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The Taliban, which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is an Afghan political and militant movement with an ideology comprising elements of Pashtun nationalism and the Deobandi movement of Islamic fundamentalism. It ruled approximately 75% of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, before it was overthrown by an American invasion after the September 11th attacks carried out by the Taliban's ally al-Qaeda. The Taliban recaptured Kabul in August 2021 following the departure of coalition forces, after 20 years of Taliban insurgency, and now controls the entire country. The Taliban government is not recognized by any country and has been internationally condemned for restricting human rights, including women's rights to work and have an education.
The treatment of women by the Taliban refers to actions and policies by two distinct Taliban regimes in Afghanistan which are either specific or highly commented upon, mostly due to discrimination, since they first took control in 1996. During their first rule of Afghanistan, the Taliban were notorious internationally for their misogyny and violence against women. In 1996, women were mandated to wear the burqa at all times in public. In a systematic segregation sometimes referred to as gender apartheid, women were not allowed to work, nor were they allowed to be educated after the age of eight. Women seeking an education were forced to attend underground schools, where they and their teachers risked execution if caught. They were not allowed to be treated by male doctors unless accompanied by a male chaperone, which led to illnesses remaining untreated. They faced public flogging and execution for violations of the Taliban's laws.
Heather Marie Mercer is an American who was one of 24 aid workers arrested in August 2001 by the Taliban in Afghanistan in connection with the Antioch International Movement of Churches and Germany-based Christian aid organization Shelter Now International. She, along with seven other Western aid workers and their sixteen Afghan coworkers, was arrested on August 3, 2001, and put on trial for violating the Taliban prohibition against proselytism. She was held captive in Kabul until anti-Taliban forces freed her in November 2001. She co-authored a book with her fellow captive, Dayna Curry, published in 2002 and entitled Prisoners of hope: the story of our captivity and freedom in Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened during 2001 in Afghanistan.
Freedom of religion in Afghanistan changed during the Islamic Republic installed in 2002 following a U.S.-led invasion that displaced the former Taliban government.
The Catholic Church in Afghanistan is part of the worldwide Catholic Church. Prior to August 2021, there were very few Catholics in this overwhelmingly Muslim country—just over 200 attend Mass in its only chapel—and freedom of religion has been difficult to obtain in recent times, especially under the new Taliban-led Afghan government.
Shortly after the September 11 attacks, the United States declared the war on terror and subsequently led a multinational military operation against Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The stated goal was to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had executed the attacks under the leadership of Osama bin Laden, and to deny Islamist militants a safe base of operations in Afghanistan by toppling the Taliban government. The United Kingdom was a key ally of the United States, offering support for military action from the start of the invasion preparations. The American military presence in Afghanistan greatly bolstered the Northern Alliance, which had been locked in a losing fight with the Taliban during the Afghan Civil War. Prior to the beginning of the United States' war effort, the Taliban had seized around 85% of Afghanistan's territory as well as the capital city of Kabul, effectively confining the Northern Alliance to Badakhshan Province and smaller surrounding areas. The American-led invasion on 7 October 2001, marked the first phase of what would become the 20-year-long War in Afghanistan.
Human rights in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime are severely restricted and considered among the worst in the world. Women's rights and freedom are severely restricted, as they are banned from most public spaces and employment. Afghanistan is the only country in the world to ban education for women over the age of eleven. Taliban's policies towards women are usually termed as gender apartheid. Minority groups such as Hazaras face persecution and eviction from their lands. Authorities have used physical violence, raids, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, enforced disappearances of activists and political opponents.
Umar Abdullah Al Kunduzi is a citizen of Afghanistan, who was held in extrajudicial detention in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba.
Christians have historically comprised a small community in Afghanistan. The total number of Christians in Afghanistan is currently estimated to be between 15,000 and 20,000 according to International Christian Concern. Almost all Afghan Christians are converts from Islam. The Pew Research Center estimates that 40,000 Afghan Christians were living in Afghanistan in 2010. The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan did not recognize any Afghan citizen as being a Christian, with the exception of many expatriates. Christians of Muslim background communities can be found in Afghanistan, estimated between 500-8,000, or between 10,000 to 12,000.
Shahzada Akhund, known also by the title Mullah, was a Taliban militant commander who was held at Guantanamo Bay following the 2001 ouster of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. He used a false name, Mohammed Yusif Yaqub, and pretended to be an innocent civilian.
