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<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"/> <title>Afghanistan - RationalWiki</title> <script>document.documentElement.className="client-js";RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":!1,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy","wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"Z-HACnKRDQ8lzIDV_CK6ZgAAAEQ","wgCSPNonce":!1,"wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":!1,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Afghanistan","wgTitle":"Afghanistan","wgCurRevisionId":2674571,"wgRevisionId":2674571,"wgArticleId":11635,"wgIsArticle":!0,"wgIsRedirect":!1,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Asian countries","Authoritarian regimes","Government incompetence","Islamic extremism","Islamism","Ongoing armed conflicts","South Asian countries","Terrorism","Theocracy","Totalitarianism","Purity culture"],"wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Afghanistan", "wgRelevantArticleId":11635,"wgIsProbablyEditable":!0,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":!0,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgMediaViewerOnClick":!0,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":!0};RLSTATE={"site.styles":"ready","noscript":"ready","user.styles":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.cite.styles":"ready","mediawiki.page.gallery.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles.legacy":"ready","mediawiki.toc.styles":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","site","mediawiki.page.startup","mediawiki.page.ready","mediawiki.toc","skins.vector.legacy.js","ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","mmv.head","mmv.bootstrap.autostart"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.implement("user.options@1hzgi",function($,jQuery,require,module){/*@nomin*/mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); });});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cmediawiki.page.gallery.styles%7Cmediawiki.toc.styles%7Cskins.vector.styles.legacy&only=styles&skin=vector"/> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector"/> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.35.6"/> <meta name="description" content="Afghanistan (Pashto: افغانستان Afġānistān; Dari: افغانستان Afġānestān), officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي امارت Da Afġānistān Islāmī Amārāt), is a large battlefield and failed state located in Central Asia. The country and region have several claims to fame. The first comes from the fact that multiple powerful historical empires met with failure when attempting to occupy the region, most notably the various post-Muhammad caliphates, the Safavids, the British Empire, the Soviet Union, and the United States. For this reason, Afghanistan is sometimes called the "Graveyard of Empires."&#91;2&#93; Secondly, Afghanistan was home to the United States' military operation against the Taliban, which started in 2001 and ended in 2021.&#91;3&#93;"/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit" href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit"/> <link rel="edit" title="Edit" href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit"/> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico"/> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/opensearch_desc.php" title="RationalWiki (en)"/> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"/> <link rel="license" href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Copyrights"/> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="RationalWiki Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="RationalWiki"/> <meta property="og:title" content="Afghanistan"/> <meta property="og:description" content="Afghanistan (Pashto: افغانستان Afġānistān; Dari: افغانستان Afġānestān), officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي امارت Da Afġānistān Islāmī Amārāt), is a large battlefield and failed state located in Central Asia. The country and region have several claims to fame. The first comes from the fact that multiple powerful historical empires met with failure when attempting to occupy the region, most notably the various post-Muhammad caliphates, the Safavids, the British Empire, the Soviet Union, and the United States. For this reason, Afghanistan is sometimes called the "Graveyard of Empires."&#91;2&#93; Secondly, Afghanistan was home to the United States' military operation against the Taliban, which started in 2001 and ended in 2021.&#91;3&#93;"/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Afghanistan"/>  </head> <body class="mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Afghanistan rootpage-Afghanistan skin-vector action-view minerva--history-page-action-enabled skin-vector-legacy"> <div id="mw-page-base" class="noprint"></div> <div id="mw-head-base" class="noprint"></div> <div id="content" class="mw-body" role="main"> <a id="top"></a> <div id="siteNotice" class="mw-body-content"><div id="localNotice" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div id="2025_RationalWiki_.27Oregon_Plan.27_Fundraiser"> <table role="presentation" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto; width: 100%;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="width: 60%; text-align: left;"><big><center><b><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:Fundraiser" title="RationalWiki:Fundraiser">2025 RationalWiki 'Oregon Plan' Fundraiser</a></b></center></big> <p><b>There is no RationalWiki without you.</b> We are a small non-profit with no staff—we are hundreds of volunteers who document pseudoscience and crankery around the world every day. 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clear:right; border: 2px solid silver; margin: 0 0 .5em .5em; width: 200px;"> <div style="background-color: #e7ece6; font-size: 15px; text-align: center; padding: .3em;"><b>Afghanistan</b> <b></b></div> <center><a href="/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_Taliban.svg" class="image"><img alt="Flag of the Taliban.svg" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Flag_of_the_Taliban.svg/195px-Flag_of_the_Taliban.svg.png" decoding="async" width="195" height="98" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Flag_of_the_Taliban.svg/293px-Flag_of_the_Taliban.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Flag_of_the_Taliban.svg/390px-Flag_of_the_Taliban.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1000" data-file-height="500" /></a></center> <table style="width: 200px;"> <tbody><tr> <th colspan="2" style="text-align: center; background-color: #e8e7f2;"><b>Demographics</b> </th></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population" class="extiw" title="wp:List of countries by population" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: List of countries by population">Population</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>32,890,171 </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)" class="extiw" title="wp:List of countries by GDP (nominal)" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: List of countries by GDP (nominal)">GDP (million)</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>19,938 </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita" class="extiw" title="wp:List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita">GDP p/cap.</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>592 </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy" class="extiw" title="wp:List of countries by life expectancy" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: List of countries by life expectancy">Life expectancy</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>63.2 </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index" class="extiw" title="wp:List of countries by Human Development Index" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: List of countries by Human Development Index">Development Index</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>0.511 </td></tr></tbody></table> <table style="width: 200px;"> <tbody><tr> <th colspan="2" style="text-align: center; background-color: #e8e7f2;"><b>Government</b> </th></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index" class="extiw" title="wp:Democracy Index" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Democracy Index">Democracy Index</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>0.32 </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index" class="extiw" title="wp:Corruption Perceptions Index" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Corruption Perceptions Index">Corruption Index</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>19 </td></tr></tbody></table> <table style="width: 200px;"> <tbody><tr> <th colspan="2" style="text-align: center; background-color: #e8e7f2;"><b>More</b> </th></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_Index" class="extiw" title="wp:Education Index" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Education Index">Education Index</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>0.414 </td></tr> <tr> <td><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Importance_of_religion_by_country" class="extiw" title="wp:Importance of religion by country" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Importance of religion by country">Religiosity</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </td> <td>97 </td></tr></tbody></table> </div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span> <p>When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,<br /> And the women come out to cut up what remains,<br /> Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains <br /> </p> An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudyard_Kipling" class="extiw" title="wp:Rudyard Kipling" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Rudyard Kipling">Rudyard Kipling</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup>, "The Young British Soldier".<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p><b>Afghanistan</b> (Pashto: <span lang="ps">افغانستان</span> <i>Afġānistān</i>; Dari: <span lang="prs">افغانستان</span> <i>Afġānestān</i>), officially the <b>Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan</b> (Pashto: <span lang="ps">د افغانستان اسلامي امارت</span> <i>Da Afġānistān Islāmī Amārāt</i>), is a large battlefield and <a href="/wiki/Failed_state" title="Failed state">failed state</a> located in Central Asia. The country and region have several claims to fame. The first comes from the fact that multiple powerful historical empires met with failure when attempting to occupy the region, most notably the various post-<a href="/wiki/Muhammad" title="Muhammad">Muhammad</a> caliphates, the Safavids, the <a href="/wiki/British_Empire" title="British Empire">British Empire</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a>, and the <a href="/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a>. For this reason, Afghanistan is sometimes called the "Graveyard of Empires."<sup id="cite_ref-graveyard_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-graveyard-2">[2]</a></sup> Secondly, Afghanistan was home to the United States' military operation against the <a href="/wiki/Taliban" title="Taliban">Taliban</a>, which started in 2001 and ended in 2021.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup> </p><p>Much of Afghanistan's resilience can be attributed to its geography, as it is dominated by some of the highest and most jagged mountains in the world, including the Hindu Kush and the so-called "Pamir Knot", where the Hindu Kush, Pamir, Tian Shan, Kunlun, and the Himalayas all meet.<sup id="cite_ref-graveyard_2-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-graveyard-2">[2]</a></sup> Afghanistan is also populated mainly by the Pashtun ethnic group, a tribal and fiercely individualistic people who distrust outsiders and don't like being told what to do. The unwritten Pashtun code of living is called "<i>Pashtunwali</i>", and it values undying loyalty and vicious blood feuds in roughly equal amounts.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup> </p><p>Afghanistan's history goes back a long way, and it has almost always been an important region due to its position on the Silk Road trade route between <a href="/wiki/Imperial_China" title="Imperial China">Imperial China</a> and the rest of the world. Thus, Afghanistan has had to tell multiple groups of people to fuck off, including Alexander the Great and the Mauryan Empire. During the rapid conquest by Arab <a href="/wiki/Muslims" class="mw-redirect" title="Muslims">Muslims</a>, Afghanistan remained a tough nut to crack, and Islam didn't penetrate the mountains until many centuries later. As a newly-Islamic region, Afghanistan became an autonomous province of the Mughal Empire before creating its own state under the Durrani dynasty in the 18th century. Around this time, the British rolled in while conquering <a href="/wiki/India" title="India">India</a>, and Afghanistan suffered multiple attempts by the British at subjugation. Afghanistan became a buffer state in the "Great Game" between British India and the Russian Empire. Its border with British India, the Durand Line, was formed in 1893, but it is not recognized by the Afghan government, and it has led to strained relations with Pakistan since the latter's independence in 1947.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup> </p><p>As an independent country, Afghanistan was on good terms with both sides in the <a href="/wiki/Cold_War" title="Cold War">Cold War</a> until a coup in 1978 turned it into a <a href="/wiki/Socialist" class="mw-redirect" title="Socialist">socialist</a> republic. Many traditionalist Muslim Pashtun tribesmen opposed this change and rose up against the new government. The <a href="/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a> intervened while the West and some Muslim allies aided the <i>mujahideen</i>. After the end of the <a href="/wiki/Soviet-Afghan_War" class="mw-redirect" title="Soviet-Afghan War">Soviet-Afghan War</a> and the collapse of Afghanistan's socialist government, one of the more radical <i>mujahideen</i> groups seized control of Afghanistan, renamed itself the "Taliban", and turned the country into a batshit-crazy Islamic <a href="/wiki/Theocracy" title="Theocracy">theocracy</a>. That last part only became a real problem for the West when <a href="/wiki/Osama_bin_Laden" title="Osama bin Laden">Osama bin Laden</a> sought refuge there after committing <a href="/wiki/9/11" title="9/11">9/11</a>. The Taliban refused to hand him over to the US, and the US invaded in 2001. While the Taliban government was toppled in the initial invasion, they remained powerful enough to mount an insurgency against the new pro-Western (and rather ineffective) government. Ultimately outlasting American forces, they retook the country in 2021. </p><p>The US State Department maintains a Level 4 "Do Not Travel" Advisory against Afghanistan.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Death" title="Death">We're sure you can figure out why</a>. </p> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#Historical_overview"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Historical overview</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2"><a href="#Early_history"><span class="tocnumber">1.1</span> <span class="toctext">Early history</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3"><a href="#Rise_of_Islam"><span class="tocnumber">1.2</span> <span class="toctext">Rise of Islam</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><a href="#Mongols_and_Mughals"><span class="tocnumber">1.3</span> <span class="toctext">Mongols and Mughals</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="#The_Great_Game"><span class="tocnumber">1.4</span> <span class="toctext">The Great Game</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6"><a href="#Independent_kingdom"><span class="tocnumber">1.5</span> <span class="toctext">Independent kingdom</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7"><a href="#Communist_rule"><span class="tocnumber">1.6</span> <span class="toctext">Communist rule</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8"><a href="#Soviet-Afghan_War"><span class="tocnumber">1.7</span> <span class="toctext">Soviet-Afghan War</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9"><a href="#Civil_war"><span class="tocnumber">1.8</span> <span class="toctext">Civil war</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10"><a href="#Taliban_rule"><span class="tocnumber">1.9</span> <span class="toctext">Taliban rule</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11"><a href="#Afghanistan_War_.282001.E2.80.932021.29"><span class="tocnumber">1.10</span> <span class="toctext">Afghanistan War (2001–2021)</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12"><a href="#Taliban_takeover_and_Islamic_Emirate"><span class="tocnumber">1.11</span> <span class="toctext">Taliban takeover and Islamic Emirate</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-13"><a href="#Isolation_and_the_opium_trade"><span class="tocnumber">1.11.1</span> <span class="toctext">Isolation and the opium trade</span></a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-14"><a href="#Government_of_the_fallen_republic"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Government of the fallen republic</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-15"><a href="#Elections_and_incompetence"><span class="tocnumber">2.1</span> <span class="toctext">Elections and incompetence</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-16"><a href="#Corruption"><span class="tocnumber">2.2</span> <span class="toctext">Corruption</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-17"><a href="#Gallery"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Gallery</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-18"><a href="#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-19"><a href="#References"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Historical_overview">Historical overview</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Historical overview">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:327px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Mes_Aynak_stupa.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/Mes_Aynak_stupa.jpg/325px-Mes_Aynak_stupa.jpg" decoding="async" width="325" height="217" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/Mes_Aynak_stupa.jpg/488px-Mes_Aynak_stupa.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/Mes_Aynak_stupa.jpg/650px-Mes_Aynak_stupa.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3543" data-file-height="2362" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Mes_Aynak_stupa.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Buddhist stupa from the Mauryan era, recently excavated.