nw. Afghanistan is bounded on the n by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, on the extreme ne by China, on the e and s by Pakistan, and on the w by Iran, with a total boundary length of 5,529 km (3,436 mi). Afghanistan's capital city, Kabul, is located in the east central part of the country.

TOPOGRAPHY

Although the average altitude of Afghanistan is about 1,200 m (4,000 ft), the Hindu Kush mountain range rises to more than 6,100 m (20,000 ft) in the northern corner of the Wakhan pan handle in the northeast and continues in a southwesterly direction for about 970 km (600 mi), dividing the northern provinces from the rest of the country. Central Afghanistan, a plateau with an average elevation of 1,800 m (6,000 ft), contains many small fertile valleys and provides excellent grazing for sheep, goats, and camels. To the north of the Hindu Kush and the central mountain range, the altitude drops to about 460 m (1,500 ft), permitting the growth of cotton, fruits, grains, ground nuts, and other crops. Southwestern Afghanistan is a desert, hot in summer and cold in winter. The four major river systems are the Amu Darya (Oxus) in the north, flowing into the Aral Sea; the Harirūd and Morghāb in the west; the Helmand in the southwest; and the Kabul in the east, flowing into the Indus. There are few lakes.

Afghanistan has recorded more than 10 earthquakes since 2000. In March 2002, the most disastrous struck Baghlān near the Hindu Kush. The earthquake left nearly than 2,000 dead and 7,000 homeless. On 8 October 2005, Afghanistan was impacted by an earthquake centered in Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided by India and Pakistan. The earthquake measured 7.6 on the Richter scale, and recorded more than 140 aftershocks, one of which measured at a magnitude of 5.9. Over 50,000 people were killed in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Another earthquake struck the Shinkai district of Zabul province on 23 October 2005. There were five Afghan deaths and six injuries.

CLIMATE

The ranges in altitude produce a climate with both temperate and semitropical characteristics, and the seasons are clearly marked throughout the country. Wide temperature variations are usual from season to season and from day to night. Summer temperatures in Kabul may range from 16°c (61°f) at sunrise to 38°c (100°f) by noon. The mean January temperature in Kabul is 0°c (32°f); the maximum summer temperature in Jalālābād is about 46°c (115°f). There is much sunshine, and the air is usually clear and dry. Rainfall averages about 25 to 30 cm (10 to 12 in); precipitation occurs in winter and spring, most of it in the form of snow. Wind velocity is high, especially in the west.

FLORA AND FAUNA

There are over 4,000 plant species, including hundreds of varieties of trees, shrubs, vines, flowers, and fungi. The country is particularly rich in such medicinal plants as rue, wormwood, and asafetida; fruit and nut trees are found in many areas. Native fauna include the fox, lynx, wild dog, bear, mongoose, shrew, hedgehog, hyena, jerboa, hare, and wild varieties of cats, asses, mountain goats, and mountain sheep. Trout is the most common fish.

ENVIRONMENT

Afghanistan's most significant ecological problems are deforestation, drought, soil degradation, and overgrazing. Neglect, scorched earth tactics, and the damage caused by extensive bombardments have destroyed previously productive agricultural areas, and more are threatened by tons of unexploded ordnance. Afghanistan has responded to the fuel needs of its growing population by cutting down many of its already sparse forests. Consequently, by late 2002, between 1 and 2% of Afghanistan's land area was forest land. That represented a 33% decrease from 1979. Only about 0.3% of the total land area is nationally protected.

Another environmental threat is posed by returning refugees to Afghanistan, of which there were over 4 million in Pakistan, Iran, and other countries in 2002, who have migrated to Kabul and other larger cities instead of returning to destroyed villages and fields. This migration has placed stress on the infrastructure of those cities, causing increased pollution and worsening sanitation conditions.

According to a 2006 report issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), 12 species of mammals, 17 species of birds, 1 species of reptile, and 1 plant species were threatened. Endangered species in Afghanistan included the snow leopard, long-billed curlew, Argali sheep, musk deer, tiger, white-headed duck, Afghani brook salamander, Kabul markhor, and the Siberian white crane. There were thought to be fewer than 100 snow leopards by 2002. The country's Caspian tigers have virtually disappeared.

POPULATION

The population of Afghanistan in 2005 was estimated by the United Nations (UN) at 29,929,000, which placed it at number 38 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In 2005, approximately 2% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 45% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 107 males for every 100 females in the country. According to the UN, the annual population rate of change for 2005–10 was expected to be 2.6%, a rate the government viewed as satisfactory. The projected population for the year 2025 was 50,252,000. The population density was 46 per sq km (119 per sq mi).

The UN estimated that 22% of the population lived in urban areas in 2005, and that urban areas were growing at an annual rate of 5.92%. The capital city, Kabul, had a population of 2,956,000 in that year. Other major population centers and their estimated populations include Qandahār, 349,300; Mazār-e Sharif, 246,900; and Herāt, 171,500. These figures are unreliable, however, because many city dwellers have left their urban homes for refuge in rural areas. Approximately 20% of the population is nomadic.

Two decades of near-constant warfare make Afghanistan's population—never certain in any case—even more difficult to assess. As many as three million Afghans are estimated to have died, and an additional six million sought refuge in Pakistan, Iran, and elsewhere in the world. The last official census was taken in 1988. As of 2006, the Afghanistan Central Statistical Office was preparing to undertake a new full census of the population.

MIGRATION

Due to the US-led bombing campaign in 2001–02 carried out against the Taliban regime, a large Afghan refugee population was created in surrounding countries. The Afghan refugee population in Pakistan in 2002 was approximately 3.7 million, and, in Iran and the west, an additional 1.6 million. Since early 2002, there were many spontaneous returnees, but the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) began assisting refugees to repatriate in February 2002. As of October, more than 1.5 million had returned to their homes. In 2003, there were an estimated 184,000–300,000 internally displaced persons (IDP) within the country.

In mid-2002, there was a daily influx of homeless migrants into Kabul, numbering approximately 300–400 families a day. Seventy percent of Kabul's population was living in illegal structures.

In the summer of 2001, the majority of the over one million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Afghanistan had been driven off their land and into refugee camps by ongoing conflict and four years of drought. After 11 September 2001, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) began to deliver shelter and nonfood supplies to help the IDPs survive the Afghan winter. It dispatched road convoys from Iran, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan to destinations in Afghanistan, carrying blankets, winter clothing, tents, and other essential items. Following the winter, with the defeat of the Taliban and the beginning of the spring planting season, the IOM worked to return the IDPs to their villages from the refugee camps. The IDP families were offered wheat, seeds, blankets, soap, agricultural tools, and other items. In addition to the IOM and the UNHCR, the International Committee of the Red Cross and UNICEF were heavily involved in repatriating refugees. Despite their efforts, by the end of 2004 the number of repatriated Afghan refugees dropped by only 2% during the year. The Return of Qualified Afghans program, designed to bring back Afghan professionals living abroad, facilitated the return of 150 Afghans (14 female and 136 male) to take up assignments in Afghanistan consistent with their professional backgrounds by June 2005.

By the end of 2004, some 2.1 million Afghan refugees were reported by 78 asylum countries. Of the world's total refugee population in 2004, Afghans constituted 23%, continuing to be the largest country of origin of refugees under UNHCR care. Tajikistan closed its border with Afghanistan in 2004.

According to Human Rights Watch, as of September 2005 one million Afghanis were displaced within their own country, and 3.7 million refugees were in neighboring countries—1.5 million in Iran and more than 2 million in Pakistan. All neighboring countries closed their borders with Afghanistan by September 2005. By mid-September 2005, the Pakistani government ordered the forcible expulsion of millions of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan's tribal areas. In the rush to meet the forced expulsion deadline dozens of children died. In 2005, the net migration rate was an estimated 21.43 migrants per 1,000 population.

ETHNIC GROUPS

About the middle of the second millennium bc, Indo-Aryans began to move into and through the present area of Afghanistan. Much later came other tribal groups from Central Asia—Pactyes (from whom the present-day name "Pashtuns" derives), Sakas, Kushans, Hephthalites, and others—and a procession of Iranians and Greeks. In the 7th century ad, Arabs arrived from the south, spreading the new faith of Islam. In the same century, Turks moved in from the north, followed in the 13th century by Mongols, and, finally, in the 15th century by Turko-Mongols. This multiplicity of movements made Afghanistan a loose conglomeration of racial and linguistic groups.

All citizens are called Afghans, but the Pashtuns (the name may also be written as "Pashtoon", "Pushtun", or "Pukhtun," and in Pakistan as "Pathan") are often referred to as the "true Afghans." Numbering about 42% of the population in 2005, they are known to have centered in the Sulaiman range to the east; it is only in recent centuries that they moved into eastern and southern Afghanistan, where they now predominate. They have long been divided into two major divisions, the Durranis and the Ghilzais, each with its own tribes and subtribes.

The Tajiks, of Iranian stock, comprise nearly 27% of the population and are mainly concentrated in the north and northeast. In the central ranges are found the Hazaras (about 9%), who are said to have descended from the Mongols. To the north of the Hindu Kush, Turkic and Turko-Mongol groups were in the majority until 1940. Each of these groups is related to groups north of the Amu Darya; among them are the Uzbeks, who number about 9% of the population. Other groups include the Aimaks, Turkmen, Baloch, Farsiwans (Persians), and Brahiu. In the northeast are the Kafirs, or infidels. After their conversion to Islam at the end of the 19th century, they were given the name of Nuristanis, or people of the light.

LANGUAGES

Both Pashtu (or Pushtu) and Dari (Afghan Persian) are the official languages of the country. Pashtu is spoken by about 35% of the population while approximately 50% speak Dari. Although Pashtu has a literature of its own, Dari, the language spoken in Kabul, has been the principal language of cultural expression, of the government, and of business. Both Pashtu and Dari are written primarily with the Arabic alphabet, however, there are some modifications. The Hazaras speak their own dialect of Dari. The Turkic languages, spoken by 11% of the population, include Uzbek and Turkmen, and the Nuristanis speak some seven different dialects belonging to the Dardic linguistic group. There are about 30 minor languages, primarily Balochi and Pashai, spoken by some 4% of the population. Bilingualism is common.

RELIGIONS

Almost all Afghans are Muslims. Approximately 84% are Sunnis; 15% are Shias; others comprise only 1%. The Pashtuns, most of the Tajiks, the Uzbeks, and the Turkmen are Sunnis, while the Hazaras are Shias. Most of the Sunnis adhere to Hanafi Sunnism, but a fairly sizable minority of Sunnis adhere to a more mystical version known as Sufism. The country's small Hindu and Sikh population is estimated at less than 3,000.

In 1994 the Islamic militants who called themselves the Taliban—literally "the Seekers," a term used to describe religious students—began to impose their strict form of Islam observance in the areas that they controlled. The Taliban, composed mostly of Pashtuns, were puritanical zealots. Women were ordered to dress in strict Islamic garb and were banned from working or from going out of their houses unless accompanied by a male relative. Some men were forced to pray five times a day and grow full beards as a condition of employment in the government. Under the Taliban, repression of the Hazara ethnic group, who were predominantly Shias, was severe.

With the fall of the Taliban and the adoption of a new constitution in January 2004, Islam remains the state religion; however, the new constitution does allow for religious freedom. The constitution does not indicate a preference for Sunnism and there are no references made in the document to the use of Shariah law in the legal code. The document does state that both the president and vice president must be Muslim. The Shia minority still faces some discrimination from the Sunni majority.

TRANSPORTATION

Many roads were built in the years prior to 1979 to connect the principal cities and to open up formerly isolated areas. As of 2003, Afghanistan had an estimated 34,789 km (21,604 mi) of roads, of which 8,231 km (5,111 mi) were paved. Roads connect Kabul with most provincial capitals and with Peshāwar in Pakistan through the Khyber Pass. The road from Herāt to Mashhad in Iran was completed in 1971. The Salang Tunnel through the Hindu Kush, completed with Soviet assistance in 1964, considerably shortened the travel time between Kabul and northern Afghanistan. The tunnel was modernized in the mid-1980s. However, in May 1997 the Tajik leader, Ahmad Shah Masud, blew up the southern entrance of the tunnel in an effort to trap the invading Taliban forces. It was reopened in January 2002. The Qandahār-Torghundi highway in the south was completed in 1965. In 2003 there were 29,300 passenger cars and 22,500 commercial vehicles in use.

The Khyber Pass in Pakistan is the best known of the passes providing land access to Afghanistan. Transit arrangements with Iran provide an alternative route for its commercial traffic. However, the great bulk of the country's trade moves through the former USSR. At the same time, Afghanistan's highways are badly damaged from years of warfare and neglect. Land mines are buried on the sides of many roads. Over $1.2 billion in international aid was pledged to rebuilding Afghanistan's highways in 2002.

The only railways in the country in 2001 were a 9.6-km (6-mi) spur from Gushgy, Turkmenistan, to Towrghondi; a 15-km (9.3-mi) line from Termez, Uzbekistan, to the Kheyrabad transshipment point on the south bank of the Amu Darya; and a short span into Spin Baldak in the southeast. There are no navigable rivers except for the Amu Darya, on Turkmenistan's border, which can carry steamers up to about 500 tons. In 2004, there were an estimated 47 airports, 10 of which had paved runways, and 9 heliports (as of 2005). Ariana Afghan Airlines is the national carrier. Most of Ariana Airlines planes were destroyed during the civil war in Afghanistan. Ariana lost six of its eight planes in US-led air strikes against the Taliban. Kabul's international airport reopened to international humanitarian and military flights in late January 2002 after the UN's Security Council lifted the ban early that month, and it began international flight service to Delhi, India, soon after.

HISTORY

Afghanistan has existed as a distinct polity for less than three centuries. Previously, the area was made up of various principalities, usually hostile to each other and occasionally ruled by one or another conqueror from Persia and the area to the west or from central Asia to the north, usually on his way to India. These included the Persian Darius I in the 6th century bc, and 300 years later, Alexander the Great. As the power of his Seleucid successors waned, an independent Greek kingdom of Bactria arose with its capital at Balkh west of Mazār-e Sharif, but after about a century it fell to invading tribes (notably the Sakas, who gave their name to Sakastan, or Sistan). Toward the middle of the 3rd century bc, Buddhism spread to Afghanistan from India, and for centuries prior to the beginning of the 9th century bc, at least half the population of eastern Afghanistan was Buddhist.

Beginning in the 7th century, Muslim invaders brought Islam to the region, and it eventually became the dominant cultural influence. For almost 200 years, Ghaznī was the capital of a powerful Islamic kingdom, the greatest of whose rulers, Mahmud of Ghaznī (r.997–1030), conquered most of the area from the Caspian to the Ganges. The Ghaznavids were displaced by the Seljuk Turks, who mastered Persia and Anatolia (eastern Turkey), and by the Ghorids, who, rising from Ghor, southeast of Herāt, established an empire stretching from Herāt to Ajmir in India. They were displaced in turn by the Turko-Persian rulers of the Khiva oasis in Transoxiana, who, by 1217, had created a state that included the whole of Afghanistan until it disintegrated under attack by Genghis Khan in 1219. His grandson Timur, also called "Timur the Lame" or Tamerlane, occupied all of what is now Afghanistan from 1365 to 1384, establishing a court of intellectual and artistic brilliance at Herāt. The Timurids came under challenge from the Uzbeks, who finally drove the them out of Herāt in 1507. The great Babur, one of the Uzbek princes, occupied Kabul in 1504 and Delhi in 1526, establishing the Mughal Empire in which eastern Afghanistan was ruled from Delhi, Agra, Lahore, or Srinagar, while Herāt and Sistan were governed as provinces of Persia.

In the 18th century, Persians under Nadir Shah conquered the area, and after his death in 1747, one of his military commanders, Ahmad Shah Abdali, was elected emir of Afghanistan. The formation of a unified Afghanistan under his emirate marks Afghanistan's beginning as a political entity. Among his descendants was Dost Muhammad who established himself in Kabul in 1826 and gained the emirate in 1835. Although the British defeated Dost in the first Afghan War (1838–42), they restored him to power, but his attempts and those of his successors to play off Czarist Russian interests against the British concerns about the security of their Indian Empire led to more conflict. In the second Afghan War (1877–79), the forces of Sher Ali, Dost's son, were defeated by the British, and his entire party, ousted. Abdur Rahman Khan, recognized as emir by the British in 1880, established a central administration, and supported the British interest in a neutral Afghanistan as a buffer against the expansion of Russian influence.

Intermittent fighting between the British and Pushtun tribes from eastern Afghanistan continued even after the establishment, in 1893, of a boundary (the Durand line) between Afghanistan and British India. An Anglo-Russian agreement concluded in 1907 guaranteed the independence of Afghanistan (and Tibet) under British influence, and Afghanistan remained neutral in both World Wars. Afghan forces under Amanullah Khan, who had become emir in 1919, briefly intruded across the Durand Line in 1919. At the end of brief fighting—the third Afghan War—the Treaty of Rāwalpindi (1919) accorded the government of Afghanistan the freedom to conduct its own foreign affairs.

Internally, Amanullah's Westernization program was strongly opposed, forcing him to abdicate in 1929. After a brief civil war, a tribal assembly chose Muhammad Nadir Shah as king. In his brief four years in power, he restored peace while continuing Amanullah's modernization efforts at a more moderate pace. Assassinated in 1933, he was succeeded by his son, Muhammad Zahir Shah, who continued his modernization efforts, governing for 40 years, even though sharing effective power with his uncles and a first cousin, who served as his prime ministers.

In the 1960s, there was considerable tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan as a result of Afghanistan's effort to assert influence among, and ultimately responsibility for, Pashtu-speaking Pathan tribes living on both sides of the Durand Line under a policy calling for the establishment of an entity to be called "Pashtunistan." The border was closed several times during the following years, and relations with Pakistan remained generally poor until 1977.

In 1964, a new constitution was introduced, converting Afghanistan into a constitutional monarchy, and a year later the country's first general election was held. In July 1973, Muhammad Daoud Khan, the king's first cousin and brother-in-law, who had served as prime minister from 1953 until early 1963, seized power in a near-bloodless coup, establishing a republic and appointing himself president, and prime minister of the Republic of Afghanistan. He exiled Zahir Shah and his immediate family, abolished the monarchy, dissolved the legislature, and suspended the constitution. Daoud ruled as a dictator until 1977, when a republican constitution calling for a one-party state was adopted by the newly convened Loya Jirga (Grand National Assembly), which then elected Daoud president for a six-year term.

Afghanistan Under Communist Rule

On 27 April 1978, Daoud was deposed and executed in a bloody coup (the "Saur Revolution" because it took place during the Afghan month of Saur), and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan emerged. Heading the new Revolutionary Council was Nur Muhammad Taraki, secretary-general of the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), assisted by Babrak Karmal and Hafizullah Amin, both named deputy prime ministers. The Soviet Union (which later broke apart in 1991) immediately established ties with the new regime, and in December 1978, the two nations concluded a treaty of friendship and cooperation. Soon after the coup, rural Afghan groups took up arms against the regime, which increasingly relied on Soviet arms for support against what came to be known as mujahedeen, or holy warriors.

Meanwhile, the Khalq (masses) and Parcham (flag) factions of the PDPA, which had united for the April takeover, became embroiled in a bitter power struggle within the party and the government. In September 1979, Taraki was ousted and executed by Amin, who had beat out Karmal to become prime minister the previous March and who now assumed Taraki's posts as president and party leader. Amin was himself replaced on 27 December by Karmal, the Parcham faction leader. This last change was announced not by Radio Kabul but by Radio Moscow and was preceded by the airlift of 4,000 to 5,000 Soviet troops into Kabul on 25–26 December, purportedly at the request of an Afghan government whose president, Hafizullah Amin, was killed during the takeover.

The Soviet presence increased to about 85,000 troops in late January 1980, and by spring, the first clashes between Soviet troops and the mujahedeen had occurred. Throughout the early and mid-1980s, the mujahedeen resistance continued to build, aided by Afghan army deserters and arms from the United States, Pakistan, and the nations of the Islamic Conference Organization (ICO). Much of the countryside remained under mujahedeen control as the insurgency waged on year by year, while in Kabul, Soviet advisers assumed control of most Afghan government agencies.

By late 1987, more than a million Afghans had lost their lives in the struggle, while the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that some 5 million others had sought refuge in Pakistan, Iran, and elsewhere. Soviet sources at the time acknowledged Soviet losses of 12,000–30,000 dead and 76,000 wounded. Soviet troop strength in Afghanistan at the end of 1987 was about 120,000, while according to Western sources, Afghan resistance forces numbered nearly 130,000.

In early 1987, Babrak Karmal fled to Moscow after being replaced as the head of the PDPA in May 1986 by Najibullah, former head of the Afghan secret police. Najibullah offered the mujahedeen a cease-fire and introduced a much-publicized national reconciliation policy; he also released some political prisoners, offered to deal with the resistance leaders, and promised new land reform. The mujahedeen rejected these overtures, declining to negotiate for anything short of Soviet withdrawal and Najibullah's removal.

International efforts to bring about a political solution to the war—including nearly unanimous UN General Assembly condemnations of the Soviet presence in Afghanistan—were pursued within the UN framework from 1982 onward. Among these efforts were "proximity talks" between Afghanistan and Pakistan conducted by Under Secretary-General Diego Cordovez, a special representative of the UN Secretary General. After a desultory beginning, these talks began to look promising in late 1987 and early 1988, when Soviet policymakers repeatedly stated, in a major policy shift, that the removal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan was not contingent on the creation of a transitional regime acceptable to the former USSR. On 14 April 1988, documents were signed and exchanged in which the USSR agreed to pull its troops out of Afghanistan within nine months, the United States reserved the right to continue military aid to Afghan guerrillas as long as the USSR continued to aid the government in Kabul, and Pakistan and Afghanistan pledged not to interfere in each other's internal affairs.

The Russians completed the evacuation of their forces on schedule 15 February 1989, but in spite of continuing pressure by the well-armed mujahedeen, the Najibullah government remained in power until April 1992, when Najibullah sought refuge at the UN office in Kabul as mujahedeen forces closed in on the city.

Afghanistan after the Soviet Withdrawal

With the fall of the Najibullah government, the Seven-Party Alliance (SPA) of the Islamic groups based in Pakistan moved to consolidate its "victory" by announcing plans to set up an Interim Afghan Government (AIG) charged with preparing the way for elections. Meanwhile, they moved to assert their control of Afghanistan, but their efforts to establish the AIG in Kabul failed when within ten days of Najibullah's departure from office, well-armed forces of the Hezbe Islami and Jamiat-i-Islami—two of the seven SPA parties—clashed in fighting for the control of the capital. In July, Jamiat leader Burhanuddin Rabbani replaced Sibghatullah Mojaddedi as president of the AIG, as previously agreed by all the SPA parties but the Hezbe Islami.

Continued fighting between Jamiat and Hezbe Islami militias halted further progress. Rabbani's forces, under Commander Ahmad Shah Masoud, dug in to block those under the control of interim "Prime Minister" Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezbe Islami and his ally, General Rashid Dostum (a former PDPA militia leader turned warlord from northern Afghanistan) from taking control of Kabul. In a 24-hour rocket exchange in August 1992 in Kabul, an estimated 3,000 Afghans died; before the end of the year, upwards of 700,000 Afghans had fled the city. Deep differences among the SPA/AIG leadership, embittered by decades of bad blood, ethnic distrust, and personal enmity, prevented any further progress toward creating a genuine interim government capable of honoring the 1992 SPA pledge to write a constitution, organize elections, and create a new Afghan polity. Despite UN attempts to broker a peace and bring the warring groups into a coalition government, Afghanistan remained at war.

Rise of the Taliban

By the summer of 1994 Rabbani and his defense minister, Ahmed Shah Masoud, were in control of the government in Kabul, but internal turmoil caused by the warring factions had brought the economy to a standstill. It was reported that on the road north of Qandahār a convoy owned by influential Pakistani businessmen was stopped by bandits demanding money. The businessmen appealed to the Pakistani government, which responded by encouraging Afghan students from the fundamentalist religious schools on the Pakistan-Afghan boarder to intervene. The students freed the convoy and went on to capture Qandahār, Afghanistan's second-largest city. Pakistan's leaders supported the Taliban with ammunition, fuel, and food. The students, ultra-fundamentalist Sunni Muslims who called themselves the Taliban (the Arabic word for religious students, literally "the Seekers") shared Pashtoon ancestry with their Pakistani neighbors to the south. The Taliban also found widespread support among Afghan Pashtoons hostile to local warlords and tired of war and economic instability. By late 1996, the Taliban had captured Kabul, the capital, and were in control of 21 of Afghanistan's 32 provinces. When Rabbani fled the capital, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia officially recognized the Taliban government in Kabul. In areas under Taliban control, order was restored, roads opened, and trade resumed. However, the Taliban's reactionary social practices, justified as being Islamic, did not appeal to Afghanistan's non-Pashtun minorities in the north and west of the country, nor to the educated population generally. The opposition, dominated by the Uzbek, Tajik, Hazara, and Turkoman ethnic groups, retreated to the northeastern provinces.

In May 1997 the Taliban entered Mazār-e Sharif, Afghanistan's largest town north of the Hindu Kush and stronghold of Uzbek warlord Rashid Dostum. In the political intrigue that followed, Dostum was ousted by his second in command, Malik Pahlawan, who initially supported the Taliban. Dostum reportedly fled to Turkey. Once the Taliban were in the city, however, Pahlawan abruptly switched sides. In the subsequent fighting, the Taliban were forced to retreat with heavy casualties. The forces of Ahmad Shah Masoud, Tajik warlord and former defense minister in ousted President Rabbani's government, were also instrumental in the defeat of the Taliban in Mazār. Masoud controlled the high passes of the Panjshir Valley in the east of the country. The opposition alliance was supported by Iran, Russia, and the Central Asian republics, who feared that the Taliban might destabilize the region.

By early 1998, the Taliban militia controlled about two-thirds of Afghanistan. Opposition forces under Ahmad Shah Masoud controlled the northeast of the country. Taliban forces mounted another offensive against their opponents in August–September 1998 and nearly sparked a war with neighboring Iran after a series of Shiite villages were pillaged and Iranian diplomats killed. Iran, which supplied Masoud's forces, countered by massing troops along its border with Afghanistan. Although the crisis subsided, tensions between the Taliban and Iran remained high. Masoud's opposition forces became known as the United Front or Northern Alliance in late 1999.

Despite attempts to broker a peace settlement, fighting between the Taliban and opposition factions continued through 1999 and into 2000 with the Taliban controlling 90% of the country. In March 1999, the warring factions agreed to enter a coalition government, but by July these UN-sponsored peace talks broke down and the Taliban renewed its offensive against opposition forces. By October, the Taliban captured the key northern city of Taloqan and a series of northeastern towns, advancing to the border with Tajikistan. Fighting between the Taliban and Northern Alliance forces was fierce in early 2001.

In April 2001, Masoud stated that he did not rule out a peace dialogue with the Taliban, or even of setting up a provisional government jointly with the Taliban, but that Pakistan would have to stop interfering in the conflict first. He stated that elections would have to be held under the aegis of the UN and the "six plus two" countries, including Iran, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, as well as Russia and the United States. The Northern Alliance was receiving financial and military assistance from its old enemy Russia as well as from Iran. In addition to Pakistan, the Taliban was recognized as the legitimate government of Afghanistan by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Masoud was assassinated on 9 September 2001 by two men claiming to be Moroccan journalists. His killers were thought to have been agents of the al-Qaeda terrorist group acting in concert with the plotters of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States.

Post-11 September 2001

The 11 September 2001 attacks carried out against the United States by members of al-Qaeda marked the beginning of a war on terrorism first directed against the Taliban for harboring Osama bin Laden and his forces. On 7 October 2001, US-led forces launched the bombing campaign Operation Enduring Freedom against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. On 13 November the Taliban were removed from power in Kabul, and an interim government under the leadership of Hamid Karzai, a Pashtun leader from Qandahār, was installed on 22 December. In June 2002, a Loya Jirga—Grand Assembly of tribal leaders—was held, and Karzai was elected head of state of a transitional government that would be in place for 18 months until elections could be held. More than 60% of the cabinet posts in the government went to Ahmed Shah Masoud's Northern Alliance. Masoud was officially proclaimed the national hero of Afghanistan on 25 April 2002, and he was mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. On 5 September 2002, Karzai survived an assassination attempt, and another plot against him was thwarted on 22 November. In September 2004, a rocket fired at a helicopter carrying Karzai narrowly missed its target: it was the most serious attack on his life since 2002.

In December 2002, Karzai and Pakistani and Turkmen leaders signed an agreement paving the way for the construction of a gas pipeline through Afghanistan, which would carry Turkmen gas to Pakistan.

In January 2004, a Loya Jirga adopted a new constitution providing for a strong presidency and defining Afghanistan as an Islamic republic where men and women enjoy equal status before the law. In October and November 2004, the first direct presidential election was held; Karzai was the winner with 55.4% of the vote. He was sworn in as president in December, amid tight security.

On 18 September 2005, Afghans went to the polls to elect a lower house of parliament and councils in each of the country's 34 provinces. The elections, which had been twice postponed, were part of the process of establishing a fully representative government. Some 12 million of an estimated 25–28 million Afghans were registered to vote. There were about 5,800 candidates standing for the 249-seat Wolesi Jirga (House of Assembly) and for seats in the provincial councils. There were more than 26,000 men-only or women-only polling stations in 5,000 locations. There were 69 different types of ballot papers, all including the names, pictures, and symbols of the candidates, to enable voters who could not read to vote. Several candidates and election workers were killed in Taliban attacks. In advance of the elections, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) sent an extra 2,000 troops and a number of fighter jets to boost the 8,000-strong International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) protecting the country. Nearly 3,000 observers and media representatives registered to monitor the election. Final results for the elections were delayed due to accusations of fraud, and were announced in November.

The results of the elections showed that women, who were guaranteed 25% of seats in parliament, won 28%. Most of the candidates for parliament ran as independents, and a clear majority was predicted to support Karzai. However, many of the winners were former warlords, mujahedeen fighters, ex-Taliban figures, and opium dealers. Centrist, reformist figures did less well, making the parliament predominantly socially conservative and religious.

In 2005–06, several thousand troops from the US-led coalition in Afghanistan (most of them American) were engaged in battles with Taliban fighters in the eastern regions of the country bordering on Pakistani tribal areas. The coalition forces also targeted members of the Hezb-e Islami group, whose leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, has similar aims as the Taliban—to fight a jihad (holy war) to remove the Americans from Afghanistan and unseat Hamid Karzai's government.

GOVERNMENT

Between 1964 and 1973, Afghanistan was a constitutional monarchy for the first and only time in its history. The head of government was the prime minister, appointed by the king and responsible to the bicameral legislature. This system gave way to a more traditional authoritarian system on 17 July 1973, when Afghanistan became a republic, headed by Muhammad Daoud Khan, who became both president and prime minister. A new constitution in 1977 created a one-party state with a strong executive and a weak bicameral legislature. The communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) abrogated this constitution after they seized power in April 1978.

Between 1978 and 1980, a communist-style 167-member Revolutionary Council exercised legislative powers. The chief of state (president) headed the presidium of that council, to which the 20-member cabinet was formally responsible. A provisional constitution, introduced in April 1980, guaranteed respect for Islam and national traditions; condemned colonialism, imperialism, Zionism, and fascism; and proclaimed the PDPA as "the guiding and mobilizing force of society and state." Seven years later, a new constitution providing for a very strong presidency was introduced as part of the PDPA's propaganda campaign of "national reconciliation." Najibullah remained as president until April 1992 when he sought refuge at the UN office in Kabul as mujahedeen forces closed in on the city.

With the fall of the Najibullah government a Seven Party Alliance (SPA) of the Islamic groups announced plans to set up an Interim Afghan Government (AIG) charged with preparing the way for elections. However, Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani co-opted the process by forming a leadership council that elected him president. Subsequent fighting among warring factions plunged the country into anarchy and set the stage for the emergence of the ultraconservative Islamic movement, Taliban, which ousted the Rabbani government and controlled all but the northern most provinces of the country.

The Taliban, led by Mullah Mohammed Omar, formed a six-member ruling council in Kabul which ruled by edict. Ultimate authority for Taliban rule rested in the Taliban's inner Shura (Assembly) located in the southern city of Qandahār, and in Mullah Omar.

With the fall of the Taliban in December 2001, an interim government was created under the leadership of Hamid Karzai by an agreement held in Bonn, Germany. In June 2002 Karzai was elected head of state of the Islamic Transitional Government of Afghanistan (ITGA) by the Loya Jirga convened that month. He named an executive cabinet, dividing key ministries between ethnic Tajiks and Pashtuns. He also appointed three deputy presidents and a chief justice to the country's highest court.

In January 2004, a Loya Jirga adopted a new constitution providing for a strong presidency and defining Afghanistan as an Islamic republic where men and women enjoy equal status before the law. Former King Zahir Shah held the honorific Father of the Country, and presided symbolically over certain occasions, lacking any governing authority. The honorific is not hereditary. The president is both chief of state and head of government. The president's cabinet is made up of 27 ministers, appointed by the president and approved by the national assembly. The president and two vice presidents are elected by a direct vote for a five-year term; a president can only be elected for two terms.

The legislative branch is composed of a bicameral national assembly. The lower house is the 249-seat Wolesi Jirga, directly elected by each of Afghanistan's 34 provinces according to its population. Members serve a five-year term. Kabul province has the most seats with 33. Women have 68 seats guaranteed in the Wolesi Jirga, and two on each provincial council. The 102-member House of Elders (Meshrano Jirga) is indirectly elected; one-third elected by the 34 provincial councils for a four-year term, one-third appointed by the president for a five-year term, and one-third elected by local district councils for a three-year term.

On rare occasions the government may convene the Loya Jirga on issues of independence, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity; it can also amend the provisions of the constitution and prosecute the president. It is made up of members of the national assembly and chairpersons of the provincial and district councils.

In October and November 2004, the first direct presidential elections were held; Hamid Karzai was the winner with 55.4% of the vote. In September 2005, elections for the Wolesi Jirga and provincial councils were held; although a majority of the members of parliament who won would support Karzai, many warlords, former mujahedeen fighters, ex-Taliban figures, and opium dealers also won.

POLITICAL PARTIES

The 1964 constitution provided for the formation of political parties. However, since the framers of the constitution decided that political parties should be permitted only after the first elections, and since the parliament never adopted a law governing the parties' operation, all candidates for the parliamentary elections of August and September 1965 stood as independents. Because a law on political parties was not on the books four years later, the 1969 elections were also contested on a nonparty basis. Throughout the 1964–1973 period, however, the de facto existence of parties was widely recognized. Subsequently, the framers reversed their plan to allow political parties. Under the 1977 constitution, only the National Revolutionary Party (NRP), the ruler's chosen instrument, was allowed.

The 1978 coup was engineered by the illegal People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), which had been founded in 1965. During its brief history, this Marxist party had been riven by a bloody struggle between its pro-Soviet Parcham (flag) faction and its larger Khalq (masses) faction. Babrak Karmal was the leader of the Parcham group, while the Khalq faction was headed until 1979 by Nur Muhammad Taraki and Hafizullah Amin. The factional struggle continued after the 1978 coup, prompting the Soviet intervention of 1979. Factional bloodletting continued thereafter also, with repeated purges and assassinations of Khalq adherents as well as bitter infighting within Parcham, this last leading to Babrak Karmal's replacement as PDPA secretary-general in May 1986 by Najibullah.

The Islamic resistance forces opposing the PDPA government and its Soviet backers in Afghanistan represented conservative, ethnically based Islamic groups which themselves have had a long history of partisan infighting (and repression by successive Kabul governments). They came together in the early 1980s to fight the common enemy, the communist PDPA and the Soviet invaders and, in 1985, under pressure from Pakistan and the United States, they were loosely united into a Seven Party Alliance (SPA), head-quartered in Peshāwar, Pakistan. By 1987, commando groups affiliated with one or more of these seven parties controlled more than 80% of the land area of Afghanistan.

With arms flowing in from outside the country—a flow not halted until the end of 1991—the fighting continued, but with the final withdrawal of Soviet troops in February 1989, the SPA stepped up its military and political pressure on the communist PDPA government. However, President Najibullah proved to have more staying power than previously estimated, using Soviet arms supplies, which continued until the end of 1991 to buttress his position, while playing upon divisions among the resistance, embracing nationalism and renouncing communism, and even changing the name of the PDPA to the Wattan (Homeland) Party. It was only in April 1992, after the break-up of the Soviet Union, his army defecting from beneath him, and the mujahedeen closing on Kabul, that he sought refuge at the UN office in the capital, leaving the city in the hands of the rival ethnic and regional mujahedeen militias.

The leaders of the mujahedeen groups agreed to establish a leadership council. This council quickly came under the control of a professor, Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was subsequently elected president by the council. Fighting broke out in August 1992 in Kabul between forces loyal to President Rabbani and rival factions. A new war for the control of Afghanistan had begun.

On 26–27 September 1996, the Pashtun-dominated ultraconservative Islamic Taliban movement captured the capital of Kabul and expanded its control to over 90% of the country by 2000. The Taliban was led by Mullah Mohammed Omar. Ousted President Rabbani, a Tajik, and his defense minister, Ahmad Shah Masoud, relocated to Takhar in the north. Rabbani claimed that he remained the head of the government. His delegation retained Afghanistan's UN seat after the General Assembly deferred a decision on Afghanistan's credentials. Meanwhile, the Taliban removed the ousted PDPA leader Najibullah from the UN office in Kabul, tortured and shot him, and hung his body prominently in the city. General Rashid Dostum, an ethnic Uzbek, controlled several north-central provinces until he was ousted on 25 May 1997 by his second in command Malik Pahlawan. Dostum fled to Turkey, but he returned that October. The Shia Hazara community, led by Abdul Karim Khalili, retained control of a small portion of the center of the country.

After the fall of the Taliban, various warlords, leaders, and political factions emerged in Afghanistan. Dostum, as head of Jumbish-e Melli Islami (National Islamic Movement), consolidated his power in Mazār-e Sharif. He was named interim deputy defense minister for the transitional government in 2002. Rabbani, as nominal head of the Northern Alliance, was also the leader of Jamiat-e-Islami, the largest political party in the alliance. Ismail Khan, a Shiite warlord of Tajik origin, earned a power base in the western city of Herāt by liberating it from Soviet control, and for a time in the 1990s kept it from Taliban control. Khan was thought to be receiving backing from Iran. Abdul Karim Khalili was the leader of the Hezb-e-Wahdat (Unity Party) and the top figure in the Shia Hazara minority. Hezb-e-Wahdat was the main benefactor of Iranian support, and the second most-powerful opposition military party. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the most notorious of the warlords who emerged from the fight against Soviet occupation, led the party Hezb-e Islami. Pir Syed Ahmed Gailani was a moderate Pashtun leader and wealthy businessman who was also the spiritual leader of a minority Sufi Muslim group. Gailani was supported by pro-royalist Pashtuns and Western-educated elites of the old regime. Former King Zahir Shah, a Pashtun, said he had no intention of returning to power, but volunteered to help build a power-sharing administration for the country. Younis Qanooni, an ethnic Tajik who was named interior minister for the interim government, had also been the interior minister in the country's previous interim administration in 1996, before the Taliban came to power; he opposed the presence of UN peacekeepers in Afghanistan. Abdullah Abdullah, of the Northern Alliance, was a close friend of Ahmad Shah Masoud.

