- Timeline of Afghanistan (June 2003)
__NOTOC__
This is a
timeline of the history of Afghanistan in June 2003. The list is not complete and you are welcome to expand it."Sunday,
June 1 , 2003"In
Kandahar ,Afghanistan , attackers hurled a hand grenade at the office of theGerman Technical Cooperation , shattering three windows but causing no injuries.Several hundred
ISAF peacekeepers inKabul ,Afghanistan held a memorial ceremony for a German soldier killed in a land mine blast onMay 29 .In
Kabul , Afghan Minister of StateShirbaz Hakimi welcomed the establishment of anIran Khodro representative office.In
Kandahar , an explosion damaged the home ofAhmad Wali Karzai , a brother of Afghan PresidentHamid Karzai , but there were no casualties."Monday,
June 2 , 2003"Governor
Ismail Khan ofHerat province , handed $20 million of customs revenues to Afghan coffers, the largest contribution in 18 months. Khan's payment allowed the Afghan government to paid about 100,000 Afghan soldiers their full salaries.In
Arghasan , a district ofKandahar province , Afghan troops killed four suspectedTaliban fighters and captured five others in a gun battle. The dead included Mullah Abdullah.Near a U.S. military base at
Spin Boldak , fighting occurred between the soldiers of Afghan commandersAbdul Raziq andGud Fahida . One of the Afghan soldier's killed, Sakhi Dad, also was a part-time translator for the U.S. Army.One Afghan soldier died and 14 were wounded in a vehicle convoy accident near
Kandahar .Five Afghan soldiers were injured in a road accident in
Gardez .In
Afghanistan , a convoy of four fuel trucks was ambushed en route to the U.S. base atOrgun-e inPaktia province .In
Tehran , representatives ofIran ,Uzbekistan andAfghanistan signed a draft agreement establishing a road link from Iran to Central Asia via Afghanistan and Uzbekistan."Tuesday,
June 3 , 2003"Afghan General
Abdul Rashid Dostum backed out of a deal to move from his province toKabul .A U.S. army
AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed while supporting combat operations nearOrgun-e inPaktika province ,Afghanistan , but there were no casualties.The
Asian Development Bank approved a $150 million concessional loan to helpAfghanistan restore damaged roads, power generation and natural gas infrastructures.Eight
Pakistan i public and private sector banks applied for licences to operate inAfghanistan .Following an Afghan government re-evaluation of the administrative structure of some ministries, the Women's Affairs Ministry fired 112 women because they were either completely unqualified or possessed mere vocational skills. Those with needlework, embroidery, and tailoring skills were dismissed because the ministry did not have the capacity to place them according to their professions. A spokeswoman stressed that the ministry was still employing over 1,300 women at its headquarters and its 27 provincial branches.
