AFKDH: Kandahar, Afghanistan

location name	Kandahar
population	512200
country	Afghanistan
locode country	AF
status	Road, Airport
timezone	Afghanistan Time

Kandahar Description

Kandahar, occasionally Candahar, or Qandahar, is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m (3,297 feet) above sea level. The Arghandab River runs along the west of the city. Kandahar is the original and most culturally significant city of the Pashtuns and has always been their traditional seat of power. It is a major trading center for sheep, wool, cotton, silk, felt, food grains, fresh and dried fruit, and tobacco. The region produces fine fruits, especially pomegranates and grapes, and the city has plants for canning, drying, and packing fruit. Kandahar has an international airport and extensive road links with Farah and Herat to the west, Kabul and Peshawar to the northeast, Tarinkot to the north, and Quetta in neighboring Balochistan (Pakistan) to the south. The region around Kandahar is one of the oldest known human settlements. Alexander the Great is said to have laid-out the foundation of what is now Old Kandahar in the 4th century BC and gave it the Ancient Greek name Αλεξάνδρεια Aραχωσίας. Many empires have long fought over the city due to its strategic location along the trade routes of southern, central and western Asia. In 1709, Mirwais Hotak made the region an independent kingdom and turned Kandahar into the first capital of the Hotaki dynasty. In 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the last Afghan empire, made it the capital of modern Afghanistan. Since the 1978 Marxist revolution, the city has been a magnet for groups such as the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, Quetta Shura, Hezbi Islami, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups, many of which are believed to receive support from Pakistan's ISI spy network. From late 1994 to 2001, it served as the capital of the Taliban government. It was toppled by US-led NATO forces during Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001 and replaced by the current government of President Hamid Karzai.

Travel Informations

Kandahar Provincial Handbook: A Guide to the People and the Province

"Even an illiterate farmer, who likely could not locate the United States on a world map, can recite a detailed history of Kandahar. Every history will be told differently, however, because blood feuds that lasted hundreds of years still color the stories that fathers tell their sons." A concise and contemporary guide designed to orient and inform readers about the people, politics, and places of Kandahar. Topics covered include: the people (tribes, language, culture, history, etc.); the provincial government and how it functions; the economy and development activities; and key leaders and big issues. Also included inside are a number of useful tables, maps, contact information, and other resources. For bulk orders, please visit the publisher's website (www.idsinternational.com). buy on amazon *

Talibans and the Muslim Brotherhood I.: Ikhwan - al-Ihwan al-Muslimun (Volume 1)

The Taliban's extremely strict and anti-modern ideology has been described as an "innovative form of sharia combining Pashtun tribal codes," or Pashtunwali, with radical Deobandi interpretations of Islam favored by JUI and its splinter groups. Also contributing to the mix was the jihadism and pan-Islamism of Osama bin Laden. Their ideology was a departure from the Islamism of the anti-Soviet mujahideen rulers they replaced who tended to be mystical Sufis, traditionalists, or radical Islamicists inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan). Taliban Talib Islamism Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Diplomatic recognition Pashtunwali Pashtun people Inter-Services Intelligence International Security Assistance Force Islamic fundamentalism Takfiri Abdul Ghani Baradar Obaidullah Akhund Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Haqqani Network Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin Islamic Emirate of Waziristan Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan East Turkestan Islamic Movement Al-Qaeda Caucasian Front (Chechen War) Muhammad Qasim Nanotvi Rashid Ahmad Gangohi Husain Ahmed Madani Mehmud Hasan Shabbir Ahmad Usmani Ashraf Ali Thanwi Anwar Shah Kashmiri Muhammad Ilyas al-Kandhlawi Ubaidullah Sindhi Muhammad Taqi Usmani Darul Uloom Deoband Mazahirul Uloom Saharanpur Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam Darul-uloom Nadwatul Ulama Jamia Uloom-ul-Islamia Jamiah Darul Uloom Zahedan Darul Uloom London Darul Uloom New York Darul Uloom Canada Madrasah In aamiyyah Tablighi Jamaat Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind Tehreek-e-Khatme Nabuwwat Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Taliban's rise to power Mohammad Najibullah Islamic State of Afghanistan Hezbi Islami Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Abdul Rasul Sayyaf Wahhabi Hazara people Shia Islam Hezbe Wahdat Abdul Ali Mazari Islamic Dawah Organisation of Afghanistan Ahmad Shah Massoud Sibghatullah Mojaddedi Burhanuddin Rabbani Gul Agha Sherzai Kandahar Civil war in Afghanistan (1996–2001) Ahmed Rashid Frontier Corps Mazar-i-Sharif Bamyan, Afghanistan Secret Intelligence Service Osama bin Laden Ayman al-Zawahiri 055 Brigade Abdul Rahim Ghafoorzai Abdullah Abdullah Massoud Khalili Badakhshan Province Kapisa Province Takhar Province September 11 attacks World Trade Center PENTTBOM Sharia Special Activities Division Siege of Kunduz Mohammed Daud Daud Kunduz airlift Taliban insurgency Targeted killing Waziristan United States Department of Defense Mutaween Improvised explosive device Jihad Sufism Muslim Brotherhood Mohammed Badie Pan-Islamism Islamic democracy Qutbism Anti-Zionism Anti-Masonry Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt Iraqi Islamic Party Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud Rashid al-Ghannushi Buddhas of Bamiyan Gautama Buddha Hazarajat Quran Quran Amir al-Mu'minin Muhammad Dost Mohammad Khan Zakat Capital punishment Jirga Bay'ah Caliph Pashto language Madrasah Taliban conscription Guantanamo Bay detention camp Combatant Status Review Tribunal Economy of Afghanistan Golden Crescent Helmand Province Kunar Province Loya Paktia Azad Kashmir War in North-West Pakistan Battle of Wana War in Afghanistan (2001–present) Northern Alliance Federally Administered Tribal Areas Jalaluddin Haqqani Sirajuddin Haqqani Mohammed Omar Afghan National Army Abdullah Gulam Rasoul Hamid Mir Turki bin Faisal Al Saud Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution 1998 United States embassy bombings Bill Clinton Hamid Karzai Indian Airlines Flight 814 Special Forces of India Terrorism in India Rehman Malik Ronald Noble Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir Scorched earth Colonel Imam History of Afghanistan since 1992 Opium production in Afghanistan Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs Taliban propaganda Taliban treatment of women Talibanization United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Special Forces (United States Army) buy on amazon *

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