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100-682: In 2021, the Taliban gained control of the province during the 2021 Taliban offensive . Between the early 16th century and the mid-18th century, the territory was ruled by the Khanate of Bukhara . It was given to Ahmad Shah Durrani by Murad Beg of Bukhara after a treaty was signed in or about 1750, and became part of the Durrani Empire . It was ruled by the Durranis followed by the Barakzai dynasty . The area

200-605: A Human Rights Watch 's report released in November 2021, the Taliban killed or forcibly disappeared more than 100 former members of the Afghan security forces in the three months since the takeover in just the four provinces of Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, and Kunduz. According to the report, the Taliban identified targets for arrest and execution through intelligence operations and access to employment records that were left behind. Former members of

300-585: A cultural genocide against Afghans by destroying their historical and cultural texts, artifacts and sculptures. The Taliban held control of most of the country until the United States invasion of Afghanistan in December 2001. Many members of the Taliban fled to neighboring Pakistan. After being overthrown, the Taliban launched an insurgency to fight the US-backed Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and

400-526: A $ 720 million four-year investment deal with the Taliban government of Afghanistan for extraction on its side of the Amu Darya basin. The deal will see a 15% royalty given to the Afghan government over the course of its 25-year term. The Chinese see this basin as the third-largest potential gas field in the world. The clashing noise of battle reached the sky The blood of the Bengalees flowed like

500-464: A league The shorn and parcelled Oxus strains along Through beds of sand and matted rushy isles — Oxus, forgetting the bright speed he had In his high mountain-cradle in Pamere , A foiled circuitous wanderer: — till at last The longed-for dash of waves is heard, and wide His luminous home of waters opens, bright And tranquil, from whose floor the new-bathed stars Emerge, and shine upon

600-595: A loanword in English, Taliban , besides a plural noun referring to the group, has also been used as a singular noun referring to an individual. For example, John Walker Lindh has been referred to as "an American Taliban" rather than "an American Talib" in domestic media. This is different in Afghanistan, where a member or a supporter of the group is referred to as a Talib (طَالِبْ) or its plural Talib-ha (طَالِبْهَا). In other definitions, Taliban means 'seekers'. In English,

700-469: A number of arrests of local journalists, as well as barring access to international journalists. The country's small community of Sikhs - who form Afghanistan's second largest religion - as well as Hindus , have reportedly been prevented from celebrating their holidays as of 2023 by the Taliban government. Despite this, the Taliban in a later statement praised the communities and assured that their private land and property will be secured. In April 2024,

800-525: Is Pashto, طَالِباَنْ ( ṭālibān ), meaning "students", the plural of ṭālib . This is a loanword from Arabic طَالِبْ ( ṭālib ), using the Pashto plural ending -ān اَنْ . (In Arabic طَالِبَانْ ( ṭālibān ) means not "students" but rather "two students", as it is a dual form, the Arabic plural being طُلَّابْ ( ṭullāb )—occasionally causing some confusion to Arabic speakers.) Since becoming

900-520: Is a mountainous province, especially in its southern part. It covers an area of 16,360 km. Three quarters (75%) of the province is mountainous or semi mountainous terrain while one-seventh (14%) of the area is made up of flat land. The province is divided into 7 districts , containing 896 of villages. As of 2021, the total population of the province was about 632,000. The major ethnic group were Uzbeks , followed by Hazaras and Pashtuns , with some Tajiks and Arabs . Mining and agriculture are

1000-569: Is an Afghan political and militant movement with an ideology comprising elements of Pashtun nationalism and the Deobandi movement of Islamic fundamentalism . It ruled approximately 75% of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 , before it was overthrown by an American invasion after the September 11th attacks carried out by the Taliban's ally al-Qaeda . The Taliban recaptured Kabul in August 2021 following

1100-573: Is an enemy. However, non-Pashtuns and others usually criticize some of the values such as the Pashtun practice of equally dividing inheritances among sons, even though the Qur'an clearly states that women are supposed to receive one-half of a man's share. According to Ali A. Jalali and Lester Grau, the Taliban "received extensive support from Pashtuns across the country who thought that the movement might restore their national dominance. Even Pashtun intellectuals in

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1200-560: Is maintained by the Afghan Border Police (ABP) while law and order for the rest of the province is provided by the NATO-trained Afghan National Police (ANP). In 2009, the provincial Police Chief stated that weapons had been collected from many people and three districts, namely, Sangcharak , Gosfandi , and Sozama Qala areas termed as the peaceful districts of the province. In operations against militants,

1300-624: Is possible that the Amu Darya's course across the Karakum Desert has gone through several major shifts in the past few thousand years. Much of the time – most recently from the 13th century to the late 16th century – the Amu Darya emptied into both the Aral and the Caspian Seas, reaching the latter via a large distributary called the Uzboy River . The Uzboy splits off from the main channel just south of