Swiss Skies AG announced that it would begin flights fromWashington, D.C. , toKabul ,Afghanistan , viaGeneva on July 14. Later this was indefinitely delayed for security reasons."Wednesday,
June 4 , 2003"Afghan President
Hamid Karzai flew toLondon ,United Kingdom .In the Shahi Kot region of
Afghanistan near thePakistan i border, U.S. and Italian troops in eastern Afghanistan arrested 21al-Qaida andTaliban suspects.Russia offered to supportNATO 's peacekeeping mission inAfghanistan . It was unclear how Russia's support would manifest itself. NATO was due to take command of the 5,200-memberU.N. International Security Assistance Force onAugust 11 .Pakistan i officials inKarachi authorizedPort Qasim andKarachi Port to act as an entry point for transit trade toAfghanistan .A homemade bomb exploded near a U.S. special operations convoy about a half mile from the U.S. military base in
Gardez ,Afghanistan . No casualties were reported.A rebuilt girls' school in
Maidan Province southwest ofKabul was burned down. It was the sixth girls' school inAfghanistan to be torched by arsonists since the fall of theTaliban .Afghan troops attacked suspected
Taliban inNimakai ,Populzai andHassanzai north ofSpin Boldak . The a fierce gunbattle left at least 49 rebel fighters and seven government soldiers dead. Afghan officials sent more than 20 corpses over the border toPakistan , insisting they were not Afghans. But Pakistan refused to accept them, saying they were not Pakistanis and warning that the Afghan refusal to take back the bodies could spark tension in the border region."Thursday,
June 5 , 2003"Afghan President
Hamid Karzai met with British Prime MinisterTony Blair to discuss reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, then with British Defence SecretaryGeoff Hoon . Hoon promised that Britain would not abandon Afghanistan.As part of Environment and Water Day, the
United Nations Environment Programme inAfghanistan announced that a majority of the nation was experiencingwater scarcity . It was estimated that only 20% of Afghans nationwide had access to safe drinking water in both cities and rural areas.Afghan authorities sent 21 corpses said to be
Taliban killed while fighting Afghan government troops nearKandahar onJune 3 andJune 4 , to theKilli Faizo Afghan refugee camp .Pakistan i authorities at Chaman handed back 14 bodies to the Afghan officials. The seven were identified as officials of formerTaliban regime, including CommanderAbdul Rahim , CommanderAbdul Ghani , TalibAmir Muhammad ,Gul Muhammad ,Gullalai ,Noorullah and one man whose identity was unconfirmed.In
Paktia Province ,Afghanistan , U.S. forces killed one guerrilla and captured another after seeing a group of them open fire on a crowd of civilians.Said to be the "worst in living memory",
sandstorm s that lasted more than two months began in Lash Wa Juwayn and Shib Koh districts ofFarah Province ,Afghanistan , affecting more than 12,000 people living in 57 villages. Villages and canals were buried, crops destroyed, water contaminated, and livestock were threatened."Friday,
June 6 , 2003"Afghan President
Hamid Karzai met with Queen Elizabeth II atWindsor Castle , where he was awarded an honorary knighthood by the Queen. Karzai later gave a lecture on reconstruction in Afghanistan atSt Antony's College, Oxford .Taliban leaderHafiz Abdul Rahim stated that only eight rebel fighters were killed in theJune 4 battle north ofSpin Boldak , not 40 as reported by the Afghan government. He said the others who died were civilians.In
Tokyo ,Japan ,Frank Polman , a seniorAsian Development Bank official, stated that contributions by international donors to theAfghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund had fallen far short of the pledges made because international attention had shifted focused toIraq . Although donors pledged $5.1 billion at a meeting in January 2002 to cover reconstruction efforts through June 2004, only a small proportion of their pledges had actually been committed.The
World Bank approved a $US60 million grant to improve the health of Afghan women and children. A project to develop basic health services and ensure women and children access to them was to be implemented over three years by theAfghan Ministry of Health . It was estimated that a quarter of Afghan children did not survive beyond their fifth birthday."Saturday,
June 7 , 2003"In
