Notes

AFGHANISTAN

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Major City:
Kabul

Other Cities:
Bāghlān, Ghazni, Herāt, Jalālābād, Kandahār, Mazār-i-Sharīf
EDITOR'S NOTE

This chapter was adapted from the Department of State Post Report for Afghanistan. Supplemental material has been added to increase coverage of minor cities, facts have been updated, and some material has been condensed. Readers are encouraged to visit the Department of State's web site at http://travel.state.gov/ for the most recent information available on travel to this country.
INTRODUCTION

AFGHANISTAN , the landlocked country whose borders are touched by Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, China, Pakistan, and Iran, often has been called the crossroads of central Asia. It once formed part of the empires of Persia and of Alexander the Great. Throughout the centuries, it has been a base for forays into India, and has bowed to a succession of princes and petty chieftains struggling for control of its strategic trade and invasion routes.

Modern Afghanistan did not evolve until 1747, when principalities and fragmented provinces were consolidated into one kingdom by Ahmad Shah Durrani. All of the country's successive rulers, until a Marxist coup in 1978, were from Durrani's tribe. Soviet military assistance to the new government eventually led to large-scale invasion of Afghanistan's capital city, but the regime failed to validate either Soviet conquest or authority in other parts of the nation. Soviet military occupation ended in February 1989 and Afghanistan endured a bloody civil war between the Afghan government and various factions of the fundamentalist Muslim guerrillas between 1992 and 1996. During the civil war, over 50,000 people lost their lives during the mujahidin infightings on Kabul's streets.

In 1995 and 1996, students from religious schools in the border regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan--the Taliban--spread throughout the country, proclaiming hostility to the West and establishing a reordering of society based upon a strict interpretation of Shari'a, or Islamic law.

After the September 11 attacks on the United States, carried out by members of Osama bin Laden's al-Quaeda forces who were sheltered by the Taliban, the U.S.-U.K.-led coalition launched a military offensive on Kabul and major Afghan cities, toppling the Taliban regime. Afghan society and infrastructure, already decimated after two decades of war, must be rebuilt.
MAJOR CITY
Kabul

Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, is situated on a high, barren plateau some 5,800 feet above sea level, and surrounded by rugged, treeless mountains. Commanding the main approach to the historic Khyber Pass between Afghanistan and what is now Pakistan, the city lies in the eastern section of the country, 140 miles from the Pakistan border. The Kabul River which winds through the city is, except for an interval in early spring, little more than a partially dry, but always polluted, stream.

The climate of the city is varied. During winter, temperatures sometimes fall below 0°F and, in January and February, snowfalls can be heavy. In summer, daytime temperatures often soar to 100°F, but fall rapidly after sunset.

Kabul is in a low-rainfall area, and almost all precipitation occurs between November and May. The remaining months are virtually dry. Strong afternoon winds, accompanied by dust storms, occur frequently in summer. Severe earthquakes are rare, but tremors are common. In March 2002, however, an earthquake in the northern Baghlan province (about 100 miles north of Kabul), killed thousands and was felt as far east as Pakistan.

Kabul's history can be traced to the seventh century, although its importance was long obscured by the ancient cities of Ghazni and Herāt. It came to prominence early in the 16th century as the capital of the Mogul kingdom. The tomb of Babur the Great, founder of the Mogul empire in India (1482-1530), is in Kabul, in a beautiful garden near Noon Gun Hill.

There are old city walls in Kabul, the mausoleum of Timor Shah, the son of Ahmad Shah Durrani who moved the capital of Afghanistan from Kandahar to Kabul, and the Arg or palace built to operate the Bala Hissar citadel, or seat of the rulers of Afghanistan.

Great Britain's desire to control the routes to India precipitated the first of the Anglo-Afghan Wars, and it was at Kabul that British forces were ambushed and nearly annihilated. The city was occupied again in 1879 during the Second Anglo-Afghan War, a struggle that established Afghanistan's borders with British India and Russia. After 1940, Kabul grew as an industrial center.

Afghanistan's capital city is the site of Kabul University (founded in 1932), which was closed in 1992 due to war. The Taliban reopened it in 1995, but women were banned. The medical school was the only institution to make an exception to the ban on women: only female doctors could treat female patients. With the defeat of the Taliban, 4,000 students have taken entrance exams for a new semester, and 500 of them are women. There have been donations of books from abroad.

