Afghanistan

Ahmad Shah DURRANI unified the Pashtun tribes and founded Afghanistan in 1747. The country served as a buffer between the British and Russian Empires until it won independence from notional British control in 1919. A brief experiment in increased democracy ended in a 1973 coup and a 1978 communist countercoup. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 to support the tottering Afghan communist regime, touching off a long and destructive war.

The USSR withdrew in 1989 under relentless pressure by internationally supported anti-communist mujahidin rebels. A series of subsequent civil wars saw Kabul finally fall in 1996 to the Taliban, a hardline Pakistani-sponsored movement that emerged in 1994 to end the country's civil war and anarchy. Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, a US, Allied, and anti-Taliban Northern Alliance military action toppled the Taliban for sheltering Usama BIN LADIN. A UN-sponsored Bonn Conference in 2001 established a process for political reconstruction that included the adoption of a new constitution, a presidential election in 2004, and National Assembly elections in 2005.

In December 2004, Hamid KARZAI became the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan, and the National Assembly was inaugurated the following December. KARZAI was reelected in August 2009 for a second term. The 2014 presidential election was the country's first to include a runoff, which featured the top two vote-getters from the first round, Abdullah ABDULLAH and Ashraf GHANI. Throughout the summer of 2014, their campaigns disputed the results and traded accusations of fraud, leading to a US-led diplomatic intervention that included a full vote audit as well as political negotiations between the two camps.

In September 2014, GHANI and ABDULLAH agreed to form the Government of National Unity, with GHANI inaugurated as president and ABDULLAH elevated to the newly-created position of chief executive officer. The day after the inauguration, the GHANI administration signed the US-Afghan Bilateral Security Agreement and NATO Status of Forces Agreement, which provide the legal basis for the post-2014 international military presence in Afghanistan.

After two postponements, the next presidential election was held in September 2019. The Taliban remains a serious challenge for the Afghan Government in almost every province. The Taliban still considers itself the rightful government of Afghanistan, and it remains a capable and confident insurgent force fighting for the withdrawal of foreign military forces from Afghanistan, establishment of sharia law, and rewriting of the Afghan constitution.

In 2019, negotiations between the US and the Taliban in Doha entered their highest level yet, building on momentum that began in late 2018. Underlying the negotiations is the unsettled state of Afghan politics, and prospects for a sustainable political settlement remain unclear.

description:

bicameral National Assembly consists of:; Meshrano Jirga or House of Elders (102 seats; 34 members indirectly elected by absolute majority vote in 2 rounds if needed by district councils to serve 3-year terms, 34 indirectly elected by absolute majority vote in 2 rounds if needed by provincial councils to serve 4-year terms, and 34 appointed by the president from nominations by civic groups, political parties, and the public, of which 17 must be women, 2 must represent the disabled, and 2 must be Kuchi nomads; presidential appointees serve 5-year terms); Wolesi Jirga or House of People (250 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve 5-year terms)

elections:

• Meshrano Jirga - district councils - within 5 days of installation;
• provincial councils - within 15 days of installation;
• presidential appointees - within 2 weeks after the presidential inauguration

; Wolesi Jirga - last held on 20 October 2018) (next to be held in 2023)

election results:

• Meshrano Jirga - percent of vote by party - NA;
• seats by party - NA;
• composition - men 84, women 18, percent of women 17.6%

;

• Wolesi Jirga - percent of vote by party NA;
• seats by party - NA;
• composition - NA

note: the constitution allows the government to convene a constitutional Loya Jirga (Grand Council) on issues of independence, national sovereignty, and territorial integrity; it consists of members of the National Assembly and chairpersons of the provincial and district councils;

a Loya Jirga can amend provisions of the constitution and prosecute the president; no constitutional Loya Jirga has ever been held, and district councils have never been elected; the president appointed 34 members of the Meshrano Jirga that the district councils should have indirectly elected

Despite improvements in life expectancy, incomes, and literacy since 2001, Afghanistan is extremely poor, landlocked, and highly dependent on foreign aid. Much of the population continues to suffer from shortages of housing, clean water, electricity, medical care, and jobs. Corruption, insecurity, weak governance, lack of infrastructure, and the Afghan Government's difficulty in extending rule of law to all parts of the country pose challenges to future economic growth.

Afghanistan's living standards are among the lowest in the world. Since 2014, the economy has slowed, in large part because of the withdrawal of nearly 100,000 foreign troops that had artificially inflated the country’s economic growth. The international community remains committed to Afghanistan's development, pledging over $83 billion at ten donors' conferences between 2003 and 2016.

In October 2016, the donors at the Brussels conference pledged an additional $3.8 billion in development aid annually from 2017 to 2020. Even with this help, Government of Afghanistan still faces number of challenges, including low revenue collection, anemic job creation, high levels of corruption, weak government capacity, and poor public infrastructure.

In 2017 Afghanistan's growth rate was only marginally above that of the 2014-2016 average. The drawdown of international security forces that started in 2012 has negatively affected economic growth, as a substantial portion of commerce, especially in the services sector, has catered to the ongoing international troop presence in the country.