Kabul ,Afghanistan , a taxi packed with explosives rammed a bus carrying GermanISAF personnel, killing four soldiers and wounding 29 others; one Afghan bystander was killed and 10 Afghan bystanders were wounded. The 33 peacekeepers, after months on duty in Kabul, were en route to theKabul International Airport for their flight home to Germany.The
Afghan Constitution Commission set up offices in all 32 Afghan provinces to gather public comments and recommendations on a draft of the new constitution, which had been worked out by a special drafting committee. Similar offices were scheduled to also be set up inIran andPakistan to get opinions on the future constitution fromAfghan refugees ."Sunday,
June 8 , 2003"Bacha Khan Zadran , a regional Afghan warlord, said U.S. forces detained his son,Abdul Wali , in an operation inPaktia Province June 5 and called for his immediate release. Zadran said Wali had approached the U.S. forces to offer assistance. It was unclear why he was taken into custody.To prepare the ground for imports and exports of
Iran -Afghan carpets, the first ever Iran-Afghanistan joint carpet exhibition began inKabul .German police arrived in
Kabul ,Afghanistan to help with the investigation over theJune 7 suicide bombing ."Monday,
June 9 , 2003"The
United Nations urged the Afghan government to take drastic steps to make theAfghan National Army and theAfghan Defense Ministry reflect better the nation's ethnic make-up.In
Zabul Province ,Afghanistan ,pamphlet s surfaced that called on theAfghan National Army and police to fight against PresidentHamid Karzai and U.S.-led forces. The rhetoric also warned that those who failed to join sides with theTaliban would be killed.The Swiss parliament agreed to send Swiss soldiers to
Afghanistan to work with theISAF .The Arman-e-Millie daily newspaper reported that, in the
Panjwaye District ofKandahar Province , a bomb exploded in a vehicle, killing its three passengers. The report did not say when the explosion occurred.Pakistan summoned Afghan ambassadorNaunguyalai Tarzi to complain about theJune 5 dumping of 22 corpses of suspectedTaliban on its side of the border. Pakistani spokesmanMasood Khan termed the action "provocative."Four rocket grenades exploded near an Afghan military border checkpoint near the U.S. base in
Shkin , inPaktika Province . There were no casualties.U.S. special forces found three Blowpipe surface-to-air portable missile systems near
Asadabad ,Afghanistan . The systems were still in their original containers."Tuesday,
June 10 , 2003"Hundreds of
ISAF personnel gathered inKabul ,Afghanistan for a memorial service to honor the four German killed in theJune 7 suicide bombing . The remains were then transported home to Germany.U.S.-led coalition troops in
Afghanistan killed four fighters armed with rifles and rocket grenades near the U.S. base inShkin , inPaktika Province near the border withPakistan ."Wednesday,
June 11 , 2003"South of
Mazari Sharif , in theSholgara District , forces from theJamiat-e-Islami party ofUstad Atta Mohammad clashed with those loyal to Uzbek warlord GeneralAbdul Rashid Dostum , killing at least two civilians.North of
Terin Kot inUruzgan Province , at least ninePashtun Sunni Muslim s were killed in an ambush.Six Afghans were killed and five injured when gunmen attacked a civilian bus that was en route from
Nawmish village toSartighan village in theBaghran District ofHelmand Province .After completing an 8-day visit to
Afghanistan ,CARE secretary-generalDenis Caillaux met withU.N. leadership, including Deputy Secretary-GeneralLouise Frechette . Caillaux recommended thatISAF be increased to serve all Afghan provinces and that the U.N. increase efforts to enlarge and improve theAfghan National Army and Afghan police forces. To date, CARE had over 700 aid workers in Afghanistan, most of whom are Afghan nationals. CARE began work in Afghanistan in 1961."Thursday,
June 12 , 2003"The
International Crisis Group (ICG) issued a report critiquing the consitutitional process inAfghanistan . The report suggests that the process is hurried and covert. Public consultations, which startedJune 7 , were due to last just under two months. Culminating inLoya Jirga in October, the process was to end with a general election in mid-2004. However, the ICG claimed that ordinary Afghans would be denied freedom of speech by local leaders and that theUnited Nations was ignoring public education on the issues.ISAF personnel andKabul police defused a remote-control bomb planted on a busy road.The Afghan government announced that security force of 700 men would be deployed along a 540-km highway construction route.