The 18 September 2005 elections for the National Assembly were contested by candidates representing scores of political parties, pressure groups, and small monarchist, communist, and democratic groups. However, most of the candidates ran as independents.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Afghanistan was traditionally divided into provinces governed by centrally appointed governors with considerable autonomy in local affairs. As of 2006, there were 34 provinces. During the Soviet occupation and the development of country-wide resistance, local areas came increasingly under the control of mujahedeen groups that were largely independent of any higher authority; local commanders, in some instances, asserted a measure of independence also from the mujahedeen leadership in Pakistan, establishing their own systems of local government, collecting revenues, running educational and other facilities, and even engaging in local negotiations. Mujahedeen groups retained links with the Peshāwar parties to ensure access to weapons that were doled out to the parties by the government of Pakistan for distribution to fighters inside Afghanistan.

The Taliban set up a shura (assembly), made up of senior Taliban members and important tribal figures from the area. Each shura made laws and collected taxes locally. The Taliban set up a provisional government for the whole of Afghanistan, but it did not exercise central control over the local shuras.

The process of setting up the transitional government in June 2002 by the Loya Jirga took many steps involving local government. First, at the district and municipal level, traditional shura councils met to pick electors—persons who cast ballots for Loya Jirga delegates. Each district or municipality chose a predetermined number of electors, based on the size of its population. The electors then traveled to regional centers and cast ballots, choosing from among themselves a smaller number of Loya Jirga delegates, according to allotted numbers assigned to each district. The delegates then took part in the Loya Jirga.

The transitional government attempted to integrate local governing authorities with the central government, but it lacked the loyalty of warlords necessary to its governing authority. More traditional elements of political authority—such as Sufi networks, royal lineage, clan strength, age-based wisdom, and the like—still exist and play a role in Afghan society. Karzai relied on these traditional sources of authority in his challenge to the warlords and older Islamist leaders. The deep ethnic, linguistic, sectarian, tribal, racial, and regional cleavages present in the country create what is called Qawm identity, which emphasizes the local over higher-order formations. Qawm refers to the group to which the individual considers himself to belong, whether a subtribe, village, valley, or neighborhood. Local governing authority relies upon these forms of identity and loyalty.

The constitution established in 2004 provided for directly elected provincial councils, which have 9–29 members depending on population. District and village councils are directly elected for a period of three years. Municipalities administer city affairs.

JUDICIAL SYSTEM

Under the Taliban, there was no rule of law or independent judiciary. Ad hoc rudimentary judicial systems were established based on Taliban interpretation of Islamic law. Murderers were subjected to public executions and thieves had a limb or two (one hand, one foot) severed. Adulterers were stoned to death in public. Taliban courts were said to have heard cases in sessions that lasted only a few minutes. Prison conditions were poor and prisoners were not given food. Normally, this was the responsibility of the prisoners' relatives, who were allowed to visit to provide food once or twice a week. Those who had no relatives had to petition the local council or rely on other inmates.

In non-Taliban controlled areas, many municipal and provincial authorities relied on some form of Islamic law and traditional tribal codes of justice. The administration and implementation of justice varied from area to area and depended on the whims of local commanders or other authorities, who could summarily execute, torture, and mete out punishments without reference to any other authority.

After the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan's judicial system was fragmented, with conflicts between such core institutions as the Ministry of Justice, Supreme Court, and attorney general's office. In addition, the judicial system's infrastructure was destroyed; the absence of adequate court or ministry facilities, basic office furniture, and minimal supplies made substantive progress difficult. There were also tensions between religious and secular legal training with regard to appointments of new judicial personnel. Until Afghanistan's new constitution was adopted in 2004, the country's basic legal framework consisted of its 1964 constitution and existing laws and regulations to the extent that they were in accordance with the Bonn Agreement of 2001 and with international treaties to which Afghanistan was a party. The Ministry of Justice was charged with compiling Afghan laws and assessing their compatibility with international standards, but even it did not have texts of Afghan laws, which were largely unavailable, even among attorneys, judges, law faculty, and government agencies. While in power, the Taliban burned law books. There was no adequate law library in the country as of 2002.

The 2004 constitution established an independent judiciary under the Islamic state. The judicial branch consists of a Supreme Court (Stera Mahkama), High Courts, Appeals Courts, and local and district courts. The Supreme Court is composed of nine members who are appointed by the president for a period of ten years (nonrenewable) with the approval of the Wolesi Jirga. The Supreme Court has the power of judicial review. Lower courts apply Shia law in cases dealing with personal matters for Shia followers.

ARMED FORCES

As of 2005, the national army/security services had an estimated 27,000 active personnel. Headquartered in Kabul, the force is intended to encompass all of the country's tribal and ethnic groups. However progress by the new Afghan National Army (ANA) had been hindered by high desertion levels and low enlistment rates, thought in part to be caused by the growing intensity of combat missions. Another factor was the growth of private security companies, which may offer a less stressful and more lucrative alternative to the ANA. In terms of equipment, most of the army's infrastructure, barracks, and depots were destroyed along with the Taliban. What equipment that has managed to survive years of war and the overthrow of the Taliban, was entirely of Soviet design and likely to be in a poor state of repair. In 2002, Afghanistan requested $235 million from the UN, for a 60,000-troop land army, an 8,000-member airforce, and a 12,000-guard border force. US foreign military assistance to Afghanistan in 2005 totaled $396 million.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Afghanistan has been a member of the United Nations since 19 November 1946. Within the United Nations, Afghanistan is part of several specialized agencies, such as UNESCO, FAO, and IAEA. The country also participates in WHO, IFAD, UNIDO, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and IFC, and the ILO. Afghanistan is an observer in the WTO. Afghanistan is part of the Asian Development Bank, the Colombo Plan, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), G-77, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the Economic Cooperation Organization, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CEMA), and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). Other groups include WFTU and Interpol. Afghanistan is also a part of the Nonaligned Movement, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and the Nuclear Test Ban. In cooperation on environmental issues, the country is part of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), the London Convention, and the UN Conventions on Desertification and Climate Change.

ECONOMY

Afghanistan's economy has been devastated by over over three decades of war. Hampered by an unintegrated economy until relatively late in the post-World War II period, only in the 1950s did the building of new roads begin to link the country's commercial centers with the wool-and fruit-producing areas. Largely agricultural and pastoral, the country is highly dependent on farming and livestock raising (sheep and goats). Approximately 85% of the people are engaged in agriculture. Industrial activity includes small-scale production of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, cement, and hand-woven carpets. The country has valuable mineral resources, including large reserves of iron ore at Hajigak discovered before the 30-year-old war, but only coal, salt, lapis lazuli, barite, and chrome are available to be exploited. The discovery of large quantities of natural gas in the north, for which a pipeline to the USSR was completed in 1967, increased the country's export earnings, at least until escalation of civil strife in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Since the outbreak of war in the late 1970s, economic data have been contradictory and of doubtful reliability. In September 1987, the Afghan foreign minister asserted that 350 bridges and 258 factories had been destroyed since the fighting began in 1979. By the early 1990s, two-thirds of all paved roads were unusable, and the countryside appeared severely depopulated, with more than 25% of the population—twice the prewar level—residing in urban areas. What little is left of the country's infrastructure has been largely destroyed due first to the war, and then to the US-led bombing campaign. Severe drought added to the nation's difficulties in 1998–2001. The majority of the population continued to suffer from insufficient food, clothing, housing, and medical care as of 2006; these problems were exacerbated by military operations and political uncertainties. The presence of an estimated 10 million land mines also hinders the ability of Afghans to engage in agriculture or other forms of economic activity. Inflation, at 16% in 2005, remained a serious problem.

Opium poppy cultivation is the mainstay of the economy. Major political factions in the country profit from the drug trade. In 1999, encouraged by good weather and high prices, poppy producers increased the area under cultivation by 43% and harvested a bumper crop—a record 4,600 tons—compared with 2,100 tons the year before. A ban on poppy production cut cultivation in 2001 by 97% to 1695 hectares (4188 acres), with a potential production of 74 tons of opium. Afghanistan is a major source of hashish, and there are many heroin-processing laboratories throughout the country.

International efforts to rebuild Afghanistan were addressed at the Tokyo Donors Conference for Afghan Reconstruction in January 2002, when $4.5 billion was collected for a trust fund to be administered by the World Bank. Priority areas for reconstruction included the construction of education, health, and sanitation facilities, enhancement of administrative capacity, the development of the agricultural sector, and the rebuilding of road, energy, and telecommunication links.

The Afghan economic base is so disjointed that it was almost futile for the government to undertake economic development. Nonetheless, the country's GDP grew from a meager $2.7 billion in 2000, to almost $6 billion in 2004; and, it was expected to grow further, to $7.1 billion, in 2005. Consequently, the GDP growth rates appear spectacular: 28.6% in 2002, 15.7% in 2003, and a more modest 7.5% in 2004. Apart from outside aid, the recent economic expansion was also helped by a good agricultural year in 2003.

The unemployment rate was estimated at 40% in 2005. Inflation dropped from 52.3% in 2002 to 10.2% in 2003, but rose again to 16.3% in 2004. In 2005, the inflation rate was expected to be around 10%. Despite the progress it registered in previous years, Afghanistan remains a very poor country, landlocked, dependent on foreign aid, and with a heterogeneous economic base (mostly agriculture).

INCOME

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports that in 2005 Afghanistan's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $21.5 billion. The CIA defines GDP as the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year and computed on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than value as measured on the basis of the rate of exchange based on current dollars. The per capita GDP was estimated at $800. The annual growth rate of GDP was estimated at 8%. The average inflation rate in 2005 was 16.3%. It was estimated that agriculture accounted for 38% of GDP, industry 24%, and services 38%. Foreign aid receipts amounted to $1,533 million.

The World Bank reports that in 2003 household consumption in Afghanistan totaled $4.31 billion based on a GDP of $4.6 billion, measured in current dollars rather than PPP. Household consumption includes expenditures of individuals, households, and nongovernmental organizations on goods and services, excluding purchases of dwellings. It was estimated that in 2003 about 53% of the population had incomes below the poverty line.

LABOR

As of 2004, Afghanistan's labor force was estimated at 15 million, with an estimated 80% of the labor force engaged in agriculture, followed by industry and services at 10%, each. However, it was estimated that 40% of the country's work force was unemployed, as of 2005. The textile industry is the largest employer of industrial labor; weaving of cloth and carpets is the most important home industry.

As of 2005, Afghan law offered wide protection to workers, but little is known about the enforcement of labor statutes. Workers are unaware of their rights and there is no central authority to enforce those rights. There is no legal right to strike, nor does the country have a history of real labor-management bargaining. There are no courts or mechnisms for settling labor disputes. Wages are entirely subject to market forces, except for government employees, whose wages are set by the government. Although child and forced or compulsory labor are prohibited, little is known about enforcement. By law, children under the age of 15 cannot work more than 30 hours per week, but there is no evidence this is enforced. According to UNICEF, it is estimated that there are one million children under the age of 14 in the workforce. Children as young as six years old are reportedly working to help sustain their families. The vast majority of Afghan workers are in the informal economy.

AGRICULTURE

About 12% of the land is arable and less than 6% currently is cultivated. During peiords when external forces are not influencing the ability of farmers to grow crops, Afghan farmers grow enough rice, potatoes, pulses, nuts, and seeds to meet the country's needs; Afghanistan depends on imports for some wheat, sugar, and edible fats and oils. Fruit, both fresh and preserved (with bread), is a staple food for many Afghans. Agricultural production is a fraction of its potential. Agricultural production is constrained by dependence on erratic winter snows and spring rains for water; irrigation is primitive. Relatively little use is made of machines, chemical fertilizer, or pesticides.

The variety of the country's crops corresponds to its topography. The areas around Qandahār, Herāt, and the broad Kabul plain yield fruits of many kinds. The northern regions from Takhar to Badghis and Herāt and Helmand provinces produce cotton. Corn is grown extensively in Paktia and Nangarhar provinces, and rice mainly in Kunduz, Baghlān, and Laghman provinces. Wheat is common to several regions, and makes up 70% of all grain production. Aggregate wheat production in 2005 was estimated at 4 million tons, up from 1.6 million tons in 2001. Following wheat, the most important crops in 2004 were barley (400,000 tons), corn (250,000 tons), rice (145,000 tons), and cotton (18,507 tons). Nuts and fruit, including pistachios, almonds, grapes, melons, apricots, cherries, figs, mulberries, and pomegranates, are among Afghanistan's most important horticultural crops. Byproducts of orchard fruits, such as pomegranate rind and walnut husks, were traditionally used to dye carpets, as was the madder root, valued for the deep red hue it produces.

In some regions, agricultural production had all but ceased due to destruction caused by the war and the migration of Afghans out of those areas. The average farm size is 1–2 hectares (2.5–5 acres). Absentee landlords are common and sharecropping is expanding in most provinces. Opium and hashish are also widely grown for the drug trade. Opium is easy to cultivate and transport and offers a quick source of income for impoverished Afghans. Afghanistan was the world's largest producer of raw opium in 2003. In 2001, following the ban by the Taliban regime, an abrupt decline of poppy cultivation interrupted a 20-year increase. In 2003, there were 80,000 hectares (198,000 acres) of opium poppies under cultivation, with potential opium production amounting to 3,600 tons, the second-highest amount achieved in Afghanistan and accounting for over two-thirds of world production that year. Much of Afghanistan's opium production is refined into heroin and is either consumed by a growing South Asian addict population or exported, primarily to Europe. Replacing the poppy industry was a goal of the Karzai administration.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

The availability of land suitable for grazing has made animal husbandry an important part of the economy. There are two main types of animal husbandry: sedentary, practiced by farmers who raise both animals and crops; and nomadic, practiced by animal herders known as Kuchis. Natural pastures cover some 3 million hectares (7.4 million acres) but are being overgrazed. The northern regions around Mazār-e Sharif and Maymanah were the home range for about six million karakul sheep in the late 1990s. Most flocks move to the highlands in the summer to pastures in the north. Oxen are the primary draft power and farmers often share animals for plowing. Poultry are traditionally kept in most households.

Much of Afghanistan's livestock was removed from the country by early waves of refugees who fled to Pakistan and Iran. In 2001, the livestock population in Afghanistan had declined by about 40% since 1998. In 2002, this figure was estimated to have declined further to 60%. An FAO survey done in the northern regions in spring 2002 showed that in four provinces (Balkh, Juzjan, Sare Pol, and Faryab), there was a loss of about 84% of cattle from 1997 to 2002 (1997: 224,296 head; 2002: 36,471 head) and around 80% of sheep and goats (1997: 1,721,021 head; 2002: 359,953 head).

FISHING

Some fishing takes place in the lakes and rivers, but fish does not constitute a significant part of the Afghan diet. Using explosives for fishing, called dynamite fishing, became popular in the 1980s and is common practice. The annual catch was about 900 tons in 2003.

FORESTRY

Afghanistan's timber has been greatly depleted, and since the mid-1980s, only about 3% of the land area has been forested, mainly in the east. Significant stands of trees have been destroyed by the ravages of the war. Exploitation has been hampered by lack of power and access roads. Moreover, the distribution of the forest is uneven, and most of the remaining woodland is presently found only in mountainous regions in the southeast and south. The natural forests in Afghanistan are mainly of two types: (1) dense forests of oak, walnut, and other species of nuts that grow in the southeast, and on the northern and northeastern slopes of the Sulaiman ranges; and (2) sparsely distributed short trees and shrubs on all other slopes of the Hindu Kush. The dense forests of the southeast cover only 2.7% of the country. Roundwood production in 2003 was 3,148,000 cu m, with 44% used for fuel. The destruction of the forests to create agricultural land, logging, forest fires, plant diseases, and insect pests are all causes of the reduction in forest coverage. Illegal logging and clear-cutting by timber smugglers have exacerbated this destructive process.

MINING

Afghanistan has valuable deposits of barite, beryl, chrome, coal, copper, iron, lapis lazuli, lead, mica, natural gas, petroleum, salt, silver, sulfur, and zinc. Reserves of high-grade iron ore, discovered years ago at the Hajigak hills in Bamyan Province, are estimated to total 2 billion tons.

On average, some 114,000 tons of coal were mined each year during 1978–84. It is estimated that the country has 73 million tons of coal reserves, most of which are located in the region between Herāt and Badashkan in the northern part of the country. Production in 2003 amounted to 185,000 metric tons. In 2003, Afghanistan produced 13,000 metric tons of rock salt, 3,000 metric tons of gypsum, 5,000 metric tons of mined copper, and 120,000 metric tons of cement. Deposits of lapis lazuli in Badakhshan are mined in small quantities. Like other aspects of Afghanistan's economy, exploitation of natural resources has been disrupted by war. The remote and rugged terrain, and an inadequate transportation network usually have made mining these resources difficult.

ENERGY AND POWER

Two decades of warfare have left Afghanistan's power grid badly damaged. As of June 2004, less than 10% of the population had access to electricity. In 2002, electricity generation was 0.745 billion kWh, of which 25.5% came from fossil fuel, 74.5% from hydropower, and none from other sources. Imports of electricity totaled 0.150 kWh in 2002. In the same year, consumption of electricity totaled 0.843 billion kWh. Total electrical generating capacity in 2002 stood at 0.385 million kW. Three hydroelectric plants were opened between 1965 and 1970, at Jalālābād, Naghlu, and Mahipar, near Kabul; another, at Kajaki, in the upper Helmand River Valley, was opened in the mid-1970s. In addition to the Naghlu, Mahi Par, and Kajaki plants, other hydroelectric facilities that were operational as of 2002 included plants at Sarobi, west of Kabul; Pole Khomri; Darunta, in Nangarhar province; Dahla, in Qandahār province (restored to operation in 2001); and Mazār-e Sharif. In 1991, a new 72-collector solar installation was completed in Kabul at a cost of $364 million. The installation heated 40,000 liters (10,400 gallons) of water to an average temperature of 60°c (140°f) around the clock. Construction of two more power stations, with a combined capacity of 600 kW, was planned in Charikar City.

The drought of 1998–2001 negatively affected Afghanistan's hydroelectric power production, which resulted in blackouts in Kabul and other cities. Another generating turbine is being added to the Kajaki Dam in Helmand province near Qandahār, with the assistance of the Chinese Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery Company. This will add 16.5 MW to its generating capacity when completed. Also in operation was the BreshnaKot Dam in Nangarhar province, which had a generating capacity of 11.5 MW.

Natural gas was Afghanistan's only economically significant export in 1995, going mainly to Uzbekistan via pipeline. Natural gas reserves were once estimated at 140 billion cu m. Production started in 1967 with 342 million cu m but had risen to 2.6 billion cu m by 1995. In 1991, a new gas field was discovered in Chekhcha, Jowzjan province. Natural gas was also produced at Sheberghān and Sare Pol. As of 2002, other operational gas fields were located at Djarquduk, Khowaja Gogerdak, and Yatimtaq, all in Jowzjan province. In 2002, natural gas production was 1.77 billion cu ft.

In August 1996, a multinational consortium agreed to construct a 1,430 km (890 mi) pipeline through Afghanistan to carry natural gas from Turkmenistan to Pakistan, at a cost of about $2 billion. However US air strikes led to cancellation of the project in 1998, and financing of such a project has remained an issue because of high political risk and security concerns. As of 2002 the leaders of the three countries had signed an agreement to build the pipeline, but as of 2006, construction had not begun.

A very small amount of crude oil is produced at the Angot field in the northern Sare Pol province. Another small oilfield at Zomrad Sai near Sheberghān was reportedly undergoing repairs in mid-2001. Petroleum products such as diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel are imported, mainly from Pakistan and Turkmenistan. A small storage and distribution facility exists in Jalālābād on the highway between Kabul and Peshāwar, Pakistan. Afghanistan is also reported to have oil reserves totaling 95 million barrels and coal reserves totaling 73 million tons.

INDUSTRY

As with other sectors of the economy, Afghanistan's already-be-leaguered industries have been devastated by civil strife and war that began in the 1970s and left most of the country's factories and even much of the cottage industry sector inoperative. Still in an early stage of growth before the outbreak of war, industry's development has been stunted since; those few industries that have continued production remain limited to processing of local materials. The principal modern industry is cotton textile production, with factories at Pol e Khomri, Golbahar, Begram, Balkh, and Jabal as Saraj, just north of Charikar. Important industries in 2000 included textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, cement, hand-woven carpets, natural gas, coal, and copper.

Carpet-making is the most important handicraft industry, but it has suffered with the flight of rug makers during the civil war and since the 2001 US-led bombing campaign. Carpet-making is centered around the north and northwest regions of the country. Afghan carpets are made of pure wool and are hand-knotted, and women do much of the work. Production has fluctuated widely from year to year, increasing somewhat during the early 1990s with the establishment of selected "zones of tranquility" targeted for UN reconstruction assistance. Other handicrafts include felt-making and the weaving of cotton, woolen, and silk cloth. Wood and stone carving have been concentrated in the northeastern provinces, while jewelrymaking has been done in the Kabul area. The making of leather goods has also been a handicraft industry.

In 2004, industry was estimated to contribute 24.4% to the overall GDP (up from 20% in 1990) and to employ 10% of the working population; agriculture was considered to make up 37.2% of the GDP, and occupy 80% of the labor force; services provided work for 10% of the working population, and was represented with 38.3% in the GDP.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The Afghanistan Academy of Sciences, founded in 1979, is the principal scientific institution. As of 2002, it had about 180 members. Prospective members of the Academy must take a written exam, present samples of their work, and pass a proficiency exam in one of the official languages of the UN. Many Afghan scientists migrated to Europe, the United States, and Pakistan during 1970–2006. Under the Taliban, professors who did not teach Islamic studies were relieved of their duties.

The Department of Geology and Mineral Survey within the Ministry of Mines and Industries conducts geological and mineralogical research, mapping, prospecting and exploration.

The Institute of Public Health, founded in 1962, conducts public health training and research and study of indigenous diseases, has a Government reference laboratory, and compiles statistical data.

Kabul University, founded in 1932, has faculties of science, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, and geosciences. Its faculty numbers close to 200. The University of Balkh has about 100 faculty members. Bayazid Roshan University of Nangarhar, founded in 1962, has faculties of medicine and engineering, its faculty numbers close to 100. The Institute of Agriculture, founded in 1924, offers courses in veterinary medicine. Kabul Polytechnic College, founded in 1951, offers postgraduate engineering courses. Kabul Polytechnic was the site of the June 2002 Loya Jirga, and the international community spent over $7 million to refurbish part of the campus for the assembly. Buildings on campus had suffered heavy bomb damage. During the 1990s, the campus was shelled and looted by mujahedeen groups, who fought amongst themselves for control of the capital. Boarding students studying under the rule of the Taliban lived in makeshift dormitories.

DOMESTIC TRADE

Kabul, Qandahār, Mazā-e-Sharif, and Herāt are the principal commercial cities of eastern, southern, northern, and western Afghanistan, respectively. The first two are the main distribution centers for imports arriving from the direction of Pakistan; the latter two, for materials arriving from Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Hours of business vary. The destruction of paved roads has severely constrained normal domestic trade in most rural parts of the country. Heavy fighting in Kabul completely destroyed the city's infrastructure.

FOREIGN TRADE

Although the Taliban had brought a repressive order to the 90% of the country under its rule, it was unable to gain international recognition nor did it attract foreign investment. Hyperinflation had increased the number of Afghanis (the country's currency) needed to equal one US dollar, from 50 in the early 1990s to a virtually worthless 42,000 in 1999. On 7 October 2002, the first anniversary of the start of the US-led bombing campaign in Afghanistan, a new Afghan currency came into use. Also called the Afghani, the new notes were worth 1000 of the old notes, which

were phased out. The government will exchange the dostumi currency, which is used in northern Afghanistan and named after the region's warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, into new Afghanis at half the value of old Afghanis. Around 1,800 tons of old Afghanis were due to be burned or recycled.

The value of exports, including fruits and nuts, carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, and gems totaled an estimated $471 million in 2005 (not including illegal exports). Imports, including food, petroleum products, and most commodity items totaled an estimated $3.87 billion in 2005.

In 2004, exports (not including illicit exports or re-exports) amounted to $446 million; by 2005, the number had increased slightly, to $471 million. Imports almost tripled in the period 2001–05, to $3.87 billion. Carpets (47.5%), dried fruits (40.6%), fresh fruit (5.6%), medicinal plants (2.6%), and animal skins (1.2%) represented the bulk of exports, and they mainly went to Pakistan (which received 24% of the total), India (21.3%), the United States (12.4%), and Germany (5.5%). Imports primarily came from Pakistan (25.5%), the United States (8.7%), India (8.5%), Germany (6.5%), Turkmenistan (5.3%), Kenya (4.7%), South Korea (4.2%), and Russia (4.2%). Imports were machinery and equipment; household requisites and medicine; fabrics, clothing and footwear; food; and, chemical materials.

BALANCE OF PAYMENTS

Between 1951 and 1973, Afghanistan's year-end international reserves were never lower than $38 million nor higher than $65 million. Development of the natural gas industry and favorable prices for some of the country's agricultural exports led to increases in international reserves, to $67.5 million in 1974 and to $115.4 million as of 31 December 1975. Exploitation of natural gas also freed Afghanistan from extreme dependence on petroleum imports and from the rapid increases in import costs that most countries experienced in 1973 and 1974. Increased trade in the late 1970s and 1980s resulted in a reduction of foreign exchange earnings, since trade surpluses are counted as a credit against future imports. Foreign exchange reserves declined from $411.1 million at the close of 1979 to $262 million as of 30 May 1987. Foreign exchange reserves were estimated at $1.3 billion in 2004, up from $426 million in 2002, and $815 million in 2003. The public foreign debt in 1997 stood at $5.49 billion. Reliable statistics are not available for the ensuing years However, the current account balance was estimated to have gone from -$2.3 billion in 2003, to -$2.7 billion in 2004.

BANKING AND SECURITIES

The government central bank, the Bank of Afghanistan, was founded in 1939. In 1999, the UN Security Council passed a resolution placing the Bank of Afghanistan on a consolidated list of persons and entities whose funds and financial resources should be frozen, due to the fact that the bank was controlled by the Taliban regime. The Security Council agreed to remove the bank from the list upon a request from the Interim Administration of Afghanistan in January 2002..

All banks in Afghanistan were nationalized in 1975. In the early 1980s there were seven banks in the country, including the Agricultural Development Bank, the Export Promotion Bank, the Industrial Development Bank, and the Mortgage and Construction Bank. There is no organized domestic securities market.

INSURANCE

The fate of the Afghan National Insurance Co., which covered fire, transport, and accident insurance, is unknown as of 2006.

PUBLIC FINANCE

The fiscal year ends 20 March. Budget breakdowns have not been available since 1979/80, when revenues totaled Af15,788 million and expenditures Af16,782 million. In 2002, the Interim and Transitional governing authorities were working with donor aid agencies to finance the rebuilding of Afghanistan's infrastructure and society. The Interim Administration was supported by the Asian Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, UNDP, and the World Bank. An Implementation Group was established to operate an Operational Costs Trust Fund for Afghanistan, to be effective when the UNDP Start-up Fund ceased, to cover expenditures normally financed by domestic revenue. The Operational Costs Trust Fund was scheduled to cease to operate when the situation in Afghanistan reached fiscal normality, when the government would be able to finance most or all of its own costs.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimated that in the fiscal year 2004/05 Afghanistan's central government took in revenues of approximately $269 million and had expenditures of $561 million. Revenues minus expenditures totaled approximately - $292 million. Total external debt was $8 billion.

TAXATION

In the early 1980s, direct taxes accounted for about 15% of government revenues. The share provided by indirect taxes declined from 42% to 30%, as revenues from natural gas and state enterprises played an increasing role in government finance. Tax collection, never an effective source of revenue in rural areas, was essentially disabled by the disruption caused by fighting and mass flight. Under the Taliban, arbitrary taxes, including those on humanitarian goods, were imposed.

In 2005 the government introduced an income (or wage) tax. Employers with two or more employees were required to pay 10% on annual income over about $3,500 and 20% on income over about $27,000.

CUSTOMS AND DUTIES

Before the turmoil of the late 1970s, customs duties, levied as a source of revenue rather than as a protective measure, constituted more than one-fourth of total government revenue. Both specific and ad valorem duties of 20–35% were levied on imports. Other costs included service and Red Crescent charges; monopoly and luxury taxes; authorization and privilege charges, and a commission-type duty.

After the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan's warlords collected customs duties for themselves rather than transferring the funds to the Interim and Transitional authorities in Kabul. In May 2002, it was estimated that $6–7 million in customs duties were paid each month at Afghanistan's borders with Pakistan, Iran, and Uzbekistan, very little of which went into the government treasury.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT

A 1967 law encouraged investment of private foreign capital in Afghanistan, but under the PDPA government, Western investment virtually ceased. Between 1979 and 1987, the USSR provided technical and financial assistance on more than 200 projects, including various industrial plants, irrigation dams, agricultural stations, and a new terminal at the Kabul airport. After 1990, reconstruction investments from Russia, Japan, and the United States were channeled through the United Nations. The Taliban called for Western support to help reconstruct Afghanistan, but Western donors—already reluctant to support UN programs in the country—did not respond. After the fall of the Taliban, head-of-state Hamid Karzai invited foreign direct investment (FDI) in Afghanistan, first to reach the people in the provinces who required salaries and owed taxes, and then to invest in businesses that would lead to industrial and technological development.

One of the main policies of the government as of 2006 was to create a business-friendly environment and to attract foreign, as well as domestic, investments. Both national and international observers realized that the economy of Afghanistan could not be sustained long-term on the benefits of donor-led reconstruction, and the trickle down effects of the opium economy. At the opening of the Hyatt Hotel in Kabul in April 2004, President Hamid Karzai declared that "Afghanistan is open for business."

The Afghan ministry of commerce calculated that between November 2003 and November 2004, $351 million in FDI made its way into the country. The investment amount was relatively small, but was a positive sign that the economy was orienting itself in the right direction. Most of the investments came from Pakistan, Iran, China, the UAE, EU countries, and the United States.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

As of 2002, the World Bank was managing an Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) to assist the Interim Administration in funding physical reconstruction projects, including in the health sector, as well as managing expenses such as salaries for state employees. The ARTF began in May 2002, as a joint proposal of the World Bank, the UN Development Program (UNDP), the Asian Development Bank, and the Islamic Development Bank. It was set up to streamline international support to Afghanistan by organizing aid pledges within a single mechanism. Contributions to the ARTF totaled more than $60 million in the first year and were expected to exceed $380 million over the four subsequent years. As of November 2002, pledges of funding for Afghanistan reached more than $4.5 billion for the first 30 months.

The main growth engines of the Afghan economy are donor-led reconstruction, the opium business, agriculture, and carpeting. The first two cannot sustain the economy long-term, and Afghan policymakers faced a challenge to develop a strategy to grow other sectors of the economy. As of 2006, the country remained poor, landlocked, and dependent on farming, foreign aid, and trade with neighboring countries. Much of the population continued to live in abject conditions (without access to housing, clean water, energy, or medical care), and the labor market was far from dynamic. Its attractive 28-million person market was offset by the lack of good infrastructure, and by security problems that still loom outside Kabul. Policymakers were hopeful however, that political stability would enable the economy thrive and grow.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Social welfare in Afghanistan has traditionally relied on family and tribal organization. In the villages and small towns, a tax to benefit the poor is levied on each man. Social welfare centers in the provincial capitals exist to care for disabled people, but these are able to assist only a small number of those in need. Most other welfare activities are still unorganized and in private hands. In the early 1990s, a social insurance system provided old age, disability, and survivors' pensions; sickness and maternity benefits; and workers' compensation.

Traditionally, women had few rights in Afghanistan, with their role limited largely to the home and the fields. Advances in women's rights were made from 1920 onward, and by the 1970s, women were attending school in large numbers, were voting, and held government jobs—including posts as cabinet ministers, and were active in the professions. The victory of the extremely conservative Taliban in 1996 reversed this trend. Strict limits on the freedoms of women were put in place. Under the constitution of 2004, the government provided for freedom of speech, the press, assembly, association, religion, and movement; however, serious problems remained in the area of human rights. Although the rule of law applied throughout the country, in practice its recognition was limited.

Violence, including rape and kidnapping, and societal discrimination against women and minorities persisted. Terrorist attacks and extreme violence continued. Extrajudicial and unlawful killings by the government or its agents and police still occurred. Civilians were killed as rebel forces battled. Torture and excessive use of force were reported. Detention conditions were inadequate.

With the end of the Taliban, women and girls were permitted to attend schools and universities, and the enforced wearing of the burka was ended. Men were allowed to shave, music and television were permitted, and a host of Taliban-imposed restrictions on society ended. Many women continued to wear the burka, or chadri, out of tradition, but also due to fear of harassment or violence. Reports claimed that trafficking in women and children for forced labor, prostitution, and sexual exploitation was increasing. The country was both a source and transit point for trafficking. Trafficking victims faced societal discrimination, especially with regard to sexual exploitation. There are no child labor laws or other legislation to protect child abuse victims. The law criminalizes homosexual activity.

Women in urban areas regained some measure of rights to public life, however lack of education under Taliban rule restricted employment possibilities. On the other hand, in 2004 regulations changed to allow married women to attend high school classes. Certain other restrictions on women were lifted in 1998. Women were allowed to work as doctors and nurses (as long as they treated only women) and were able to attend medical schools. Yet, women were denied adequate medical care due to the societal barriers discouraging them from seeking care from male health workers. Widows with no means of support were allowed to seek employment.

HEALTH

Starvation, disease, death, war, and migration had devastating effects on Afghanistan's health infrastructure in the 1990s. According to the World Health Organization, medication was scarce. Even before the war disrupted medical services, health conditions in Afghanistan were inadequate by western standards

In 2004, there were an estimated 18 physicians per 100,000 people. In addition, there were fewer than 3 pharmacists, 3 dentists, and 22 nurses per 100,000 population that year. Approximately only 29% of the population had access to health services. Few people had access to safe water and adequate sanitation.

In 2005, estimated life expectancy was 42.9 years—one of the lowest in the world—and infant mortality was estimated at 163.07 per 1,000 live births, which gives the country the world's second-highest mortality rate for infants. The maternal mortality rate in 2002 was one of the highest in Central Asia, with 1,600 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. The death rate in 2002 was 17 per 1,000 people. In 2002, some 80,000 children a year were dying of diarrheal disease. From 1978 to 1991, there were over 1.5 million war-related deaths. It is estimated that 3,767 civilians died because of US bombs in Afghanistan in the period 7 October–7 December 2001. Approximately 300–400 civilians were killed in the period October 2001–July 2002.

As of 2002, Afghanistan had an average of four hospital beds for every 10,000 people. Most of the country's facilities are in Kabul, and those needing treatment must traverse the countryside to get there. Health care was being provided primarily by the international community. Some military field hospitals were set up as a result of the US-led coalition war. There are some medical facilities supported by the Red Cross operating in the country. In 24 of 31 provinces there are no hospitals or medical staff.

HOUSING

According to an official report, there were 200,000 dwellings in Kabul in the mid-1980s. The latest available figures for 1980–88 show a total housing stock of 3,500,000 with 4.4 people per dwelling. However, years of conflict have caused severe damage to the housing stock. In 2003, UN-Habitat reported that about 26% of all housing had been destroyed or seriously damaged. About 20–25% of the population did not have access to piped supplies of safe water and about 84% of the population had no sanitary toilets.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been the leader in providing homes and shelter for returning Afghan refugees, internally displaced persons, and the extremely poor. From 2002–04, over 100,000 rural homes were built through the collaboration of UNHCR and the Afghan Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation. Others funding housing development included the UN Development Program, the International Organization for Migration, and CARE International, while the agencies implementing the programs are the Ministry for Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) in Afghanistan, the United Nations Human Settlement Program (HABITAT), the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and an assortment of international and local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

Houses in farming communities are built largely of mud brick and frequently grouped within a fortified enclosure, to provide protection from marauders. The roofs are flat, with a coating of mixed straw and mud rolled hard above a ceiling of horizontal poles, although in areas where timber is scarce, separate mud brick domes crown each room. Cement and other modern building materials are widely used in cities and towns. Every town has at least one wide thoroughfare, but other streets are narrow lanes between houses of mud brick, taller than those in the villages and featuring decorative wooden balconies.

EDUCATION

At the last estimates, the adult literacy rate was about 36% for the total population—51% for males and 21% for females. Education is free at all levels. The primary education program covers six years. The secondary education (middle school and high school) includes another six-year program. About 29% of school-aged children are enrolled at the primary level. About 14% of all appropriately aged children are enrolled in secondary programs. Vocational training is provided in secondary schools and senior high schools, and approximately 6% of students are enrolled in the vocational system. Theoretically, education is compulsory for six years. The new constitution proposed to change the standard to nine years of compulsory education.

Boys and girls are schooled separately. In 2003, the average pupil to teacher ratio for primary school was 61:1. Children are taught in their mother tongue, Dari (Persian) or Pashtu (Pashto), during the first three grades; the second official language is introduced in the fourth grade. Children are also taught Arabic so that they may be able to read the Koran (Quran). The school year extends from early March to November in the cold areas and from September to June in the warmer regions.

In addition to the secular public education system, the traditional Islamic madrassa school system is functioning. At the madrassas, children study the Koran, the Hadith (Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad), and popular religious texts.

All teachers have civil service status. The educational system is totally centralized by the state.

The University of Kabul, which is now coeducational, was founded in 1932. In 1962, a faculty of medicine was established at Jalālābād in Nangarhar Province; this faculty subsequently became the University of Nangarhar. In January 2006, there were at least eight universities and three other institutes of higher education. An estimated 1,000 women throughout Afghanistan participated in university entrance examinations in 2002.

LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS

For centuries, manuscript collections were in the hands of the rulers, local feudal lords, and renowned religious families. Printing came fairly late to Afghanistan, but with the shift from the handwritten manuscript to the printed book, various collections were formed. Kabul Central Library is a public library (1920) with 60,000 volumes. The Khairkhona Library is the only other public library in Kabul. The library of the University of Kabul has about 250,000 volumes. There is a library at Kabul Polytechnic University with 6,000 volumes. A government library, at the ministry of education also in Kabul, houses 30,000 volumes. As of 2005, there were six provincial libraries, but in various stages of repair and reconstruction.

Prior to the devastating civil war, the Kabul Museum (founded in 1922) possessed an unrivaled collection of stone heads, bas-reliefs, ivory plaques and statuettes, bronzes, mural paintings, and Buddhist material from excavations at Hadda, Bamian, Bagram, and other sites. It also contained an extensive collection of coins and a unique collection of Islamic bronzes, marble reliefs, Kusham art, and ceramics from Ghaznī. During several decades of warfare, however, the museum was plundered by various armed bands, with much of its collection sold on the black market or systematically destroyed. In March 2001, the Taliban dynamited the Bamiyan Buddhas and sold the debris and the remains of the original sculpture. Small statues of the Buddhas in Foladi and Kakrak were destroyed. Most of the statues and other non-Islamic art works in the collections of the Kabul Museum were destroyed, including those stored for security reasons in the ministry of information and culture.

UNESCO has undertaken a plan to conserve the archaeological remains and the minaret at Jam, and to make it a World Heritage site. The minaret was built at the end of the 12th century and, at 65 m (215 ft) is the second-tallest in the world after the Qutub Minaret in New Delhi, India.

The National Archives of Afghanistan in Kabul was established in 1973. Holdings include government documents and ancient books, the most important being a 500-year-old Koran. Also in Kabul is the Kabul University Science Museum, with an extensive zoological collection and a museum of pathology. There are provincial museums at Bamyan, Ghaznī, Herāt, Mazār-e Sharif, Maimana, and Qandahār. Major religious shrines have collections of valuable objects.

