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Country Profile for AFGHANISTAN |
Risk Rating |
General Information |
Country Map |
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Red (High Risk)
InTouch advice:
Most parts of the country are dangerous. Do not travel unless absolutely necessary. Amber (Moderate Risk) InTouch advice: Some parts of the country are dangerous. Travel with caution. Green (Low Risk) InTouch advice: Most parts of the country are safe. Travel freely. |
Capital: Kabul Major Languages: Dari Persian, Pashto Currency: Afghani Timezone: GMT +4:30 |
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Afghanistan continues to be an extremely high-risk destination for foreign visitors, with terrorist attacks occurring almost daily throughout the country. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which has been fighting the Taliban and Islamic militants since 2001, has been unable to provide any widespread security in Afghanistan. The situation has been exacerbated in recent months by a series of incidents which have further alienated the local population from the coalition forces, and led to rise in support for the Taliban. In January, 2012, a video was released which appeared to show US troops desecrating the dead bodies of Taliban fighters, while in February reports emerged of NATO troops burning copies of the Koran at Bagram air base. The following month a rogue US soldier shot dead 17 civilians, including nine children, in the southern province of Kandahar.
The ISAF forces are currently in the process of handing responsibility for security to local Afghan forces ahead of its planned withdrawal by the end of 2014. This announcement has corresponded in an increase in violence, and in recent months there have been a series of large scale attacks in the Afghan capital, Kabul, which have targeted government and Western buildings. In September, 2011, militants carried out a series of rocket attacks against the US Embassy and ISAF buildings. In April, 2012, Taliban militants carried out a series of coordinated attacks on Western buildings, including the Kabul Star hotel and the British and German embassies. At the start of May, the Taliban announced the Al-Farooq spring offensive, which will target foreign and Afghan security forces, members of the Afghan High Peace Council and political and government officials.
The Afghan government, led by Hamid Karzai, is plagued by accusations of corruption and has little control outside of Kabul. He was re-elected for a second term in office during controversial elections in November 2009, during which an independent election commission found evidence of widespread fraud and nullified thousands of votes. The next presidential elections are scheduled for 2014, however President Karzai has recently suggested that he might bring the poll forward a year to avoid clashing with ISAF’s withdrawal.
There is a high-risk of kidnapping throughout Afghanistan, and a number of foreign nationals have been abducted over the last few years. In August, 2011, two German aid workers were kidnapped from the mountains surrounding the Salang Pass in Parwan province by suspected Taliban fighters. They were found dead in the area a few weeks later.
At least seven people, including six police officers, have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on a compound in western Afghanistan. Four militants were killed in the raid in Farah province, close to the border with Iran.
At least nine people have been killed after a bomb exploded at a market in the northern province of Faryab. The device is reported to have been remotely detonated, and no group have yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Two British soldiers have been shot dead by a group of Afghan police officers in Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province. The soldiers had been providing security at an army base in the area.
A senior Afghan peace negotiator has been shot dead by unknown gunmen in Kabul. Maulvi Arsala Rahmani, a senior member of Afghanistan's High Peace Council, was killed when gunmen opened fire on his car while he was stuck in traffic.
At least six people have been killed in a series of explosions in the capital Kabul. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attacks.
At least 10 police officers have been killed after the vehicle they were travelling in hit a roadside bomb in the Chak district of Wardak province. Taliban militants later claimed responsibility for the attack.
Taliban militants have carried out a series of attacks on government and Western buildings in the capital Kabul. The Kabul Star hotel, situated close to a US military base and UN office, was attacked by suicide bombers who have now taken control of the building. The British and German embassies have also been targeted in coordinated militant attacks.
At least 10 people have been killed after a suicide bomb exploded in the town of Maymana in Faryab province. Several NATO soldiers are reported to be amongst the dead.
A press release from the Afghan interior ministry claim that 14 militants have been killed following military operations in the past 24-hours.
At least 13 people have been killed after the vehicle they were travelling in hit a roadside bomb in the southern province of Uruzgan. The victims, nine children and four women, were travelling near the district of Dehrawod when the device exploded.
A delegation of officials from the Afghan government has been attacked at the site where a rogue US soldier shot dead 16 civilians at the weekend. Militants opened fire at the group, which included two of President Karzai's brothers, leaving one soldier and three protesters dead.
A rogue US soldier has shot dead at least 16 Afghan civilians in the southern province of Kandahar. Nine children and three women were amongst the dead, according to a statement from President Karzai. The attacks took place in a village near a US military base in the Panjwai district.
