Afghanistan Industry

Along with mining and construction, the industry accounts for just over a fifth of Afghanistan’s GDP, but most factories are quite small and the proportion of employees in the industry has never amounted to more than a tenth of the total workforce.

The most common are factories for processing agricultural products, but the textile industry, carpet weaving, manufacturing of leather goods and cement factories also have some economic significance.

In Afghanistan, the boundary between industry and traditional crafts has long been fluid.

There are plenty of small workshops and forges where simple tools and tools for agriculture and homes are manufactured. The only manufactured goods that, in previous decades, gave Afghanistan some export revenue were carpets, but carpet weaving is now difficult to assert in competition from cheaper carpets from Turkey and Iran.

Strategically important industries for the production of textiles, cement and fertilizers, for example, have been state-controlled, but in 2007 the government decided to sell most of the state-owned companies. Among other things, the state retained transport companies as well as electricity and water supply.

• COUNTRYAAH: List of top trading partners of Afghanistan. Includes countries that imported most shipments from and exported most goods to the country.

In order to promote the development of the Afghan industry, the US and the EU have removed barriers to importing the country’s goods. With US funding, industrial zones have been built in the cities of Kabul, Kandahar and Mazar-i-Sharif, but success has been limited. The largest single industrial project in recent years is a bottling plant for Coca-Cola. Among the new industries that have been built there is also a factory in Kabul for the manufacture of generic medicines and an asphalt factory.

• According to ABBREVIATIONFINDER, AF stands for the country of Afghanistan in geography.

2018

December

July 2019 presidential election

December 30

The Election Commission announces that the presidential election is postponed for three months, from April 20, 2019 to July 20, the same year. The vote in the parliamentary elections held in October 2018 is still ongoing, which has led many to conclude that the presidential election should be better prepared. Among some 15 candidates are current President Ghani and “top official” Abdullah. Ghani has elected Tajik Amrullah Saleh as its Vice President. Saleh has made himself known as a strong opponent of the Taliban.

Trump orders soldiers home

December 20

US President Donald Trump decides to call home a larger number of US troops from Afghanistan. According to an anonymous source in the US State Administration, there are about 7,000 soldiers to be taken home within the next few months. The message comes the day after Trump announced that the US is taking home its troops from Syria. The United States has a total of about 14,000 soldiers in Afghanistan: some cooperate with the NATO operation, others support the Afghan military, while others are part of a special US counterterrorism force. The Afghan government is downplaying the importance of the decision, saying that the Afghan army has full control over the country’s security. NATO announces that its support efforts in the country are not affected by Trump’s decision.

US envoy meets Taliban

December 17

A Taliban delegation meets with US special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, to discuss how peace can be achieved. Also present at the meeting are representatives of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (the only countries in the world that recognized the Taliban regime 1996-2001). The Taliban, who refuse to talk to the Afghan government whom they regard as illegitimate, met Khalilzad earlier this fall on two occasions in Qatar. The Taliban only accept direct talks with the United States, which they demand to leave Afghanistan. The US goal is to start peace talks between the Afghan parties. The Afghan government sends a delegation to Abu Dhabi to meet Khalilzad. At the end of the meeting, the host country says that “positive results” have been achieved and Khalilzad talks about a ”

The votes in Kabul are annulled

December 6

The authority that handles the appeal of the parliamentary elections (see October 2018) cancels all votes gathered in Kabul. The authority states almost 30 reasons for the decision, including cheating and mismanagement by the election commission. No final result of the election has yet to be announced.

Most terrorist act in the world

December 6

In 2017, more than 1,000 terrorist attacks were carried out in Afghanistan, which together claimed more than 4,600 lives. No other country in the world was hit by so many terrorist attacks that year. It shows a new report from the Institute for Economics and Peace in Sydney.

November

Taliban attack police column

November 26th

The recent wave of violence continues to sweep across Afghanistan when a police column is attacked by Taliban in the Farah province in the west. As usual, the information on the number of dead and injured varies depending on the source. An official source states for media that more than 20 police officers are killed in the ambush, while the Farah police force indicates a lower figure. The attackers currently come across a variety of weapons.

Dozens of dead in suicide

November 23

The Islamist extremist group IS takes on a suicide bombing carried out during Friday prayers in a crowded mosque at an army base in Khost Province in the east. The information on the number of dead and injured is falling apart. A senior government official states for media that at least 27 employees at the base have been killed and at least 79 injured. IS writes on the site Amaq that 50 were killed and 110 injured.