1400-606: Is to serve and provide security for Afghans." In response to "international criticism" over lack of diversity, an ethnic Hazara was appointed deputy health minister, and an ethnic Tajik appointed deputy trade minister. On the other hand, the Ministry of Women's Affairs has been closed and its building is the new home of Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice . According to Anderson, some women still employed by

1500-563: The Afghanistan–Uzbekistan Friendship Bridge . It delineates the border of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan for another 100 kilometres (62 mi) before it flows into Turkmenistan at Atamurat . It flows across Turkmenistan south to north, passing Türkmenabat , and forms the border of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan from Halkabat. It is then split by the Tuyamuyun Hydro Complex into many waterways that used to form

1600-648: The Hindu Kush and isolated areas like Kafiristan . Some in Britain feared that the Empire of Russia, which at the time wielded great influence over the Oxus area, would overcome these obstacles and find a suitable route through which to invade British India – but this never came to pass. The area was taken over by Russia during the Russian conquest of Turkestan . The Soviet Union became

1700-547: The Islamic Emirate reestablished. Following their return to power, the Afghanistan government budget lost 80% of its funding and food insecurity became widespread. The Taliban returned Afghanistan to many policies implemented under its previous rule, including banning women from holding almost any jobs, requiring women to wear head-to-toe coverings such as the burqa , blocking women from travelling without male guardians, and banning all education for girls. The word Taliban

1800-571: The Jaxartes / Syr Darya twin river to Amu Darya). In Middle Persian sources of the Sasanian period the river is known as Wehrōd (lit. 'good river'). The name Amu is said to have come from the medieval city of Āmul (later Chahar Joy/Charjunow, and now known as Türkmenabat ) in modern Turkmenistan , with Daryā being the Persian word for 'lake' or 'sea'. Medieval Arabic and Islamic sources call

1900-604: The Levant through Persia to Afghanistan , with the Oxus as his stated goal, "to see certain famous monuments, chiefly the Gonbad-e Qabus , a tower built as a mausoleum for an ancient king." George MacDonald Fraser 's Flashman at the Charge (1973), places Flashman on the Amu Darya and the Aral Sea during the (fictitious) Russian advance on India during The Great Game period. But

2000-690: The NATO -led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the War in Afghanistan . In May 2002, exiled members formed the Council of Leaders based in Quetta , Pakistan. Under Hibatullah Akhundzada 's leadership, in May 2021, the Taliban launched a military offensive , that culminated in the Fall of Kabul in August 2021 and the Taliban regaining control. The Islamic Republic was dissolved and

2100-720: The Northern Alliance militia, which seized parts of northeast Afghanistan and maintained international recognition as a continuation of the Islamic State of Afghanistan . During their rule from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban enforced a strict interpretation of Sharia , or Islamic law, and were widely condemned for massacres against Afghan civilians, harsh discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities, denial of UN food supplies to starving civilians, destruction of cultural monuments, banning women from school and most employment, and prohibition of most music . The Taliban committed

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2200-723: The Oxus ( / ˈ ɒ k s ə s / OK -səss ), is a major river in Central Asia , which flows through Tajikistan , Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan and Afghanistan . Rising in the Pamir Mountains , north of the Hindu Kush , the Amu Darya is formed by the confluence of the Vakhsh and Panj rivers, in the Tigrovaya Balka Nature Reserve on the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan , and flows from there north-westwards into

2300-509: The Pakistani Taliban . Additionally, in Pakistan, the word Talibans is often used when referring to more than one Taliban member. In Afghanistan, the Taliban is frequently called the گرُوهْ طَالِبَانْ ( Goroh-e Taleban ), Dari term which means 'Taliban group'. As per Dari/Persian grammar, there is no "the" prefix. Meanwhile, in Pashto, a determiner is normally used and as a result,

2400-567: The Pashtun areas of east and south Afghanistan, who had been educated in traditional Islamic schools ( madāris ). Under the leadership of Mullah Omar ( r.  1996–2001 ), the movement spread through most of Afghanistan, shifting power away from the Mujahideen warlords . In 1996, the group established the First Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Taliban's government was opposed by

2500-732: The Sharia law in accordance with the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence and the religious edicts of Mullah Omar. The Taliban, Mullah Omar in particular, emphasised dreams as a means of revelation. The Taliban forbade the consumption of pork and alcohol, the use of many types of consumer technology such as music with instrumental accompaniments , television, filming, and the Internet, as well as most forms of art such as paintings or photography, participation in sports , including football and chess ; Recreational activities such as kite -flying and

2600-468: The Siberian tiger . A feasibility study was initiated to investigate if the area is suitable and if such an initiative would receive support from relevant decision makers. A viable tiger population of about 100 animals would require at least 5,000 km (1,900 sq mi) of large tracts of contiguous habitat with rich prey populations. Such habitat is not available at this stage and cannot be provided in

