Afghanistan timeline July 2003
Afghanistan timeline
July 31, 2003
- The European Union announced that it would donate €79.5 million to support reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. The money is meant to support de-mining, the building of a health system, and other public infrastructure projects.
- The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization predicted that the 2003 wheat harvest in Afghanistan would be the largest in 20 years, due to increased rainfall, increased international aid, and continued success in dealing with locusts. Malnutrition remains a serious problem in the country, however.
- In Kabul, Afghanistan, three Afghan National Army officers were wounded when U.S forces fired on their taxi. [1]
- U.S forces in Afghanistan killed at least three suspected insurgents in a firefight near the U.S. base in Asadabad, in Kunar province.
- The Pakistani army moved into parts of its northwest tribal areas to flush out Taliban remnants. This marked the first time Pakistan had taken such action.
- Floods in the Panjshir Valley of Afghanistan triggered a landslide which killed 30 people and swept away 400 cattle.
- United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the United Nations Security Council to expand the mandate of the International Security Assistance Force to other key Afghan cities in order to create a better environment for the elections slated in the summer of 2004.
- After a gun battle south of Kandahar, Afghanistan, Afghan security forces killed one suspected Taliban member and arrested five others.
July 30, 2003
- U.S General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an interview that the largest threat to Afghanistan's new government comes from across the border of Pakistan.
- In Nakhohni, five miles south of Kandahar, Afghanistan, two gunmen on a motorcycle shot and killed Mullah Jinab, a member of the Ulema Shoora, as he was coming out of a local mosque after evening prayers.
July 29, 2003
- The UNHCR announced that, with its support, more than 300,000 Afghan refugees had returned home in 2003.
- Human Rights Watch released a report that, in Afghanistan, U.S-led coalition support for warlords was destabilizing the nation and could threaten the elections of 2004. Abuses carried out by the Afghan National Army and local police were also highlighted, including kidnappings, burglaries, rapes, intimidation, harassment of journalists, and extortions.
- During a United Nations Security Council debate, Indian Ambassador Vijay K. Nambiar expressed concern that, through charities and drug trade, al Qaeda still had the ability to finance its own activities. He also voiced concerns that al Qaeda continued to procure weapons through the border with Pakistan. Nambiar demanded an inquiry.
- In Naish, 40 miles north of Kandahar, Afghanistan, about two dozen rebels ambushed government troops in southern Afghanistan, killing at least two soldiers and torching two NGO vehicles before fleeing.
- To sort out their border dispute along the tribal region dividing them, Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to use, with the assistance of the U.S, GPS to work out the coordinates of the border.
- British authorities deported to Afghanistan a group of forty-seven Afghans who failed to obtain asylum in the U.K.
July 28, 2003
July 27, 2003
- Telecom Development Company Afghanistan began offering wireless phone service to consumers in Afghanistan, breaking a year-long monopoly held by Afghan Wireless Communication.
- The Taliban named Mullah Abdul Jabar as the rival governor in Zabul province, Afghanistan.
- In Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, posters appeared that threatened death to twenty-five informers accused of collaborating with U.S and government forces.
- A ground-breaking ceremony took place in Tehran, Iran to mark the start of construction of a four-kilometer Milak-Zaranj road. Iran allocated US$849,847 for the project. Iran's Hossein Amini and Afghanistan's Karim Barahouei attended the ceremony.
July 26, 2003
- Under a pilot telekiosk project funded by the French government, the telekiosk.moc.gov.af website was launched in Afghanistan. In both Dari and English language, the site provided links to government and health information, job listings and business information. The site also provided community forums, information on local hotels and restaurants, and a Dari-English phrasebook.
- Mullah Mohammed Omar approved Mullah Abdul Samad as the new deputy military commander for southern Afghanistan and ordered him to intensify guerrilla attacks on U.S and coalition forces.
July 25, 2003
July 24, 2003
July 23, 2003
- In the Zormat Valley region of the southern Paktia province in Afghanistan, about 1,000 soldiers of the Afghan National Army, together U.S-led coalition troops, were deployed in Operation Warrior Sweep. It marked first major combat operation for the Afghan troops.