Over 50 dead in suicide

20th of November

At least 55 people are killed and nearly 100 injured when a suicide bomber unleashes his explosive charge in a hall filled with Sufis gathered to celebrate Prophet Muhammad’s birthday in Kabul. The Taliban condemn the attack. Nobody takes the deed, but there are Islamist groups who believe that Sufism differs from the right Muslim doctrine.

Clear sign for oil transport from Iran

November 6

The important Iranian port of Chabahar in Afghanistan on the Indian Ocean is exempt from US sanctions that impede oil deals with Iran. The reason is that the port is a connecting link for transport to Afghanistan. Oil deliveries to Afghanistan are also excluded.

President Ghani is running for re-election

November 3

President Ashraf Ghani is up for re-election in the 2019 presidential election, his office announces.

October

Elections in Kandahar

October 27th

General elections are conducted in Kandahar under great security pressure. The election in the province had to be postponed one week from October 20 because of the assassination of Kandahar police chief. Technical problems are noted, as are incomplete voting lengths and election workers who fail, but the violence stays at such a level that the election can be completed.

Violent and chaotic election day

October 20

Election Day is characterized by extensive violence in many parts of the country, as well as technical problems and administrative chaos. A calculation by the AFP news agency claims that around 300 people, both civilian and security personnel, are killed on election day itself. The official figure of the death toll is 160. A suicide bombing in a polling booth in Kabul requires at least 15 lives and about 20 people injured. The Taliban claim they have carried out over 400 attacks against the “fake election”. According to the Ministry of the Interior, 193 election-related attacks were registered on Election Day. Just over 250 polling stations are also open the following day so that anyone who wants to vote should be able to do so. The lengths of voices are in many incomplete, sometimes completely missing. There are also problems with getting the biometric credentials to work. According to the Election Commission, the election is completed in 80 percent of the polling stations. Almost 150 polling stations cannot open at all due to security risks. Despite all the problems and risks, about three million Afghans out of nearly nine million eligible voters choose to go to the polls, according to the Election Commission. In the provinces of Kandahar and Ghazni, the high level of violence causes the election to be postponed.

Kandahar’s police chief is murdered

October 18

A bodyguard to the governor of Kandahar kills the province’s disputed police chief, General Abdul Raziq. The murder is reported to have been ordered by the Taliban, who have a strong foothold in Kandahar. The head of Kandahar’s intelligence service and an Afghan journalist were also shot to death. The killings occur when military leaders of the US, NATO and Afghanistan forces leave a summit in a security-classified building, attended by General Scott Miller, commander of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Miller escapes unharmed, but an American army general is injured. Raziq, who was mentioned for his fierce fight against the Taliban in Kandahar, was likely the target of the attack. The general election, scheduled for October 20, is postponed for a week in Kandahar due to the attack.

Violent weekend before the election

October 14

Dozens of people are killed and injured over the weekend in election-related violence. At least 22 people are killed and nearly 40 injured when unknown motorcycle perpetrators detonate an explosive charge at an election meeting in Takhar province in the north. The meeting is held by a female candidate for parliament. The majority of victims are civilians. In Herat, two people, including a nine-year-old boy, are killed when a campaign office is fired. So far during the election campaign, hundreds of people have been killed in election-related violence, including about 10 candidates in targeted murders, according to the Independent Electoral Commission.

Taliban attack military posts

October 14

About 20 Afghan soldiers are killed when Taliban attack two military posts in Farah province in western Afghanistan. Fifteen soldiers are captured and five injured. Also, many Taliban must have been killed according to local authorities.

US envoy meets Taliban

October 12

A Taliban delegation meets US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Doha, Qatar, to discuss a solution to the conflict in Afghanistan. This is the first time both sides confirm that direct talks have been held between the Taliban movement and the United States. The Taliban have long been required to speak directly with the United States, but Washington has said the talks must be held with Afghan representatives. There is unconfirmed information that a similar meeting should have been held in July 2018.

The Taliban swear by sabotaging the elections

October 9

The Taliban movement condemns the parliamentary elections to be held on October 20, saying it is only for deceiving Afghans to serve “malicious foreign interests”. The Taliban are calling on their supporters to prevent the elections from being carried out. On the same day, twelve people, including a candidate in the elections, were killed in a suicide attack in Lashkar Gah in the Helmand province. The attack is carried out inside the candidate’s campaign office. Nobody is doing the deed, but the Taliban are strong in Helmand. The attack is the second suicide attack during the electoral movement, and at least six candidates have been killed.