Six UK soldiers are feared to have been killed after their armoured Warrior vehicle was hit by an explosive device in the southern province of Helmand.
At least four people have been killed and a further 10 wounded after a bomb exploded at a police post in Kandahar. The bomb was reportedly planted on to a motorbike in the town of Spin Boldak, close to the Pakistani border.
Two NATO soldiers have been shot dead by two Afghan nationals in the southern city of Kandahar. One of the assailants is reported to have been a member of the Afghan army.
At least nine people have been killed in a suicide car bomb attack in Jalalabad. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming that it was carried out in 'revenge' for the burning of Korans at Bagram airbase last week.
NATO has withdrawn all of its staff from Afghan ministries following the death of two senior offices. A US colonel and a major were shot dead by an unknown gunman at the Afghan interior ministry in Kabul. The incident follows five days of violent protests by local Afghans, angered at the burning of Korans at a US air base.
At least six people have been killed during renewed protests against the burning of a Koran at Bagram airbase. The Islamic holy books were put in an incinerator at the base after officials believed prisoners were using them to spread messages to other inmates.
US commander General John R Allen has apologised after reports emerged that NATO troops burnt a copy of the Koran. A large protest gathered outside the US airbase in Bagram in response to the news.
At least nine people have been killed by a car bomb attack in the southern city of Kandahar. A further 19 people were wounded in the blast, which targeted a police building in the city.
The Taliban have kidnapped a member of Afghanistan's peace council from the Asmar district of Kunar province. Mavlawi Shafihullah Shafih had travelled from Kabul to encourage insurgents to join peace talks with President Karzai.
Four French soldiers have been killed after an Afghan National Army soldiers opened fire on them. A further 16 members of the French armed forces were wounded in the attack.
A suicide bomber has killed at least seven civilians in the southern city of Kandahar. The attack had targeted a NATO convoy outside of the city's international airport.
The Afghan President Hamid Karzai has condemned a video which appears to show US Marines urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters. The Marines have vowed to investigate the incident, however retaliatory attacks are likely.
At least 10 police officers have been killed by a roadside bomb in Helmand province. The Taliban have taken responsibility for the attack.
A group of militants have attacked a police station in a western suburb of Kabul. A suicide bomb and a series of gun battles have been reported at the site, however no reports on casualties has been released.
At least 19 people have been killed after a roadside bombing in the southern province of Helmand. The deaths come a day after 59 people were killed in twin attacks in Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif.
At least 55 people have been killed after a suicide bomber attacked a Shia shrine in the capital Kabul. A separate blast occurred in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, killing four people. Today is Ashura, a holy day for Shia Muslims and a national holiday in Afghanistan.
At least four Afghan security guards have been killed after suicide bombers attacked the offices of the governor of Paktia province. Members of the government were holding a meeting with NATO officials at the time of the attack.
Around 60 Taliban militants are reported to have been killed while attacking a NATO outpost in the eastern province of Paktika. No International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops were killed or injured in the incident.
A roadside bomb has killed at least 11 people in the north-west province of Badghis. The blast hit a police vehicle, killing two police officers and nine members of the same family.
At least seven people have been killed by a suicide bomb attack outside a mosque in the northern province of Baghlan. The blast occurred as people were leaving the mosque after prayers for the Muslin festival of Eid.
Militants have launched an attack on a private construction company in the western city of Herat, killing two guards and wounding at least four others. NATO handed security control of Herat over to Afghan forces in July.
At least five people have been killed by a suicide car bomb attack in the southern city of Kandahar. The explosion occurred at a checkpoint near the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) offices. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.
At least 17 people have been killed after a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle packed with explosives into an ISAF convoy in Kabul. Among the dead were 13 foreign personnel of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
At least 12 people have been killed after a bomb attached to a fuel tanker exploded in Bagram in northern Afghanistan. Another 33 were reported to have been injured in the blast. Parwan province's governor, Basir Salangi, said it was a "terrorist attack" intended to exploded at Bagram air base, the largest base for US forces in Afghanistan.
An Afghan embassy worker has killed a US employee and injured another at the Central Intelligence Agency office in Kabul. The assailant was also killed in the attack.
Taliban militants have carried out a series of attacks in the capital, Kabul, including an assault on the US embassy. Rockets have also been fired at NATO headquarters and other official buildings in the city. At least six people have been killed and 16 wounded in the attack.
A suicide truck bombing has injured 77 UN troops and killed two Afghan civilians in the eastern province of Wardak. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred on the 10 year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the US.