</div></div></div> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Early_history">Early history</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Early history">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>Excavations of prehistoric sites suggest that humans were living in what is now Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago. Farming communities in the area were among the earliest in the world.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup> Northeast Afghanistan was an outpost of the Indus Valley Civilization, a mysterious culture that arose around the time of ancient Mesopotamia.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8">[8]</a></sup> </p><p>Afghanistan's culture was gradually shaped by the various invasions it endured in its early history. Afghanistan's people were first conquered by Achaemenid Persia, which then fell to the armies of Alexander the Great.<sup id="cite_ref-whis.22_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-whis.22-9">[9]</a></sup> The Persians labeled the native Afghan people as <i>Paktyans</i>, likely related to the modern name Pashtun.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a></sup> After Alexander the Great rolled in, he did his typical routine of building a bunch of cities named after himself, including Alexandria-of-the-Arians (modern-day Herat); Alexandria-on-the-Tarnak (near Kandahar); Alexandria-ad-Caucasum (near Begram, at Bordj-i-Abdullah); and finally, Alexandria-Eschate (near Kojend), in the north.<sup id="cite_ref-whis.22_9-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-whis.22-9">[9]</a></sup> Kandahar is also likely named after Alexander, as the most likely hypothesis of the name's origin has it evolving from <i>Iskandar</i>, Alexander's Persian name.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a></sup> </p><p>Various Greek-led states controlled Afghanistan until one of them traded away half of Afghanistan in exchange for peace with the Mauryan Empire, a powerful civilization from <a href="/wiki/India" title="India">India</a>. Through Mauryan rule, <a href="/wiki/Hinduism" title="Hinduism">Hinduism</a> and <a href="/wiki/Buddhism" title="Buddhism">Buddhism</a> became entrenched in Afghanistan, and this cultural heritage remains to this day.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12">[12]</a></sup> The Mauryans were skilled at communicating with the native Afghans and introducing their culture. One example of this is the Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription, an explanation of the concept of "Dharma", which Mauryan Emperor Ashoka had carved into an Afghan hillside in Greek and Aramaic.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a></sup> </p><p>The traditions of Buddhism are stuck in Afghanistan, which is most visible in the construction of the Bamiyan Buddhas. These massive statues also displayed Greek influences in the design of their togas.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14">[14]</a></sup> Tragically, these historically priceless monuments were demolished by the Taliban. </p><p>Afghanistan later bounced between various empires, mainly originating from Persia. The Afghan tribespeople was usually either autonomous or functionally independent. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Rise_of_Islam">Rise of Islam</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Rise of Islam">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AF_%D8%BA%D8%B2%D9%86%D9%88%DB%8C.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AF_%D8%BA%D8%B2%D9%86%D9%88%DB%8C.JPG/330px-%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AF_%D8%BA%D8%B2%D9%86%D9%88%DB%8C.JPG" decoding="async" width="300" height="182" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AF_%D8%BA%D8%B2%D9%86%D9%88%DB%8C.JPG/500px-%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AF_%D8%BA%D8%B2%D9%86%D9%88%DB%8C.JPG 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AF_%D8%BA%D8%B2%D9%86%D9%88%DB%8C.JPG/600px-%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AF_%D8%BA%D8%B2%D9%86%D9%88%DB%8C.JPG 2x" data-file-width="640" data-file-height="388" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%86_%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%88%D8%AF_%D8%BA%D8%B2%D9%86%D9%88%DB%8C.JPG" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni holding court.</div></div></div> <p>Arab Muslims brought Islam to Herat and Zaranj in 642 CE and began spreading eastward; some of the native inhabitants they encountered accepted it while others revolted. Before Islam was introduced, the people of the region were mostly <a href="/wiki/Buddhist" class="mw-redirect" title="Buddhist">Buddhists</a>, <a href="/wiki/Zoroastrian" class="mw-redirect" title="Zoroastrian">Zoroastrians</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Hindu" class="mw-redirect" title="Hindu">Hindus</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-EndeSteinbach2010_15-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-EndeSteinbach2010-15">[15]</a></sup> The first of the great Islamic Caliphates, the Rashiduns, largely failed to make significant inroads into Afghanistan due to ferocious resistance from the Pashtuns.<sup id="cite_ref-whis.22_9-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-whis.22-9">[9]</a></sup> The struggle continued in Afghanistan under the following Caliphates until the Abbasid dynasty finally decided to call it quits in the 8th century. </p><p>As was the case in much of Africa and Southeast Asia, peace proved more effective than war in converting people to Islam. While conducting trade through the Silk Road, Muslim merchants gradually convinced the tribes of Afghanistan, a process largely completed by the end of the 9th century.<sup id="cite_ref-islam_16-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-islam-16">[16]</a></sup> Meanwhile, Muslim Turkic speakers from elsewhere in Central Asia also aided the conversion by settling in Afghanistan while seeking better grazing land.<sup id="cite_ref-islam_16-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-islam-16">[16]</a></sup> Despite converting to the Islamic religion, the Afghan tribespeople wasn't any more fond of imperial rule than before, and they remained functionally independent. </p><p>Eventually, Afghanistan became home to its empire, as the Ghaznavid dynasty became dominant in Central Asia. It was founded by Mahmud of Ghazni, who turned his hometown of Ghazni in Central Afghanistan into an imperial capital.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a></sup> Drawing from Persian traditions and his zeal for Sunni Islam, Mahmud and his successor launched massive raids into India, bringing home loot and ensuring Islamic dominance in what is now Pakistan.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18">[18]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Mongols_and_Mughals">Mongols and Mughals</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Mongols and Mughals">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Behzad_timur_egyptian.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Behzad_timur_egyptian.jpg/250px-Behzad_timur_egyptian.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="348" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Behzad_timur_egyptian.jpg/375px-Behzad_timur_egyptian.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Behzad_timur_egyptian.jpg/500px-Behzad_timur_egyptian.jpg 2x" data-file-width="6000" data-file-height="8360" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Behzad_timur_egyptian.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Battle of Timur against Egyptian, by Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād Herawī, a famous painter from Herat, 1495.</div></div></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>If there is a paradise on earth, it is this, it is this, it is this.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Inscription at the grave of Babur in Kabul.<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19">[19]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>In 1220, Mongol warlord Genghis Khan rampaged with his hordes through Central Asia. Afghanistan also felt the brunt of the Mongol invasion, and many Afghan cities like Herat, Balkh, and Bamyan were destroyed and had their populations butchered.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20">[20]</a></sup> This destruction had a lasting effect on Afghanistan's people; many of those displaced from the razed cities had no choice but to return to a rural agrarian lifestyle.<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21">[21]</a></sup> Even facing overwhelming strength, the Afghan people resisted the Mongol onslaught fiercely. During the 1221 siege of Bamyan, the Afghan garrison killed one of Genghis Khan's grandsons, a destabilizing loss that contributed to the later fragmenting of the Mongol Empire.<sup id="cite_ref-graveyard_2-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-graveyard-2">[2]</a></sup> </p><p>Afghanistan later broke free of the Mongols and became an autonomous region of the Delhi Sultanate. This state of affairs persisted until 1370 when the infamous warlord Timur Lenk invaded Central Asia. Timur was a member of the Turkicized Barlas tribe. This Mongol subgroup had settled in Transoxania (now roughly corresponding to Uzbekistan) and converted to Islam after taking part in Genghis Khan’s son Chagatai's campaigns in that region.<sup id="cite_ref-timurlenk_22-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-timurlenk-22">[22]</a></sup> Timur then became a powerful Mongol leader who declared himself the "defender of Islam" and launched genocides against Indian Hindus, Egyptian and Turkish "usurpers", and Middle Eastern Christians.<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23">[23]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24">[24]</a></sup> Timur founded his empire at Samarkand, but following his death in 1405, the capital moved southwest to Herat in Afghanistan. Under Timur’s son, Shah Rukh, Herat became one of the greatest medieval Islamic culture and learning centers.<sup id="cite_ref-herat_25-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-herat-25">[25]</a></sup> Rukh prided himself as a patron of the arts, and he hired scholars, poets, and painters to beautify his court. His wife also commissioned grand projects from architects and had them build great monuments in Herat to display the glory of the Timurid Empire. The Timurid era in Herat is considered one of the greatest periods in Persian arts.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26">[26]</a></sup> </p><p>Like so many others before it, the Timurid Empire collapsed due to a disputed succession and <a href="/wiki/Civil_war" title="Civil war">civil wars</a>. Afghanistan's golden era wasn't done yet, though, as Timur's descendant Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Babur rose out of Uzbekistan to establish a kingdom based out of Kabul.<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27">[27]</a></sup> He commissioned the Bagh-e Babur, or the "Gardens of Babur", a massive and splendid nature park in the middle of Kabul that is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28">[28]</a></sup> Babur's tomb is at the site, as he chose to be buried there. </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Main_mosque-Mazar-2012.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Main_mosque-Mazar-2012.jpg/330px-Main_mosque-Mazar-2012.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="145" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Main_mosque-Mazar-2012.jpg/500px-Main_mosque-Mazar-2012.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Main_mosque-Mazar-2012.jpg/960px-Main_mosque-Mazar-2012.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3586" data-file-height="1734" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Main_mosque-Mazar-2012.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>The Blue Mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, built by the Timurid dynasty in 1481.</div></div></div> <p>While in charge of Afghanistan, Babur launched several massive invasions into India. These conquests greatly expanded Babur's holdings to encompass much of northern India, and he declared himself the leader of a new realm: the Mughal Empire.<sup id="cite_ref-mughals_29-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-mughals-29">[29]</a></sup> </p><p>The Mughal emperors understood very well that heavy-handed rule wouldn't work when dealing with the hardheaded tribes of Afghanistan. Mughal rule over Afghanistan was a combination of control over a few urban centers and benign neglect coupled with paying off tribes in the region, a formula later replicated by the British.<sup id="cite_ref-graveyard_2-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-graveyard-2">[2]</a></sup> However, the Mughal rule was precarious, as various tribes were always rising against them. Another complication came from the Mughal Empire's rivalry with the Safavid Empire in Persia, and both states liked to fight each other over the Afghan region.<sup id="cite_ref-mughsaf_30-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-mughsaf-30">[30]</a></sup> Various wars ensued, and Afghanistan changed hands multiple times. In 1748, the Mughals lost Afghanistan to the Safavids for the last time, and they basically gave up on the region due to other problems in the empire.<sup id="cite_ref-mughsaf_30-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-mughsaf-30">[30]</a></sup> However, Afghanistan proved to be a bitter pill for the Persians to swallow. Early in the 18th century, one of the Pashtun tribes, the Hotaki, seized Kandahar from the Safavids, and a group of Ghilzai Pashtuns then raided the Safavid capital at Isfahan.<sup id="cite_ref-mughsaf_30-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-mughsaf-30">[30]</a></sup> These revolts brought down the Safavid Empire, and Afghanistan was free again.<sup id="cite_ref-graveyard_2-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-graveyard-2">[2]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="The_Great_Game">The Great Game</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: The Great Game">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:352px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Britattack.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/Britattack.jpg/350px-Britattack.jpg" decoding="async" width="350" height="219" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/Britattack.jpg/525px-Britattack.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Britattack.jpg 2x" data-file-width="590" data-file-height="370" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Britattack.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>British attack on the citadel of Ghazni, 1839.</div></div></div> <p>Afghanistan as we know it was founded in 1747 by Aḥmad Shah Durrānī, who united the Afghan tribes and founded an empire that encompassed much of Afghanistan and Pakistan.<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31">[31]</a></sup> He benefited in this quest from the weakening of the Mughal Empire, which was entering its death throes due to internal revolts. Unfortunately for them, Ahmad Shah's successors governed very ineptly, and they lost basically all of the conquered territories outside of Afghanistan's modern borders.<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-32">[32]</a></sup> These humiliations led to civil wars in Afghanistan that greatly weakened it. </p><p>Unfortunately for them, this time of weakness came at a critical time. The <a href="/wiki/British_Empire" title="British Empire">British Empire</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Russia" title="Russia">Russian</a> Empire expanded their holdings throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, and the two powers met in Afghanistan. The British were well aware that Afghanistan had served as an invasion route into India many times before. The power vacuum there left them fearful that the Russians would exploit that opportunity.<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33">[33]</a></sup> The Russians didn't like having the British nearby any better. Hence the two powers put an ungodly amount of effort into grappling over Afghanistan. </p><p>In 1837, the British demanded that Dost Mohammad, the new leader of Afghanistan, cease all diplomatic contact with Russia. When Mohammad told them to fuck off, the British decided that he had to go. In 1838, this began the First Anglo-Afghan War, as the British marched an army into Afghanistan to place the more pliable Shah Shuja onto the Afghan throne.<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-34">[34]</a></sup> Called the "Disaster in Afghanistan", the war became a complete quagmire for the British. Although Dost Mohammad was easily deposed, the rebellious Afghan tribes turned to follow Mohammad Akbar and fought ferociously to resist the British.<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-35">[35]</a></sup> The British lost, but they still inflicted great destruction and loss of life on Afghanistan. Dost Mohammad returned to the throne after the British withdrawal in 1842. </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Kandahar_photo_number_40_by_Benjamin_Simpson-cropped.tif" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Kandahar_photo_number_40_by_Benjamin_Simpson-cropped.tif/lossy-page1-300px-Kandahar_photo_number_40_by_Benjamin_Simpson-cropped.tif.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="227" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Kandahar_photo_number_40_by_Benjamin_Simpson-cropped.tif/lossy-page1-450px-Kandahar_photo_number_40_by_Benjamin_Simpson-cropped.tif.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/Kandahar_photo_number_40_by_Benjamin_Simpson-cropped.tif/lossy-page1-600px-Kandahar_photo_number_40_by_Benjamin_Simpson-cropped.tif.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3353" data-file-height="2534" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Kandahar_photo_number_40_by_Benjamin_Simpson-cropped.tif" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>British troops outside Kandahar, 1880.</div></div></div> <p>By 1854 the British wanted to resume relations with Dost Mohammad, whom they had essentially ignored for twelve years. The 1855 Treaty of Peshawar reopened diplomatic relations, proclaimed respect for each side's territorial integrity, and pledged mutual friendship.<sup id="cite_ref-second_36-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-second-36">[36]</a></sup> After Dost Mohammad died, the new leader of Afghanistan, Sher Ali, realized that the British were using him as a meat shield against Russia, and relations between the UK and Afghanistan deteriorated again. When the Russians sent an envoy to Afghanistan in July 1878, the British were greatly alarmed and demanded that Ali receive British diplomats.