2700-723: The near seizure of the capital Kabul , the Taliban occupied the Presidential Palace after the incumbent President Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan to the United Arab Emirates. Ghani's Asylum was confirmed by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on 18 August 2021. Remaining Afghan forces under the leadership of Amrullah Saleh , Ahmad Massoud , and Bismillah Khan Mohammadi retreated to Panjshir to continue resistance. The Taliban had "seized power from an established government backed by some of

2800-455: The river delta joining the Aral Sea, passing Urgench , Daşoguz , and other cities, but it does not reach what is left of the sea any more and is lost in the desert. Use of water from the Amu Darya for irrigation has been a major contributing factor to the shrinking of the Aral Sea since the late 1950s. Historical records state that in different periods, the river flowed into the Aral Sea (from

2900-422: The southern remnants of the Aral Sea . In its upper course, the river forms part of Afghanistan's northern border with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan , and Turkmenistan . In ancient history , the river was regarded as the boundary of Greater Iran with Turan , which roughly corresponded to present-day Central Asia. The Amu Darya has a flow of about 70 cubic kilometres per year on average. In classical antiquity ,

3000-616: The Afghan government for several decades. Production of the Afghan oil began in October 2012, which was expected to increase to 1 million barrels per year in 2013. On October 5, 2018, in Washington, D.C. , Afghan officials signed a 30-year contract involving a $ 56 million investment by investment group Centar and its operating company Afghan Gold and Minerals Co. for exploration of an area covering 500 square km for copper, with development of mining due to begin thereafter. Communications in and around

3100-703: The Afghan mujahideen. About 90,000 Afghans, including Mullah Omar, were trained by Pakistan's ISI during the 1980s. In April 1992, after the fall of the Soviet-backed régime of Mohammad Najibullah , many Afghan political parties agreed on a peace and power-sharing agreement, the Peshawar Accord , which created the Islamic State of Afghanistan and appointed an interim government for a transitional period. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 's Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin , Hezbe Wahdat , and Ittihad-i Islami did not participate. The state

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3200-486: The Amu Darya comes almost entirely from glaciers in the Pamir Mountains and Tian Shan , which, standing above the surrounding arid plain, collect atmospheric moisture which otherwise would probably escape elsewhere. Without its mountain water sources, the Amu Darya would not exist—because it rarely rains in the lowlands through which most of the river flows. Of the total drainage area, only about 200,000 square kilometres (77,000 sq mi) actively contribute water to

3300-473: The Aral. Genghis Khan 's troops destroyed the dam in 1221, and the Amu Darya shifted to distributing its flow more or less equally between the main stem and the Uzboy. But in the 18th century, the river again turned north, flowing into the Aral Sea, a path it has taken since. Less and less water flowed down the Uzboy. When Russian explorer Bekovich-Cherkasski surveyed the region in 1720, the Amu Darya did not flow into

3400-566: The Caspian Sea anymore. By the 1800s, the ethnographic makeup of the region was described by Peter Kropotkin as the communities of "the vassal Khanates of Maimene, Khulm, Kunduz, and even the Badakshan and Wahkran." An Englishman, William Moorcroft , visited the Oxus around 1824 during the Great Game period. Another Englishman, a naval officer called John Wood , came with an expedition to find

3500-602: The Hezbe Wahdat forces of Abdul-Ali Mazari . Saudi Arabia supported the Ittihad-i Islami faction. The conflict between these militias also escalated into war. Due to this sudden initiation of civil war, working government departments, police units or a system of justice and accountability for the newly created Islamic State of Afghanistan did not have time to form. Atrocities were committed by individuals inside different factions. Ceasefires, negotiated by representatives of

3600-520: The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan continue, with education policies and international relations, including internal and external challenges faced by the Taliban regime. In mid 2021, the Taliban led a major offensive in Afghanistan during the withdrawal of US troops from the country, which gave them control of over half of Afghanistan's 421 districts as of 23 July 2021. By mid-August 2021, the Taliban controlled every major city in Afghanistan; following

3700-687: The Islamic State's newly appointed Defense Minister Ahmad Shah Massoud , President Sibghatullah Mojaddedi and later President Burhanuddin Rabbani (the interim government), or officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), commonly collapsed within days. The countryside in northern Afghanistan, parts of which were under the control of Defense Minister Massoud, remained calm and some reconstruction took place. The city of Herat under

3800-783: The Mujahideen. Pakistan's President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq feared that the Soviets were also planning to invade Balochistan , Pakistan, so he sent Akhtar Abdur Rahman to Saudi Arabia to garner support for the Afghan resistance against Soviet occupation forces. A while later, the US CIA and the Saudi Arabian General Intelligence Directorate (GID) funnelled funding and equipment through the Pakistani Inter-Service Intelligence Agency (ISI) to