The number of suicide victims is increasing

October 7

In the first three quarters of 2018, 2,343 civilians were killed in suicide attacks, which is more than the number of civilian casualties in ground fighting. That’s what the UN mission writes Unama. IS owes half of the deaths, and the Taliban to 40 percent. Many of the attacks appear to be aimed at the Shiite Muslim minority, according to Unama.

Suicidal acts at a general election

October 2

At least 13 people are killed and about 40 injured when a suicide bomber attacks an attack near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan where supporters of a parliamentary candidate are to speak. The politician survives the attack but it is not clear if he was injured. The level of violence has escalated since the election movement began, but this is the first suicide bombing during the period. The Islamic State (IS) is taking on the deed. To date, five candidates have been murdered and hundreds of civilians have been killed or injured during the electoral movement. More than 2,500 people are running for parliamentary elections on October 20.

September

Violent electoral movement begins

September 28

The electoral movement will start before the slightly over three-year parliamentary elections, now scheduled for October 20. However, it is still uncertain whether the election will really be carried out, partly because the preparation of elections is described as inadequate, and partly because the level of violence in society has risen sharply. Suspicions of gross cheating in connection with the registration of voters have led some opposition groups to demand the use of so-called biometric machines for identification of those entitled to vote. It seems uncertain whether such a system will be in place until Election Day. However, the Election Commission maintains that the election will be held on October 20, when 2,565 people are running for 249 seats in Parliament’s lower house. Election is held, political parties are not allowed to stand. In the violence-stricken province of Ghazni, the election is set.

UN: About 20 civilians are killed by fighter jets

September 27th

The UN mission UNAMA announces that twelve family members – two women and ten children – may have been killed in an air raid against Taliban in Wardak province outside Kabul. It is not clear whether the attack was made by American or Afghan fighter aircraft. Before that comes a statement that nine family members, including four children, have been killed by US fighter jet in the province of Kapisa on September 22. However, the US Air Force says that only armed opponents were met in that attack, adding that it is not uncommon for opponents to claim similar things so as to split between the military and the people of the country.

Violence is increasing before the election

11 September

The level of violence is rising in several parts of the country as the October elections approach. In the province of Nangarhar in the east, some 70 people are killed in a suicide attack. The attack is aimed at protesters blocked by the road between the provincial capital Jalalabad and a border crossing with Pakistan, in protest of the appointment of a new local police chief. It is unclear who or who is behind the deed.

Many killed in suicide in Kabul

September 5

At least 20 people are killed and about 70 injured when two explosive charges detonate at a wrestling club in a Shiite-dominated part of Kabul. First a suicide bomber bursts into the air inside the sports hall, then a car full of explosives explodes next to journalists and security people gathered at the scene of the attack. At least two journalists must have been killed in the second blast. Among the dead are also several wrestlers and guards. It is unclear who or who is behind the attack.

New American envoy for peace

September 4th

The United States appoints Zalmay Khalilzad, former ambassador to Kabul, Baghdad and the UN, to lead the US Department of State’s efforts to seek peace in Afghanistan.

The founder of the Haqqani network died

September 4th

The founder of the Haqqani network, Jalaluddin Haqqani, dies after a long illness. It announces the Afghan Taliban movement, which is cooperating with the militant Islamist network. Jalaluddin became known as a mujahedin warrior in the fight against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan during the 1980s. He also collaborated with the terror network al-Qaeda and was a minister in Kabul during the Taliban violence. Nowadays, Haqqani is believed to cooperate primarily with the Islamic State (IS). The network is today led by the founder’s son Sirajuddin. Jalaluddin’s death is not expected to have any major consequences as he has been ill for a long time. The network is notorious for being behind a series of violent assaults and for its frequent use of suicide bombers. It is terrorist-stamped by the United States, among others.

August

The talks in Moscow are postponed

August 28th

Russia postpones the planned peace talks with the Taliban since the US and Afghanistan withdrew.

Kabul and the US withdraw from Moscow-led peace talks

August 23rd

Afghan Foreign Ministry announces that Kabul government will not participate in talks with Taliban and neighboring countries scheduled for Moscow next month. The reason stated is that the peace process must be led by Afghans. According to an anonymous source from the US Department of Foreign Affairs, the United States will also not participate as Washington considers that the talks have little chance of success.

Rocket attack against Kabul

21th of August

At least twelve rockets are fired at Kabul when President Ghani gives speeches in the capital to mark the start of the eid al-adha celebration. The attack is interpreted as a signal from the Taliban that they are rejecting the president’s ceasefire offer. It is unclear if any man is injured or killed by the rockets.