Kidnapping and hostage taking has become a common occurrence in Afghanistan following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Kidnappers include Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters and common criminal elements.
The War in Afghanistan was an armed conflict that took place from 2001 to 2021. Launched as a direct response to the September 11 attacks, the war began when an international military coalition led by the United States invaded Afghanistan, declaring Operation Enduring Freedom as part of the earlier-declared war on terror, toppling the Taliban-ruled Islamic Emirate, and establishing the Islamic Republic three years later. The Taliban and its allies were expelled from major population centers by US-led forces supporting the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance; Osama bin Laden, meanwhile, relocated to neighboring Pakistan. The conflict officially ended with the 2021 Taliban offensive, which overthrew the Islamic Republic, and re-established the Islamic Emirate. It was the longest war in the military history of the United States, surpassing the length of the Vietnam War (1955–1975) by approximately six months.
The Afghan conflict is a term that refers to the series of events that have kept Afghanistan in a near-continuous state of armed conflict since the 1970s. Early instability followed the collapse of the Kingdom of Afghanistan in the largely non-violent 1973 coup d'état, which deposed Afghan monarch Mohammad Zahir Shah in absentia, ending his 40-year-long reign. With the concurrent establishment of the Republic of Afghanistan, headed by Mohammad Daoud Khan, the country's relatively peaceful and stable period in modern history came to an end. However, all-out fighting did not erupt until after 1978, when the Saur Revolution violently overthrew Khan's government and established the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Subsequent unrest over the radical reforms that were being pushed by the then-ruling People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) led to unprecedented violence, prompting a large-scale pro-PDPA military intervention by the Soviet Union in 1979. In the ensuing Soviet–Afghan War, the anti-Soviet Afghan mujahideen received extensive support from Pakistan, the United States, and Saudi Arabia in a joint covert effort that was dubbed Operation Cyclone.
The Antioch International Movement of Churches is a global network of evangelical churches headquartered in Waco, Texas. The Waco location was founded in 1999 by Jimmy Seibert. Antioch Ministries International has been listed as a 501(c)(3) organization since 1993. The movement strongly focuses on missions-based evangelism and global church planting. Antioch describes itself as non-denominational.
2003 in Afghanistan. A list of notable incidents in Afghanistan during 2003
Prisoners of Hope: The Story of Our Captivity and Freedom in Afghanistan is the 2003 memoir of Christian aid workers Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer. The book details their early lives, their humanitarian work in Afghanistan, and their three months of imprisonment by the Taliban in 2001.
Prisoner(s) of hope may also refer to:
Shelter Now is an international Christian humanitarian aid organization based in Germany and with operations focused in Afghanistan. Shelter Now began its work in the late 1970s, but did not formally register as an international aid organization until 1983. From 1988, the organization's activities focused on providing aid to Afghan refugees who were displaced during the Soviet–Afghan War, which lasted from 1979 to 1989. The organization's work included developing factories for producing roof-building materials and rebuilding irrigation systems.
The Battle of Kandahar began on 9 July 2021, as Taliban insurgents assaulted the city to capture it from the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). After heavy fighting for weeks the city's defenses had started to dissolve in August. This allowed the Taliban to enter and overrun most of the city on 12 August 2021, including the Sarposa prison, which included the release of over 1,000 prisoners, and ultimately the capture of the city. However, the siege for the nearby airport continued, where government loyalists held out until being evacuated on 16 August.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Zahn, Paul. "Afghan prison ordeal ends happily for U.S. aid workers". CNN . Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ↑ Gushee, David (28 February 2002). "FIRST-PERSON: Dayna Curry, Heather Mercer & the future of Christianity". Baptist Press . Archived from the original on 25 October 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ↑ Blunt, Sheryl (12 November 2001). "Afghanistan: Caught in the Crossfire". Christianity Today . Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ↑ Curry, Mercer & Mattingly 2003, p. 33-36.
- ↑ Curry, Mercer & Mattingly 2003, p. 46.
- ↑ Curry, Mercer & Mattingly 2003, p. 1-7, 105-117.
- ↑ Toalston, Art (14 November 2001). "Dayna Curry, Heather Mercer freed with other workers in Afghanistan". Baptist Press . Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ↑ "Two rescued aid workers meet Bush". USA Today . Associated Press. November 25, 2001. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
- ↑ Curry, Mercer & Mattingly 2003.