A man on a motorcycle threw a
hand grenade into the office of an Italian aid organization inLashkar Gah ,Afghanistan ."Friday,
June 13 , 2003"In the yard of an aid agency in
Lashkarga ,Helmand Province ,Afghanistan , a car exploded.A grenade attack in the
Gerishk District ofHelmand Province ,Afghanistan , wounded six local government soldiers.Deutsche Welle andCap Anamur initiated the100 Classrooms program inAfghanistan ."Saturday,
June 14 , 2003"Three rockets were fired at the U.S. base in
Asadabad ,Afghanistan . There was no damage and no casualties.In
London , the ACC awarded to theAfghanistan Cricket Federation associate membership of theAsian Cricket Council ."Sunday,
June 15 , 2003"Seven Afghan governmental drug control officers were killed and three others wounded in
Oruzgan province when they were on a mission to eradicateopium poppy cultivation.Afghan President
Hamid Karzai selected Vice PresidentHedayat Arsala to head theAfghan Independent Reform of Civil Administrative Services Commission to fight corruption, nepotism and bureacratic delays."Monday,
June 16 , 2003"Women's Edge co-founder and executive directorRitu Sharma arrived inAfghanistan for a week's visit. She planned to observe and monitor the conditions of women.Sima Wali , the CEO ofRefugee Women in Development , accompanied Sharma.Leaflet s inSpin Boldak ,Afghanistan allegedly written byTaliban fighters threatened to launch suicide attacks against U.S. and British troops.In
Paris ,France , a three-dayUnesco conference began to discuss the future of theKabul Museum and the possibility of restoring the site at Bamiyan where giant statues of the Buddha were destroyed.The
UNHCR and the governments ofIran andAfghanistan signed an agreement to help repatriateAfghan refugees from Iran to Afghanistan."Tuesday,
June 17 , 2003"The
United Nations issued to all UN personnel inAfghanistan a warning of furthersuicide bombing s inKabul over the next few days.In
Kabul , a bomb was found in front of the home of Afghan Defense MinisterMohammad Qasim Fahim .After a daylong open discussion, during which representatives of more than 30 countries took the floor, the
United Nations Security Council endorsed efforts inAfghanistan to quell lawlessness, with a particular emphasis on curbing illicitdrug trade . In an open letter, eighty agencies warned the Security Council that the situation outsideKabul was so bad that many civilians felt life underTaliban rule would be better.The first meeting of a tripartite commission involving
Afghanistan ,Pakistan and theUnited States took place inIslamabad , Pakistan. Senior military and diplomatic officials from each nation attended. The meeting dealt mainly with how and where the commission would operate. Further meetings were set either monthly or bimonthly in Islamabad orKabul .The
Asian Development Bank agreed to give a loan of $50 million to theAfghan Water and Power Ministry . The loan would be spent over the next three years on projects for the production, distribution and transmission of electricity in Afghanistan.The
International Rescue Committee urged theUnited Nations andNATO to expand theInternational Security Assistance Force beyondKabul ."Wednesday,
June 18 , 2003"Afghan President
Hamid Karzai leftKabul for a state visit toIran , where he was expected to sign two trilateral agreements on transit road projects between Iran, Afghanistan,Uzbekistan andTajikistan . Afghan Foreign MinisterAbdullah Abdullah , Finance MinisterAshraf Ghani and other cabinet member accompanied Karzai on the trip. Included in Karzai's agenda were meetings withMohammad Khatami ,Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , and Foreign MinisterKamal Kharrazi .The
Afghan Information Ministry shut down the weekly publicationAftab because it questionedIslam and theQur'an in an article titled "Holy Fascism." The article said there had been no progress in the Islamic world for 1,400 years. Copies of Aftab were confiscated and its chief editorSayed Mahdawi and his deputyAli Riza Payam were arrested."Thursday,
