Abdul Rashid Dostum is an Afghan warlord, exiled politician, former Marshal in the Afghan National Army, founder and leader of the political party Junbish-e Milli. Dostum was a major army commander in the communist government during the Soviet–Afghan War, initially part of the Afghan Commando Forces, and in 2001 was a key indigenous ally to U.S. Special Forces and the CIA during the campaign to topple the Taliban government. He is one of the most powerful warlords since the beginning of the Afghan wars, known for siding with winners during different wars. Dostum has also referred to as a kingmaker due to his significant role in Afghan politics.
Mazar-i-Sharīf, also known as Mazar-e Sharīf or simply Mazar, is the third-largest city in Afghanistan by population, with an estimated 500,207 residents in 2021. It is the capital of Balkh province and is linked by highways with Kunduz in the east, Kabul in the southeast, Herat in the southwest and Termez, Uzbekistan in the north. It is about 55 km (34 mi) from the Uzbek border. The city is also a tourist attraction because of its famous shrines as well as the Islamic and Hellenistic archeological sites. The ancient city of Balkh is also nearby.
The Dasht-i-Leili massacre occurred in December 2001 during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan when 250 to 2,000 Taliban prisoners were shot and/or suffocated to death in metal shipping containers while being transferred by Junbish-i Milli soldiers under the supervision of forces loyal to General Rashid Dostum from Kunduz to Sheberghan prison in Afghanistan. The site of the graves is believed to be in the Dasht-e Leili desert just west of Sheberghan, in the Jowzjan Province.
The Islamic State of Afghanistan was established by the Peshawar Accords of 26 April 1992. Many Afghan mujahideen parties participated in its creation, after the fall of the socialist government. Its power was limited due to the country's second civil war, which was won by the Taliban, who took control of Kabul in 1996. The Islamic state then transitioned to a government in exile and led the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. It remained the internationally recognized government of Afghanistan at the United Nations until 2001, when the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan was created and an Afghan Interim Administration took control of Afghanistan with US and NATO assistance following the overthrow of the first Taliban government. The Transitional Islamic State was subsequently transformed into the Islamic Republic, which existed until the Taliban seized power again in 2021 following a prolonged insurgency.
Sheberghān or Shaburghān or shāhpurgān, also spelled Shebirghan and Shibarghan, is the capital city of the Jowzjan Province in northern Afghanistan.
Lotus Isle Amusement Park was an amusement park that operated from 1930 to 1932 on Tomahawk Island in Portland, Oregon. Known as the "Wonderland of the Pacific Northwest", Lotus Isle was located just east of the more successful Jantzen Beach Amusement Park. Lotus Isle spread out over 128 acres (0.52 km2) and at the time was Portland's largest amusement park.
The 1996–2001 Afghan Civil War, also known as the Third Afghan Civil War, took place between the Taliban's conquest of Kabul and their establishing of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on 27 September 1996, and the US and UK invasion of Afghanistan on 7 October 2001: a period that was part of the Afghan Civil War that had started in 1989, and also part of the war in Afghanistan that had started in 1978.
The following lists events that happened during 1998 in Afghanistan.
The Battles of Mazar-i-Sharif were a part of the Afghan Civil War and took place in 1997 and 1998 between the forces of Abdul Malik Pahlawan and his Hazara allies, Junbish-e Milli-yi Islami-yi Afghanistan, and the Taliban.
The following lists events that happened during 2016 in Afghanistan.
Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, also spelled Haibatullah Akhunzada, is an Afghan cleric who is the supreme leader of Afghanistan in the internationally unrecognized Taliban regime. He has led the Taliban since 2016, and came to power with its victory over U.S.-backed forces in the 2001–2021 war. A highly reclusive figure, he has almost no digital footprint except for an unverified photograph and several audio recordings of speeches.
The Battle of Darzab was a major conflict between the Taliban and the Islamic State's Khorasan Province (ISIS–K) who fought each other over control of Jowzjan Province's Darzab District in Afghanistan. Following heavy clashes, ISIS–K was defeated, with most of the group's forces in Jowzjan Province killed or captured.
Mufti Nemat, also known as Mufti Nematullah Qaweem Persian: نعمت الله قاویم or Mullah Nemat Mufti, is an Afghan militant and Salafist cleric who served as a field commander for the Taliban and later the Islamic State's Khorasan Province (ISIL-K) in northern Afghanistan, particularly Jowzjan Province. While waging an insurgency against the Afghan government, he has been accused of committing several war crimes.
This article summarizes the history of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021).
The Islamic State–Taliban conflict is an ongoing insurgency by the Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-KP) against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The conflict initially began when both operated as rival insurgent groups in Nangarhar; since the formation of the Taliban's state in 2021, IS-KP members have enacted a campaign of terrorism targeting both civilians and assassinating Taliban members using hit-and-run tactics. The group have also caused incidents and attacks across the border in Pakistan.
The year 2021 in Afghanistan was marked by a major offensive from the Taliban beginning in May and the Taliban capturing Kabul in August.
The capture of Zaranj, the capital of Nimruz Province, Afghanistan, occurred on 6 August 2021. According to local officials, only the National Directorate of Security (NDS) and its forces had put up a fight against the Taliban, but they too eventually surrendered to the Taliban. Local officials had been requesting reinforcements but received no response. Zaranj was the first provincial capital to be taken by the Taliban in their 2021 offensive and the first one to be captured since Kunduz in 2016.
On 15 August 2021, Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul was captured by the Taliban after a major insurgent offensive that began in May 2021. It was the final action of the War in Afghanistan, and marked a total victory for the Taliban. This led to the overthrowing of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan under President Ashraf Ghani and the reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban.
The republican insurgency in Afghanistan is an ongoing low-level guerrilla war between the National Resistance Front and allied groups which fight under the banner of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on one side, and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on the other side. On 17 August 2021, former first vice president of Afghanistan Amrullah Saleh declared himself the "caretaker" president of Afghanistan and announced the resistance. On 26 August, a brief ceasefire was declared. On 1 September, talks broke down and fighting resumed as the Taliban attacked resistance positions.
Kunar offensive was a major offensive by Taliban forces against Islamic State in Kunar province which led to conquer of their territorial stronghold and death or surrender of most IS forces. Terror cells however remained active in the area.