- In Islamabad, Pakistan, Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali met Pakistani Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat and Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali on the first of a two-day visit. The visit was aimed at developing cooperation in the fight against terrorism and to remove recent strains in relations. An agreement was made for Pakistan to train Afghan border security agencies and members of the Afghan police force.
- After two rockets landed near a U.S base at Asadabad in Kunar province, Afghanistan, coalition troops called in air strikes by a B-52 Stratofortress (which dropped Joint Direct Attack Munitions) and two AV-8 Harrier IIs (which dropped Precision-guided munitions.)
July 22, 2003
- A fire (which started in a timber shop after a wood-sawing machine overheated) in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, destroyed more than a hundred shops and other buildings.
- In Afghanistan, rockets landed near U.S-coalition bases in Kandahar province and Paktika province. There were no coalition casualties.
- A patrol of U.S soldiers was ambushed in Asadabad province, Afghanistan. There were no casualties.
July 21, 2003
July 19, 2003
- North of Orgun, Afghanistan, two soldiers from the U.S-led coalition forces were wounded when their patrol was ambushed by automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
- One man was killed and another wounded when they set off a land mine while digging a well near a police station in Chilstoon in Kabul, Afghanistan. The mine was likely left over from factional fighting in the 1990s.
- Sixteen Afghans who arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan from Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on July 17 were freed and handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
- Afghan authorities confiscated hundreds of copies of the weekly newspaper Payam-e-Mujahid, owned by the Northern Alliance, after it published an article accusing President Hamid Karzai of making the apology under pressure from a U.S ambassador and described it as a dishonor for Afghans. The article demanded that Karzai resign. The confiscation was ordered by Defense Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim.
- U.S-led coalition forces killed up to two dozen rebels in a clash near Spin Boldak, Afghanistan.
- Several Afghan troops were killed as dozens of heavily armed rebel fighters attacked a border post near Spin Boldak, Afghanistan. After the five-hour battle, the rebels escaped across the border into Pakistan.
July 18, 2003
- Eight Afghan government soldiers, in a car travelling about 25 kilometers east of Khost, were killed by a remote-control mine. The soldiers were part of a special unit working with the U.S-led coalition forces to monitor the regions that border Pakistan.
- Afghanistan was officially reinstated as a full member of the International Association of Athletic Federations. Afghanistan had originally joined the IAAF in 1930. Following the lead of the International Olympic Committee, the IAAF suspended Afghanistan in 1999 because of the Taliban ban on the participation of women athletes. The IOC lifted its suspension on June 29.
- Three U.S soldiers were wounded when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device detonated in the middle of their convoy approximately eight kilometers south of Asad Abad, Afghanistan.
- A U.S military base at Spin Boldak, Afghanistan came under rocket attack but there were no casualties.
July 17, 2003
July 16, 2003
- In the Ghorak district of Kandahar, Afghanistan, more than 400 Afghan soldiers and police searched houses for Taliban suspected of killing five policemen earlier in the week. Twelve villagers were picked up on suspicion of helping the Taliban.
- Indian Oil Corporation and GAIL submitted bids for construction of a $2.5 billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan pipeline, which will move natural gas from Turkmenistan's Dauletabad fields via Afghanistan to Pakistan's Multan.
- Lorne Craner, the U.S assistant secretary of state for human rights, began a three-day visit to Afghanistan.
July 15, 2003
July 14, 2003
July 13, 2003
- A blast damaged a building operated by a non-governmental organization (NGO) for the U.N.
- An improvised explosive device left a large whole in the wall of a warehouse run by the German Technical Cooperation, an NGO, in the northern section of Jalalabad, Afghanistan.
- In a raid near the Pakistan border, Afghan forces seized about 300 rocket-propelled grenades, dozens of anti-tank mines and 20 AK-47 rifles.
July 12, 2003
July 11, 2003
- Pakistan declined to accept a U.N offer to mediate any differences between Afghanistan and Pakistan after the Pakistan Embassy was attacked by protesters earlier in the week. Security around the Afghan consulate in Peshawar was tightened.
