Afghanistan timeline September 2001

September 25, 2001

• During a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, when a reporter asked if the United States should help Afghan people liberate themselves from Taliban rule, president George W. Bush said, "We're not into nation-building; we're focused on justice."

September 22, 2001

• Japan's Ministry of Finance announced that payments or fund transfers to accounts in Afghanistan and to Taliban-related individuals living outside Afghanistan needed its permission.

September 18, 2001

• Ruud Lubbers, head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, visited Washington, D.C to warn the United States Department of State that millions of Afghans had already faced starvation and homelessness and U.S. attacks "might hit additionally" many more.

September 17, 2001

• Pakistan placed its army on alert ahead of a possible U.S attack on Afghanistan.
• Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks but added that attacking Afghanistan might cause a human catastrophe and could trigger more problems for the United States.
• Afghanistan shut down its airspace, two weeks after threatening to close it if the United Nations did not lift sanctions against Ariana Afghan Airlines. Although no flights were landing in Afghanistan, many flights were flying across Afghan airspace. Each time an aircraft flew over Afghanistan the airline had to pay Ariana $400. The money was deposited in accounts in Geneva that were frozen because of the sanctions.
• In Kandahar, a delegation of Pakistani officials held a morning meeting with the Taliban leadership to discuss cooperation with the United States.
• Tajikistan's armed forces were placed on alert following reports that 5,000 Taliban militia in Afghanistan had approached the border.
• Pakistan's army reported that Taliban troops of between 20,000 and 25,000 had been deployed just across the border from the Khyber Pass. A Pakistani army officer said Pakistan had reinforced its own troops fanned out along the region.

September 16, 2001

• U.S president George W. Bush told his military to get ready for a long War on terrorism, adding that they would smoke the enemies "out of their holes".
• The Taliban information minister, Qadratullah Jamal, said that Afghanistan had "fortified our bunkers and our important installations, including military bases and airfields."
• Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar met with senior clerics and received their support.
• The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement removed its remaining 15 foreign aid workers from Afghanistan.
• Osama bin Laden published a statement to the Afghan Islamic Press that he was not responsible for the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks. In the statement bin Laden said "The U.S. is pointing the finger at me but I categorically state that I have not done this."
• Northern Alliance Foreign Minister Abdullah offered full support to the United States in any operations, including 15,000 of its fighters for any possible strike on Osama bin Laden.
• Thousands attended the funeral of Ahmad Shah Masood, former commander of the Northern Alliance, who was buried in his home village of Basarak in the Panjshir Valley of Afghanistan.
• The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan urged the U.S to show restraint in attacking Afghanistan, hoping that the U.S. "could differentiate between the people of Afghanistan and a handful of fundamentalist terrorists."
• Iranian President Mohammad Khatami condemned the assassination of Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Masood.
• Pakistan asked the United Nations for permission to travel to Afghanistan on September 16 to petition Kabul to turn over Osama bin Laden.
• A Pakistani newspaper reported that Osama bin Laden had snucked out of Kandahar, along with his wives, children and followers and moved to an undisclosed secret location in Afghanistan.
• The six member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council unanimously condemned the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks and assured the United States they were ready to take part in its declared War on Terrorism.
• A Russian division of 7,000 men based in Tajikistan, which borders Afghanistan, was placed on heightened combat alert. However, Tajikistan announced it would not allow Western nations to launch attacks on Afghanistan from its territory. Tajikistan was struggling to recover from a five-year civil war between Islamic opposition forces and a hard-line secular government, and was heavily dependant on Russia for military and political support.
• The last of Western aid workers left Afghanistan.
• To date, Afghans made up the single biggest refugee group in the world with more than 2.6 milliion in exile, mainly in Pakistan and Iran.

September 15, 2001

• United States Secretary of State Colin Powell said that Pakistan agreed to cooperate if the United States decided to strike Afghanistan. The Washington Post reported Pakistani officials had agreed to allow the United States to use Pakistani airspace in the event of a military strike against Afghanistan, but Pakistan would not involve its forces in any action beyond its own geographical boundaries.
• As U.S president George W. Bush met with his national security team at Camp David, he told reporters that Osama bin Laden was a prime suspect in the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks. Bush added that bin Laden was mistaken if he thought he could avoid capture or death.
• Mullah Mohammad Omar issued a call for jihad against the United States and its supporters if they attacked or assisted an attack on Afghanistan. The Taliban also asked all foreigners to leave Afghanistan in view of a possible attack by the United States.
• Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivan expressed implicit Russian support for a possible U.S armed intervention in Afghanistan.
• India, which did not share a formal military relationship with the United States, decided to allow its facilities to be used for strikes against Afghanistan. India also provided the United States with intelligence information on training camps of Islamic militants in the region.
• Aziz al-Rahman, an Afghan Taliban diplomat, said Osama bin Laden was free to leave Afghanistan but would not be forced out.
• Iran announced it deployed military and police forces to seal its 560 mile border with Afghanistan to prevent a possible influx of refugees.
• People's Republic of China Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said that claims made by the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal of connections between China and the Taliban were false.