MEDIA

Limited telephone service to principal cities and some smaller towns and villages is provided by the government. In 2003, there were an estimated 2 mainline telephones for every 1,000 people. The same year, there were approximately 10 mobile phones in use for every 1,000 people. In 2004, the CIA reported that there were 50,000 main phone lines and 600,000 cellular mobile phone lines in use (about 3 out of every 10 Afghans had a cellular phone). In 2005, four wireless telephone service providers were licensed.

The media in Afghanistan was severely restricted by the Taliban. Since the fall of that regime, freedom of expression has been provided for in the constitution. However, a 2002 press law contained an injunction against information that would be considered insulting to Islam and, while an independent media is beginning to grow, as of 2004, the state owned at least 35 publications and a majority of the electronic media.

The first television broadcast took place in 1978. There are at least 10 television stations, with the main central station in Kabul being operated by the government. In 2004, there were at least 40 radio broadcast stations (approximately equal numbers of AM and FM), with programming available in Pashtu, Afghan Persian (Dari), Urdu, and English. In 2003, there were an estimated 114 radios and 14 television sets for every 1,000 people. On 12 September 2004 the first independent radio station established entirely by private sector funds was inaugurated in Ghaznī province.

In 2004, there were approximately 300 publications in the country. Mazār-e Sharif alone had an estimated 50 publications. Major newspapers, all headquartered in Kabul, (with estimated 1999 circulations) are Anis (25,000), published in Dari and Pashto; Hewad (12,200), and New Kabul Times (5,000), in English. In January 2002, the independent newspaper Kabul Weekly began publishing again, after having disappeared during the period when the Taliban was in power. The first issue carried news in Dari, Pashto, English, and French.

News agencies include the state-operated Bakhtar News Agency and the privately owned Pajhwok Afghan News, Hindokosh, and Afghan Islamic Press.

In 2005, there were 25,000 people with Internet access.

ORGANIZATIONS

Afghanistan has over 2,300 registered nongovernmental organizations and approximately 300 registered social organizations. Organizations to advance public aims and goals are of recent origin and most are sponsored and directed by the government.

The National Fatherland Front, consisting of tribal and political groups that support the government, was founded in June 1981 to bolster the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) regime and to promote full and equal participation of Afghan nationals in state affairs. The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), established in Kabul in 1977, is an independent political organization of Afghan women focusing on human rights and social justice.

With political changes in the country throughout the past decade, a number of new women's groups have developed. The Women's Welfare Society carries on educational enterprises, provides training in handicrafts, and dispenses charitable aid, while the Maristun, a social service center, looks after children, men, and women while teaching them crafts and trades. These include the Afghan Women Social and Cultural Organization (AWSCO, est. 1994), the Afghan Women's Educational Center (AWEC, est. 1991), the Afghan Women's Network (AWN, est. 1995), the Educational Training Center for Poor Women and Girls of Afghanistan (ECW, est. 1997), the New Afghanistan Women Association (est. 2002 as a merger of the Afghan Women Journalist Association and the Afghan Feminine Association), and the World Organization for Mutual Afghan Network (WOMAN, est. 2002).

The Union of Afghanistan Youth is a national nongovernment organization representing the concerns of the nation's youth and young adults in the midst of transition and reconstruction. The organization serves as a multiparty offshoot of the Democratic Youth Organization of Afghanistan (DYOA), which has worked closely with the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. Though the Scouting Movement of Afghanistan was disbanded in 1978, the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) began conducting seminars in July 2003 to encourage and support the rebirth of scouting programs. There are a number of sports organizations throughout the country, including those for football (soccer), tennis, cricket, and track and field; many of these are linked to international organizations.

The Red Crescent, the equivalent of the Red Cross, is active in every province, with a national chapter of Red Crescent Youth also active. Afghanistan also hosts chapters of Habitat for Humanity and HOPE Worldwide.

An institute, the Pashto Tolanah, promotes knowledge of Pashto literature, and the Historical Society (Anjuman-i-Tarikh) amasses information on Afghan history. The Afghan Carpet Exporters' Guild, founded in 1987, promotes foreign trade of Afghan carpets and works for the improvement of the carpet industry.

TOURISM, TRAVEL, AND RECREATION

The tourism industry, developed with government help in the early 1970s, has been negligible since 1979 due to internal political instability. A passport and visa are required for entrance into Afghanistan. In 1999, the UN estimated the daily cost of staying in Kabul at $70. Approximately 61% of these costs were estimated to be the price of a room in a guesthouse. Travel was highly restricted in the country due to the US-led campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

FAMOUS AFGHANS

The most renowned ruler of medieval Afghanistan, Mahmud of Ghaznī (971?–1030), was the Turkish creator of an empire stretching from Ray and Isfahan in Iran to Lahore in India (now in Pakistan) and from the Amu Darya (Oxus) River to the Arabian Sea. Zahir ud-Din Babur (1483–1530), a Timurid prince of Ferghana (now in the former USSR), established his base at Kabul and from there waged campaigns leading to the expulsion of an Afghan ruling dynasty, the Lodis, from Delhi and the foundation of the Mughal Empire in India.

Many eminent figures of Arab and Persian intellectual history were born or spent their careers in what is now Afghanistan. Al-Biruni (973–1048), the great Arab encyclopedist, was born in Khiva but settled in Ghaznī, where he died. Abdul Majid Majdud Sana'i (1070–1140), the first major Persian poet to employ verse for mystical and philosophical expression, was a native of Ghaznī. Jalal ud-Din Rumi (1207–73), who stands at the summit of Persian poetry, was born in Balkh but migrated to Konya (Iconium) in Turkey. The last of the celebrated Persian classical poets, Abdur Rahman Jami (1414–92), was born in Khorasan but spent most of his life in Herāt. So did Behzad (1450?–1520), the greatest master of Persian painting.

The founder of the state of Afghanistan was Ahmad Shah Abdali (1724–73), who changed his dynastic name to Durrani. He conquered Kashmir and Delhi and, with his capital at Qandahār, ruled over an empire that also stretched from the Amu Darya to the Arabian Sea. Dost Muhammad (1789–1863) was the founder of the Muhammadzai (Barakzai) dynasty. In a turbulent career, he both fought and made peace with the British in India, and unified the country. His grandson, Abdur Rahman Khan (1844–1901), established order after protracted civil strife. Amanullah Khan (1892–1960), who reigned from 1919 to 1929, tried social reforms aimed at Westernizing the country but was forced to abdicate. Muhammad Nadir Shah (d.1933), who was elected king by a tribal assembly in 1929, continued Amanullah's Westernization program. His son, Muhammad Zahir Shah (b.1914), was king until he was deposed by a coup in July 1973. Lieut. Gen. Sardar Muhammad Daoud Khan (1909–78), cousin and brother-in-law of King Zahir, was the leader of the coup and the founder and first president of the Republic of Afghanistan. Leaders in the violent years after the 1978 "Saur Revolution" were Nur Muhammad Taraki (1917–79), founder of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA); Hafizullah Amin (1929–79), Taraki's successor as president of the Revolutionary Council and secretary-general of the PDPA; Babrak Karmal (1929–96), leader of the pro-Soviet Parcham group of the PDPA and chief of state from December 1979 until May 1986; and Dr. Mohammad Najibullah (1947–96), former head of the Afghan secret police who was brutally executed by the Taliban militia after they seized control of Kabul. Ahmed Shah Massoud (1953?–2001) played a leading role in driving the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan; after the rise of the Taliban, he became the military leader of the Northern Alliance. Massoud was the victim of a suicide attack two days before the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States; some speculate Osama bin Laden had a hand in his assassination, to ensure the protection and cooperation of the Taliban. Hamid Karzai (b.1957) is the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan. Karzai worked to overthrow the Taliban. After the regime's demise in 2001, Karzai became the chairman of the transnational administration and interim president until his election in the first direct election in the country, held in 2004.

DEPENDENCIES

Afghanistan has no territories or colonies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adamec, Ludwig W. Historical Dictionary of Afghan Wars, Revolutions, and Insurgencies. 2nd ed. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2005.

Barry, Michael. History of Modern Afghanistan. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Chayes, Sarah. Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan after the Taliban. New York: Penguin Press, 2006.

Misdaq, Nabi. Afghanistan: Political Frailty and Foreign Interference. New York: Routledge, 2005.

Rumer, Boris. Central Asia at the End of the Transition. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 2005.

Afghanistan

Compiled from the December 2007 Background Note and supplemented with additional information from the State Department and the editors of this volume. See the introduction to this set for explanatory notes.

Official Name:

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

PROFILE

Geography

Area: 647,500 sq. km. (249,935 sq. mi.); slightly smaller than Texas.

Cities: Capital—Kabul (1,780,000; 1999/2000 UN est.). Other cities (1988 UN est.; current figures are probably significantly higher)—Kandahar (226,000); Herat (177,000); Mazar-e-Sharif (131,000); Jalalabad (58,000); Konduz (57,000).

Terrain: Landlocked; mostly mountains and desert.

Climate: Dry, with cold winters and hot summers.

People

Nationality: Noun and adjective—Afghan(s).

Population: 31,056,997 (June 2006 est.). More than 3.5 million Afghans live outside the country, mainly in Pakistan and Iran, although over 5 million have returned since the removal of the Taliban.

Annual population growth rate: (2006 est.) 2.67%. Main ethnic groups: Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen, Aimaq, Baluch,Nuristani, Kizilbash.

Religions: Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi’a Muslim 19%, other 1%.

Languages: Dari (Afghan Persian), Pashto.

Education: Approximately 6 million children, of whom some 40% are girls, enrolled in school during 2007. Literacy (2001 est.)—36% (male 51%, female 21%), but real figures may be lower given breakdown of education system and flight of educated Afghans during three decades of war and instability.

Health: Infant mortality rate (2004 est.)—165.96 deaths/1,000 live births. Life expectancy (2004 est.)— 42.27 yrs. (male); 42.66 yrs. (female).

Government

Type: Islamic Republic.

Independence: August 19, 1919.

Constitution: January 4, 2004.

Government branches: Executive—president (chief of state). Legislative—bicameral National Assembly (House of the People—249 seats, House of the Elders—102 seats). Judicial—Supreme Court, High Courts, and Appeals Courts.

Political subdivisions: 34 provinces.

Suffrage: Universal at 18 years.

Economy

GDP: (2007 est.) $8.4 billion.

GDP growth: (2007 est.) 13%.

GDP per capita: (2007 est.) $300.

Natural resources: Natural gas, oil, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron, salt, precious and semiprecious stones.

Agriculture: (estimated 52% of GDP) Products—wheat, corn, barley, rice, cotton, fruit, nuts, karakul pelts, wool, and mutton.

Industry: (estimated 26% of GDP) Types—small-scale production for domestic use of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, and cement; hand-woven carpets for export; natural gas, precious and semiprecious gemstones.

Services: (estimated 22% of GDP) Transport, retail, and telecommunications.

Trade: (2002-03 est.) Exports—$100 million (does not include opium) fruits and nuts, hand-woven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semiprecious gems. Major markets—Central Asian republics, United States, Pakistan, India. Imports—$2.3 billion: food, petroleum products, machinery, and consumer goods. Major suppliers—Central Asian republics, Pakistan, United States, India.

Currency: The currency is the afghani, which was reintroduced as Afghanistan's new currency in January 2003. At present, $1 U.S. equals approximately 50 afghanis.

PEOPLE

Afghanistan's ethnically and linguistically mixed population reflects its location astride historic trade and invasion routes leading from Central Asia into South and Southwest Asia. While population data is somewhat unreliable for Afghanistan, Pashtuns make up the largest ethnic group at 38-44% of the population, followed by Tajiks (25%), Hazaras (10%), Uzbek (6-8%), Aimaq, Turkmen, Baluch, and other small groups. Dari (Afghan Farsi) and Pashto are official languages. Dari is spoken by more than one-third of the population as a first language and serves as a lingua franca for most Afghans, though Pashto is spoken throughout the Pashtun areas of eastern and southern Afghanistan. Tajik and Turkic languages are spoken widely in the north. Smaller groups throughout the country also speak more than 70 other languages and numerous dialects.

Afghanistan is an Islamic country. An estimated 80% of the population is Sunni, following the Hanafi school of jurisprudence; the remainder of the population—and primarily the Haz-ara ethnic group— predominantly Shi’a. Despite attempts during the years of communist rule to secularize Afghan society, Islamic practices pervade all aspects of life. In fact, Islam served as a principal basis for expressing opposition to communism and the Soviet invasion. Islamic religious tradition and codes, together with traditional tribal and ethnic practices, have an important role in personal conduct and dispute settlement. Afghan society is largely based on kinship groups, which follow traditional customs and religious practices, though somewhat less so in urban areas.

HISTORY

Afghanistan, often called the crossroads of Central Asia, has had a turbulent history. In 328 BC, Alexander the Great entered the territory of present-day Afghanistan, then part of the Persian Empire, and established a Hellenistic state in Bactria (present-day Balkh). Invasions by the Scythians, White Huns, and Turks followed in succeeding centuries. In AD 642, Arabs invaded the entire region and introduced Islam. Arab rule gave way to the Persians, who controlled the area until conquered by the Turkic Ghaznavids in 998. Mahmud of Ghazni (998-1030) consolidated the conquests of his predecessors and turned Ghazni into a great cultural center as well as a base for frequent forays into India. Following Mahmud's short-lived dynasty, various princes attempted to rule sections of the country until the destructive Mongol invasion of 1219 led by Genghis Khan.

Following Genghis Khan's death in 1227, a succession of petty chiefs and princes struggled for supremacy until late in the 14th century, when one of his descendants, Tamerlane, incorporated Afghanistan into his own vast Asian empire. Babur, a descendant of Tamerlane and the founder of India's Moghul dynasty at the beginning of the 16th century, made Kabul the capital of an Afghan principality.

In 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder of what is known today as Afghanistan, established his rule. A Pashtun, Durrani was elected king by a tribal council after the assassination of the Persian ruler Nadir Shah at Khabushan in the same year. Throughout his reign, Durrani consolidated chieftainships, petty principalities, and fragmented provinces into one country. His rule extended from Mashad in the west to Kashmir and Delhi in the east, and from the Amu Darya (Oxus) River in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south.

European Influence

During the 19th century, collision between the expanding British Empire in the subcontinent and czarist Russia significantly influenced Afghanistan in what was termed “The Great Game.” British concern over Russian advances in Central Asia and growing influence in Persia precipitated two Anglo-Afghan wars. The first (1839-42) resulted not only in the destruction of a British army, but is remembered today as an example of the ferocity of Afghan resistance to foreign rule. The second Anglo-Afghan war (1878-80) was sparked by Amir Sher Ali's refusal to accept a British mission in Kabul. This conflict brought Amir Abdur Rahman to the Afghan throne. During his reign (1880-1901), the British and Russians officially established the boundaries of what would become modern Afghanistan through the demarcation of the Durand Line. The British retained effective control over Kabul's foreign affairs.

Afghanistan remained neutral during World War I, despite German encouragement of anti-British feelings and Afghan rebellion along the borders of British India. The Afghan king's policy of neutrality was not universally popular within the country, however.

Habibullah, Abdur Rahman's son and successor, was assassinated in 1919, possibly by family members opposed to British influence. His third son, Amanullah, regained control of Afghanistan's foreign policy after launching the third Anglo-Afghan war with an attack on India in the same year. During the ensuing conflict, the war-weary British relinquished their control over Afghan foreign affairs by signing the Treaty of Rawalpindi in August 1919. In commemoration of this event, Afghans celebrate August 19 as their Independence Day.

Reform and Reaction

King Amanullah (1919-29) moved to end his country's traditional isolation in the years following the third Anglo-Afghan war. He established diplomatic relations with most major countries and—following a 1927 tour of Europe and Turkey during which he noted the modernization and secularization advanced by Ataturk—introduced several reforms intended to modernize Afghanistan. Some of these, such as the abolition of the traditional Muslim veil for women and the opening of a number of co-educational schools, quickly alienated many tribal and religious leaders. Faced with overwhelming armed opposition, Amanullah was forced to abdicate in January 1929 after Kabul fell to forces led by Bacha-i-Saqao, a Tajik brigand. Prince Nadir Khan, a cousin of Amanullah's, in turn

defeated Bacha-i-Saqao in October of the same year and, with considerable Pashtun tribal support, was declared King Nadir Shah. Four years later, however, he was assassinated in a revenge killing by a Kabul student.

Mohammad Zahir Shah, Nadir Khan's 19-year-old son, succeeded to the throne and reigned from 1933 to 1973. In 1964, King Zahir Shah promulgated a liberal constitution providing for a two-chamber legislature to which the king appointed one-third of the deputies. The people elected another third, and the remainder were selected indirectly by provincial assemblies. Although Zahir's “experiment in democracy” produced few lasting reforms, it permitted the growth of unofficial extremist parties on both the left and the right. These included the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), which had close ideological ties to the Soviet Union. In 1967, the PDPA split into two major rival factions: the Khalq (Masses) faction headed by Nur Muhammad Taraki and Hafizullah Amin and supported by elements within the military, and the Parcham (Banner) faction led by Babrak Karmal. The split reflected ethnic, class, and ideological divisions within Afghan society. Zahir's cousin, Sardar Mohammad Daoud, served as his Prime Minister from 1953 to 1963. During his tenure as Prime Minister, Daoud solicited military and economic assistance from both Washington and Moscow and introduced controversial social policies of a reformist nature. Daoud's alleged support for the creation of a Pashtun state in the Pakistan-Afghan border area heightened tensions with Pakistan and eventually resulted in Daoud's dismissal in March 1963.

Daoud's Republic (1973-78) and the April 1978 Coup

Amid charges of corruption and malfeasance against the royal family and poor economic conditions created by the severe 1971-72 drought, former Prime Minister Daoud seized power in a military coup on July 17, 1973. Zahir Shah fled the country, eventually finding refuge in Italy. Daoud abolished the monarchy, abrogated the 1964 constitution, and declared Afghanistan a republic with himself as its first President and Prime Minister. His attempts to carry out badly needed economic and social reforms met with little success, and the new constitution promulgated in February 1977 failed to quell chronic political instability. Seeking to exploit more effectively mounting popular disaffection, the PDPA reunified with Moscow's support. On April 27, 1978, the PDPA initiated a bloody coup, which resulted in the overthrow and murder of Daoud and most of his family. Nur Muhammad Taraki, Secretary General of the PDPA, became President of the Revolutionary Council and Prime Minister of the newly established Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

Opposition to the Marxist government emerged almost immediately. During its first 18 months of rule, the PDPA brutally imposed a Marxist-style “reform” program, which ran counter to deeply rooted Afghan traditions. Decrees forcing changes in marriage customs and pushing through an ill-conceived land reform were resisted by virtually all Afghans. In addition, thousands of members of the traditional elite, the religious establishment, and the intelligentsia were imprisoned, tortured, or murdered. Conflicts within the PDPA also surfaced early and resulted in exiles, purges, imprisonments, and executions.

By the summer of 1978, a revolt began in the Nuristan region of eastern Afghanistan and quickly spread into a countrywide insurgency. In September 1979, Hafizullah Amin, who had earlier been Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, seized power from Taraki after a palace shootout. Over the next 2 months, instability plagued Amin's regime as he moved against perceived enemies in the PDPA. By December, party morale was crumbling, and the insurgency was growing.

The Soviet Invasion

The Soviet Union moved quickly to take advantage of the April 1978 coup. In December 1978, Moscow signed a new bilateral treaty of friendship and cooperation with Afghanistan, and the Soviet military assistance program increased significantly. The regime's survival increasingly was dependent upon Soviet military equipment and advisers as the insurgency spread and the Afghan army began to collapse.

By October 1979, however, relations between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union were tense as Hafizullah Amin refused to take Soviet advice on how to stabilize and consolidate his government. Faced with a deteriorating security situation, on December 24, 1979, large numbers of Soviet airborne forces, joining thousands of Soviet troops already on the ground, began to land in Kabul under the pretext of a field exercise. On December 26, these invasion forces killed Hafizullah Amin and installed Babrak Karmal, exiled leader of the Parcham faction, bringing him back from Czechoslovakia and making him Prime Minister. Massive Soviet ground forces invaded from the north on December 27.

Following the invasion, the Karmal regime, although backed by an expeditionary force that grew as large as 120,000 Soviet troops, was unable to establish authority outside Kabul. As much as 80% of the countryside, including parts of Herat and Kanda-har, eluded effective government control. An overwhelming majority of Afghans opposed the communist regime, either actively or passively. Afghan freedom fighters (mujahidin) made it almost impossible for the regime to maintain a system of local government outside major urban centers. Poorly armed at first, in 1984 the mujahidin began receiving substantial assistance in the form of weapons and training from the U.S. and other outside powers.

In May 1985, the seven principal Peshawar-based guerrilla organizations formed an alliance to coordinate their political and military operations against the Soviet occupation. Late in 1985, the mujahidin were active in and around Kabul, launching rocket attacks and conducting operations against the communist government. The failure of the Soviet Union to win over a significant number of Afghan collaborators or to rebuild a viable Afghan army forced it to bear an increasing responsibility for fighting the resistance and for civilian administration.

Soviet and popular displeasure with the Karmal regime led to its demise in May 1986. Karmal was replaced by Muhammad Najibullah, former chief of the Afghan secret police (KHAD). Najibullah had established a reputation for brutal efficiency during his tenure as KHAD chief. As Prime Minister, Najibullah was ineffective and highly dependent on Soviet support. Undercut by deep-seated divisions within the PDPA, regime efforts to broaden its base of support proved futile.

The Geneva Accords and Their Aftermath

By the mid-1980s, the tenacious Afghan resistance movement—aided by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and others—was exacting a high price from the Soviets, both militarily within Afghanistan and by souring the U.S.S.R.'s relations with much of the Western and Islamic world. Informal negotiations for a Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan had been underway since 1982. In 1988, the Governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the United States and Soviet Union serving as guarantors, signed an agreement settling the major differences between them. The agreement, known as the Geneva accords, included five major documents, which, among other things, called for U.S. and Soviet noninterference in the internal affairs of Pakistan and Afghanistan, the right of refugees to return to Afghanistan without fear of persecution or harassment, and, most importantly, a timetable that ensured full Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan by February 15, 1989. About 14,500 Soviet and an estimated one million Afghan lives were lost between 1979 and the Soviet withdrawal in 1989. Significantly, the mujahidin were party neither to the negotiations nor to the 1988 agreement and, consequently, refused to accept the terms of the accords. As a result, the civil war continued after the Soviet withdrawal, which was completed in February 1989.

Najibullah's regime, though failing to win popular support, territory, or international recognition, was able to remain in power until 1992 but collapsed after the defection of Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostam and his Uzbek militia in March. However, when the victorious mujahidin entered Kabul to assume control over the city and the central government, a new round of internecine fighting began between the various militias, which had coexisted only uneasily during the Soviet occupation. With the demise of their common enemy, the militias’ ethnic, clan, religious, and personality differences surfaced, and the civil war continued.

Seeking to resolve these differences, the leaders of the Peshawar-based mujahidin groups established an interim Islamic Jihad Council in mid-April 1992 to assume power in Kabul. Moderate leader Prof. Sibghatullah Mojaddedi was to chair the council for 2 months, after which a 10-member leadership council composed of mujahidin leaders and presided over by the head of the Jamiat-i-Islami, Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani, was to be set up for 4 months. During this 6-month period, a Loya Jirga, or grand council of Afghan elders and notables, would convene and designate an interim administration which would hold power up to a year, pending elections.

But in May 1992, Rabbani prematurely formed the leadership council, undermining Mojaddedi's fragile authority. In June, Mojaddedi surrendered power to the Leadership Council, which then elected Rabbani as President. Nonetheless, heavy fighting broke out in August 1992 in Kabul between forces loyal to President Rabbani and rival factions, particularly those who supported Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami. After Rabbani extended his tenure in December 1992, fighting in the capital flared up in January and February 1993. The Islamabad Accord, signed in March 1993, which appointed Hekmatyar as Prime Minister, failed to have a lasting effect. A follow-up agreement, the Jalalabad Accord, called for the militias to be disarmed but was never fully implemented. Through 1993, Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami forces, allied with the Shi’a Hezb-i-Wahdat militia, clashed intermittently with Rabbani and Masood's Jamiat forces. Cooperating with Jamiat were militants of Sayyaf's Ittehad-i-Islami and, periodically, troops loyal to ethnic Uzbek strongman Abdul Rashid Dostam. On January 1, 1994, Dostam switched sides, precipitating large-scale fighting in Kabul and in northern provinces, which caused thousands of civilian casualties in Kabul and elsewhere and created a new wave of displaced persons and refugees. The country sank even further into anarchy, forces loyal to Rabbani and Masood, both ethnic Tajiks, controlled Kabul and much of the northeast, while local warlords exerted power over the rest of the country.

Rise and Fall of the Taliban

The Taliban had risen to power in the mid 90's in reaction to the anarchy and warlordism that arose after the withdrawal of Soviet forces. Many Taliban had been educated in madrassas in Pakistan and were largely from rural southern Pashtun backgrounds. In 1994, the Taliban developed enough strength to capture the city of Kandahar from a local warlord and proceeded to expand its control throughout Afghanistan, occupying Kabul in September 1996. By the end of 1998, the Taliban occupied about 90% of the country, limiting the opposition largely to a small mostly Tajik corner in the northeast and the Panjshir valley.

The Taliban sought to impose an extreme interpretation of Islam—based upon the rural Pashtun tribal code—on the entire country and committed massive human rights violations, particularly directed against women and girls. The Taliban also committed serious atrocities against minority populations, particularly the Shi’a Hazara ethnic group, and killed noncombatants in several well-documented instances. In 2001, as part of a drive against relics of Afghanistan's pre-Islamic past, the Taliban destroyed two huge Buddha statues carved into a cliff face outside of the city of Bamiyan.

From the mid-1990s the Taliban provided sanctuary to Osama bin Laden, a Saudi national who had fought with the mujahideen resistance against the Soviets, and provided a base for his and other terrorist organizations. Bin Laden provided both financial and political support to the Taliban. Bin Laden and his Al-Qaida group were charged with the bombing of the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam in 1998, and in August 1998 the United States launched a cruise missile attack against bin Laden's terrorist camp in southeastern Afghanistan. Bin Laden and Al-Qaida have acknowledged their responsibility for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States.

Following the Taliban's repeated refusal to expel bin Laden and his group and end its support for international terrorism, the U.S. and its partners in the anti-terrorist coalition began a military campaign on October 7, 2001, targeting terrorist facilities and various Taliban military and political assets within Afghanistan. Under pressure from U.S. military and anti-Taliban forces, the Taliban disintegrated rapidly, and Kabul fell on November 13, 2001.

Afghan factions opposed to the Taliban met at a United Nations-sponsored conference in Bonn, Germany in December 2001 and agreed to restore stability and governance to Afghanistan—creating an interim government and establishing a process to move toward a permanent government. Under the “Bonn Agreement,” an Afghan Interim Authority was formed and took office in Kabul on December 22, 2001 with Hamid Karzai as Chairman. The Interim Authority held power for approximately 6 months while preparing for a nationwide “Loya Jirga” (Grand Council) in mid-June 2002 that decided on the structure of a Transitional Authority. The Transitional Authority, headed by President Hamid Karzai, renamed the government as the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan (TISA). One of the TISA's primary achievements was the drafting of a constitution that was ratified by a Constitutional Loya Jirga on January 4, 2004.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS

On October 9, 2004, Afghanistan held its first national democratic presidential election. More than 8 million Afghans voted, 41% of whom were women. Hamid Karzai was announced as the official winner on November 3 and inaugurated on December 7 for a five-year term as Afghanistan's first democratically elected president. On December 23, 2004, President Karzai announced new cabinet appointments, naming three women as ministers.

An election was held on September 18, 2005 for the “Wolesi Jirga” (lower house) of Afghanistan's new bicameral National Assembly and for the country's 34 provincial councils. Turnout for the election was about 53% of the 12.5 million registered voters. The Afghan constitution provides for indirect election of the National Assembly's “Meshrano Jirga” (upper house) by the provincial councils and by reserved presidential appointments. The first democratically elected National Assembly since 1969 was inaugurated on December 19, 2005. Younus Qanooni and Sigbatullah Mojadeddi were elected Speakers of the Wolesi Jirga and Meshrano Jirga, respectively.

The government's authority is growing, although its ability to deliver necessary social services remains largely dependent on funds from the international donor community. Between 2001-2006, the United States committed over $12 billion to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. At an international donors’ conference in Berlin in April 2004, donors pledged a total of $8.2 billion for Afghan reconstruction over the three-year period 2004-2007. At the end of January 2006, the international community gathered in London and renewed its political and reconstruction support for Afghanistan in the form of the Afghanistan Compact.

With international community support, including more than 40 countries participating in Operation Enduring Freedom and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the government's capacity to secure Afghanistan's borders to maintain internal order is increasing. Responsibility for security for all of Afghanistan was transferred to ISAF in October 2006. As of November 2007, some 70,000 Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers had been trained along with some 79,000 police, including border and highway police. Reform of the army and police, to include training, is an extensive and ongoing process, and the U.S. is working with NATO and international partners to further develop Afghanistan's National Security Forces.

Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) has also helped to further establish the authority of the Afghan central government. The DDR program, after receiving 63,000 military personnel, stopped accepting additional candidates in June 2005. Disarmament and demobilization of all of these candidates were completed at the end of June 2006. A follow-on program targeting illegal militias, the Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG), was begun in 2005, under the joint auspices of Japan and the United Nations. The DIAG program is still ongoing.

Principal Government Officials

Last Updated: 2/1/2008

Pres.: Hamid KARZAI

Vice Pres.: Ahmad Zia MASOOD

Vice Pres.: Abdul Karim KHALILI

Min. of Agriculture: Obaidullah RAMIN

Min. of Border & Tribal Affairs: Mohammad Karim BRAHAWI

Min. of Commerce & Industry: Mohammad Amin FARHANG

Min. of Communications: Amirzai SANGIN

Min. of Counternarcotics (Acting): KHODAIDAD, Gen.

Min. of Defense: Abdul Rahim WARDAK

Min. of Economy: Mohammad Jalil SHAMS

Min. of Education: Mohammad Hanif ATMAR

Min. of Energy & Water: Ismail KHAN

Min. of Finance: Anwar Ul-Haq AHADY

Min. of Foreign Affairs: Rangin Dadfar SPANTA

Min. of Hajj & Islamic Affairs: Niamatullah SHAHRANI

Min. of Health: Sayed Mohammad Amin FATEMI

Min. of Higher Education: Mohammad Azam DADFAR

Min. of Interior: Ahmad Moqbel ZARAR

Min. of Justice: Mohammad SarwaDANESH

Min. of Martyrs, Disabled, & Social Affairs: Nur Mohammad QARQIN

Min. of Mines & Industries: Ibrahim ADEL

Min. of Public Works: Surab Ali SAFARI

Min. of Refugees & Repatriation: Sher Mohammad ETEBARI

Min. of Rural Development: Ehsan ZIA

Min. of Transportation: Niamatullah Ehsan JAWID

Min. of Urban Development: Yousef PASHTUN

Min. of Women's Affairs: Hasan Bano GHAZANFAR

Min. of Youth & Culture: Abdul Karim KHURAM

National Security Adviser: Zalmay RASSOUL, Dr.

Governor, Central Bank: Abdul Qadir FITRAT

Ambassador to the US: Said Tayeb JAWAD

Permanent Representative to the UN, New York: Zahir TANIN

Afghanistan maintains an embassy in the United States at 2341 Wyoming Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel: 202-483-6410; email: info@embassyofafghanistan.org).

ECONOMY

In the 1930s, Afghanistan embarked on a modest economic development program. The government founded banks; introduced paper money; established a university; expanded primary, secondary, and technical schools; and sent students abroad for education.

Historically, there has been a dearth of information and reliable statistics about Afghanistan's economy. The 1979 Soviet invasion and ensuing civil war destroyed much of the country's limited infrastructure and disrupted normal patterns of economic activity. Gross domestic product had fallen substantially because of loss of labor and capital and disruption of trade and transport. Continuing internal strife hampered both domestic efforts at reconstruction as well as international aid efforts. However, Afghanistan's economy has grown at a fast pace since the 2001 fall of the Taliban, albeit from a low base. In 2004, Afghanistan's GDP grew 17%, and in 2005 Afghanistan's GDP grew 14%. A 2006 drought dropped growth to 5.3%. In 2007, growth is expected to be 13%. In June 2006, Afghanistan and the International Monetary Fund agreed on a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility program for 2006-2009 that focuses on maintaining macroeconomic stability, boosting growth, and reducing poverty. Afghanistan is also rebuilding its banking infrastructure through the Da Afghanistan National Bank. Several government-owned banks are also in the process of being privatized.

Agriculture

The main source of income in the country is agriculture, and in the past, Afghanistan produced enough food and food products to provide for the people, as well as to create a surplus for export. The major food crops produced are: corn, rice, barley, wheat, vegetables, fruits, and nuts. In Afghanistan, industry is also based on agriculture, and pastoral raw materials. The major industrial crops are: cotton, tobacco, madder, castor beans, and sugar beets. The Afghan economy continues to be overwhelmingly agricultural, despite the fact that only 12% of its total land area is arable and less than 6% currently is cultivated. Agricultural production is constrained by an almost total dependence on erratic winter snows and spring rains for water; irrigation is primitive. Relatively little use is made of machines, chemical fertilizer, or pesticides. Overall agricultural production dramatically declined following severe drought as well as sustained fighting, instability in rural areas, and deteriorated infrastructure. The easing of the drought and the end of civil war produced the largest wheat harvest in 25 years during 2003. Wheat production was an estimated 58% higher than in 2002. However, the country still needs to import an estimated one million tons of wheat to meet its requirements. Millions of Afghans, particularly in rural areas, remain dependent on food aid.

Opium has become a ready source of cash for many Afghans, especially following the breakdown in central authority after the Soviet withdrawal, and opium-derived revenues probably constituted a major source of income for the two main factions during the civil war in the 1990s. Opium is easy to cultivate and transport. Afghanistan produced a record opium poppy crop in 2007, supplying 93% of the world's opium. Much of Afghanistan's opium production is refined into heroin and is either consumed by a growing regional addict population or exported, primarily to Western Europe.

Afghanistan has begun counter-narcotics programs, including the promotion of alternative livelihoods, public information campaigns, targeted eradication policies, interdiction of drug shipments, as well as law enforcement and justice reform programs. These programs were first implemented in late 2005. In August 2007, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated that the Afghan Government eradicated over 19,000 hectares of opium poppy, representing only 9.9% of the area under poppy cultivation.

Trade and Industry

Afghanistan is endowed with natural resources, including extensive deposits of natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, and precious and semiprecious stones. Unfortunately, ongoing instability in certain areas of the country, remote and rugged terrain, and an inadequate infrastructure and transportation network have made mining these resources difficult, and there have been few serious attempts to further explore or exploit them. The first significant investment in the mining sector is expected to commence in 2008, for the development of the Aynak cooper deposit in east-central Afghanistan. This project tender, awarded to a Chinese firm and valued at over $2.5 billion, is the largest international investment in Afghanistan to date. The Ministry of Mines also plans to move forward with oil, gas, and possibly iron ore tenders in 2008.

The most important resource has been natural gas, first tapped in 1967. At their peak during the 1980s, natural gas sales accounted for $300 million a year in export revenues (56% of the total). Ninety percent of these exports went to the Soviet Union to pay for imports and debts. However, during the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, Afghanistan's natural gas fields were capped to prevent sabotage by the mujahidin.

Restoration of gas production has been hampered by internal strife and the disruption of traditional trading relationships following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The government expects to pass a hydrocarbons law, developed with donor assistance, to regulate future exploration and development of Afghanistan's oil and gas fields.

With the law in place, Afghanistan hopes to begin using natural gas to produce electricity. Trade in smuggled goods into Pakistan once constituted a major source of revenue for Afghan regimes, including the Taliban, and still figures as an important element in the Afghan economy, although efforts are underway to formalize this trade and remove non-tariff barriers limiting its expansion.

Transportation

In the 1960s, the United States helped build a highway connecting Afghanistan's two largest cities. It began in Kabul and wound its way through five of the country's core provinces—skirting scores of isolated and otherwise inaccessible villages; passing through the ancient market city of Ghazni; descending through Qalat; and eventually reaching Kandahar, founded by Alexander the Great. More than 35% of the country's population lives within 50 kilometers of this highway, called, appropriately, modern Afghanistan's lifeline.

In 1978, the Soviet Union invaded and, after more than two decades of war, the Kabul-Kandahar highway was devastated, like much of the country's infrastructure. Little could move along the lifeline that had provided so many Afghans with their means of livelihood and their access to healthcare, education, markets, and places of worship.

Restoration of the highway has been an overriding priority of President Hamid Karzai. It is crucial to extending the influence of the new government. Without the highway link, Afghanistan's civil society and economy would remain moribund and prey to divisive forces. The economic development that the highway makes possible will help guarantee the unity and long-term security of the Afghan people. The restored highway is a visually impressive achievement whose symbolic importance should not be underestimated. It marks a palpable transition from the recent past and represents an important building block for the future. An official in Herat likened the ring road to veins and arteries that nourish and bring life to the “heart” of Kabul and the body of the country. The highway will not end in Kandahar: there are plans to complete the circuit, extending it to Herat and then arcing it back through Mazar-e-Sharif to Kabul. The route is sometimes referred to as the Ring Road. As of December 2006, 100% of the Ring Road had been funded, with plans for completion in 2009.

Landlocked Afghanistan has no functioning railways, but the Amu Darya (Oxus) River, which forms part of Afghanistan's border with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, has barge traffic. During their occupation of the country, the Soviets completed a bridge across the Amu Darya. The bridge, reconstructed with U.S. assistance, reopened in 2007 and has opened vital trade routes between Afghanistan and its neighbors.

Afghanistan's national airline, Ariana, operates domestic and international routes, including flights to New Delhi, Islamabad, Dubai, Moscow, Istanbul, and Tehran. Civil aviation has been expanding rapidly and several private airlines now offer an alternative to Ariana and operate a domestic and international route network. The first, Kam Air, commenced domestic operations in November 2003. Many sections of Afghanistan's highway and regional road system are undergoing significant reconstruction, many with substantial U.S. assistance. The Asian Development Bank is also active in road development projects, mainly in the border areas with Pakistan.

Humanitarian Relief

Many nations have assisted in a great variety of humanitarian and development projects all across Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. The United Nations, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other international agencies have also given aid. Schools, clinics, water systems, agriculture, sanitation, government buildings and roads are being repaired or built.

De-mining

Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world; an estimated 200,000 Afghans have been disabled by the explosive remnants of war (ERW). Between March 2006 and March 2007 an average 62 civilians were injured each month. As of March 2007 the United Nations Mine Action Program for Afghanistan (MAPA), responsible for demining in Afghanistan, employed approximately 8,500 Afghan personnel through funding and oversight of several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) deployed throughout the country. With Afghanistan Government support, and in line with its Ottawa Convention commitments, MAPA has destroyed Afghanistan's known stockpile of landmines and strives to make Afghanistan mine-free by 2013. Since 1989, MAPA has cleared about 1.2 billion square meters of land and destroyed millions of ERW, including over 300,000 antipersonnel landmines. Training programs are also provided to educate the public about the threat and dangers of ERW. These combined efforts have reduced ERW victims by over 50% in the past six years. The United States remains the leading single donor for Afghanistan's humanitarian demining efforts.

