The Military history of Afghanistan began before 1709 when the Hotaki dynasty was established in Kandahar followed by the Durrani Empire. The Afghan military was re-organized with assistance from the British in 1880, when the country was ruled by Amir Abdur Rahman Khan. It was modernized during King Amanullah Khan's rule in the early 20th century, and then during King Zahir Shah's forty-year rule; the Soviet Union supplied almost all weapons, training and military needs between the 1950s and 1970s. From 1978 to 1992, the Soviet-backed Afghan Armed Forces engaged in heavy fighting with the multi-national mujahideen groups who were then backed by the United States, Pakistan and others. After President Najibullah's resignation in 1992 and the end of Soviet support, the Afghan military dissolved into portions controlled by different factions. This era was followed by the Taliban regime, whose leaders were trained and influenced by the Pakistan Armed Forces.
Bagram Airfield-BAF, also known as Bagram Air Base, is located 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) southeast of Charikar in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. It is under the Afghan Ministry of Defense. Sitting on the site of the ancient town of Bagram at an elevation of 1,492 metres (4,895 ft) above sea level, the air base has two concrete runways. The main one measures 3,602 by 46 metres, capable of handling large military aircraft, including the Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy. The second runway measures 2,953 by 26 metres. The air base also has at least three large hangars, a control tower, numerous support buildings, and various housing areas. There are also more than 13 hectares of ramp space and five aircraft dispersal areas, with over 110 revetments.
The Ilyushin Il-62 is a Soviet long-range narrow-body jetliner conceived in 1960 by Ilyushin. As a successor to the popular turboprop Il-18 and with capacity for almost 200 passengers and crew, the Il-62 was the world's largest jet airliner when first flown in 1963. The seventh quad-engined, long-range jet airliner to fly, it was the first such type to be operated by the Soviet Union and a number of allied nations.
The Ilyushin Il-76 is a multi-purpose, fixed-wing, four-engine turbofan strategic airlifter designed by the Soviet Union's Ilyushin design bureau as a commercial freighter in 1967, to replace the Antonov An-12. It was developed to deliver heavy machinery to remote and poorly served areas. Military versions of the Il-76 have been widely used in Europe, Asia and Africa, including use as an aerial refueling tanker and command center.
Indian Airlines Flight 814, commonly known as IC 814, was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 that was hijacked on 24 December 1999 by five members of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. The passenger flight, en route from Kathmandu to Delhi, was taken over shortly after it entered Indian airspace at about 16:53 IST. The aircraft carried 190 occupants — 179 passengers and 11 crew members including Captain Devi Sharan, First Officer Rajinder Kumar, and Flight Engineer Anil Kumar Jaggia.
Kabul International Airport is located in the northern part of Kabul, Afghanistan. It is one of the country's main international airports, capable of housing over a hundred military and civilian aircraft. It is currently operated by UAE-based GAAC Holding and Afghanistan's Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1995.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1996:
Bakhtar Afghan Airlines is an airline from Afghanistan, which offers domestic flights. The company was founded in 1967 as Bakhtar Airlines, a name it kept until 1985, when it was renamed Bakhtar Afghan Airlines by Pashtun governments. In 1985 the company absorbed Ariana Afghan Airlines and became Afghanistan's sole airline company. In 1988 the Ariana and Bakhtar brands merged. However, the airline relaunched in 2020.
The General Command of the Air Force also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Air Force and the Afghan Air Force, is the air force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces.
Ahmad Shah Baba International Airport, also referred to as Kandahar International Airport, and by some military officials as Kandahar Airfield (KAF), is located in the Daman District of Kandahar Province in Afghanistan, about 9 NM southeast from the city of Kandahar. It serves as the nation's second main international airport and as one of the largest main operating bases, capable of housing up to 250 aircraft of different sizes. The current head of the airport is Maulvi Fathullah Mansour.
Operation Medusa was a Canadian-led offensive during the second Battle of Panjwaii of the War in Afghanistan. The operation was fought primarily by the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group and other elements of the International Security Assistance Force, including A Co, 2-4 Infantry BN, 4th BDE, 10th Mtn Division, supported by the Afghan National Army and a team from the United States Army's 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) augmented by C Company, 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment of the 10th Mountain Division. Its goal was to establish government control over an area of Kandahar Province centered in the district of Panjwayi some 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of Kandahar city. A tactical victory, it resulted in the deaths of 12 Canadian soldiers; five during the major combat operations, five in bombings, and two in a mortar/RPG attack during the reconstruction phase of the operation. Fourteen British military personnel were also killed when their plane crashed. Despite suffering a brutal battlefield defeat, the Taliban retained their presence in Kandahar province, leading to the subsequent Operation Falcon Summit. Nonetheless, Operation Medusa was at the time the most significant land battle ever undertaken by NATO.
On 19 March 1998, a Boeing 727 passenger jet operated by Ariana Afghan Airlines crashed on approach into Kabul, Afghanistan, killing all 45 people aboard. The flight may have been involved in smuggling and Islamist militants' operations, as Ariana was at that time controlled by the Taliban-led Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan regime.
Kandagar is a 2010 Russian historical action film detailing the escape of a Russian crew from the captivity of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan in 1996. The film stars some of Russia's most famous actors, Vladimir Mashkov, Andrei Panin and Alexander Baluyev. The movie is based on the Russian pilot Vladimir Sharpatov's diary. The film was released in Russia on April 4, 2010. The Andrey Kavun film is the first to depict Russians in Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal from the country.
On 6 July 2011, a Silk Way Airlines Ilyushin Il-76TD cargo aircraft on a flight from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, crashed into a mountainside at an altitude of 3,800 metres (12,500 ft) while descending at night towards Bagram. All nine people on board were killed.
Vladimir Ilyich Sharpatov is a civil aviation pilot and Hero of the Russian Federation (1996). An Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane under his command made a forced landing at the airfield near Kandahar, Afghanistan, in August 1995. All seven Russian nationals on board were subsequently held captive by the Taliban for a year until they successfully escaped by flying their own plane out of Afghanistan in August 1996. Russian actor Alexander Baluyev played Vladimir Sharpatov in the 2010 film Kandagar.
The Afghan Armed Forces, officially the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Armed Forces, is the military of Afghanistan, commanded by the Taliban government from 1997 to 2001 and since August 2021. According to Afghanistan's Ministry of Defense, its total manpower is 170,000.
On 27 January 2020, a United States Air Force Bombardier Global Express E-11A aircraft crashed in Afghanistan's Dih Yak District, Ghazni Province. Two people on board were killed, who comprised the entire crew, according to U.S. military sources. With the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in August 2021, this was the last acknowledged U.S. fatal aviation incident of the War in Afghanistan.
