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Mohammed Daoud overthrew the king
Mohammed Daoud overthrew the king, his cousin, in a coup. Before this happened, Mohammed Daoud was appointed Prime Minister in 1953. Daoud was forced to step down in 1963. When Daoud took over he created a republic and called himself the President. A year later Daoud made a deal with the Soviets to strengthen their army. Daoud would later ask for help from other countries, other than the Soviets. In the end Daoud was killed by a coup in 1978. http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Mohammed -
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History of Afghanistan
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Hafizullah Amin overthrows government
This event took place to overthrow Muhammad Daoud and the government. When police went to imprison threatening members of the PDPA, Amin was one of the last to be imprisoned. He was one of the leaders, so this gave him enough time to organize the overthrow of the government. Amin stayed up 23 hours a day to make sure the coup was a success. Amin was the leader for 104 days. He was killed by the Soviets in an attack on Afghanistan. http://www.afghanan.net/afghanistan/hafizullahamin.htm -
Start of mujahedeen
Mujahedeen in Afghanistan were supported, funded, and trained by the US under the rule of President Carter and President Reagan. After the Soviet retreat the mujahedeen split into two groups. The two groups are the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. These groups fought for control in the Afghan civil war. Support and money came in from Muslims in other countries. One major contributor was Osama bin Laden, who eventually created al-Qaeda. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mujahideen -
Soviets withdrawal from Afghanistan
Nine years after they arrived, the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan. This retreat was forced by the mujahedeen. Along with the retreat of Soviets refugees were heading across the border to Pakistan. A snow storm delayed planes coming in for the retreat. This still didn’t stop the mujahedeen from still bombing the airport and the city. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/15/newsid_4160000/4160827.stm -
Development of Al Qaeda
With the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, al Qaeda could now operate and not be found in Afghanistan. Under the cover of the Taliban, al Qaeda could plan attacks on the US. One of the biggest attacks was on Sept. 11, 2001. Osama bin Laden is the leader of al Qaeda. Al Qaeda is known for having people be suicide bombers. Al Qaeda is known all over the world for their terrorism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda -
Taliban starts rule
The Taliban took control of the country with support from others. Al-Qaeda and the Taliban are allies and support each other. Some of the opponents of the Taliban are the British armed forces and the American armed forces. Also the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan are against the Taliban. During their control in Afghanistan they went over to control Pakistan also. The Taliban’s strict rules on religion were enforced throughout their reign. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliban -
Hamid Karzai elected President
Hamid Karzai became a huge political figure in late 2001, when the Taliban were defeated in Afghanistan. Before being elected he served as an interim president for two years. After those two years, in 2004, he was elected president for real. Hamid helped finance the mujahedeen in the 1980s. Hamid won 21 out of 34 provinces and defeated 22 opponents in the 2004 elections. Despite fighting in the country the vote still took place, even though it was hard to campaign. http://en.wikipedia.org/wi -
2009 Election
There was a lot that went wrong with the 2009 election in Afghanistan. Some of these mishaps are lack of security, small turnout, and electoral fraud. It took at least two months to count the ballots and deal with voter fraud. There was a run-off called, but Hamid Karzai won because his opponent dropped out. He will serve for the next five years. This is his second term under the new constitution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_presidential_election,_2009