<sup id="cite_ref-secondwar_37-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-secondwar-37">[37]</a></sup> Ali didn't like being pushed around, and he refused. This refusal prompted yet another British invasion in 1878. This time, the invasion was costly but reasonably effective, and Afghanistan finally agreed in 1880 to exclusively maintain diplomatic relations with the British.<sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-38">[38]</a></sup> </p><p>As part of this war's aftermath, the British also decided to fully delineate the border between Afghanistan and the eastern frontier of the British Raj (now Pakistan).<sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-39">[39]</a></sup> In 1893, this resulted in the "Durand Line", which just so happened to split the Pashtun tribespeople.<sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-40">[40]</a></sup> This was done to serve colonial interests; the British wanted to keep Afghanistan as a buffer between itself and Russia, but it also didn't want Afghanistan to be large enough to pose a threat.<sup id="cite_ref-41" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-41">[41]</a></sup> Hence the very literal divide and conquer. </p><p>For about 40 years afterwards, Afghanistan remained a loyal satellite of the British Empire. This relationship was also helped by the British strategy of bribing Afghanistan with a large subsidy.<sup id="cite_ref-thirdwar_42-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-thirdwar-42">[42]</a></sup> However, things started to go sour again as the Afghan court became divided and the British Empire became preoccupied with <a href="/wiki/World_War_I" title="World War I">World War I</a> and its aftermath. To regain its independence, Afghanistan invaded the British Raj in 1919. Although suffering military defeat, the Afghans successfully won back their diplomatic independence from the British.<sup id="cite_ref-43" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-43">[43]</a></sup> On a less happy note for Afghanistan, they still had to re-concede the Durand Line as their border, meaning that the Pashtuns would not be unified again.<sup id="cite_ref-44" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-44">[44]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Independent_kingdom">Independent kingdom</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Independent kingdom">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:277px;"><a href="/wiki/File:1950s_Afghanistan_-_Records_store.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/1950s_Afghanistan_-_Records_store.jpg/330px-1950s_Afghanistan_-_Records_store.jpg" decoding="async" width="275" height="205" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/1950s_Afghanistan_-_Records_store.jpg/500px-1950s_Afghanistan_-_Records_store.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/1950s_Afghanistan_-_Records_store.jpg/550px-1950s_Afghanistan_-_Records_store.jpg 2x" data-file-width="625" data-file-height="466" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:1950s_Afghanistan_-_Records_store.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Afghan record store in the 1950s.</div></div></div> <p>Amanullah Khan, the king of Afghanistan, began to implement a series of cultural reforms across his country during the 1920s. His reforms, had they been completed, would have been completely transformative. They included abolishing <a href="/wiki/Slavery" title="Slavery">slavery</a> and forced labor, introducing secular education for girls and boys, discouraging the veiling and seclusion of women, and establishing a national bank.<sup id="cite_ref-civwar_45-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-civwar-45">[45]</a></sup> This opportunity was lost in 1928 when powerful religious figures unhappy about this wave of progressive policies rose up in open rebellion. The ensuing civil war resulted in the downfall of Amanullah Khan. In his place, Nadir Shah became king, and he abandoned most of the reform program to appease the anti-modernist forces in Afghanistan.<sup id="cite_ref-46" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-46">[46]</a></sup> Despite this careful approach, Nadir Shah got himself assassinated in 1933 by a religious student. </p><p>Mohammed Zahir Shah succeeded to the throne and reigned from 1933 to 1973. His reign was a time of caution and tension. In terms of foreign policy, Afghanistan's primary concern was the Durand Line, as its Pashtun population wanted to be reunited with their relatives in Pakistan. In 1953, the king's prime minister and family relative Mohammed Daoud Khan started saber-rattling over the "Pashtunistan" issue, severely damaging relations between the two countries.<sup id="cite_ref-47" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-47">[47]</a></sup> By 1963, the threat of war had become so severe that Zahir Shah had to step in to remove Daoud Khan from his post. After that, Afghanistan rewrote its constitution in 1964 to prevent any more blood relatives of the king from holding the post of prime minister, just to prevent Daoud Khan from ever getting his old job back.<sup id="cite_ref-48" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-48">[48]</a></sup> Damn. </p><p>Zahir Shah slowly dragged his reluctant country into the modern age by taking a slower strategy focused on economics rather than culture. He attracted foreign investment aid to help build roads and infrastructure; much of the cash came from the <a href="/wiki/Axis" title="Axis">Axis</a>, especially <a href="/wiki/Nazi_Germany" title="Nazi Germany">Nazi Germany</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-49" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-49">[49]</a></sup> However, Afghanistan remained neutral and was neither a participant in World War II nor aligned with either power bloc in the <a href="/wiki/Cold_War" title="Cold War">Cold War</a>. In fact, Afghanistan's government cleverly took advantage of the Cold War to woo investment money from both sides. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Communist_rule">Communist rule</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Communist rule">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Day_after_Saur_revolution.JPG" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Day_after_Saur_revolution.JPG/300px-Day_after_Saur_revolution.JPG" decoding="async" width="300" height="200" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Day_after_Saur_revolution.JPG/450px-Day_after_Saur_revolution.JPG 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9b/Day_after_Saur_revolution.JPG/600px-Day_after_Saur_revolution.JPG 2x" data-file-width="949" data-file-height="634" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Day_after_Saur_revolution.JPG" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Armed vehicles in Kabul after the communist takeover.</div></div></div> <p>In 1973, Daoud Khan returned to enact his revenge against the monarchy for firing him. Khan assembled an alliance of young leftist military officers and forced the king to abdicate, declaring Afghanistan a <a href="/wiki/Republic" title="Republic">republic</a> with himself as the head of state.<sup id="cite_ref-50" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-50">[50]</a></sup> That "republic" thing proved to be a lie when Khan rewrote the constitution to turn himself into a <a href="/wiki/Dictator" class="mw-redirect" title="Dictator">dictator</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-51" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-51">[51]</a></sup> </p><p>Even after coming to power, Daoud Khan did nothing to rectify the structural problems that had helped him to power. Afghanistan in the 1970s was a <a href="/wiki/Feudal" class="mw-redirect" title="Feudal">feudal</a> country. Power lay not with urban businessmen but with great landowners who lived in countryside forts.<sup id="cite_ref-commiecoup_52-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-commiecoup-52">[52]</a></sup> Most people were sharecroppers, who only kept about a third of what they produced. The local lords used hired thugs to terrorize people into compliance.<sup id="cite_ref-commiecoup_52-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-commiecoup-52">[52]</a></sup> When Daoud Khan launched his coup, he met no opposition because no one was willing to die for the old order. Under Daoud Khan's rule, though, the old order remained firmly in place. </p><p>In April 1978, Daoud Khan ordered the assassination of a communist leader, Mir Akbar Khyber.<sup id="cite_ref-commiecoup_52-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-commiecoup-52">[52]</a></sup> When Afghanistan's communists rallied at his funeral, Daoud Khan had them arrested. Realizing that time was short, the communists launched a short-order coup, and many of the same people who had brought Daoud Khan into power murdered him and his family in the presidential palace.<sup id="cite_ref-commiecoup_52-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-commiecoup-52">[52]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-53" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-53">[53]</a></sup> Along with them, the coup plotters killed about 100 other people while rolling tanks through the streets.<sup id="cite_ref-54" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-54">[54]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:202px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_People%27s_Democratic_Party_of_Afghanistan.svg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Flag_of_the_People%27s_Democratic_Party_of_Afghanistan.svg/250px-Flag_of_the_People%27s_Democratic_Party_of_Afghanistan.svg.png" decoding="async" width="200" height="100" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Flag_of_the_People%27s_Democratic_Party_of_Afghanistan.svg/330px-Flag_of_the_People%27s_Democratic_Party_of_Afghanistan.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Flag_of_the_People%27s_Democratic_Party_of_Afghanistan.svg/500px-Flag_of_the_People%27s_Democratic_Party_of_Afghanistan.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1000" data-file-height="500" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Flag_of_the_People%27s_Democratic_Party_of_Afghanistan.svg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>The PDPA party flag.</div></div></div> <p>The communists declared that they had launched the "Great April Revolution". Reforms began immediately, with land being redistributed from landlord to peasant and abolishing the traditional "bride-price" for marriage.<sup id="cite_ref-commiecoup_52-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-commiecoup-52">[52]</a></sup> The communists organized themselves into a new party, the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), a Marxist-Leninist group aligned with the <a href="/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-55" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-55">[55]</a></sup> </p><p>Just as before, these reforms alienated the traditional populace of Afghanistan, and a popular revolt began against the new regime. Meanwhile, the PDPA crippled itself with infighting between hardliners and pragmatists, meaning that it could not effectively respond to the uprisings.<sup id="cite_ref-pdpa_56-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-pdpa-56">[56]</a></sup> Many Afghans fled to Pakistan and Iran during this period to begin organizing a resistance movement to the "<a href="/wiki/Atheist" class="mw-redirect" title="Atheist">atheist</a>" and "infidel" communist regime backed by the Soviets. Although the communists had popular support in the cities, this wasn't enough in an overwhelmingly rural country, and the PDPA became increasingly cruel in their attempts to suppress resistance. Between 1978 and 1992, the agents of the PDPA arbitrarily arrested thousands of civilians, including elders, religious leaders, intellectuals, women, farmers, civil servants, and shopkeepers. The PDPA subsequently <a href="/wiki/Torture" title="Torture">tortured</a> and killed a lot of these detainees.<sup id="cite_ref-57" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-57">[57]</a></sup> </p><p>As happens in Afghanistan, the heavy-handed approach made things go straight to hell. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Soviet-Afghan_War">Soviet-Afghan War</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Soviet-Afghan War">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:327px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Mujahideen_village.JPEG" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Mujahideen_village.JPEG/330px-Mujahideen_village.JPEG" decoding="async" width="325" height="228" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Mujahideen_village.JPEG/500px-Mujahideen_village.JPEG 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/Mujahideen_village.JPEG/960px-Mujahideen_village.JPEG 2x" data-file-width="2470" data-file-height="1730" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Mujahideen_village.JPEG" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div><i>Mujahideen</i> scout a destroyed village.</div></div></div> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Soviet-Afghan_War" class="mw-redirect" title="Soviet-Afghan War">Soviet-Afghan War</a></div> <p>Shit hit the fan in 1979 when the hardline Marxist-Leninists in the PDPA arrested most of the more pragmatic party members.<sup id="cite_ref-58" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-58">[58]</a></sup> A few months later, the president of communist Afghanistan, Nur Mohammad Taraki, was assassinated by his even more hardline subordinate, Hafizullah Amin.<sup id="cite_ref-outbreak_59-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-outbreak-59">[59]</a></sup> Amin's rule was even more unsteady, and he stupidly tried to prop up his power by killing many people. His misrule was so bad that the Soviet Union noticed, decided the situation on their southern border was unacceptable and sent in the Red Army to assassinate Amin and replace him with the moderate Babrak Karmal.<sup id="cite_ref-outbreak_59-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-outbreak-59">[59]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Mujahideen_prayer_in_Shultan_Valley_Kunar,_1987.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Mujahideen_prayer_in_Shultan_Valley_Kunar%2C_1987.jpg/300px-Mujahideen_prayer_in_Shultan_Valley_Kunar%2C_1987.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="163" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Mujahideen_prayer_in_Shultan_Valley_Kunar%2C_1987.jpg/450px-Mujahideen_prayer_in_Shultan_Valley_Kunar%2C_1987.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Mujahideen_prayer_in_Shultan_Valley_Kunar%2C_1987.jpg/600px-Mujahideen_prayer_in_Shultan_Valley_Kunar%2C_1987.jpg 2x" data-file-width="662" data-file-height="360" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Mujahideen_prayer_in_Shultan_Valley_Kunar,_1987.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div><i>Mujahideen</i> in prayer.</div></div></div> <p>Afghanistan had been a concern for the Soviet Union for a long time. They feared that the United States could take advantage of the country's fragile political situation to gain a political foothold right below the Soviet Union's soft underbelly. During a series of meetings in December 1979, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev decided that the Soviet Union needed to replace Afghanistan's political leadership and send armed forces to restore order to the country as a whole. </p> <div class="thumb tleft"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:197px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Afghan_Girl_Sharbat_Gula_National_Geographic_cover_1985.jpeg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/f/f8/Afghan_Girl_Sharbat_Gula_National_Geographic_cover_1985.jpeg/195px-Afghan_Girl_Sharbat_Gula_National_Geographic_cover_1985.jpeg" decoding="async" width="195" height="282" class="thumbimage" srcset="/w/images/thumb/f/f8/Afghan_Girl_Sharbat_Gula_National_Geographic_cover_1985.jpeg/293px-Afghan_Girl_Sharbat_Gula_National_Geographic_cover_1985.jpeg 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/f/f8/Afghan_Girl_Sharbat_Gula_National_Geographic_cover_1985.jpeg/390px-Afghan_Girl_Sharbat_Gula_National_Geographic_cover_1985.jpeg 2x" data-file-width="500" data-file-height="724" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Afghan_Girl_Sharbat_Gula_National_Geographic_cover_1985.jpeg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Famous image of "Afghan Girl" Sharbat Gula from 1985.</div></div></div> <p>The Soviet deployment began on Christmas Eve; warplanes started landing in Kabul, and armored vehicles rolled across the land border.<sup id="cite_ref-sovietwar_60-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-sovietwar-60">[60]</a></sup> The Soviet invasion created an immediate global uproar. Over five dozen countries—including the United States, <a href="/wiki/Canada" title="Canada">Canada</a>, <a href="/wiki/China" title="China">China</a>, <a href="/wiki/Japan" title="Japan">Japan</a>, and West <a href="/wiki/Germany" title="Germany">Germany</a>—boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow.<sup id="cite_ref-61" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-61">[61]</a></sup> </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:252px;"><a href="/wiki/File:RIAN_archive_644460_First_stage_in_the_Soviet_troop_withdrawal_from_Afghanistan.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/RIAN_archive_644460_First_stage_in_the_Soviet_troop_withdrawal_from_Afghanistan.jpg/250px-RIAN_archive_644460_First_stage_in_the_Soviet_troop_withdrawal_from_Afghanistan.jpg" decoding="async" width="250" height="165" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/RIAN_archive_644460_First_stage_in_the_Soviet_troop_withdrawal_from_Afghanistan.jpg/375px-RIAN_archive_644460_First_stage_in_the_Soviet_troop_withdrawal_from_Afghanistan.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/RIAN_archive_644460_First_stage_in_the_Soviet_troop_withdrawal_from_Afghanistan.jpg/500px-RIAN_archive_644460_First_stage_in_the_Soviet_troop_withdrawal_from_Afghanistan.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="674" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:RIAN_archive_644460_First_stage_in_the_Soviet_troop_withdrawal_from_Afghanistan.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Soviet troops prepare to withdraw.</div></div></div> <p>Back in Afghanistan, hot diarrhea hit the fan. The Islamic insurgents of Afghanistan called the <i>mujahideen</i>, or "those who fight", declared a <a href="/wiki/Jihad" title="Jihad">jihad</a> against the Soviet invaders. Although the Soviets had superior resources and weaponry, the Afghans were fighting on their rugged home turf and were willing to basically fight forever in the name of <a href="/wiki/God" title="God">God</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-sovietwarii_62-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-sovietwarii-62">[62]</a></sup> The initial Soviet invasion was successful, and they took control of most of Afghanistan's major cities by early 1980.