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Afghanistan Country Brief - December 2007

Introduction

Afghanistan is a land-locked and mountainous country in central Asia, with plains in the north and southwest. The country is bordered by Pakistan to the south and east, Iran to the west and Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to the north. In the extreme northeast, Afghanistan has a common border with China. For maps of Afghanistan see the United Nations' Cartographic Section .

Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, lies in the southern foothills of the Hindu Kush mountain range which splits the country along a north-south divide. Ringed by mountains, Kabul has been the capital since 1776 and is Afghanistan's largest city. At an altitude of 1815m, Kabul is hottest in July and coldest in January. The climate is dry all year. The average annual rainfall is 240mm.

Afghanistan's history has resulted in a complex ethnic, cultural and religious mix. The two main ethnic groups are the Pashtuns and the Tajiks whose languages, Pashtu and Dari, are Afghanistan's two official languages. Other ethnic groups include the Turki-speaking Uzbeks, Turkomens and Kyrgyz of northern Afghanistan, the Hazara of the central highlands who were converted to Shiism by the Persians, the Baloch-speaking Balochis in the south-west and a myriad of diverse ethnic groups who live in the high, snow-bound valleys of the Pamir mountain region in the north-east.

Political

History

The current state of Afghanistan was founded in 1747 after a revolt led by a Pashtun chief who, on assuming power, took the title of Shah or King. Throughout the nineteenth century, Afghanistan saw much of its territory and autonomy ceded to the United Kingdom until 1919 when King Amanullah Khan acceded to the throne and Afghanistan regained control of its foreign policy. Afghanistan's last King, Mohammad Zahir Shah, ruled from 1933 until he was deposed by his cousin, Sardar Mohammad Daoud, in a military coup on 17 July 1973. Daoud ruled as President until April 1978 when he in turn was overthrown by the Soviet-backed People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). PDPA Secretary-General Nur Muhammad Taraki became President and imposed a Marxist-style reform program. Throughout 1978, resistance to the PDPA grew and in December 1979, citing the December 1978 bilateral Treaty of Frendship and Cooperation, the Soviet Union invaded and installed Babrak Karmal as the Head of Government.

The Soviet invasion led to a decade of war, during which time it is estimated around 14,500 Soviet and one million Afghan lives were lost. Armed by the United States, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, Afghan resistance fighters, or mujahidin, controlled as much as 80 per cent of the country side. The Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan in February 1989, but civil war continued. The mujahidin had not been party to the 1988 Geneva Accord that preceded the Soviet withdrawal and did not accept the regime of the former Chief of the Afghan Secret Police, Muhammad Najibullah, which had been installed by the Soviets.

Najibullah's regime failed to win popular support and collapsed after the defection of General Abdul Rashid Dostum and his Uzbek militia in March 1992. However, when the mujahidin entered Kabul to assume control of the city and the central government, a new round of internecine fighting began between the constituent militias.

Seeking to resolve the conflict, mujahidin leaders sought to establish a six-month interim leadership council which was to rule until a Loya Jirga (Grand Council of Afghans representing tribal and ethnic groups) could convene to designate an interim administration to hold power pending elections. However, in May 1992 one of the designated council members, Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani, prematurely convened the council and had himself elected President. Rabbani extended his tenure in December and controlled Kabul and the northeast while other powerful mujahidin leaders exerted power over the rest of the country.

In reaction to the anarchy and warlordism prevalent in the country, another movement of former mujahidin, the Taliban, gained strength. Many Taliban had been educated in madrassas in Pakistan and were largely from rural Pashtun backgrounds. The Taliban captured Kandahar in 1994 and over the following two years expanded their control in Afghanistan, occupying Kabul in September 1996. By 1998 they controlled most of Afghanistan, limiting the opposition mainly to a small corner in the northeast and the Panjshir valley controlled by the anti-Taliban United Front, also known as the Northern Alliance. Efforts by the international community to bring about a peaceful solution to the continuing conflict were unsuccessful, largely because of Taliban intransigence.

The Taliban sought to impose an extreme interpretation of Islam in Afghanistan including severely limiting the rights and activities of women and girls. From the mid-1990s, the Taliban provided sanctuary to Osama bin Laden, whose Al Qaida organisation ran terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. Bin Laden had earlier fought with the mujahidin against the Soviets. Despite a US cruise missile attack on the training camps in 1998, the Taliban refused to expel Bin Laden and his followers.

After the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the Taliban declined to comply with United States demands to surrender bin Laden. In response, the United States-led coalition began an aerial campaign on 8 October 2001 against terrorist facilities and Taliban military and political assets in Afghanistan. At the same time, Northern Alliance forces attacked the Taliban on the ground. Mazar-e-Sharif fell on 9 November 2001, followed by Kabul on 13 November, and Kunduz, the last Taliban stronghold in the north, on 26 November. Kandahar, the last major city under Taliban control, fell on 7 December.

On 27 November 2001, four Afghan factions opposed to the Taliban met in Bonn to agree on a process to restore stability and governance to Afghanistan. The resulting Bonn Agreement installed a new government, the Afghan Interim Authority, in Kabul under President Hamid Karzai. Following a Loya Jirga in June 2002, this was replaced by the Afghan Transitional Administration, with Hamid Karzai again as President.

Afghanistan adopted a new constitution at a further Loya Jirga in January 2004. The constitution provides for a presidential system of government, with a parliament, within the framework of an Islamic republic. The president is directly elected, and has two vice-presidents. The parliament consists of two houses, a directly-elected Wolesi Jirga (house of people) and a Meshrano Jirga (house of elders). The Transitional Administration governed until presidential elections were held on 9 October 2004 and Hamid Karzai was re-elected as president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Elections to select members of the Lower House of the National Assembly (the Wolesi Jirga or House of the People) and the Provincial Councils were held on 18 September 2005. The process of electing and appointing members of the Upper House of the National Assembly (Meshrano Jirga or the House of Elders) followed and the new Parliament sat for the first time on 19 December 2005.

