Events from the year 2011 in Afghanistan.
Incumbents President: Hamid Karzai First Vice President: Mohammed Fahim Second Vice President: Karim Khalili Chief Justice: Abdul Salam Azimi
January Pakistan and a visiting delegation of Afghan officials charged with trying to broker peace with the Taliban agreed to hold a peace "jirga" between the two countries; a spokesman for Pakistan's foreign ministry said the decision was made during a visit to Islamabad by two dozen members of Kabul's High Committee for Peace, led by its chairman, former Afghan premier Burhanuddin Rabbani. At the same time, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham's suggestion that the United States consider establishing permanent military bases in Afghanistan drew the ire of the Afghan Taliban, who said in an online message the comments proved that the U.S. was intent on occupying Afghanistan and depriving its citizens of their rights. U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan are seeking ways to maintain the level of combat troops there, even as they make plans to cut the overall number of American personnel to meet the White House's mandate to start shipping out forces by summer. The Pentagon announced it was temporarily sending 1,400 more Marines to southern Afghanistan in the coming weeks to build on security gains there. Meanwhile, the Dutch government said it plans to send a new training mission to Afghanistan, less than a year after the country's military presence led to the previous government's fall and the withdrawal of troops. Hundreds of protesters in Kabul accused Iran of stopping fuel tankers from crossing the border into Afghanistan; demonstrators marched outside the Iranian embassy accusing Tehran of interfering in Afghanistan's affairs. Most of the 249 elected members of parliament met at Hotel Inter-Continental Kabul to discuss whether to proceed with the inauguration of parliament despite President Hamid Karzai's decision to postpone the ceremony. Karzai's office had announced a one-month inauguration delay, saying that the special court on election fraud needed more time to investigate complaints from losing candidates. The decision drew criticism from the United Nations' mission in Afghanistan, and concern from analysts that it could spark ethnic divisions and more violence. In the end, Karzai inaugurated the newly elected parliament, but took a dig at the international community in his inauguration address, saying Afghans should "put an end to foreign interference and ambiguity about elections and democracy." Karzai's special court was investigating as many as 56 of the 249 parliament members, senior Western officials said. These officials said they had been promised that only a fraction of that number would actually be targeted by the court. In his second message to the French people in less than six months, Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden said that by keeping troops in Afghanistan, French President Nicolas Sarkozy had given the "green light" to "kill your captives immediately." A French ministry spokesperson responded the French government would not change their stance on Afghanistan, and that their presence was meant to help the Afghan people. The United States destroyed the village of Tarok Kolache. A prominent Afghan doctor, his rights activist wife and four of their children were all killed in a suicide attack on a Kabul supermarket, President Hamid Karzai said, offering condolences on the deaths. The shop was frequented by foreigners, located at the heart of an embassy district, just a few hundred metres from the British, Canadian, Japanese and several other missions. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, saying they were targeting the head of a foreign security company. But the city police chief's office said that while there were foreigners among the wounded, only Afghans had died. Meanwhile, the deputy governor of Kandahar province was killed in a suicide attack and his driver was wounded, according to government spokesmen. The attacker strapped a bomb to a motorcycle and drove near the deputy governor's car when he was on his way to the office.