Refugees and Internally Displaced People

Afghanistan has had the largest refugee repatriation in the world in the last 30 years. The return of refugees is guided by the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MORR) and supported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), International Organization of Migration (IOM), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Program (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and a number of other national and international NGOs and donors. As of December 2007, approximately 3.5 million Afghans remained in neighboring countries. The U.S. provided more than $447.5 million in support to Afghan refugees, returnees, and other conflict victims between September 2001 and December 2007.

Health

In response to a strategy outlined by the Ministry of Health, the international community is supporting the government in rebuilding the primary health-care system. Tuberculosis remains a serious public health problem in Afghanistan. Since this strategy was outlined, the Afghan Government with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) has established 162 health facilities in 141 districts across the country. The treatment success rate in 2002 was 86%. WHO is also assisting the Ministry of Health and local health authorities to combat malaria where the disease is widespread. Through this project, 600,000 individuals are receiving full treatment for malaria every year. In addition 750,000 individuals are protected from malaria by sleeping under special nets provided under the project.

Education

There were 45,000 children enrolled in school in 1993; 19% were girls. The latest official statistics show there are now approximately 6 million children in school, 40% are girls. In addition 29% of the teachers in the provinces are women, compared with 15% in 1993. The total enrollment rate for Afghan children between 7 and 13 years of age has increased to 54% (67% for boys and 37% for girls). A number of factors such as distance to schools, poor facilities and lack of traditionally-preferred separate schooling for boys and girls continue to be challenges to higher enrollment.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

Before the Soviet invasion, Afghanistan pursued a policy of neutrality and nonalignment in its foreign relations. After the December 1979 invasion, Afghanistan's foreign policy mirrored that of the Soviet Union. Most Western countries, including the United States, maintained small diplomatic missions in Kabul during the Soviet occupation. Repeated Taliban efforts to occupy Afghanistan's seat at the UN and Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) were unsuccessful.

The fall of the Taliban in October 2001 opened a new chapter in Afghanistan's foreign relations. Afghanistan is now an active member of the international community, and has diplomatic relations with countries from around the world. In December 2002, the six nations that border Afghanistan signed a 'Good Neighbor’ Declaration, in which they pledged to respect Afghanistan's independence and territorial integrity. In 2005 Afghanistan and its South Asia neighbors held the first annual Regional Economic Cooperation Conference (RECC) promoting intra-regional relations and economic cooperation.

Pakistan

The 1978 Marxist coup strained relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan took the lead diplomatically in the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference in opposing the Soviet occupation. During the war against the Soviet occupation, Pakistan served as the primary logistical conduit for the Afghan resistance. Pakistan initially developed close ties to the Taliban regime, and extended recognition in 1997. Pakistan dramatically altered its policy in support of coalition efforts to remove the Taliban after September 11, 2001. Afghanistan and Pakistan are engaged in dialogue to resolve bilateral friction. Pakistan is also seeking to repatriate its Afghan refugee population, which is concentrated mostly in the Northwestern Frontier Province.

Iran

Afghanistan's relations with Iran have fluctuated over the years, with periodic disputes over the water rights of the Helmand River as the main issue of contention. Following the Soviet invasion, which Iran opposed, relations deteriorated. Iran supported the cause of the Afghan resistance and provided financial and military assistance to rebel leaders who pledged loyalty to the Iranian vision of Islamic revolution. Following the emergence of the Taliban and their harsh treatment of Afghanistan's Shi'a minority, Iran stepped up assistance to the Northern Alliance. Relations with the Taliban deteriorated further in 1998 after Taliban forces seized the Iranian consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif and executed Iranian diplomats. Since the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan's relations with Iran have improved, but they suffered a setback in spring 2007 with the mass deportations of undocumented Afghans from Iran. Iran has been active in Afghan reconstruction efforts, particularly in the western portion of the country.

Russia

During the reign of the Taliban, Russia became increasingly disenchanted over the Taliban's support for Chechen rebels and its provision of sanctuary to terrorist groups active in Central Asia and in Russia itself. Moscow provided military assistance to the Northern Alliance. Since the fall of the Taliban, the Karzai government has improved relations with Russia, but Afghanistan's outstanding foreign debt to Russia still continues to be a source of contention.

Tajikistan

Afghanistan's relations with Tajikistan have been complicated by political upheaval and civil war in Tajikistan, which spurred some 100,000 Tajiks to seek refuge in Afghanistan in late 1992 and early 1993. Also disenchanted by the Taliban's harsh treatment of Afghanistan's Tajik minority, Tajikistan facilitated assistance to the Northern Alliance. The Karzai government has sought to establish closer ties with its northern neighbor in order to capitalize on the potential economic benefits of increased trade. The 2007 opening of a U.S.-funded bridge across the Amu Darya river has facilitated bilateral trade flows between Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

UN Efforts

The United Nations was instrumental in obtaining a negotiated Soviet withdrawal under the terms of the 1988 Geneva Accords. In the aftermath of the Accords, the United Nations assisted in the repatriation of refugees and provided humanitarian aid such as food, shelter, health care, educational programs, and support for mine-clearing operations. From 1990-2001, the UN worked to promote a peaceful settlement between the Afghan factions as well as provide humanitarian aid. Since October 2001, the UN has played a key role in Afghanistan through the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA), including spearheading efforts to organize the Afghan presidential elections held in October 2004 and National Assembly elections held in 2005.

U.S.-AFGHAN RELATIONS

The first extensive American contact with Afghanistan was made by Josiah Harlan, an adventurer from Pennsylvania who was an adviser in Afghan politics in the 1830s and reputedly inspired Rudyard Kipling's story "The Man Who Would be King."After the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1934, the U.S. policy of helping developing nations raise their standard of living was an important factor in maintaining and improving U.S.-Afghan ties. From 1950 to 1979, U.S. foreign assistance provided Afghanistan with more than $500 million in loans, grants, and surplus agricultural commodities to develop transportation facilities, increase agricultural production, expand the educational system, stimulate industry, and improve government administration.

In the 1950s, the U.S. declined Afghanistan's request for defense cooperation but extended an economic assistance program focused on the development of Afghanistan's physical infrastructure—roads, dams, and power plants. Later, U.S. aid shifted from infrastructure projects to technical assistance programs to help develop the skills needed to build a modern economy. The Peace Corps was active in Afghanistan between 1962 and 1979.

After the April 1978 coup, relations deteriorated. In February 1979, U.S. Ambassador Adolph "Spike" Dubs was murdered in Kabul after Afghan security forces burst in on his kidnapers. The U.S. then reduced bilateral assistance and terminated a small military training program. All remaining assistance agreements were ended after the December 1979 Soviet invasion.

Following the Soviet invasion, the United States supported diplomatic efforts to achieve a Soviet withdrawal. U.S. contributions to the refugee program in Pakistan played a major part in efforts to assist Afghans in need. This cross-border humanitarian assistance program aimed to increase Afghan self-sufficiency and help Afghans resist Soviet attempts to drive civilians out of the rebel-dominated countryside. During the period of Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the U.S. provided about $3 billion in military and economic assistance to Afghans and the resistance movement.

The U.S. supported the emergence of a broad-based government, representative of all Afghans, and actively encouraged a UN role in the national reconciliation process in Afghanistan. Today, the U.S. is assisting the Afghan people as they rebuild their country and establish a representative government that contributes to regional stability, is market friendly, and respects human rights. In May 2005, President Bush and President Karzai concluded a strategic partnership agreement committing both nations to a long-term relationship.

Principal U.S. Embassy Officials

Last Updated: 2/19/2008

KABUL (E) Great Massoud Road, APO/FPO APO/AE 09806, (VoIP, US-based) 301-490-1042, Fax No working Fax, INMARSAT Tel 011-873-761-837-725, Workweek: Saturday-Thursday 0800-1630, Website: http://kabul.usembassy.gov.

TRAVEL

Consular Information Sheet

October 23, 2007

Country Description: Afghanistan has made significant progress since the Taliban were deposed in 2001, but it still faces daunting challenges, including defeating terrorists and insurgents, dealing with years of severe drought, recovering from over two decades of civil strife, and rebuilding a shattered physical, economic and political infrastructure. Coalition and NATO forces under ISAF work in partnership with Afghan security forces to combat Taliban and al-Qaida elements who continue to seek to terrorize the population and challenge the government. The ISAF Coalition-Afghan partnership contained the spring offensive planned by insurgent forces, who have turned instead to isolated terrorist attacks, including suicide bombings and kidnappings. President Hamid Karzai was sworn in as President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on December 7, 2004. He and his ministers work with the parliament, which first convened in late 2005, to establish policies and procedures to deal with the array of issues any government must address, as well as Afghanistan's unique challenges. The government is in the process of developing a more effective police force, a more robust legal system, and sub-national institutions that work in partnership with traditional and local leaders to meet the needs of the population. The U.S. works closely with the international community to provide coordinated support for these efforts. The recent Afghanistan-hosted Peace Jirga with Pakistan resulted in a commitment to cooperate in combating terrorism, facilitate the return of Afghan refugees, and support regional economic activity.

Entry Requirements: A passport and valid visa are required to enter and exit Afghanistan. Afghan entry visas are not available at Kabul International Airport. American citizens who arrive without a visa are subject to confiscation of their passport and face heavy fines and difficulties in retrieving their passport and obtaining a visa, as well as possible deportation from the country. Americans arriving in the country via military air usually have considerable difficulties if they choose to depart Afghanistan on commercial air, because their passports are not stamped to show that they entered the country legally. Those coming on military air should move quickly after arrival to legalize their status if there is any chance they will depart the country on anything other than military air. Visit the Embassy of Afghanistan web site at http://www.embassyofafghanistan.org for the most current visa information. The Consular office of the Embassy of Afghanistan is located at 2233 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Suite 216, Washington, DC 20007, phone number 202-298-9125.

Safety and Security: The latest Travel Warning for Afghanistan states clearly that the security situation remains critical for American citizens. There are remnants of the former Taliban regime and the terrorist al-Qaida network in various parts of Afghanistan, as well as narcotraf-fickers and other groups that oppose the strengthening of a democratic government. Those groups aim to weaken or bring down the new Government of Afghanistan, and often, to drive Westerners out of the country. They do not hesitate to use violence to achieve their aims. Terrorist actions may include, but are not limited to, suicide operations, bombings—including vehicle-borne explosives and improvised explosive devices—assassinations, carjackings, rocket attacks, assaults or kidnappings. There is an ongoing threat to kidnap U.S. citizens and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) workers throughout the country. Since the beginning of 2007, more than three dozen foreigners have been kidnapped and held for extended periods of time, and six foreigners have been kidnapped and murdered; foreigners and Afghan nationals have been killed or injured in improvised explosive device attacks. In the past few months, Kabul has seen an increase in suicide bombers attacking Afghan government personnel. Riots—sometimes violent—have occurred in response to various political or other issues.

Crime, including violent crime, remains a significant problem. Official Americans’ use of the Kabul-Jala-labad road and other roads throughout the country is often restricted or completely curtailed because of security concerns. The country faces a difficult period in the near term, and American citizens could be targeted or placed at risk by unpredictable local events. In addition, there is also a real danger from the presence of millions of unexploded land mines and other ordnance. Terrorists continue to use roadside or vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices. Private Americans should not come to Afghanistan unless they have made arrangements in advance to address security concerns.

The absence of records for ownership of property, differing laws from various regimes and the chaos that comes from decades of civil strife have left property issues in great disorder. Afghan-Americans returning to Afghanistan to recover property, or Americans coming to the country to engage in business, have become involved in complicated real estat disputes and have faced threats of retaliatory action, including kidnapping for ransom and death.

Large parts of Afghanistan are extremely isolated, with few roads, mostly in poor condition, irregular cell phone signals, and none of the basic physical infrastructure found in Kabul or the larger cities. Americans traveling in these areas who find themselves in trouble may not even have a way to communicate their difficulties to the outside world.

For the latest security information, Americans traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs’ web site, where the current Travel Warnings and Travel Alerts including the Worldwide Caution Travel Alert, can be found. Up-to-date information on safety and security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S., or for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll-line at 1-202-501-4444.

Crime: A large portion of the Afghan population is unemployed, and many among the unemployed have moved to urban areas. Basic services are rudimentary or non-existent. These factors may directly contribute to crime and lawlessness. Diplomats and international relief workers have reported incidents of robberies and household burglaries as well as kidnappings and assault. Any American citizen who enters Afghanistan should remain vigilant for possible banditry, including violent attacks.

Information for Victims of Crime: The loss or theft abroad of a U.S. passport should be reported immediately to the local police and the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If you are the victim of a crime while over-sseas, in addition to reporting to local police, please contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate for assistance. The Embassy/Consulate staff can, for example, assist you to find appropriate medical care, contact family members or friends and explain how funds could be transferred. Although the investigation and prosecution of the crime is solely the responsibility of local authorities, consular officers can help you to understand the local criminal justice process and to find an attorney if needed.

Medical Facilities and Health Information: Well-equipped medical facilities are few and far between throughout Afghanistan. European and American medicines are available in limited quantities and may be expensive or difficult to locate. There is a shortage of basic medical supplies. Basic medicines manufactured in Iran, Pakistan, and India are available, but their reliability can be questionable. Several western-style private clinics have opened in Kabul: the DK-German Medical Diagnostic Center (www.medical-kabul.com), Acomet Family Hospital (www. afghancomet.com), and CURE International Hospital (ph. 079-883-830) offer a variety of basic and routine-type care; Americans seeking treatment should request American or Western health practitioners. American travelers may seek emergency medical services at the Czech Military Hospital, adjacent to Kabul International Airport.

Afghan public hospitals should be avoided. Individuals without government licenses or even medical degrees often operate private clinics; there is no public agency that monitors their operations. Travelers will not be able to find Western-trained medical personnel in most parts of the country outside of Kabul, although there are some international aid groups temporarily providing basic medical assistance in various cities and villages.

For any medical treatment, payment is required in advance. Commercial medical evacuation capability from Afghanistan is limited and could take days to arrange. Even medevac companies that claim to service the world may not agree to come to Afghanistan. Those with medevac insurance should confirm with the insurance provider that it will be able to provide medevac assistance to this country.

There have been outbreaks of Avian Influenza in poultry in Afghanistan, to include the areas of Nangahar, Laghman, and Wardak provinces, and in the city of Kabul. There have been no reported cases of the H5N1 virus in humans, however. Updates on the Avian Influenza situation in Afghanistan are published on the Embassy's web site at http://kabul.usembassy.gov. For additional information on Avian Influenza, please refer to the Department of State's Avian Influenza Fact Sheet available at http://travel.state.gov/travel

Information on vaccinations and other health precautions, such as safe food and water precautions and insect bite protection, may be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's hotline for international travelers at 1-877-FYI-TRIP (1-877-394-8747) or via the CDC's Internet site at http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel. For information about outbreaks of infectious diseases abroad consult the World Health Organization's (WHO) web site at http://www.who.int/en. Further health information for travelers is available at http://www.who.int/ith.

Medical Insurance: The Department of State strongly urges Americans to consult with their medical insurance company prior to traveling abroad to confirm whether their policy applies overseas and whether it will cover emergency expenses such as a medical evacuation.

Traffic Safety and Road Conditions: While in a foreign country, U.S. citizens may encounter road conditions that differ significantly from those in the United States. The information below concerning Afghanistan is provided for general reference only, and may not be totally accurate in a particular location or circumstance.

All drivers face the potential danger of encountering land mines that may have been planted on or near roadways. An estimated 5-7 million landmines and large quantities of unexploded ordnance exist throughout the countryside and alongside roads, posing a danger to travelers. Robbery and crime are also prevalent on highways outside of Kabul. The transportation system in Afghanistan is marginal, although the international community is constructing modern highways and provincial roads.

Vehicles are poorly maintained, often overloaded, and traffic laws are not enforced. Vehicular traffic is chaotic and must contend with numerous pedestrians, bicyclists and animals. Many urban streets have large potholes and are not well lit. Rural roads are not paved.

Aviation Safety Oversight: Asthere is no direct commercial air service between the United States and Afghanistan, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has not assessed Afghanistan's Civil Aviation Authority for compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) aviation safety standards. For more information, travelers may visit the FAA's internet website at http://www.faa.gov.

U.S. Government personnel are not authorized to travel on Ariana Afghan Airlines or any other airline falling under the oversight of the Government of Afghanistan's Civil Aviation Authority, owing to safety concerns; however, U.S. Government personnel are permitted to travel on international flights operated by airlines from countries whose civil aviation authorities meet international aviation safety standards for the oversight of their air carrier operations under the FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program.

Special Circumstances: Because of the poor infrastructure in Afghanistan, access to banking facilities is extremely limited and unreliable. Afghanistan's economy operates on a “cash-only” basis for most transactions. Credit card transactions are not available. International bank transfers are very limited, as the banking system is just becoming operational. Some ATM machines exist at Standard Charter Bank and Afghan International Bank (AIB) in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood of Kabul, but some travelers have complained of difficulties using them. International communications are difficult. Local telephone networks do not operate reliably. Most people rely on satellite or cellular telephone communications even to make local calls. Cellular phone service is available locally in Kabul and some other cities. Injured or distressed foreigners could face long delays before being able to communicate their needs to family or colleagues outside of Afghanistan. Internet access through local service providers is limited.

In addition to being subject to all Afghan laws, U.S. citizens who are also citizens of Afghanistan may also be subject to other laws that impose special obligations on Afghan citizens. U.S. citizens who are also Afghan nationals do not require visas for entry into Afghanistan. The Embassy of Afghanistan issues a letter confirming your nationality for entry into Afghanistan. However, you may wish to obtain a visa as some Afghan-Americans have experienced difficulties at land border crossings because they do not have a visa in their passport. For additional information on dual nationality in general, see the Consular Affairs home page for our dual nationality flyer. U.S. citizens are encouraged to carry a copy of their U.S. passport with them at all times, so that, if questioned by local officials, proof of identity and U.S. citizenship are readily available. As stated in the Travel Warning, consular assistance for American citizens in Afghanistan is limited.

Islam provides the foundation of Afghanistan's customs, laws and practices. Foreign visitors—men and women—are expected to remain sensitive to the Islamic culture and not dress in a revealing or provocative manner, including the wearing of sleeveless shirts and blouses, halter-tops and shorts. Women in particular, especially when traveling outside of Kabul, may want to ensure that their tops have long sleeves and cover their collarbone and waistband, and that their pants/skirts cover their ankles. Almost all women in Afghanistan cover their hair in public; American women visitors should carry scarves for this purpose. Afghan customs authorities may enforce strict regulations concerning temporary importation into or export from Afghanistan of items such as firearms, alcoholic beverages, religious materials, antiquities, medications, and printed materials. American travelers have faced fines and/or confiscation of items considered antiquities upon exiting Afghanistan. It is advisable to contact the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington for specific information regarding customs requirements. Travelers en route to Afghanistan may transit countries that have restrictions on firearms, including antique or display models. If you plan to take firearms or ammunition to another country, you should contact officials at that country's embassy and those that you will be transiting to learn about their regulations and fully comply with those regulations before traveling. Please consult http://www.customs.gov for information on importing firearms into the United States.

Criminal Penalties: While in a foreign country, a U.S. citizen is subject to that country's laws and regulations, which sometimes differ significantly from those in the United States and may not afford the protections available to the individual under U.S. law. Penalties for breaking the law can be more severe than in the United States for similar offenses. Persons violating Afghanistan's laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested or imprisoned. During the last several years, there have been incidents involving the arrest and/or detention of U.S. citizens. Arrested Americans have faced periods of detention—sometimes in difficult conditions—while awaiting trial. Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Afghanistan are severe, and convicted offenders can expect long jail sentences and heavy fines.

Another potentially-sensitive activity is proselytizing. Although the Afghan Constitution allows the free exercise of religion, proselytizing may be viewed as contrary to the beliefs of Islam and considered harmful to society. Proselytizing may lead to arrest and/or deportation. Engaging in sexual conduct with children or using or disseminating child pornography in a foreign country is a crime, prosecutable in the United States.

Children's Issues: For information on international adoption of children and international parental child abduction, see the Office of Children's Issues website at http://travel.state.gov/family.

Registration and Embassy Locations: Americans living or traveling in Afghanistan are encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate through the State Department's travel registration web site and to obtain updated information on travel and security within Afghanistan. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy or Consulate to contact them in case of emergency. The U.S. Embassy is located in Kabul on Great Massoud Road, local phone number 0700-108-001 or 0700-108-002, and for emergencies after hours 0700-201-908. The web site is http://kabul.usembassy.gov.

Travel Warning

April 4, 2007

This Travel Warning provides updated information on the security situation in Afghanistan. The security threat to all American citizens in Afghanistan remains critical. This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning for Afghanistan issued June 22, 2006.

The Department of State continues to strongly warn U.S. citizens against travel to Afghanistan. There is an ongoing threat to kidnap and assassinate U.S. citizens and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) workers throughout the country. The ability of Afghan authorities to maintain order and ensure the security of citizens and visitors is limited. Remnants of the former Taliban regime and the terrorist al-Qaida network, and other groups hostile to the Afghan and U.S. governments, remain active. NATO-led military operations continue, with the heavy involvement of U.S. forces. Travel in all areas of Afghanistan, including the capital, Kabul, is unsafe due to military operations, landmines, banditry, armed rivalry among political and tribal groups, and the possibility of terrorist attacks, including attacks using vehicular or other improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The security environment remains volatile and unpredictable. No part of Afghanistan should be considered immune from violence, and the potential exists throughout the country for hostile acts, either targeted or random, against American and other western nationals at any time.

Attacks on international organizations, international aid workers, and foreign interests have continued since June 2006. The number of attacks in the south and southwestern areas of the country continues to increase as a result of insurgent and drug-related activity. There were more than 130 suicide bomber and vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) attacks throughout the country in 2006. Kabul was particularly hard hit by militant attacks, such as several detonations of a remote-controlled IED and VBIED on Jalalabad Road, a suicide bomber attack upon a U.S. military convoy near Massoud Circle and the U.S. Embassy compound, a body-borne IED detonation against an ISAF convoy traveling to Kabul International Airport, and a magnetic bomb explosion in the vicinity of the Intercontinental Hotel in western Kabul. These incidents resulted in many deaths and injuries of U.S. and coalition personnel and local civilians.

Incidents have occurred with higher frequency on the Kabul-Jalalabad Road (commonly called Jalalabad Road) since June 2006. Because of an increase in information over the past several months about potential attacks on this road, its use is highly restricted for Embassy employees and, if the security situation warrants, sometimes is curtailed completely.

Since mid-2006 foreigners throughout the country continued to be targeted for violent attacks and kidnappings, whether motivated by terrorism or criminality. A Pakistani construction contractor in Zabul province was kidnapped and a Colombian NGO employee in Wardak province disappeared; neither has been found. Two German journalists were kidnapped and killed while traveling between Baghlan and Bamiyan provinces. An Italian journalist was abducted from a public bus traveling between Lashkar Gah and Kandahar and held by gunmen for three weeks. Two Pakistani journalists were kid-nappnapped in Helmand province and held for six days. Two French citizens traveling in a taxi on the main highway between Kandahar and Kabul were victims of an attempted abduction.

Riots and incidents of civil disturbance also have occurred several times since the beginning of 2006, and the risk remains that such episodes may happen at any time with no warning. American citizens should avoid rallies and demonstrations; even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence.

Carjackings, robberies, and violent crime remain a problem. In December, several armed men dressed as Afghan National Police officers set up illegal checkpoints within the district of Surobi, in eastern Kabul on Jalala-bad Road. The perpetrators robbed several drivers and shot and killed a truck driver. American citizens involved in property disputes—a common legal problem—have reported that their adversaries in the disputes have threatened their lives. Americans who find themselves in such situations cannot assume that either local law enforcement or the U.S. Embassy will be able to assist them.

Official Americans assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul are not permitted to have family members reside in Afghanistan. In addition, unofficial travel to Afghanistan by U.S. Government employees and their family members requires prior approval by the Department of State. From time to time depending on current security conditions, the U.S. Embassy places areas frequented by foreigners off limits to its personnel. Potential target areas include key national or international government establishments, international organizations and other locations with expatriate personnel, and public areas popular with the expatriate community. Private U.S. citizens are strongly urged to heed these restrictions as well and may obtain the latest information by calling the U.S. Embassy in Kabul or consulting the embassy website below. Terrorist actions may include, but are not limited to, suicide operations, bombings, assassinations, carjackings, rocket attacks, assaults or kidnappings. Possible threats include conventional weapons such as explosive devises or non-conventional weapons, including chemical or biological agents.

The United States Embassy's ability to provide emergency consular services to U.S. citizens in Afghanistan is limited, particularly for those persons outside the capital. Afghan authorities also can provide only limited assistance to U.S. citizens facing difficulties. U.S. citizens who choose to visit or remain in Afghanistan despite this Travel Warning are urged to pay close attention to their personal safety, security and health needs and are expected to assume primary responsibility for such. They are also encouraged to register with the U.S. Embassy through the State Department's travel registration website, https://travelregistration.state.gov, and to obtain updated information on travel and security within Afghanistan. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the U.S. Embassy. Registering makes it easier for the Embassy to contact Americans in case of emergency. The U.S. Embassy is located at Great Masood Road between Radio Afghanistan and the Ministry of Public Health (the road is also known as Bebe Mahro (Airport) Road), Kabul.

The phone number is +93-70-108-001 or +93-70-108-002; the Consular Section can be reached in emergencies at +93-70-201-908. The Embassy website is http://afghanistan.usembassy.gov.

Updated information on travel and security in Afghanistan may be obtained from the Department of State by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the United States and Canada or, for callers outside the United States and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. For further information, please consult the Country Specific Information for Afghanistan and the current Worldwide Caution Travel Alert, which are available on the Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet website at http://travel.state.gov.

International Adoption

August 2007

The Department of State has occasionally received inquiries from American citizens concerned about the plight of the children of Afghanistan and wondering about the possibility of adopting them.

In general, intercountry adoptions are private civil legal matters governed by the laws of the children's home country, which has the primary responsibility and jurisdiction for deciding what would be in the children's best interests. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul has confirmed that Afghan law, which is based on Islamic Shari'a law, does not currently permit full adoptions as they are generally understood in the United States.

Afghanistan does grant a more limited arrangement akin to guardianship; however, even if an Afghan court or other Afghan authority were to grant a U.S. citizen guardianship rights for an Afghan child, the child would likely be unable to immigrate to the United States, unless the citizen could establish both that the child qualifies as an “orphan” as defined in section 101(b)(1)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and, under Afghan law, the “guardianship” order gave the citizen authority not only to care for the child but to bring the United States for the specific purpose of the child's adoption in the United States. Since Afghan law does not permit adoption, it is not clear that an Afghan guardianship order could give this authority.

The U.S. and international media have occasionally reported on the difficult situation faced by Afghanistan's children, and it is completely understandable that some American citizens want to respond to such stories by offering to open their homes and adopt these children in need. However, it is a generally agreed international principle that uprooting children during a war, natural disaster or other crisis may in fact exacerbate the children's situation. It can be extremely difficult in such circumstances to determine whether children who appear to be orphans truly are. It is also not uncommon in a hostile situation for parents to send their children out of the area, or for families to become separated during an evacuation. Even when it can be demonstrated that children are indeed orphaned or abandoned, they are often taken in by other relatives. Staying with relatives in extended family units is generally a better solution than uprooting a child completely.

There are still ways in which U.S. citizens can help the children of Afghanistan . Many American nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in Afghanistan say that what is needed most at this time are financial contributions. Individuals who wish to assist can do the most good by making a financial contribution to an established NGO that will be well placed to respond to Afghanistan's most urgent needs, including those related to the country's children.

The Department of State continues to strongly warn U.S. citizens against travel to Afghanistan, which remains very dangerous.

Afghanistan

Compiled from the December 2006 Background Note and supplemented with additional information from the State Department and the editors of this volume. See the introduction to this set for explanatory notes.

Official Name:
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

PROFILE

PEOPLE

HISTORY

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS

ECONOMY

HUMANITARIAN RELIEF

FOREIGN RELATIONS

U.S.-AFGHAN RELATIONS

TRAVEL

PROFILE

Geography

Area: 647,500 sq. km. (249,935 sq. mi.); slightly smaller than Texas.

Cities: Capital—Kabul (1,780,000; 1999/2000 UN est.). Other cities (1988 UN est.; current figures are probably significantly higher)—Kandahar (226,000); Herat (177,000); Mazar-e-Sharif (131,000); Jalalabad (58,000); Konduz (57,000).

Terrain: Landlocked; mostly mountains and desert.

Climate: Dry, with cold winters and hot summers.

People

Nationality: Noun and adjective—Afghan(s).

Population: 31,056,997 (June 2006 est.). More than 3 million Afghans live outside the country, mainly in Pakistan and Iran, although over three and a half million have returned since the removal of the Taliban.

Annual population growth rate: (2006 est.) 2.67%. This rate does not take into consideration the recent war and its continuing impact.

Ethnic groups: Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen, Aimaq, Baluch, Nuristani, Kizilbash.

Religions: Sunni Muslim 80%, Shi’a Muslim 19%, other 1%.

Languages: Dari (Afghan Persian), Pashto.

Education: Approximately 5 million children, of whom some 40% are girls, enrolled in school during 2005. Literacy (2001 est.) 36% (male 51%, female 21%), but real figures may be lower given breakdown of education system and flight of educated Afghans.

Health: Infant mortality rate (2004 est.)—165.96 deaths/1,000 live births. Life expectancy (2004 est.)—42.27 yrs. (male); 42.66 yrs. (female).

Government

Type: Islamic Republic.

Independence: August 19, 1919.

Constitution: January 4, 2004.

Government branches: Executive—president (chief of state). Legislative—bicameral National Assembly (House of the People—249 seats, House of the Elders—102 seats). Judicial—Supreme Court, High Courts, and Appeals Courts.

Political subdivisions: 34 provinces.

Suffrage: Universal at 18 years.

Economy

GDP: (2006 est.) $7.2 billion.

GDP growth rate: (2006 est.) 13.8%.

GDP per capita: (2006 est.) $231.83.

Natural resources: Natural gas, oil, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron, salt, precious and semiprecious stones.

Agriculture: (estimated 52% of GDP) Products—wheat, corn, barley, rice, cotton, fruit, nuts, karakul pelts, wool, and mutton.

Industry: (estimated 26% of GDP) Types—small-scale production for domestic use of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, and cement; hand-woven carpets for export; natural gas, precious and semiprecious gemstones.

Services: (estimated 22% of GDP) Transport, retail, and telecommunications.

Trade: (2002-03 est.) Exports—$100 million (does not include opium) fruits and nuts, hand-woven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semiprecious gems. Major markets—Central Asian republics, United States, Pakistan, India. Imports—$2.3 billion: food, petroleum products, machinery, and consumer goods. Major suppliers—Central Asian republics, Pakistan, United States, India.

Currency: The currency is the afghani, which was reintroduced as Afghanistan’s new currency in January 2003. At present, $1 U.S. equals approximately 49 afghanis.

PEOPLE

Afghanistan’s ethnically and linguistically mixed population reflects its location astride historic trade and invasion routes leading from Central Asia into South and Southwest Asia. While population data is somewhat unreliable for Afghanistan, Pashtuns make up the largest ethnic group at 38-44% of the population, followed by Tajiks (25%), Hazaras (10%), Uzbek (6-8%), Aimaq, Turkmen, Baluch, and other small groups. Dari (Afghan Farsi) and Pashto are official languages. Dari is spoken by more than one-third of the population as a first language and serves as a lingua franca for most Afghans, though Pashto is spoken throughout the Pashtun areas of eastern and southern Afghanistan. Tajik and Turkic languages are spoken widely in the north. Smaller groups throughout the country also speak more than 70 other languages and numerous dialects.

Afghanistan is an Islamic country. An estimated 80% of the population is Sunni, following the Hanafi school of jurisprudence; the remainder of the population—and primarily the Hazara ethnic group—predominantly Shi’a. Despite attempts during the years of communist rule to secularize Afghan society, Islamic practices pervade all aspects of life. In fact, Islam served as a principal basis for expressing opposition to communism and the Soviet invasion. Islamic religious tradition and codes, together with traditional tribal and ethnic practices, have an important role in personal conduct and dispute settlement. Afghan society is largely based on kinship groups, which follow traditional customs and religious practices, though somewhat less so in urban areas.

HISTORY

Afghanistan, often called the crossroads of Central Asia, has had a turbulent history. In 328 BC, Alexander the Great entered the territory of present-day Afghanistan, then part of the Persian Empire, to capture Bactria (present-day Balkh). Invasions by the Scythians, White Huns, and Turks followed in succeeding centuries. In AD 642, Arabs invaded the entire region and introduced Islam.

Arab rule gave way to the Persians, who controlled the area until conquered by the Turkic Ghaznavids in 998. Mahmud of Ghazni (998-1030) consolidated the conquests of his predecessors and turned Ghazni into a great cultural center as well as a base for frequent forays into India. Following Mahmud’s short-lived dynasty, various princes attempted to rule sections of the country until the destructive Mongol invasion of 1219 led by Genghis Khan.

Following Genghis Khan’s death in 1227, a succession of petty chiefs and princes struggled for supremacy until late in the 14th century, when one of his descendants, Tamerlane, incorporated Afghanistan into his own vast Asian empire. Babur, a descendant of Tamerlane and the founder of India’s Moghul dynasty at the beginning of the 16th century, made Kabul the capital of an Afghan principality.

In 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder of what is known today as Afghanistan, established his rule. A Pashtun, Durrani was elected king by a tribal council after the assassination of the Persian ruler Nadir Shah at Khabushan in the same year. Throughout his reign, Durrani consolidated chieftainships, petty principalities, and fragmented provinces into one country. His rule extended from Mashad in the west to Kashmir and Delhi in the east, and from the Amu Darya (Oxus) River in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south.

European Influence

During the 19th century, collision between the expanding British Empire in the subcontinent and czar-ist Russia significantly influenced Afghanistan in what was termed “The Great Game.” British concern over Russian advances in Central Asia and growing influence in Persia culminated in two Anglo-Afghan wars. The first (1839-42) resulted not only in the destruction of a British army, but is remembered today as an example of the ferocity of Afghan resistance to foreign rule. The second Anglo-Afghan war (1878-80) was sparked by Amir Sher Ali’s refusal to accept a British mission in Kabul. This conflict brought Amir Abdur Rahman to the Afghan throne. During his reign (1880-1901), the British and Russians officially established the boundaries of what would become modern Afghanistan through the demarcation of the Durand Line. The British retained effective control over Kabul’s foreign affairs.

Afghanistan remained neutral during World War I, despite German encouragement of anti-British feelings and Afghan rebellion along the borders of British India. The Afghan king’s policy of neutrality was not universally popular within the country, however.

Habibullah, Abdur Rahman’s son and successor, was assassinated in 1919, possibly by family members opposed to British influence. His third son, Amanullah, regained control of Afghanistan’s foreign policy after launching the third Anglo-Afghan war with an attack on India in the same year. During the ensuing conflict, the war-weary British relinquished their control over Afghan foreign affairs by signing the Treaty of Rawalpindi in August 1919. In commemoration of this event, Afghans celebrate August 19 as their Independence Day.

Reform and Reaction

King Amanullah (1919-29) moved to end his country’s traditional isolation in the years following the third Anglo-Afghan war. He established diplomatic relations with most major countries and, following a 1927 tour of Europe and Turkey—during which he noted the modernization and secularization advanced by Ataturk—introduced several reforms intended to modernize Afghanistan. Some of these, such as the abolition of the traditional Muslim veil for women and the opening of a number of co-educational schools, quickly alienated many tribal and religious leaders.

Faced with overwhelming armed opposition, Amanullah was forced to abdicate in January 1929 after Kabul fell to forces led by Bacha-i-Saqao, a Tajik brigand. Prince Nadir Khan, a cousin of Amanullah’s, in turn defeated Bacha-i-Saqao in October of the same year and, with considerable Pashtun tribal support, was declared King Nadir Shah. Four years later, however, he was assassinated in a revenge killing by a Kabul student.

Mohammad Zahir Shah, Nadir Khan’s 19-year-old son, succeeded to the throne and reigned from 1933 to 1973. In 1964, King Zahir Shah promulgated a liberal constitution providing for a two-chamber legislature to which the king appointed one-third of the deputies. The people elected another third, and the remainder were selected indirectly by provincial assemblies. Although Zahir’s “experiment in democracy” produced few lasting reforms, it permitted the growth of unofficial extremist parties on both the left and the right. These included the communist People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), which had close ideological ties to the Soviet Union. In 1967, the PDPA split into two major rival factions: the Khalq (Masses) faction headed by Nur Muhammad Taraki and Hafizullah Amin and supported by elements within the military, and the Parcham (Banner) faction led by Babrak Karmal. The split reflected ethnic, class, and ideological divisions within Afghan society.

Zahir’s cousin, Sardar Mohammad Daoud, served as his Prime Minister from 1953 to 1963. During his tenure as Prime Minister, Daoud solicited military and economic assistance from both Washington and Moscow and introduced controversial social policies of a reformist nature. Daoud’s alleged support for the creation of a Pashtun state in the Pakistan-Afghan border area heightened tensions with Pakistan and eventually resulted in Daoud’s dismissal in March 1963.

Daoud’s Republic (1973-78) and the April 1978 Coup

Amid charges of corruption and malfeasance against the royal family and poor economic conditions created by the severe 1971-72 drought, former Prime Minister Daoud seized power in a military coup on July 17, 1973. Zahir Shah fled the country, eventually finding refuge in Italy. Daoud abolished the monarchy, abrogated the 1964 constitution, and declared Afghanistan a republic with himself as its first President and Prime Minister. His attempts to carry out badly needed economic and social reforms met with little success, and the new constitution promulgated in February 1977 failed to quell chronic political instability.

Seeking to exploit more effectively mounting popular disaffection, the PDPA reunified with Moscow’s support. On April 27, 1978, the PDPA initiated a bloody coup, which resulted in the overthrow and murder of Daoud and most of his family. Nur Muhammad Taraki, Secretary General of the PDPA, became President of the Revolutionary Council and Prime Minister of the newly established Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

Opposition to the Marxist government emerged almost immediately. During its first 18 months of rule, the PDPA brutally imposed a Marxist-style “reform” program, which ran counter to deeply rooted Afghan traditions. Decrees forcing changes in marriage customs and pushing through an ill-conceived land reform were particularly misunderstood by virtually all Afghans. In addition, thousands of members of the traditional elite, the religious establishment, and the intelligentsia were imprisoned, tortured, or murdered. Conflicts within the PDPA also surfaced early and resulted in exiles, purges, imprisonments, and executions.

By the summer of 1978, a revolt began in the Nuristan region of eastern Afghanistan and quickly spread into a countrywide insurgency. In September 1979, Hafizullah Amin, who had earlier been Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, seized power from Taraki after a palace shootout. Over the next 2 months, instability plagued Amin’s regime as he moved against perceived enemies in the PDPA. By December, party morale was crumbling, and the insurgency was growing.

The Soviet Invasion

The Soviet Union moved quickly to take advantage of the April 1978 coup. In December 1978, Moscow signed a new bilateral treaty of friendship and cooperation with Afghanistan, and the Soviet military assistance program increased significantly. The regime’s survival increasingly was dependent upon Soviet military equipment and advisers as the insurgency spread and the Afghan army began to collapse.