Ghani offers a new ceasefire

20th of August

President Ghani announces a three-month ceasefire in the fight against the Taliban in connection with the commencement of the eid al-adha holiday. The ceasefire, however, presupposes that the Taliban also lay down their weapons.

Taliban occupy army base

12th of August

Taliban are attacking an army base in the northern province of Faryab. Nearly a dozen army soldiers are killed and dozens are removed. Fierce fighting is going on for several days before the base falls to the Taliban.

Taliban attacks Ghazni

10th August

Taliban forces attack the city of Ghazni with four grenades. Fierce fighting erupts when Afghan military and police go to counter-attack, backed by US aircraft. About 200 people are killed, mainly soldiers, police and Taliban warriors, but also civilians. Both private homes and army posts are attacked. Six days later, the military seems to have regained control of the city, but the devastation is said to be great. Ghazni is located on the main route between Kabul and Kandahar and is strategically important as the person controlling the city can cut off southeastern Afghanistan from Kabul. The Taliban are being hard pressed by the outside world who want them to participate in peace talks, but so far they have rejected President Ghani’s invitation to do so. Instead, the Taliban want to negotiate directly with the United States,

July

Attacks at Dostum’s homecoming

July 22nd

About 20 people are killed and 60 are injured in a suicide attack at the entrance to Kabul International Airport. A large crowd, including politicians and senior officials, has gathered there to welcome Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum home from exile. Dostum drives in an armored car and leaves the scene unharmed, but nine people in his bodyguard are among the victims. Dostum has lived in Turkey since May 2017 when he was accused of organizing a group rape and torture of a political opponent. The Islamic State (IS) is taking on the deed. According to some analysts, President Ghani has given Dostum the go-ahead to return home to calm down the situation in the north where Dostum has its electoral base and where it has been troubled in recent times.

UN: record number of civilian casualties

July 14

Nearly 1,700 civilians have been killed in the first half of 2018. That is the highest figure in ten years, according to a UN report. More than half of the victims have died in attacks by the Islamist extremist group IS.

Hundreds of thousands return from Iran

July 11

In the first half of 2018, more than 370,500 Afghans return from Iran, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Some Afghans are deported, others return voluntarily. The reason for the rising figure is the deterioration of security for Afghans in Iran, according to IOM.

About 20 dead in suicide in Jalalabad

July 1st

About 20 people are killed and about as many injured when a suicide bomber strikes a market in Jalalabad in Nangarhar province on the Pakistan border. The attack takes place only a few hundred meters from the Governor’s residence where President Ghani is visiting. Almost all the victims are Sikhs or Hindus. Among the dead is the only Sikh candidate in the general election scheduled for October 20. The Islamic extremist group Islamic State (IS) is taking on the deed.

June

The ceasefire is not extended

17th of June

The Taliban movement rejects a proposal by President Ghani to extend the ceasefire introduced at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. Two assaults are carried out in the province of Nangarhar with about 40 deaths as a result. The deed is attributed to the Islamic State (IS) which was outside the ceasefire agreement.

“Famous Taliban leader dead”

June 15

President Ghani says Pakistani Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah was killed in a US drone attack on June 14 in Kunar province near the Pakistan border. Fazlullah is believed to have been the person who ordered the 2012 attempted murder of Malala Yousafzai, who received the Nobel Peace Prize for her fight for girls’ right to education. Fazlullah’s TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan) group was also behind the mass murder of over 150 people, the majority of children, in a school in Peshawar, Pakistan in December 2014. The Pentagon, the US defense headquarters, has not confirmed Fazlullah’s death.

Temporary ceasefire, and new battles

June 12

The government announces a ceasefire of eight days in connection with the end of the fixed month of Ramadan. Parts of the Taliban movement respond by doing the same, while a number of other groups do not obey the ceasefire. On the second day of the ceasefire, militant Taliban kill a governor in the northern province of Faryab and take control of his district of Kohistan. Struggles also erupt elsewhere in the country; Afghan military clashes with Taliban in the provinces of Faryab and Sari Pul in the north, with casualties on both sides. A suicide bomber kills five police officers in an attack on a public building in the Ghazni district in the southeast. According to the police, Taliban are also guilty of that attack. The Interior Ministry announces that some 30 government soldiers are killed in fighting Taliban during the ceasefire’s third day.