September 14, 2001

• United States Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia that they could not separate their own activities from the activities of terrorists harbored within their borders.
• Eric Schultz of the U.S Embassy in the Turkmenistan met with Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov to discuss responses to the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks.
• Taliban leaders warned of revenge "by other means" if the United States attacked Afghanistan in retaliation for the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks. Hamas official Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi and Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Mamoun Hudaibi echoed the warning and defended the point of view.
• The World Food Program warned that, following exodus of aid workers, about 1.5 million Afghans could emmigrate out of Afghanistan in search of food. The U.N. estimated that, to date, Afghanistan had 900,000 internally displaced persons and that there were more than three million Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan alone. Furthermore, the U.N. estimated that a quarter of the population (5.5 million people) would be reliant on food aid if they were to stay alive through November.
• Akil Akilov, the prime minister of Tajikistan, said that his nation was not yet prepared to guarantee the United States air space should the Bush administration decide to launch retaliatory strikes against suspected terrorist bases in Afghanistan.
• Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said that Moscow would not allow NATO forces to be stationed in any of the former Soviet republics.
• U.S. Congress authorized president George W. Bush to use "all necessary and appropriate force" against the terrorists who orchestrated the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks. The vote in the U.S. Senate was unanimous. There was only one dissenting ballot in the U.S. House of Representatives.
• In Ashkhabad, U.S envoy Eric Schultz met with Turkmenistan's President Saparmurad Niyazov to brief him on proposed retaliatory measures against the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks.

September 13, 2001

• In anticipation of U.S strikes, Muslim militants were reported fleeing Kabul, Afghanistan, while other residents were said to be digging trenches around the city.
• Anti-Taliban forces named General Mohammad Fakhim as the new leader to replace the deceased Ahmed Shah Massoud.
• United States Secretary of State Colin Powell confirmed that Osama bin Laden was a suspect, but not the only suspect, for the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack. Powell was in contact with Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf to build cooperation in fighting terrorism and to discuss the possibility of U.S. usage of Pakistani air space. Powell also announced that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage would soon travel to Moscow for talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Trubnikov about Afghanistan.
• A British security official said that, if evidence emerges that Saudi-born exile Osama bin Laden was behind the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack, an attack on Afghanistan was an option that NATO was considering. NATO denied the report.
• Three Western diplomats, representing eight aid workers on trial for allegedly preaching Christianity, left Afghanistan amid an exodus of foreigners concerned over possible U.S attacks. Family members of the detainees also left the country. However, the eight aid workers remained in the custody of the Taliban militia as an Islamic court continued their trial behind closed doors.
• Senior diplomats from Russia, India, Iran and Uzbekistan met in Tajikistan to discuss possible assistance to anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan. Tajikistan President Emomali Rakhmonov met with Indian Deputy Foreign Minister Omar Abdullah.
• The United Nations and several foreign aid organizations completed a swift withdrawal from Afghanistan, fearing a U.S strike.

September 12, 2001

• In an internationally televised address, U.S president George W. Bush declared a "war against terrorism" intent on targeting both terrorists and those who harbored terrorists. The Taliban regime of Afghanistan was implied in this declaration.
• Germany said that the 23 German nationals in Afghanistan had been told to leave the country due to safety concerns.
• Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia said it would consider requests for the extradition of terror suspect Osama bin Laden based on evidence from U.S investigators.
• Tetsu Nakamura, a Japanese doctor traveled from Peshawar, Pakistan to Afghanistan to evacuate Japanese health clinic staffers. He stayed in Jalalabad for three days, providing medical attention to refugees.

September 11, 2001

• Terrorists attacked the U.S, killing more than 3,000 people, destroying the two towers of the World Trade Center and part of The Pentagon. Early speculation about the source of the attack centered on Saudi-born guerrilla leader Osama bin Laden, who was living in and working from Afghanistan. Taliban rulers condemned the attacks and rejected suggestions that Osama bin Laden could be behind them.
• Rocket explosions and anti-aircraft fire rocked Kabul, Afghanistan. Both the U.S and Afghan oppositional forces denied involvement.

September 10, 2001

• More than 135 Taliban were killed and 75 captured in an attackby opposition forces on Taliban positions in Eshkamesh and Chal districts of Takhar Province, Afghanistan.
• Taliban jets bombed residential areas in Khuram, Afghanistan, wounding six people and destroying three houses.
• More than 30 Taliban fighters were killed or wounded in the Safid Kotal area of Afghanistan when two trucks carrying them hit land mines.