- A U.S.Special Operation Forces convoy north of Bari Kott in Khost province, Afghanistan received small-arms fire. One soldier was slightly injured from bumping his head in a vehicle.
- U.S Special Operation Forces came under small-arms fire from unknown gunmen in Kunduz, Afghanistan.
- A rocket was fired at the U.S base in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, but it did not go off.
July 10, 2003
- Afghan authorities in Kandahar province arrested a man and seized a large quantity of bomb-making material. The man was reported to be a brother and aide of former Taliban defense minister Mullah Obaidullah.
- William Taylor was named by the Bush administration to oversee U.S policy toward Afghanistan.
July 9, 2003
July 8, 2003
- In a second day of demonstrations against reported Pakistani military incursions into Afghan territory, a group of nearly 500 people attacked Pakistan's embassy in Kabul. The windows of eight embassy cars were smashed while televisions, computers and windows were also smashed, including those in the ambassador's upstairs office.
- In Mazar-i-Sharif around 500 people held a protest outside the United Nations offices and burned a Pakistani flag and an effigy of Musharraf.
- In reaction to attack on Pakistan's embassy in Kabul early in the day, Pakistan lodged a formal protest with the Afghan Government. The protest prompted Afghan President Hamid Karzai to telephone Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf directly.
- Amnesty International secretary general Irene Khan met with Afghan president Hamid Karzai in Kabul to press for widespread prison reform and improved security. A new Amnesty International report found that warlords were still operating private prisons, with many civilians held in shackles and detained for months without facing trial.
July 7, 2003
- The Afghan government announced that it had collected $56 million in revenue from provincial governors and warlords since the end of March.
- John Abizaid replaced Tommy Franks as head of the US Central Command.
- About 100 people took part in a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, in protest against reported Pakistani military incursions into Afghan territory.
- New Zealand Minister of Defense Mark Burton announced the deployment of New Zealand service men and women on a twelve-month mission to Afghanistan. Their responsibilities would focus on enhancing the security environment and promoting reconstruction efforts.
- The Afghanistan Literature House opened in [Tehran]], Iran in the Honar Cultural Center.
July 6, 2003
- An advance team of NATO troops arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan to prepare for its take over of the International Security Assistance Force in August.
- In the Dara-i-Suf district of Samangan province, Afghanistan, three people were killed in fighting between Uzbek and Tajik forces. A multi-party peace commission and U.N officials brokered a cease-fire.
- Afghan President Hamid Karzai sent a high level delegation to eastern Afghanistan to investigate alleged border violations by the Pakistani military. The Mohmand tribe were worried about Pakistan's military operations in the Nangarhar and Kunar districts.
July 5, 2003
- The Japanese ambassador to Afghanistan, Kinichi Komano, announced that Japan would provide $150 million in aid for reconstruction purposes, such as roads, health centers, radio and TV.
- United Arab Emirate Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan received Zalamy Rasoul, Afghan National Security Advisor.
July 4, 2003
July 3, 2003
- In Mazar, Afghanistan, four civilians and two fighters were killed in a battle between Uzbek and Tajik forces.
- At the Kabul Military Training Center in Afghanistan, two U.S special forces soldiers were wounded in an accidental grenade blast. They were successfully treated at Bagram.
- Near Kabul, Afghanistan, U.S special forces seized three weapons caches that included dozens of anti-tank rockets, grenades, mortars and landmines.
- About 60 rebel fighters managed to slip out of the Ata Ghar mountains in Zabul province, Afghanistan, and moved into neighbouring Kandahar province. Ten rebels were killed and 16 wounded in the fighting.
July 2, 2003
- About 700 Afghan government reinforcements were the Ata Ghar mountains of Afghanistan where about 60 rebel fighters have been battling government forces for four days.
- An Afghan military officer, Commander Basir, was shot dead by two unknown gunmen in Herat.
- Some 800 U.S soldiers backed by more than 500 Italian paratroopers launched Operation Haven Denial into Khost province and Paktika province, Afghanistan. The operation was aimed at preventing the re-emergence of terrorism and denying sanctuary to anti-coalition fighters in the region.
July 1, 2003