May

Over 80 children dead or injured in flight attacks

May 8

Thirty-six people were killed and more than 70 injured when Afghan warplanes in April 2018 bombed a suspected Taliban stronghold in Kunduz province. Of those killed or injured, 81 were children. This is what the UN writes in a new report. The Afghan government has previously reported that 50 suspected opponents were killed in the plane crash.

April

Dozens of dead in suicide in Kabul

April 30th

About 30 people, including several journalists, are killed in two concerted suicide attacks in Kabul. The target for the first suicide bomber was the Afghan intelligence service headquarters in the Shash Darak district. There are also several foreign embassies and the NATO headquarters. The media workers, who were from, among others, the French news agency AFP and Radio Free Europe, are killed when they report on location about the first explosion. The offender who triggered the second explosive charge must have been dressed as a journalist. The Islamic State (IS) takes on the blame for the attacks.

Record many flight attacks

April 24

The US-led coalition released 1,186 aerial bombs over Afghanistan in the first quarter of 2018. It is the highest figure for a three-month period in the last 15 years. The United States has not published statistics on the number of air strikes carried out between 2001 and 2003.

Attacks on electoral preparation

April 22

About 60 people are killed and around 120 injured in a suicide attack outside a voter registration room in a Shiite Muslim part of western Kabul. The Sunni extremist group Islamic State (IS) is taking on the deed. IS considers Shi’a Muslims as “apostates” from the right faith. The government has set up more than 7,000 offices around the country where around 14 million voting Afghans will register before the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 20, 2018. Since the registration began on April 14, 2018, several registration venues have been subjected to attacks. Taliban groups and other militant groups oppose the elections being held.

Registration before the parliamentary elections

April 14

The registration of voters has begun before the delayed parliamentary elections scheduled for October 20. The electoral authority hopes to register 14 million eligible voters at 7,000 polling stations during the two months of registration. Many factors of uncertainty exist, including lack of female staff, which makes it difficult for female voters to register as it may require them to show their face.

Migrants fly home

April 8

Turkey has begun to fly migrants home to Afghanistan from the city of Erzurum. The news agency Dogan reports that about 3,000 Afghans are being transported to their homeland from the area. According to data in Turkey, almost 18,000 Afghans have entered the country illegally over the past three months in the hope of being able to move on to other countries. Representatives of the Ministry of Migration in Kabul claim that those who fly home are people who have accepted it, when they have not been able to reach the goals they hoped to achieve.

Parliamentary elections in October

April 1st

Parliamentary and regional elections will be held on October 20, 2018, the Election Authority announces. If the elections can be carried out, they occur with a three-year delay: the plans have been changed several times for security reasons. In fairly large areas, the Kabul government has no control, which makes the prospects of making elections uncertain. At the national level, 249 seats in the National Assembly are at stake, with a term of office of five years. Six months later, in April 2019, it is scheduled to hold presidential elections.

March

International support for negotiations

March 27th

An international meeting is being held in Uzbekistan with, among others, President Ashraf Ghani and representatives of neighboring countries, the United States, Russia and the EU. The Taliban movement is not in place in Tashkent, but the purpose of the meeting is to prepare direct negotiations between the Taliban and the government in Kabul. Twenty participating delegations adopt a declaration in support of the unifying government’s offer to the Taliban on unconditional negotiations.

Many acts of violence around the New Year

March 23rd

In the city of Lashkar Gah, a car bomb detonates outside a sports arena when spectators roll out after a wrestling match. At least 13 people are killed and 45 injured, according to a spokesman for the governor of the Helmand province, which is largely controlled by Taliban. It is the end of a week laced with acts of violence. In Kabul, a suicide bomber had burst two days earlier during the Afghan New Year celebration with 33 deaths and 65 injured as a result, according to the Ministry of Health.

Power struggle resolved through change of person

March 22

The Jamiat-e-Islami Party has concluded a deal with President Ashraf Ghani’s government. Atta Mohammad Noor promises after three months of opposition to leave the governor’s post in Balkh, but he has had influence over who will be in charge: party mate Mohammad Ishaq Rahguzar, who has been governor of Balkh in the past. Ahead of the 2019 presidential election, Ghani is thought to have strengthened rival Noor’s position, rather than weakening him, through handling the issue.

February

Peace invitation to Taliban

February 28

President Ghani announces that he intends to start peace talks with the Taliban. He also opens up for the Taliban movement to be allowed as a political party. The United States, which has stepped up its military efforts against the Taliban, among other things to knock out drug production as a source of revenue for the movement, calls its message “courageous” through its ambassador in Kabul and urges the Taliban to put down their armed struggle.