3900-479: The Taliban destroyed the statues, following a decree by Mullah Omar which stated: "all the statues around Afghanistan must be destroyed." Yahya Massoud, brother of the anti-Taliban and resistance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud , recalls the following incident after the destruction of the Buddha statues at Bamyan: It was the spring of 2001. I was in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley, together with my brother Ahmad Shah Massoud ,

4000-461: The Taliban had little direct control, and as a result, they promoted village jirgas , so in rural areas, they did not enforce their ideology as stringently as they enforced it in cities. The Taliban's religious/political philosophy, especially during its first régime from 1996 to 2001, was heavily advised and influenced by Grand Mufti Rashid Ahmed Ludhianvi and his works. Its operating political and religious principles since its founding, however,

4100-586: The Taliban implemented strict religious regulations, notably affecting women's rights and cultural heritage. This period included significant ethnic persecution and the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan . After the US-led invasion in 2001, the Taliban were ousted from power but regrouped and launched an insurgency that lasted two decades. The Taliban returned to power in 2021 following the US withdrawal . Their efforts to establish

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4200-489: The Taliban instituted a ban on all education for all girls and women around the country alongside a ban on female staff in schools, including teaching professions. Teaching was one of the last few remaining professions open to women. The Taliban's ideology has been described as an "innovative form of sharia combining Pashtun tribal codes", or Pashtunwali , with radical Deobandi interpretations of Islam favoured by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and its splinter groups. Their ideology

4300-573: The Taliban nominee for Ambassador to the U.N. told Anderson "The Hazara Shia for us are also Muslim. We believe we are one, like flowers in a garden." In late 2021, journalists from The New York Times embedded with a six-man Taliban unit tasked with protecting the Shi'ite Sakhi Shrine in Kabul from the Islamic State , noting "how seriously the men appeared to take their assignment." The unit's commander said that "We do not care which ethnic group we serve, our goal

4400-399: The Taliban's governance of Afghanistan, drug users and dealers were both severely persecuted. In 1999, Mullah Omar issued a decree in which he called for the protection of the Buddha statues at Bamyan , two 6th-century monumental statues of standing buddhas which were carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan. But in March 2001,

4500-406: The U.N. World Food Program country director, Mary Ellen McGroarty, as of late 2021, early 2022 "22.8 million Afghans are already severely food insecure, and seven million of them are one step away from famine"; and that the world community has "unanimously" asked the Taliban "to form an inclusive government, ensure the rights of women and minorities and guarantee that Afghanistan will no more serve as

4600-401: The United States, in discussions with American journalist Jon Lee Anderson. Anderson notes that the Taliban's war against any " graven images ", so vigorous in their early rule, has been abandoned, perhaps made impossible by smartphones and Instagram. One local observer (Sayed Hamid Gailani) has argued the Taliban have not killed "a lot" of people after returning to power. Women are seen out on

4700-457: The West, who differed with the Taliban on many issues, expressed support for the movement on purely ethnic grounds." Written works published by the group's Commission of Cultural Affairs including Islami Adalat , De Mujahid Toorah – De Jihad Shari Misalay, and Guidance to the Mujahideen outlined the core of the Taliban Islamic Movement's philosophy regarding jihad, sharia, organization, and conduct. The Taliban régime interpreted

4800-418: The area between the former empires of Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great , although they occurred at very different times. When the Mongols came to the area, they used the water of the Amu Darya to flood Konye-Urgench . One southern route of the Silk Road ran along part of the Amu Darya northwestward from Termez before going westwards to the Caspian Sea . According to the Quaternary International, it

4900-407: The canal with the Taliban. The Taliban has made the canal a priority, with images supplied by Planet Labs demonstrate that from April 2022 to February 2023, more than 100 km of canal was excavated. According to the Taliban, the initiative is expected to convert 550,000 hectares of desert into farmland. In January 2023, the Xinjiang Central Asia Petroleum and Gas Company (aka CAPEIC) signed

5000-467: The day. This was contradicted by former senior members of the Ministry of Women's Affairs, one of which who told Anderson, "they will do anything to convince the international community to give them financing, but eventually I'll be forced to wear the burqa again. They are just waiting." After Taliban retook power in 2021, border clashes erupted between the Taliban with its neighbors includes Iran and Pakistan , leading to casualties on both sides. In

5100-421: The departure of coalition forces , after 20 years of Taliban insurgency , and now controls the entire country. The Taliban government is not recognized by any country and has been internationally condemned for restricting human rights , including women 's rights to work and have an education . The Taliban emerged in 1994 as a prominent faction in the Afghan Civil War and largely consisted of students from