<sup id="cite_ref-sovietwarii_62-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-sovietwarii-62">[62]</a></sup> However, units in the Afghan army repeatedly defected to the <i>mujahideen</i>, and the insurgency consistently controlled around 80% of Afghanistan.<sup id="cite_ref-sovietwarii_62-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-sovietwarii-62">[62]</a></sup> With the Afghans completely unwilling to die in the name of Marxism-Leninism, the Soviets had to do it themselves. That got even worse when the Soviets figured out that conscripted Central Asians also weren't willing to follow orders from Russian commanders who told them to kill their fellow Central Asian Muslims.<sup id="cite_ref-sovietwarii_62-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-sovietwarii-62">[62]</a></sup> Russian soldiers realized they were in a hopeless situation; they made the best of things by making their own alcohol and buying opium from the locals, and boozing the days away.<sup id="cite_ref-63" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-63">[63]</a></sup> </p><p>While Afghanistan spat in the face of the world's second superpower, it also received aid from the world's first superpower. In response to the Soviet invasion, the United States conducted one of its most successful covert action programs during the Cold War. US aid started slowly under <a href="/wiki/Jimmy_Carter" title="Jimmy Carter">Jimmy Carter</a> and rapidly increased as the Afghan insurgents became more and more successful. The CIA provided about $60 million per year to the Afghan mujahideen between 1981 and 1983, matched by assistance from <a href="/wiki/Saudi_Arabia" title="Saudi Arabia">Saudi Arabia</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-sovietwar_60-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-sovietwar-60">[60]</a></sup> Beginning in 1985, the United States increased its support to the Afghans to $250 million per year.<sup id="cite_ref-sovietwar_60-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-sovietwar-60">[60]</a></sup> Meanwhile, angry and bitter youths were encouraged to travel to <a href="/wiki/Pakistan" title="Pakistan">Pakistan</a> to attend Saudi-run religious schools, explicitly instilling a sense of fanatical religious hatred.<sup id="cite_ref-madtaliban_64-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-madtaliban-64">[64]</a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Ronald_Reagan" title="Ronald Reagan">Ronald Reagan</a> escalated things again by authorizing the transfer of weapons, technical advice on weapons and explosives, intelligence, and technology like wireless interception equipment to Afghanistan.<sup id="cite_ref-sovietwar_60-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-sovietwar-60">[60]</a></sup> </p><p>After a while, the Soviets could no longer hide that things were going south. Despite official press censorship, people in the Soviet Union began to hear that the war was not going well from their conscripted family members. They also noticed that many of those conscripted family members came home in boxes.<sup id="cite_ref-sovietwarii_62-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-sovietwarii-62">[62]</a></sup> Soviet leader <a href="/wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev" title="Mikhail Gorbachev">Mikhail Gorbachev</a> started receiving angry letters from Soviet citizens, especially mothers angry at burying their children.<sup id="cite_ref-sovietwar_60-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-sovietwar-60">[60]</a></sup> Amid these domestic political concerns, the Soviets finally decided to withdraw in 1989. About 1.5 million Afghans had died.<sup id="cite_ref-madtaliban_64-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-madtaliban-64">[64]</a></sup> </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Civil_war">Civil war</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Civil war">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Kabul_during_civil_war_of_fundamentalists_1993-2.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Kabul_during_civil_war_of_fundamentalists_1993-2.jpg/300px-Kabul_during_civil_war_of_fundamentalists_1993-2.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="198" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Kabul_during_civil_war_of_fundamentalists_1993-2.jpg/450px-Kabul_during_civil_war_of_fundamentalists_1993-2.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/ca/Kabul_during_civil_war_of_fundamentalists_1993-2.jpg/600px-Kabul_during_civil_war_of_fundamentalists_1993-2.jpg 2x" data-file-width="994" data-file-height="657" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Kabul_during_civil_war_of_fundamentalists_1993-2.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Kabul in ruins during the civil war, 1993.</div></div></div> <p>So, let's flashback to 1989. Afghanistan is in ruins. The central government is barely a figurehead. Many pissed-off radicalized youths are sitting around with nothing else to do. What a great time to have a civil war! </p><p>Even after the Soviet defeat, the old communist regime in Afghanistan survived, now under the leadership of President Najibullah. To survive, the government ditched any claim of socialism in favor of focusing on <a href="/wiki/Nationalism" title="Nationalism">nationalism</a> and <a href="/wiki/Islamism" title="Islamism">Islamism</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-65" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-65">[65]</a></sup> It wasn't enough. The insurgents, fresh from fighting the Soviets, almost immediately turned to attack the government in Kabul as well. Although the government won the first engagements, the insurgents received significant aid from <a href="/wiki/Pakistan" title="Pakistan">Pakistan</a>'s intelligence services.<sup id="cite_ref-66" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-66">[66]</a></sup> Absent Russian help, Najibullah's defeat was only a matter of time. The first phase of the war ended with a coalition agreement between the various rebel factions. Peace was short-lived. </p><p>The shit started again when instability in Kabul made it clear that the government was going up for grabs. At that point, about five or six different former <i>mujahideen</i> armies attacked each other and started throwing rockets all around Kabul.<sup id="cite_ref-risetaliban_67-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-risetaliban-67">[67]</a></sup> That, of course, wasn't great for the civilians living there. </p><p>A similar process was happening across Afghanistan's major cities. In Kandahar, militia members went around gang-raping women during the chaos.<sup id="cite_ref-risetaliban_67-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-risetaliban-67">[67]</a></sup> This outrage came to the attention of former <i>mujahideen</i> commander Mullah Omar. He was so furious that he organized a band of his followers to capture and hang many of those criminals. He then declared another jihad, focused on reuniting Afghanistan and punishing the criminal warlords. Through the smart policy of just being less shitty than the other warlord groups, Mullah Omar's followers gained significant popular support and received covert aid from the US and Pakistan.<sup id="cite_ref-oritaliban_68-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-oritaliban-68">[68]</a></sup> They called themselves the Taliban, which is Pashto for "students".<sup id="cite_ref-britaliban_69-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-britaliban-69">[69]</a></sup> By 1996, they had consolidated control over most of Afghanistan. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Taliban_rule">Taliban rule</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Taliban rule">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:277px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Taller_Buddha_of_Bamiyan_before_and_after_destruction.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Taller_Buddha_of_Bamiyan_before_and_after_destruction.jpg/275px-Taller_Buddha_of_Bamiyan_before_and_after_destruction.jpg" decoding="async" width="275" height="227" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Taller_Buddha_of_Bamiyan_before_and_after_destruction.jpg/413px-Taller_Buddha_of_Bamiyan_before_and_after_destruction.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/Taller_Buddha_of_Bamiyan_before_and_after_destruction.jpg/550px-Taller_Buddha_of_Bamiyan_before_and_after_destruction.jpg 2x" data-file-width="987" data-file-height="814" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Taller_Buddha_of_Bamiyan_before_and_after_destruction.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>One of the Buddhas of Bamyan, before and after destruction.</div></div></div> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Taliban" title="Taliban">Taliban</a></div> <p>Once in power, the Taliban proved to be a whole different kind of shitty. They weren't rapacious like the warlords, but they were Islamist fanatics. Governing as the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan",<sup id="cite_ref-70" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-70">[70]</a></sup> the Taliban's rule was relentlessly <a href="/wiki/Totalitarian" class="mw-redirect" title="Totalitarian">totalitarian</a>. Their assumption of power was quickly followed by a slew of morality regulations in line with the strictest interpretations of Islamic law. These regulations range from the terrifying to the ridiculous. </p><p>Women suffered the most under the Taliban. They were not allowed to leave the house unless covered from head to toe, a policy enforced by the threat of physical punishment by the Taliban's religious police.<sup id="cite_ref-talibad_71-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-talibad-71">[71]</a></sup> Female patients were only allowed to see a male physician if accompanied by a close male relative.<sup id="cite_ref-talibad_71-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-talibad-71">[71]</a></sup> These restrictions even extended to foreigners. The Taliban demanded that female humanitarian aid workers not be permitted to drive, as such a thing was "against Afghan tradition and has a negative impact on the society."<sup id="cite_ref-72" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-72">[72]</a></sup> </p><p>This was in contrast to the communist regime that came before and even the kingdom before that. Women received the right to vote in the 1920s, and as early as the 1960s, the Afghan constitution provided equality for women.<sup id="cite_ref-talibadi_73-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-talibadi-73">[73]</a></sup> For all its failings, the PDPA continued that trend to the point that by 1977, women were 15% of Afghanistan's highest legislative body. By the early 1990s, 70% of schoolteachers, 50% of government workers and university students, and 40% of doctors in Kabul were women.<sup id="cite_ref-talibadi_73-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-talibadi-73">[73]</a></sup> </p><p>Of course, it's not like the Taliban were much more lenient on men. Men could be jailed for up to ten days by the religious police for trimming or cutting their beards, a "crime" that was easily detected because the Taliban regularly had its fighters patrol Afghanistan's cities and countryside.<sup id="cite_ref-74" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-74">[74]</a></sup> The Taliban also banned <a href="/wiki/Music" title="Music">music</a>, kite-flying, photographs, television, feeding pigeons, dancing, and "sorcery."<sup id="cite_ref-talibad_71-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-talibad-71">[71]</a></sup> It's the kind of thing that would almost be funny if it didn't happen in real life. The Taliban also required non-Muslims to wear yellow badges identifying them as such <a href="/wiki/Holocaust" title="Holocaust">because it's not like that would raise any red flags</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-75" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-75">[75]</a></sup> </p><p>One of the more infamous incidents under Taliban rule concerned the Bamyan Buddhas, the massive monuments left over from Afghanistan's Buddhist days. For whatever reason, the Taliban randomly decided in 2001 to blow them up for being icons.<sup id="cite_ref-76" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-76">[76]</a></sup> These priceless cultural artifacts are now gone forever. </p> <h3><span id="Afghanistan_War_(2001–2021)"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Afghanistan_War_.282001.E2.80.932021.29">Afghanistan War (2001–2021)</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Afghanistan War (2001–2021)">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:277px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Strikes_on_Tora_Bora.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/Strikes_on_Tora_Bora.png/275px-Strikes_on_Tora_Bora.png" decoding="async" width="275" height="179" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/Strikes_on_Tora_Bora.png/413px-Strikes_on_Tora_Bora.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Strikes_on_Tora_Bora.png 2x" data-file-width="475" data-file-height="310" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Strikes_on_Tora_Bora.png" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>U.S. airstrike on Tora Bora, 2002.</div></div></div> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Afghanistan_War" title="Afghanistan War">Afghanistan War</a></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span> How could the world’s sole superpower have battled continuously for more than 16 years – deploying more than 100,000 troops at the conflict’s peak, sacrificing the lives of nearly 2,300 soldiers, spending more than $1tn (£740bn) on its military operations, lavishing a record $100bn more on “nation-building”, helping fund and train an army of 350,000 Afghan allies – and still not be able to pacify one of the world’s most impoverished nations?</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Alfred W McCoy, writing for <i><a href="/wiki/The_Guardian" title="The Guardian">The Guardian</a></i> in 2018.<sup id="cite_ref-77" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-77">[77]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>While all of that Taliban shit was going down, the rest of Afghanistan was hardly in a state of peace. Since the Taliban took over in 1996, they have struggled against various enemies. This was because the Taliban was a Pashtun nationalist group, and they made enemies out of Afghanistan's ethnic minorities, especially the Tajiks.<sup id="cite_ref-78" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-78">[78]</a></sup> Those ethnic minorities rallied behind many opposition groups, most significantly the Northern Alliance.<sup id="cite_ref-79" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-79">[79]</a></sup> </p><p>As just about everybody knows, everything changed in 2001 due to the <a href="/wiki/9/11" title="9/11">9/11</a> attacks. The Taliban were Pashtun tribesmen and thus lived their lives according to the ancient <i>Pashtunwali</i> code. Part of Pashtunwali is the concept of "<i>Nanawatai</i>", which obligates Pashtuns to accept and protect all those who seek their refuge and hospitality no matter what the cost.<sup id="cite_ref-80" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-80">[80]</a></sup> When <a href="/wiki/Osama_bin_Laden" title="Osama bin Laden">Osama bin Laden</a> abruptly became the world's most wanted criminal, he invoked <i>Nanawatai</i> by asking that the Taliban not hand him over to the US The Taliban agreed, which seriously pissed off the United States. </p><p>Bin Laden had, for some time, been operating out of Afghanistan, having burned all of his other bridges.<sup id="cite_ref-81" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-81">[81]</a></sup> While the Taliban condemned the terrorist attacks, they refused to hand Bin Laden over to the US, claiming they wanted the <a href="/wiki/United_Nations" title="United Nations">United Nations</a> to investigate and tell them what to do.<sup id="cite_ref-82" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-82">[82]</a></sup> The US retaliated by launching airstrikes, which terrified the Taliban into offering to hand Bin Laden off to a third party.<sup id="cite_ref-83" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-83">[83]</a></sup> That wasn't good enough for the US, and the Americans went off to war. The resulting conflict clearly demonstrated that the US had learned no lessons from Afghanistan's history. </p> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:U.S._Army_firefight_in_Kunar.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/U.S._Army_firefight_in_Kunar.jpg/330px-U.S._Army_firefight_in_Kunar.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="200" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/U.S._Army_firefight_in_Kunar.jpg/500px-U.S._Army_firefight_in_Kunar.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/U.S._Army_firefight_in_Kunar.jpg/960px-U.S._Army_firefight_in_Kunar.jpg 2x" data-file-width="4554" data-file-height="3036" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:U.S._Army_firefight_in_Kunar.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>U.S. soldiers in a firefight, 2011.</div></div></div> <p>The war seemed to go well at first despite a severe lack of competent planning. US Secretary of Defense <a href="/wiki/Donald_Rumsfeld" title="Donald Rumsfeld">Donald Rumsfeld</a> rejected most war planning in favor of jumping in feet first and eyes closed.<sup id="cite_ref-84" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-84">[84]</a></sup> The US also relied heavily on airpower, which was stupid since Afghanistan had gone through decades of insurgency war and thus had no good static military targets to bomb.<sup id="cite_ref-85" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-85">[85]</a></sup> Instead of sending in large numbers of US troops, the Americans relied heavily on local allies like the Northern Alliance, who proved unreliable.<sup id="cite_ref-86" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-86">[86]</a></sup> </p><p>Unfortunately, the Bush administration didn't have a military plan for apprehending Bin Laden; the rejection of the Taliban's offer effectively gave the terrorist a get-out-of-jail-free card.<sup id="cite_ref-87" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-87">[87]</a></sup> The US actually had a good chance at getting Bin Laden in 2002 during the Battle of Tora Bora; due to incompetence, this opportunity was squandered.