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.
The following items form a partial timeline of the War in Afghanistan. For events prior to October 7, 2001, see 2001 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 2007 Baghlan sugar factory bombing occurred on November 6, 2007, when a bomb exploded in the centre of Baghlan, Afghanistan, while a delegation of parliamentarians was visiting, killing at least 72 people including several lawmakers.
The 2008 Kabul Serena Hotel attack was an attack on the gym of the Kabul Serena Hotel, in Kabul, Afghanistan on January 14, 2008, for which the Taliban claimed responsibility.
Gholam Ghaus Z. was a German citizen wrongly imprisoned for over four months in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility in Afghanistan. According to Der Spiegel Gholam Z. is of Afghan background and was arrested when visiting Afghan relatives. According to Deutsche Welle he is from the German city of Wuppertal.
The 2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul was a suicide bomb terror attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on 7 July 2008 at 8:30 AM local time. The bombing killed 58 people and wounded 141. The suicide car bombing took place near the gates of the embassy during morning hours when officials enter the embassy.
Gayle Williams was an aid worker for SERVE Afghanistan of joint British and South African nationality. She was shot on her way to work in Kabul, Afghanistan by two men on a motorbike. Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, claimed responsibility for her death and said she had been killed "because she was working for an organization which was preaching Christianity in Afghanistan".
The following addresses the events in Northern Afghanistan between April 2009 and 2014. While this part of the country had long been relatively peaceful compared to the all-out war zones of the south and east, tensions would flare up again in 2008 when the German soldiers deployed to the area came under attack more often, leading to the deaths of the several soldiers. Previously hindered by national caveats, the deteroriating security situation prompted the German-led Regional Command North to launch a series of operations to take on the rising insurgency. Concerted operations began after an insurgent attack on PRT Kunduz within minutes of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's departure from a visit. Within two years, the German presence would be doubled and additional reinforcements from the American ISAF contingent were called in, including heavy German armoured vehicles and US aviation assets, allowing for a more aggressive approach towards the insurgency.
On 5 August 2010, ten members of International Assistance Mission (IAM) Nuristan Eye Camp team were killed in Kuran wa Munjan District of Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan. The team was attacked as it was returning from Nuristan to Kabul. One team member was spared while the rest of the team were killed immediately. Those killed were six Americans, two Afghans, one Briton and one German.
The 2012 Afghanistan Quran burning protests were a series of protests of varying levels of violence which took place early in 2012 in response to the burning of Islamic religious material by soldiers from the United States Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. On 22 February 2012, U.S. troops at Bagram Base disposed of copies of the Quran that had been used by Taliban prisoners to write messages to each other. As part of the disposal, parts of the books were burned. Afghan forces working at the base reported this, resulting in outraged Afghans besieging Bagram AFB, raining it with molotov cocktails and stones. After five days of protest, 30 people had been killed, including four Americans. Over 200 people were wounded. International condemnation followed the burning of copies of the Quran, on 22 February 2012, from the library that is used by inmates at the base's detention facility. The protests included domestic riots which caused at least 41 deaths and at least 270 injuries.
Ahmad Waheed Mozhdah was a senior Afghan political analyst, writer and a peace activist. He was also a poet and wrote several anti-Soviet poetry during the Soviet Afghan war. He was widely cited by various international newspapers for his views on Afghan conflict. During his career, Muzhda criticized both the Taliban and the Afghan government. Muzhda was praised as a probing intellectual by many journalists and scholars. He was assassinated on 20 November 2019 in Kabul. Several political observers and experts believe that Muzhda was assassinated for his views by pro-government groups as 'a part of campaign to silence people with different views'. Previously, he was reported to have been arrested by Afghan intelligence agency NDS.
The following lists events from 2014 in Afghanistan.
Ulf Strömberg, sometimes anglicised as Stroemberg, was a Swedish cameraman for Sweden's TV4, who was shot and killed by robbers in Taloqan, Takhar Province, Afghanistan while covering the War in Afghanistan in 2001.
The December 2014 Kabul bombings refer to series of bombings that happened on December 11, 2014, in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The production and consumption of alcoholic beverages, especially wine, in Afghanistan has a long tradition – going back at least to the fourth century BC. Currently, the possession and consumption of alcohol is prohibited for Afghan nationals. However, the Afghan government provided a license for various many outlets to distribute alcoholic beverages to foreign journalists and tourists, and black market alcohol consumption is prevalent as well. Bringing two bottles or two litres of alcoholic beverages was allowed for foreigners entering Afghanistan prior to the Taliban takeover in August 2021.
On 31 May 2017, a truck bomb exploded in a crowded intersection in Kabul, Afghanistan, near the German embassy at about 08:25 local time during rush hour, killing over 150 and injuring 413, mostly civilians, and damaging several buildings in the embassy. The attack was the deadliest terror attack to take place in Kabul. The diplomatic quarter—in which the attack took place—is one of the most heavily fortified areas in the city, with three-meter-high (10 ft) blast walls, and access requires passing through several checkpoints. The explosion created a crater about 4.5 meters (15 ft) wide and 30 feet deep. Afghanistan's intelligence agency NDS claimed that the blast was planned by the Haqqani Network. Although no group has claimed responsibility, the Afghan Taliban are also a suspect but they have denied involvement and condemned the attack. It was the single largest attack on the city up till that point.
A suicide bombing occurred on 21 March 2018 around 12:00 PM in Kabul near Kart-e Sakhi, a Shia shrine. At least 33 people were killed with more than 65 wounded in the bombing. The militant group ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Islamic State–Taliban conflict is an ongoing armed conflict between the Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-KP) and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The conflict initially began when both operated as insurgent groups in Nangarhar; since the creation of the Taliban's emirate in 2021, IS-KP have targeted and assassinated Taliban members using hit-and-run tactics. The group have also caused incidents and attacks across the border in Pakistan.
The republican insurgency in Afghanistan is an ongoing low-level guerilla 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.