There are several other schools in the city, including Kabul Polytechnic Institute, which has been in operation since 1951. The Institute of Arabic and Religious Studies has headquarters here, and maintains satellite centers in other cities throughout the country. The Afghanistan Academy of Sciences (1979) also is located in Kabul, as are several research institutes and a museum. As of June 2002, it is unknown to what extent these institutions are operational.

As a result of war with the Soviet Union, civil war, the destruction wrought by the Taliban, and the 2001-2002 bombing campaign, the infrastructure of Kabul largely has been destroyed, including roads, the telephone system, electricity, and water sanitation. However, international relief organizations are engaged in reconstruction efforts.

The people of Kabul have begun to sift through the rubble of destroyed buildings, selecting usable bricks and building materials for the construction of new schools and other facilities. It is estimated that as many as 60 percent of Kabul's buildings are damaged or destroyed. Gravel from them is being used to patch roads.

Signs of a rejuvenated Kabul were beginning to emerge in 2002. Stylish haircuts are now available for around $3.50, men are wearing hats instead of turbans, and men are shaving, forbidden under the Taliban. New restaurants have opened, and there are stalls selling such varied items as fruit, snacks, balloons, and laptop computers.

Rents are high, and items on the black market are very expensive--scotch whiskey sells for around $100 a bottle, British soccer jerseys sell for $50 each, and pornography is both available and expensive.

However, the increase in market activity has also brought theft, assaults, and murder, which are now more prevalent than under the Taliban.
Recreation and Entertainment

Buzkashi (like rugby on horseback), is the national sport. In buzkashi, riders struggle for possession of a goat, calf, or sheep carcass, and scores are counted when one of the teams is able to fling the animal's body into a designated circle on the field. At the end of March 2002, the first movie made in Afghanistan since the Taliban came to power was shown in Mazari-i-Sharif: Chapandaz is an Afghan production, shot, edited, and released in the country, featuring the sport of buzkashi. Indian movies are also popular.

Other pastimes that have returned in 2002 are dog fighting, camel fighting, motorcycle stunts, and karaoke. Soccer began to be played in Kabul's sports stadium in December 2001, a venue that had previously been used for executions.

Such western novelties and food items as bubble-gum, soda, cookies, and juices have been arriving from Iran, Uzbekistan, China, Russia, Egypt, Turkey, and India.
OTHER CITIES

BĀGHLĀN is located in northern Afghanistan, about 125 miles north of the capital. The city, capital of Bāghlān Province, was a producer of cotton and beet sugar. The population for Bāghlān was estimated at 117,700 in 2002.

In December 2001, the Northern Alliance forced Sayed Jaffar, a local warlord, from power in Baghlan province.

In March 2002, an earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale struck Baghlan, killing at least 1,800 and injuring thousands. Baghlan's rich agricultural region was also the victim of a plague of locusts in the spring of 2002.

Located 92 miles southwest of Kabul, GHAZNI is the capital of the province with the same name. It was a center for trading wool, fruit, and corn, and was famous for its embroidered sheepskin coats. The city's most famous ruler was Mahmud of Ghazni who conquered regions in the area and made Ghazni the capital of a kingdom extending from the Tigris to the Ganges rivers. The kingdom was overthrown in 1173 by Mohammed of Ghor. Two impressive ancient minarets jut into the sky in Ghazni. The population was estimated at 39,000 in 2002.

In March 2002, Taliban and al-Qaeda rebels remained in Ghazni province. Dueling factions of Tajiks, Hazaras and Pashtuns are refusing to surrender their weapons.

In May 2002, a radio station went into operation in Ghazni, broadcasting from 6 to 8 pm at night. Two women have been hired to read the news and announcements, and listeners leave messages at the station requesting songs to be played. However, as of June 2002, there were no telephones and no electricity in the city.

A commercial center, best known for carpets, HERĀT is the capital of Herāt Province. The city is situated in the western part of Afghanistan, over 450 miles west of Kabul. It is known for magnificent huge earth-works and defense walls. There are also tombs, palaces, and mosques here. Herāt was once on the trade route from India to Persia, Mesopotamia, and Europe. It was severely damaged by the Mongols in 1221 and 1383; rebuilt, it prospered as an independent Afghan kingdom. Its population was estimated at 166,600 in 2002.