<sup id="cite_ref-88" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-88">[88]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-toraboraii_89-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-toraboraii-89">[89]</a></sup> </p><p>However, the initial ground offensive was a success, and the Taliban's leader Mohammad Omar surrendered the Taliban's primary city of Kandahar in November 2001, formally ending the Taliban's formal rule over Afghanistan.<sup id="cite_ref-90" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-90">[90]</a></sup> Around the same time, the U.S.-aligned Northern Alliance captured Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul.<sup id="cite_ref-91" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-91">[91]</a></sup> This wasn't the end of things, as <a href="/wiki/Al-Qaeda" title="Al-Qaeda">Al-Qaeda</a>, Taliban loyalists, and other Afghans and foreigners rallied to continue the fight as an insurgency that continues to this day. </p><p>In 2004, Hamid Karzai became Afghanistan's first-ever elected leader.<sup id="cite_ref-92" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-92">[92]</a></sup> Afghanistan was theoretically a <a href="/wiki/Republic" title="Republic">republic</a>, albeit a dysfunctional and corrupt Islamist one. The Taliban, meanwhile, regrouped with their Pashtun brothers across the Durand Line in Pakistan<sup id="cite_ref-93" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-93">[93]</a></sup> and formed a government-in-exile that was brutal and murderous but often seemed more effective than the internationally-recognized one.<sup id="cite_ref-94" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-94">[94]</a></sup> </p><p>Over 241,000 people have died due to the American-led war in Afghanistan, including over 71,000 civilians.<sup id="cite_ref-95" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-95">[95]</a></sup> So it goes. </p><p>In 2010 Afghanistan was discovered to hold vast stores of mineral wealth, as the <i><a href="/wiki/New_York_Times" class="mw-redirect" title="New York Times">New York Times</a></i> reported. The Pentagon even assessed that this could turn Afghanistan into a global "mining center."<sup id="cite_ref-96" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-96">[96]</a></sup> Perhaps not coincidentally, this article was released around the time that the war started going bad for the US, leading to criticism that this discovery of mineral wealth would be used as a justification to further American <a href="/wiki/Imperialism" title="Imperialism">imperialism</a> in the region indefinitely.<sup id="cite_ref-97" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-97">[97]</a></sup> Of course, America <i>didn't</i> stay indefinitely, but it did stay for 11 more years after the article was published. Perhaps unsurprisingly, after American withdrawal a flurry of articles were released crying out that the Taliban now controlled Afghanistan's vast mineral wealth, with the subtext being that America <i>didn't</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-98" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-98">[98]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-99" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-99">[99]</a></sup> Make of that what you will. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Taliban_takeover_and_Islamic_Emirate">Taliban takeover and Islamic Emirate</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Taliban takeover and Islamic Emirate">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Daily_Life_in_Afghanistan%27s_Capital_17.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Daily_Life_in_Afghanistan%27s_Capital_17.jpg/330px-Daily_Life_in_Afghanistan%27s_Capital_17.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="209" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Daily_Life_in_Afghanistan%27s_Capital_17.jpg/500px-Daily_Life_in_Afghanistan%27s_Capital_17.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Daily_Life_in_Afghanistan%27s_Capital_17.jpg/600px-Daily_Life_in_Afghanistan%27s_Capital_17.jpg 2x" data-file-width="800" data-file-height="557" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Daily_Life_in_Afghanistan%27s_Capital_17.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Handing out Islamic Emirate flags in Kabul, September 2021.</div></div></div> <p>In February 2020, President <a href="/wiki/Donald_Trump" title="Donald Trump">Donald Trump</a> signed a conditional peace agreement with the <a href="/wiki/Taliban" title="Taliban">Taliban</a> and began withdrawing U.S. troops. In April 2021, President <a href="/wiki/Joe_Biden" title="Joe Biden">Joe Biden</a> announced that all remaining troops would be withdrawn by September. During August, the Taliban quickly began seizing parts of the country, culminating in the Taliban's capture of the capital city of Kabul on 15 August. While resistance continues, one of the last resistance strongholds (Panjshir Valley) fell to the Taliban at the start of September.<sup id="cite_ref-100" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-100">[100]</a></sup> </p><p>In the course of withdrawing a US military presence, a coalition of the US, UK, and others quickly moved to evacuate their own citizens and Afghans who may have assisted the coalition during the conflict, with total evacuees numbering at least 123,000.<sup id="cite_ref-101" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-101">[101]</a></sup> During this mass evacuation, a member of <a href="/wiki/ISIS" class="mw-redirect" title="ISIS">ISIS</a>-K murdered at least 95 people and injured many more at the Kabul airport, where the evacuation was taking place.<sup id="cite_ref-102" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-102">[102]</a></sup> In a show of violence begetting violence, the US launched two retaliatory drone strikes against ISIS members that resulted in some dead ISIS agents in exchange for 10 innocent civilians.<sup id="cite_ref-103" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-103">[103]</a></sup> What a great way to cap a 20-year occupation. </p><p>Despite various promises to promote equality and provide amnesty to Afghan loyalists- even explicitly saying that Taliban enforcers will <i>not</i> go door to door seeking retribution<sup id="cite_ref-104" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-104">[104]</a></sup> - the Taliban quickly began showing their true colors. It was reported that the Taliban started hunting down and executing former members of the Afghan military<sup id="cite_ref-105" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-105">[105]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-106" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-106">[106]</a></sup> and hunting down others who had collaborated with the US or had worked for the Afghan government.<sup id="cite_ref-107" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-107">[107]</a></sup> </p><p>On 7 September, the Taliban announced the new government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. This included Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, a senior member of the last Taliban government, as Interim Prime Minister. Sirajuddin Haqqani, who is wanted by the FBI, got the position of Interior Minister.<sup id="cite_ref-108" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-108">[108]</a></sup> </p><p>Almost immediately after the Taliban took over, the Afghanistani economy and bank system collapsed, which has led the country to face famine.<sup id="cite_ref-109" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-109">[109]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-110" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-110">[110]</a></sup> It has now reversed back to the extreme Islamic laws and has become embroiled in an ongoing conflict against the local ISIS branch. </p> <h4><span class="mw-headline" id="Isolation_and_the_opium_trade">Isolation and the opium trade</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Isolation and the opium trade">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h4> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:412px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Poppy_Cultivation_in_Afghanistan.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Poppy_Cultivation_in_Afghanistan.jpg/410px-Poppy_Cultivation_in_Afghanistan.jpg" decoding="async" width="410" height="272" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Poppy_Cultivation_in_Afghanistan.jpg/615px-Poppy_Cultivation_in_Afghanistan.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Poppy_Cultivation_in_Afghanistan.jpg/820px-Poppy_Cultivation_in_Afghanistan.jpg 2x" data-file-width="4542" data-file-height="3009" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Poppy_Cultivation_in_Afghanistan.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Afghani farmers work the poppy fields in Helmand Province.</div></div></div> <p>As a result of international shunning of the Taliban regime, many people in Afghanistan have found no recourse but to grow and sell poppy, primarily for international export.<sup id="cite_ref-drugtrade_111-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-drugtrade-111">[111]</a></sup> Farmers, soldiers, and local leaders have been told that prosecuting the drug economy is "vital" to securing much needed humanitarian aid, but dealers and users in Kabul, where particularly harsh crackdowns have occurred, have said that supply is "undiminished," and have even alleged that Taliban soldiers themselves are dealing drugs on the side.<sup id="cite_ref-drugtrade_111-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-drugtrade-111">[111]</a></sup> The Taliban's own "war on drugs" also runs the risk of alienating the Taliban's traditional base of support, whose income derives in large part from the opioid industry.<sup id="cite_ref-drugtrade_111-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-drugtrade-111">[111]</a></sup> </p><p>As <i>Foreign Policy Magazine</i> explains:<sup id="cite_ref-drugtrade_111-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-drugtrade-111">[111]</a></sup> </p> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>With international aid and trade largely suspended, opium and meth became the last economic lifeline for many in provinces such as Kandahar and Helmand. In a country where the public sector minimum wage is under $60 per month, foraging for ephedra can bring in $30 per day, which, although laborious, takes no special skills or investment—traders even travel to pick up the product. In the traditional Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, poppy cultivation raises around $400 million a year for farming families.</div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> <p>One Talib soldier in particular has explained that in the 15 years he has worked for the Taliban, he has never received a salary:<sup id="cite_ref-drugtrade_111-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-drugtrade-111">[111]</a></sup> </p> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>...including the 30-year-old Talib resting his Kalashnikov rifle on his knees in the front seat of our car. The soldier said he has received no salary for the 15 years that he has served in the Taliban forces and doesn’t know how he’ll support his family without growing opium.</div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> <p>While an uninterrupted supply does not itself prove that cultivation of opium has continued under Taliban rule, it does contradict official Taliban claims that heroin and opium has been eradicated from Afghanistan.<sup id="cite_ref-drugtrade_111-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-drugtrade-111">[111]</a></sup> In fact there is evidence that the Taliban has consented to continued opium production. Some farmers have openly told journalists that they were "allowed" to go ahead with the harvest of their yields, and India has busted a heroin production operation ran by Afghan nationals.<sup id="cite_ref-drugtrade_111-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-drugtrade-111">[111]</a></sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Government_of_the_fallen_republic">Government of the fallen republic</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Government of the fallen republic">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Afghan_parliament_in_2006.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Afghan_parliament_in_2006.jpg/330px-Afghan_parliament_in_2006.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="200" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Afghan_parliament_in_2006.jpg/500px-Afghan_parliament_in_2006.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Afghan_parliament_in_2006.jpg/960px-Afghan_parliament_in_2006.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3024" data-file-height="2016" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Afghan_parliament_in_2006.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Inside Afghanistan's parliament building.</div></div></div> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Elections_and_incompetence">Elections and incompetence</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Elections and incompetence">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>After the US rolled in and threw the Taliban out of Kabul, Afghanistan was theoretically a democratic republic. Theoretically. On paper, Afghanistan's new government has all of the limbs and extremities it should have, like a legislature and an independent judiciary. In reality, structural deficiencies have persisted from the very beginning. In the first round of elections in 2005, Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's first president, immediately set about preventing the formation of powerful political parties and instead favoring an ethnic-loyalty-based approach.<sup id="cite_ref-112" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-112">[112]</a></sup> His strategy for maintaining power was getting the majority Pashtun ethnic group, of which he is a member, to support him just because he is a fellow Pashtun. As <a href="/wiki/Liberia" title="Liberia">other</a> <a href="/wiki/Sudan" title="Sudan">historical</a> <a href="/wiki/Uganda" title="Uganda">examples</a> have shown, organizing politics around ethnicity never ends well. </p><p>From that stellar beginning, the Afghan government has transformed into a useless and untrustworthy institution. The government did nothing to bolster its legitimacy against the Taliban and took no action against corruption or poverty. Things then really went south in the 2014 elections, where the government disqualified 16 candidates, and everybody left accused everybody else of committing election fraud.<sup id="cite_ref-113" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-113">[113]</a></sup> The two lead candidates agreed to form a "unity government", which has proven even more ineffective than what came before. Corruption got worse, elections were repeatedly postponed, opposition groups faced official hostility, and insurgent groups attacked civilians with impunity.<sup id="cite_ref-114" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-114">[114]</a></sup> </p><p>And it's not like the people don't want democracy to work. In February 2020, the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies conducted a general survey across Afghanistan's 34 provinces which found that over 68 percent of respondents preferred the post-2001 political system compared to the Taliban's theocracy; over 80 percent of respondents believed that popular elections made the government legitimate. About 80 percent also supported most elements of a democratic regime, such as women’s rights and liberties, social equality, and freedom of expression.<sup id="cite_ref-115" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-115">[115]</a></sup> These results show that Afghanistan's democracy problems come from the top, not the bottom. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Corruption">Corruption</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: Corruption">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:Afghan_market_teeming_with_vendors_and_shoppers_2-4-09.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Afghan_market_teeming_with_vendors_and_shoppers_2-4-09.jpg/300px-Afghan_market_teeming_with_vendors_and_shoppers_2-4-09.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="194" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Afghan_market_teeming_with_vendors_and_shoppers_2-4-09.jpg/450px-Afghan_market_teeming_with_vendors_and_shoppers_2-4-09.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Afghan_market_teeming_with_vendors_and_shoppers_2-4-09.jpg/600px-Afghan_market_teeming_with_vendors_and_shoppers_2-4-09.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3015" data-file-height="1948" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:Afghan_market_teeming_with_vendors_and_shoppers_2-4-09.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Market scene in Kabul.</div></div></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>Our government is weak and ineffective in comparison to other governments. But the big corruption, the hundreds of millions of dollars of corruption, it was not Afghan. The contracts, the subcontracts, the blind contracts given to people, money thrown around [by the US] to buy loyalties, money thrown around to buy submissiveness of Afghan government officials, to policies and designs that the Afghans would not agree to. That was the major part of corruption.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Hamid Karzai responds to corruption allegations against his government in 2013.<sup id="cite_ref-116" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-116">[116]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Apart from terrorism, Afghanistan's biggest problem seems to be corruption. Various corruption watchdog reports regularly indicate corruption is endemic throughout Afghan society; officials collect bribes, police participate in crimes, people are jailed arbitrarily to coerce payment from family members, <a href="/wiki/Tax" title="Tax">taxes</a> are just entirely fucked, and the black market is omnipresent.<sup id="cite_ref-corrupt_117-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-corrupt-117">[117]</a></sup> In US dollars, Afghans paid an estimated $3 billion in bribes.<sup id="cite_ref-corrupt_117-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-corrupt-117">[117]</a></sup> Part of that is just cultural, as Afghans have always done business based on personal, familial, ethnic, and historical relationships rather than laws. </p><p>However, a lot of that corruption can be traced back to the fact that the US has irresponsibly dumped billions of dollars into the region without really giving a shit where that money went. This came to light when Hamid Karzai complained about the media's portrayal of his government as a kleptocracy by acknowledging the fact and then pointing out that much of the responsibility for that fact lay at Americans' feet. Michael Kugelman, deputy director of the Asia Program at the U.S.