Afghanistan

Background

Wedged between Asian and the Middle East, Afghanistan has been of strategic interest to foreign powers throughout its history. During the Cold War it was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1979, while the U.S. backed groups in opposition to the regime. When the two powers withdrew troops in 1988 and relinquished their support for different armed groups, the country was left destitute and impoverished.

The Taliban took control in 1996, installing a radical Islamist government which brought a degree of political stability, despite concerns for women’s human rights within the regime and the tension between the largely Pashtun Taliban and politically excluded ethnic minorities.

Members of the Kandahar Provincial Council discuss the battle-affected displaced populations in Kandahar province. Photo: Beth Eggleston.

The Taliban were overthrown by opposition groups in late 2001 with substantial U.S. assistance in the form of support to the Northern Alliance. The arrival of foreign peacekeeping troops the following year, under UN-mandated International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) and headed by the US, was based on the claim that the Taliban were shielding Osama bin Laden and not allowing his extradition to the U.S.

President Hamid Karzai, elected as head of the Afghan Interim Authority in 2004, has not been able to secure the country, leading to continued escalation of violence which now threatens the government’s capacity to rule.

The opium trade, always a significant export commodity, is currently estimated to make up some 60% of Afghanistan’s total exports and represents 93% of the entire world production. Although the Taliban is widely considered to be funding its insurgency through the opium trade, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime has also pointed to smuggling by officials within the Afghan government and regional warlords, in an environment of impunity.

Human rights situation

U.S. forces operate in Afghanistan under the mandate of both the U.S. military (Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)) and the NATO-led ISAF. While both forces rely on air support and small land forces, the OEF use of airstrikes has attracted strong criticism from human rights monitors for the high numbers of civilian casualties. In 2006 airstrikes killed 116 Afghan civilians and in 2007 this number nearly tripled to 321. During the first seven months of 2008, at least 119 civilians were killed, which included attacks on public gatherings such as a wedding in the Nangahar in July 2008 resulting in 47 deaths. Human Rights Watch has raised concern that the OEF and ISAF attacks against civilian targets constitute a contravention of international humanitarian law in their failure to “constantly spare the civilian population”.

Damage to civilian property caused by the airstrikes has also contributed to the abandonment of villages and the subsequent increase in the number of IDPs. Estimates put the numbers of IDPs at approximately 300,000, mostly in the south of the country.

Women in the Blue Mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif in the north of Afghanistan. Photo: Beth Eggleston.

The Taliban and insurgent forces are responsible for more civilian deaths than the U.S. and NATO forces. Through suicide bombings and other types of bombings against the civilian population, the number of casualties in 2006 was 699, increasing in 2007 to 950. During the first seven months of 2008 it reached 367 civilian casualties.

The Taliban have also breached international humanitarian law by hiding in civilian populated areas, using civilians as shields in order to deter bombings, and by using children to carry out suicide bombing.

Australia’s relationship with Afghanistan

As at December 2008, there were 970 Australian Defence Force personnel in Afghanistan, after the Australian Government stated in April 2007 that it would send a 300-strong Special Operations Task Group to Oruzgan Province in southern Afghanistan for at least two years. There have been 8 Australian military personnel killed as of January 2009. The role of the Special Operations Task Group is to disrupt Taliban command and control and supply routes. The Australian deployment also includes a 75-strong RAAF air surveillance radar unit based in Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan.

Australia’s total aid commitment to Afghanistan amounts to some $450 million since 2001. Australian aid seeks to improve the delivery of essential services such as health and education, strengthen agricultural production, boost the capacity of national and provincial level governments and help build security and stability in Afghanistan.

Australia has limited trade with Afghanistan, primarily in telecommunications and machinery.

Contacts

Diplomatic Representation

Australia’s embassy in Afghanistan
The Australian Embassy in Kabul has been closed to the public since 16 October 2007 due to security concerns.

The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Embassy in Australia
4 Beale Crescent
Deakin West
ACT 2600
PO Box 155 Deakin West ACT 2600
Tel: (02) 62827311, 6282 6034
Fax: (02) 6282 7322
www.afghanembassy.net

International organizations working in Afghanistan

UN organizations

– United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)
Human Rights Unit, UNAMA, Compound B,
Building 5 – Annex, Kabul
Tel: +39 083 124 6147 and/or +1 212 963 2668
Fax: (39) 083 124 6296 and/or +1 212 963 2669
Email: niland@un.org

- UNDP Country Office Afghanistan
Shah Mehmood Ghazi Watt
Kabul, Afghanistan
Tel: +93 20 212 4000
Fax: +873 763 468 836
Email: registry.af@undp.org
www.undp.org.af/WhoWeAre/contact_us.htm

- UNHCR
www.unhcr.org/country/afg.html

- WHO
H # 249, St. 10
Wazir Akbar Khan Mina (near Pakistan Embassy)
Kabul
www.who.int/countries/afg/en/