Gas pipeline agreement across the country

February 23

An agreement between Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan and India on a pipeline to supply Turkmen countries with a gas pipeline is being celebrated at a Turkish border station against Afghanistan, which was once believed to have been the southernmost outpost of the Soviet Union. The management, “TAPI” after the countries’ initials, will be 184 km long and is scheduled to be put into operation by 2020. The Taliban movement is also reported to be well-tuned for the infrastructure project.

Yet another governor defies the president

February 19

Samangan Province Governor Abdul Karim Khadam, one of four governors in the north who was fired by President Ashraf Ghani last week, refuses to resign. Before Christmas, the president failed to get rid of Atta Mohammad Noor in the Balkh province and it makes his government appear powerless. Khadam is the Turk, but belongs to the same Tajik-dominated party as Noor. In the struggle for regional power, ethnic contradictions are utilized, which can thus also be deepened. Ghani belongs to the larger and politically stronger Pashtun people.

Music school gets award

February 14th

The National Music Institute in Kabul and its founder Ahmad Sarmast are awarded the Polar Prize this year. At the institute, founded in 2010, girls are also trained. Both Afghan and Western music are taught. The awards ceremony will take place in Stockholm in June.

Plans on Chinese base

February 2

China wants to build a military base in eastern Afghanistan to prevent militant extremists from entering Chinese territory. Negotiations are underway on a base in the mountainous and remote Wakhan corridor in Pamir, Afghan representatives say. The area borders on Chinese-controlled Xinjiang, where China fears ethnic Uighurs who oppose the central government. The military support from the Beijing government to Kabul over the past three years is valued at the equivalent of $ 70 million, says Ahmad Bilal Khalil at the Center for Strategic and Regional Studies in Kabul to the AFP news agency.

January

IS attacks military in Kabul

January 29th

A posting near a military academy is being attacked in western Kabul. At least eleven soldiers die in the attack, the fourth of a larger extent in just over a week. IS takes on the assault.

Car bomb in ambulance

January 27

An ambulance packed with explosives runs past one of the police roadblocks in Kabul into an area that, among other things, houses a well-visited shopping street, the EU office and other foreign missions. Taliban take on suicide. The following day, more than a hundred victims were killed and 235 injured. The target is believed to have been the home ministry, but many of the victims are people who happen to pass outside, reports the BBC’s staff on site.

Save the children are attacked

January 24th

Save Children’s premises in the city of Jalalabad east of Kabul are stormed by armed men. A suicide bomber bursts in the car outside, then witnesses see how the door is shot with a grenade launcher and gunfire exchanges on the inside. At least two people lose their lives and twelve are injured according to Afghan sources. IS takes on the deed and states through its propaganda channel Amaq that it has had “British, Swedish and Afghan institutions” as its target.

Support from the United States despite violations

January 23

The US Defense Headquarters has supported the Afghan police and security services despite information that employees within the units are guilty of abuse. A now-released report from the Inspectorate for Reconstruction in Afghanistan (an authority abbreviated Sigar), submitted to Congress in June, reveals that the Pentagon made recurring exceptions to US regulations. Among the abuses known to the report include bachi bazi; young boys are kept as sex slaves.

Gisslandrama at Kabul hotel

January 20th

Armed men hostage at the Intercontinental luxury hotel in Kabul. An employee tells the news service Tolo that some of the attackers are disguised as dinner guests. Dramatic images show flames leaking from the ceiling and panicked guests trying to save themselves through balconies. Taliban take on the attack. A few days later, the number of fatalities is set to at least 20; many were foreign pilots who flew for the Afghan company Kam Air. The interior minister says it was a mistake to hire a private security company to guard the hotel, which in 2011 suffered a similar attack.

Many killed in suicide in Kabul

January 4th

Eleven people are killed and 25 injured when a suicide bomber blasts himself into the air next to a demonstration in Kabul. In addition to the protesters, there are also many police officers who are likely to be the target of the perpetrator. During the attack, five police officers are killed and eleven injured. The protest concerns the death of a shop owner in a police raid against liquor smugglers. The Sunni extremist terrorist movement Islamic State (IS) is taking on the deed.

Eighteen dead in blast near Jalalabad

January 1st

At least 18 people are killed and around 13 injured when unknown perpetrators attack a crowd at a funeral near Jalalabad in the eastern part of the country. The perpetrators are believed to have passed on a motorcycle and threw an explosive charge at the mourners. It is unknown if any group is behind the deed.