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5200-490: The early months of Taliban rule, international journalists have had some access to Afghanistan. In February 2022, several international journalists, including Andrew North were detained. The Committee to Protect Journalists described their detention as "a sad reflection of the overall decline of press freedom and increasing attacks on journalists under Taliban rule." The journalists were released after several days. Subsequently, watchdog organizations have continued to document

5300-437: The end of the 19th century, there have been four different claimants as the true source of the Oxus: A glacier turns into the Wakhan River and joins the Pamir River about 50 kilometres (31 mi) downstream. Bill Colegrave's expedition to Wakhan in 2007 found that both claimants 2 and 3 had the same source, the Chelab stream, which bifurcates on the watershed of the Little Pamir, half flowing into Lake Chamaktin and half into

5400-415: The fall of the Soviet Union this system disintegrated and the Central Asian nations have failed to reinstate it. Inadequate infrastructure, poor water management, and outdated irrigation methods all exacerbate the issue. The Caspian tiger used to occur along the river's banks. After its extirpation, the Darya's delta was suggested as a potential site for the introduction of its closest surviving relative,

5500-574: The former sole Sikh member of parliament, Narendra Singh Khalsa , returned to Afghanistan for the first time since the collapse of the Republic. In September 2021, the government ordered primary schools to reopen for both sexes and announced plans to reopen secondary schools for male students, without committing to do the same for female students. While the Taliban stated that female college students will be able to resume higher education provided that they are segregated from male students (and professors, when possible), The Guardian noted that "if

5600-446: The government are "being forced to sign in at their jobs and then go home, to create the illusion of equity"; and the appointment of ethnic minorities has been dismissed by an "adviser to the Taliban" as tokenism. Reports have "circulated" of "Hazara farmers being forced from their land by ethnic Pashtuns, of raids of activists' homes, and of extrajudicial executions of former government soldiers and intelligence agents". According to

5700-441: The group is normally referred to as per Pashto grammar: دَ طَالِبَانْ ( Da Taliban ) or دَ طَالِبَانُو ( Da Talibano ). After the Soviet Union intervened and occupied Afghanistan in 1979, Islamic mujahideen fighters waged a war against Soviet forces. During the Soviet–Afghan War , nearly all of the Taliban's original leaders had fought for either the Hezb-i Islami Khalis or the Harakat-i Inqilab-e Islami factions of

5800-430: The high schools do not reopen for girls, the commitments to allow university education would become meaningless once the current cohort of students graduated." Higher Education Minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani said that female university students will be required to observe proper hijab , but did not specify if this required covering the face. Kabul University reopened in February 2022, with female students attending in

5900-424: The invasion of the country deliberately ignored bacha bazi . The US military responded by claiming the abuse was largely the responsibility of the "local Afghan government". The Taliban has criticized the US role in the abuse of Afghan children. Amu Darya The Amu Darya ( / ˌ ɑː m uː ˈ d ɑːr j ə / AH-moo DAR-yə ), ( Persian : آمو دریا ) also shortened to Amu and historically known as

6000-678: The keeping of pigeons and other pets were also forbidden, and the birds were killed according to the Taliban's rules. Movie theatres were closed and repurposed as mosques. The celebration of the Western and Iranian New Years was also forbidden. Taking photographs and displaying pictures and portraits were also forbidden, because the Taliban considered them forms of idolatry . This extended even to "blacking out illustrations on packages of baby soap in shops and painting over road-crossing signs for livestock. Women were banned from working, girls were forbidden to attend schools or universities, were required to observe purdah (physical separation of

6100-403: The launching pad for global terrorist operations", before it recognizes the Taliban government. In conversation with journalist Anderson, senior Taliban leaders implied that the harsh application of sharia during their first era of rule in the 1990s was necessary because of the "depravity" and "chaos" that remained from the Soviet occupation, but that now "mercy and compassion" were the order of

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6200-557: The leader of the Afghan resistance against the Taliban, and Bismillah Khan, who currently serves as Afghanistan's interior minister. One of our commanders, Commandant Momin, wanted us to see 30 Taliban fighters who had been taken hostage after a gun battle. My brother agreed to meet them. I remember that his first question concerned the centuries-old Buddha statues that were dynamited by the Taliban in March of that year, shortly before our encounter. Two Taliban combatants from Kandahar confidently responded that worshiping anything outside of Islam

6300-420: The main industries of the province. The Government of Afghanistan signed a deal with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) for the development of oil blocks in the Amu Darya basin, a project expected to earn billions of dollars over two decades; the deal covers drilling and a refinery in the northern provinces of Sar-e Pol and Faryab and is the first international oil production agreement entered into by