A group of around 30 young Pakistani boys have been kidnapped by the Afghan Taliban after mistakenly crossing over the border. A Taliban spokesman claims that the group have been taken "as punishment for their parents and tribal elder who are helping the government fighters".
At least 25 Pakistani soldiers have been killed after around 200 Taliban fighters crossed into the northern Chitral district from Afghanistan. Pakistan's military said in a statement that its troops had killed around 20 of the attackers, with the rest fleeing back over the border.
Two German aid workers are believed to have been kidnapped from the mountains surrounding the Salang Pass, north of Kabul. The German foreign minister has said that German and Afghan officials are "intensively" looking for the pair.
At least eight people have been killed after Taliban militants attacked the British Council office in Kabul. Three suicide bomb attacks were reported before militants stormed the compound, exchanging fire with Afghan police. The Taliban claim that the attack was carried out to mark Afghanistan's independence from the UK in 1919.
A roadside bomb has killed 22 people travelling in a minibus between the district of Obe and the provincial capital Herat city in western Afghanistan. In the eastern province of Paktia a suicide bomber killed two Afghan guards at a US-run military base. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Seven people have been killed after a motorcycle bomb exploded in a busy market in Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan. The attack took place at around 1830 as local people were preparing to end their daily fasts for Ramadan.
At least 19 people have been killed after Taliban militants attacked the provincial governor's compound in Parwan. Up to six suicide bombers are reported to have carried out the attack, including a suicide car bomb.
A roadside bomb has killed five NATO troops in southern Afghanistan, according to a International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) spokesman. No other details, including the exact location of the incident, were released.
NATO forces have clashed with Afghan police officers in Kandahar province, leaving four police dead and another four wounded. A firefight broke out in the Arghandab district just outside of Kandahar City. A NATO spokesman has said that the cause of the clashes is being investigated.
A NATO helicopter has crashed during anti-Taliban operations in the eastern province of Wardak, killing 31 US special forces personnel and seven Afghan troops. A Taliban spokesman has claimed responsibility for the crash, however the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) have yet to verify these claims.
A car bomb has exploded in the northern city of Kunduz, killing a local head of intelligence. Three civilians were also injured in the blast, which occurred only two days after a suicide attack killed four security guards in the city.
Four private security guards have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in the northern city of Kunduz. Nine people were also wounded when two militants stormed a building and exchanged fire with security forces. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for a suicide attack which has killed 13 people in the southern city of Lashkar Gah. The attack took place at a police headquarters in the city and 12 of the dead were police officers.
At least 23 civilians have been killed in two roadside bombings in the southern Helmand province. In the Nahr-e-Saraj district 19 people died when the minibus they were travelling in hit a mine while in Garmsir district four people died when a tractor hit a roadside bomb.
Taliban insurgents have carried out a gun and suicide bomb attack in the central town of Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan province. At least 22 people have been killed in the attacks and Afghan security forces are battling the insurgents throughout the town.
Whilst attending a meeting and attempting to resolve a land dispute at a town hall in Kandahar, the Mayor, Ghulam Haidai Hameedi, was killed in an explosion. The suicide bomber apparently managed to avoid suspicion by carrying the explosives inside his turban.
At least 22 insurgents and two Afghan police officers have been killed in clashes in the volatile south-west province of Helmand. In a separate incident in the province two civilians were killed by a roadside bomb.
NATO forces have handed over power to Afghan security forces in the volatile city of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province. NATO have recently handed over power in the province of Bamiyan and the eastern town of Mehtar Lam.
At least three police officers have been killed in a fierce gun battle between Afghan police and insurgents in the city of Kandahar. Two insurgents are also reported to have been killed in the clashes.
Ahmad Wali Karzai, half-brother to the Afghan President Hamid Karzai, has been assassinated by his head of security in Kandahar. The motives behind the killing remain unclear, however the Taliban have released a statement claiming responsibility for the attack.
At least 33 border police officers have been killed after Pakistani Taliban militants launched a sustained attack on a number of checkpoints in north-eastern Afghanistan. The Nuristan provincial governor said that around 40 rebels were also killed in the clashes, along with five civilians.
At least 11 people, all members of the same family, have been killed after the minibus they were travelling in struck a roadside bomb in the southern Zabul province of Afghanistan. The province borders Pakistan and Taliban militants are known to be active in the area.
At least 20 people have been killed after a bus hit a roadside bomb in Nimroz province. The incident took place in the Khash Rod District and more than 30 people were injured in the blast. The local police chief has blamed the Taliban for the attack.