By October 1979, however, relations between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union were tense as Hafizullah Amin refused to take Soviet advice on how to stabilize and consolidate his government. Faced with a deteriorating security situation, on December 24, 1979, large numbers of Soviet airborne forces, joining thousands of Soviet troops already on the ground, began to land in Kabul under the pretext of a field exercise. On December 26, these invasion forces killed Hafizullah Amin and installed Babrak Karmal, exiled leader of the Parcham faction, bringing him back from Czechoslovakia and making him Prime Minister. Massive Soviet ground forces invaded from the north on December 27.

Following the invasion, the Karmal regime, although backed by an expeditionary force that grew as large as 120,000 Soviet troops, was unable to establish authority outside Kabul. As much as 80% of the countryside, including parts of Herat and Kandahar, eluded effective government control. An overwhelming majority of Afghans opposed the communist regime, either actively or passively. Afghan freedom fighters (mujahidin) made it almost impossible for the regime to maintain a system of local government outside major urban centers. Poorly armed at first, in 1984 the mujahidin began receiving substantial assistance in the form of weapons and training from the U.S. and other outside powers.

In May 1985, the seven principal Peshawar-based guerrilla organizations formed an alliance to coordinate their political and military operations against the Soviet occupation. Late in 1985, the mujahidin were active in and around Kabul, launching rocket attacks and conducting operations against the communist government. The failure of the Soviet Union to win over a significant number of Afghan collaborators or to rebuild a viable Afghan army forced it to bear an increasing responsibility for fighting the resistance and for civilian administration.

Soviet and popular displeasure with the Karmal regime led to its demise in May 1986. Karmal was replaced by Muhammad Najibullah, former chief of the Afghan secret police (KHAD). Najibullah had established a reputation for brutal efficiency during his tenure as KHAD chief. As Prime Minister, Najibullah was ineffective and highly dependent on Soviet support. Undercut by deep-seated divisions within the PDPA, regime efforts to broaden its base of support proved futile.

The Geneva Accords and Their Aftermath

By the mid-1980s, the tenacious Afghan resistance movement—aided by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and others—was exacting a high price from the Soviets, both militarily within Afghanistan and by souring the U.S.S.R.’s relations with much of the Western and Islamic world. Informal negotiations for a Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan had been underway since 1982. In 1988, the Governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the United States and Soviet Union serving as guarantors, signed an agreement settling the major differences between them. The agreement, known as the Geneva accords, included five major documents, which, among other things, called for U.S. and Soviet noninterference in the internal affairs of Pakistan and Afghanistan, the right of refugees to return to Afghanistan without fear of persecution or harassment, and, most importantly, a timetable that ensured full Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan by February 15, 1989. About 14,500 Soviet and an estimated one million Afghan lives were lost between 1979 and the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.

Significantly, the mujahidin were party neither to the negotiations nor to the 1988 agreement and, consequently, refused to accept the terms of the accords. As a result, the civil war continued after the Soviet withdrawal, which was completed in February 1989. Najibullah’s regime, though failing to win popular support, territory, or international recognition, was able to remain in power until 1992 but collapsed after the defection of Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostam and his Uzbek militia in March. However, when the victorious mujahidin entered Kabul to assume control over the city and the central government, a new round of internecine fighting began between the various militias, which had coexisted only uneasily during the Soviet occupation. With the demise of their common enemy, the militias’ ethnic, clan, religious, and personality differences surfaced, and the civil war continued.

Seeking to resolve these differences, the leaders of the Peshawar-based mujahidin groups established an interim Islamic Jihad Council in mid-April 1992 to assume power in Kabul. Moderate leader Prof. Sibghatullah Mojaddedi was to chair the council for 2 months, after which a 10-member leadership council composed of mujahidin leaders and presided over by the head of the Jamiat-i-Islami, Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani, was to be set up for 4 months. During this 6-month period, a Loya Jirga, or grand council of Afghan elders and notables, would convene and designate an interim administration which would hold power up to a year, pending elections.

But in May 1992, Rabbani prematurely formed the leadership council, undermining Mojaddedi’s fragile authority. In June, Mojaddedi surrendered power to the Leadership Council, which then elected Rabbani as President. Nonetheless, heavy fighting broke out in August 1992 in Kabul between forces loyal to President Rabbani and rival factions, particularly those who supported Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Hezb-i-Islami. After Rabbani extended his tenure in December 1992, fighting in the capital flared up in January and February 1993. The Islamabad Accord, signed in March 1993, which appointed Hekmatyar as Prime Minister, failed to have a lasting effect. A follow-up agreement, the Jalalabad Accord, called for the militias to be disarmed but was never fully implemented. Through 1993, Hekmatyar’s Hezb-i-Islami forces, allied with the Shi’a Hezb-i-Wahdat militia, clashed intermittently with Rabbani and Masood’s Jamiat forces. Cooperating with Jamiat were militants of Sayyaf’s Ittehad-i-Islami and, periodically, troops loyal to ethnic Uzbek strongman Abdul Rashid Dostam. On January 1, 1994, Dostam switched sides, precipitating large-scale fighting in Kabul and in northern provinces, which caused thousands of civilian casualties in Kabul and elsewhere and created a new wave of displaced persons and refugees. The country sank even further into anarchy, forces loyal to Rabbani and Masood, both ethnic Tajiks, controlled Kabul and much of the northeast, while local warlords exerted power over the rest of the country.

Rise and Fall of the Taliban

The Taliban had risen to power in the mid 90’s in reaction to the anarchy and warlordism that arose after the withdrawal of Soviet forces. Many Taliban had been educated in madrassas in Pakistan and were largely from rural southern Pashtun backgrounds. In 1994, the Taliban developed enough strength to capture the city of Kandahar from a local warlord and proceeded to expand its control throughout Afghanistan, occupying Kabul in September 1996. By the end of 1998, the Taliban occupied about 90% of the country, limiting the opposition largely to a small mostly Tajik corner in the northeast and the Panjshir valley.

The Taliban sought to impose an extreme interpretation of Islam—based upon the rural Pashtun tribal code—on the entire country and committed massive human rights violations, particularly directed against women and girls. The Taliban also committed serious atrocities against minority populations, particularly the Shi’a Hazara ethnic group, and killed noncombatants in several well-documented instances. In 2001, as part of a drive against relics of Afghanistan’s pre-Islamic past, the Taliban destroyed two Buddha statues carved into cliff faces outside of the city of Bamiyan.

From the mid-1990s the Taliban provided sanctuary to Osama bin Laden, a Saudi national who had fought with the mujahideen resistance against the Soviets, and provide a base for his and other terrorist organizations. Bin Laden provided both financial and political support to the Taliban. Bin Laden and his Al-Qaida group were charged with the bombing of the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam in 1998, and in August 1998 the United States launched a cruise missile attack against bin Laden’s terrorist camp in southeastern Afghanistan. Bin Laden and Al-Qaida have acknowledged their responsibility for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States.

Following the Taliban’s repeated refusal to expel bin Laden and his group and end its support for international terrorism, the U.S. and its partners in the anti-terrorist coalition began a military campaign on October 7, 2001, targeting terrorist facilities and various Taliban military and political assets within Afghanistan. Under pressure from U.S. military and anti-Taliban forces, the Taliban disintegrated rapidly, and Kabul fell on November 13, 2001.

Afghan factions opposed to the Taliban met at a United Nations-sponsored conference in Bonn, Germany in December 2001 and agreed to restore stability and governance to Afghanistan—creating an interim government and establishing a process to move toward a permanent government. Under the “Bonn Agreement,” an Afghan Interim Authority was formed and took office in Kabul on December 22, 2001 with Hamid Karzai as Chairman. The Interim Authority held power for approximately 6 months while preparing for a nationwide “Loya Jirga” (Grand Council) in mid-June 2002 that decided on the structure of a Transitional Authority. The Transitional Authority, headed by President Hamid Karzai, renamed the government as the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan (TISA). One of the TISA’s primary achievements was the drafting of a constitution that was ratified by a Constitutional Loya Jirga on January 4, 2004.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS

On October 9, 2004, Afghanistan held its first national democratic presidential election. More than 8 million Afghans voted, 41% of whom were women. Hamid Karzai was announced as the official winner on November 3 and inaugurated on December 7 for a five-year term as Afghanistan’s first democratically elected president. On December 23, 2004, President Karzai announced new cabinet appointments, naming three women as ministers.

An election was held on September 18, 2005 for the “Wolesi Jirga” (lower house) of Afghanistan’s new bicameral National Assembly and for the country’s 34 provincial councils. Turnout for the election was about 53% of the 12.5 million registered voters. The Afghan constitution provides for indirect election of the National Assembly’s “Meshrano Jirga” (upper house) by the provincial councils and by reserved presidential appointments. The first democratically elected National Assembly since 1969 was inaugurated on December 19, 2005. Younus Qanooni and Sigbatullah Mojadeddi were elected Speaker of the Wolesi Jirga and Meshrano Jirga, respectively.

The government’s authority is growing, although its ability to deliver necessary social services remains largely dependent on funds from the international donor community. Between 2001-2006, the United States committed over $12 billion to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. At an international donors’ conference in Berlin in April 2004, donors pledged a total of $8.2 billion for Afghan reconstruction over the three-year period 2004-2007. At the end of January 2006, the international community gathered in London and renewed its political and reconstruction support for Afghanistan in the form of the Afghanistan Compact.

With international community support, including more than 40 countries participating in Operation Enduring Freedom and NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the government’s capacity to secure Afghanistan’s borders to maintain internal order is increasing. Responsibility for security for all of Afghanistan was transferred to ISAF in October 2006. As of November 2006, some 40,000 Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers had been trained along with some 60,000 police, including border and highway police.

Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) has also helped to further establish the authority of the Afghan central government. The DDR program, after receiving 63,000 military personnel, stopped accepting additional candidates in June 2005. Disarmament and demobilization of all of these candidates were completed at the end of June 2006. A follow-on program targeting illegal militias, the Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG), was begun in 2005, under the joint auspices of Japan and the United Nations. The DIAG program is still ongoing.

Principal Government Officials

Last Updated: 1/5/2007

President: Hamid KARZAI

Vice President: Ahmad Zia MASOOD

Vice President: Abdul Karim KHALILI

Min. of Agriculture: Obaidullah RAMIN

Min. of Border & Tribal Affairs: Mohammad Karim BRAHAWI

Min. of Commerce: Mohammad Amin FARHANG

Min. of Communications: Amirzai SANGIN

Min. of Counternarcotics: Habibullah QADERI

Min. of Defense: Abdul Rahim WARDAK

Min. of Economy: Mohammad Jalil SHAMS

Min. of Education: Mohammad Hanif ATMAR

Min. of Energy, Water, & Power: Ismail KHAN

Min. of Finance: Anwar Ul-Haq AHADY

Min. of Foreign Affairs: Rangin Dadfar SPANTA

Min. of Hajj & Islamic Affairs: Niamatullah SHAHRANI

Min. of Health: Sayed Mohammad Amin FATEMI

Min. of Higher Education: Mohammad Azam DADFAR

Min. of Interior: Moqbal ZARAR

Min. of Justice: Mohammad Sarwar DANESH

Min. of Martyrs, Disabled, & Social Affairs: Nur Mohammad QARQIN

Min. of Mines & Industries: Ibrahim ADEL

Min. of Public Works: Surab Ali SAFARI

Min. of Refugees: Akbar AKBAR

Min. of Rural Development: Ehsan ZIA

Min. of Transportation: Niamatullah Ehsan JAWID

Min. of Urban Development: Yousef PASHTUN

Min. of Women’s Affairs: Hasan Bano GHAZANFAR

Min. of Youth & Culture: Abdul Karim KHURAM

Chair, Human Rights Commission: Sima SAMAR

Chief Justice, Supreme Court: Abdul AZIMI

National Security Adviser: Zalmay RASSOUL

Governor, Central Bank: Nurollah DELAWARI

Ambassador to the US: Said Tayeb JAWAD

Permanent Representative to the UN, New York: Zahir TANIN

Afghanistan maintains an embassy in the United States at 2341 Wyoming Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel: 202-483-6410; email: info@embassyofafghanistan.org).

ECONOMY

In the 1930s, Afghanistan embarked on a modest economic development program. The government founded banks; introduced paper money; established a university; expanded primary, secondary, and technical schools; and sent students abroad for education.

Historically, there has been a dearth of information and reliable statistics about Afghanistan’s economy. The 1979 Soviet invasion and ensuing civil war destroyed much of the country’s limited infrastructure and disrupted normal patterns of economic activity. Gross domestic product had fallen substantially because of loss of labor and capital and disruption of trade and transport. Continuing internal strife hampered both domestic efforts at reconstruction as well as international aid efforts. However, Afghanistan’s economy has grown at a fast pace since the 2001 fall of the Taliban, albeit from a low base. In 2004, Afghanistan’s GDP grew 17%, and in 2005 Afghanistan’s GDP grew approximately 10%.

In June 2006, Afghanistan and the International Monetary Fund agreed on a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility program for 2006-2009 that focuses on maintaining macroeconomic stability, boosting growth, and reducing poverty. Afghanistan is also rebuilding its banking infrastructure, through the Da Afghanistan National Bank. Several government-owned banks are also in the process of being privatized.

Agriculture

The main source of income in the country is agriculture, and during its good years, Afghanistan produces enough food and food products to provide for the people, as well as to create a surplus for export. The major food crops produced are: corn, rice, barley, wheat, vegetables, fruits, and nuts. In Afghanistan, industry is also based on agriculture, and pastoral raw materials. The major industrial crops are: cotton, tobacco, madder, castor beans, and sugar beets. The Afghan economy continues to be overwhelmingly agricultural, despite the fact that only 12% of its total land area is arable and less than 6% currently is cultivated. Agricultural production is constrained by an almost total dependence on erratic winter snows and spring rains for water; irrigation is primitive. Relatively little use is made of machines, chemical fertilizer, or pesticides.

Overall agricultural production dramatically declined following severe drought as well as sustained fighting, instability in rural areas, and deteriorated infrastructure. The easing of the drought and the end of civil war produced the largest wheat harvest in 25 years during 2003. Wheat production was an estimated 58% higher than in 2002. However, the country still needed to import an estimated one million tons of wheat to meet its requirements for the 2003 year. Millions of Afghans, particularly in rural areas, remained dependent on food aid.

Opium has become a source of cash for many Afghans, especially following the breakdown in central authority after the Soviet withdrawal, and opium-derived revenues probably constituted a major source of income for the two main factions during the civil war in the 1990s. Opium is easy to cultivate and transport and offers a quick source of income for impoverished Afghans. Afghanistan produced a record opium poppy crop in 2006, supplying 91% of the world’s opium. Much of Afghanistan’s opium production is refined into heroin and is either consumed by a growing regional addict population or exported, primarily to Western Europe.

Afghanistan has begun counter-narcotics programs, including the promotion of alternative livelihoods, public information campaigns, targeted eradication policies, interdiction of drug shipments, as well as law enforcement and justice reform programs. These programs were first implemented in late 2005. In June 2006, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated that the Afghan Government eradicated over 15,000 hectares of opium poppy.

Trade and Industry

Afghanistan is endowed with natural resources, including extensive deposits of natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, and precious and semiprecious stones. Unfortunately, ongoing instability in certain areas of the country, remote and rugged terrain, and inadequate infrastructure and transportation network have made mining these resources difficult, and there have been few serious attempts to further explore or exploit them.

The most important resource has been natural gas, first tapped in 1967. At their peak during the 1980s, natural gas sales accounted for $300 million a year in export revenues (56% of the total). Ninety percent of these exports went to the Soviet Union to pay for imports and debts. However, during the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, Afghanistan’s natural gas fields were capped to prevent sabotage by the mujahidin. Restoration of gas production has been hampered by internal strife and the disruption of traditional trading relationships following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Trade in smuggled goods into Pakistan once constituted a major source of revenue for Afghan regimes, including the Taliban, and still figures as an important element in the Afghan economy, although efforts are underway to formalize this trade.

Transportation

In the 1960s, the United States helped build a highway connecting Afghanistan’s two largest cities. It began in Kabul and wound its way through five of the country’s core provinces—skirting scores of isolated and otherwise inaccessible villages; passing through the ancient market city of Ghazni; descending through Qalat; and eventually reaching Kandahar, founded by Alexander the Great. More than 35% of the country’s population lives within 50 kilometers of this highway, called, appropriately, modern Afghanistan’s lifeline. In 1978, the Soviet Union invaded. By the time its forces withdrew more than a decade later, more than 1 million Afghans had been killed and 5 million had fled. Civil war followed. The Taliban emerged, controlling all but the remote, northern regions. Afghanistan was terrorized by this group, which was dogmatically opposed to progress and democracy. More than two decades of war had left the Kabul-Kandahar highway devastated, like much of the country’s infrastructure. Little could move along the lifeline that had provided so many Afghans with their means of livelihood and their access to healthcare, education, markets, and places of worship.

Restoration of the highway has been an overriding priority of President Hamid Karzai. It is crucial to extending the influence of the new government. Without the highway link, Afghanistan’s civil society and economy would remain moribund and prey to divisive forces. The economic development that the highway makes possible will help guarantee the unity and long-term security of the Afghan people. The restored highway is a visually impressive achievement whose symbolic importance should not be underestimated. It marks a palpable transition from the recent past and represents an important building block for the future. Recently, an official in Herat likened the ring road to veins and arteries that nourish and bring life to the “heart” of Kabul and the body of the country. The highway will not end in Kandahar: there are plans to complete the circuit, extending it to Herat and then arcing it back through Mazar-e Sharif to Kabul. The route is sometimes referred to as the Ring Road. As of December 2006, three-quarters of the Ring Road has been funded, with plans to be completed in 2007.

Landlocked Afghanistan has no functioning railways, but the Amu Darya (Oxus) River, which forms part of Afghanistan’s border with Turkmeni-stan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, has barge traffic. During their occupation of the country, the Soviets completed a bridge across the Amu Darya. The United States, in partnership with Norway, has agreed to reconstruct this bridge, which will stretch more than 650 meters over the Amu Darya/Pyandzh River between Afghanistan and Tajikistan, near Pyanji Poyon (Tajikistan) and Shir Khan Bandar (Afghanistan). The bridge is set for completion in 2007.

Afghanistan’s national airline, Ariana, operates domestic and international routes, including flights to New Delhi, Islamabad, Dubai, Moscow, Istanbul, Tehran, and Frankfurt. A private carrier, Kam Air, commenced domestic operations in November 2003. Many sections of Afghanistan’s highway and regional road system are undergoing significant reconstruction. The U.S. (with assistance from Japan) completed building a highway linking Kabul to the southern regional capital, Kandahar. Construction is soon to begin on the next phase of highway reconstruction between Kandahar and the western city of Herat. The Asian Development Bank is also active in road development projects, mainly in the border areas with Pakistan.

HUMANITARIAN RELIEF

Many nations have assisted in a great variety of humanitarian and development projects all across Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. The United Nations, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other international agencies have also given aid. Schools, clinics, water systems, agriculture, sanitation, government buildings and roads are being repaired or built.

De-mining

Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world; mine-related injuries number up to 100 per month, and an estimated 200,000 Afghans have been disabled by landmine/unexploded ordinances (UXO) accidents. As of March 2005 the United Nations Mine Action Program for Afghanistan had approximately 8,000 Afghan personnel, 700 demobilized soldiers, 22 international staff, and several NGOs deployed in Afghanistan. The goal of the program is to remove the impact of mines from all high-impact areas by 2007 and to make Afghanistan mine-free by 2012. Between January 2003 and March 2005 a total of 2,354,244 mines and pieces of UXOs were destroyed. Training programs are also being used to educate the public about the threat and dangers of land mines. The number of mine victims was reduced from approximately 150 a month in 2002 to less than 100 a month in 2004.

Refugees and Internally Displaced People

Afghanistan has had the largest refugee repatriation in the world in the last 30 years. The return of refugees is guided by the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation (MORR) and supported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), International Organization of Migration (IOM), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Program (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and a number of other national and international NGOs. As of December 2006, approximately 3 million Afghans remain in neighboring countries. The U.S. provided more than $350 million to support Afghan refugees, returnees, and other conflict victims between September 2001 and March 2006.

Health

In response to a strategy outlined by the Ministry of Health, the international community is supporting the government in rebuilding the primary health-care system. Tuberculosis remains a serious public health problem in Afghanistan. Since this strategy was outlined, the Afghan Government with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) has established 162 health facilities in 141 districts across the country. The treatment success rate in 2002 was 86%. WHO is also assisting the Ministry of Health and local health authorities to combat malaria where the disease is widespread. Through this project, 600,000 individuals are receiving full treatment for malaria every year. In addition 750,000 individuals are protected from malaria by sleeping under special nets provided under the project.

Education

There were 45,000 children enrolled in school in 1993, 19% were girls. The latest official statistics show there are now 64,000 children in school, one third are girls. In addition 29% of the teachers in the province are women, compared with 15% in 1993. Effort is being made to ensure that teachers receive salaries on time and increasing the attendance of girls in school. The total enrollment rate for Afghan children between 7 and 13 years of age has increased to 54% (67% for boys and 37% for girls). A number of factors such as distance to schools, poor facilities and lack of separate schooling for boys and girls continue to be challenges to higher enrollment.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

Before the Soviet invasion, Afghanistan pursued a policy of neutrality and nonalignment in its foreign relations. After the December 1979 invasion, Afghanistan’s foreign policy mirrored that of the Soviet Union. Most Western countries, including the United States, maintained small diplomatic missions in Kabul during the Soviet occupation. Repeated Taliban efforts to occupy Afghanistan’s seat at the UN and Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) were unsuccessful.

The fall of the Taliban in October 2001 opened a new chapter in Afghanistan’s foreign relations. Afghanistan is now an active member of the international community, and has diplomatic relations with countries from around the world. In December 2002, the six nations that border Afghanistan signed a ‘Good Neighbor’ Declaration, in which they pledged to respect Afghanistan’s independence and territorial integrity. In 2005 Afghanistan and its South Asia neighbors held the first annual Regional Economic Cooperation Conference (RECC) promoting intra-regional relations and economic cooperation.

Pakistan

The 1978 Marxist coup strained relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan took the lead diplomatically in the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference in opposing the Soviet occupation. During the war against the Soviet occupation, Pakistan served as the primary logistical conduit for the Afghan resistance. Pakistan initially developed close ties to the Taliban regime, and extended recognition in 1997. Pakistan dramatically altered its policy after September 11, 2001 by closing its border and downgrading its ties. Afghanistan and Pakistan are engaged in dialogue to resolve these bilateral issues.

Iran

Afghanistan’s relations with Iran have fluctuated over the years, with periodic disputes over the water rights of the Helmand River as the main issue of contention. Following the Soviet invasion, which Iran opposed, relations deteriorated. Iran supported the cause of the Afghan resistance and provided financial and military assistance to rebel leaders who pledged loyalty to the Iranian vision of Islamic revolution. Iran still provides refuge to Afghan ex-patriots. Following the emergence of the Taliban and their harsh treatment of Afghanistan’s Shi’a minority, Iran stepped up assistance to the Northern Alliance. Relations with the Taliban deteriorated further in 1998 after Taliban forces seized the Iranian consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif and executed Iranian diplomats. Since the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan’s relations with Iran have improved. Iran has been active in Afghan reconstruction efforts, particularly in the western portion of the country.

Russia

During the reign of the Taliban, Russia became increasingly disenchanted over Taliban support for Chechen rebels and for providing a sanctuary for terrorist groups active in Central Asia and in Russia itself, and therefore provided military assistance to the Northern Alliance. Since the fall of the Taliban, the Karzai government has improved relations with Russia, but Afghanistan’s outstanding foreign debt to Russia still continues to be a source of contention.

Tajikistan

Afghanistan’s relations with Tajikistan have been complicated by political upheaval and civil war in Tajikistan, which spurred some 100,000 Tajiks to seek refuge in Afghanistan in late 1992 and early 1993. Also disenchanted by the Taliban’s harsh treatment of Afghanistan’s Tajik minority, Tajikistan facilitated assistance to the Northern Alliance. The Karzai government has sought to establish closer ties with its northern neighbor in order to capitalize on the potential economic benefits of increased trade.

UN Efforts

The United Nations was instrumental in obtaining a negotiated Soviet withdrawal under the terms of the 1988 Geneva Accords. In the aftermath of the Accords, the United Nations assisted in the repatriation of refugees and provided humanitarian aid such as food, health care, educational programs, and support for mine-clearing operations. From 1990-2001, the UN worked to promote a peaceful settlement between the Afghan factions as well as provide humanitarian aid. Since October 2001, the UN has played a key role in Afghanistan through the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA), including spearheading efforts to organize the Afghan presidential elections held in October 2004 and National Assembly elections held in 2005.

U.S.-AFGHAN RELATIONS

The first extensive American contact with Afghanistan was made by Josiah Harlan, an adventurer from Pennsylvania who was an adviser in Afghan politics in the 1830s and reputedly inspired Rudyard Kipling’s story “The Man Who Would be King.” After the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1934, the U.S. policy of helping developing nations raise their standard of living was an important factor in maintaining and improving U.S.-Afghan ties. From 1950 to 1979, U.S. foreign assistance provided Afghanistan with more than $500 million in loans, grants, and surplus agricultural commodities to develop transportation facilities, increase agricultural production, expand the educational system, stimulate industry, and improve government administration.

In the 1950s, the U.S. declined Afghanistan’s request for defense cooperation but extended an economic assistance program focused on the development of Afghanistan’s physical infrastructure—roads, dams, and power plants. Later, U.S. aid shifted from infrastructure projects to technical assistance programs to help develop the skills needed to build a modern economy. The Peace Corps was active in Afghanistan between 1962 and 1979.

After the April 1978 coup, relations deteriorated. In February 1979, U.S. Ambassador Adolph “Spike” Dubs was murdered in Kabul after Afghan security forces burst in on his kidnapers. The U.S. then reduced bilateral assistance and terminated a small military training program. All remaining assistance agreements were ended after the December 1979 Soviet invasion.

Following the Soviet invasion, the United States supported diplomatic efforts to achieve a Soviet withdrawal. U.S. contributions to the refugee program in Pakistan played a major part in efforts to assist Afghans in need. This cross-border humanitarian assistance program aimed to increase Afghan self-sufficiency and help Afghans resist Soviet attempts to drive civilians out of the rebel-dominated countryside. During the period of Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the U.S. provided about $3 billion in military and economic assistance to Afghans and the resistance movement.

The U.S. supports the emergence of a broad-based government, representative of all Afghans and actively encourages a UN role in the national reconciliation process in Afghanistan. Today, the U.S. is assisting the Afghan people as they rebuild their country and establish a representative government that contributes to regional stability, is market friendly, and respects human rights. In May 2005, President Bush and President Karzai concluded a strategic partnership agreement committing both nations to a long-term relationship.

Principal U.S. Embassy Officials

KABUL (E) Address: Great Masoud Road, Kabul; APO/FPO: APO AE 09806; Phone: (93)(20)230-0436; Fax: No working Fax; INMARSAT Tel: 00-873-761-837-725; Workweek: Saturday–Thursday 0800-1630; Website: http://kabul.state.gov/hr/hr.htm.

Last Updated: 12/7/2006

TRAVEL

Consular Information Sheet : September 15, 2006

Country Description: Despite significant progress since the Taliban were deposed in 2001, Afghanistan still faces daunting challenges—defeating an active insurgency, recovering from over two decades of civil strife, dealing with years of severe drought, and rebuilding a shattered infrastructure. Operation Enduring Freedom and NATO forces continue to combat Taliban and al-Qaida elements. Following successful presidential elections in October 2004, President Hamid Karzai was sworn in as President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on December 7, 2004. Successful national Parliamentary elections were held on September 18, 2005, and the Parliament convened in late 2005. These political developments bode well for Afghanistan’s future. Nonetheless, government ministries and institutions are in their infancy and the ability of the government to project law and order throughout the country is extremely limited. These institutions are still in the process of establishing policies and procedures to deal with the array of issues any government must address, as well as the extraordinary security, legal, commercial, and other infrastructure problems this country faces.

Entry/Exit Requirements: A passport and valid visa are required to enter and exit Afghanistan. Afghan entry visas are not available at Kabul International Airport. American citizens who arrive without a visa are subject to confiscation of their passport and face heavy fines and difficulties in retrieving their passport and obtaining a visa, as well as possible deportation from the country. Americans arriving in the country via military air usually have considerable difficulties if they choose to depart Afghanistan on commercial air, because their passports do not receive stamps showing they entered the country legally. Those coming on military air should move quickly after arrival to legalize their status if there is any chance they will depart the country on anything other than military air. Visit the Embassy of Afghanistan web site at www.embassyofAfghanistan.org for the most current visa information. The Consular office of the Embassy of Afghanistan is located at 2233 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 216, Washington, DC 20007, phone number 202-298-9125.

Safety and Security: The latest Travel Warning for Afghanistan states clearly that the security situation remains critical for American citizens. There are remnants of the former Taliban regime and the terrorist al-Qaida network in various parts of Afghanistan, as well as narcotraffickers and other groups that oppose the strengthening of a democratic government. Those groups aim to weaken or bring down the new Government of Afghanistan, and often to drive Westerners out of the country. They do not hesitate to use violence to achieve their aims. Terrorist actions may include, but are not limited to, suicide operations, bombing—including vehicle-borne explosives and improvised explosive devices—assassinations, carjacking, rocket attacks, assault or kidnapping. There is an ongoing threat to kidnap U.S. citizens and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) workers throughout the country. Since the beginning of 2006, five foreigners have been kidnapped and murdered; one American civilian (and several foreigners, besides dozens of Afghan nationals) has been killed in an improvised explosive device attack. Riots—sometimes violent—have occurred in response to various political or other issues. Crime, including violent crime, remains a significant problem. Official Americans’ use of the Kabul-Jalalabad road is often restricted or completely curtailed because of security concerns. The country faces a difficult period in the near term, and American citizens could be targeted or placed at risk by unpredictable local events. In addition, there is also a real danger from the presence of millions of unexploded land mines and other ordnance. The last several months have seen an increase by terrorists in the use of roadside or vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices. Private Americans should not come to Afghanistan unless they have made arrangements in advance to address security concerns.

The absence of records for ownership of property, differing laws from various regimes, and the chaos that comes from decades of civil strife have left property issues in great disorder. Afghan-Americans returning to Afghanistan to recover property, or Americans coming to the country to engage in business, have become involved in complicated real estate disputes and have faced threats of retaliatory action, including kidnapping for ransom and death.

Large parts of Afghanistan are extremely isolated, with few roads, no cell phone signals, and none of the basic physical infrastructure found in Kabul or the larger cities. Americans traveling in these areas who find themselves in trouble may not even have a way to communicate their difficulties to the outside world.

For the latest security information, Americans traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department’s Internet web site, where the current Worldwide Caution Public Announcement, Travel Warnings and Public Announcements, can be found. Up-to-date information on safety and security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S., or for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll-line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

Crime: A large portion of the Afghan population is unemployed, and many among the unemployed have moved to urban areas. Basic services are rudimentary or non-existent. These factors may directly contribute to crime and lawlessness. Diplomats and international relief workers have reported incidents of robberies and household burglaries. Any American citizen who enters Afghanistan should remain vigilant for possible banditry, including violent attacks.

Information for Victims of Crime: The loss or theft abroad of a U.S. passport should be reported immediately to the local police and the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. If you are the victim of a crime while overseas, in addition to reporting to local police, please contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate for assistance. The Embassy/Consulate staff can, for example, assist you to find appropriate medical care, contact family members or friends and explain how funds could be transferred. Although the investigation and prosecution of the crime is solely the responsibility of local authorities, consular officers can help you to understand the local criminal justice process and to find an attorney if needed.

Medical Facilities and Health Information: Well-equipped medical facilities are few and far between throughout Afghanistan. European and American medicines are available in limited quantities and may be expensive or difficult to locate. There is a shortage of basic medical supplies. Basic medicines manufactured in Iran, Pakistan, and India are available, but their reliability can be questionable. A couple of western-style private clinics have opened in Kabul in recent months: the DK-German Medical Diagnostic Center (www.medical-kabul.com), and CURE International Hospital (ph. 079-883-830) offer a variety of basic and routine-type care; Americans seeking treatment should request American or Western health practitioners. American travelers may seek emergency medical services at the Greek Military Hospital, adjacent to Kabul International Airport.

Afghan public hospitals should be avoided. Individuals without government licenses or even medical degrees often operate private clinics; there is no public agency that monitors their operations. Travelers will not be able to find Western-trained medical personnel in most parts of the country outside of Kabul, although there are some international aid groups temporarily providing basic medical assistance in various cities and villages. For any medical treatment, payment is required in advance. Commercial medical evacuation capability from Afghanistan is extremely limited and could take days to arrange. Even medevac companies that claim to service the world may not agree to come to Afghanistan. Those with medevac insurance should confirm with the insurance provider that it will be able to provide medevac assistance to this country.

There have been outbreaks of Avian Influenza in poultry in Afghanistan, to include the areas of Nangahar, Laghman, and Wardak provinces, and in the city of Kabul. There have been no reported cases of the H5N1 virus in humans, however. Updates on the Avian Influenza situation in Afghanistan are published on the Embassy’s website at: http://kabul.usembassy.gov/information_for_travelers.html.

Information on vaccinations and other health precautions, such as safe food and water precautions and insect bite protection, may be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s hotline for international travelers at 1-877-FYI-TRIP (1-877-394-8747) or via the CDC’s internet site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel. For information about outbreaks of infectious diseases abroad consult the World Health Organization’s (WHO) website at http://www.who.int/en. Further health information for travelers is available at http://www.who.int/ith.

Medical Insurance: The Department of State strongly urges Americans to consult with their medical insurance company prior to traveling abroad to confirm whether their policy applies overseas and whether it will cover emergency expenses such as a medical evacuation.

Traffic Safety and Road Conditions: While in a foreign country, U.S. citizens may encounter road conditions that differ significantly from those in the United States. The information below concerning Afghanistanis provided for general reference only, and may not be totally accurate in a particular location or circumstance. All drivers face the potential danger of encountering land mines that may have been planted on or near roadways. An estimated 5-7 million landmines and large quantities of unexploded ordnance exist throughout the countryside and alongside roads, posing a danger to travelers. Robbery and crime are also prevalent on highways outside of Kabul. The transportation system in Afghanistan is marginal, although the international community is constructing modern highways and provincial roads. Vehicles are poorly maintained, often overloaded, and traffic laws are not enforced. Vehicular traffic is chaotic and must contend with numerous pedestrians, bicyclists and animals. Many urban streets have large potholes and are not well lit. Rural roads are not paved.

Aviation Safety Oversight: As there is no direct commercial air service between the United States and Afghanistan, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has not assessed Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority for compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) aviation safety standards. For more information, travelers may visit the FAA’s Internet website at http://www.faa.gov.

U.S. Government personnel are not authorized to travel on Ariana Afghan Airlines or any other airline falling under the oversight of the Government of Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority, owing to safety concerns; however, U.S. Government personnel are permitted to travel on international flights operated by airlines from countries whose civil aviation authorities meet international aviation safety standards for the oversight of their air carrier operations under the FAA’s International Aviation Safety Assessments (IASA) program.

Several commercial airlines serve Afghanistan out of Kabul International Airport, including Pakistan International Airlines (flights to and from Islamabad and Peshawar, Pakistan), KamAir (flights to Dubai, U.A.E. and Almaty, Kazakhstan), Indian Airlines (flights to and from New Delhi, India), and Air Arabia (flights to and from Sharjah, UAE).

Special Circumstances: Because of the poor infrastructure in Afghanistan, access to banking facilities is extremely limited and unreliable. Afghanistan’s economy operates on a “cash-only” basis for most transactions. Credit card transactions are not available. International bank transfers are very limited, as the banking system is just becoming operational. One ATM machine exists at Standard Charter Bank in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood of Kabul, but some travelers have complained of difficulties using it.

International communications are difficult. Local telephone networks do not operate reliably. Most people rely on satellite or cellular telephone communications even to make local calls. Cellular phone service is available locally in Kabul and some other cities. Injured or distressed foreigners could face long delays before being able to communicate their needs to family or colleagues outside of Afghanistan. Internet access through local service providers is limited.

In addition to being subject to all Afghan laws, U.S. citizens who are also citizens of Afghanistan may also be subject to other laws that impose special obligations on Afghan citizens. U.S. citizens who are also Afghan nationals do not require visas for entry into Afghanistan. The Embassy of Afghanistan issues a letter confirming your nationality for entry into Afghanistan. However, you may wish to obtain a visa as some Afghan-Americans have experienced difficulties at land border crossings because they do not have a visa in their passport. U.S. citizens are encouraged to carry a copy of their U.S. passport with them at all times so that, if questioned by local officials, proof of identity and U.S. citizenship are readily available. As stated in the Travel Warning, consular assistance for American citizens in Afghanistan is limited.

Islam provides the foundation of Afghanistan’s customs, laws and practices. Foreign visitors—men and women—are expected to remain sensitive to the Islamic culture and not dress in a revealing or provocative manner, including the wearing of sleeveless shirts and blouses, halter-tops and shorts. Women in particular, especially when traveling outside of Kabul, may want to ensure that their tops have long sleeves and cover their collarbone and waistband, and that their pants/skirts cover their ankles. Almost all women in Afghanistan cover their hair in public; American women visitors should carry scarves for this purpose.

Afghan customs authorities may enforce strict regulations concerning temporary importation into or export from Afghanistan of items such as firearms, alcoholic beverages, religious materials, antiquities, medications, and printed materials. American travelers have faced fines and/or confiscation of items considered antiquities upon exiting Afghanistan. It is advisable to contact the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington for specific information regarding customs requirements. Travelers en route to Afghanistan may transit countries that have restrictions on firearms, including antique or display models. If you plan to take firearms or ammunition to another country, you should contact officials at that country’s embassy and those that you will be transiting to learn about their regulations and fully comply with those regulations before traveling. Please consult http://www.customs.gov for information on importing firearms into the United States.

Criminal Penalties: While in a foreign country, a U.S. citizen is subject to that country’s laws and regulations, which sometimes differ significantly from those in the United States and may not afford the protections available to the individual under U.S. law. Penalties for breaking the law can be more severe than in the United States for similar offenses. Persons violating Afghanistan’s laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested or imprisoned. During the last several years, there have been incidents involving the arrest and/or detention of U.S. citizens. Arrested Americans have faced periods of detention—sometimes in difficult conditions—while awaiting trial. Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Afghanistan are severe, and convicted offenders can expect long jail sentences and heavy fines. Another potentially sensitive activity is proselytizing. Although the new Afghan Constitution allows the free exercise of religion, proselytizing may be viewed as contrary to the beliefs of Islam and considered harmful to society. Proselytizing may lead to arrest and/or deportation. Engaging in sexual conduct with children or using or disseminating child pornography in a foreign country is a crime, prosecutable in the United States.

Children’s Issues: The U.S. and international media have occasionally reported on the difficult situation faced by Afghanistan’s children, and it is completely understandable that some American citizens want to respond to such stories by offering to open their homes and adopt these children in need. However, it is a generally agreed international principle that uprooting children during a war, natural disaster or other crisis may in fact exacerbate the children’s situation since it can be extremely difficult in such circumstances to determine whether children who appear to be orphans truly are. Therefore, it is not possible to adopt Afghan children, at this time.

Registration/Embassy Location: Americans living or traveling in Afghanistan are encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate through the State Department’s travel registration website and to obtain updated information on travel and security within Afghanistan. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy or Consulate to contact them in case of emergency. The U.S. Embassy is located in Kabul on Great Massoud Road, local phone number 070-108-001 or 070-108-002, and for emergencies after hours 070-201-908. The website is http://kabul.usembassy.gov.