June 19 , 2003"In
Uruzgan province ,Afghanistan , U.S. Special Operations Forces took 15 people into custody after the group attacked a compound on theHelmund River . There were no casualties during the assault or the arrests.Pakistan i Interior MinisterFaisal Saleh Hayat announced thatAdil al-Jazeeri , a keyal-Qaeda suspect, was detained after the interrogation ofAbu Naseem , who was arrested earlier.The
United Nations andAfghanistan 's Independent Human Rights Commission expressed concern about the arrests of two Afghan journalists for articles they published in their magazineAfteb ."Friday,
June 20 , 2003"In
Islamabad ,Pakistan duringRefugee Day celebrations,UN High Commissioner for Refugees spokesmanJack Redden reported that "some 156,000 Afghan refugees from Pakistan and about 100,000 fromIran [had] returned to Afghanistan since January." The UNHCR estimates that 1.8 million Afghans returned home in 2002."Saturday,
June 21 , 2003"Chief of general staff of the French Army General
Bernard Thorette arrived inKabul ,Afghanistan on a three-day visit to hold talks with theInternational Security Assistance Force and to plan for the arrival of French special forces in the coming weeks.An Afghan man under U.S.-led coalition control died from unknown causes in a U.S.-managed holding facility near
Asadabad , inKunar province , Afghanistan. The man was seized during operations onJune 18 .Syed Ishay Ghalani , chairman of theNational Solidarity Movement of Afghanistan , was nominated by the party as its presidential candidate for the Afghan general election expected to be held June 2004.Three explosions took place in
Konduz province ,Afghanistan , the first at the residence of the provincial governor and the other two near a building housing coalition forces.While in
France for a medical check-up, former Afghan kingMohammed Zahir Shah broke his femur by slipping in a bathroom. Rumors of his death followed both in Afghanistan andPakistan .Abdul Wali died while in custody at a prison inKonar province ,Afghanistan .CIA contractorDavid Passaro became a suspect in the death."Sunday,
June 22 , 2003"The
U.N. envoy toAfghanistan ,Lakhdar Brahimi , called for the immediate release of two journalists arrestedJune 18 on charges of defaming Islam. TheAfghan Supreme Court planned to put the two journalists on trial.Security forces raided the home of an
Afghan refugee in the Kurram tribal area ofPakistan along the Afghan border and seized 21 Russian-made missiles. No arrest was made and the Afghan refugee fled into Afghanistan."Monday,
June 23 , 2003"Officials in
Kandahar Province ,Afghanistan arrestedMullah Nasim , a significant figure in the formerTaliban intelligence service, whom they believed was planning an attack on a dwelling inKandahar housing U.S. troops. He was allegedly near the former home of Mullah Omar. He was also allegedly on amotorbike with three missiles and other equipment.Troops from
Pakistan , theUnited States andAfghanistan began a mission (Operation Unified Resolve ) huntingTaliban andal-Qaeda fighters along Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan.Canadian Defense Minister
John McCallum arrived inKabul ,Afghanistan for a two-day visit. He was scheduled to meet with PresidentHamid Karzai , Defense MinisterMohammad Qasim Fahim and theInternational Security Assistance Force .In a released
audio tape , Mullah Omar announced the formation of a 10-man leadership council to organize resistance against the U.S.-led coalition inAfghanistan .As part of
Operation Unified Resolve ,Pakistan i troops focused on securing passes on the border withAfghanistan . One Pakistani soldier was killed and another wounded in an exchange of fire with some resisting tribesmen."Wednesday,
June 25 , 2003"U.S.-led troops were attacked near
Gardez , the capital ofPaktia province inAfghanistan , injuring two U.S. soldiers and killingU.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st ClassThomas Retzer .Two Afghan soldiers were killed in an ambush close to a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.
