The population of Afghanistan is around 37,135,635 in 2019, which includes the roughly 3 million Afghan citizens living as refugees in both Pakistan and Iran. The nation is composed of a multi-ethnic and multilingual society, reflecting its location astride historic trade and invasion routes between Central Asia, Southern Asia, and Western Asia. Its largest ethnic group is the Pashtun, followed by Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Aimak, Turkmen, Baloch and a few others.
Jundallah, also known as People's Resistance Movement of Iran (PRMI), is a Sunni terrorist organization based in Sistan and Baluchestan, a southeastern region of Iran, that claims to be fighting for "equal rights of Sunni Muslims in Iran".
Human rights in Afghanistan is a topic of some controversy and conflict. While the Taliban were well known for numerous human rights abuses, several human rights violations continue to take place in the post-Taliban government era. Afghanistan has an interesting strong human rights framework within its constitution.
Abdolmalek Rigi was the leader of Jundallah, a terrorist group based in the Sistan and Baluchestan Province of southeast Iran. In 2010, he was captured and executed by the Iranian government.
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.
Women's rights in Afghanistan have been varied throughout history. Women officially gained equality under the 1964 constitution. However these rights were taken away in the 1990s through different temporary rulers such as the mujahideen and the Taliban during civil war. Especially during the latter's rule, women had very little to no freedom, specifically in terms of civil liberties. Ever since the Taliban regime was removed in late 2001, women's rights have gradually improved under the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and women are once again de jure equal to men under the 2004 constitution, which was largely based on that from 1964. Despite this, their rights are still complicated by a reactionary view on women by certain classes of society, particularly ruralites, which continue to cause international concern.
Gul Ahmmad Yama is a citizen of Afghanistan who was a candidate in Afghanistan's 2009 Presidential elections. Yama is from Mazari Sharif, in Balkh Province.
Mawlana Abdul Qadir Imami Ghori is a citizen of Afghanistan, and a candidate in the 2009 Afghan Presidential elections. He was one of participants at the Bonn Conference in late 2001 that agreed that Hamid Karzai should be the leader of the Afghan Transitional Administration. He was elected to represent Ghor Province, where he was born, in the Wolesi Jirga, the upper house of Afghanistan's national legislature, during the elections in 2005.
Habib Mangal is an Afghan citizen who was a candidate in Afghanistan's 2009 Presidential elections.
Zabih-U-llah Ghazi Noristani is a citizen of Afghanistan who was a candidate in Afghanistan's 2009 Presidential elections.
Sarwar Ahmedzai is a citizen of Afghanistan who was a presidential candidate in 2009 and 2014. Currently he is serving as an adviser to the President Ashraf Ghani.
Said Jalal Karim is a citizen of Afghanistan who was a candidate in Afghanistan's 2009 Presidential elections.
Motasim Billah Mazhabi is a citizen of Afghanistan who was a candidate in Afghanistan's 2009 Presidential elections.
Abdul Majid Samim is a citizen of Afghanistan who was a candidate in Afghanistan's 2009 Presidential elections. He dropped out of the race on August 3, 2009, approximately two weeks before the election date. When he dropped out he said "Since the people consider Karzai a better candidate, I don't want to challenge him, because public aspirations are more important than my personal ambitions. If the people accept Karzai, so do I."
Arsalan Rahmani Daulat was selected to serve in the Meshrano Jirga, the upper house of Afghanistan's national assembly, in 2005 and 2010. He was appointed a Deputy Minister for Higher Education under the Taliban, in 1998. The United Nations Security Council issued Security Council Resolution 1267 in 1999, which listed senior Taliban members. The United Nations requested member states to freeze the financial assets of those individuals. He was one of the individuals who were sanctioned. He was also one of the four former Taliban leaders that accepted the reconciliation offer from the Afghan government. He was also named deputy leader of Khuddamul Furqan for political affairs.
Presidential elections were held in Afghanistan on 5 April 2014, with a second round held on 14 June. Incumbent President Hamid Karzai was not eligible to run due to term limits. The registration period for presidential nominations was open from 16 September 2013 until 6 October 2013. A total of 27 candidates were confirmed to be running for office. However, on 22 October Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission disqualified 16 of the candidates, leaving only 11 in the race. By April 2014 three candidates gave up the race and decided to support some of the eight remaining candidates. Opinion polls showed Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani as the front-runners and indeed the results of the first round of the election had Abdullah in the lead and Ghani behind him. The second set of results came after the run-off on 14 June, two months after the first round. Preliminary results were expected on 2 July and the final result on 22 July. However, widespread accusations of fraud delayed these results. As a result, John Kerry, then United States Secretary of State, mediated the negotiations between the two final candidates, Ghani and Abdullah. After a series of negotiations and talks between Ghani, Abdullah and Kerry, the two candidates agreed to sign an Agreement to form a National Unity Government based on 50–50 power sharing. As a result of that political agreement, a separate position was created for Abdullah as Chief Executive. The National Unity Government's term will run out after the next Afghan presidential election is held in September 2019.
Mohammad Amin Karim is a Senior Political Board Member of Afghanistan's Hezb-e Islami Party under the leadership of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.
The Battle of Darzab was a major conflict between the Taliban and the Islamic State's Khorasan Province (ISIL-K) who fought each other over control of Jowzjan Province's Darzab District in Afghanistan. Following heavy clashes, ISIL-K was defeated, with most of the group's forces in Jowzjan Province killed or captured.
Roya Rahmani is an Afghan diplomat who has served as Afghanistan's ambassador to the United States since December 2018.