-based Wilson Center, assessed Karzai's comments by saying: "I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say that the US used corruption as a tool, but... US officials have thrown huge amounts of money at Afghanistan knowing full well that this would lead to more corruption than development or peace."<sup id="cite_ref-118" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-118">[118]</a></sup> Indeed, the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, estimated that 40% of US aid to Afghanistan since 2001 has been pocketed by officials, gangsters, warlords, drug lords, and insurgents.<sup id="cite_ref-119" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-119">[119]</a></sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Gallery">Gallery</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: Gallery">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <center><ul class="gallery mw-gallery-traditional"> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:64px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Kabul-Pano_By_Dani.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Kabul-Pano_By_Dani.jpg/250px-Kabul-Pano_By_Dani.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="127" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Kabul-Pano_By_Dani.jpg/500px-Kabul-Pano_By_Dani.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="2500" data-file-height="1406" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Kabul by night. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:52.5px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Afghani_lamb_kebab.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Afghani_lamb_kebab.jpg/250px-Afghani_lamb_kebab.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="150" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Afghani_lamb_kebab.jpg/500px-Afghani_lamb_kebab.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="2304" data-file-height="1536" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Afghan lamb kebab with yellow saffron rice. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:44.5px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Band_e_Paneer.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Band_e_Paneer.jpg/250px-Band_e_Paneer.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="166" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Band_e_Paneer.jpg/500px-Band_e_Paneer.jpg 1.5x" data-file-width="753" data-file-height="557" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Band-e Amir National Park in Bamyan Province. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:64px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Women_of_Afghanistan.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Women_of_Afghanistan.jpg/225px-Women_of_Afghanistan.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="127" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Women_of_Afghanistan.jpg/338px-Women_of_Afghanistan.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Women_of_Afghanistan.jpg/450px-Women_of_Afghanistan.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1918" data-file-height="1080" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Afghan women. </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 260px"><div style="width: 260px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 255px;"><div style="margin:52.5px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Friday_Mosque_in_Herat,_Afghanistan.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Friday_Mosque_in_Herat%2C_Afghanistan.jpg/225px-Friday_Mosque_in_Herat%2C_Afghanistan.jpg" decoding="async" width="225" height="150" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Friday_Mosque_in_Herat%2C_Afghanistan.jpg/338px-Friday_Mosque_in_Herat%2C_Afghanistan.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Friday_Mosque_in_Herat%2C_Afghanistan.jpg/450px-Friday_Mosque_in_Herat%2C_Afghanistan.jpg 2x" data-file-width="904" data-file-height="601" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>The Great Mosque of Herat. </p> </div> </div></li> </ul></center> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: See also">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/George_W._Bush" title="George W. Bush">George W. Bush</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/War_on_Terror" title="War on Terror">War on Terror</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iraq_War" title="Iraq War">Iraq War</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iran" title="Iran">Iran</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pakistan" title="Pakistan">Pakistan</a></li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: References">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; -webkit-column-count:2; column-count:2; font-size:80%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-1">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/young_british_soldier.html">The Young British Soldier</a>. <i>Poetry Lovers' Page</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-graveyard-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-graveyard_2-0">2.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-graveyard_2-1">2.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-graveyard_2-2">2.2</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-graveyard_2-3">2.3</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-graveyard_2-4">2.4</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://thediplomat.com/2017/06/why-is-afghanistan-the-graveyard-of-empires/">Why Is Afghanistan the ‘Graveyard of Empires’?</a> <i>The Diplomat.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-3">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.voanews.com/episode/experts-mull-us-legacy-after-20-years-afghanistan-4779356">Experts Mull US Legacy After 20 Years in Afghanistan</a> <i>VOA News.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-4">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://larc.sdsu.edu/alcp/resources/afghanistan/culture-2/pashtunwali/">Pashtunwali</a> Afghanistan Language and Culture Program.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-5">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Rashid, Ahmed (2000), <i>Taliban</i>, p. 187, ISBN 1 86064 417 1</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-6">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Afghanistan.html">Afghanistan</a>. US State Department.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-7">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Langer, William L., ed. (1972). An Encyclopedia of World History (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. pp. 9. ISBN 0-395-13592-3.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-8">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ancient.eu/Indus_Valley_Civilization/">Indus Valley Civilization</a>. <i>Ancient History Encyclopedia.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-whis.22-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-whis.22_9-0">9.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-whis.22_9-1">9.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-whis.22_9-2">9.2</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Afghanistan" class="extiw" title="wp:History of Afghanistan" rel="nofollow">History of Afghanistan</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-10">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (1987). <i>E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam</i>, 1913-1936. 2. BRILL. p. 150. ISBN 90-04-08265-4. Retrieved 2010-09-24.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-11">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kandahar" class="extiw" title="wp:Kandahar" rel="nofollow">Kandahar</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-12">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Puri, Baij Nath (1987). <i>Buddhism in central Asia</i>. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 352. ISBN 81-208-0372-8.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-13">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kandahar_Bilingual_Rock_Inscription" class="extiw" title="wp:Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription" rel="nofollow">Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-14">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-bamiyan-buddhas-195108">The History of Afghanistan's Bamiyan Buddhas</a>. <i>ThoughtCo.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-EndeSteinbach2010-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-EndeSteinbach2010_15-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r2708880">/* Errors processing stylesheet [[:Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css]] (rev 2708880): • Invalid or unsupported value for property ⧼code⧽background⧼/code⧽ at line 44 character 14. • Invalid or unsupported value for property ⧼code⧽background⧼/code⧽ at line 50 character 14. • Invalid or unsupported value for property ⧼code⧽background⧼/code⧽ at line 55 character 14. • Invalid or unsupported value for property ⧼code⧽background⧼/code⧽ at line 64 character 14. • Invalid or unsupported value for property ⧼code⧽color⧼/code⧽ at line 96 character 9. • Invalid or unsupported value for property ⧼code⧽color⧼/code⧽ at line 100 character 9. • Invalid media query at line 138 character 8. */ .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFEndeSteinbach2010" class="citation book cs1">Ende, Werner; Steinbach, Udo (15 April 2010). <i>Islam in the World Today: A Handbook of Politics, Religion, Culture, and Society</i>. Cornell University Press. p. 257. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780801464898" title="Special:BookSources/9780801464898"><bdi>9780801464898</bdi></a>. <q>At the time of the first Muslim advances, numerous local natural religions were competing with Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and Hinduism in the territory of modern Afghanistan.</q></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Islam+in+the+World+Today%3A+A+Handbook+of+Politics%2C+Religion%2C+Culture%2C+and+Society&rft.pages=257&rft.pub=Cornell+University+Press&rft.date=2010-04-15&rft.isbn=9780801464898&rft.aulast=Ende&rft.aufirst=Werner&rft.au=Steinbach%2C+Udo&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Frationalwiki.org%3AAfghanistan" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-islam-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-islam_16-0">16.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-islam_16-1">16.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/7.htm">Afghanistan: Islamic Conquest</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-17">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmud_of_Ghazni" class="extiw" title="wp:Mahmud of Ghazni" rel="nofollow">Mahmud of Ghazni</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-18">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/8.htm">Ghaznavid and Ghorid Rule</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-19">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.orientalarchitecture.com/sid/845/afghanistan/kabul/bagh-e-babur-garden">Bagh-e Babur Garden, Kabul, Afghanistan</a>. <i>Oriental Architecture.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-20">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130723185841/https://faculty.washington.edu/modelski/CAWC.htm">Central Asian world cities?</a> <i>University of Washington.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-21">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110513040037/http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-02-17-afghanistan-forces_N.htm">Obama's war: Deploying 17,000 raises stakes in Afghanistan</a>. <i>USA Today.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-timurlenk-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-timurlenk_22-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Timur">Timur</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-23">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.historyanswers.co.uk/news/why-hamilton-doesnt-live-up-to-the-hype/">Tamerlane’s Reign of Terror</a> <i>History Answers UK</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-24">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://listverse.com/2018/01/15/10-terrors-of-the-tyrant-tamerlane/">10 Terrors Of The Tyrant Tamerlane</a> <i>Listverse</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-herat-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-herat_25-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.lonelyplanet.com/afghanistan/herat-and-northwestern-afghanistan/herat/history">Herat: History</a>. <i>Lonely Planet.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-26">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/timu/hd_timu.htm">The Art of the Timurid Period (ca. 1370–1507)</a>. <i>Metropolitan Museum of Art.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-27">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babur" class="extiw" title="wp:Babur" rel="nofollow">Babur</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-28">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardens_of_Babur" class="extiw" title="wp:Gardens of Babur" rel="nofollow">Gardens of Babur</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-mughals-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-mughals_29-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.thoughtco.com/the-mughal-empire-in-india-195498">The Mughal Empire in India</a>. <i>ThoughtCo.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-mughsaf-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-mughsaf_30-0">30.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-mughsaf_30-1">30.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-mughsaf_30-2">30.2</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/10.htm">Mughal-Safavid Rivalry, ca. 1500-1747</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-31"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-31">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ahmad-Shah-Durrani">Aḥmad Shah Durrānī</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-32"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-32">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/11.htm">Ahmad Shah</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-33"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-33">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/12.htm">The Great Game</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-34"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-34">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Anglo-Afghan_War" class="extiw" title="wp:First Anglo-Afghan War" rel="nofollow">First Anglo-Afghan War</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-35"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-35">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/13.htm">The First Anglo-Afghan War</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-second-36"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-second_36-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/14.htm">The Second Anglo-Afghan War</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-secondwar-37"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-secondwar_37-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.thoughtco.com/britains-second-war-in-afghanistan-1773763">The Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880)</a>. <i>ThoughtCo.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-38"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-38">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.thoughtco.com/britains-second-war-in-afghanistan-1773763">The Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880)</a>. <i>ThoughtCo.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-39"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-39">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Anglo-Afghan_War" class="extiw" title="wp:Second Anglo-Afghan War" rel="nofollow">Second Anglo-Afghan War</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-40"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-40">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/news/durand-line/">The Durand Line</a> <i>National Geographic.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-41"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-41">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Game" class="extiw" title="wp:The Great Game" rel="nofollow">The Great Game</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-thirdwar-42"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-thirdwar_42-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Anglo-Afghan_War" class="extiw" title="wp:Third Anglo-Afghan War" rel="nofollow">Third Anglo-Afghan War</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-43"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-43">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Barthorp, Michael (2002) [1982]. <i>Afghan Wars and the North-West Frontier 1839–1947</i>. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-36294-8., p. 157</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-44"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-44">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Tom Lansford (16 February 2017). <i>Afghanistan at War: From the 18th-Century Durrani Dynasty to the 21st Century</i>. ABC CLIO. p. 146.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-civwar-45"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-civwar_45-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1928%E2%80%931929)" class="extiw" title="wp:Afghan Civil War (1928–1929)" rel="nofollow">Afghan Civil War (1928–1929)</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-46"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-46">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Hafizullah, Emadi (2005). <i>Culture and customs of Afghanistan</i>. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 35. ISBN 0-313-33089-1.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-47"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-47">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.rferl.org/a/1103837.html">Afghanistan: History Of 1973 Coup Sheds Light On Relations With Pakistan</a>. <i>Radio Free Europe</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-48"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-48">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Eur (2002). <i>The Far East and Australasia</i>. 2003. Psychology Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-85743-133-9.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-49"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-49">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Anthony Hyman (27 July 2016). <i>Afghanistan under Soviet Domination, 1964–91</i>. Springer. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-349-21948-3.