Thursday, February 23, 2012

Karzai urges calm as 6 die in Afghan Quran protests

Name Kabul
Native name ????
Settlement type City

Over the centuries to come, the city was successively controlled by the Samanids, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, and Kartids. In the 13th century the Mongol horde passed through and caused massive destruction in the area. Report of a massacre in the close by Bamiyan is recorded around this period, where the entire population of the valley was annihilated by the Mongol troops as a revenge for the death of Genghis Khan's grandson. One of Genghis Khan's grandson is thought to be named Kabul. During the Mongol invasion, many natives of Afghanistan fled to India where some established dynasties in Delhi.

Following the era of the Khilji dynasty in 1333, a famous Moroccan travelling scholar, Ibn Battuta, was visiting Kabul and he mentioned that Kabul was inhabited by Persian-speaking Afghan tribes:|Ibn Battuta|1304?1369 AD}}

Timurid and Mughal era

In the 14th century, Kabul rose again as a trading centre under the kingdom of Timur (Tamerlane). In 1504, the city fell to Babur from the north and made into his headquarters, which became one of the principal cities of his later Mughal Empire. In 1525, Babur described Kabulistan in his memoirs by writing that:|Baburnama|1525}}

Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat, a poet from India who visited at the time wrote: "Dine and drink in Kabul: it is mountain, desert, city, river and all else." It was from here that Babur began his 1526 conquest of India. Babur wished to be buried in Kabul, a city he had always loved, but at first he was buried in Agra, India. Roughly nine years later his remains were dug back up and re-buried at Bagh-e Babur (Babur Gardens) in Kabul by Sher Shah Suri on orders by Babur's wife. The inscription on his tomb contains Persian words penned which state: "??? ????? ??? ???? ??? ???? ??? ? ???? ??? ? ???? ???" (If there is a paradise on earth, it is this, it is this, it is this!)

The city was often contested by Babur's sons, especially Kamran Mirza and Humayun. Humayun was chased away from Hindustan by Sher Shah Suri but was able to return in November 1545 with Persian aid, where he is believed to have taken Kabul without any blood-spills. Kamran managed to retake Kabul twice but he remained a hated figure to the residents of the city, as his periods of rule involved atrocities against large numbers of them. Following his third and final ejection from Kabul in 1552, Kamran fled and was captured in Punjab by a general of Islam Shah Suri, ruler of the Sur Empire in northern India. Kamran was handed over to Humayun in Kabul, who made him blind.

Afghan nation-state

Durrani Empire

Nader Shah Afshar invaded and occupied the city briefly in 1738 but was assassinated nine years later. Ahmad Shah Durrani, who commanded 4,000 Abdali Afghans under Nader Shah, asserted Pashtun rule in 1747 and further expanded his new Afghan Empire. His ascension to power marked the beginning of Afghanistan. His son Timur Shah Durrani, after inheriting power, transferred the capital of Afghanistan from Kandahar to Kabul in 1776. Timur Shah died in 1793 and was succeeded by his son Zaman Shah Durrani. The first European to visit Kabul was the 18th century English traveller George Foster, who described it as "the best and cleanest city in Asia".

In 1826, the kingdom was claimed by Dost Mohammad Khan and taken from him by the British Indian Army in 1839, who installed the unpopular Shah Shuja. An 1841 local uprising resulted in the loss of the British mission and the subsequent Massacre of Elphinstone's Army of approximately 16,000 foreign forces, which included civilians and camp followers on their retreat from Kabul to Jalalabad. In 1842 the British returned, plundering Bala Hissar in revenge before fleeing back to British India (now Pakistan). Dost Mohammed returned to the throne.

The British and Indian forces invaded in 1878 as Kabul was under Sher Ali Khan's rule, but the British residents were again massacred. The invaders again came in 1879 under General Roberts, partially destroying Bala Hissar before retreating to British India (Pakistan). Amir Abdur Rahman Khan was left in control of the country.

In the early 20th century King Amanullah Khan rose to power. His reforms included electricity for the city and schooling for girls. He drove a Rolls-Royce, and lived in the famous Darul Aman Palace. In 1919, after the Third Anglo-Afghan War, Amanullah announced Afghanistan's independence from foreign affairs at Eidgah Mosque. In 1929 Ammanullah Khan left Kabul due to a local uprising orchestrated by Habibullah Kalakani and Ammanullah's brother, Nader Khan, took control over the nation. King Nader Khan was assassinated in 1933 and the throne was left to his 19-year-old son, Zahir Shah, who became the long lasting King of Afghanistan.

During this period between the two World Wars France and Germany worked to help develop the country in both the technical and educational spheres. Both countries maintained high schools and lycees in the capital and provided an education for the children of elite families. Kabul University opened in 1932 and soon was linked to both European and American universities, as well as universities in other Muslim countries in the field of Islamic studies. By the 1960s the majority of instructors at the university had degrees from Western universities. A radio tower built by the Germans in 1937 in Kabul allowed instant communication with outlying villages. A national bank and state cartels were organized to allow for economic modernization. Textile mills, power plants and carpet and furniture factories were also built in Kabul, providing much needed manufacturing and infrastructure.