6400-400: The majestic River floated on, Out of the mist and hum of that low land, Into the frosty starlight, and there moved, Rejoicing, through the hushed Chorasmian waste, Under the solitary moon: — he flowed Right for the polar star, past Orgunjè, Brimming, and bright, and large: then sands begin To hem his watery march, and dam his streams, And split his currents; that for many

6500-442: The morning and males in the afternoon. Other than the closure of the music department, few changes to the curriculum were reported. Female students were officially required to wear an abaya and a hijab to attend, although some wore a shawl instead. Attendance was reportedly low on the first day. In March 2022, the Taliban abruptly halted plans to allow girls to resume secondary school education even when separated from males. At

6600-492: The parent stream of the Little Pamir/Sarhad River. Therefore, the Chelab stream may be properly considered the true source or parent stream of the Oxus. The Panj River forms the border of Afghanistan and Tajikistan . It flows west to Ishkashim where it turns north and then north-west through the Pamirs passing the Tajikistan–Afghanistan Friendship Bridge . It subsequently forms the border of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan for about 200 kilometres (120 mi), passing Termez and

6700-470: The police chief said they had arrested a prominent Taliban commander Mullah Nader along with 11 other people during the recent operations. He said scores of kilograms of hashish and opium had also been seized from people during the operations. The biggest threat to travelers in Sar-e Pol province remains highway bandits and thieves, corrupt militiamen and police, and road hazards. During the American-Afghan war , small groups of cadres were active throughout

6800-431: The province are provided by Afghan Wireless , Roshan , Etisalat , and MTN Group . Taliban State allies Non-state allies Non-state opponents The Taliban ( / ˈ t æ l ɪ b æ n , ˈ t ɑː l ɪ b ɑː n / ; Pashto : طَالِبَانْ , romanized:  Tālibān , lit.   'students'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan ,

6900-572: The province. These groups often relied on larger support networks in neighboring provinces. On August 8, 2021, the Taliban regained control of the provincial capital. The percentage of households with clean drinking water increased from 8% in 2005 to 15% in 2011. The percentage of births attended to by a skilled birth attendant increased from 0% in 2005 to 20% in 2011. The overall literacy rate (6+ years of age) increased from 12% in 2005 to 23% in 2011. The overall net enrolment rate (6–13 years of age) increased from 22% in 2005 to 46% in 2011. Sar-e Pol

7000-573: The relative moderation of the new Taliban government and statements from its officials such as – "We have started a new page. We do not want to be entangled with the past," –?include that it did not expect to take over the country so quickly and still had "problems to work out among" their factions"; that $ 7 billion in Afghan government funds in US banks has been frozen, and that the 80% of the previous government's budget that came from "the United States, its partners, or international lenders", has been shut off, creating serious economic crisis; according to

7100-521: The religious schools of Kandahar and were influenced significantly by foreign support, particularly from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, during the Soviet–Afghan War. They emerged in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s, capturing Kandahar and expanding their control across the country; they became involved in a war with the Northern Alliance . The international response to the Taliban varied, with some countries providing support while others opposed and did not recognize their regime. During their rule from 1996 to 2001,

7200-640: The river Jaihun . ~ Mirza Nathan describing a battle between the Mughals and Musa Khan of Bengal (translated by M. I. Borah) The Oxus river, and Arnold's poem, fire the imaginations of the children who adventure with ponies over the moors of the West Country in the 1930s children's book The Far-Distant Oxus . There were two sequels, Escape to Persia and Oxus in Summer . Robert Byron 's 1937 travelogue, The Road to Oxiana , describes its author's journey from

7300-456: The river Jeyhoun ( Arabic : جَـيْـحُـوْن , romanized :  Jayḥūn ), which is derived from Gihon , the biblical name for one of the four rivers of the Garden of Eden . The Amu Darya passes through one of the world's highest deserts. Western travelers in the 19th century mentioned that one of the names by which the river was known in Afghanistan was Gozan , and that this name

7400-530: The river was known as the Ōxus in Latin and Ὦξος ( Ôxos ) in Greek — a clear derivative of Vakhsh , the name of the largest tributary of the river. In Sanskrit texts , the river is also referred to as Vakṣu ( वक्षु ). The Brahmanda Purana refers to the river as Chaksu which means 'an eye'. The Avestan texts too refer to the river as Yakhsha/Vakhsha (and Yakhsha Arta ('Upper Yakhsha'), referring to

7500-481: The river's delta. Sometimes the flow through the two branches was more or less equal, but often most of the Amu Darya's flow split to the west and flowed into the Caspian. People began to settle along the lower Amu Darya and the Uzboy in the 5th century, establishing a thriving chain of agricultural lands, towns, and cities. In about AD 985, the massive Gurganj Dam at the bifurcation of the forks started to divert water to