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-50"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-50">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_Afghan_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat" class="extiw" title="wp:1973 Afghan coup d'état" rel="nofollow">1973 Afghan coup d'état</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-51"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-51">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Kamali, Mohammad Hashim (January 1985). <i>Law in Afghanistan: A Study of the Constitutions, Matrimonial Law and the Judiciary.</i> ISBN 9004071288.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-commiecoup-52"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-commiecoup_52-0">52.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-commiecoup_52-1">52.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-commiecoup_52-2">52.2</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-commiecoup_52-3">52.3</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-commiecoup_52-4">52.4</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/05/afghanistan-saur-revolution-communists-soviet-intervention">Remembering the Saur Revolution</a>. <i>Jacobin.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-53"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-53">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saur_Revolution" class="extiw" title="wp:Saur Revolution" rel="nofollow">Saur Revolution</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-54"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-54">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/reports/political-landscape/an-april-day-that-changed-afghanistan-four-decades-after-the-leftist-takeover/">An April Day That Changed Afghanistan 1: Four decades after the leftist takeover</a>. <i>Afghanistan Analysts Network</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-55"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-55">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Democratic_Party_of_Afghanistan" class="extiw" title="wp:People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan" rel="nofollow">People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-pdpa-56"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-pdpa_56-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/29.htm">Communism and Rebellion</a>. <i>Country Studies.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-57"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-57">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1400550/1930_1496219216_int-cat-nhs-afg-27258-e.pdf">Shadow Report on the Realization and Implementation of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishmeut in Afghanistan</a>. Afghanistan Independent Hnman Rights Commission (AIHRC).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-58"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-58">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Rasanayagam, Angelo (2005). <i>Afghanistan: A Modern History.</i> I.B.Tauris. p. 73. ISBN 978-1850438571.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-outbreak-59"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-outbreak_59-0">59.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-outbreak_59-1">59.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/83854.stm">Afghanistan: 20 years of bloodshed</a>. <i>BBC News.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-sovietwar-60"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-sovietwar_60-0">60.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-sovietwar_60-1">60.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-sovietwar_60-2">60.2</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-sovietwar_60-3">60.3</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-sovietwar_60-4">60.4</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/soviet-experience-afghanistan-getting-history-right">The Soviet Experience in Afghanistan: Getting History Right</a>. <i>Lawfare.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-61"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-61">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Summer_Olympics_boycott" class="extiw" title="wp:1980 Summer Olympics boycott" rel="nofollow">1980 Summer Olympics boycott</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-sovietwarii-62"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-sovietwarii_62-0">62.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-sovietwarii_62-1">62.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-sovietwarii_62-2">62.2</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-sovietwarii_62-3">62.3</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-sovietwarii_62-4">62.4</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.thoughtco.com/the-soviet-invasion-of-afghanistan-195102">The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, 1979 - 1989</a>. <i>ThoughtCo.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-63"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-63">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://warontherocks.com/2015/09/boozing-through-the-soviet-afghan-war-was-more-horrifying-than-you-can-imagine/">BOOZING THROUGH THE SOVIET–AFGHAN WAR WAS MORE HORRIFYING THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE</a>. <i>War on the Rocks.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-madtaliban-64"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-madtaliban_64-0">64.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-madtaliban_64-1">64.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-taliban-who-they-are-what-they-want-2352797">History of the Taliban</a>. <i>ThoughtCo.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-65"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-65">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Barfield, Thomas (2012). <i>Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History</i>. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-15441-1. p. 239, 244</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-66"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-66">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Civil_War_(1989%E2%80%931992)" class="extiw" title="wp:Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)" rel="nofollow">Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-risetaliban-67"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-risetaliban_67-0">67.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-risetaliban_67-1">67.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.npr.org/2010/12/07/131884473/Afghanistan-After-The-Soviet-Withdrawal">Chaos After Soviet Withdrawal Gave Rise To Taliban</a>. <i>NPR.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-oritaliban-68"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-oritaliban_68-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/taliban-afghanistan">The Taliban in Afghanistan</a>. by Zachary Laub. <i>Council on Foreign Relations.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-britaliban-69"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-britaliban_69-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Taliban">Taliban</a>. <i>Britannica.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-70"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-70">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Emirate_of_Afghanistan" class="extiw" title="wp:Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" rel="nofollow">Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-talibad-71"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-talibad_71-0">71.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-talibad_71-1">71.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-talibad_71-2">71.2</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.thoughtco.com/taliban-rules-decrees-laws-and-prohibitions-2352763">Taliban Rules, Decrees, Laws and Prohibitions</a>. <i>ThoughtCo.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-72"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-72">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/05/31/afghanistan.women/">Taliban bars women aid drivers</a>. <i>CNN.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-talibadi-73"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-talibadi_73-0">73.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-talibadi_73-1">73.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/6185.htm">Report on the Taliban's War Against Women</a>. US State Department Archives.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-74"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-74">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.rawa.org/beard2.htm">Taliban religious police jail beard-trimmers for 10 days</a>. <i>Rawa News.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-75"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-75">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/asia-jan-june01-afghanistan_05-24">Taliban Defends Plan for Labeling Non-Muslims</a>. <i>PBS.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-76"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-76">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhas_of_Bamyan" class="extiw" title="wp:Buddhas of Bamyan" rel="nofollow">Buddhas of Bamyan</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-77"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-77">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jan/09/how-the-heroin-trade-explains-the-us-uk-failure-in-afghanistan">How the heroin trade explains the US-UK failure in Afghanistan</a>. <i>The Guardian.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-78"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-78">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://nationalinterest.org/feature/taliban-and-changing-nature-pashtun-nationalism-41182">The Taliban and the Changing Nature of Pashtun Nationalism</a>. <i>National Interest.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-79"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-79">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Alliance" class="extiw" title="wp:Northern Alliance" rel="nofollow">Northern Alliance</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-80"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-80">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanawatai" class="extiw" title="wp:Nanawatai" rel="nofollow">Nanawatai</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-81"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-81">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100203183031/http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report.pdf">911 Commission 2004</a>, p. 66.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-82"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-82">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/sep/21/september11.usa15">Taliban defy Bush ultimatum</a> <i>The Guardian</i>. September 21, 2001</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-83"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-83">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/bush-rejects-taliban-offer-to-surrender-bin-laden-9143208.html">Bush rejects Taliban offer to surrender bin Laden</a> <i>The Independent</i>. 15 October 2001</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-84"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-84">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/operation-enduring-freedom-the-first-49-days-4/">21st Century Horse Soldiers – Special Operations Forces and Operation Enduring Freedom</a> <i>Defense Media Network</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-85"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-85">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://armedforcesjournal.com/special-forces-and-horses/">Special forces and horses</a> <i>Armed Forces Journal</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-86"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-86">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol49no4/War_on_Terror_9.htm">First In: An Insider’s Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan</a> CIA. Review. J. Daniel Moore</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-87"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-87">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ipsnews.net/2011/05/us-refusal-of-2001-taliban-offer-gave-bin-laden-a-free-pass/">US Refusal of 2001 Taliban Offer Gave bin Laden a Free Pass</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-88"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-88">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/we-really-did-have-a-chance-at-bin-laden/">We Really Did Have a Chance at Bin Laden</a> <i>Brookings Institute</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-toraboraii-89"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-toraboraii_89-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2009/12/11/how-osama-bin-laden-escaped-2/">How Osama bin Laden Escaped</a> <i>Foreign Policy</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-90"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-90">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">[Collapse of the Taliban] <i>The Guardian</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-91"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-91">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.worldpress.org/specials/pp/brief_taliban_timeline.htm">The Rise and Fall of the Taliban</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-92"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-92">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Afghanistan" class="extiw" title="wp:Politics of Afghanistan" rel="nofollow">Politics of Afghanistan</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-93"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-93">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/weekinreview/10rohde.html">Al Qaeda Finds Its Center of Gravity</a> <i>The New York Times</i>. Sep 10, 2006</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-94"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-94">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110516090753/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/07/AR2009120704127.html">Taliban shadow officials offer concrete alternative</a>. <i>Washington Post.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-95"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-95">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/costs/human/civilians/afghan">AFGHAN CIVILIANS</a><i>Costs of War</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-96"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-96">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="archive_link"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html">U.S. Identifies Vast Mineral Riches in Afghanistan</a><sup>[<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://archive.is/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html">a</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html">w</a>]</sup></span>, <i>New York Times</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-97"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-97">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="archive_link"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/06/afghanistan-strikes-it-rich/">Afghanistan Strikes It Rich</a><sup>[<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://archive.is/https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/06/afghanistan-strikes-it-rich/">a</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/06/afghanistan-strikes-it-rich/">w</a>]</sup></span>, <i>Mother Jones</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-98"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-98">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="archive_link"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/18/business/afghanistan-lithium-rare-earths-mining/index.html">The Taliban are sitting on $1 trillion worth of minerals the world desperately needs</a><sup>[<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://archive.is/https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/18/business/afghanistan-lithium-rare-earths-mining/index.html">a</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/18/business/afghanistan-lithium-rare-earths-mining/index.html">w</a>]</sup></span>, <i><a href="/wiki/CNN" title="CNN">CNN</a></i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-99"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-99">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="archive_link"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-24/china-s-eyes-1-trillion-of-minerals-with-risky-bet-on-taliban">China Eyes Afghanistan’s $1 Trillion of Minerals With Risky Bet on Taliban</a><sup>[<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://archive.is/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-24/china-s-eyes-1-trillion-of-minerals-with-risky-bet-on-taliban">a</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-24/china-s-eyes-1-trillion-of-minerals-with-risky-bet-on-taliban">w</a>]</sup></span>, <i>Bloomberg</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-100"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-100">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58484155">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58484155</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-101"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-101">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"> <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58283177">https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58283177</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-102"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-102">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"> <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58349010">https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58349010</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-103"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-103">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"> <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.npr.org/2021/08/30/1032367184/rockets-kabul-airport-deadline-us-troops-bomb">https://www.npr.org/2021/08/30/1032367184/rockets-kabul-airport-deadline-us-troops-bomb</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-104"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-104">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"> <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.npr.org/2021/08/17/1028376093/taliban-announces-amnesty-urges-women-to-join-government">https://www.npr.org/2021/08/17/1028376093/taliban-announces-amnesty-urges-women-to-join-government</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-105"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-105">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/08/31/taliban-hunting-killing-former-members-afghan-army/">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2021/08/31/taliban-hunting-killing-former-members-afghan-army/</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-106"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-106">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://news.yahoo.com/taliban-hunting-executing-u-allied-145335282.html">https://news.yahoo.com/taliban-hunting-executing-u-allied-145335282.html</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-107"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-107">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58271797">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58271797</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-108"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-108">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58235639">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58235639</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-109"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-109">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/11/11/afghanistan-facing-famine#">https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/11/11/afghanistan-facing-famine#</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-110"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-110">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.statista.com/chart/amp/26339/afghanistan-acute-food-insecurity-snapshot-figures/">https://www.statista.com/chart/amp/26339/afghanistan-acute-food-insecurity-snapshot-figures/</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-drugtrade-111"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-drugtrade_111-0">111.