Introduction:
Afghanistan, a war-torn country in Asia, has always been the focus of Western powers. According to the West, the presence of extremist groups like the Taliban’s puts a threat on everyone equally and for eliminating their evil acts, they have to intervene in the internal affairs of the country. However, the Taliban has always resisted the foreign intervention, as their ideology has always been an innovative form of Sharia combining Pashtun tribal codes. Due to this, the country failed to see a stable government, which was solely formed for the goodwill of Afghan people and for their interest and security. The country faced numerous government regimes. This timeline provides a structured overview of Afghanistan’s governmental transitions from its formation to the present day, highlighting the complex political history of the country:
Kingdom of Afghanistan: (1926-1973)
Aman Ullah Khan freed Afghanistan from British influence after his father’s assassination in 1919 and took possession of the throne. At this time, the British influence in Afghanistan was greater and after he became ruler, the Anglo-Afghan war was fought, which didn’t go on a large scale because the British Indian army was already engaged in WWI and Afghanistan’s army wasn’t competent enough to fight. In August 1919, a peace treaty was signed for the independence of Afghanistan in Rawalpindi. Aman Ullah Khan was a very passionate personality; he was in great favor of bringing reforms to the country. When he came back from Europe, he tried to imply western policies in Afghanistan, which enraged the Mullah’s and he miserably failed and was dethroned. He went for exile permanently in May 1929.
Muhammad Zahir Shah reigned in Afghanistan from 1933 to 1973, at the age of 19, after his father’s assassination. In the start of his ruling period, he didn’t exercise much power as all the matters were handled by his relatives but through the Constitution of 1964, he gained his real status and prohibited any royal relative from interfering in his work. He developed the economy of Afghanistan to some extent by several projects that were backed by the US and Soviet Union. He was also able to maintain the neutral position of his country in world politics. In his period, the country faced severe famine, the economy got worsened and political entities were not able to handle the devastating condition. In a coup led by Muhammad Daud Khan, he was dethroned and exiled into Italy in August 1973. Kingdom of Afghanistan was converted into Republic of Afghanistan.
Republic of Afghanistan: (1973-1978)
Muhammad Daud Khan, cousin and brother-in-law of Zahir Shah, reigned from 1973-1978. In his era, he brought several social reforms, including land reforms, education reforms, healthcare reforms, women’s rights, infrastructure development, and industrialization reforms. He was a proponent of implementing pro-Soviet policies in Afghanistan. He was also the advocate of creating “Pashtunistan” in the Pashtun areas of both Pakistan and Afghanistan. Albeit he wanted to lessen the dependence of Afghanistan on the Soviet Union, but he was killed in a coup on April 27, 1978, and the communist government took over under the control of Nur Muhammad Taraki.
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (1978-1992)
The People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was a Marxist-Leninist political party in Afghanistan that was founded on January 1, 1965, by Nur Muhammad Taraki. Although the party split into two factions in 1967 based on some political rivalries, “Parcham” headed by Babrak Karmal, and “Khalq” led by Taraki. The Parham Party was in support of Muhammad Doud’s government but with Soviet interference, both factions reunited to overthrowing the current government. In 1978, Nur Muhammad Taraki became the President and Prime Minister of Afghanistan. His Marxist and social reforms caused trouble in his government and he was incompetent at this time to stay in the office of president. Hafiz Ullah Amin, Deputy Prime Minister in Taraki’s government, took control in September 1979 as President. Taraki was killed in violence. Hafiz Ullah Amin had the intentions to grow relations with Pakistan and the United States, which became the reason for the Soviets mistrust of him.
The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on December 24, 1979, and Babrak Karmal of the Parcham faction was installed as president, and Amin was killed. He reigned from 1979–1986, but his period faced severe criticism as the Mujahideen’s in Afghanistan were against the communist regime and took help from the western power, mainly the United States, to not let the Soviet Union persist in Afghanistan for a longer time. He was blamed by Moscow for his poor strategy and replaced with Najibullah, who held the presidential office from 1986–1992. Najibullah tried to gain support by relaxing the strict policies, but mujahidin rebels and mutinous groups removed him from his office in 1992 and this is when the country faced civil wars. The Soviet Union was already losing the Cold War; they had no other option than to leave the country. The U.S., Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Soviet Union sign peace accords in Geneva guaranteeing Afghan independence and the withdrawal of 100,000 Soviet troops. Najibullah was executed by the Taliban militia in 1996.