Thirty percent of the population left Herat during the 2001-2002 military campaign. Since it began to subside, one local warlord who seized a great deal of power in Herat is Ismail Khan, who courted hard-line conservatives in Iran. Iran is reconstructing the road from Herat to its border, while the United States is cleaning out the area's canals. Khan has appointed mullahs and archconservatives to high positions, and has opened an office for the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice. His army numbers 50,000 to 60,000.

JALĀLĀBĀD (also spelled Jelalabad) is the capital of Nangarhār Province in eastern Afghanistan. It is situated 70 miles east of Kabul, on the route from Kabul via the Khyber Pass to Peshawar, Pakistan. The city, with a population that was estimated at 158,800 in 2002, was a trade center with sugar processing facilities and handicraft shops. There were large gardens and tree-lined avenues, as it served as a winter capital. Two festivals that were held were the Mushaira or Poet's festival devoted to Jalalabad's orange blossoms, and Waisak, a religious festival.

Jalalabad has been in existence as a city since the second century BC, and Akbar, regarded as the greatest Mughal ruler of India, started the town in its modern form in the 1560s. It came under Afghan rule in 1834, and was later occupied by the British in the Anglo-Afghan wars.

Eleven km south of the city is Hada, a sacred spot of the Buddhist world, where pilgrims have come to worship at its many temples. These were maintained by monks and priests in large monasteries. It is said that the Buddha visited Hada.

Jalalabad is also a military center, with an airfield. The University of Nangarhar was opened here in 1963.

As of January 2002, the road from Kabul to Jalalabad was unsafe, as there have been robberies, car-jacking, thefts, and murders.

The capital of Kandahār province, KANDAHĀR is situated 300 miles southwest of Kabul, halfway between Kabul and Herat. It is the second largest city in the country with a population that was estimated at 339,200 in 2002. Kandahār was the site of the successful Afghan uprising against Persia between 1706 and 1708, and was the first capital of modern Afghanistan, founded by Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1747. The most sacred shrine in Afghanistan is the Kaherqa Sharif shrine in Kandahar, which contains the cloak of the prophet Mohammad. Also, the Chel Zina monument is noted for its 40 stairs leading to a chamber carved into rock, which was built by Babur, the founder of the Moghul empire. Other shrines in the city include Haratji Baba, Baba Wali, and the bazar Charsuq, which is composed of four arcades.

Kandahar was the site of fierce fighting in 2001, and the Taliban only surrendered the city in December. It is estimated that 80 percent of the population of southern Kandahar left in 2001.

Music, which had been banned under the rule of the Taliban, returned to Kandahar after the military campaign, as singers returned from exile in Pakistan. In the marketplace, cassette tapes are played at high volume, which are sold alongside radios, televisions, and video players. Pet birds, which were also banned under the Taliban, are now sold in the marketplace. During the rule of the Taliban, there were seven schools in Kandahar that enrolled 5,000 boys. As of March 2002, 137 co-ed schools have opened in the Kandahar district, and more than 30,000 children are enrolled, one-fourth of them girls.

Because Kandahar is almost entirely Pashtun, it does not suffer from the ethnic fighting in northern Afghanistan that has emerged in 2002.

Kandahar International Airport was established as the American base in the war. It is surrounded by mine fields and and barbed wire. Taliban and al-Qaeda suspects are kept there in a high-security area. There are 3,500 military personnel based at the airport.

Located in northern Afghanistan, MAZĀR-I-SHARĪF is the capital of Balth Province, 190 miles northwest of Kabul. The population here was estimated at 239,800 in 2002. The city was named for the shrine of the cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Mohammad, Hazarate Ali, who was assassinated in 661 and buried near Baghdad. Legend has it that his followers feared that his body would be desecrated, so they put his remains on the back of a white camel which wandered until it fell and died. The body was buried on this spot, and knowledge of its existence remained unknown until 1136, when Seljuk Sultan Sanjar ordered a shrine to be built upon the spot. Genghis Khan destroyed the building, and the grave remained unmarked until 1481. None of the 15th-century decoration remains, but efforts have been made to restore the building's beauty. Mazar-i-Sharif means "The Noble Grave."

In March 2002, Mazar-i-Sharif was one of the sites of New Year celebrations at the beginning of spring (Nowroz), the most elaborately celebrated festival in Afghanistan. The city was a major trading center famous for Turkman carpets, high-quality cotton, and lam