- Timeline of Afghanistan (April 2004)
__NOTOC__This is a
timeline of the history of Afghanistan in April 2004. The list is not complete and you are welcome to expand it."Thursday,
April 1 , 2004"Up to fifty
New Zealand Special Air Service troops flew to Afghanistan for "long-range reconnaissance and direct action missions"."Monday,
April 5 , 2004"In
Badakhshan Province ,Afghanistan , anti-narcotic s police destroyed fourheroin laboratories and seized 10 tons of opiumpoppy . There were several arrests.The U.S. ambassador to
Afghanistan ,Zalmay Khalilzad , stated that terrorist sanctuaries and bases continued to exist and develop inPakistan . He added that U.S. troops might need to enterPakistan to catch the rebels. Pakistan's information minister,Sheikh Ahmed Rashid , called the comments "harmful" and said Pakistan would never allow foreign troops on its soil. TheWhite House quickly downplayed Khalilzad's comments."Wednesday,
April 7 , 2004"A three-hour gun battle occurred during a joint Afghan-U.S. operation near
Gereshk inHelmand Province ,Afghanistan , killing one rebel and one Afghan soldier, while wounding one U.S. soldier and one Afghan soldier.Two Afghan rebels were killed in a gunbattle at a military checkpoint in
Sangin District ofHelmand Province .In
Uruzgan Province ,Afghanistan , anAfghan National Army soldier was killed and another was injured when their vehicle hit a mine."Thursday,
April 8 , 2004"Troops under the command of
Abdul Rashid Dostum overranMaymana , the capital ofFaryab Province ,Afghanistan . Some reports claim Dostum forces fired into a crowd, killing four. Gov.Enayatullah Enayat was rushed to an airport and evacuated.Afghan National Army troops were flown fromKabul to Faryab province.Hamidullah , an Afghan intelligence chief, and twoAfghan National Army soldiers were abducted by dozens of men nearChenartu inUruzgan province .Taliban leader MullahHakim Latifi claimed that the men had been killed, and offered to exchange their bodies for that of a Taliban held by Uruzgan officials."Saturday,
April 10 , 2004"In
Kod-i-Barq ,Balkh Province ,Afghanistan , an armed encounter took place between forces loyal toAbdul Rashid Dostum and a local Tajik leaderAtta Mohammad . The incident took place in the Mazar fertilizer factory residential area and resulted in a few injuries.Abdul Rashid Dostum forces withdrew fromMaymana , the capital ofFaryab Province ,Afghanistan , but remained in the province despite orders to leave."Monday,
April 12 , 2004"In
Verona ,Italy , nine members of theAfghanistan national football team disappeared during the team's tour ofEurope . Italian border police were alerted. They later surfaced inGermany and theNetherlands to claim asylum.In the
Spera District ofKhost Province ,Afghanistan , 700 Afghan and 100 U.S. troops began a new operation to hunt downAl-Qaeda andTaliban members."Tuesday,
April 13 , 2004"Afghan national security officers, local police and more than 100 Canadian soldiers raided a compound in the
Charar Asiab district outsideKabul , arresting six suspects ofHezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin .Taliban members killed two Afghan civilians for allegedly spying for the U.S. forces inUruzgan Province .In
Kabul ,Afghanistan , Afghan forces andISAF peacekeepers arrested six suspectedTaliban members."Wednesday,
April 14 , 2004"Taliban members ambushed and shot dead the deputy chief ofMizan District and several of his colleagues inZabul Province ,Afghanistan .A bomb exploded in front of the U.S. military base further in
Kandahar ,Afghanistan , wounding GeneralSalim Khan , a senior police official, and two of his bodyguards.In
Khost Province ,Afghanistan , rebels exchanged of rocket and machine-gun fire withAfghan National Army soldiers killing two and wounding two. Nine rebels were also killed.Police chief
Yar Mohammed and nine of his officers were ambushed and killed by rebel forces inZabul Province ,Afghanistan .In the
Barmal District ofPaktika Province ,Afghanistan , fiveTaliban rebels in military uniforms pretending to be pro-government forces executed seven Afghans, including five government officials, a woman and child. They were asked if they supported interim presidentHamid Karzai and the government. The people in the vehicle said yes, and they were killed on the spot."Thursday,
April 15 , 2004"United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers began a four-day visit toAfghanistan . He was supposed to visit theZahre Dasht camp forinternally displaced person s (nearKandahar ); however, his security could not be insured, and the visit was canceled."Friday,
April 16 , 2004"The government of
Nangarhar Province ,Afghanistan banned women from performing or reporting news on television and radio.On the Del Aram Road at the last checkpoint before
Farah Province ,Afghanistan , men riding in three station wagons fired rockets and machine gun when they were stopped at the checkpoint, killing eightAfghan National Army soldiers.Interim Afghan president
Hamid Karzai and U.S. ambassadorZalmay Khalilzad attended the groundbreaking ceremony for theHyatt Regency hotel to be constructed by Afghan-American and Turkish investors.U.S.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers met with U.S. commanders inKabul ,Afghanistan ."Saturday,
April 17 , 2004"United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers visited with interim Afghan presidentHamid Karzai and other senior Afghan officials inKabul . Lubbers also visitedIstalif and theBagaram district ."Sunday,