Islamic State of Afghanistan: (1992-1996)
Different factions of mujahideen’s, which formed a coalition against the Soviet Union for its fall in 1992, agreed upon exchanging their offices among one another by forming an interim government. The presidency passed after two months from interim president Sibghatullah Mujaddedi to Burhanuddin Rabbani. However, Rabbani refused to leave the office after two years of his tenure, which ignited conflicts between the parties competing for the presidency. This was the period of civil wars in the country; every evil crime was done by the militias, whether it was breaking the law and order or abducting the people. In these devastating conditions of the country, “Taliban’s” (students) emerged in 1994. Mullah Muhammad Omar was the leader of this movement, which was against the influence and interference of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Now the country entered the phase where it was ruled by the Taliban’s.
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan: (1996-2001)
In 1996, the Taliban captured the cities of Afghanistan and then finally took over Kabul. Taliban’s were rising day-by-day with the support of major powers like the US (at that time) because it was against the Soviet presence in Afghanistan. The Taliban’s were gaining their influence as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE were funding them and also giving them diplomatic support. They were seizing the territories to not let any other foreign power come into play in their country. The Taliban publicly executed Najib Ullah in 1997. The Northern Alliance was formed under the command of Ahmed Shah Massoud in the northern region of Afghanistan, which was the only hurdle for the Taliban at that time. In 2001, by the attack of Al-Qaeda (headed by Osama bin Laden) on the USA, the Taliban’s were recognized as terrorists by the West. The fall of the Taliban began, and the foreign intervention in Afghanistan was seen again.
Transitional Government (2001-2004)
The North Alliance was supported by the United States for fighting against the Taliban’s, so their control over the territories became lessened. But in 2001, Massoud, leader of the North Alliance, was killed, further enraging the west. Further, by the 9/11 attack, US and British started attacking the targets where Taliban’s were present by airstrikes or warplanes. The Taliban were ready for Jihaad, but soon the North Alliance was able to enter Kabul and take over it and the rest of the territory as well. The Taliban’s leader announced that the rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan has completely ended. From 2001 onwards, Hamid Karzai was selected as the interim leader as he was US-backed. He chose the members of his government, who will serve till 2004 and then elections will be held. NATO also entered into Afghanistan along with the US for providing security in Kabul, as for the very first time it provided security to someone outside Europe.
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan: (2001-2021)
Hamid Karzai stays the leader of Afghanistan till 2014, until new presidential elections take place, selecting Ashraf Ghani as the new president until 2021. This extensive period saw the great upheaval of the Taliban against the US for fighting back their country and the return of western forces like NATO. The US aimed at rebuilding Afghanistan, providing rights for women, educational rights for children and eliminating corruption from the country. President Hamid Karzai calls for American forces to withdraw from the villages of Afghanistan and go back to their bases, as according to the reports, a US soldier killed 16 Afghan civilians in their homes.
Moreover, the combat mission of NATO also comes to an end in 2014. Obama planned to call back the US forces from Afghanistan, but later he changed the plan and in 2017, when he leaves the office, 5,500 troops were still present in Afghanistan. Donald Trump became the new President of US and he further planned to leave no vacuum for the Taliban’s to indulge in territorial activities. Although in 2019, a peace deal was signed between the US and Taliban for the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in 2021. But a US soldier was killed in Afghanistan and Trump calls off the peace deal. With the inauguration of Joe Biden in US presidential office, the US forces completely withdraw from Afghanistan, as according to the White House, the Taliban’s takeover is not inevitable after the withdrawal of US forces.
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan: (2021 onward present government)
In 2021, the Taliban again took over the country and the Afghan government failed in front of them. The Taliban regime is led by Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada and under his command again, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has established itself. With the control of the Taliban, many Afghan people tried to flee the country and for that, two suicide bombings occurred outside the airport, which killed around 160 Afghans’s 13 US troops. The extremist group ISIS-K took the responsibility for this deadliest explosion. Joe Biden, in his speech, says, “We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down to make you pay.” Taliban’s have re-established their rule in Afghanistan. Some Afghan people are in support of the Taliban’s, but many resist them as they put serious restrictions on them.
Conclusion:
To address the disparities in the governments of Afghanistan, it is to be considered that the will of people is what is to be kept as a priority. Dealing with the challenges of the aftermath of wars, it is very difficult for the civilians of Afghanistan to get back to their normal lifestyles. For this, major powers and the neighboring countries should formulate a plan that ends the never-ending conflicts in Afghanistan. The self-driven interest of major powers in Afghanistan has been one of the major reasons why it is a war zone area. Humanitarian assistance organizations like the UN should look after this and make the world aware of what the masses are facing because of these unnecessary foreign interventions and the Taliban’s strict rules.
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