An Afghan government soldier was wounded in a three-hour battle in
Maruf District , about 110 miles northeast ofKandahar ,Afghanistan .By the order of Afghan President
Hamid Karzai , authorities releasedMir Hussein Mehdavi , chief editor ofAftaab , and hisIran ian deputyAli Riza Payam , who were detained for allegedly defamingIslam . Chief JusticeMawlavi Fazal Hadi said the two men have not been acquitted or pardoned, and will be summoned to court to answer the allegations.A large fire burned down a large commercial storehouse near downtown
Kabul ,Afghanistan , about three kilometers south of the presidential palace. The fire caused US$10 million of damage in various goods, including food supplies, carpets, hardware and electronic appliance.About 2.5 miles from the U.S. base near
Spin Boldak ,Afghanistan , at least two Afghan soldiers were killed and one wounded when their vehicle was ambushed by militants armed with rockets and heavy machineguns.Afghan President
Hamid Karzai leftKabul ,Afghanistan on official one-day visits toPoland ,Switzerland andFrance . InWarsaw , he was to meet PresidentAleksander Kwaśniewski and Prime MinisterLeszek Miller . Accompanying him were Foreign MinisterAbdullah Abdullah , Reconstruction Minister, Dr.Amin Farhang , and National Security Advisor, Dr.Zalmai Rassoul .The
U.N. Drug and Crime reported thatAfghanistan made up 76% of the worldopium market, compared to 12% before the fall of theTaliban government in late 2001."Thursday,
June 26 , 2003"Under a project funded by the French government,
Afghanistan opened four publictelekiosk s to introduce a newInternet project to help Afghans learn computer skills and get online."Friday,
June 27 , 2003"Clashes erupted between a Tajik faction and an Uzbek faction in three villages in
Samangan province ,Afghanistan .In
Paris ,France , French PresidentJacques Chirac met with Afghan PresidentHamid Karzai .Standard Chartered applied for a license from theCentral Bank of Afghanistan and hoped to become the first international bank with a branch inAfghanistan . TheKabul branch was to open in September.Insurgents attacked U.S. troops in
Paktika province ,Afghaninstan near a U.S. base in Shkin, sparking a gunbattle in which U.S. helicopters were called in for strikes.In the
Barai Ghar mountains inZabul province ,Afghanistan , Afghan soldiers came under attack, sparking a gun battle in which oneTaliban commander,Mullah Shaheed , was killed and two guerrillas were wounded."Saturday,
June 28 , 2003"A U.S. Army soldier died when his vehicle flipped over near a U.S. base in Orgun in
Paktika province ,Afghanistan ."Sunday,
June 29 , 2003"In
Prague , theInternational Olympic Committee lifted the competition suspension onAfghanistan , clearing the way for Afghanistan to compete in the2004 Summer Olympics . Afghanistan was cleared to compete in wrestling,boxing ,taekwondo , andtrack and field .A
Pakistan i delegation of construction industry representatives in thePakistani Export Promotion Bureau left forKabul ,Afghanistan for a four-day visit to explore the future ofsteel , bricks and kiln,cement , pipe and other relative industries.The fourth conference of the
Afghanistan Pakistan People's Friendship Association met inPakistan . Topics discussed wererefugee s, free trade zones, education, landmines, andpoverty .Afghanistan Cricket Federation presidentAllah Dad Noorie met hisIndia n counterpartJagmohan Dalmiya and was assured complete support for rebuildingcricket facilities inAfghanistan ."Monday,
June 30 , 2003"The
United States Air Force announced that F-16 fighter pilot Maj. Harry Schmidt would face acourt-martial fordereliction of duty for his part in bombing Canadian troops inAfghanistan onApril 17 ,2002 .In
Kabul ,Afghanistan ,United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Jack Straw met withAbdullah Abdullah to discuss security issues.Several rockets were fired into
Jalalabad ,Afghanistan causing some damage but no casualties. One of the rockets landed near aUNICEF office.The
Niswan Girls' School opened in Gardez inPaktia province ,Afghanistan for some 800 students. The school was funded with help from a $12,000 grant from the U.S. military.During evening prayers, a remote-control bomb exploded in a
mosque inKandahar ,Afghanistan , wounding 17 people.Pakistan i troops, patrolling a village along the Afghan-Pakistan border, came under fire from Afghan rebels.Afghan Interior Minister
Ali Ahmad Jalali thatIran was ready to help the Afghan government construct a number of police stations on the Iran-Afghanistan joint border in order to curb the illicit trade in drugs as well as protect border security forces."See also"
Timeline of the War in Afghanistan:
<< May 2003 | June 2003 | July 2003 >>
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.