Afghanistan

Geography

Vakhan corridor

The Wakhan Corridor is a narrow territory in the Afghan province of Badakhshan, about 300 km long, 15 to 57 km wide in the valleys of the Pamir, Wahan and Pyanj rivers. This piece of Afghan land borders on one side - with China, on the other - with Tajikistan, on the third - with Pakistan.

Since 1895, it belongs to Afghanistan, when the Russian Empire concluded a treaty with the British to create a buffer zone between Central Asia and British India.

Since independence in 1947, Pakistani authorities have repeatedly raised the issue of "illegal" separation of part of Pakistani lands and the need for its return to Pakistan, but it did not reach a real solution to the demarcation of borders along the Durand line.

For 2022, this region is practically not controlled, which is used by various members of extremist organizations.

Population

Number

2022:41 million people

2018:36 million people

For 2018 - 36 million people.

2017:36 million people

As of 2017 - 36 million people.

Tribes

Hazaras

Hazaras profess Shiite Islam, which in 2023 makes them targets for IS militants. In 2022, terrorists attacked Hazara communities in Afghanistan several times.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan began to pursue a migration policy to relocate peoples from the north, including the Hazaras, to the south. Pashtuns from the south populate in their place.

As conceived by the Taliban, this should reduce the likelihood of organized riots and riots involving minorities against the Taliban. In theory, this is a completely logical step against the background of the recruitment of both the opposition and the IS "Vilayat Khorasan" people from this number.

And they did not forget about the uprising of Mehdi Mojahed Balkhabi in Kabul in 2022. The riot was suppressed, but forced to draw resources to stop the focus of disobedience in the province of Bamyan - in the region of the historical habitat of the Hazaras, rich in coal.

In December 2022, the flags of Khazarestan, the idea of ​ ​ an independent state that includes territories in central Afghanistan, were presented at rallies.

The scenario for the implementation of the power department of the so-called "Khazarestan" is futile, the Rybar channel wrote. The territory from which the separatists want to create a separate country is surrounded by the Hindu Kush mountain range. There are only a few roads to settlements, the blockade of which will make resistance meaningless.

Migration

2021: Net outflow over 4 years

Marriages

Allowed to have more than one spouse

Mortality

Traffic safety

Politics

Taliban

Main article: Taliban

Islamic State and Vilayat Khorasan

Main article: Islamic State (IS) formerly Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or Daesh)

• Vilayat Khorasan

Afghanistan National Resistance Front

Main article: FNSA (Afghanistan National Resistance Front)

Afghanistan United Front

When it comes to groups operating in Afghanistan, then in 2024 for the most part they are unknown and are nothing but a big name. Only a few of them tried to oppose the Taliban, but all this came to naught.

The United Front of Afghanistan was created by the former commander of the MTR of Afghanistan, Sami Sadat. During the Taliban offensive, he was the commander of the 215 corps, and then briefly became the commander of the MTR and promised the Taliban a "square of heaven." True, then he flew on the first flight from Kabul to London, where his family is located.

There he remained silent for almost a year, and in the fall of 2023 he announced the creation of the United Front of Afghanistan (OFA), after which he began to flash more often in various media and distribute interviews. In early July 2024, a new interview appeared on the website of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy, based in Washington, where he reiterated the growing threat of extremist expansion in the region.

Sadat is also a spokesman for Sadat Consultants Limited, a private consultancy headquartered in London. Its tasks include risk assessment and consultations on conducting various activities in crisis areas of the world.

Sadat received military training at the Command and Staff College in Britain, and then studied at the NATO Military Academy in Munich.

The Front itself has not yet distinguished itself by being unremarkable.

2022: Political crisis. Anti-Taliban movements

After the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban never achieved full stability in the country, facing active resistance in different parts of Afghanistan.

As of August 2022, more than a dozen different anti-Taliban organizations operate in the country, but not all of them impose an actual struggle with the current government.

Which groups are opposed to the Taliban?

• Afghanistan National Resistance Front.

The leader is Ahmad Masood. Valid from August 15, 2021. Areas of activity are Panjsher, Baghlan, Kapisa and Parwan. Tajiks prevail.

• Afghanistan Liberation Front.

The leader is Mohammad Yasin Zia, the ex-head of the General Staff, all former military. Valid from February 4, 2022. Areas of activity: Tahar, Kunduz and Badakhshan.

• Justice Movement.

The leader is Abdul Ghani Alipur. Valid since 2013. Areas of activity: Maidan Wardak, Gor, Daikundi, Ghazni, Uruzgan and Bamyan. Hazaras predominate.

