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Period: to
Events in Afghanistan
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Afghanistan declares independence from Great Britain
Habibullah Khan, the amir of Afghanistan from 1901 until 1919, was murdered. The throne becomes Amanullah Khan, the third son of Habibullah. Amanullah begins the Third Anglo-Afghan War, a war between the British who were occupying India. After much wait, a peace conference is opened at Rawalpindi on July 26, with Sir Hamilton Grant representing the Indian government and Sardar Ali Ahmad Khan representing the amir. A peace treaty is signed on August 8. According to the new treaty, the amir’s gove -
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
The war between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan lasted nine years from December 1979 to February 1989. It was fought with Soviet – led Afghan forces against multi – national rebellious groups called the mujahideens. The rebel group got military training in Pakistan and China and also received billions of dollars from the U.S., United Kingdom, and other countries. The long war resulted in millions of Afghans fleeing their country, along with thousands of Afghan civilians being killed. The Sovie -
Taliban seizes control
The Taliban, under the leadership of Mullah Muhammad Omar, seized control of Kabul and spread into Afghanistan and formed a government, ruling as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from September 1996 until December 2001, with Kandahar as its capital. The Taliban’s Emirate only gained diplomatic recognition from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Under the Taliban rule, strict interpretation of the Sharia law was enforced. They required women to wear head-to-toe veils, banning -
American forces invade Afghanistan
The war in Afghanistan started on October 2001. The George W. Bush administration organized an allied invasion to take down the terrorist organization and end its use of Afghanistan as a base. The U.S. wanted to remove the fundamentalist Taliban regime from power, which it had gained by armed force, and create a workable democratic state. They also attacked because the demands to the Taliban – run government in Kabul refused to honor the U.S. request to deliver up Bin Laden and the others in hi -
Afghanistan adopts a new constitution
Afghanistan adopted a new constitution in 2004. Delegates at a national convention agreed on a constitution that is a key step toward Afghanistan’s first democratic elections. The 502 delegates at the loya jirga, grand council, approved a presidency with executive powers, two vice presidents, and two legislative bodies with great authority. The loya jirga also shifted the balance of power among the war – ravaged nation’s ethnic groups. Also, Men and women were declared equal in the constitution. -
President Obama announces withdrawal of some troops in Afghanistan
In June 2011, President Obama announced his plan to begin the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. But he didn’t say all US troops would leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014. What he said was 10,000 troops would be removed by the end of the summer 2011, with 23,000 additional troops leaving at the end of the summer of 2012. After that, according to the President, the U.S. will continue coming home at a steady pace as Afghan security forces move into the lead. The mission will change from
