Ahmad Shah DURRANI unified the Pashtun tribes and founded Afghanistan in 1747. The country served as a buffer between the British and Russian Empires until it won independence from notional British control in 1919. A brief experiment in increased democracy ended in a 1973 coup and a 1978 communist countercoup. The Soviet Union invaded in 1979 to support the tottering Afghan communist regime, touching off a long and destructive war. Internationally supported anti-communist mujahidin rebels forced the USSR to withdraw in 1989. A series of subsequent civil wars saw Kabul finally fall in 1996 to the Taliban, a hardline Pakistani-sponsored movement. Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, a US and Allied military action toppled the Taliban for sheltering Usama BIN LADIN.
A UN-sponsored Bonn Conference in 2001 established a process for political reconstruction that included the adoption of a new constitution, a presidential election in 2004, and National Assembly elections in 2005. In 2004, Hamid KARZAI became the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan, and he was reelected in 2009. Ashraf Ghani AHMADZAI succeeded him as president in 2014 following a disputed election. The Taliban conducted an insurgency for two decades against the Afghan Government and forces from the United States and other countries. In February 2020, the US and the Taliban signed an agreement that led to the withdrawal of international forces in exchange for commitments on counterterrorism and other assurances. The Taliban took over Afghanistan on 15 August 2021.
The Taliban established an all-male interim leadership structure dominated by Pashtun clerics under the leadership of Haivatrullah AKHUNDZADA. The Taliban issued numerous edicts that constrained women's mobility, ability to study and work, and access to education beyond primary school. To date, no country has recognized the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan.
کتاب حقایق جهان، مرجعی ضروری برای اطلاعات اولیە (Dari)
د دنیا د حقائېقو کتاب، بنیادی معلوماتو لپاره ضروری سرچینه- (Pashto)the Taliban is implementing its own interpretation of Islamic law, which is partially based on the Hanifi school of Islamic jurisprudence and have enforced strict punishments; before the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan had a mixed legal system of civil, customary, and Islamic law
(2021)" }, "Constitution": { "history": { "text": "several previous; latest ratified in 2004, but not currently enforced by the Taliban" } }, "International law organization participation": { "text": "has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; formerly accepted ICCt jurisdiction" }, "Citizenship": { "citizenship by birth": { "text": "no" }, "citizenship by descent only": { "text": "at least one parent must have been born in - and continuously lived in - Afghanistan" }, "dual citizenship recognized": { "text": "no" }, "residency requirement for naturalization": { "text": "5 years" } }, "Suffrage": { "text": "18 years of age; universal" }, "Executive branch": { "chief of state": { "text": "Taliban Leader HAYBATULLAH Akhundzada (since 15 August 2021)" }, "head of government": { "text": "overall Taliban Leader HAYBATULLAH Akhundzada is the [so-called] Amir-ul Momineen of the Taliban and is seen by them as a head of government" }, "cabinet": { "text": "the Taliban have announced a “cabinet” for the “caretaker government,” including the “acting prime minister,” “acting deputy prime ministers,” and “ministers” who claim to represent 26 ministries
" }, "elections/appointments": { "text": "the 2004 Afghan constitution directed that the president should be elected by majority popular vote for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 28 September 2019, and the Taliban have given no indication that they intend to reinstate elections or any other mechanism of democratic governance" }, "note": "note: the United States has not yet made a decision whether to recognize the Taliban or any other entity as the government of Afghanistan" }, "Legislative branch": { "text": "note: before August 2021, Afghanistan had a bicameral National Assembly that consisted of the House of Elders and House of the People; the parliament has been on hiatus since August 2021 and the Taliban has shown no interest in reviving it" }, "Judicial branch": { "highest court(s)": { "text": "the Taliban are purported to have appointed clerics, including a \"Chief Justice\", to Afghanistan's Supreme Court" }, "subordinate courts": { "text": "provincial courts, religious courts, and specialty courts" } }, "Political parties": { "text": "the Taliban Government enforces an authoritarian state and has banned other political parties; note - before 15 August 2021, the Ministry of Justice had licensed 72 political parties as of April 2019