• Afghanistan Free People's Front. Forces allied to Ahmad Masood. Valid from February 7, 2022. Areas of activity: Khost, Kapisa, Kabul, Parwan.

• Tigers of free Turkestan

Forces loyal to Yar Muhammad Dostum. Valid from February 7, 2022. Areas of activity: Jauzjan and Faryab. Uzbeks prevail.

• National Islamic Freedom Movement of Afghanistan.

Loyal to the general of the Afghan national army under the previous government, Khaled Aziz. Valid from February 23, 2022. Areas of activity: Nangarhar, Kunar and Helmand. Pashtuns predominate.

• Freedom and Democracy Front.

The ideologies of the late leader of the Hezb-e Wahdat organization, Abdul Ali Mazari, follow. Valid from March 24, 2022. Areas of activity: places of residence of Shiites, mainly Bamyan, Sari-Pul. Hazaras predominate.

• Supreme Resistance Council.

Loyal to one of the leaders of the Jamiat-e Islami party Atta Muhammad Nuru. Valid from March 25, 2022. Areas of activity: Sari-Pul, Samangan, Balkh. Tajiks and Hazaras prevail.

• Patriotic Front.

Valid from May 10, 2022. Areas of activity: Herat, Ghazni

Despite the abundance of anti-Taliban groups, there is no question of organized resistance. Only a small part of the groups are trying to fight the Taliban. The rest do not even make visibility.

Aside from the Afghan affiliate of Islamic State (Vilayat Khorasan), which has slightly different goals, there are only two groups fighting the Taliban regime - Ahmad Masood's Front for National Resistance of Afghanistan and the former head of the General Staff's Afghanistan Liberation Front.

The groups are fighting the Taliban in the northern and northeastern regions of the country, where mainly Tajiks and Uzbeks live.

Nevertheless, the fact that there are so many movements opposing the Taliban speaks of the current fragmentation of Afghan society. And even a common enemy in the face of the Taliban is not a significant factor in unification.

The rise to power of the Taliban provoked the formation of hotbeds of discontent and even greater fragmentation of the country into zones of influence of various groups.

One of the main complaints against the Taliban from both the international community and domestic forces is the lack of inclusivity in the cabinet. Representatives of ethnic minorities in the government are not represented at all or are included "for show."

The lack of any progress and attempts to solve this problem over the year further aggravated the internal political situation in Afghanistan, leaving representatives of ethnic minorities with no other option than military struggle.

Nevertheless, most of the anti-Taliban organizations that have declared their desire to fight the Taliban speak only on the virtual front: there is no confirmation of real battles with the Taliban.

The replenishment of the ranks at the expense of representatives of various ethnic minorities is offset by inter-group rivalry. This limits the ability to form offensive capabilities among Taliban opposition forces.

If Ahmad Masood's National Resistance Front has its own program and goals, and they are swinging to build almost a new Afghan statehood, then small groups are concentrating efforts only on their habitats. For example, this is how members of Hazara communities or the Nuristan separatist movement operate.

These groups compete for ideological, religious or political reasons: the prospect of any organized confrontation with the Taliban is vague.

Over the past year, the Taliban have been able to reorganize the armed forces: exercises are regularly held, military equipment is being restored. It was possible to consolidate the power resource.

Therefore, there is currently no actual threat to their power from militia units.

Economy of Afghanistan

Main article: Economy of Afghanistan

Armed Forces

2023: 1st most military and economic aid from the US in 23 years

The volume of directly military assistance for the Afghan army over the past twenty years amounted to $88 billion. The funds were used to equip the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANSOB). Of these funds, wages were paid, training was carried out, consumables, ammunition and fuel were purchased.

For comparison, $144 billion was spent on the needs of NGOs responsible for the formation of a loyal stratum of the population and private companies involved in the "restoration of Afghanistan."

US officials argue that it is extremely difficult for them to take an inventory of all the equipment that their troops have lost. It is unclear how much equipment was operational when the Taliban seized it. According to rough estimates, about a third of the $88 billion was spent on logistics, including the purchase of about 600 thousand small arms and ammunition.

In 2017-2019, the United States delivered 7 thousand machine guns and more than 20 thousand grenades to the Afghan armed forces. In the last two years alone, more than 18 million rounds of ammunition were delivered before the withdrawal. Between the announcement of the withdrawal of troops in April 2021 and July 2021 [after the decision to withdraw], the US Department of Defense provided the Afghan army with material worth more than $212 million, including missiles, explosives and ammunition.