As a part of the UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Australia is working closely with NATO and other allies to assist the Afghan Government in extending and exercising its authority and influence across the country, creating the conditions for stabilisation and reconstruction. For further information see the Department of Defence and ISAF websites.

Refugees

More than 4.8 million Afghan refugees have returned to their country since the UNHCR's voluntary repatriation program began in 2002 and over 500,000 internally displaced people have returned to their home towns and villages, many assisted by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The UNHCR estimates over 3 million Afghan refugees remain in neighbouring countries including Pakistan (2.1 million) and the Islamic Republic of Iran (915,000). The profile of these refugees is largely different to those who have returned to Afghanistan since 2002. The great majority of the families living in exile in Pakistan and Iran have been in exile for more than 20 years. Half of the registered Afghan population in these two countries was born in exile. For further information see the UNHCR website.

The Economy

There is a dearth of information on Afghanistan's economy. Decades of conflict destroyed much of Afghanistan's limited infrastructure and severely disrupted economic activity in all areas including agriculture. Gross domestic product fell substantially because of loss of labour and capital and disruption of trade and transport. Continuing internal strife hampered both domestic efforts at reconstruction as well as international aid efforts. However, in recent years economic activity has restarted. Preliminary data indicates that in 2005, GDP grew by 14 per cent and the total exports of goods and services increased by more than 31 per cent. For further information see the World Bank website.

Agriculture

Over the last two decades, the area under cultivation has declined by one half to six per cent of the country because of population dislocation, land mines, drought and damage to irrigation infrastructure.

Mining and Energy

Afghanistan is estimated to have up to five trillion cubic feet of natural gas, 95 million barrels of oil, 400 million tons of coal and substantial deposits of other metals, minerals and semi-precious stones. Until the Soviet withdrawal, Afghanistan exports of natural gas earned US$300 million a year. However, before their withdrawal, the Soviets capped Afghanistan's natural gas wells and production dropped from 290 million cubic feet per day in the 1980s to about 22 million cubic feet.

Trade

Afghanistan has been at the junction of trade routes between central, south and west Asia for three thousand years. Official trade during the 1990s was dominated by the re-export of products, principally electronic goods and cosmetics to Pakistan and other neighbouring countries. Major imports for domestic use include agricultural inputs, rice, wheat, fuel and cooking oil while indigenous exports include fruit and nuts, primary materials and timber.

Main Destination of Exports 2006 

%

  Main Origins of Imports 2006

%

1

India

    22.2

1

Pakistan

    37.9

2

Pakistan

21.2

2

United States

12.0

3

United States

14.7

3

Germany

7.2

34

Australia

0.1

24

Australia

0.4

Relations with Australia

Afghan-Australian relations can be traced back to the 1860s when Afghan cameleers came to Australia. For half a century, the cameleers played a crucial role in the exploration and development of the Australian outback, ferrying supplies across the continent. The Adelaide to Alice Springs train (now extended to Darwin), the Ghan, is named in their honour. The next wave of Afghan migration to Australia followed the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan when thousands fled their homeland. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Afghan-born population in Australia in 2001 was 11,280. There are Afghan communities in all of Australia's major cities.

Australia and Afghanistan re-established diplomatic representation in 2002. Between April 2002 and September 2006, Australia's High Commissioner to Pakistan was accredited as non-resident Ambassador to Afghanistan. In August 2006, Mr Brett Hackett was appointed Australia’s first resident Ambassador to Afghanistan. Afghanistan's then-Foreign Minister, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, visited Australia in August 2005 and Minister for Rural Rehabilitation and Development, Mohammad Ehsan Zia visited Australia in March 2007.

In April 2007 Australia announced it would send a 300-strong Special Operations Task Group to Oruzgan Province in southern Afghanistan for at least two years, bringing the total number of Australian Defence Force personnel deployed in Afghanistan to around 970. The role of the Special Operations Task Group is to disrupt Taliban command and control and supply routes. This builds on the deployment in August 2006 of an Australian Defence Force (ADF) Reconstruction Task Force to a Netherlands-led Provincial Reconstruction Team in Oruzgan. The Reconstruction Task Force, which has been fully operational since December 2006, consists of 370 reconstruction and security personnel. The Australian deployment to Afghanistan also includes a 75-strong RAAF air surveillance radar unit based in Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan. A Special Forces Task Group finished its 12-month deployment in Afghanistan in September 2006. Two Chinook helicopters and 110 support crew returned to Australia in April 2007.

Trade and Investment

Australia has limited trade with Afghanistan, mainly in telecommunications and machinery.

Major Australian Exports, 2006-07 (A$'000)

Major Australian Imports, 2006-07 (A$'000)

Electric Power Machinery

5,672

Rubber tyres

233

Telecommunications equipment

2,565

Fruit and nuts, fresh or dried

151

Arms and ammunition

2,182

Aircraft & parts

26

 

 

Floor coverings

15

For further information see Austrade website.

Development Assistance

Australia announced in August 2007 an additional $115 million in aid to Afghanistan over two years. This brings Australia’s total aid commitment to Afghanistan to $450 million since 2001.  Australian aid seeks to improve the delivery of essential services such as health and education, strengthen agricultural production, boost the capacity of national and provincial level governments and help build security and stability in Afghanistan. For further information see the AusAID website.

Visitor Notes

Potential visitors should consult the DFAT consular website for travel advice for Afghanistan.