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Mountains of Afghanistan

About Afghanistan

A mountainous landlocked country in Central and South Asia, Afghanistan is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south; Iran to the west; Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan to the north; and China to the northeast. It occupies 652,864 square kilometers (252,072 square miles) with capital Kabul, also its largest city, and is composed of ethnic Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks. With a long history of war, one of its most controversial is the Taliban.

Taliban

The Taliban, referring itself to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is a Deobandi Islamist movement and military organization, currently waging a war within the country. According to historians, the Taliban emerged in 1994 as a movement and militia of students and was eventually condemned internationally for their harsh implementation of the Islamic sharia law, resulting to brutal treatment of Afghans, especially women.

From 1996 to 2001, the Taliban held power over three-quarters of Afghanistan. During this time, the group committed massacres against Afghans, denied UN food supplies to roughly 160,000 civilians, and conducted ‘scorched earth’ policy. They also banned media, photography, and movies. They also prevented women from attending school, getting employed outside of healthcare, and required them to be accompanied by a male relative and wear a burqa at all times. The Taliban ideology is based on a combined sharia law based on Deobandi fundamentalism and militant Islamism, including Pashtun social and cultural norms known as Pashtunwali. The regime was overthrown after an American-led invasion of the country following the infamous September 11 attack.

US Troops in Afghanistan

American Involvement

The Operation Enduring Freedom started in 2001 with the goal to stop the Taliban from providing a safe haven to Al Qaeda and stop Al Qaeda’s used of Afghanistan as a base of operation for terrorist activities. In December 2001, the Taliban lost major stronghold as Kandahar city fell. Since then, the group has made attempts to regain control as US forces have been there.

Between 2017 and 2019, there were several peace talks between the US and Taliban, though no agreement ever materialized. In November 2019, in a visit to Afghanistan, then US President Donald Trump announced that peace talks were restarting. In February 2020, a historic agreement was made between US and the Taliban, initiating the withdrawal of US troops from the country. The “Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan” outlined a series of commitments including troop levels, counter-terrorism, as well as a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire.

Afghanistan Today

In April 2021, current US President Joe Biden announced that the US forces will be withdrawn by September 2021. And on August 15, the Taliban seized control of every major city across Afghanistan. The group has also seized the presidential palace in Kabul after Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.

The speed of the Taliban’s territorial gains and collapse of both the ANDSF and Afghan government surprised U.S. officials and allies—as well as, reportedly, the Taliban itself—despite earlier intelligence assessments of the situation on the ground. The Biden administration authorized the deployment of an additional six thousand troops to assist with the evacuation of U.S. and allied personnel, as well as thousands of Afghans who worked with the United States and were attempting to flee. The speed of the Afghan government’s collapse threatens a mass exodus of refugees from Afghanistan and has exacerbated an already dire humanitarian crisis.