International Adoption : June 2006

The Department of State has occasionally received inquiries from American citizens concerned about the plight of the children of Afghanistan and wondering about the possibility of adopting them. At this time, it is not possible to adopt Afghan children, for several reasons.

In general, intercountry adoptions are private civil legal matters governed by the laws of the children’s home country, which has the primary responsibility and jurisdiction for deciding what would be in the children’s best interests. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul has confirmed that Afghan law, which is based on Islamic Shari’a law, does not currently permit full adoptions as they are generally understood in the United States.

Afghanistan does grant a more limited arrangement akin to guardianship; however, even if an Afghan court or other Afghan authority were to grant a U.S. citizen guardianship rights for an Afghan child, the child would likely be unable to immigrate to the United States, unless the citizen could establish both that the child qualifies as an “orphan” as defined in section 101(b)(1)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and, under Afghan law, the “guardianship” order gave the citizen authority not only to care for the child but to bring the United States for the specific purpose of the child’s adoption in the United States. Since Afghan law does not permit adoption, it is not clear that an Afghan guardianship order could give this authority.

The U.S. and international media have occasionally reported on the difficult situation faced by Afghanistan’s children, and it is completely understandable that some American citizens want to respond to such stories by offering to open their homes and adopt these children in need. However, it is a generally agreed international principle that uprooting children during a war, natural disaster or other crisis may in fact exacerbate the children’s situation. It can be extremely difficult in such circumstances to determine whether children who appear to be orphans truly are. It is also not uncommon in a hostile situation for parents to send their children out of the area, or for families to become separated during an evacuation. Even when it can be demonstrated that children are indeed orphaned or abandoned, they are often taken in by other relatives. Staying with relatives in extended family units is generally a better solution than uprooting a child completely.

There are still ways in which U.S. citizens can help the children of Afghanistan. Many American nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in Afghanistan say that what is needed most at this time are financial contributions. Individuals who wish to assist can do the most good by making a financial contribution to an established NGO that will be well placed to respond to Afghanistan’s most urgent needs, including those related to the country’s children.

Travel Warning : June 22, 2006

This Travel Warning provides updated information on the security situation in Afghanistan. The security threat to all American citizens in Afghanistan remains critical. This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning for Afghanistan issued January 9, 2006.

The Department of State continues to strongly warn U.S. citizens against travel to Afghanistan. There is an ongoing threat to kidnap and assassinate U.S. citizens and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) workers throughout the country. The ability of Afghan authorities to maintain order and ensure the security of citizens and visitors is limited. Remnants of the former Taliban regime and the terrorist al-Qaida network, and other groups hostile to the government, remain active. U.S.-led military operations continue. Narcotrafficking elements opposed to poppy eradication efforts are also responsible for attacks against Westerners. Travel in all areas of Afghanistan, including the capital, Kabul, is unsafe due to military operations, landmines, banditry, armed rivalry among political and tribal groups, and the possibility of terrorist attacks, including attacks using vehicular or other improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The security environment remains volatile and unpredictable.

Attacks on international organizations, international aid workers, and foreign interests have continued over the past six months. There has been a significant increase in attacks in the south and southwestern areas of the country as a result of, among other things, drug eradication efforts, and a seasonal surge in insurgent activity. There has also been an increase in the use of suicide bombers and vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) throughout the country. As an example, a suicide bomber detonated a VBIED in Kandahar in January, killing a Canadian diplomat. In March, in Helmand Province, a remote-controlled IED killed four employees of a security company employed by a U.S. Government contractor. In April, a rocket impacted inside the Kabul TV station building in Wazir Akbar Khan, behind the U.S. Embassy, and injured one person. Also in May, a VBIED killed an American working for a U.S. Government contractor in Herat. On May 30, two Americans working for a USAID contractor were injured in an IED attack in Badakshan that killed two of their Afghan colleagues. Incidents sometimes occur on the Kabul-Jalalabad Road (commonly called Jalalabad Road). Because the Embassy also has received information over the past several months about potential attacks on this road, its use generally is highly restricted for Embassy employees and, if the security situation warrants, sometimes is curtailed completely.

Foreigners in Kabul and elsewhere throughout the country were targeted for violent attacks and kidnappings. On February 11, two Nepalese guards employed by the British Embassy were kidnapped. One was killed; the other was found beaten. On March 10, four Albanian workers were kidnapped in Kandahar. They were killed, and their bodies were later found.

Riots and incidents of civil disturbance also have occurred several times since the beginning of 2006. During February 6-8, both peaceful and violent demonstrations occurred throughout Afghanistan in response to cartoons about Islam in a Danish newspaper. Seven protestors were killed and scores of protestors and police were injured in the clashes. On March 26, large anti-American protests occurred in Mazar-i-Sharif after the Government of Afghanistan released from police custody an Afghan who had converted to Christianity; the U.S. Government, along with several others, had condemned the initial arrest. On May 29, sparked by a U.S. military convoy accident that killed seven Afghans near Bagram Air Field, violent demonstrations and lootings occurred in various parts of Kabul.

Carjackings, robberies, and violent crime remain a problem. In February, two armed bank heists occurred in Kabul; two Afghan National Police were killed in the second robbery. In April, an American citizen reported to the Embassy that the Taliban had held him at gunpoint near Herat, and had stolen his car. American citizens involved in property disputes—a common legal problem—have reported that their adversaries in the disputes have threatened their lives.

Official Americans assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul are not allowed to have family members reside in Afghanistan. In addition, unofficial travel to Afghanistan by U.S. Government employees and their family members requires prior approval by the Department of State. From time to time, the U.S. Embassy places areas frequented by foreigners off limits to its personnel depending on current security conditions. Potential target areas include key national or international government establishments, international organizations and other locations with expatriate personnel, and public areas popular with the expatriate community. Private U.S. citizens are strongly urged to heed these restrictions as well and may obtain the latest information by calling the U.S. Embassy in Kabul or consulting the embassy website below. Terrorist actions may include, but are not limited to, suicide operations, bombings, assassinations, carjackings, rocket attacks, assaults or kidnappings. Possible threats include conventional weapons such as explosive devises or non-conventional weapons, including chemical or biological agents.

The United States Embassy’s ability to provide emergency consular services to U.S. citizens in Afghanistan is limited, particularly for those persons outside the capital. Afghan authorities also can provide only limited assistance to U.S. citizens facing difficulties. U.S. citizens who choose to visit or remain in Afghanistan despite this Travel Warning are urged to pay close attention to their personal security, and avoid rallies and demonstrations. They are also encouraged to register with the U.S. Embassy through the State Department’s travel registration website, https://travelregistration.state.gov, and to obtain updated information on travel and security within Afghanistan. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the U.S. Embassy. Registering makes it easier for the Embassy to contact Americans in case of emergency. The U.S. Embassy is located at Great Masood Road between Radio Afghanistan and the Ministry of Public Health (the road is also known as Bebe Mahro (Airport) Road), Kabul. The phone number is +93-70-108-001 or +93-70-108-002. The Embassy website is http://afghanistan.usembassy.gov.

Updated information on travel and security in Afghanistan may be obtained from the Department of State by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the United States, or for callers outside the United States and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444.

AFGHANISTAN

Compiled from the January 2004 Background Note and supplemented with additional information from the State Department and the editors of this volume. See the introduction to this set for explanatory notes.

Official Name:
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

(The Taliban referred to the country as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.)

PROFILE
PEOPLE
HISTORY
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
ECONOMY
FOREIGN RELATIONS
UN EFFORTS
U.S.-AFGHAN RELATIONS
TRAVEL

PROFILE

Geography

Area: 652,100 sq. km. (252,000 sq. mi.); slightly smaller than Texas. Cities: Capital (1999/2000 UN est.) Kabul—1,780,000. Other cities (1988 UN est.; current figures are probably significantly higher)—Kandahar (226,000); Herat (177,000); Mazar-e-Sharif (131,000); Jalalabad (58,000); Konduz (57,000).

Terrain: Landlocked; mostly mountains and desert.

Climate: Dry, with cold winters and hot summers.

People

Nationality: Noun and adjective—Afghan(s).

Population: Estimates range from 22 million to 28.7 million. More than 4 million Afghans live outside the country, mainly in Pakistan and Iran, although over two and a half million have returned since the removal of the Taliban.

Annual population growth rate: (2002 est.) 2.6%.

Main ethnic groups: Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen, Aimaq, Baluch, Nuristani, Kizilbash.

Religions: Sunni Muslim 84%, Shi'a Muslim 15%, other 1%.

Main languages: Dari (Afghan Persian), Pashto.

Education: Approximately 4 million children, of whom some 30% are girls, enrolled in school during 2003. Literacy (2001 est.)—36% (male 51%, female 21%), but real figures may be lower given breakdown of education system and flight of educated Afghans.

Health: Infant mortality rate (2003)—165/1,000. Life expectancy (2001 est.)—41.1yrs. (male); 43.7 yrs. (female).

Work force: Mostly in rural agriculture; number cannot be estimated due to conflict.

Government

Type: Afghanistan identifies itself as an "Islamic Republic."

Independence: August 19, 1919 (from U.K. control over Afghan foreign affairs).

Constitution: Adopted on January 4, 2004, paving the way for nationwide presidential and parliamentary elections, currently scheduled for June 2004.

Economy

GDP: $4 billion (2002-03 est.).

Per capita GDP: $180-$190 (based on 22 million population estimate).

Purchasing parity power: $21 billion (1999 est.).

GDP growth: 28.6% (2002-03 est.)

Natural resources: Natural gas, oil, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron, salt, precious and semiprecious stones.

Agriculture: (estimated 52% of GDP) Products—wheat, corn, barley, rice, cotton, fruit, nuts, karakul pelts, wool, and mutton.

Industry: (estimated 26% of GDP) Types—small-scale production for domestic use of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, and cement; hand-woven carpets for export; natural gas, precious and semiprecious gemstones.

Services: (estimated 22% of GDP) transport, retail, and telecommunications.

Trade: (2002-03 est.) Exports—$100 million (does not include opium) opium, fruits and nuts, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semiprecious gems. Major markets—Central Asian republics, Pakistan, Iran, EU, India. Estimates show that the figure for 2001 was much lower, except for opium. Imports—$2.3 billion: food, petroleum products, machinery, and consumer goods. Estimates show that imports were severely reduced in 2001. Major suppliers—Central Asian republics, Pakistan, Iran.

Currency: The currency is the afghani, which was reintroduced as Afghanistan's new currency in January 2003. The exchange rate of the new currency has remained broadly stable since the completion of the conversion process from the country's old afghani currency. At present,us$1 equals approximately 48 afghanis. Since its inception the new afghani has gained gradual acceptance throughout the country, but other foreign currencies are also still frequently accepted as legal tender.

PEOPLE

Afghanistan's ethnically and linguistically mixed population reflects its location astride historic trade and invasion routes leading from Central Asia into South and Southwest Asia. Pashtuns are the dominant ethnic group, accounting for about 38% of the population. Tajik (25%), Hazara (19%), Uzbek (6%), Aimaq, Turkmen, Baluch, and other small groups also are represented. Dari (Afghan Persian) and Pashto are official languages. Dari is spoken by more than one-third of the population as a first language and serves as a lingua franca for most Afghans, though the Taliban use Pashto. Tajik, Uzbek, and Turkmen are spoken widely in the north. Smaller groups throughout the country also speak more than 70 other languages and numerous dialects.

Afghanistan is an Islamic country. An estimated 84% of the population is Sunni, following the Hanafi school of jurisprudence; the remainder is predominantly Shi'a, mainly Hazara. Despite attempts during the years of communist rule to secularize Afghan society, Islamic practices pervade all aspects of life. In fact, Islam served as the principal basis for expressing opposition to the communists and the Soviet invasion. Likewise, Islamic religious tradition and codes, together with traditional practices, provide the principal means of controlling personal conduct and settling legal disputes. Excluding urban populations in the principal cities, most Afghans are divided into tribal and other kinship-based groups, which follow traditional customs and religious practices.

HISTORY

Afghanistan, often called the crossroads of Central Asia, has had a turbulent history. In 328 BC, Alexander the Great entered the territory of present-day Afghanistan, then part of the Persian Empire, to capture Bactria (present-day Balkh). Invasions by the Scythians, White Huns, and Turks followed in succeeding centuries. In AD 642, Arabs invaded the entire region and introduced Islam.

Arab rule gave way to the Persians, who controlled the area until conquered by the Turkic Ghaznavids in 998. Mahmud of Ghazni (998-1030) consolidated the conquests of his predecessors and turned Ghazni into a great cultural center as well as a base for frequent forays into India. Following Mahmud's short-lived dynasty, various princes attempted to rule sections of the country until the Mongol invasion of 1219. The Mongol invasion, led by Genghis Khan, resulted in massive slaughter of the population, destruction of many cities, including Herat, Ghazni, and Balkh, and the despoliation of fertile agricultural areas.

Following Genghis Khan's death in 1227, a succession of petty chiefs and princes struggled for supremacy until late in the 14th century, when one of his descendants, Tamerlane, incorporated Afghanistan into his own vast Asian empire. Babur, a descendant of Tamerlane and the founder of India's Moghul dynasty at the beginning of the 16th century, made Kabul the capital of an Afghan principality.

In 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder of what is known today as Afghanistan, established his rule. A Pashtun, Durrani was elected king by a tribal council after the assassination of the Persian ruler Nadir Shah at Khabushan in the same year. Throughout his reign, Durrani consolidated chieftainships, petty principalities, and fragmented provinces into one country. His rule extended from Mashad in the west to Kashmir and Delhi in the east, and from the Amu Darya (Oxus) River in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south. With the exception of a 9-month period in 1929, all of Afghanistan's rulers until the 1978 Marxist coup were from Durrani's Pashtun tribal confederation, and all were members of that tribe's Mohammadzai clan after 1818.

European Influence

During the 19th century, collision between the expanding British Empire in the subcontinent and czarist Russia significantly influenced Afghanistan in what was termed "The Great Game." British concern over Russian advances in Central Asia and growing influence in Persia culminated in two Anglo-Afghan wars. The first (1839-42) resulted not only in the destruction of a British army, but is remembered today as an example of the ferocity of Afghan resistance to foreign rule. The second Anglo-Afghan war (1878-80) was sparked by Amir Sher Ali's refusal to accept a British mission in Kabul. This conflict brought Amir Abdur Rahman to the Afghan throne. During his reign (1880-1901), the British and Russians officially established the boundaries of what would become modern Afghanistan. The British retained effective control over Kabul's foreign affairs.

Afghanistan remained neutral during World War I, despite German encouragement of anti-British feelings and Afghan rebellion along the borders of British India. The Afghan king's policy of neutrality was not universally popular within the country, however.

Habibullah, Abdur Rahman's son and successor, was assassinated in 1919, possibly by family members opposed to British influence. His third son, Amanullah, regained control of Afghanistan's foreign policy after launching the Third Anglo-Afghan war with an attack on India in the same year. During the ensuing conflict, the war-weary British relinquished their control over Afghan foreign affairs by signing the Treaty of Rawalpindi in August 1919. In commemoration of this event,
Afghans celebrate August 19 as their Independence Day.

Reform and Reaction.

King Amanullah (1919-29) moved to end his country's traditional isolation in the years following the Third Anglo-Afghan war. He established diplomatic relations with most major countries and, following a 1927 tour of Europe and Turkey—during which he noted the modernization and secularization advanced by Ataturk—introduced several reforms intended to modernize Afghanistan. Some of these, such as the abolition of the traditional Muslim veil for women and the opening of a number of co-educational schools, quickly alienated many tribal and religious leaders. Faced with overwhelming armed opposition, Amanullah was forced to abdicate in January 1929 after Kabul fell to forces led by Bacha-i-Saqao, a Tajik brigand. Prince Nadir Khan, a cousin of Amanullah's, in turn defeated Bacha-i-Saqao in October of the same year and, with considerable Pashtun tribal support, was declared King Nadir Shah. Four years later, however, he was assassinated in a revenge killing by a Kabul student.

Mohammad Zahir Shah, Nadir Khan's 19-year-old son, succeeded to the throne and reigned from 1933 to 1973. In 1964, King Zahir Shah promulgated a liberal constitution providing for a two-chamber legislature to which the king appointed one-third of the deputies. The people elected another third, and the remainder were selected indirectly by provincial assemblies. Although Zahir's "experiment in democracy" produced few lasting reforms, it permitted the growth of unofficial extremist parties on both the left and the right. These included the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), which had close ideological ties to the Soviet Union. In 1967, the PDPA split into two major rival factions: the Khalq (Masses) faction headed by Nur Muhammad Taraki and Hafizullah Amin and supported by elements within the military, and the Parcham (Banner) faction led by Babrak Karmal. The split reflected ethnic, class, and ideological divisions within Afghan society.

Zahir's cousin, Sardar Mohammad Daoud, served as his Prime Minister from 1953 to 1963. During his tenure as Prime Minister, Daoud solicited military and economic assistance from both Washington and Moscow and introduced controversial social policies of a reformist nature. Daoud's alleged support for the creation of a Pashtun state in the Pakistan-Afghan border area heightened tensions with Pakistan and eventually resulted in Daoud's dismissal in March 1963.

Daoud's Republic (1973-78) and the April 1978 Coup

Amid charges of corruption and malfeasance against the royal family and poor economic conditions created by the severe 1971-72 drought, former Prime Minister Daoud seized power in a military coup on July 17, 1973. Zahir Shah fled the country, eventually finding refuge in Italy. Daoud abolished the monarchy, abrogated the 1964 constitution, and declared Afghanistan a republic with himself as its first President and Prime Minister. His attempts to carry out badly needed economic and social reforms met with little success, and the new constitution promulgated in February 1977 failed to quell chronic political instability.

Seeking to exploit more effectively mounting popular disaffection, the PDPA reunified with Moscow's support. On April 27, 1978, the PDPA initiated a bloody coup, which resulted in the overthrow and murder of Daoud and most of his family. Nur Muhammad Taraki, Secretary General of the PDPA, became President of the Revolutionary Council and Prime Minister of the newly established Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

Opposition to the Marxist government emerged almost immediately. During its first 18 months of rule, the PDPA brutally imposed a Marxiststyle "reform" program, which ran counter to deeply rooted Afghan traditions. Decrees forcing changes in marriage customs and pushing through an ill-conceived land reform were particularly misunderstood by virtually all Afghans. In addition, thousands of members of the traditional elite, the religious establishment, and the intelligentsia were imprisoned, tortured, or murdered. Conflicts within the PDPA also surfaced early and resulted in exiles, purges, imprisonments, and executions.

By the summer of 1978, a revolt began in the Nuristan region of eastern Afghanistan and quickly spread into a countrywide insurgency. In September 1979, Hafizullah Amin, who had earlier been Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, seized power from Taraki after a palace shootout. Over the next 2 months, instability plagued Amin's regime as he moved against perceived enemies in the PDPA. By December, party morale was crumbling, and the insurgency was growing.

The Soviet Invasion

The Soviet Union moved quickly to take advantage of the April 1978 coup. In December 1978, Moscow signed a new bilateral treaty of friendship and cooperation with Afghanistan, and the Soviet military assistance program increased significantly. The regime's survival increasingly was dependent upon Soviet military equipment and advisers as the insurgency spread and the Afghan army began to collapse.

By October 1979, however, relations between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union were tense as Hafizullah Amin refused to take Soviet advice on how to stabilize and consolidate his government. Faced with a deteriorating security situation on December 24, 1979, large numbers of Soviet airborne forces, joining thousands of Soviet troops already on the ground, began to land in Kabul under the pretext of a field exercise. On December 26, these invasion forces killed Hafizullah Amin and installed Babrak Karmal, exiled leader of the Parcham faction, bringing him back from Czechoslovakia and making him Prime Minister. Massive Soviet ground forces invaded from the north on December 27.

Following the invasion, the Karmal regime, although backed by an expeditionary force that grew as large as 120,000 Soviet troops, was unable to establish authority outside Kabul. As much as 80% of the countryside, including parts of Herat and Kandahar, eluded effective government control. An overwhelming majority of Afghans opposed the communist regime, either actively or passively. Afghan freedom fighters (mujahidin) made it almost impossible for the regime to maintain a system of local government outside major urban centers. Poorly armed at first, in 1984 the mujahidin began receiving substantial assistance in the form of weapons and training from the U.S. and other outside powers.

In May 1985, the seven principal Peshawar-based guerrilla organizations formed an alliance to coordinate their political and military operations against the Soviet occupation. Late in 1985, the mujahidin were active in and around Kabul, launching rocket attacks and conducting operations against the communist government. The failure of the Soviet Union to win over a significant number of Afghan collaborators or to rebuild a viable Afghan army forced it to bear an increasing responsibility for fighting the resistance and for civilian administration.

Soviet and popular displeasure with the Karmal regime led to its demise in May 1986. Karmal was replaced by Muhammad Najibullah, former chief of the Afghan secret police (KHAD). Najibullah had established a reputation for brutal efficiency during his tenure as KHAD chief. As Prime Minister, Najibullah was ineffective and highly dependent on Soviet support. Undercut by deep-seated divisions within the PDPA, regime efforts to broaden its base of support proved futile.

The Geneva Accords and Their Aftermath

By the mid-1980s, the tenacious Afghan resistance movement—aided by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and others—was exacting a high price from the Soviets, both militarily within Afghanistan and by souring the U.S.S.R.'s relations with much of the Western and Islamic world. Informal negotiations for a Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan had been underway since 1982. In 1988 the Governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the United States and Soviet Union serving as guarantors, signed an agreement settling the major differences between them. The agreement, known as the Geneva accords, included five major documents, which, among other things, called for U.S. and Soviet noninterference in the internal affairs of Pakistan and Afghanistan, the right of refugees to return to Afghanistan without fear of persecution or harassment, and, most importantly, a timetable that ensured full Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan by February 15, 1989. About 14,500 Soviet and an estimated one million Afghan lives were lost between 1979 and the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.

Significantly, the mujahidin were party neither to the negotiations nor to the 1988 agreement and, consequently, refused to accept the terms of the accords. As a result, the civil war continued after the Soviet withdrawal, which was completed in February 1989. Najibullah's regime, though failing to win popular support, territory, or international recognition, was able to remain in power until 1992 but collapsed after the defection of Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostam and his Uzbek militia in March. However, when the victorious mujahidin entered Kabul to assume control over the city and the central government, a new round of internecine fighting began between the various militias, which had coexisted only uneasily during the Soviet occupation. With the demise of their common enemy, the militias' ethnic, clan, religious, and personality differences surfaced, and the civil war continued.

Seeking to resolve these differences, the leaders of the Peshawar-based mujahidin groups established an interim Islamic Jihad Council in mid-April 1992 to assume power in Kabul. Moderate leader Prof. Sibghatullah Mojaddedi was to chair the council for 2 months, after which a 10-member leadership council composed of mujahidin leaders and presided over by the head of the Jamiat-i-Islami, Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani, was to be set up for 4 months. During this 6-month period, a Loya Jirga, or grand council of Afghan elders and notables, would convene and designate an interim administration which would hold power up to a year, pending elections.

But in May 1992, Rabbani prematurely formed the leadership council, undermi ning Mojaddedi's fragile authority. In June, Mojaddedi surrendered power to the Leadership Council, which then elected Rabbani as President. Nonetheless, heavy fighting broke out in August 1992 in Kabul between forces loyal to President Rabbani and rival factions, particularly those who supported Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami. After Rabbani extended his tenure in December 1992, fighting in the capital flared up in January and February 1993. The Islamabad Accord, signed in March 1993, which appointed Hekmatyar as Prime Minister, failed to have a lasting effect. A follow-up agreement, the Jalalabad Accord, called for the militias to be disarmed but was never fully implemented. Through 1993, Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami forces, allied with the Shi'a Hezb-i-Wahdat militia, clashed intermittently with Rabbani and Masood's Jamiat forces. Cooperating with Jamiat were militants of Sayyaf's Ittehad-i-Islami and, periodically, troops loyal to ethnic Uzbek strongman Abdul Rashid Dostam. On January 1, 1994, Dostam switched sides, precipitating large-scale fighting in Kabul and in northern provinces, which caused thousands of civilian casualties in Kabul and elsewhere and created a new wave of displaced persons and refugees. The country sank even further into anarchy, forces loyal to Rabbani and Masood, both ethnic Tajiks, controlled Kabul and much of the north-east, while local warlords exerted power over the rest of the country.

Rise of the Taliban

In reaction to the anarchy and warlordism prevalent in the country, and the lack of Pashtun representation in the Kabul government, a movement of former mujahidin arose. Many Taliban had been educated in madrassas in Pakistan and were largely from rural Pashtun backgrounds. The name "Talib" itself means pupil. This group dedicated itself to removing the warlords, providing order, and imposing Islam on the country. It received considerable support from Pakistan. In 1994 it developed enough strength to capture the city of Kandahar from a local warlord and proceeded to expand its control throughout Afghanistan, occupying Kabul in September 1996. By the end of 1998, the Taliban occupied about 90% of the country, limiting the opposition largely to a small mostly Tajik corner in the northeast and the Panjshir valley. Efforts by the UN, prominent Afghans living outside the country, and other interested countries to bring about a peaceful solution to the continuing conflict came to naught, largely because of intransigence on the part of the Taliban.

The Taliban sought to impose an extreme interpretation of Islam—based in part upon rural Pashtun tradition—on the entire country and committed massive human rights violations, particularly directed against women and girls, in the process. Women were restricted from working outside the home and pursuing an education, were not to leave their homes without an accompanying male relative, and were forced to wear a traditional body-covering garment called the burka. The Taliban committed serious atrocities against minority populations, particularly the Shi'a Hazara ethnic group, and killed noncombatants in several well-documented instances. In 2001, as part of a drive against relics of Afghani stan's pre-Islamic past, the Taliban destroyed two large statues of the Buddha outside of the city of Bamiyan and announced destruction of all pre-Islamic statues in Afghanistan, including the remaining holdings of the Kabul Museum.

From the mid-1990s the Taliban provided sanctuary to Osama bin Laden, a Saudi national who had fought with them against the Soviets, and provided a base for his and other terrorist organizations. The UN Security Council repeatedly sanctioned the Taliban for these activities. Bin Laden provided both financial and political support to the Taliban. Bin Laden and his al Qaeda group were charged with the bombing of the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam in 1998, and in August 1998 the United States launched a cruise missile attack against bin Laden's terrorist camp in Afghanistan. Bin Laden and al Qaeda are believed to be responsible for the September 11, 2001 terrorist acts in the United States, among other crimes.

In September 2001, agents working on behalf of the Taliban and believed to be associated with bin Laden's al Qaeda group assassinated Northern Alliance Defense Minister and chief military commander Ahmed Shah Masood, a hero of the Afghan resis tance against the Soviets and the Taliban's principal military opponent. Following the Taliban's repeated refusal to expel bin Laden and his group and end its support for international terrorism, the U.S. and its partners in the anti-terrorist coalition began a campaign on October 7, 2001, targeting terrorist facilities and various Taliban military and political assets within Afghanistan.

Under pressure from U.S. air power and anti-Taliban ground forces, the Taliban disintegrated rapidly, and Kabul fell on November 13, 2001. Sponsored by the UN, Afghan factions opposed to the Taliban met in Bonn, Germany in early December and agreed to restore stability and governance to Afghanistan by creating an interim government and establishing a process to move toward a permanent government. Under this so-called Bonn Agreement, an Afghan Interim Authority was formed and took office in Kabul on December 22, 2001 with Hamid Karzai as Chairman. The Interim Authority held power for approximately 6 months while preparing for a nationwide "Loya Jirga" (Grand Council) in mid-June 2002 that decided on the structure of a Transitional Authority. The Transitional Authority, headed by President Hamid Karzai, renamed the government as the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan (TISA). One of the TISA's primary achievements was the drafting of a constitution that was ratified by a Constitutional Loya Jirga on January 4, 2004.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS

Afghanistan identifies itself as an "Islamic Republic." The new national constitution adopted on January 4, 2004 paves the way for nationwide presidential and parliamentary elections to be held in June 2004.

The government's authority beyond the capital, Kabul, is slowly growing, although its ability to deliver necessary social services remains largely dependent on funds from the international donor community. So far, the United States has committed nearly $4 billion to the reconstruction of Afghanistan, while other donors within the international community have pledged an additional $5 billion to meet short- and long-term needs.

With anti-terrorist coalition support, the government's capacity to secure Afghanistan's borders to maintain internal order is increasing. The government continues to work closely with coalition forces in rooting out remnants of al Qaeda and the Taliban. The core of an Afghan National Army (ANA) is being trained, as are police. Some ministerial reforms are underway, most prominently at the Ministry of Defense, which has been reorganized to better reflect Afghanistan's ethnic diversity.

Principal Government Officials
Last Updated: 2/13/04

President: Karzai, Hamid

Vice President: Khan, Mohammad Fahim

Vice President: Khalili, Abdul Karim

Vice President: Arsala, Hedayat Amin

Vice President: Shahrani, Niamatullah

Min. of Agriculture & Livestock: Anwari, Seyyed Hussain

Min. of Border & Tribal Affairs: Noorzai, Mohammad Aref, Engineer

Min. of Civil Aviation & Tourism: Sadeq, Mohammad Mirwais

Min. of Commerce: Kazemi, Seyyed Mustafa

Min. of Communications: Stanakzai, Mohammad Masoom

Min. of Defense: Khan, Mohammad Fahim

Min. of Education: Qanuni, Yunis

Min. of Finance: Ghani, Ashraf

Min. of Foreign Affairs: Abdullah, Dr.

Min. of Hajj & Mosques: Naseryar, Mohammad Amin

Min. of Higher Education: Faez, Mohammad Sharif, Dr.

Min. of Information & Culture: Raheen, Seyyed Makhdoom, Dr.

Min. of Interior: Jalali, Ali

Min. of Irrigation & Environment: Nuristani, Ahmad Yusuf, Dr.

Min. of Justice: Karimi, Abdul Rahim

Min. of Labor & Social Affairs: Qarqin, Noor Mohammad

Min. of Light Industry & Food Stuffs: Razam, Mohammad Alam

Min. of Martyrs & Disabled: Wardak, Abdullah, Engineer

Min. of Mines & Industries:

Min. of Planning: Mohaqqeq, Ustad Haji Mohammad

Min. of Public Health: Sediq, Sohaila, Dr.

Min. of Public Works: Ali, Abdul

Min. of Reconstruction: Farhang, Mohammad Amin

Min. of Refugee Affairs: Nazeri, Enayatullah

Min. of Rural Development: Atmar, Mohammad Hanif

Min. of Transportation: Jawed, Seyyed Mohammad Ali

Min. of Urban Development: Shirzai, Gul Agha

Min. of Water & Power: Kargar, Mohammad Shaker

Min. of Women's Affairs: Sorabi, Habiba

Chair of the Human Rights Commission: Samar, Sima

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Shinwari, Faisal Ahmad

Presidential Adviser on National Security: Rassoul, Zalmay

Governor, Central Bank: Ahady, Anwar Ul-Haq

Ambassador to the US: Jawad, Seyyed Tayeb

Permanent Representative to the UN, NY: Farhadi, Ravan A.G.

Afghanistan maintains an embassy in the United States at 2341 Wyoming Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel: 202-483-6410; email: info@embassyofafghanistan.org).

ECONOMY

In the 1930s, Afghanistan embarked on a modest economic development program. The government founded banks; introduced paper money; established a university; expanded primary, secondary, and technical schools; and sent students abroad for education. In 1956, the Afghan Government promulgated the first in a long series of ambitious development plans. By the late 1970s, these had achieved only mixed results due to flaws in the planning process as well as inadequate funding and a shortage of the skilled managers and technicians needed for implementation.

Historically, there has been a dearth of information and reliable statistics about Afghanistan's economy. The 1979 Soviet invasion and ensuing civil war destroyed much of the underdeveloped country's limited infrastructure and disrupted normal patterns of economic activity. Gross domestic product had fallen substantially over the preceding 23 years because of loss of labor and capital and disruption of trade and transport. Continuing internal strife hampered both domestic efforts at reconstruction as well as international aid efforts. However, Afghanistan's economy has been growing at a fast pace since the 2001 fall of the Taliban, albeit from a low base. In 2003, growth was estimated at close to 30%, and the growth rate is expected to be over 20% in 2004.

Agriculture

The Afghan economy continues to be overwhelmingly agricultural, despite the fact that only 12% of its total land area is arable and less than 6% currently is cultivated. Agricultural production is constrained by an almost total dependence on erratic winter snows and spring rains for water; irrigation is primitive. Relatively little use is made of machines, chemical fertilizer, or pesticides.

Grain production is Afghanistan's traditional agricultural mainstay. Overall agricultural production dramatically declined following 4 years of severe drought as well as sustained fighting, instability in rural areas, and deteriorated infrastructure. Soviet efforts to disrupt production in resistance-dominated areas also contributed to this decline, as did the disruption to transportation resulting from ongoing conflict. The easing of the drought, which had affected more than half of the population into late 2002, and the end of civil war produced the largest wheat harvest in 25 years during 2003. Wheat production was an estimated 58% higher than in 2002. However, the country still needed to import an estimated million tons of wheat to meet its requirements for the year. Millions of Afghans, particularly in rural areas, remained dependent on food aid.

The war against the Soviet Union and the ensuing civil war led to migration to the cities and refugee flight to Pakistan and Iran, further disrupting normal agricultural production. Shortages were exacerbated by the country's already limited transportation network, which had deteriorated further due to damage and neglect resulting from war and the absence of an effective central government. Agricultural production and livestock numbers are still not sufficient to feed a large percentage of Afghanistan's population.

Opium has became a source of cash for many Afghans, especially following the breakdown in central authority after the Soviet withdrawal, and opi um-derived revenues probably constituted a major source of income for the two main factions during the civil war in the 1990s. The Taliban earned roughly $40 million per year on opium taxes alone. Opium is easy to cultivate and transport and offers a quick source of income for impoverished Afghans. Afghanistan was the world's largest producer of raw opium in 1999 and 2000. Much of Afghanistan's opium production is refined into heroin and is either consumed by a growing regional addict population or exported, primarily to Western Europe. Despite efforts to bring opium cultivation under control, the most recent 2003 crop is reportedly the largest recorded. The international community and the government are currently working on new initiatives to eliminate the narcotics economy.

Trade and Industry

Trade accounts for a small portion of the documented Afghan economy, and there are no reliable statistics relating to trade flows. In 2002-03, exports—not including opium or reexports—were estimated at $100 million and imports estimated at $2.3 billion, a significant increase over 2001-02. Since the 1989 Soviet with-drawal and the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, other limited trade relationships with Central Asian states appear to be emerging. Exports to Iran and Pakistan account for about one-half of total exports. Belgium, Russia, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States each account for 5% or more of Afghanistan's exports. Japan, Korea, and Pakistan account for about 40% of imports. Other significant sources of imports are Germany, India, Iran, Kenya, Turkmenistan, and the United States. Afghanistan does not enjoy U.S. most-favored-nation (MFN) trading status, which was revoked in 1986. Most of Afghanistan's exports (excluding illegal or smuggled exports) are agricultural products and carpets.

Afghanistan is endowed with a wealth of natural resources, including extensive deposits of natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, and precious and semiprecious stones. In the 1970s the Soviets estimated Afghanistan had as much as five trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas, 95 million barrels of oil and condensate reserves, and 400 million tons of coal. Unfortunately, ongoing instability in certain areas of the country, remote and rugged terrain, and inadequate infrastructure and transportation network have made mining these resources difficult, and there have been few serious attempts to further explore or exploit them.

The most important resource has been natural gas, first tapped in 1967. At their peak during the 1980s, natural gas sales accounted for $300 million a year in export revenues (56% of the total). Ninety percent of these exports went to the Soviet Union to pay for imports and debts. However, during the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, Afghanistan's natural gas fields were capped to prevent sabotage by the mujahidin. Restoration of gas production has been hampered by internal strife and the disruption of traditional trading relationships following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Gas production dropped from a high of 290 million cubic feet (Mmcf) per day in the 1980s to a low of about 22 Mmcf in 2001.

Trade in goods smuggled into Pakistan once constituted a major source of revenue for Afghan regimes, including the Taliban, and still figure as an important element in the Afghan economy. Many of the goods smuggled into Pakistan originally entered Afghanistan from Pakistan, where they fell under the Afghan Trade and Transit Agreement (ATTA), which permitted goods bound for Afghanistan to transit Pakistan free of duty. When Pakistan clamped down in 2000 on the types of goods permitted duty-free transit, routing of goods through Iran from the Gulf increased significantly. Shipments of smuggled goods were subjected to fees and duties paid to the Afghan Government. The trade also provided jobs to tens of thousands of Afghans on both sides of the Durand Line, which forms the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan's closing its Afghan border in September 2001 presumably curtailed this traffic.

Transportation

Landlocked Afghanistan has no functioning railways, but the Amu Darya (Oxus) River, which forms part of Afghanistan's border with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, has barge traffic. During their occupation of the country, the Soviets completed a bridge across the Amu Darya and built a motor vehicle and railroad bridge between Termez and Jeyretan. The U.S., in conjunction with the governments of Afghanistan and Tajikistan, is currently exploring the feasibility of resuscitating a bridge link over the Amu Darya.

Most road building occurred in the 1960s, funded by the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The Soviets built a road and tunnel through the Salang Pass in 1964, connecting northern and southern Afghanistan. A highway connecting the principal cities of Herat, Kandahar, Ghazni, and Kabul with links to highways in neighboring Pakistan formed the primary road system.

Afghanistan's national airline, Ariana, operates domestic and international routes, including flights to New Delhi, Islamabad, Dubai, Moscow, Istanbul, Tehran, and Frankfurt. A private carrier, Kam Air, commenced domestic operations in November 2003.

Many sections of Afghanistan's highway and regional road system are undergoing significant reconstruction. The U.S. (with assistance from Japan) has just completed the first phase of paving along the entire stretch of primary road linking Kabul with the southern regional capital Kandahar. Plans to add a second layer of paving between Kabul-Kandahar, as well as reconstruct the primary road between Kandahar and the western city of Herat are also in the works. The Asian Development Bank is nearing completion on a road reconstruction project between Kandahar and Spin Boldak, located at the southeastern border with Pakistan.

Humanitarian Relief

The UN and the international donor community continue to provide considerable humanitarian relief. Since its inception in 1988, the umbrella UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan (UNOCHA) has channeled more than $1 billion in multilateral assistance to Afghan refugees and vulnerable persons inside Afghanistan. The U.S., the European Union (EU), and Japan are the leading contributors to this relief effort. One of its key tasks is to eliminate from priority areas—such as villages, arable fields, and roads—some of the 5 to 7 million land mines and 750,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXO), sown mainly during the Soviet occupation, which continue to litter the Afghan landscape. Afghanistan is the most heavily mined country in the world; mine-related injuries number up to 150 per month, and an estimated 200,000 Afghans have been disabled by landmine/UXO accidents. Mine clearing efforts are ongoing, with great progress being made along the Kabul-Kandahar road construction project. With funding from international donors, including the U.S., the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have instituted a number of educational programs and mine awareness campaigns in various parts of the country.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

Before the Soviet invasion, Afghanistan pursued a policy of neutrality and nonalignment in its foreign relations. In international forums, Afghanistan generally followed the voting patterns of Asian and African nonaligned countries. Following the Marxist coup of April 1978, the Taraki government developed significantly closer ties with the Soviet Union and its communist satellites.

After the December 1979 invasion, Afghanistan's foreign policy mirrored that of the Soviet Union. Afghan foreign policy makers attempted, with little success, to increase their regime's low standing in the noncommunist world. With the signing of the 1988 Geneva Accords, Najibullah unsuccessfully sought to end Afghanistan's isolation within the Islamic world and in the Non-Aligned Movement.