7600-513: The river. This is because many of the river's major tributaries (especially the Zeravshan River ) have been diverted, and much of the river's drainage is arid. Throughout most of the steppe, the annual rainfall is about 300 millimetres (12 in). The ancient Greeks called the Amu Darya the Oxus . In ancient times, the river was regarded as the boundary between Greater Iran and Ṫūrān ( Persian : تُوران ). The river's drainage lies in

7700-527: The rivers was already being used for agriculture, but not on this massive scale. The Qaraqum Canal , Karshi Canal, and Bukhara Canal were among the largest of the irrigation diversions built. However, the Main Turkmen Canal , which would have diverted water along the dry Uzboy River bed into central Turkmenistan, was never built. In the course of the Soviet–Afghan War in the 1970s, Soviet forces used

7800-433: The rule of Islamic State ally Ismail Khan also witnessed relative calm. Meanwhile, southern Afghanistan was neither under the control of foreign-backed militias nor the government in Kabul, but was ruled by local leaders such as Gul Agha Sherzai and their militias. The Taliban movement originated in Pashtun nationalism , and its ideological underpinnings are with that of broader Afghan society. The Taliban's roots lie in

7900-588: The ruling power in the early 1920s and expelled Mohammed Alim Khan . It later put down the Basmachi movement and killed Ibrahim Bek . A large refugee population of Central Asians, including Turkmen, Tajiks, and Uzbeks, fled to northern Afghanistan. In the 1960s and 1970s the Soviets started using the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya to irrigate extensive cotton fields in the Central Asian plain. Before this time, water from

8000-525: The security forces were also killed by the Taliban within days of registering with them to receive a letter guaranteeing their safety. Despite Taliban claims that the ISIS has been defeated, IS carried out suicide bombings in October 2021 at Shia mosques in Kunduz and Kandahar , killing over 115 people. As of late 2021, there were still "sticky bomb" explosions "every few days" in the capital Kabul. Explanations for

8100-400: The sexes) and awrah (concealing the body with clothing), and to be accompanied by male relatives outside their households; those who violated these restrictions were punished. Men were forbidden to shave their beards and they were also required to let them grow and keep them long according to the Taliban's rules, and they were also required to wear turbans outside their households. Prayer

8200-466: The short term. The proposed region is therefore unsuitable for the reintroduction, at least at this stage. Since March 2022, the building of the 285 km Qosh Tepa Canal has been underway in northern Afghanistan to divert water from the Amu Darya. Uzbekistan has expressed concern that the canal will have an adverse effect on its agriculture. The canal is also expected to make the Aral Sea disaster worse, and in 2023 Uzbek officials held talks on

8300-489: The source of the river in 1839. He found modern-day Lake Zorkul , called it Lake Victoria, and proclaimed he had found the source. Then, the French explorer and geographer Thibaut Viné collected a lot of information about this area during five expeditions between 1856 and 1862. The question of finding a route between the Oxus valley and India has been of concern historically. A direct route crosses extremely high mountain passes in

8400-629: The south), into the Caspian Sea (from the east), or both, similar to the Syr Darya (Jaxartes, in Ancient Greek ). Partly based on such records, first Tsarist and later Soviet engineers proposed to divert the Amu Darya to the Caspian Sea by constructing the Transcaspian Canal . The 534,769 square kilometres (206,475 sq mi) of the Amu Darya drainage basin include most of Tajikistan,

8500-478: The southwest corner of Kyrgyzstan , the northeast corner of Afghanistan, a narrow portion of eastern Turkmenistan and the western half of Uzbekistan. Part of the Amu Darya basin divide in Tajikistan forms that country's border with China (in the east) and Pakistan (to the south). About 61% of the drainage lies within Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, while 39% is in Afghanistan. The abundant water flowing in

8600-402: The spelling Taliban has gained predominance over the spelling Taleban . In American English , the definite article is used, the group is referred to as "the Taliban", rather than "Taliban". In English-language media in Pakistan, the definite article is always omitted. Both Pakistani and Indian English -language media tend to name the group "Afghan Taliban", thus distinguishing it from

8700-423: The street, Zabihullah Mujahid (acting Deputy Minister of Information and Culture) noted there are still women working in a number of government ministries, and claimed that girls will be allowed to attend secondary education when bank funds are unfrozen and the government can fund "separate" spaces and transportation for them. When asked about the slaughter of Hazara Shia by the first Taliban régime, Suhail Shaheen,

8800-436: The time, The Washington Post reported that apart from university students, "sixth is now the highest grade girls may attend". The Afghan Ministry of Education cited the lack of an acceptable design for female student uniforms. On December 20, 2022, in violation of their prior promises, the Taliban banned female students from attending higher education institutions with immediate effect. The following day, December 21, 2022,

