Related Research Articles
The Taliban, which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist and Pashtun nationalist militant political movement in Afghanistan. It ruled approximately three-quarters of the country from 1996 to 2001, before being overthrown following the United States invasion. It recaptured Kabul on 15 August 2021 after nearly 20 years of insurgency, and currently controls all of the country, although its government has not yet been recognized by any country. The Taliban government has been criticized for restricting human rights in Afghanistan, including the right of women and girls to work and to have an education.
The treatment of women by the Taliban refers to actions and policies by various Taliban regimes 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 (1996–2001), the Taliban were notorious internationally for their misogyny and violence against women. Since 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. The Taliban allowed, and in some cases encouraged, marriage for girls under the age of 16. Amnesty International reported that 80 per cent of Afghan marriages were forced.
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 their work with the 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 initial three articles of the Constitution of Afghanistan dated January 23, 2004, mandated:
In late 2001, the United States and its close allies invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government. The invasion's aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had executed the September 11 attacks, and to deny it a safe base of operations in Afghanistan by removing the Taliban government from power. The United Kingdom was a key ally of the United States, offering support for military action from the start of invasion preparations. The invasion came after the Afghan Civil War's 1996–2001 phase between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance groups, resulting in the Taliban controlling 80% of the country by 2001. The invasion became the first phase of the 20-year-long War in Afghanistan and marked the beginning of the American-led War on Terror.
Human rights in Afghanistan have been violated by the Taliban administration since the Taliban takeover of Kabul in August 2021. The government has prevented most teenage girls from returning to secondary school education, and blocked women in Afghanistan from working in most sectors outside of health and education. Women have been ordered to wear face coverings in public, and barred from traveling more than 70 kilometres (40 mi) without a close male relative. In December 2022, the Taliban government also prohibited university education and primary education for females in Afghanistan, sparking protests and international condemnation.
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 field commander who was held in extrajudicial detention in Guantanamo. He used a false name, Mohammed Yusif Yaqub, and pretended to be an innocent civilian.
The following lists events that happened during 1997 in Afghanistan.
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 from 2001 to 2021. It began when an international military coalition led by the United States launched an invasion of Afghanistan, toppling the Taliban-ruled Islamic Emirate and establishing the internationally recognized Islamic Republic three years later. The conflict ultimately 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 6 months.
The Afghanistan conflict is a series of events and wars that have kept Afghanistan in a continuous state of armed conflict since 1978. The country's instability began during the time of the Republic of Afghanistan in the 1970s, which had been established following the collapse of the Kingdom of Afghanistan in the 1973 coup d'état; with the overthrow of Afghan monarch Mohammed Zahir Shah, who reigned for almost forty years, Afghanistan’s relatively peaceful period in modern history came to an end. The triggering event for the ongoing Afghanistan conflict was the Saur Revolution of 1978, which overthrew the Republic of Afghanistan and established the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Rampant post-revolution fighting across the country ultimately led to a pro-government military intervention by the Soviet Union, sparking the Soviet–Afghan War in the 1980s.
Capital punishment is a legal punishment in Afghanistan. The methods used hanging and shooting. Stoning, amputation, and flogging were used as a method for punishment, especially during the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001). Since the Taliban seized power, some executions are done publicly. The executions were condemned by the United Nations.
The Antioch international movement of churches is a network of evangelical churches headquartered in Waco, Texas founded in 1987 by the couple Jimmy and Laura Seibert. The movement is primarily focused on church planting and is non-denominational. The movement became well-known after two of its overseas missionaries, Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer, were imprisoned by the Taliban in Afghanistan for illegal missionary work, around the same time as the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
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.
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.