Most Western countries, including the United States, maintained small diplomatic missions in Kabul during the Soviet occupation. (Throughout the Soviet occupation, the U.S. did not recognize the Afghan regimes, and its mission was headed by a Charged' Affaires rather than an Ambassador.) Many countries subsequently closed their missions due to instability and heavy fighting in Kabul.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates recognized the Taliban regime in 1997. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates withdrew recognition following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Repeated Taliban efforts to occupy Afghanistan's seat at the UN and Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) were unsuccessful.

The fall of the Taliban in October 2001 opened a new chapter in Afghanistan's foreign relations. Afghanistan is now an active member of the international community, and has extended diplomatic relations with countries from around the world. In December 2002, the six nations that border Afghanistan signed a 'Good Neighbor' Declaration, in which they pledged to respect Afghanistan's independence and territorial integrity.

Pakistan

The 1978 Marxist coup strained relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan took the lead diplomatically in the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference in opposing the Soviet occupation. During the war against the Soviet occupation, Pakistan served as the primary logistical conduit for the Afghan resistance.

Pakistan initially developed close ties to the Taliban regime, and extended recognition in 1997. This policy was not without controversy in Pakistan, where many objected to the Taliban's human rights record and radical interpretation of Islam. Following the Taliban's resistance to Islamabad's pressure to comply with relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and surrender Osama bin Laden after the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City and Washington, DC, Pakistan dramatically altered its policy by closing its border and downgrading its ties.

Despite occasional tensions between the two countries, particularly along their shared border region, Afghanistan and Pakistan are engaged in ongoing dialogue to resolve their outstanding differences. Senior representatives from the two countries meet periodically through the Tripartite Commission, a U.S.-facilitated forum that offers both sides an opportunity to articulate views on specific issues and work toward common solutions. Both sides have much to gain from an improved relationship; much of Afghanistan has long relied on Pakistani links for trade and travel to the outside world, while Pakistan views Afghanistan as eventually becoming its primary route for trade with Central Asia.

Editor's Update
April 2004

A report on important events that have taken place since the last State Department revision of this Background Note.

Following the Loya Jirga held in June 2002 to elect a transitional government, one of Afghanistan's three vice presidents was assassinated. On July 6, 2002, Vice President Haji Abdul Qadir was assassinated by gunmen in Kabul. He also had been governor of the province of Nangarhar, and was a powerful and influential Pashtun leader.

Since the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan began in October 2001, the U.S. has made a number of errors in its fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda forces. In July 2002, a U.S. air raid in Uruzgan province killed 48 civilians who were celebrating a wedding. Afghans often fire guns in the air during weddings and other celebrations, and a coalition air patrol flying in the area reported coming under anti-aircraft artillery fire. The aircraft took retaliatory action. In another incident, four Canadian soldiers were killed in April 2002 when a U.S. fighter jet bombed them by mistake during training exercises.

On September 5, 2002, Hamid Karzai was the target of an assassination attempt in Kandahar, his home town. He survived, and another plot against him was thwarted on November 22.

Afghan government forces and U.S.-led coalition forces clashed with remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaeda throughout 2003 and into 2004, resulting in many casualties. In August 2003, NATO took control of security in Kabul. It was the organization's first operational commitment outside Europe in its history. On March 7, 2004, U.S.-led coalition forces working with Pakistani forces began a new offensive against Taliban insurgents and al-Qaeda leaders in the porous Afghan-Pakistani border regions. Osama bin Laden was reported to have narrowly escaped capture by French forces, and the hunt was on for Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar. Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's second-in-command leader behind bin Laden, was also reported to be in the region. That month, there were an estimated 500-600 suspected foreign terrorists living in the semiautonomous tribal areas along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

A Loya Jirga held in January 2004 adopted a new constitution—the country's sixth written constitution—which provides for a strong presidency, a two-chamber parliament, and an independent judiciary. The constitution also declares women and men to be equal under the law.

Iran

Afghanistan's relations with Iran have fluctuated over the years, with periodic disputes over the water rights of the Helmand River as the main issue of contention. Following the Soviet invasion, which Iran opposed, relations deteriorated. The Iranian consulate in Herat closed, as did the Afghan consulate in Mashad.

The Iranians complained of periodic border violations following the Soviet invasion. In 1985, they urged feuding Afghan Shi'a resistance groups to unite to oppose the Soviets. Iran supported the cause of the Afghan resistance and provided limited financial and military assistance to rebel leaders who pledged loyalty to the Iranian vision of Islamic revolution. Iran still provides refuge to about 1.4 million Afghans.

Following the emergence of the Taliban and their harsh treatment of Afghani stan's Shi' a minority, Iran stepped up assistance to the Northern Alliance. Relations with the Taliban deteriorated further in 1998 after Taliban forces seized the Iranian consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif and executed Iranian diplomats.

Since the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan's relations with Iran have improved. Iran has been active in Afghan reconstruction efforts, particularly in the western portion of the country, and is constructing a road between their eastern border and Herat, a major trade route linking the two countries.

Russia

In the 19th century, Afghanistan served as a strategic buffer state between czarist Russia and the British Empire in the subcontinent. Afghanistan's relations with Moscow became more cordial after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. The Soviet Union was the first country to establish diplomatic relations with Afghanistan after the Third Anglo-Afghan war and signed an Afghan-Soviet nonaggression pact in 1921, which also provided for Afghan transit rights through the Soviet Union. Early Soviet assistance included financial aid, aircraft and attendant technical personnel, and telegraph operators.

The Soviets began a major economic assistance program in Afghanistan in the 1950s. Between 1954 and 1978, Afghanistan received more than $1 billion in Soviet aid, including substantial military assistance. In 1973, the two countries announced a $200-million assistance agreement on gas and oil development, trade, transport, irrigation, and factory construction. Following the 1979 invasion, the Soviets augmented their large aid commitments to shore up the Afghan economy and rebuild the Afghan military. They provided the Karmal regime an unprecedented $800 million. The Soviet Union supported the Najibullah regime even after the withdrawal of Soviet troops in February 1989.

During the reign of the Taliban, Russia became increasingly disenchanted over Taliban support for Chechen rebels and for providing a sanctuary for terrorist groups active in Central Asia and in Russia itself. Russia provided military assistance to the Northern Alliance.

Though Afghanistan's current government has improved relations with Russia, the sensitive history between the two countries has left deep scars and residual feelings of mistrust. Afghanistan's outstanding foreign debt to Russia continues to be a source of contention.

Tajikistan

Afghanistan's relations with Tajikistan have been complicated by political upheaval and civil war in Tajikistan, which spurred some 100,000 Tajiks to seek refuge in Afghanistan in late 1992 and early 1993. Tajik rebels seeking to overthrow the Tajik government headed by Imamali Rahmanov began operating from Afghan bases and recruiting Tajik refugees into their ranks. These rebels, reportedly aided by Afghans and a number of foreign Islamic extremists, conducted cross-border raids against Russian and Tajik security posts and sought to infiltrate fighters and materiel from Afghanistan into Tajikistan. Also disenchanted by the Taliban's harsh treatment of Afghanistan's Tajik minority, Tajikistan facilitated assistance to the Northern Alliance.

In the post-Taliban era, Afghanistan seeks closer ties with its northern neighbor in order to capitalize on the potential economic benefits of increased trade. A planned bridge span linking the two countries over the Amu Darya River is a tangible sign of this new collaboration.

UN EFFORTS

During the Soviet occupation, the United Nations was highly critical of the U.S.S.R.'s interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan and was instrumental in obtaining a negotiated Soviet withdrawal under the terms of the 1988 Geneva Accords.

In the aftermath of the Accords and subsequent Soviet withdrawal, the United Nations assisted in the repatriation of refugees and provided humanitarian aid such as health care, educational programs, and food and has supported mine-clearing operations. From 1990-2001, the UN worked to promote a peaceful settlement between the Afghan factions as well as provide humanitarian aid. Since October 2001, the UN has played a key role in Afghanistan through the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA), including spearheading efforts to organize Afghan elections slated for 2004.

U.S.-AFGHAN RELATIONS

The first extensive American contact with Afghanistan was made by Josiah Harlan, an adventurer from Pennsylvania who was an adviser in Afghan politics in the 1830s and reputedly inspired Rudyard Kipling's story "The Man Who Would be King." After the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1934, the U.S. policy of helping developing nations raise their standard of living was an important factor in maintaining and improving U.S.-Afghan ties. From 1950 to 1979, U.S. foreign assistance provided Afghanistan with more than $500 million in loans, grants, and surplus agricultural commodities to develop transportation facilities, increase agricultural production, expand the educational system, stimulate industry, and improve government administration.

In the 1950s, the U.S. declined Afghanistan's request for defense cooperation but extended an economic assistance program focused on the development of Afghanistan's physical infrastructure —roads, dams, and power plants. Later, U.S. aid shifted from infrastructure projects to technical assistance programs to help develop the skills needed to build a modern economy. The Peace Corps was active in Afghanistan between 1962 and 1979.

After the April 1978 coup, relations deteriorated. In February 1979, U.S. Ambassador Adolph "Spike" Dubs was murdered in Kabul after Afghan security forces burst in on his kidnapers. The U.S. then reduced bilateral assistance and terminated a small military training program. All remaining assistance agreements were ended after the December 1979 Soviet invasion.

Following the Soviet invasion, the United States supported diplomatic efforts to achieve a Soviet withdrawal. In addition, generous U.S. contributions to the refugee program in Pakistan played a major part in efforts to assist Afghans in need. U.S. efforts also included helping Afghans living inside Afghanistan. This crossborder humanitarian assistance program aimed at increasing Afghan self-sufficiency and helping Afghans resist Soviet attempts to drive civilians out of the rebel-dominated countryside. During the period of Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the U.S. provided about $3 billion in military and economic assistance to Afghans and the resistance movement.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul was closed in January 1989 for security reasons, but officially reopened as an embassy on January 17, 2002. Throughout Afghanistan's difficult and turbulent 23 years of conflict, the U.S. supported the peaceful emergence of a broad-based government representative of all Afghans and actively encouraged a UN role in the national reconciliation process in Afghanistan.

Today, the U.S. is assisting the Afghan people as they rebuild their country and establish a representative government that contributes to regional stability, is market friendly, and respects human rights. The U.S. and Afghanistan are also working together to ensure that Afghanistan never again becomes a haven for terrorists. The U.S. provides financial aid for mine-clearing, reconstruction, and humanitarian assistance through international organizations.

Principal U.S. Embassy Officials

Kabul (E), Great Masood Road between Radio Afghanistan and Ministry of Public Health: (local); official mail (Pouch) Name (or Office or Agency), Department of State, 6180 Kabul Place, Washington, D.C. 20521-6180; Tel [93] (2) 290002, 290005, 290154; INMARSAT line Tel 00 [873] (761) 837-927; Fax: 00 [873](76) 183-7374.

Last Modified: Wednesday, September 24, 2003

TRAVEL

Consular Information Sheet
January 21, 2004

Country Description: Afghanistan faces daunting challenges – recovering from over two decades of civil strife, dealing with years of severe drought, and rebuilding a shattered infrastructure. Meanwhile, Operation Enduring Freedom continues to combat remaining Taliban and al-Qaeda elements. The Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan assumed power following the Emergency Loya Jirga held in June 2002 and adopted a new Constitution in January 2004. National elections are scheduled for June 2004.

Entry and Exit Requirements: A passport and visa are required. Information on entry requirements may be obtained from the Embassy of Afghanistan located at 2341 Wyoming Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008, phone no. 202-483-6410, fax no. 202-483-6488, website: www.embassyofafghanistan.org.

In an effort to prevent international child abduction, many governments have initiated procedures at entry/exit points. These often include requiring documentary evidence of relationship and permission for the child's travel from the parent(s) or legal guardian not present. Having such documentation on hand, even if not required, may facilitate entry/departure.

Dual Nationality: In addition to being subject to all Afghan laws affecting U.S. citizens, dual nationals may also be subject to other laws that impose special obligations on Afghan citizens. U.S. citizens who are also Afghan nationals do not require visas for entry into Afghanistan. The Embassy of Afghanistan issues a letter confirming your nationality for entry into Afghanistan. However, you may wish to obtain a visa as some Afghan-Americans have experienced difficulties at land border crossings because they do not have a visa in their passport. For additional information on dual nationality in general, see the Consular Affairs home page on the Internet at http://travel.state.gov for our Dual Nationality flyer.

Safety and Security: The latest Travel Warning for Afghanistan states clearly that the security situation remains critical for American citizens. There are remnants of the former Taliban regime and the terrorist al-Qaeda network in various parts of Afghanistan. There is a continuing threat of terrorist actions, including attacks using vehicles, improvised explosive devices and other forms of bombs. There is an ongoing threat to kidnap US citizens and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) workers throughout the country. The country faces a difficult period in the near term, and American citizens could be targeted or placed at risk by unpredictable local events. There is also a real danger from the presence of millions of unexploded land mines and other ordnance.

Afghan-Americans returning to Afghanistan to recover property have become involved in complicated disputes and, even given favorable court proceedings, face possible retaliatory actions including threats of kidnapping for ransom.

For the latest security information, Americans traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department's Internet website at http://travel.state.gov where the current Worldwide Caution Public Announcement and other Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings, including the Travel Warning for Afghanistan, can be found.

The Overseas Citizens Services call center at 1-888-407-4747 can answer general inquiries on safety and security overseas. This number is available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). Callers who are unable to use tollfree numbers, such as those calling from overseas, may obtain information and assistance during these hours by calling 1-317-472-2328.

Crime: A large portion of the Afghan population is unemployed, and many among the unemployed have moved to urban areas. Basic services are rudimentary or non-existent. These factors may directly contribute to crime and lawlessness. Diplomats and international relief workers have reported incidents of robberies and household burglaries. Any American citizen who enters Afghanistan should remain vigilant for possible banditry, including attacks with violence.

The loss or theft abroad of a U.S. passport should be reported immediately to the local police and the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. (Currently, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul is not issuing passports and cannot replace a lost passport.) The Embassy/Consulate staff can, for example, assist you to find appropriate medical care, to contact family members or friends and explain how funds could be transferred. Although the investigation and prosecution of the crime is solely the responsibility of local authorities, consular officers can help you to understand the local criminal justice process and to find an attorney if needed.

U.S. citizens may refer to the Department of State's pamphlet, A Safe Trip Abroad, and Tips for Travelers to South Asia for ways to promote a trouble-free journey. The pamphlets are available by mail from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402, via the Internet at http://www.gpoaccess.gov, or via the Bureau of Consular Affairs home page at http://travel.state.gov.

Medical Facilities: Well-equipped medical facilities are few and far between throughout Afghanistan. European and American medicines are generally available in limited quantities and may be expensive or difficult to locate. There is a shortage of basic medical supplies. Basic medicines manufactured in Iran, Pakistan and India are available, but their reliability can be questionable. American travelers may seek emergency medical services at the International Security Assistance Forces medical facilities in Kabul but routine care is not available. The Malteser Clinic, located behind the Police Academy in Kabul, is staffed by German contract medical personnel and provides western standard routine medical care. Afghan hospitals in Kabul should be avoided at this time. Travelers will not be able to find Western-trained medical personnel in most parts of the country outside of Kabul. There are also some international aid groups temporarily providing basic medical assistance in various cities and villages. For any medical treatment, payment is required in advance. Commercial medical evacuation capability from within Afghanistan is limited.

Medical Insurance: The Department of State strongly urges Americans to consult with their medical insurance company prior to traveling abroad to confirm whether their policy applies overseas and whether it will cover emergency expenses such as a medical evacuation. U.S. medical insurance plans seldom cover health costs incurred outside the United States unless supplemental coverage is purchased. Further, U.S. Medicare and Medicaid programs do not provide payment for medical services outside the United States. However, many travel agents and private companies offer insurance plans that will cover health care expenses incurred overseas including emergency services such as medical evacuations. Medical transfer out of Afghanistan can be very difficult to accomplish and expensive.

When making a decision regarding health insurance, Americans should consider that many foreign doctors and hospitals require payment in cash prior to providing service and that a medical evacuation to the U.S. may cost in excess of $50,000. Uninsured travelers who require medical care overseas often face extreme difficulties. When consulting with your insurer prior to your trip, ascertain whether payment will be made to the overseas health care provider or whether you will be reimbursed later for expenses you incur. Some insurance policies also include coverage for psychiatric treatment and for disposition of remains in the event of death.

Useful information on medical emergencies abroad, including overseas insurance programs, is provided in the Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs brochure, Medical Information for Americans Traveling Abroad, available via the Bureau of Consular Affairs home.

Other Health Information: Information on vaccinations and other health precautions, such as safe food and water precautions and insect bite protection, may be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's hotline for international travelers at 1-877-FYI-TRIP 1-877-394-8747); fax 1-888-CDC-FAXX (1-888-232-3299), or via the CDC's Internet site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel. For information about outbreaks of infectious diseases abroad consult the World Health Organization's website at http://www.who.int/en. Further health information for travelers is available at http://www.who.int/ith.

Traffic Safety and Road Conditions: While in a foreign country, U.S. citizens may encounter road conditions that differ significantly from those in the United States. The information below concerning Afghanistan is provided for general reference only, and may not be totally accurate in a particular location or circumstance.

Safety of Public Transportation: Poor
Urban RoadConditions/Maintenance: Poor
Rural Road Conditions/Maintenance: Poor
Availability of Roadside Assistance: Poor

All traffic is in danger of land mines that may have been planted on and near roadways. An estimated 5-7 million land mines and large quantities of unexploded ordnance exist throughout the countryside and alongside roads, posing a danger to travelers. Robbery and crime are also prevalent on highways outside of Kabul. The transportation system in Afghanistan is marginal. Vehicles are poorly maintained and often overloaded; traffic laws are not enforced; drivers are erratic. Vehicular traffic is chaotic and must contend with numerous pedestrians, bicyclists and animals. Many urban streets have large potholes and are not well lit. Rural roads are not paved.

For additional general information about road safety, including links to foreign government sites, see the Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs home page at http://travel.state.gov/road_safety.html.

Aviation Safety Oversight: Three commercial airlines serve Afghanistan from Kabul International Airport. Pakistan International Airlines has three weekly flights to and from Islamabad. Azerbaijan Airways has three weekly flights to and from Baku.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul strongly recommends against flying Ariana Afghan Airlines. As there is no direct commercial air service by local carriers at present, or economic authority to operate such service, between the U.S. and Afghanistan, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has not formally assessed Afghanistan's Civil Aviation Authority for compliance with international aviation safety standards. However, in January 2004, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reviewed the aviation safety assessment report prepared by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which outlined significant safety deficiencies with Ariana Afghan Airlines. The FAA's review of the ICAO findings and interviews with Ariana Afghan Airlines officials identified significant safety deficiencies. Due to these findings, the U.S. government does not authorize official personnel to fly Afghan Ariana Airlines.

For further information, travelers may contact the Department of Transportation within the U.S. at 1-800-322-7873, or visit the FAA's Internet website at http://www.intl.faa.gov.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) separately assesses some foreign air carriers for suitability as official providers of air services. For information regarding the DOD policy on specific carriers, travelers may contact DOD at (618) 229-4801.

Customs Regulations: Afghan customs authorities may enforce strict regulations concerning temporary importation into or export from Afghanistan of items such as firearms, alcoholic beverages, religious materials, antiquities, medications, and printed materials. It is advisable to contact the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington or one of Afghanistan's other diplomatic missions for specific information regarding customs requirements. Many countries through which travelers transit to/from Afghanistan have special requirements or will not allow you to enter with a firearm, antique or modern, even if you are transiting that country on the way to your final destination. If you plan to take your firearms or ammunition to another country, you should contact officials at that country's embassy to learn about its regulations and fully comply with those regulations before traveling. Please consult http://www.customs.gov for information on importing firearms into the United States.

Criminal Penalties: While in a foreign country, a U.S. citizen is subject to that country's laws and regulations, which sometimes differ significantly from those in the United States and may not afford the protections available to the individual under U.S. law. Penalties for breaking the law can be more severe than in the United States for similar offenses. Persons violating Afghanistan's laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested or imprisoned. Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Afghanistan are strict and convicted offenders can expect jail sentences and heavy fines. Proselytizing remains illegal and violators will be punished.

Consular Access: U.S. citizens are encouraged to carry a copy of their U.S. passports with them at all times, so that, if questioned by local officials, proof of identity and U.S. citizenship are readily available. As stated in the Travel Warning, consular assistance for American citizens in Afghanistan is limited.

Special Circumstances: Because of the poor infrastructure in Afghanistan, access to banking facilities is extremely limited and unreliable. Afghanistan's economy operates on a "cash-only" basis for most transactions. Credit card transactions are not available. International bank transfers are very limited, as the banking system is just becoming operational. No ATM machines exist.

Telecommunications: International communications are difficult. Local telephone networks do not operate reliably. Most people rely on satellite or cellular telephone communications even to make local calls. Cellular phone service is available locally in Kabul and some other cities. Injured or distressed foreigners could face long delays before being able to communicate their needs to family or colleagues outside of Afghanistan. Internet access through local service providers is limited.

Children's Issues: For information on international adoption of children and international parental child abduction, please refer to our Internet site at http://travel.state.gov/children's_issues.html or telephone the Overseas Citizens Services call center at 1-888-407-4747. Afghan law does not allow for adoption of children by foreigners. The OCS call center can answer general inquiries regarding international adoptions and will forward calls to the appropriate country officer in the Bureau of Consular Affairs. This number is available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). Callers who are unable to use tollfree numbers, such as those calling from overseas, may obtain information and assistance during these hours by calling 1-317-472-2328.

Registration and Embassy Location: U.S. citizens living in or visiting Afghanistan are encouraged to register at the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul where they may also obtain updated information on travel and security within Afghanistan. The U.S. Embassy is located at Great Masood Road, also known as Bebe Mahro (Airport) Road, Kabul, telephone number: 93-20-29002/29005. The Embassy's website is http://usembassy.state.gov/afghanistan/. The Embassy provides no passport or visa services, but does perform emergency and routine citizens services.

Travel Warning

February 4, 2004

This Travel Warning adds information on the threat to U.S. citizens and employees of nongovernmental organizations, provides updated information on the security situation in Afghanistan generally, and provides new phone numbers for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. The security threat to all American citizens in Afghanistan remains high. This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning for Afghanistan issued July 28, 2003.

The Department of State strongly warns U.S. citizens against travel to Afghanistan. There is an ongoing threat to kidnap and assassinate U.S. citizens and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) workers throughout the country. The ability of Afghan authorities to maintain order and ensure the security of citizens and visitors is limited. Remnants of the former Taliban regime and the terrorist Al-Qaida network, and other groups hostile to the government, remain active. U.S.-led military operations continue. Travel in all areas of Afghanistan, including the capital Kabul, is unsafe due to military operations, landmines, banditry, armed rivalry among political and tribal groups, and the possibility of terrorist attacks, including attacks using vehicular or other bombs. The security environment remains volatile and unpredictable.

There have been a number of attacks on international organizations, international aid workers, and foreign interests and nationals, including the killing of a United Nations High Commission for Refugee (UNHCR) worker in Ghazni and car bombing in front of the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) compound in Kandahar both in November 2003, and several attacks in 2002-2004 on International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF), resulting in deaths and injuries, including two deadly attacks in late January 2004. The United Nations has temporarily evacuated its international staff from Kandahar, Jalalabad and Gardez and closed its office in Ghazni. Over the past year there have been several unsuccessful rocket attacks in Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan, including a rocket landing in a field opposite the Embassy compound in December 2003, and an explosion in the perimeter wall of the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul on November 22, 2003.

Family members of official Americans assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul are not allowed to reside in Afghanistan. In addition, unofficial travel to Afghanistan by U.S. Government employees and their family members requires prior approval by the Department of State. From time to time, the U.S. Embassy places areas frequented by foreigners off limits to its personnel depending on current security conditions. Private U.S. citizens are strongly urged to heed these restrictions as well and may obtain the latest information by calling the U.S. Embassy in Kabul or consulting the Embassy website below. As stated in the current Worldwide Caution, terrorist actions may include, but are not limited to, suicide operations, bombings, assaults or kidnappings. Possible threats include conventional weapons such as explosive devises or non-conventional weapons, including chemical or biological agents.

The United States Embassy cannot provide passport or visa services, and its ability to provide emergency consular services to U.S. citizens in Afghanistan is limited. Afghan authorities also can provide only limited assistance to U.S. citizens facing difficulties.

U.S. citizens who choose to visit or remain in Afghanistan despite this Travel Warning are urged to pay close attention to their personal security, avoid rallies and demonstrations, and to register with and obtain updated security information from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. The U.S. Embassy is located at Great Masood Road between Radio Afghanistan and the Ministry of Public Health (the road is also known as Bebe Mahro (Airport) Road), Kabul. Phone numbers are (93-20) 290002/ 290005 fax (93-20) 293-153 and (93-20) 230-1364. The Embassy website is http://usembassy.state.gov/afghanistan.

Updated information on travel and security in Afghanistan may be obtained from the Department of State by calling 1-888-407-4747 tollfree in the United States or Canada, or, from overseas, 1-317-472-2328. For additional information, consult the Department of State's Consular Information Sheet for Afghanistan and the Worldwide Caution Public Announcement located at http://travel.state.gov.

AFGHANISTAN

Compiled from the December 2004 Background Note and supplemented with additional information from the State Department and the editors of this volume. See the introduction to this set for explanatory notes.

Official Name:
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

PROFILE

Geography

Area: 647,500 sq. km. (249,935 sq. mi.); slightly smaller than Texas.

Cities: Capital (1999/2000 UN est.) Kabul—1,780,000. Other cities (1988 UN est.; current figures are probably significantly higher)—Kandahar (226,000); Herat (177,000); Mazar-e-Sharif (131,000); Jalalabad (58,000); Konduz (57,000).

Terrain: Landlocked; mostly mountains and desert.

Climate: Dry, with cold winters and hot summers.

People

Nationality: Noun and adjective—Afghan(s).

Population: 28,717,213 (July 2003 est.). More than 4 million Afghans live outside the country, mainly in Pakistan and Iran, although over two and a half million have returned since the removal of the Taliban.

Annual population growth rate: (2003 est.) 3.38%. This rate does not take into consideration the recent war and its continuing impact.

Main ethnic groups: Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen, Aimaq, Baluch, Nuristani, Kizilbash.

Religions: Sunni Muslim 84%, Shi'a Muslim 15%, other 1%.

Main languages: Dari (Afghan Persian), Pashto.

Education: Approximately 4 million children, of whom some 30% are girls, enrolled in school during 2003. Literacy (2001 est.)—36% (male 51%, female 21%), but real figures may be lower given breakdown of education system and flight of educated Afghans.

Health: Infant mortality rate (2003)—142.48/1,000. Life expectancy (2003 est.)—47.67 yrs. (male); 46.23 yrs. (female).

Work force: Mostly in rural agriculture; number cannot be estimated due to conflict.

Government

Type: Afghanistan identifies itself as an "Islamic Republic."

Independence: August 19, 1919 (from U.K. control over Afghan foreign affairs).

Constitution: Adopted on January 4, 2004, paving the way for nationwide presidential and parliamentary elections. Afghanistan held its first national democratic Presidential elections on October 9, 2004. Hamid Karzai was announced as the official winner on November 3, 2004 and inaugurated on December 7, 2004. Parliamentary and local elections are planned for spring 2005.

Economy

GDP: $4 billion (2002-03 est.).

Per capita GDP: $180-$190 (based on 22 million population estimate).

Purchasing parity power: $19 billion (2002 est.)

GDP growth: 28.6% (2002-03 est.)

Natural resources: Natural gas, oil, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron, salt, precious and semiprecious stones.

Agriculture: (estimated 52% of GDP) Products—wheat, corn, barley, rice, cotton, fruit, nuts, karakul pelts, wool, and mutton.

Industry: (estimated 26% of GDP) Types—small-scale production for domestic use of textiles, soap, furniture, shoes, fertilizer, and cement; hand-woven carpets for export; natural gas, precious and semiprecious gemstones.

Services: (estimated 22% of GDP) transport, retail, and telecommunications.

Trade: (2002-03 est.) Exports—$100 million (does not include opium) fruits and nuts, handwoven carpets, wool, cotton, hides and pelts, precious and semiprecious gems. Major markets—Central Asian republics, Pakistan, Iran, EU, India. Estimates show that the figure for 2001 was much lower, except for opium. Imports—$2.3 billion: food, petroleum products, machinery, and consumer goods. Estimates show that imports were severely reduced in 2001. Major suppliers—Central Asian republics, Pakistan, Iran.

Currency: The currency is the afghani, which was reintroduced as Afghanistan's new currency in January 2003. The exchange rate of the new currency has remained broadly stable since the completion of the conversion process from the country's old afghani currency. At present, $1 U.S. equals approximately 43 afghanis. Since its inception the new afghani has gained gradual acceptance throughout the country, but other foreign currencies are also still frequently accepted as legal tender.

PEOPLE

Afghanistan's ethnically and linguistically mixed population reflects its location astride historic trade and invasion routes leading from Central Asia into South and Southwest Asia. Pashtuns are the dominant ethnic group, accounting for about 38-44% of the population. Tajik (25%), Hazara (10-19%), Uzbek (6-8%), Aimaq, Turkmen, Baluch, and other small groups also are represented. Dari (Afghan Persian) and Pashto are official languages. Dari is spoken by more than one-third of the population as a first language and serves as a lingua franca for most Afghans, though the Taliban use Pashto. Tajik, Uzbek, and Turkmen are spoken widely in the north. Smaller groups throughout the country also speak more than 70 other languages and numerous dialects.

Afghanistan is an Islamic country. An estimated 84% of the population is Sunni, following the Hanafi school of jurisprudence; the remainder is predominantly Shi'a, mainly Hazara. Despite attempts during the years of communist rule to secularize Afghan society, Islamic practices pervade all aspects of life. In fact, Islam served as the principal basis for expressing opposition to the communists and the Soviet invasion. Likewise, Islamic religious tradition and codes, together with traditional practices, provide the principal means of controlling personal conduct and settling legal disputes. Excluding urban populations in the principal cities, most Afghans are divided into tribal and other kinship-based groups, which follow traditional customs and religious practices.

HISTORY

Afghanistan, often called the crossroads of Central Asia, has had a turbulent history. In 328 BC, Alexander the Great entered the territory of present-day Afghanistan, then part of the Persian Empire, to capture Bactria (present-day Balkh). Invasions by the Scythians, White Huns, and Turks followed in succeeding centuries. In AD 642, Arabs invaded the entire region and introduced Islam.

Arab rule gave way to the Persians, who controlled the area until conquered by the Turkic Ghaznavids in 998. Mahmud of Ghazni (998-1030) consolidated the conquests of his predecessors and turned Ghazni into a great cultural center as well as a base for frequent forays into India. Following Mahmud's short-lived dynasty, various princes attempted to rule sections of the country until the Mongol invasion of 1219. The Mongol invasion, led by Genghis Khan, resulted in massive slaughter of the population, destruction of many cities, including Herat, Ghazni, and Balkh, and the despoliation of fertile agricultural areas.

Following Genghis Khan's death in 1227, a succession of petty chiefs and princes struggled for supremacy until late in the 14th century, when one of his descendants, Tamerlane, incorporated Afghanistan into his own vast Asian empire. Babur, a descendant of Tamerlane and the founder of India's Moghul dynasty at the beginning of the 16th century, made Kabul the capital of an Afghan principality.

In 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder of what is known today as Afghanistan, established his rule. A Pashtun, Durrani was elected king by a tribal council after the assassination of the Persian ruler Nadir Shah at Khabushan in the same year. Throughout his reign, Durrani consolidated chieftainships, petty principalities, and fragmented provinces into one country. His rule extended from Mashad in the west to Kashmir and Delhi in the east, and from the Amu Darya (Oxus) River in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south. With the exception of a 9-month period in 1929, all of Afghanistan's rulers until the 1978 Marxist coup were from Durrani's Pashtun tribal confederation, and all were members of that tribe's Mohammadzai clan after 1818.

European Influence

During the 19th century, collision between the expanding British Empire in the subcontinent and czarist Russia significantly influenced Afghanistan in what was termed "The Great Game." British concern over Russian advances in Central Asia and growing influence in Persia culminated in two Anglo-Afghan wars. The first (1839-42) resulted not only in the destruction of a British army, but is remembered today as an example of the ferocity of Afghan resistance to foreign rule. The second Anglo-Afghan war (1878-80) was sparked by Amir Sher Ali's refusal to accept a British mission in Kabul. This conflict brought Amir Abdur Rahman to the Afghan throne. During his reign (1880-1901), the British and Russians officially established the boundaries of what would become modern Afghanistan. The British retained effective control over Kabul's foreign affairs.

Afghanistan remained neutral during World War I, despite German encouragement of anti-British feelings and Afghan rebellion along the borders of British India. The Afghan king's policy of neutrality was not universally popular within the country, however.

Habibullah, Abdur Rahman's son and successor, was assassinated in 1919, possibly by family members opposed to British influence. His third son, Amanullah, regained control of Afghanistan's foreign policy after launching the third Anglo-Afghan war with an attack on India in the

same year. During the ensuing conflict, the war-weary British relinquished their control over Afghan foreign affairs by signing the Treaty of Rawalpindi in August 1919. In commemoration of this event, Afghans celebrate August 19 as their Independence Day.

Reform and Reaction

King Amanullah (1919-29) moved to end his country's traditional isolation in the years following the third Anglo-Afghan war. He established diplomatic relations with most major countries and, following a 1927 tour of Europe and Turkey—during which he noted the modernization and secularization advanced by Ataturk—introduced several reforms intended to modernize Afghanistan. Some of these, such as the abolition of the traditional Muslim veil for women and the opening of a number of co-educational schools, quickly alienated many tribal and religious leaders. Faced with overwhelming armed opposition, Amanullah was forced to abdicate in January 1929 after Kabul fell to forces led by Bacha-i-Saqao, a Tajik brigand. Prince Nadir Khan, a cousin of Amanullah's, in turn defeated Bacha-i-Saqao in October of the same year and, with considerable Pashtun tribal support, was declared King Nadir Shah. Four years later, however, he was assassinated in a revenge killing by a Kabul student.

Mohammad Zahir Shah, Nadir Khan's 19-year-old son, succeeded to the throne and reigned from 1933 to 1973. In 1964, King Zahir Shah promulgated a liberal constitution providing for a two-chamber legislature to which the king appointed one-third of the deputies. The people elected another third, and the remainder were selected indirectly by provincial assemblies. Although Zahir's "experiment in democracy" produced few lasting reforms, it permitted the growth of unofficial extremist parties on both the left and the right. These included the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), which had close ideological ties to the Soviet Union. In 1967, the PDPA split into two major rival factions: the Khalq (Masses) faction headed by Nur Muhammad Taraki and Hafizullah Amin and supported by elements within the military, and the Parcham (Banner) faction led by Babrak Karmal. The split reflected ethnic, class, and ideological divisions within Afghan society.

Zahir's cousin, Sardar Mohammad Daoud, served as his Prime Minister from 1953 to 1963. During his tenure as Prime Minister, Daoud solicited military and economic assistance from both Washington and Moscow and introduced controversial social policies of a reformist nature. Daoud's alleged support for the creation of a Pashtun state in the Pakistan-Afghan border area heightened tensions with Pakistan and eventually resulted in Daoud's dismissal in March 1963.

Daoud's Republic (1973-78) and the April 1978 Coup

Amid charges of corruption and malfeasance against the royal family and poor economic conditions created by the severe 1971-72 drought, former Prime Minister Daoud seized power in a military coup on July 17, 1973. Zahir Shah fled the country, eventually finding refuge in Italy. Daoud abolished the monarchy, abrogated the 1964 constitution, and declared Afghanistan a republic with himself as its first President and Prime Minister. His attempts to carry out badly needed economic and social reforms met with little success, and the new constitution promulgated in February 1977 failed to quell chronic political instability.

Seeking to exploit more effectively mounting popular disaffection, the PDPA reunified with Moscow's support. On April 27, 1978, the PDPA initiated a bloody coup, which resulted in the overthrow and murder of Daoud and most of his family. Nur Muhammad Taraki, Secretary General of the PDPA, became President of the Revolutionary Council and Prime Minister of the newly established Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

Opposition to the Marxist government emerged almost immediately. During its first 18 months of rule, the PDPA brutally imposed a Marxist-style "reform" program, which ran counter to deeply rooted Afghan traditions. Decrees forcing changes in marriage customs and pushing through an ill-conceived land reform were particularly misunderstood by virtually all Afghans. In addition, thousands of members of the traditional elite, the religious establishment, and the intelligentsia were imprisoned, tortured, or murdered. Conflicts within the PDPA also surfaced early and resulted in exiles, purges, imprisonments, and executions.

By the summer of 1978, a revolt began in the Nuristan region of eastern Afghanistan and quickly spread into a countrywide insurgency. In September 1979, Hafizullah Amin, who had earlier been Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, seized power from Taraki after a palace shootout. Over the next 2 months, instability plagued Amin's regime as he moved against perceived enemies in the PDPA. By December, party morale was crumbling, and the insurgency was growing.

The Soviet Invasion

The Soviet Union moved quickly to take advantage of the April 1978 coup. In December 1978, Moscow signed a new bilateral treaty of friendship and cooperation with Afghanistan, and the Soviet military assistance program increased significantly. The regime's survival increasingly was dependent upon Soviet military equipment and advisers as the insurgency spread and the Afghan army began to collapse.

By October 1979, however, relations between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union were tense as Hafizullah Amin refused to take Soviet advice on how to stabilize and consolidate his government. Faced with a deteriorating security situation, on December 24, 1979, large numbers of Soviet airborne forces, joining thousands of Soviet troops already on the ground, began to land in Kabul under the pretext of a field exercise. On December 26, these invasion forces killed Hafizullah Amin and installed Babrak Karmal, exiled leader of the Parcham faction, bringing him back from Czechoslovakia and making him Prime Minister. Massive Soviet ground forces invaded from the north on December 27.

Following the invasion, the Karmal regime, although backed by an expeditionary force that grew as large as 120,000 Soviet troops, was unable to establish authority outside Kabul. As much as 80% of the countryside, including parts of Herat and Kandahar, eluded effective government control. An overwhelming majority of Afghans opposed the communist regime, either actively or passively. Afghan freedom fighters (mujahidin) made it almost impossible for the regime to maintain a system of local government outside major urban centers. Poorly armed at first, in 1984 the mujahidin began receiving substantial assistance in the form of weapons and training from the U.S. and other outside powers.

In May 1985, the seven principal Peshawar-based guerrilla organizations formed an alliance to coordinate their political and military operations against the Soviet occupation. Late in 1985, the mujahidin were active in and around Kabul, launching rocket attacks and conducting operations against the communist government. The failure of the Soviet Union to win over a significant number of Afghan collaborators or to rebuild a viable Afghan army forced it to bear an increasing responsibility for fighting the resistance and for civilian administration.

Soviet and popular displeasure with the Karmal regime led to its demise in May 1986. Karmal was replaced by Muhammad Najibullah, former chief of the Afghan secret police (KHAD). Najibullah had established a reputation for brutal efficiency during his tenure as KHAD chief. As Prime Minister, Najibullah was ineffective and highly dependent on Soviet support. Undercut by deep-seated divisions within the PDPA, regime efforts to broaden its base of support proved futile.