Taliban militants have attacked the Hotel Inter-Continental in Kabul, killing at least 11 civilians and two police officers. NATO helicopters were called in to help to end the assualt which lasted for more than five hours.
At least 35 people have been killed after a suicide bomb attack on a clinic in eastern Afghanistan. The blast caused the Akbarkhail Public Medical Centre to collapse, leaving patients and medical staff buried under the rubble. The Taliban have denied carrying out the attack.
At least three civilians have been killed and 11 more injured after a suicide car bomb exploded in Kunduz province. A statement from the interior ministry has blamed the Taliban for the attacks, however the group have yet to claim responsibility.
A group of around 250 armed militants from Afghanistan have attacked a village in Pakistan's tribal belt. At least five civilians were killed in the raid on the village of Mamoond in Bajaur district.
At least seven people have been killed by a suicide car bombing in central Afghanistan. The attack, which was carried out by the Taliban, targeted senior government officials. Rockets were fired at the the vice president and interior minister, who both escaped unhurt.
A bomb attack in eastern Afghanistan has killed four soldiers from NATO's US-Led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The latest attack brings the total number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this year to 224.
Taliban militants have carried out a series of attacks in the western city of Herat. At least five people were killed and dozens more injured in the attacks, which included an assault on a NATO base in the city.
At least 14 civilians have been killed by a NATO air strike in the southern Helmand province. Afghan authorities claim that more than 50 people have been killed by NATO air strikes over the weekend.
The police commander for northern Afghanistan has been killed by in a suicide bomb attack in Takhar. At least five other people were killed in the blast, including two German soldiers. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Nine NATO soldiers have been killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. Two Afghan police officers were also killed in the blast which occurred in the Shorabak district of Kandahar province.
A suicide bomber has killed at least four civilians and injured 14 more in a remote part of eastern Afghanistan. The attack took place in the the town of Najeel Khail in Laghman province.
At least six people, all medical students, have been killed after a suicide bombing at a military hospital in Kabul. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Taliban insurgents have shot dead at least 35 construction workers and injured dozens more in the south-east of Afghanistan. The ambush took place on a highway linking the Paktia and Khost provinces.
At least 13 people have been killed by a suicide bomber in the city of Jalalabad. The bomber targeted a minibus carrying police cadets in the east of the city.
At least 11 people have been killed following violent anti-NATO protests in Taloqan in the north-eastern Takhar province. The demonstrations were in a response to NATO killing four people in an overnight raid in the town.
Two NATO soldiers have been shot dead by an Afghan police officer in the southwestern Helmand province. The attack happened in a police compound where the soldiers were mentoring an Afghan National Civil Order brigade.
At least 80 people have been killed and more than 120 injured after the Taliban carried out twin bomb attacks in north-western Pakistan. The Taliban have claimed that the suicide bomb attacks on a paramilitary training centre were the "first revenge" for the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Large groups of Taliban fighters have attacked police checkpoints in the remote Nuristan province in northeastern Afghanistan. Around 400 fighters armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades are reported to have taken place in the attack.
At least six Afghan police officers have been killed in an ambush by militants in Ghazni province. The officers were targeted by a roadside bomb before coming under heavy gunfire.
Taliban fighters have carried out a series of attacks in Kandahar in an attempt to take control of the city. The Afghan security forces have been battling militants throughout the city and at least five people have been killed and more than 40 injured in the fighting.
Up to twenty five foreign fighters have been killed by Afghan security forces after they had crossed into the country from neighbouring Pakistan. The fighters, who were killed in the Barg-e-Matal district of Nuristan, are reported to include Arabs, Chechens and Pakistanis.
Osama Bin Laden, founder of the al-Qaeda terrorist organisation, has been killed by US security forces in Pakistan. The US president, Barack Obama, has said that Bin Laden was shot dead at a compound near Islamabad.
At least four people have been killed by a suicide bomber who was reported to be around 12-years old. The attack took place in a market in Paktika province in the east of Afghanistan.
Six US soldiers have been shot dead by an Afghan army officer at an air force base in Kabul. According to General Mohammad Zahir Azimi an argument broke out at the airbase and the gunman was also killed in the incident. The Taliban claim that the army officer was one of its members.
Iranian nationals kidnapped in western Afghanistan - 19 April 2011:
At least twelve Iranian engineers have been kidnapped from a remote area of western Afghanistan, along with five of their Afghan colleagues. The group were taken at gunmen in the Farah province, close to the border with Iran. A Taliban spokesman has denied that the group had any involvement in the kidnapping.