In the 1960s, Kabul developed a cosmopolitan mood. The first Marks & Spencer store in Central Asia was built there. Kabul Zoo was inaugurated in 1967, which was maintained with the help of visiting German zoologists. Many foreigners began flocking to Kabul with the increase in global air travels around that time. The nation's tourism industry was starting to pick up rapidly for the first time. Kabul experimented with liberalization, dropping laws requiring women to wear the burka, restrictions on speech and assembly loosened which led to student politics in the capital. Socialist, Maoist and liberal factions demonstrated daily in Kabul while more traditional Islamic leaders spoke out against the failure to aid the Afghan countryside.

In July 1973, Zahir Shah was ousted in a nonviolent coup and Kabul became the capital of a republic under Mohammed Daoud Khan, the new President. Daoud's revolution was actually supported by the communist party in the city, the PDP. The support of the PDP helped to prevent a violent clash in his coup in 1973. He named himself President of this new democracy and planned to institute reforms. Daoud was the long standing prime minister, and while he instituted a republic he had Soviet leanings in terms of political allies. He had welcomed Soviet military aid and advisors in 1956. Conversely, some of the people of Kabul who lived under King Zahir Shah describe the period before the April 1978 Saur Revolution as a sort of golden age. All the different ethnic groups or tribes of Afghanistan lived together harmoniously and thought of themselves first and foremost as Afghans. They intermarried and mixed socially.

In the later years of his leadership, Daoud began to shift favour from the Soviet Union to Islamic nations, expressing admiration for their wealth from oil and expecting economic aid from them to quickly surpass that of the Soviet Union. The slow speed of reforms however frustrated both the Western educated elite and the Russian trained army officers. Daoud forced many communists out of his government, which unified the various communist factions within the city. Education was modified into the Soviet model, with lessons focusing on teaching Russian, Leninism-Marxism and learning of other countries belonging to the Soviet bloc.

After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, on December 24, 1979, the Red Army occupied the capital. They turned the city into their command centre during the 10-year conflict between the Soviet-allied government and the Mujahideen rebels. Kabul remained relatively calm during that period as fighting was mostly in the countryside and in other major cities. The American Embassy in Kabul closed on January 30, 1989.

Foreign interference and war in Kabul

After the fall of the communist Najibullah-regime in 1992, the Afghan political parties agreed on a peace and power-sharing agreement (the Peshawar Accords). The Peshawar Accords created the Islamic State of Afghanistan and appointed an interim government for a transitional period. Human Rights Watch writes: :"The sovereignty of Afghanistan was vested formally in "The Islamic State of Afghanistan", an entity created in April 1992, after the fall of the Soviet-backed Najibullah government. ... With the exception of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e Islami, all of the parties ... were ostensibly unified under this government in April 1992. ... Hekmatyar's Hezb-e Islami, for its part, refused to recognize the government for most of the period discussed in this report and launched attacks against government forces and Kabul generally. ... Hekmatyar continued to refuse to join the government. Hekmatyar's Hezb-e Islami forces increased their rocket and shell attacks on the city. Shells and rockets fell everywhere."Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was directed, funded and supplied by the Pakistani army. Amin Saikal concludes in his book which was chosen by The Wall Street Journal as 'One of the "Five Best" Books on Afghanistan': :"Pakistan was keen to gear up for a breakthrough in Central Asia. ... Islamabad could not possibly expect the new Islamic government leaders, especially [Ahmad Shah] Massoud (who had always maintained his independence from Pakistan), to subordinate their own nationalist objectives in order to help Pakistan realize its regional ambitions. ... Had it not been for the ISI's logistic support and supply of a large number of rockets, Hekmatyar's forces would not have been able to target and destroy half of Kabul."In December, the last of the 86 city trolley buses came to a halt because of the conflict. A system of 800 public buses continued to provide transportation services to the city. By 1993 electricity and water in the city was completely out. Initially the factions in the city aligned to fight off Hekmatyar but diplomacy inside the capital quickly broke down.Saudi Arabia and Iran also armed and directed Afghan militias. A publication with the George Washington University describes: :"[O]utside forces saw instability in Afghanistan as an opportunity to press their own security and political agendas."According to Human Rights Watch, numerous Iranian agents were assisting the Shia Hezb-i Wahdat forces of Abdul Ali Mazari, as Iran was attempting to maximize Wahdat's military power and influence in the new government. Saudi agents of some sort, private or governmental, were trying to strengthen the Wahhabi Abdul Rasul Sayyaf and his Ittihad-i Islami faction to the same end. Horrific crimes were committed by individuals of different factions as described in reports by Human Rights Watch and the Afghanistan Justice Project. Tens of thousands of Kabul citizens were killed and many more fled as refugees. The United Nations estimated that 90% of the buildings in Kabul were destroyed during these years. :"Rare ceasefires, usually negotiated by representatives of Ahmad Shah Massoud, Sibghatullah Mojaddedi or Burhanuddin Rabbani (the interim government), or officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), commonly collapsed within days," writes Human Rights Watch. Massoud tried to initiate a nationwide political process with the goal of national consolidation and democratic elections, also inviting the Taliban, who by then had established their rule in the south of Afghanistan, to join the process. The Taliban declined.