The Geneva Accords and Their Aftermath

By the mid-1980s, the tenacious Afghan resistance movement—aided by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and others—was exacting a high price from the Soviets, both militarily within Afghanistan and by souring the U.S.S.R.'s relations with much of the Western and Islamic world. Informal negotiations for a Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan had been underway since 1982. In 1988, the Governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the United States and Soviet Union serving as guarantors, signed an agreement settling the major differences between them. The agreement, known as the Geneva accords, included five major documents, which, among other things, called for U.S. and Soviet non-interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan and Afghanistan, the right of refugees to return to Afghanistan without fear of persecution or harassment, and, most importantly, a timetable that ensured full Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan by February 15, 1989. About 14,500 Soviet and an estimated one million Afghan lives were lost between 1979 and the Soviet withdrawal in 1989.

Significantly, the mujahidin were party neither to the negotiations nor to the 1988 agreement and, consequently, refused to accept the terms of the accords. As a result, the civil war continued after the Soviet withdrawal, which was completed in February 1989. Najibullah's regime, though failing to win popular support, territory, or international recognition, was able to remain in power until 1992 but collapsed after the defection of Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostam and his Uzbek militia in March. However, when the victorious mujahidin entered Kabul to assume control over the city and the central government, a new round of internecine fighting began between the various militias, which had coexisted only uneasily during the Soviet occupation. With the demise of their common enemy, the militias' ethnic, clan, religious, and personality differences surfaced, and the civil war continued.

Seeking to resolve these differences, the leaders of the Peshawar-based mujahidin groups established an interim Islamic Jihad Council in mid-April 1992 to assume power in Kabul. Moderate leader Prof. Sibghatullah Mojaddedi was to chair the council for 2 months, after which a 10-member leadership council composed of mujahidin leaders and presided over by the head of the Jamiat-i-Islami, Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani, was to be set up for 4 months. During this 6-month period, a Loya Jirga, or grand council of Afghan elders and notables, would convene and designate an interim administration which would hold power up to a year, pending elections.

But in May 1992, Rabbani prematurely formed the leadership council, undermining Mojaddedi's fragile authority. In June, Mojaddedi surrendered power to the Leadership Council, which then elected Rabbani as President. Nonetheless, heavy fighting broke out in August 1992 in Kabul between forces loyal to President Rabbani and rival factions, particularly those who supported Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami. After Rabbani extended his tenure in December 1992, fighting in the capital flared up in January and February 1993. The Islamabad Accord, signed in March 1993, which appointed Hekmatyar as Prime Minister, failed to have a lasting effect. A follow-up agreement, the Jalalabad Accord, called for the militias to be disarmed but was never fully implemented. Through 1993, Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami forces, allied with the Shi'a Hezb-i-Wahdat militia, clashed intermittently with Rabbani and Masood's Jamiat forces. Cooperating with Jamiat were militants of Sayyaf's Ittehad-i-Islami and, periodically, troops loyal to ethnic Uzbek strongman Abdul Rashid Dostam. On January 1, 1994, Dostam switched sides, precipitating large-scale fighting in Kabul and in northern provinces, which caused thousands of civilian casualties in Kabul and elsewhere and created a new wave of displaced persons and refugees. The country sank even further into anarchy, forces loyal to Rabbani and Masood, both ethnic Tajiks, controlled Kabul and much of the northeast, while local warlords exerted power over the rest of the country.

Rise of the Taliban

In reaction to the anarchy and warlordism prevalent in the country, and the lack of Pashtun representation in the Kabul government, a movement of former mujahidin arose. Many Taliban had been educated in madrassas in Pakistan and were largely from rural Pashtun backgrounds. The name "Talib" itself means pupil. This group dedicated itself to removing the warlords, providing order, and imposing Islam on the country. It received considerable support from Pakistan. In 1994, it developed enough strength to capture the city of Kandahar from a local warlord and proceeded to expand its control throughout Afghanistan, occupying Kabul in September 1996. By the end of 1998, the Taliban occupied about 90% of the country, limiting the opposition largely to a small mostly Tajik corner in the northeast and the Panjshir valley. Efforts by the UN, prominent Afghans living outside the country, and other interested countries to bring about a peaceful solution to the continuing conflict came to naught, largely because of intransigence on the part of the Taliban.

The Taliban sought to impose an extreme interpretation of Islam—based in part upon rural Pashtun tradition—on the entire country and committed massive human rights violations, particularly directed against women and girls, in the process. Women were restricted from working outside the home and pursuing an education, were not to leave their homes without an accompanying male relative, and were forced to wear a traditional body-covering garment called the burka. The Taliban committed serious atrocities against minority populations, particularly the Shi'a Hazara ethnic group, and killed noncombatants in several well-documented instances. In 2001, as part of a drive against relics of Afghanistan's pre-Islamic past, the Taliban destroyed two large statues of the Buddha outside of the city of Bamiyan and announced destruction of all pre-Islamic statues in Afghanistan, including the remaining holdings of the Kabul Museum.

From the mid-1990s the Taliban provided sanctuary to Osama bin Laden, a Saudi national who had fought with them against the Soviets, and provided a base for his and other terrorist organizations. The UN Security Council repeatedly sanctioned the Taliban for these activities. Bin Laden provided both financial and political support to the Taliban. Bin Laden and his al Qaeda group were charged with the bombing of the U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam in 1998, and in August 1998 the United States launched a cruise missile attack against bin Laden's terrorist camp in Afghanistan. Bin Laden and al Qaeda are believed to be responsible for the September 11, 2001 terrorist acts in the United States, among other crimes.

In September 2001, agents working on behalf of the Taliban and believed to be associated with bin Laden's al Qaeda group assassinated Northern Alliance Defense Minister and chief military commander Ahmed Shah Masood, a hero of the Afghan resistance against the Soviets and the Taliban's principal military opponent. Following the Taliban's repeated refusal to expel bin Laden and his group and end its support for international terrorism, the U.S. and its partners in the anti-terrorist coalition began a campaign on October 7, 2001, targeting terrorist facilities and various Taliban military and political assets within Afghanistan.

Under pressure from U.S. air power and anti-Taliban ground forces, the Taliban disintegrated rapidly, and Kabul fell on November 13, 2001. Sponsored by the UN, Afghan factions opposed to the Taliban met in Bonn, Germany in early December and agreed to restore stability and governance to Afghanistan by creating an interim government and establishing a process to move toward a permanent government. Under this so-called Bonn Agreement, an Afghan Interim Authority was formed and took office in Kabul on December 22, 2001 with Hamid Karzai as Chairman. The Interim Authority held power for approximately 6 months while preparing for a nationwide "Loya Jirga" (Grand Council) in mid-June 2002 that decided on the structure of a Transitional Authority. The Transitional Authority, headed by President Hamid Karzai, renamed the government as the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan (TISA). One of the TISA's primary achievements was the drafting of a constitution that was ratified by a Constitutional Loya Jirga on January 4, 2004.

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS

Afghanistan identifies itself as an "Islamic Republic." The new national constitution adopted on January 4, 2004 paved the way for nationwide presidential and parliamentary elections. Afghanistan held its first national democratic Presidential elections on October 9, 2004. Hamid Karzai was announced as the official winner on November 3, 2004. On December 7, 2004 he was inaugurated as the first democratically elected President in Afghanistan's history. Parliamentary and local elections are planned for spring 2005.

The government's authority beyond the capital, Kabul, is slowly growing, although its ability to deliver necessary social services remains largely dependent on funds from the international donor community. So far, the United States has committed over $4 billion to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. At an international donors' conference in Berlin in April 2004, donors pledged $4.5 billion for Afghanistan over the next year, and a total of $8.2 billion over the next three years.

With anti-terrorist coalition support, the government's capacity to secure Afghanistan's borders to maintain internal order is increasing. The government continues to work closely with coalition forces in rooting out remnants of al Qaeda and the Taliban. The core of an Afghan National Army (ANA) is being trained, as are police. Some ministerial reforms are underway, most prominently at the Ministry of Defense, which has been reorganized to better reflect Afghanistan's ethnic diversity.

Principal Government Officials

Last Updated: 1/12/05

President: Hamid KARZAI
Vice President: Ahmad Zia MASOOD
Vice President: Abdul Karim KHALILI
Min. of Agriculture: Abdullah RAMIN
Min. of Border & Tribal Affairs: Abdul Karim BARAWI
Min. of Commerce: Hedayat Amin ARSALA
Min. of Communications: Amirzai SANGIN
Min. of Counternarcotics: Habibullah QADERI
Min. of Defense: Abdul Rahim WARDAK
Min. of Economy: Mir Mohammad Amin FARHANG
Min. of Education: Nur Mohammad QARQIN
Min. of Energy, Water, & Power: Ismail KHAN
Min. of Finance: Anwar Ul-Haq AHADY
Min. of Foreign Affairs: ABDULLAH , Dr.
Min. of Hajj & Islamic Affairs: Nematollah SHAHRANI
Min. of Health: Sayed Mohammad Amin FATEMI
Min. of Higher Education: Sayed Amir Shah HASANYAR
Min. of Housing & Urban Development: Yusof PASHTUN
Min. of Information & Culture: Sayed Makhdum RAHIN , Dr.
Min. of Interior: Ali Ahmad JALALI
Min. of Justice: Sarwar DANESH
Min. of Labor & Social Affairs: Sayed Ekramoddin Masumi AGHA
Min. of Martyrs & Disabled: Sediqa BALKHI
Min. of Mines & Industries: Mir Mohammad SEDIQ
Min. of Public Works: Sohrab Ali SAFARI
Min. of Refugees: Azam DADFAR
Min. of Rural Development: Mohammad Hanif ATMAR
Min. of Transportation: Enayatollah QASEMI
Min. of Women's Affairs: Massouda JALAL
Min. of Youth: Amina AFZALI
Chair of the Human Rights Commission: Sima SAMAR
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: Faisal Ahmad SHINWARI
Presidential Adviser on National Security: Zalmay RASSOUL
Governor, Central Bank: Nurollah DELAWARI
Ambassador to the US: Said Tayeb JAWAD
Permanent Representative to the UN, NY: Ravan A.G. FARHADI

Afghanistan maintains an embassy in the United States at 2341 Wyoming Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel: 202-483-6410; email: info@embassyofafghanistan.org).

ECONOMY

In the 1930s, Afghanistan embarked on a modest economic development program. The government founded banks; introduced paper money; established a university; expanded primary, secondary, and technical schools; and sent students abroad for education. In 1956, the Afghan Government promulgated the first in a long series of ambitious development plans. By the late 1970s, these had achieved only mixed results due to flaws in the planning process as well as inadequate funding and a shortage of the skilled managers and technicians needed for implementation.

Historically, there has been a dearth of information and reliable statistics about Afghanistan's economy. The 1979 Soviet invasion and ensuing civil war destroyed much of the underdeveloped country's limited infrastructure and disrupted normal patterns of economic activity. Gross domestic product had fallen substantially over the preceding 23 years because of loss of labor and capital and disruption of trade and transport. Continuing internal strife hampered both domestic efforts at reconstruction as well as international aid efforts. However, Afghanistan's economy has been growing at a fast pace since the 2001 fall of the Taliban, albeit from a low base. In 2003, growth was estimated at close to 30%, and the growth rate is expected to be over 20% in 2004.

Agriculture

The Afghan economy continues to be overwhelmingly agricultural, despite the fact that only 12% of its total land area is arable and less than 6% currently is cultivated. Agricultural production is constrained by an almost total dependence on erratic winter snows and spring rains for water; irrigation is primitive. Relatively little use is made of machines, chemical fertilizer, or pesticides.

Grain production is Afghanistan's traditional agricultural mainstay. Overall agricultural production dramatically declined following 4 years of severe drought as well as sustained fighting, instability in rural areas, and deteriorated infrastructure. Soviet efforts to disrupt production in resistance-dominated areas also contributed to this decline, as did the disruption to transportation resulting from ongoing conflict. The easing of the drought, which had affected more than half of the population into late 2002, and the end of civil war produced the largest wheat harvest in 25 years during 2003. Wheat production was an estimated 58% higher than in 2002. However, the country still needed to import an estimated million tons of wheat to meet its requirements for the year. Millions of Afghans, particularly in rural areas, remained dependent on food aid.

The war against the Soviet Union and the ensuing civil war led to migration to the cities and refugee flight to Pakistan and Iran, further disrupting normal agricultural production. Shortages were exacerbated by the country's already limited transportation network, which had deteriorated further due to damage and neglect resulting from war and the absence of an effective central government. Agricultural production and livestock numbers are still not sufficient to feed a large percentage of Afghanistan's population.

Opium has became a source of cash for many Afghans, especially following the breakdown in central authority after the Soviet withdrawal, and opium-derived revenues probably constituted a major source of income for the two main factions during the civil war in the 1990s. The Taliban earned roughly $40 million per year on opium taxes alone. Opium is easy to cultivate and transport and offers a quick source of income for impoverished Afghans. Afghanistan was the world's largest producer of raw opium in 1999 and 2000. Much of Afghanistan's opium production is refined into heroin and is either consumed by a growing regional addict population or exported, primarily to Western Europe. Despite efforts to bring opium cultivation under control, the most recent 2003 crop is reportedly the largest recorded. The international community and the new Afghan Government are currently working on new initiatives to eliminate the narcotics economy.

Trade and Industry

Trade accounts for a small portion of the documented Afghan economy, and there are no reliable statistics relating to trade flows. In 2002-03, exports—not including opium or reexports—were estimated at $100 million and imports estimated at $2.3 billion, a significant increase over 2001-02. Since the 1989 Soviet withdrawal and the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, other limited trade relationships with Central Asian states appear to be emerging. Exports to Iran and Pakistan account for about one-half of total exports. Belgium, Russia, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States each account for 5% or more of Afghanistan's exports. Japan, Korea, and Pakistan account for about 40% of imports. Other significant sources of imports are Germany, India, Iran, Kenya, Turkmenistan, and the United States. While the United States revoked Afghanistan's most-favored-nation (MFN) trading status in 1986, it reestablished normal trade relations in June 2002. Most of Afghanistan's exports (excluding illegal or smuggled exports) are agricultural products and carpets.

Afghanistan is endowed with a wealth of natural resources, including extensive deposits of natural gas, petroleum, coal, copper, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, zinc, iron ore, salt, and precious and semiprecious stones. In the 1970s the Soviets estimated Afghanistan had as much as five trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas, 95 million barrels of oil and condensate reserves, and 400 million tons of coal. Unfortunately, ongoing instability in certain areas of the country, remote and rugged terrain, and inadequate infrastructure and transportation network have made mining these resources difficult, and there have been few serious attempts to further explore or exploit them.

The most important resource has been natural gas, first tapped in 1967. At their peak during the 1980s, natural gas sales accounted for $300 million a year in export revenues (56% of the total). Ninety percent of these exports went to the Soviet Union to pay for imports and debts. However, during the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, Afghanistan's natural gas fields were capped to prevent sabotage by the mujahidin. Restoration of gas production has been hampered by internal strife and the disruption of traditional trading relationships following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Gas production dropped from a high of 290 million cubic feet (Mmcf) per day in the 1980s to a low of about 22 Mmcf in 2001.

Trade in goods smuggled into Pakistan once constituted a major source of revenue for Afghan regimes, including the Taliban, and still figures as an important element in the Afghan economy. Many of the goods smuggled into Pakistan originally entered Afghanistan from Pakistan, where they fell under the Afghan Trade and Transit Agreement (ATTA), which permitted goods bound for Afghanistan to transit Pakistan free of duty. When Pakistan clamped down in 2000 on the types of goods permitted duty-free transit, routing of goods through Iran from the Gulf increased significantly. Shipments of smuggled goods were subjected to fees and duties paid to the Afghan Government. The trade also provided jobs to tens of thousands of Afghans on both sides of the Durand Line, which forms the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan's closing its Afghan border in September 2001 presumably curtailed this traffic.

Transportation

Landlocked Afghanistan has no functioning railways, but the Amu Darya (Oxus) River, which forms part of Afghanistan's border with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, has barge traffic. During their occupation of the country, the Soviets completed a bridge across the Amu Darya and built a motor vehicle and railroad bridge between Termez and Jeyretan. The U.S., in conjunction with the governments of Afghanistan and Tajikistan, is currently exploring the feasibility of resuscitating a bridge link over the Amu Darya.

Most road building occurred in the 1960s, funded by the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The Soviets built a road and tunnel through the Salang Pass in 1964, connecting northern and southern Afghanistan. A highway connecting the principal cities of Herat, Kandahar, Ghazni, and Kabul with links to highways in neighboring Pakistan formed the primary road system.

Afghanistan's national airline, Ariana, operates domestic and international routes, including flights to New Delhi, Islamabad, Dubai, Moscow, Istanbul, Tehran, and Frankfurt. A private carrier, Kam Air, commenced domestic operations in November 2003.

Many sections of Afghanistan's highway and regional road system are undergoing significant reconstruction. The U.S. (with assistance from Japan) completed building a highway linking Kabul to the southern regional capital, Kandahar. Construction is soon to begin on the next phase of highway reconstruction between Kandahar and the western city of Herat. The Asian Development Bank is nearing completion on a road reconstruction project between Kandahar and Spin Boldak, located at the southeastern border with Pakistan.

Humanitarian Relief

The UN and the international donor community continue to provide considerable humanitarian relief. Since its inception in 1988, the umbrella UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan (UNOCHA) has channeled more than $1 billion in multilateral assistance to Afghan refugees and vulnerable persons inside Afghanistan. The U.S., the European Union (EU), and Japan are the leading contributors to this relief effort. One of its key tasks is to eliminate from priority areas—such as villages, arable fields, and roads—some of the 5 million to 7 million land mines and 750,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXO), sown mainly during the Soviet occupation, which continue to litter the Afghan landscape. Afghanistan is the most heavily mined country in the world; mine-related injuries number up to 150 per month, and an estimated 200,000 Afghans have been disabled by landmine/UXO accidents. Mine-clearing efforts are ongoing, with great progress made from the construction of the Kabul-Kandahar road. With funding from international donors, including the U.S., the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have instituted a number of educational programs and mine awareness campaigns in various parts of the country.

FOREIGN RELATIONS

Before the Soviet invasion, Afghanistan pursued a policy of neutrality and nonalignment in its foreign relations. In international forums, Afghanistan generally followed the voting patterns of Asian and African nonaligned countries. Following the Marxist coup of April 1978, the Taraki government developed significantly closer ties with the Soviet Union and its communist satellites.

After the December 1979 invasion, Afghanistan's foreign policy mirrored that of the Soviet Union. Afghan foreign policymakers attempted, with little success, to increase their regime's low standing in the noncommunist world. With the signing of the 1988 Geneva Accords, Najibullah unsuccessfully sought to end Afghanistan's isolation within the Islamic world and in the Non-Aligned Movement.

Most Western countries, including the United States, maintained small diplomatic missions in Kabul during the Soviet occupation. (Throughout the Soviet occupation, the U.S. did not recognize the Afghan regimes, and its mission was headed by a Charge d'Affaires rather than an Ambassador.) Many countries subsequently closed their missions due to instability and heavy fighting in Kabul.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates recognized the Taliban regime in 1997. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates withdrew recognition following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Repeated Taliban efforts to occupy Afghanistan's seat at the UN and Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) were unsuccessful.

The fall of the Taliban in October 2001 opened a new chapter in Afghanistan's foreign relations. Afghanistan is now an active member of the international community, and has extended diplomatic relations with countries from around the world. In December 2002, the six nations that border Afghanistan signed a 'Good Neighbor' Declaration, in which they pledged to respect Afghanistan's independence and territorial integrity.

Pakistan

The 1978 Marxist coup strained relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan took the lead diplomatically in the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference in opposing the Soviet occupation. During the war against the Soviet occupation, Pakistan served as the primary logistical conduit for the Afghan resistance.

Pakistan initially developed close ties to the Taliban regime, and extended recognition in 1997. This policy was not without controversy in Pakistan, where many objected to the Taliban's human rights record and radical interpretation of Islam. Following the Taliban's resistance to Islamabad's pressure to comply with relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and surrender Osama bin Laden after the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City and Washington, DC, Pakistan dramatically altered its policy by closing its border and downgrading its ties.

Despite occasional tensions between the two countries, particularly along their shared border region, Afghanistan and Pakistan are engaged in ongoing dialogue to resolve their outstanding differences. Senior representatives from the two countries meet periodically through the Tripartite Commission, a U.S.-facilitated forum that offers both sides an opportunity to articulate views on specific issues and work toward common solutions. Both sides have much to gain from an improved relationship; much of Afghanistan has long relied on Pakistani links for trade and travel to the outside world, while Pakistan views Afghanistan as eventually becoming its primary route for trade with Central Asia.

Iran

Afghanistan's relations with Iran have fluctuated over the years, with periodic disputes over the water rights of the Helmand River as the main issue of contention. Following the Soviet invasion, which Iran opposed, relations deteriorated. The Iranian consulate in Herat closed, as did the Afghan consulate in Mashad. The Iranians complained of periodic border violations following the Soviet invasion. In 1985, they urged feuding Afghan Shi'a resistance groups to unite to oppose the Soviets. Iran supported the cause of the Afghan resistance and provided limited financial and military assistance to rebel leaders who pledged loyalty to the Iranian vision of Islamic revolution. Iran still provides refuge to about 1.4 million Afghans.

Following the emergence of the Taliban and their harsh treatment of Afghanistan's Shi'a minority, Iran stepped up assistance to the Northern Alliance. Relations with the Taliban deteriorated further in 1998 after Taliban forces seized the Iranian consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif and executed Iranian diplomats.

Since the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan's relations with Iran have improved. Iran has been active in Afghan reconstruction efforts, particularly in the western portion of the country, and is constructing a road between their eastern border and Herat, a major trade route linking the two countries.

Russia

In the 19th century, Afghanistan served as a strategic buffer state between czarist Russia and the British Empire in the subcontinent. Afghanistan's relations with Moscow became more cordial after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. The Soviet Union was the first country to establish diplomatic relations with Afghanistan after the third Anglo-Afghan war and signed an Afghan-Soviet nonaggression pact in 1921, which also provided for Afghan transit rights through the Soviet Union. Early Soviet assistance included financial aid, aircraft and attendant technical personnel, and telegraph operators.

The Soviets began a major economic assistance program in Afghanistan in the 1950s. Between 1954 and 1978, Afghanistan received more than $1 billion in Soviet aid, including substantial military assistance. In 1973, the two countries announced a $200-million assistance agreement on gas and oil development, trade, transport, irrigation, and factory construction. Following the 1979 invasion, the Soviets augmented their large aid commitments to shore up the Afghan economy and rebuild the Afghan military. They provided the Karmal regime an unprecedented $800 million. The Soviet Union supported the Najibullah regime even after the withdrawal of Soviet troops in February 1989.

During the reign of the Taliban, Russia became increasingly disenchanted over Taliban support for Chechen rebels and for providing a sanctuary for terrorist groups active in Central Asia and in Russia itself. Russia provided military assistance to the Northern Alliance.

Though Afghanistan's current government has improved relations with Russia, the sensitive history between the two countries has left deep scars and residual feelings of mistrust. Afghanistan's outstanding foreign debt to Russia continues to be a source of contention.

Tajikistan

Afghanistan's relations with Tajikistan have been complicated by political upheaval and civil war in Tajikistan, which spurred some 100,000 Tajiks to seek refuge in Afghanistan in late 1992 and early 1993. Tajik rebels seeking to overthrow the Tajik Government headed by Imamali Rahmanov began operating from Afghan bases and recruiting Tajik refugees into their ranks. These rebels, reportedly aided by Afghans and a number of foreign Islamic extremists, conducted cross-border raids against Russian and Tajik security posts and sought to infiltrate fighters and materiel from Afghanistan into Tajikistan. Also disenchanted by the Taliban's harsh treatment of Afghanistan's Tajik minority, Tajikistan facilitated assistance to the Northern Alliance.

In the post-Taliban era, Afghanistan seeks closer ties with its northern neighbor in order to capitalize on the potential economic benefits of increased trade. A planned bridge span linking the two countries over the Amu Darya River is a tangible sign of this new collaboration.

UN Efforts

During the Soviet occupation, the United Nations was highly critical of the U.S.S.R.'s interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan and was instrumental in obtaining a negotiated Soviet withdrawal under the terms of the 1988 Geneva Accords.

In the aftermath of the Accords and subsequent Soviet withdrawal, the United Nations assisted in the repatriation of refugees and provided humanitarian aid such as health care, educational programs, and food and has supported mine-clearing operations. From 1990-2001, the UN worked to promote a peaceful settlement between the Afghan factions as well as provide humanitarian aid. Since October 2001, the UN has played a key role in Afghanistan through the UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA), including spearheading efforts to organize Afghan elections held in October 2004 (presidential) and slated for 2005 (parliamentary).

U.S.-AFGHAN RELATIONS

The first extensive American contact with Afghanistan was made by Josiah Harlan, an adventurer from Pennsylvania who was an adviser in Afghan politics in the 1830s and reputedly inspired Rudyard Kipling's story "The Man Who Would be King." After the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1934, the U.S. policy of helping developing nations raise their standard of living was an important factor in maintaining and improving U.S.-Afghan ties. From 1950 to 1979, U.S. foreign assistance provided Afghanistan with more than $500 million in loans, grants, and surplus agricultural commodities to develop transportation facilities, increase agricultural production, expand the educational system, stimulate industry, and improve government administration.

In the 1950s, the U.S. declined Afghanistan's request for defense cooperation but extended an economic assistance program focused on the development of Afghanistan's physical infrastructure—roads, dams, and power plants. Later, U.S. aid shifted from infrastructure projects to technical assistance programs to help develop the skills needed to build a modern economy. The Peace Corps was active in Afghanistan between 1962 and 1979.

After the April 1978 coup, relations deteriorated. In February 1979, U.S. Ambassador Adolph "Spike" Dubs was murdered in Kabul after Afghan security forces burst in on his kidnapers. The U.S. then reduced bilateral assistance and terminated a small military training program. All remaining assistance agreements were ended after the December 1979 Soviet invasion.

Following the Soviet invasion, the United States supported diplomatic efforts to achieve a Soviet withdrawal. In addition, generous U.S. contributions to the refugee program in Pakistan played a major part in efforts to assist Afghans in need. U.S. efforts also included helping Afghans living inside Afghanistan. This cross-border humanitarian assistance program aimed at increasing Afghan self-sufficiency and helping Afghans resist Soviet attempts to drive civilians out of the rebel-dominated countryside. During the period of Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the U.S. provided about $3 billion in military and economic assistance to Afghans and the resistance movement.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul was closed in January 1989 for security reasons, but officially reopened as an Embassy on January 17, 2002. Throughout Afghanistan's difficult and turbulent 23 years of conflict, the U.S. supported the peaceful emergence of a broad-based government representative of all Afghans and actively encouraged a UN role in the national reconciliation process in Afghanistan.

Today, the U.S. is assisting the Afghan people as they rebuild their country and establish a representative government that contributes to regional stability, is market friendly, and respects human rights. The U.S. and Afghanistan are also working together to ensure that Afghanistan never again becomes a haven for terrorists. The U.S. provides financial aid for mine-clearing, reconstruction, and humanitarian assistance through international organizations.

Principal U.S. Embassy Officials

KABUL (E) Address: Great Masoud Road, Kabul; Phone: (93)(20)230-0436; Fax: (93)(20)230-1364; INMARSAT Tel: 00-873-761-837-725; Work-week: Saturday-Thursday 0800-1630

The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan is at the Great Masoud Road, Kabul (tel: +93-2-290002/5; fax: +93-2-290153).

TRAVEL

Consular Information Sheet

October 19, 2004

Country Description: Despite significant progress since the Taliban was deposed in 2001, Afghanistan still faces daunting challenges – recovering from over two decades of civil strife, dealing with years of severe drought, and rebuilding a shattered infrastructure. Meanwhile, Operation Enduring Freedom continues to combat remaining Taliban and al Qaeda elements. The Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan assumed power following the Emergency Loya Jirga held in June 2002 and adopted a new Constitution in January 2004.

Entry/Exit Requirements: A passport and visa are required. Information on entry requirements may be obtained from the Embassy of Afghanistan located at 2341 Wyoming Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008, phone no. 202-483-6410, fax no. 202-483-6488, website: http://www.embassyofAfghanistan.org.

In an effort to prevent international child abduction, many governments have initiated procedures at entry/exit points. These often include requiring documentary evidence of relationship and permission for the child's travel from the parent(s) or legal guardian not present. Having such documentation on hand, even if not required, may facilitate entry/departure.

Dual Nationality: In addition to being subject to all Afghan laws affecting U.S. citizens, dual nationals may also be subject to other laws that impose special obligations on Afghan citizens. U.S. citizens who are also Afghan nationals do not require visas for entry into Afghanistan. The Embassy of Afghanistan issues a letter confirming your nationality for entry into Afghanistan. However, you may wish to obtain a visa as some Afghan-Americans have experienced difficulties at land border crossings because they do not have a visa in their passport. For additional information on dual nationality in general, see the Consular Affairs home page on the Internet at http://travel.state.gov for our Dual Nationality flyer.

Safety and Security: The latest Travel Warning for Afghanistan states clearly that the security situation remains critical for American citizens. There are remnants of the former Taliban regime and the terrorist al-Qaeda network in various parts of Afghanistan, who want to drive all westerners out of Afghanistan and they do not hesitate to use violence to achieve their aims. There is a continuing threat of terrorist actions, including attacks using vehicles, rocket propelled grenades, improvised explosive devices and other forms of bombs. There is an ongoing threat to kidnap US citizens and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) workers throughout the country. The country faces a difficult period in the near term, and American citizens could be targeted or placed at risk by unpredictable local events. There is also a real danger from the presence of millions of unexploded land mines and other ordnance.

Afghan-Americans returning to Afghanistan to recover property have become involved in complicated disputes and have faced threats of retaliatory actions including kidnapping for ransom. Up to date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the United States, or, for callers outside the United States and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-317-472-2328. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

Crime: A large portion of the Afghan population is unemployed, and many among the unemployed have moved to urban areas. Basic services are rudimentary or non-existent. These factors may directly contribute to crime and lawlessness. Diplomats and international relief workers have reported incidents of robberies and household burglaries. Any American citizen who enters Afghanistan should remain vigilant for possible banditry, including violent attacks.

The loss or theft abroad of a U.S. passport should be reported immediately to the local police and the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. The Embassy/Consulate staff can, for example, assist you to find appropriate medical care, to contact family members or friends and explain how funds could be transferred. Although the investigation and prosecution of a crime is solely the responsibility of local authorities, consular officers can help you to understand the local criminal justice process and to find an attorney if needed.

U.S. citizens may refer to the Department of State's pamphlet, A Safe Trip Abroad, and "Tips for Travelers to South Asia" for ways to promote a trouble-free journey. The pamphlets are available by mail from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402, via the Internet at http://www.gpoaccess.gov, or via the Bureau of Consular Affairs home page at http://travel.state.gov.

Medical Facilities: Well-equipped medical facilities are few and far between throughout Afghanistan. European and American medicines are generally available in limited quantities and may be expensive or difficult to locate. There is a shortage of basic medical supplies. Basic medicines manufactured in Iran, Pakistan and India are available, but their reliability can be questionable. American travelers may seek emergency medical services at the International Security Assistance Forces medical facilities in Kabul, but routine care is not available. The Malteser Clinic, located behind the Police Academy in Kabul, is staffed by German contract medical personnel and provides Western-standard routine medical care. Afghan hospitals in Kabul should be avoided at this time. Travelers will not be able to find Western-trained medical personnel in most parts of the country outside of Kabul, although there are some international aid groups temporarily providing basic medical assistance in various cities and villages. For any medical treatment, payment is required in advance. Commercial medical evacuation capability from Afghanistan is limited.

Medical Insurance: The Department of State strongly urges Americans to consult with their medical insurance company prior to traveling abroad to confirm whether their policy applies overseas and whether it will cover emergency expenses such as a medical evacuation. U.S. medical insurance plans seldom cover health costs incurred outside the United States unless supplemental coverage is purchased. Further, U.S. Medicare and Medicaid programs do not provide payment for medical services outside the United States. However, many travel agents and private companies offer insurance plans that will cover health care expenses incurred overseas including emergency services such as medical evacuations. Medical transfer out of Afghanistan can be very difficult to accomplish and expensive.

When making a decision regarding health insurance, Americans should consider that many foreign doctors and hospitals require payment in cash prior to providing service and that a medical evacuation to the U.S. may cost in excess of $50,000. Uninsured travelers who require medical care overseas often face extreme difficulties. When consulting with your insurer prior to your trip, ascertain whether payment will be made to the overseas healthcare provider or whether you will be reimbursed later for expenses you incur. Some insurance policies also include coverage for psychiatric treatment and for disposition of remains in the event of death.

Useful information on medical emergencies abroad, including overseas insurance programs, is provided in the Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs brochure, "Medical Information for Americans Traveling Abroad," available via the Bureau of Consular Affairs home page.

Other Health Information: Information on vaccinations and other health precautions, such as safe food and water precautions and insect bite protection, may be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's hotline for international travelers at 1-877-FYI-TRIP (1-877-394-8747); fax 1-888-CDC-FAXX (1-888-232-3299), or via the CDC's Internet site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel. For information about outbreaks of infectious diseases abroad consult the World Health Organization's website at http://www.who.int/en. Further health information for travelers is available at http://www.who.int/ith.

Traffic Safety and Road Conditions: While in a foreign country, U.S. citizens may encounter road conditions that differ significantly from those in the United States. The information below concerning Afghanistan is provided for general reference only, and may not be totally accurate in a particular location or circumstance.

Safety of Public Transportation: Poor
Urban Road Conditions/Maintenance: Poor
Rural Road Conditions/Maintenance: Poor
Availability of Roadside Assistance: Poor

All traffic is in danger of land mines that may have been planted on or near roadways. An estimated 5-7 million landmines and large quantities of unexploded ordnance exist throughout the countryside and alongside roads, posing a danger to travelers. Robbery and crime are also prevalent on highways outside of Kabul. The transportation system in Afghanistan is marginal, although modern highways and provincial roads are being constructed by the international community. Vehicles are poorly maintained, often over-loaded and traffic laws are not enforced. Vehicular traffic is chaotic and must contend with numerous pedestrians, bicyclists and animals. Many urban streets have large potholes and are not well lit. Rural roads are not paved.

For additional general information about road safety, including links to foreign government sites, see the Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs home page at http://travel.state.gov/travel/abroad_roadsafety.html.

Aviation Safety Oversight: As there is currently no direct commercial air service between the U.S. and Afghanistan, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has not formally assessed Afghanistan's Civil Aviation Authority for compliance with international aviation safety standards.

Three commercial airlines serve Afghanistan out of Kabul International Airport. Pakistan International Airlines has three weekly flights to and from Islamabad. Azerbaijan Airways has three weekly flights to and from Baku. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul strongly recommends against flying the third carrier operating out of Kabul, Ariana Afghan Airlines.

In January 2004, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reviewed an aviation safety assessment report prepared by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which outlined significant safety deficiencies with Ariana Afghan Airlines. The FAA's review of the ICAO findings and interviews with Ariana Afghan Airlines officials identified significant safety deficiencies. Due to these findings, the U.S. government does not authorize official personnel to fly Ariana Afghan Airlines.

For further information, travelers may contact the Department of Transportation within the U.S. at 1-800-322-7873, or visit the FAA's Internet website at http://www.faa.gov/avr/iasa/index.cfm.

Customs Regulations: Afghan customs authorities may enforce strict regulations concerning temporary importation into or export from Afghanistan of items such as firearms, alcoholic beverages, religious materials, antiquities, medications, and printed materials. It is advisable to contact the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington for specific information regarding customs requirements. Travelers enroute to Afghanistan may transit countries that have restrictions on firearms, including antique or display models. If you plan to take your firearms or ammunition to another country, you should contact officials at that country's embassy and those that you will be transiting to learn about their regulations and fully comply with those regulations before traveling. Please consult http://www.customs.gov for information on importing firearms into the United States.

In many countries around the world, counterfeit and pirated goods are widely available. Transactions involving such products are illegal and bringing them back to the United States may result in forfeitures and/or fines. A current list of those countries with serious problems in this regard can be found here.

Criminal Penalties: While in a foreign country, a U.S. citizen is subject to that country's laws and regulations, which sometimes differ significantly from those in the United States and may not afford the protections available to the individual under U.S. law. Penalties for breaking the law can be more severe than in the United States for similar offenses. Persons violating Afghanistan's laws, even unknowingly, may be expelled, arrested or imprisoned. Penalties for possession, use, or trafficking in illegal drugs in Afghanistan are strict and convicted offenders can expect jail sentences and heavy fines. Another potentially sensitive activity is proselytizing. Although the new Afghan Constitution allows the free exercise of religions, proselytizing may be viewed as contrary to the beliefs of Islam and may be considered a harmful activity.

Under the PROTECT Act of April 2003, it is a crime, prosecutable in the United States, for a U.S. citizen or permanent resident alien, to engage in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign country with a person under the age of 18, whether or not the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident alien intended to engage in such illicit sexual conduct prior to going abroad. For purposes of the PROTECT Act, illicit sexual conduct includes any commercial sex act in a foreign country with a person under the age of 18. The law defines a commercial sex act as any sex act, on account of which anything of value is given to or received by a person under the age of 18.

Under the Protection of Children from Sexual Predators Act of 1998, it is a crime to use the mail or any facility of interstate or foreign commerce, including the Internet, to transmit information about a minor under the age of 16 for criminal sexual purposes that include, among other things, the production of child pornography. This same law makes it a crime to use any facility of interstate or foreign commerce, including the Internet, to transport obscene materials to minors under the age of 16.

Consular Access: U.S. citizens are encouraged to carry a copy of their U.S. passport with them at all times, so that, if questioned by local officials, proof of identity and U.S. citizenship are readily available. As stated in the Travel Warning, consular assistance for American citizens in Afghanistan is limited.

Special Circumstances: Because of the poor infrastructure in Afghanistan, access to banking facilities is extremely limited and unreliable. Afghanistan's economy operates on a "cash-only" basis for most transactions. Credit card transactions are not available. International bank transfers are very limited, as the banking system is just becoming operational. No ATM machines exist.

Telecommunications: International communications are difficult. Local telephone networks do not operate reliably. Most people rely on satellite or cellular telephone communications even to make local calls. Cellular phone service is available locally in Kabul and some other cities. Injured or distressed foreigners could face long delays before being able to communicate their needs to family or colleagues outside of Afghanistan. Internet access through local service providers is limited.

Children's Issues: Afghan law does not allow for adoption of children by foreigners. For information on international adoption of children and international parental child abduction, please refer to our Internet site at http://travel.state.gov/family/index.html or telephone Overseas Citizens Services at 1-888-407-4747. This number is available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). Callers who are unable to use toll-free numbers, such as those calling from overseas, may obtain information and assistance during these hours by calling 1-317-472-2328.

Registration/Embassy Location: U.S. citizens living or traveling in Afghanistan are encouraged to register with the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul through the State Department's travel registration website, http://travelregistration.state.gov, and to obtain updated information on travel and security within Afghanistan. U.S. citizens may also register with the consular section online by visiting the Embassy's web site at http://usembassy.state.gov/afghanistan/.

Americans without internet access may register in person at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy to contact them in case of emergency. The Embassy provides no visa services, but does perform emergency and routine passport and citizens services. The U.S. Embassy is located at Great Masood Road, also known as Bebe Mahro (Airport) Road, Kabul, telephone number: 93-20-230-0436. Fax number (93-20) 230-1364.