A man dressed in army uniform has killed at least two soldiers and injured several others in an attack on the Afghan defence ministry in Kabul. The attacker was reportedly shot dead by bodyguards of the chief-of-staff on the second floor of the building. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.
A suicide bomb attack on a military base in the eastern province of Laghmam has killed nine people, including four Afghan soldiers. The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed that five of its personnel had been killed in the attack.
The chief of police in the southern Kandahar province has been killed by a suicide bomb attack on his headquarters. At least two other senior police officers were killed in the attack in the provincial capital Kandahar city.
At least three Afghan police officers have been killed by a suicide bomb attack in the Paktia province. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack, along with two more suicide attacks which have been reported in Kabul and Kandahar.
At least 10 people have been killed by a suicide bomber in eastern Afghanistan. The dead included the pro-government tribal elder Haji Malik Zarin, a close ally of President Karzai.
Six members of the Afghan security forces have been killed in a co-ordinated suicide bomb and armed attack by Taliban militants in Kandahar. The raid began when four suicide bombers stormed a police complex in the city, before militants armed with assault rifles and RPGs continued the attack. At least six militants are reported to have been killed in the incident.
Protests inspired by the burning of a Quran in the US have continued for a fourth day in Afghanistan. Around 20 people have been killed and more than 150 injured in the unrest so far.
At least 11 people have been killed in northern Afghanistan after an angry mob attacked a UN mission in Mazar-e-Sharif. The rioters were protesting the burning of a Quran in the US State of Florida when they attacked the mission, brutally killing seven UN employees.
At least 20 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on a construction company in the eastern province of Paktika. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place on Sunday in the Bermel district.
A convoy of around 50 police officers are reported to have been abducted by Taliban gunmen in northeastern Afghanistan. The group, who had recently completed training and were off-duty, were attacked in the Chapa Dara district of Kunar province.
At least 36 people have been killed by a suicide bomber at an army recruitment office in northern Afghanistan. More than 40 people are believed to have been injured in the blast in the city of Kunduz, which is the latest in a series of targeted attacks against Afghan security forces.
A roadside bomb has killed two police officers in the eastern city of Jalalabad and injured another 25 people. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack which had specifically targeted the police.
A car bomb has injured at least 24 people in the border town of Spin Boldak. Eight of the injured were reportedly members of the Afghan security services.
At least 30 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack in the northern Kunduz province. The Taliban-led attack targeted a government building where people were queuing to collect identity cards.
A Taliban attack on a police headquarters has killed at least 19 people, including 15 police officers, in the southern city of Kandahar. Dozens of people are reported to have been injured in the attack, which lasted for several hours.
An explosion has killed at least eight people in a supermarket frequented by Westerners in Kabul. The Taliban are believed to be responsible for the attack on the supermarket, which is situated close to the British and Canadian embassies.
At least 13 people have been killed by a roadside bomb in Paktika Province. Five border police have also been killed in neighbouring Zabul Province, close to the border with Pakistan.
Four people are reported to have been killed, with more than 30 injured, after a suicide attack on a minibus carry intelligence service staff in Kabul. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack.
Six US soldiers have been killed by a suicide bomb attack at a checkpoint in the Zari district of Afghanistan. The troops were operating under the NATO led International Security Assistance Force.
At least 15 people have been killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. The blast occurred near the Khansheen district of Helmand province.
Unknown gunmen have kidnapped nine security personnel working for a road construction company in the Kabul province.
Two suicide bombers have killed 12 police officers at an Afghan police headquarters in the eastern Paktika province, close to the border with Pakistan.
Taliban militants have killed at least 13 Afghan soldiers in a series of deadly attacks. Seven soldiers were killed in an overnight attack in the Oruzgan province and four soldiers were killed in an ambush in the northern province of Konduz.
A suicide bomber has killed 12 people and injured at least 26 others in the northern Faryab province. The attack took place at a busy market in the Khoja Sabz Posh district.
Population: 28.1 million (2009 est.)
Major Religion/s: : Islam
International dialling code: +93
International dialling prefix: 00
Emergency services: none currently in operation.
Drives: Right
Voltage: 220V
Climate: Semi-arid steppe climate, extremely cold winters and hot summers.
Other Major Cities: Kabul, Herat, Jalalabad, Kandahar and Mazar-e Sharif.
Borders: Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, China and Pakistan.
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