April 18 , 2004"The
Economic Cooperation Organization opened a two-day conference inKabul ,Afghanistan bringing together representatives from ten regional countries. The agenda included ways to improve development and promote trade, and investment opportunities."Monday,
April 19 , 2004"*In a raid on a compound in central
Kabul ,Afghanistan , local police andISAF forces arrested eight militants with suspected links toHezb-i-Islami andal-Qaida ."Tuesday,
April 20 , 2004"At the opening in
Kabul ,Afghanistan of a three-day gathering of representatives of international donor countries, interim presidentHamid Karzai announced a reduction in the size of his 30-person cabinet and a clarification of the responsibilities of each ministry. However, the plan needed the approved of the current cabinet before taking effect.German foreign minister
Joschka Fischer visitedKunduz ,Afghanistan and met the provincial governor and some of the 300 German peacekeeping troops posted there. Later he met interim presidentHamid Karzai inKabul .In
Kabul ,Afghanistan ,Abdullah Shah was killed byfiring squad , marking the first sanctioned execution in the country since the fall of theTaliban in late 2001. Abdullah Shah was convicted of more than 20 murders. News of the execution was kept secret until the story was revealed byAmnesty International a week later."Wednesday,
April 21 , 2004"In
Kabul ,Afghanistan , local police andISAF soldiers arrested four suspects, three nearKabul Stadium and one in front of the Finance Ministry. Three detonators were found in the vest of the last suspect. Over a dozen other suspects were taken into custody in a raid on a home.A bomb near
Spin Boldak ,Afghanistan killed one person and injured two others. The blast occurred near a building where the governor was meeting with local officials.U.S. forces battled for four hours against rebels in the
Tangi Mountains ofZabul Province ,Afghanistan , killing two fighters and arresting two others. FiveAK-47 rifles and one rocket launcher were seized by the U.S. forces.A bomb exploded near a bazaar in
Kandahar ,Afghanistan , damaging a nearby shop and killing the bomber.Afghan
Sami Yousafzai , employed by "Newsweek ", was detained byPakistan i forces when he tried to enter North Waziristan; he was held untilJune 2 .Eliza Griswold , a U.S. journalist employed by "The New Yorker ", was also detained, but was quickly freed and deported."Thursday,
April 22 , 2004"In the
Ghazi Abad District ofKunar Province ,Afghanistan , a bomb exploded on a truck carrying fuel for a U.S. military base, wounding three Afghan men.After receiving pressure from Afghan interim president
Hamid Karzai , the government ofNangahar Province lifted ban on women performers on television and radio.U.S. soldier
Pat Tillman and a member of theAfghan National Army were killed by hostile fire in an ambush in easternAfghanistan . Two other U.S. soldiers were wounded.In
Afghanistan , an explosive device detonated on the road toKandahar airport as aU.N. convoy passed. There were no injuries."Friday,
April 23 , 2004"In a
Panjwai District village ofKandahar Province ,Afghanistan , a group of 50 armed men attacked aid workers of theCentral Asia Development Group , setting fire to eight vehicles. No casualties were reported."Saturday,
April 24 , 2004"Near the village of
Dailanor , inKandahar Province ,Afghanistan , rebels ambushed a U.S. ilitary convoy on a road, detonating an explosion that wounded threeU.S. Marines , one seriously. The Marines were part of a contingent of 2,000 Marines who arrived in Afghanistan in recent weeks."Sunday,
April 25 , 2004"Interim Afghan president
Hamid Karzai visitedKandahar for the first time since there was an attempt on his life there onSeptember 5 ,2002 . A man with agrenade near the travel route was apprehended by local police.Local police found and destroyed 48 new Chinese-made rockets southwest of
Kabul ,Afghanistan ."Monday,
April 26 , 2004"Top diplomats of
NATO 'sNorth Atlantic Council vitistedKabul ,Afghanistan for the first time since it took over command ofISAF .In the
Panjwai District ofKandahar Province ,Afghanistan , two aid workers and anAfghan National Army solder were killed rebels."Wednesday,
April 28 , 2004"North of
Kabul ,Afghanistan , local police arrested 16 men suspected of plotting to smuggle weapons into the capital.In
Kabul ,Afghanistan 's Deputy Minister for Refugees and Repatriation,Mohammad Naim Ghiacy hosted a meeting with anIran ian delegation led byAhmed Hosseini and withUNHCR representativesFilippo Grandi andPhilippe Lavanchy to discuss Afghanrepatriation progress. To date, 2 million Afghans lived in Iran, of whom 800,000 are considered refugees."Thursday,
April 29 , 2004"Afghan Interior Minister
Ali Ahmed Jalali announced thatKabul police rescued that week more than 17 children from child-kidnappers."Friday,
April 30 , 2004"At least five
Afghan National Army soldiers were killed in an attack by rebels inPanjwai District ,Kandahar Province ,Afghanistan .At least two people were killed in an attack by rebels who attacked a government office in
Uruzgan Province ,Afghanistan .The Afghan government arrested 19-year-old
Mohammad Sahil , aPakistan i national, for spying. Sahil was affiliated with theIslam ic party ofJamiat-ul-Ansar and fought under theTaliban command inPanjwae District ofKandahar Province ."See also"
Timeline of the War in Afghanistan:
<< March 2004 | April 2004 | May 2004 >>
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