Some of the equipment, aircraft, vehicles and weapons at the disposal of the Afghan army and the US contingent were destroyed or exported from Afghanistan. But a significant part remained.

According to the American side, several dozen aircraft and helicopters were rendered unusable at Kabul airport. Many aircraft in the hangars had glass broken, joysticks at the handles were cut off, technical compartments were opened and electronic units controlling the main systems were torn out.

On some of the planes, pilots from the US Air Force and Afghanistan transported themselves and their families to safety. 61 aircraft and helicopters were deployed to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

The captured planes make the Taliban the only terrorist group with an air force. After the seizure of numerous Afghan air bases, the Taliban reportedly have 13 aircraft and 44 helicopters at their disposal.

In addition, the Taliban received seven modern production drones Boeing and millions of artillery shells.

As "damaged" there are 70 armored vehicles with mine protection (MRAP) and 27 Hammers.

Only one of the military bases captured 70 modern sniper complexes and 900 small arms. In total, the US Department of Defense delivered more than 160,000 radio stations and communications to Afghanistan, as well as about 16,000 sets of night vision goggles.

All that the Taliban receive as a result of such seizures, they call "ganima" (military booty).

And although the resulting machine guns, mortars and artillery have already given the Taliban an advantage over their opponents, for example in the Panjshir Gorge, they cannot always reveal the potential of more complex and modern systems.

The volume and nomenclature of military equipment and equipment left by the US military suggests the intentional nature of such actions, in order to create a constant hotbed of tension not only for the Central African countries, but also for Iran, China and the Russian Federation, Rybar wrote. Given the fact that many generations of Afghans do not imagine themselves in a peaceful life in any capacity, it is easy to predict that the abandoned weapons will be actively involved in future conflicts.

2020: US military aid worth $2.761 billion

Education

2019: Number of years of education by citizens over 25

2018: Literacy rate

Health care

2021

The growth of cancer after the bombing of the United States by shells with depleted uranium

The Americans used ammunition filled with depleted uranium from Warthog A-10 attack aircraft and V-1V and V-2 bombers in Iraq, Yugoslavia and Afghanistan, although they officially deny this in 2023. In the battle of Tora Bora alone, about 32 GBU-31 bombs were fired. And if you look at the statistics, the situation with morbidity really looks depressing.

Even though there is still no accurate data on health problems in Afghanistan and will not be available in the coming years, the number of cancer patients is growing annually. In 2008, there were about 14 thousand of them, in 2009 - already 16 thousand.

According to the latest official figures for May 2023, released by WHO, the number diagnosed with cancer was 22,817. By 2035, a jump to 40 thousand cases was predicted. And these are only recorded cases of a specific disease without taking into account other consequences.

It is noteworthy that the largest number of people diagnosed with cancer were in the southeastern and southern provinces, including Nangarhar and Paktia, as well as Herat, Farah and Balkh, regions where American troops actively used aircraft to strike the Taliban.

Maternity leave less than 2 years

in

2020

Duration of guaranteed paid sick leave less than a month

Part of the population defecates on the street

Religion

2022: Drastic restrictions on women's rights

At the end of December 2022, the Taliban banned women from attending universities or working for non-governmental organizations, adding to this year's directives a ban on visiting gyms, amusement parks and public baths, as well as traveling more than 70 kilometers unaccompanied by men. The measures have sparked outrage among Afghans and the international community, with even some friendly Islamic countries speaking out against it.

2020: The country in the world leaders in the share of Muslims in the total population

Crime

Drug traffic

Main article: Drugs in Afghanistan

Prisons

2019: The minimum age for children to be jailed is 12

2018: Number of prisoners

History

2024: Introduction of a ban on photo and video shooting of people

At the end of October 2024, the Ministry of Morality of Afghanistan announced that it would gradually introduce a ban on the placement of images of people in the media. Many provinces have already announced restrictions, and some Taliban officials refuse to be photographed or filmed, journalists said.

The ban on the shooting and publication of images of living beings, namely humans and animals, provided for by the recently passed law on "vice and virtue," is associated with a strict interpretation of Islamic law. A complete ban has not yet been imposed, and many ministries and government officials in Kabul continue to publish photos of people. However, journalists have already expressed concern about the possibility of a full-scale crackdown.