The Taliban started shelling Kabul in early 1995 but were defeated by forces of the Islamic State government under Ahmad Shah Massoud. see video Amnesty International, referring to the Taliban offensive, wrote in a 1995 report: The Taliban's early victories in 1994 were followed by a series of defeats that resulted in heavy losses. Pakistan provided strong support to the Taliban. Many analysts like Amin Saikal describe the Taliban as developing into a proxy force for Pakistan's regional interests which the Taliban decline.

Taliban Emirate vs United Front

On September 26, 1996, as the Taliban with military support by Pakistan and financial support by Saudi Arabia prepared for another major offensive, Massoud ordered a full retreat from Kabul. The Taliban seized Kabul on September 27, 1996, and established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. They imposed on the parts of Afghanistan under their control their political and judicial interpretation of Islam issuing edicts forbidding women to work outside the home, attend school, or to leave their homes unless accompanied by a male relative. The Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) analyze: After the fall of Kabul to the Taliban on September 27, 1996,The Taliban, without any real court or hearing, cut people's hands or arms off when accused of theft. Taliban hid-squads from the infamous "Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice" watched the streets conducting arbitrary brutal and public beatings of people when they saw what they considered as unislamic behavior. The Taliban also tortured ex-President Najibullah and his brother to death and lynched their dead corpses publicly.

Ahmad Shah Massoud withdrew his forces from Kabul to the northern regions of Afghanistan where he created the United Front (Northern Alliance) against the Taliban that were preparing offensives against the remaining areas under the control of Massoud and those under the control of regional leaders. see video According to a 55-page report by the United Nations, the Taliban, while trying to consolidate control over northern and western Afghanistan, committed systematic massacres against civilians. U.N. officials stated that there had been "15 massacres" between 1996 and 2001. They also said, that "[t]hese have been highly systematic and they all lead back to the [Taliban] Ministry of Defense or to Mullah Omar himself." The Taliban especially targeted people of Shia religious or Hazara ethnic background. Upon taking Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998, about 4,000 civilians were executed by the Taliban and many more reported tortured. Many civilians fled to the area of Ahmad Shah Massoud. The National Geographic concluded: "The only thing standing in the way of future Taliban massacres is Ahmad Shah Massoud."

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf ? then as Chief of Army Staff ? was responsible for sending thousands of Pakistanis to fight alongside the Taliban and Bin Laden against the United Front. In total there were believed to be 28,000 Pakistani nationals fighting inside Afghanistan. From 1996 to 2001 the Al Qaeda of Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri furthermore became a state within the Taliban state. Bin Laden sent Arab recruits to join the fight against the United Front. Of roughly 45,000 Pakistani, Taliban and Al Qaeda soldiers fighting against the forces of Massoud only 14,000 were Afghan.

Kabul remained under Taliban control until November 2001.

Recent history (2001?present)

In October 2001, the United States armed forces assisted by British Armed Forces provided massive air support to United Front (Northern Alliance) ground forces during Operation Enduring Freedom. The Taliban abandoned Kabul and the United Front came to take control of the city. In late December 2001 Kabul became the capital of the Afghan Transitional Administration, which transformed to the present Government of Afghanistan that is led by President Hamid Karzai. In early 2002 a NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was deployed in Kabul and from there they began taking over other parts of the country. Since the beginning of 2003, the city of Kabul has been slowly developing with the help of foreign investment. Its population has grown from about 500,000 in 2001 to over 3 million now. It is also the scene of occasional deadly suicide bombings and explosions carried out by the Haqqani network, Hezb-i Islami, Taliban, Al Qaeda, and other anti-government elements. Since 2008 the newly trained Afghan National Police (ANP) and the Afghan National Army (ANA) are in charge of security in the area.

Climate

Kabul has a semi-arid climate (K�ppen climate classification BSk) with precipitation concentrated in the winter (sometimes falling as snow) and spring months. Summer has very low humidity, providing relief from the heat. Autumn features warm nights and sharply cooler evenings. Winters are cold, with a January daily average of . Spring is the wettest time of the year, though temperatures are generally amiable. Sunny conditions dominate year-round. The annual mean temperature is .

Administration

The Mayor of the city is selected by the President of Afghanistan, who engages in planning and environmental work. The police belong to the Afghan Ministry of Interior and are arranged by city districts. The Chief of Police is selected by the Minister of Interior and is responsible for law enforcement and security of the city.

Neighbourhoods

The city of Kabul is one of the 15 districts of Kabul Province, which is further divided into 18 city districts or sectors. Each city district covers several neighbourhoods. The number of districts or sectors in Kabul increased from 11 to 18 in 2005.

Below are some of Kabul's neighbourhoods listed: This list is incomplete and may be incorrect. You can help by expanding or fixing it. North

Source: http://article.wn.com/view/2012/02/22/Karzai_urges_calm_as_6_die_in_Afghan_Quran_protests/

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