September 9, 2001

• Afghan opposition leader Ahmed Shah Massoud was assassinated. A suicide bomber, posing as a journalist, blew himself up after gaining access to Masood's office. The suicide bomber was killed along with one of Masood's followers, and the Afghan commander's guards killed the second person posing as a journalist. The terrorists first conducted interviews with opposition soldiers in Shomali before meeting with Massoud. The bomb was either hidden in the camera or concealed around the waist of one of the terrorists. Massoud did not die immediately, and underwent emergency surgery at a hospital in Tajikistan.
• The Afghan Supreme Court resumed the trial of eight foreign aid workers held for allegedly preaching Christianity, but no detainees, diplomats or journalists were present.
• In Afghanistan, the Taliban jailed 35 Afghan employees of one of the recently expelled foreign assistance groups.

September 8, 2001

• Eight foreign aid workers on trial for promoting Christianity in Afghanistan appeared for the first time in the Supreme Court, and said they were innocent of proselytising. The hearing was presided over by Chief Justice Noor Mohammad Saqib and 18 other judges. One of the six female defendants was wearing the head-to-toe cloak which is mandatory for Afghan women in public, while the others had veils over their hair only. The defendents walked slowly into the court under the escort of armed guards, who did not allow them to answer questions from journalists waiting outside the court.
• Afghanistan's ruling Taliban took control of the Shokhi and Khan Aqa districts in Kapisa province after several days of heavy clashes with the Northern Alliance led by Ahmad Shah Masood. The mother of one of the US prisoners and the father of another accompanied their daughters into the court but the cousin of the Australian man was kept waiting outside along with Australian, German and US diplomats.

September 7, 2001

• The trial of eight foreign aid workers detained in Afghanistan on charges of preaching Christianity went into recess for a weekly holiday.

September 6, 2001

• The United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell, arrived in Kabul, saying the trial of the arrested foreign aid workers would be meaningful only if it is held in an open court. Despite an earlier promise to do so, the Taliban had not allowed journalists, Western diplomats or relatives of the accused any access to the proceedings.
• Afghan Foreign Minister Abdul Wakil Motawakil said that, with some "rare" exceptions, all international flights over Afghanistan, including those by the U.N and International Committee of the Red Cross, would be stopped unless the United Nations released funds from frozen aviation accounts. The United Nations Security Council had banned international flights by Ariana Afghan Airlines except for humanitarian reasons as part of sanctions imposed over the Taliban's refusal to extradite suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden.
• The World Food Program announced that Afghanistan was on the brink of famine, and appealed for $151 million to fund an "emergency operation".
• The Central Board of Revenue of Pakistan approved zero-rated export of cement and tobacco leaf to Central Asian Republics and Afghanistan via land route.

September 5, 2001

• Afghanistan's ruling Taliban denied Western diplomats access to a court where eight foreign aid workers were on trial for promoting Christianity, but Chief Justice Noor Mohammad Saqib said the defendants could hire foreign lawyers. He also said that the defendants could face hanging. Despite repeated requests, Australian, German and U.S consuls in Kabul had been denied any meetings with Taliban authorities for a week.
• The wife of jailed Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman sent letters to U.S president George W. Bush and the Taliban leadership to urge them to exchange Abdel-Rahman for the eight foreign workers standing trial.

September 4, 2001

• Intense fighting erupted between Taliban forces and the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan in Kapisa province. Elsewhere, the Taliban captured two important areas, Khanqa and Sang-e-Bada southwest of Mahmood Raqi, provincial capital of Kapisa.

September 3, 2001

• In Kabul, Afghanistan, the trial began for eight foreign aid workers, as the nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court held preliminary deliberations. Evidence included Bibles and video and audio tapes, along with investigation files from the religious police. Shelter Now denied its staff were involved in missionary work, however the Taliban claimed to have written confessions from the detainees. The accused were Georg Taubmann, Katrin Jelinek, Margrit Stebner and Silke Durrkopf, all German; Australians Peter Bunch and Diana Thomas; and U.S citizens Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer.

September 2, 2001

• 438 asylum seekers (420 from Afghanistan) saved August 26 remained on board the MS Tampa, a Norwegian freighter, stranded in the Indian Ocean. An Australian troop ship was en route to transfer them to Papua New Guinea, where they would be split up and sent to New Zealand and to Nauru. Mahmoud Saikal, the Taliban consul to Australia, praised Naura and New Zealand, and condemned Australia.
• The United Nations called for fair trials for all 24 foreign and Afghan aid workers detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan. The detainees were charged with promoting Christianity.
• Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil assured relief organizations that, other than SERVE, International Assistance Mission, and Shelter Now International, no other foreign aid groups were under scrutiny for preaching Christianity.

September 1, 2001

• About two dozen foreign aid workers were expelled from Afghanistan by the Taliban for allegedly preaching Christianity. The workers were from the international aid organization SERVE and the U.S.-based International Assistance Mission.
• The parents of U.S citizens Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer visited their daughters for about 30 minutes accompanied by U.S diplomat David Donahue. Curry, Mercer and six other foreign aid workers (two Germans and four Australians) with Shelter Now International on charges of spreading Christianity. Eight of the foreign aid workers were transferred late from Kabul's juvenile correction center to an unknown place.
  

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