Afghanistan introduces a complete ban on photo and video shooting of people

It seems that the supreme leader and his allies in Kandahar want to return the politics of the 90s, when images of living beings were under a complete ban, says Celia Mercier, head of the South Asian department of Reporters Without Borders (RSF). - However, some Taliban officials do not seem to quite agree with these new restrictions. In addition, the introduction of additional restrictions can lead to discontent among the population already affected by the ban on the education of girls, infringement of women's rights and many other measures.

According to the RSF report, the Kandahar affiliate state of the RTA news program stopped broadcasting provincial news following the announcement of the new law. At the same time, Afghanistan's largest television station Tolo News continues to show humans and animals, as does RTA's nationwide broadcasting. Although Mercier warned that "a total ban on filming people could indeed be imposed in the country," times have changed since the first Taliban rule smartphones , and televisions are now ubiquitous and it is now harder to get people under control.^[1]

2023

Magnitude 6.3 earthquake kills more than 2,400 people

On October 7, 2023, an earthquake with a maximum magnitude of 6.3 occurred in western Afghanistan. The epicenter was the Zinda Can district in the province of Herat.

The total death toll is more than 2,400, mainly women and children. The disaster affected the countryside - the city of Herat, located 30 km from the epicenter, was almost unaffected. The worst destruction was noted in Zinda Jan, Goryam, Gurlan and Kushak-e-Rabat Sangi districts.

The first aid to the victims was provided by local authorities and armed groups, helicopters and doctors were involved in the rescue operation.

He responded most quickly to what happened: Iran already on October 8, groups of rescuers with tents, blankets and food rations arrived from the border province of Khorasan Rezavi.

The next military board with humanitarian assistance was sent by Turkey, and support was also promised in Pakistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. China also allocated $200,000 through its Red Cross branch.

Forced and child labour, human trafficking, reduction of women's rights

On August 15, 2021, the radical Islamist paramilitary movement Taliban"" (banned RUSSIAN FEDERATION in a terrorist organization) took control of the territory of Afghanistan. Two years after this date, the Taliban continues to violate many human rights, as stated in the UN report published on August 14, 2023.

Two years ago, the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, and since then, the policies it imposes on the Afghan population have led to a permanent, systematic and shocking violation of multiple human rights, including the right to education, labor, freedom of speech, assembly and association, the UN said in a statement.

The authors of the document emphasize that women and girls, ethnic, religious and other minorities, people with disabilities, displaced persons, human rights defenders and other representatives of civil society, journalists, artists, teachers, as well as former civil servants and security officials suffer the most in the country. In particular, in December 2022, the Taliban authorities banned women from working in non-governmental organizations, and in April 2023 - in the UN. And in several provinces, girls over 10 are not allowed to study, while earlier the ban began with the 6th grade.

An estimated 16 million children in Afghanistan do not receive the basic nutrition and medical care needed for their well-being and development. In addition, forced and child labor, human trafficking and unsafe migration are observed.

There are also credible reports of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, widespread practices of arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, and arbitrary eviction.^[2]

The killing of the governor of the Afghan province of Badakhshan and the terrorist attack at his funeral

On June 8, 2023, another explosion occurred in Afghan Faizabad in Badakhshan province: a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device inside a mosque during the funeral service of Acting Governor Nissar Ahmad Ahmadi, who died in the terrorist attack a few days ago.

The attack, according to the Afghan publication Aamaj News, killed 11 people and injured 30, including former Baglan police chief Safiullah Samim and several other Taliban officials and warlords. And in the Pakistani Tribune they wrote about 50 killed and 25 wounded.

Most likely, militants of the IS terrorist organization Vilayat Khorasan, who had previously taken responsibility for the murder of Nissar Ahmadi, were involved in the incident, the Rybar channel wrote.

In this case, there is a curious parallel between the tactics of IS extremists and American military personnel during the war in Afghanistan. After eliminating any important goal with the UAV, the Americans inflicted another or several at the funeral, when the relatives and friends of the murdered man gathered there. Thus, the command of the US Armed Forces achieved its goal through dozens of so-called "related" victims. Vilayat Khorasan militants adopted the tactics of their actions.

2022: Kabul terror attack on Sikhs

On June 18, 2022, a terrorist attack took place in the temple of Sikhs Gurdwara Karte Parwan in Kabul. The armed extremist first detonated a hand grenade before barging into the building, firing a machine gun.

According to official media reports, two people were killed (one of them was an employee of the Taliban Ministry of Internal Affairs), seven were injured. The militants of the Afghan branch of the Vilayat Hurasan IG took responsibility for the attack. The reason was the words of the press secretary of the Indian ruling party about the prophet Muhammad.