February On February 5, 2011, British special forces and Afghan troops intercepted a convoy in Nimruz province killing several Taliban fighters, the convoy was carrying an Iranian shipment of 48 122mm rockets to the Taliban that would have allowed them to double the range of their rocket attacks (by 12 miles). Lt Gen David M. Rodriguez, second in command of US and NATO forces, said those forces could succeed in the war even if Pakistan does not shut down Taliban sanctuaries on their side of the border such as North Waziristan, an apparent shift from last year's US strategic review and at odds with recent statements by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm Mike Mullen. Rodriguez also anticipated the Taliban would renew attacks in the spring, but were more likely to focus on assassinating Afghan government leaders and planting roadside bombs than fighting US or NATO soldiers directly and incurring more casualties. Just days later, a suicide bomber killed a district governor and six other people in the district of Chardara in Kunduz Province, where the insurgency was well entrenched. And at least 19 people were killed and 49 wounded when armed attackers targeted a police headquarters in Kandahar, Afghan and NATO officials said—among the dead were 15 policemen, one Afghan soldier, a government security officer and two civilians. There were suicide bombers involved, and nine children were wounded, said a statement from ISAF. After first responders arrived at the scene, a car bomb detonated, resulting in more casualties. But in the latest major attack, a Taliban assault on a bank in Jalalabad, Nangahar Province, killed 38 people and wounded more than 70 others, officials said; it was the deadliest attack since June 2010. Meanwhile, international and local human rights groups have shifted their focus toward condemning abuses committed by the Taliban insurgents, rather than those attributed to the American military and its allies; outraged by growing civilian casualties, many activists are now calling for the insurgents to be investigated for war crimes and viewed as war criminals. Despite this, Fazlullah Wahidi, provincial governor of Kunar Province, alleged US-led NATO forces had killed up to 63 people, including women and children in airstrikes on suspected rebels, and Hamid Karzai, citing information from Afghanistan's spy agency and local officials said "about 50 civilians have been martyred during international military forces operations in Ghaziabad district in Kunar province." Adding that he "strongly condemns" the deaths, Karzai pledged to send investigators to the remote district. NATO said that it would also investigate the allegations and confirmed an ongoing operation in the restive area, but said as many as 36 insurgents had been killed. "We are conducting an immediate assessment of these allegations and will report our findings," a US Army Colonel said in a statement. The U.S. military later denied Afghan government accusations that Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of international forces in Afghanistan, callously dismissed concerns of the airstrike burning children; the accusation, reported by The Washington Post, stemmed from a meeting in Kabul between Afghan officials and the general to discuss the airstrike. After returning from an international conference in Munich, President Hamid Karzai accused foreign reconstruction teams of undermining efforts to build up the state's institutions, and said they would have to go as Afghan forces take over security. "Afghanistan clearly explained its viewpoint on Provincial Reconstruction Teams and structures parallel to the Afghan government – private security companies and all activities or bodies which are hindering the Afghan government's development and hindering the governance of Afghanistan," he said. Meanwhile, five rocket-propelled grenades hit a newly built South Korean military base in Parwan Province, northern Afghanistan, which housed hundreds of members of Korea's provincial reconstruction team and civilian aid workers. No one was injured in the attack, but it came hours after a visit by South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, raising suspicions of Taliban involvement. The opening ceremony of the base was postponed indefinitely. Afghanistan could face a serious drought in 2011 that would make millions of poor go hungry and fuel instability. Low rainfall early in the wet season will likely threaten Afghanistan's irrigated harvest, U.S. forecasts show, which with a surge in global grain prices could be devastating as the country is already ranked as having the world's worst food security. Drought could be averted if rain and snow fall heavily in coming weeks, however. Pakistan said a diplomatic row with Washington over a jailed U.S. citizen should not scuttle talks between Pakistani and Afghan officials on the war in Afghanistan. The U.S. postponed the trilateral meeting, but Pakistan's Foreign Office expressed the hope that "one person would not drive Pakistan-U.S. relations." Writing in The New Yorker magazine, Steve Coll reported the Obama administration has opened "direct, secret talks" with senior Taliban leaders who are involved in the insurgency. "The discussions are continuing; they are of an exploratory nature and do not yet amount to a peace negotiation," he wrote, comparing them to secret talks between the US and North Vietnam which started in 1968 but did not result in a peace agreement until 1973. In response, the White House referred to a speech by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Asia Society in which she underscored the need to negotiate even with bitter enemies in order to achieve peace. The International Crisis Group concluded in a just-released report that: "The prolonged crisis over Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections has substantially weakened President Hamid Karzai’s government and could, if left unaddressed, drive disenfranchised Afghans into the arms of the Taliban, stoke ethnic tensions and increase the risks of civil war." The group recommended the president and Supreme Court disband the special tribunal that was created to adjudicate elections complaints, and that the newly elected parliament immediately place electoral and constitutional reform at the top of its agenda. And departing UN diplomat Canadian Robert Watkins said security was "at its lowest point since the departure of the Taliban" after the 2001 U.S.-led invasion and the United Nations rarely can enter 40 per cent of the country, including Kandahar and southeast regions where it must negotiate special access from all sides..". On the same day, Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak appealed for the United States to provide security assistance beyond 2014, telling US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates at the Pentagon: "We do strongly believe that for Afghanistan to be able to survive in that very volatile region, it will need your help beyond 2014.".
March A sweep to find weapons' caches and disrupt Taliban preparations for a Spring offensive is conducted by the US 101st Airborne Division in southeast Afghanistan. In a resulting battle which took place the last week of March and first week of April 130 Taliban who resisted the 101st's operation were killed, along with six US soldiers.Muir, David, "Firefight: Honoring The Fallen", ABC World News, 9 April 2011.