Afghan President Ashraf GHANI Ahmadzai is dedicated to instituting economic reforms to include improving revenue collection and fighting corruption. The government has implemented reforms to the budget process and in some other areas. However, many other reforms will take time to implement and Afghanistan will remain dependent on international donor support over the next several years.

al-Qa'ida (AQ):

aim(s): eject Western influence from the Islamic world, unite the worldwide Muslim community, overthrow governments perceived as un-Islamic, and ultimately, establish a pan-Islamic caliphate under a strict Salafi Muslim interpretation of sharia

area(s) of operation:

• maintains established networks and a longtime operational presence in Afghanistan, especially in the south, northwest, and northeast near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border;
• continues to view Afghanistan as a safe haven for its leadership (2019)

Islamic Jihad Union (IJU):

aim(s): drive NATO forces out of Afghanistan and destabilize the country; overthrow the Government of Uzbekistan

area(s) of operation:

conducts attacks in collaboration with other extremist groups, including the Taliban and al-Qa'ida, against NATO and Afghan forces across the country, especially in the northern and eastern Paktika, Paktia, and Nangarhar provinces

note: IJU is a splinter movement of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU); IJU emerged in the early 2000s after internal splits over goals; IMU is focused on Central Asia,

but the IJU sought a more global focus (2019)

Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU):

aim(s): enhance its networks and secure territory in Afghanistan to establish a secure presence from which it can pursue its historic goal of establishing an Islamic state in the Fergana Valley, a fertile valley spread across eastern Uzbekistan, southern Kyrgyzstan, and northern Tajikistan

area(s) of operation:

operates mostly in the north along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, with its heaviest presence in Badakhshan Province, where IMU has operated paramilitary training camps and bases

note: the IMU is fractured and mostly supports ISIS-K although some members have continued working with the Taliban and al-Qa'ida (2019)

Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham-Khorasan (ISIS-K): aim(s): establish an Islamic caliphate in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of Central Asia; counter Westerners and Shia Muslims

area(s) of operation:

strongholds in Nangarhar and Kunar provinces near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and operating in Laghman, Jowzjan provinces with pockets of support throughout Afghanistan

note: recruits from among the local population, Central Asian extremists in Afghanistan, and other militant groups, such as Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, the Afghan Taliban, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan; ISIS-K and Afghan Taliban forces have fought sometimes over control of territory or because of political or differences (2019)

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP):

• aim(s): drive foreign troops from Afghanistan;
• remove Pakistani forces from Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and, ultimately, overthrow the Pakistan Government to implement TTP's strict interpretation of sharia

area(s) of operation:

• headquartered in several eastern Afghanistan provinces near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border;
• operates primarily along the northeastern Afghanistan-Pakistan border, especially in Kunar and Paktika provinces, where TTP has established sanctuaries (2019)

al-Qa'ida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS):

aim(s): unite local jihadist movements in the Indian subcontinent, pursue the overthrow of local governments, exacerbate tensions between Hindus and Muslims, establish an Islamic caliphate in the Indian subcontinent

area(s) of operation:

heaviest presence is in Afghanistan, especially in the eastern and southern regions, where most of the Afghan-based leaders are located

note: targets primarily Afghan military and security personnel and US interests (2019)

Haqqani Taliban Network (HQN):

aim(s): expel US and Coalition forces and replace the Afghan Government with an Islamic state operating according to a strict Salafi Muslim interpretation of sharia under the Afghan Taliban

area(s) of operation:

• stages attacks from Kurram and North Waziristan Agency in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) across from Afghanistan's southeastern border;
• operational throughout the country, especially in Kabul and Paktiya and Khost provinces

note: plays a leading role in planning and executing high-profile attacks against Afghan personnel, NATO's Resolute Support Mission, US and Coalition Forces,

and other US and Western interests; strong ties with al-Qa'ida (2019)

Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM):

aim(s): enhance its networks and paramilitary training in Afghanistan and, ultimately, incorporate Kashmir into Pakistan; establish an Islamic state in Kashmir

area(s) of operation:

maintains paramilitary training camps in eastern Afghanistan (2019)

Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami (HUJI):

im(s): seeks the annexation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the expulsion of foreign forces from Afghanistan; implement sharia in Afghanistan

area(s) of operation:

operations throughout Afghanistan, targeting primarily Afghan Government personnel and Coalition forces; has supplied fighters to the Taliban (2019); Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps -- Qods Force (IRGC-QF): aim(s): initially supported anti-Taliban initiatives that complemented US goals in 2001, however, it gradually adopted an anti-NATO/anti-Afghan government strategy and began supplying financial assistance, training, and weapons to the Taliban

area(s) of operations:

Taliban-dominated areas of Afghanistan (2019)

Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM):

aim(s): annex the state of Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan and expel international forces from Afghanistan.

area(s) of operation:

historically operated in Afghanistan's eastern provinces (2019)

Jaysh al Adl:

aim(s): enhance its operational networks and capabilities for staging cross-border attacks into Iran

area(s) of operation:

operational in the greater Balochistan area, where fighters stage attacks targeting Iranian security forces

note: formerly known as Jundallah (2019)

Lashkar i Jhangvi (LJ):

aim(s): enhance its networks and paramilitary training in Afghanistan; exterminate Shia Muslims, rid the Afghanistan-Pakistan region of Western influence

area(s) of operation:

• headquartered in the east;
• operates paramilitary training camps near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border across from the central area of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) region;
• operatives conduct operations mostly against targets in Pakistan, but also in Afghanistan;
• ties with al-Qa'ida and the Taliban (2019)

Lashkar-e Tayyiba (LT):

• aim(s): annex the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan and foment Islamic insurgency in India;
• attack Western, Indian, and Afghan interests in Afghanistan;
• support the Taliban's return to power;
• enhance its recruitment networks and paramilitary training in Afghanistan, and, ultimately, install Islamic rule throughout South Asia

area(s) of operation:

• mostly focused on Indian troops and civilian targets, particularly in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, but has also targeted Coalition forces in Afghanistan;
• maintains several facilities, such as paramilitary training camps, medical clinics serving locals, and schools for youths;
• targets Pashtun youth for recruitment in the Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) region (2019)