2021: Taliban asserts control over entire territory of Afghanistan

On August 15, 2021, the Taliban announced the establishment of control over the entire territory of Afghanistan.

Acting Interior Minister Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal said Kabul would not be attacked and that the transition would be peaceful. He assures Kabul residents that security forces will ensure the city's security.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has resigned. The movement's delegation is holding talks with Afghan authorities at the presidential palace in Kabul.

The Taliban said that foreigners can leave Kabul, otherwise they need to register their stay with representatives of the movement.

The US will remove all staff, including the most senior, from its embassy in Kabul within 72 hours.

2019: US military bases

2018

Afghanistan, Syria and India are leaders in the number of journalists killed

China begins military infiltration of Afghanistan

In the spring of 2018, the Chinese began construction of a special training center in the Vakhan Gorge of Badakhshan Province (northeastern Afghanistan).

Under this pretext, China is expected to begin to form its own military contingent in Afghanistan. At the first stage, the Chinese plan to start a PLA battalion with appropriate weapons there, which will be based on the facility they built on an ongoing basis.

By this time, the PRC has long created military facilities on Tajik territory, which are supposed to become a "springboard" in the strategically important Wakhan corridor (Afghan Badakhshan province).

In the summer of 2018, a Hong Kong newspaper reported that the PRC had begun creating the first military training base in Badakhshan province. It was clarified that the Celestial Empire is ready to send there at least one battalion with weapons and equipment for training military personnel from the Islamic Republic of Iran, which cannot cope with security difficulties. It was just about basing in the Vakhan corridor, this triangle between Tajikistan, Pakistan and Chinese Xinjiang.

By this time, China is Afghanistan's largest business investor, even in the context of the still ongoing US military-political occupation. China has promised to spend more than $90 million dollars on development projects only in the northeastern province of Badakhshan.

2010

2007: China receives copper deposit

In 2007, the Chinese won the right to mine copper in Afghanistan in the amount of almost $3 billion (£1.45 billion), beating competitors from Russia, the United States and Canada.

1992

1989: Soviet withdrawal

1988

1987

1985

1980

1979: Entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in the context of relations with China

On January 1, 1979, diplomatic relations between the United States and the PRC were established. Deng Xiaoping visited the United States (January 29 - February 1) and soon parts of the PLA began an invasion of Vietnam (February 17).

The USSR responded by landing aircraft  with equipment on the Mongol-Chinese border and landing marines in Primorye, large-scale exercises in the South China Sea and military maneuvers of the Central Asian military district on the border with Xinjiang, as well as large-scale mobilization in the Far East, including the collection of trucks on collective farms of Siberia.

The PRC decided to stop the operation in Vietnam and began the withdrawal of troops. The USSR decided to leave part of the transferred forces on the border with the PRC.

On March 18, 1979, the leader of Afghanistan, N. Taraki, in a telephone conversation with the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, A. Kosygin, asked to send Soviet troops to Afghanistan, as hostile combat units were being transferred from Iran and Pakistan.

To Moscow Meetings began. However, already on September 16, Taraki was overthrown, and the new leader of Afghanistan, H. Amin, aroused Moscow fears of his orientation towards the PRC - at his request, a PLA contingent could appear in Afghanistan.

In Beijing , the entry of Soviet troops into  Afghanistan in December 1979 was perceived as a continuation of the March maneuvers and a preparatory stage for the annexation of Xinjiang.

The first weapon the Afghan mujahideen received from abroad was Chinese.

Deng Xiaoping asked the West for new military technology  in exchange for an alliance against Moscow.

1978: The April Revolution and the Outbreak of Civil War

On April 27, 1978, a coup d'état (April Revolution) took place in Afghanistan. The beginning of the civil war, which continues to this day.

1955

1893: Durand Line - Border between British India and Afghanistan

The Durand Line is an artificially drawn Afghan-Pakistani border along which British India and Afghanistan were divided in 1893. With India gaining independence in 1947, Pakistan inherited the Durand Line. However, the Pashtuns refused to recognize the border drawn by the British. For 2022, this is an unmarked 2,640-kilometer border between the countries and unrecognized by the Afghan authorities.

1700: Part of the territory in the west as part of Safavid Persia

100 g: Kushan kingdom

30 g BC.

200 BC: The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom

250 BC: Bactrian Kingdom

530 BC: As part of the Achaemenid Persian State

Calendar

Sport

2022: The most popular sport is cricket

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Notes