8900-639: The valley to invade Afghanistan through Termez . The Soviet Union fell in the 1990s and Central Asia split up into the many smaller countries that lie within or partially within the Amu Darya basin. During the Soviet era, a resource-sharing system was instated in which Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan shared water originating from the Amu and Syr Daryas with Kazakhstan , Turkmenistan , and Uzbekistan in summer. In return, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan received Kazakh, Turkmen, and Uzbek coal, gas, and electricity in winter. After

9000-403: The water comes from the high mountains in the south where annual precipitation can be over 1,000 mm (39 in). Even before large-scale irrigation began, high summer evaporation meant that not all of this discharge reached the Aral Sea – though there is some evidence the large Pamir glaciers provided enough meltwater for the Aral to overflow during the 13th and 14th centuries. Since

9100-503: The world's best-equipped militaries"; and as an ideological insurgent movement dedicated to "bringing about a truly Islamic state" its victory has been compared to that of the Chinese Communist Revolution in 1949 or Iranian Revolution of 1979, with their "sweeping" remake of society. However, as of 2021–2022, senior Taliban leaders have emphasized the "softness" of their revolution and how they desired "good relations" with

9200-804: Was a departure from the Islamism of the anti-Soviet mujahideen rulers and the radical Islamists inspired by the Sayyid Qutb (Ikhwan). The Taliban have said they aim to restore peace and security to Afghanistan, including Western troops leaving, and to enforce Sharia , or Islamic law, once in power. According to journalist Ahmed Rashid , at least in the first years of their rule, the Taliban adopted Deobandi and Islamist anti-nationalist beliefs, and they opposed "tribal and feudal structures", removing traditional tribal or feudal leaders from leadership roles. The Taliban strictly enforced their ideology in major cities like Herat, Kabul, and Kandahar. But in rural areas,

9300-568: Was also forbidden under the six-year rule of the Taliban régime. Under the rule of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, it carried the death penalty . The practice remained illegal during the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan's rule, but the laws were seldom enforced against powerful offenders and police had reportedly been complicit in related crimes. A controversy arose during the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan's rule, after allegations surfaced that US government forces in Afghanistan after

9400-435: Was made compulsory and those men who did not respect the religious obligation after the azaan were arrested. Gambling was banned, and the Taliban punished thieves by amputating their hands or feet . In 2000, the Taliban's leader Mullah Omar officially banned opium cultivation and drug trafficking in Afghanistan; the Taliban succeeded in nearly eradicating the majority of the opium production (99%) by 2001. During

9500-639: Was modelled on those of Abul A'la Maududi and the Jamaat-e-Islami movement. The Taliban, being largely Pashtun tribesmen, frequently follow a pre-Islamic cultural tribal code which is focused on preserving honour. Pashtunwali strongly influences decisions in regards to other social matters. It is best described as subconscious social values and attitudes which promote various qualities such as bravery, preserving honour, being hospitable to all guests, seeking revenge and justice if one has been wronged, and providing sanctuary to anyone who seeks refuge, even if it

9600-575: Was paralysed from the start, due to rival groups contending for total power over Kabul and Afghanistan. Hekmatyar's Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin party refused to recognise the interim government, and in April infiltrated Kabul to take power for itself, thus starting this civil war. In May, Hekmatyar started attacks against government forces and Kabul. Hekmatyar received operational, financial and military support from Pakistan's ISI. With that help, Hekmatyar's forces were able to destroy half of Kabul. Iran assisted

9700-521: Was the former governor of the province. Swedish -led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), which has been based in Mazar-e Sharif since about 2005 and responsible for four provinces including Sar-e Pol, established an office and some troops in the province. The Afghan National Security Forces (ANFS) began expanding in the last decade and slowly took over security from International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The Afghanistan-Turkmenistan border

9800-548: Was unacceptable and that therefore these statues had to be destroyed. My brother looked at them and said, this time in Pashto, 'There are still many sun- worshippers in this country. Will you also try to get rid of the sun and drop darkness over the Earth?' The Afghan custom of bacha bazi , a form of pederastic sexual slavery , child sexual abuse and pedophilia which is traditionally practiced in various provinces of Afghanistan between older men and young adolescent "dancing boys",

9900-523: Was untouched by the British during the three Anglo-Afghan wars that were fought in the 19th and 20th centuries. It remained peaceful for about one hundred years until the 1980s Soviet–Afghan War . During the Afghan Civil War , the area was controlled by forces loyal to Abdul Rashid Dostum . It was captured by the Taliban in 1998. Aminullah Amin , the first senior member of the Taliban to be captured,

10000-441: Was used by Greek, Mongol, Chinese, Persian, Jewish, and Afghan historians. However, this name is no longer used. The river's total length is 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi) and its drainage basin totals 534,739 square kilometres (206,464 sq mi) in area, providing a mean discharge of around 97.4 cubic kilometres (23.4 cu mi) of water per year. The river is navigable for over 1,450 kilometres (900 mi). All of

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