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Patterns of Global Terrorism 2003 - Afghanistan

In 2002, the Afghan people, supported by a US-led international Coalition, decisively defeated the brutal Taliban regime, which had provided sanctuary to terrorists and extremists from around the world – including North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. The extremists had used Afghanistan as a training ground and base of operations for worldwide terrorism. Senior al-Qaida leaders, including Usama Bin Ladin – wanted by the United States for his role in the September 11 attacks as well as the US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 – had been based in Afghanistan, protected by the illegitimate Taliban regime.

In July 2002, representatives from all Afghan regions, factions, and ethnic groups met in an emergency "Loya Jirga," to elect Hamid Karzai as the President of the Traditional Islamic State of Afghanistan (TISA), which replaced the Afghan Interim Administration established by the December 2001 Bonn Agreement.

The new Afghan Government has pledged its support for the war on terrorism. Al-Qaida, which despite its setbacks still regards Afghanistan as a key battlefield in its war against the United States, will continue its armed opposition to the US presence, however. Al-Qaida has pockets of fighters throughout Afghanistan and probably several more in the neighboring tribal areas of Pakistan. To ensure that former Taliban and al-Qaida holdouts do not reemerge as a significant threat, the TISA must consolidate its support among the country's rival ethnic and regional factions.

Afghans have already passed several milestones on the road toward building a government in accordance with the Bonn Agreement, and the most critical steps – such as demobilizing rival militias, building a stable Afghan army, drafting a constitution, holding democratic elections, and creating a legal system – were underway at the end of the year.

Afghanistan is a party to three of the 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism.

Topics: Terrorism,