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-drugtrade_111-1">111.1</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-drugtrade_111-2">111.2</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-drugtrade_111-3">111.3</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-drugtrade_111-4">111.4</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-drugtrade_111-5">111.5</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-drugtrade_111-6">111.6</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="archive_link"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/02/01/taliban-afghanistan-drugs-war-ban-heroin-ephedra-economy/">Afghanistan: The Taliban's "War on Drugs" Could Backfire</a><sup>[<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://archive.is/https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/02/01/taliban-afghanistan-drugs-war-ban-heroin-ephedra-economy/">a</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/02/01/taliban-afghanistan-drugs-war-ban-heroin-ephedra-economy/">w</a>]</sup></span>, <i>Foreign Policy Magazine</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-112"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-112">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asia/afghanistan/afghanistan-s-new-legislature-making-democracy-work">Afghanistan’s New Legislature: Making Democracy Work</a>. <i>International Crisis Group.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-113"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-113">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">See the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a> article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Afghan_presidential_election" class="extiw" title="wp:2014 Afghan presidential election" rel="nofollow">2014 Afghan presidential election</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-114"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-114">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://thediplomat.com/2019/10/is-democracy-dying-in-afghanistan/">Is Democracy Dying in Afghanistan?</a> <i>The Diplomat.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-115"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-115">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://thediplomat.com/2020/02/what-kind-of-government-do-afghans-want/">What Kind of Government Do Afghans Want?</a> <i>The Diplomat.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-116"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-116">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-24433433">Afghanistan's Hamid Karzai says Nato caused 'great suffering'</a>. <i>BBC News.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-corrupt-117"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-corrupt_117-0">117.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-corrupt_117-1">117.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/afghanistan/corruption.htm">Corruption</a>. <i>Global Security.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-118"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-118">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2019/12/11/afghanistans-karzai-says-american-cash-fed-corruption/">Afghanistan’s Karzai says American cash fed corruption</a>. <i>Military Times.</i></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-119"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-119">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-12-11/us-spending-afghanistan-fueled-rampant-corruption-reports-says">US spending in Afghanistan fueled rampant corruption, reports say</a>. <i>Public Radio International</i>.</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div role="navigation" aria-labelledby="Nations_of_the_world-navigationbox" class="toccolours" style="clear:both; margin:0.5em 3.5%; text-align:center;"> <div style="margin:0.15em; padding:0.1em; background:#ccccff; font-weight:bold;"><span id="Nations_of_the_world-navigationbox"><a href="/wiki/Nation" title="Nation">Nations</a> of the world</span> </div> <div class="hlist" style="font-size: 90%; margin: 0.15em 1.425em;"><span style="float:left;"><big><a href="/wiki/Africa" title="Africa"><b>Africa</b></a>:</big></span><a href="/wiki/Algeria" title="Algeria">Algeria</a> — <a href="/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo" title="Democratic Republic of the Congo">Democratic Republic of the Congo</a> — <a href="/wiki/Egypt" title="Egypt">Egypt</a> — <a href="/wiki/Eritrea" title="Eritrea">Eritrea</a> — <a href="/wiki/ESwatini" title="ESwatini">eSwatini</a> — <a href="/wiki/Ethiopia" title="Ethiopia">Ethiopia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Guinea" title="Guinea">Guinea</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kenya" title="Kenya">Kenya</a> — <a href="/wiki/Liberia" title="Liberia">Liberia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Libya" title="Libya">Libya</a> — <a href="/wiki/Mali" title="Mali">Mali</a> — <a href="/wiki/Nigeria" title="Nigeria">Nigeria</a> — <a href="/wiki/Somalia" title="Somalia">Somalia</a> — <a href="/wiki/South_Africa" title="South Africa">South Africa</a> — <a href="/wiki/Sudan" title="Sudan">Sudan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Togo" title="Togo">Togo</a> — <a href="/wiki/Uganda" title="Uganda">Uganda</a> — <a href="/wiki/Zimbabwe" title="Zimbabwe">Zimbabwe</a> <p><span style="float:left;"><big><a href="/wiki/Asia" title="Asia"><b>Asia</b></a>:</big></span> <a class="mw-selflink selflink">Afghanistan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Armenia" title="Armenia">Armenia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Azerbaijan" title="Azerbaijan">Azerbaijan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Bahrain" title="Bahrain">Bahrain</a> — <a href="/wiki/Bangladesh" title="Bangladesh">Bangladesh</a> — <a href="/wiki/Brunei" title="Brunei">Brunei</a> — <a href="/wiki/Burma" title="Burma">Burma</a> — <a href="/wiki/Cambodia" title="Cambodia">Cambodia</a> — <a href="/wiki/China" title="China">China</a> — <a href="/wiki/Cyprus" title="Cyprus">Cyprus</a> — <a href="/wiki/Egypt" title="Egypt">Egypt</a> — <a href="/wiki/Georgia_(country)" title="Georgia (country)">Georgia</a> — <a href="/wiki/India" title="India">India</a> — <a href="/wiki/Indonesia" title="Indonesia">Indonesia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Iran" title="Iran">Iran</a> — <a href="/wiki/Iraq" title="Iraq">Iraq</a> — <a href="/wiki/Israel" title="Israel">Israel</a> — <a href="/wiki/Japan" title="Japan">Japan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Jordan" title="Jordan">Jordan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kazakhstan" title="Kazakhstan">Kazakhstan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kuwait" title="Kuwait">Kuwait</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kyrgyzstan" title="Kyrgyzstan">Kyrgyzstan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Laos" title="Laos">Laos</a> — <a href="/wiki/Lebanon" title="Lebanon">Lebanon</a> — <a href="/wiki/Malaysia" title="Malaysia">Malaysia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Maldives" title="Maldives">Maldives</a> — <a href="/wiki/Mongolia" title="Mongolia">Mongolia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Nepal" title="Nepal">Nepal</a> — <a href="/wiki/North_Korea" title="North Korea">North Korea</a> — <a href="/wiki/Oman" title="Oman">Oman</a> — <a href="/wiki/Pakistan" title="Pakistan">Pakistan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Palestine" title="Palestine">Palestine</a> — <a href="/wiki/Philippines" title="Philippines">Philippines</a> — <a href="/wiki/Qatar" title="Qatar">Qatar</a> — <a href="/wiki/Russia" title="Russia">Russia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Saudi_Arabia" title="Saudi Arabia">Saudi Arabia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Singapore" title="Singapore">Singapore</a> — <a href="/wiki/South_Korea" title="South Korea">South Korea</a> — <a href="/wiki/Syria" title="Syria">Syria</a> — <a href="/wiki/Tajikistan" title="Tajikistan">Tajikistan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Thailand" title="Thailand">Thailand</a> — <a href="/wiki/Timor-Leste" title="Timor-Leste">Timor-Leste</a> — <a href="/wiki/Turkey" title="Turkey">Turkey</a> — <a href="/wiki/Turkmenistan" title="Turkmenistan">Turkmenistan</a> — <a href="/wiki/United_Arab_Emirates" title="United Arab Emirates">United Arab Emirates</a> — <a href="/wiki/Uzbekistan" title="Uzbekistan">Uzbekistan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Vietnam" title="Vietnam">Vietnam</a> — <a href="/wiki/Yemen" title="Yemen">Yemen</a> <br /> </p><p><span style="float:left;"><big><a href="/wiki/Europe" title="Europe"><b>Europe</b></a>:</big></span> <a href="/wiki/Albania" title="Albania">Albania</a> — <a href="/wiki/Austria" title="Austria">Austria</a> — <a href="/wiki/Belarus" title="Belarus">Belarus</a> — <a href="/wiki/Belgium" title="Belgium">Belgium</a> — <a href="/wiki/Bosnia_and_Herzegovina" title="Bosnia and Herzegovina">Bosnia and Herzegovina</a> — <a href="/wiki/Bulgaria" title="Bulgaria">Bulgaria</a> — <a href="/wiki/Channel_Islands" title="Channel Islands">Channel Islands</a> — <a href="/wiki/Croatia" title="Croatia">Croatia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Cyprus" title="Cyprus">Cyprus</a> — <a href="/wiki/Czechia" title="Czechia">Czechia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Denmark" title="Denmark">Denmark</a> — <a href="/wiki/Estonia" title="Estonia">Estonia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Finland" title="Finland">Finland</a> — <a href="/wiki/France" title="France">France</a> — <a href="/wiki/Germany" title="Germany">Germany</a> — <a href="/wiki/Greece" title="Greece">Greece</a> — <a href="/wiki/Hungary" title="Hungary">Hungary</a> — <a href="/wiki/Iceland" title="Iceland">Iceland</a> — <a href="/wiki/Ireland" title="Ireland">Ireland</a> — <a href="/wiki/Isle_of_Man" title="Isle of Man">Isle of Man</a> — <a href="/wiki/Italy" title="Italy">Italy</a> — <a href="/wiki/Latvia" title="Latvia">Latvia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Lithuania" title="Lithuania">Lithuania</a> — <a href="/wiki/Moldova" title="Moldova">Moldova</a> — <a href="/wiki/Netherlands" title="Netherlands">Netherlands</a> — <a href="/wiki/North_Macedonia" title="North Macedonia">North Macedonia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Norway" title="Norway">Norway</a> — <a href="/wiki/Poland" title="Poland">Poland</a> — <a href="/wiki/Portugal" title="Portugal">Portugal</a> — <a href="/wiki/Romania" title="Romania">Romania</a> — <a href="/wiki/Russia" title="Russia">Russia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Serbia" title="Serbia">Serbia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Slovenia" title="Slovenia">Slovenia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Spain" title="Spain">Spain</a> — <a href="/wiki/Sweden" title="Sweden">Sweden</a> — <a href="/wiki/Switzerland" title="Switzerland">Switzerland</a> — <a href="/wiki/Turkey" title="Turkey">Turkey</a> — <a href="/wiki/Ukraine" title="Ukraine">Ukraine</a> — <a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom">United Kingdom</a> (<a href="/wiki/England" title="England">England</a>, <a href="/wiki/Northern_Ireland" title="Northern Ireland">Northern Ireland</a>, <a href="/wiki/Scotland" title="Scotland">Scotland</a>, <a href="/wiki/Wales" title="Wales">Wales</a>) — <a href="/wiki/Vatican_City" title="Vatican City">Vatican City</a> <br /> </p><p><span style="float:left;"><big><a href="/wiki/North_America" title="North America"><b>North America</b></a>:</big></span> <a href="/wiki/Canada" title="Canada">Canada</a> — <a href="/wiki/Costa_Rica" title="Costa Rica">Costa Rica</a> — <a href="/wiki/Cuba" title="Cuba">Cuba</a> — <a href="/wiki/El_Salvador" title="El Salvador">El Salvador</a> — <a href="/wiki/Grenada" title="Grenada">Grenada</a> — <a href="/wiki/Haiti" title="Haiti">Haiti</a> — <a href="/wiki/Jamaica" title="Jamaica">Jamaica</a> — <a href="/wiki/Mexico" title="Mexico">Mexico</a> — <a href="/wiki/Nicaragua" title="Nicaragua">Nicaragua</a> — <a href="/wiki/Panama" title="Panama">Panama</a> — <a href="/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a> (<a href="/wiki/Puerto_Rico" class="mw-redirect" title="Puerto Rico">Puerto Rico</a>) <br /> </p><p><span style="float:left;"><big><a href="/wiki/Oceania" title="Oceania"><b>Oceania</b></a>:</big></span> <a href="/wiki/Australia" title="Australia">Australia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kiribati" title="Kiribati">Kiribati</a> — <a href="/wiki/Nauru" title="Nauru">Nauru</a> — <a href="/wiki/New_Zealand" title="New Zealand">New Zealand</a> — <a href="/wiki/Papua_New_Guinea" title="Papua New Guinea">Papua New Guinea</a> — <a href="/wiki/Pitcairn_Islands" title="Pitcairn Islands">Pitcairn Islands</a> <br /> </p><p><span style="float:left;"><big><a href="/wiki/South_America" title="South America"><b>South America</b></a>:</big></span><a href="/wiki/Argentina" title="Argentina">Argentina</a> — <a href="/wiki/Bolivia" title="Bolivia">Bolivia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Brazil" title="Brazil">Brazil</a> — <a href="/wiki/Chile" title="Chile">Chile</a> (<a href="/wiki/Rapa_Nui" title="Rapa Nui">Rapa Nui</a>) — <a href="/wiki/Colombia" title="Colombia">Colombia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Ecuador" title="Ecuador">Ecuador</a> — <a href="/wiki/Falkland_Islands" title="Falkland Islands">Falkland Islands</a> (<a href="/wiki/Falkland_Islands" title="Falkland Islands"><small>Malvinas</small></a>)— <a href="/wiki/Paraguay" title="Paraguay">Paraguay</a> — <a href="/wiki/Peru" title="Peru">Peru</a> — <a href="/wiki/Uruguay" title="Uruguay">Uruguay</a> — <a href="/wiki/Venezuela" title="Venezuela">Venezuela</a> <br /> </p><p><span style="float:left;"><big><b>Separatist or disputed</b>:</big></span><a href="/wiki/Abkhazia" title="Abkhazia">Abkhazia</a> —<a href="/wiki/Catalonia" title="Catalonia">Catalonia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Greenland" title="Greenland">Greenland</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kashmir" title="Kashmir">Kashmir</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kosovo" title="Kosovo">Kosovo</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kurdistan" title="Kurdistan">Kurdistan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Micronation" title="Micronation">Micronation</a> — <a href="/wiki/Northern_Cyprus" title="Northern Cyprus">Northern Cyprus</a> — <a href="/wiki/Sealand" class="mw-redirect" title="Sealand">Sealand</a> — <a href="/wiki/Somaliland" title="Somaliland">Somaliland</a> — <a href="/wiki/South_Ossetia" title="South Ossetia">South Ossetia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Taiwan" title="Taiwan">Taiwan</a> — <a href="/wiki/Tibet" title="Tibet">Tibet</a> — <a href="/wiki/Transnistria" title="Transnistria">Transnistria</a> — <a href="/wiki/Western_Sahara" title="Western Sahara">Western Sahara</a> </p> <span style="float:left;"><big><b>Historical</b>:</big></span><a href="/wiki/Ancient_Egypt" title="Ancient Egypt">Ancient Egypt</a> — <a href="/wiki/Belgian_Congo" title="Belgian Congo">Belgian Congo</a> — <a href="/wiki/British_Empire" title="British Empire">British Empire</a> — <a href="/wiki/Confederate_States_of_America" title="Confederate States of America">Confederate States of America</a> — <a href="/wiki/East_Germany" title="East Germany">East Germany</a> — <a href="/wiki/French_colonial_empire" title="French colonial empire">French colonial empire</a> — <a href="/wiki/German_Empire" title="German Empire">German Empire</a> — <a href="/wiki/Holy_Roman_Empire" title="Holy Roman Empire">Holy Roman Empire</a> — <a href="/wiki/Imperial_China" title="Imperial China">Imperial China</a> — <a href="/wiki/Kingdom_of_Hawai%CA%BBi" title="Kingdom of Hawaiʻi">Kingdom of Hawaiʻi</a> — <a href="/wiki/Nazi_Germany" title="Nazi Germany">Nazi Germany</a> — <a href="/wiki/Rhodesia" title="Rhodesia">Rhodesia</a> — <a href="/wiki/Roman_Empire" title="Roman Empire">Roman Empire</a> — <a href="/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a> — <a href="/wiki/Vichy_France" title="Vichy France">Vichy France</a> — <a href="/wiki/Yugoslavia" title="Yugoslavia">Yugoslavia</a></div> </div>    </div></div><div class="printfooter">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&oldid=2674571">https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Afghanistan&oldid=2674571</a>"</div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Asian_countries" title="Category:Asian countries">Asian countries</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Authoritarian_regimes" title="Category:Authoritarian regimes">Authoritarian regimes</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Government_incompetence" title="Category:Government incompetence">Government incompetence</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Islamic_extremism" title="Category:Islamic extremism">Islamic extremism</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Islamism" 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