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2000 in Afghanistan

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2000
in
Afghanistan

Decades:
See also:Other events of 2000
List of years in Afghanistan

The following lists events that happened during 2000 in Afghanistan.

Incumbents

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Events

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February

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  • February 10 - The hijacking of an Ariana (Afghani airline) Boeing 727 aircraft, which was seized on an internal flight, and forced to fly via Central Asia to Moscow and then on to the UK, ends peacefully at Stansted airport north of London

March

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Ismail Khan, a former governor of Herat and leading opponent of the ruling Taliban regime, escapes from prison in Kandahar.

April

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May

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June

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  • Early June - The UN calls for immediate international drought relief of around U.S. $67 million to aid over 10 million people affected by severe droughts across Afghanistan.

July

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  • July 1 - Government forces clash with troops loyal to northern mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Masood around Bagram airbase, just north of Kabul. Both sides claim to have inflicted heavy casualties.
  • July 9 - Mary McMakin, a U.S. aid worker in her 70s who has spent the last 30 years in Afghanistan, is arrested in Kabul on suspicion of espionage. The U.S. government calls the accusations "ridiculous."
  • Mid-July - The Taliban authorities order the UN and foreign aid agencies to dismiss all Afghan women working for them.
  • Mid- to late July 2000 - Kabul is hit by five bomb attacks in two weeks. The Taliban authorities accuse saboteurs of trying to create the impression of anarchy in the capital.
  • Late July - The authorities announce the arrest of Commander Bashir Baghlani, a key Taliban leader in the northern regions, on suspicion of colluding with anti-government forces.
  • July 27 - The Taliban issued a decree banning opium poppy cultivation.[4]
  • July 31 - The Taliban authorities announce that the severe drought affecting much of the country was God's punishment for the people's neglect of their religious beliefs.

August

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September

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  • Early September - Despite encouraging hints of peace initiatives brokered by neighbouring Turkmenistan in late August, Taliban forces press on with their attack on the opposition Northern Alliance's northeast supply routes, taking the key town of Taloqan after heavy fighting.
  • September - The Taliban regime steps up its efforts to gain diplomatic and UN recognition, having reinforced its claims to effective control of the country thanks to military successes in the northeast. The U.S. sustains its criticisms over drug trafficking, support for terrorism, and a "deplorable human rights record," although State Department officials do meet Taliban representatives in Washington, D.C., on September 29 to discuss these issues.
  • Mid-September - Around 150,000 people are said to be heading for the sealed border with Tajikistan in the wake of the successful advance of Taliban forces in the north of the country. The refugees include almost the entire population of Taloqan.
  • Mid-September - Although Afghanistan remains the world's biggest producer of opium, the UN drug control agency announces that the country's crop for 2000 appears to be 30% smaller than that harvested in 1999. Despite the agency's program to convince local farmers to grow other crops, the fall may be solely due to the terrible drought affecting the region.
  • Mid-September - The Taliban authorities announce that traders arriving from Pakistan will be allowed to transport their goods through Afghanistan without paying customs duties. Taliban deputy commerce minister Faiz Faizan also says that any foreigners are welcome to invest in the country tax-free.

October

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  • October 10 - A three-day cease-fire is called to allow UN medical officers to continue providing polio vaccinations for children displaced by the fighting. A massive campaign to immunize approximately 4.5 million children in Afghanistan, one of only 30 countries where the disease still exists, began in early June.
  • Late October - A ban on the farming of opium poppy, from which heroin is derived, starts to be implemented by the Taliban authorities. The fatwa against opium poppy cultivation had been pronounced in July 2000, after which followed a period when local shuras disseminated the information among the population. Finally, in October 2000 the shuras started the enforcement of the opium cultivation ban.[5]

November

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December

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  • Mid-December - Fearing a violent response to a UN resolution tightening international sanctions against the Taliban regime, non-Afghan UN staff are gradually withdrawn from the country, resulting in their complete absence in Afghanistan from December 19.[6]
  • December 19 - The UN Security Council adopts Resolution 1333 that expands the regime of anti-Taliban sanctions imposed by Resolution 1267 back in 1999. The key drivers behind the new Resolution are Russia and the US. UN Secretary General, UN relief officials and some analysts like Barnett Rubin express disappointment with the severity of the imposed sanctions.[6]
  • Late December 2000 - The return of exiled opposition leader Karim Khalili from Iran prompts a new offensive by the Northern Alliance in north-central Afghanistan. The governing Taliban regime admits it has temporarily lost control of the central town of Yakawlang, near Bamyan, but denies opposition claims of further gains in neighbouring Ghor Province.
  • December 30 - Anti-Taliban Shi'a Islam groups Wahdat-i-Islami and Harakat-i-Islami captured the Yakaolang District in Bamyan Province, Afghanistan.

References

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  1. ^ Afghan ex-guerilla commander killed in Pakistan - Afghanistan News Center, 24 April 2000 (Reuters)
  2. ^ 2000 (Patters of Global Terrorism - US Department of State, May 2000
  3. ^ Реализовать угрозу будет непросто - Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 2 June 2000
  4. ^ Taliban and the Drug Trade - Raphael Perl, 5 October 2001, CRS Report for Congress
  5. ^ Where have all the flowers gone?: evaluation of the Taliban crackdown against opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan - Graham Farrell, John Thorne, International Journal of Drug Policy, 2005
  6. ^ a b Tough Sanctions Imposed on Taliban Government Split U.N. - Barbara Crossette, NY Times, 20 Dec 2000