Asian Studies

Afghanistan has experienced power struggles since it came into existence with some struggles turning bloody while others were being won without much struggle. Since 2001, American together with Afghan forces has taken over the responsibility of offering security. This has help put the insurgents at bay and help improve the living standards of people. This paper is going to look into the historical aspects of Afghanistan and Logar province in particular.

Since the intervention of the international community in Afghanistan, the Taliban insurgency led by al-Qaida has greatly lost control of most regions in the country. They have been rendered incapable of threatening the central government and dominance has only been restricted to The East and the Pashtun South. Although the insurgents had suffered heavy combat losses in 2006, they are continually establishing their influence with its major base being the Pashtun communities. They have also resulted to suicide operations in which they are employing the use of more aggressive, lethal and visible tactics. Were it not the international military help that Afghanistan is receiving together with Afghan security presence in the volatile East and Pashtun South, the government could have lost control of the regions to the al-Qaida (Alfred  Peter, 2007).

The Afghanistan government is committed to developing the country as it can be seen from the political institutions that it has successfully managed to establish through the drafting of a new constitution, coming up with a democratically chosen parliament and holding free and fair presidential system. There are substantial efforts from Afghan National Army together with the National police in trying to promote peace in the volatile east and south regions. Despite the numerous efforts being made, the main obstacles have been the lack of skilled personnel, ethnic together with tribal rivalries and corruption. Afghanistan as a nation is comprised of 34 provinces with the Pashtuns forming the biggest ethnic group. Pashtuns live in the Logar province which is located 100 kilometers to the south of the capital city Kabul. This province is lined by the rugged Kharwar mountain ranges to the south and east where copper is mined. People in the region mainly depend on agriculture which happens to be the driving force behind their economy. Fruits and grains are the ones which are mostly grown in the region (Peter, 2004).

Although there has been a limited access to basic services, the province has undergone considerable reconstruction since the fall of Taliban rule. Health facilities have been constructed in each of the districts in the province and numerous other projects have also been established. The projects include construction of a major roads, radio stations, municipal buildings and building of several schools (Alfred and Peter, 2007).

Afghanistan history
The first people to settle in Afghanistan territory were the nomadic tribes. They settled down in 1500 BC. They were mainly settled on the mountain parts of Afghanistan. They lasted until the time when Alexander Magno came to Afghanistan. The Bactrians and Kushans who were Buddhist later conquered the territory. Later on, Islam through the Turks penetrated the region in the middle of the VII century and remained the most dominant until the Mongol arrived from Gengis Khan who took over domination of most parts. The region came to be known as Afghanistan in the present day. The remaining territory was dominated by Persian Sofawies (Peter, 2004).

Afghanistan came into existence because of the efforts of Ahmad Shah Durrani who managed to unite the existing tribes in 1747 after fighting the Indians and the Persians. He built an emperor which lasted up to 1973. In the XIX century, the country came under attack from the Persians who had the help of Russia in their attempt to expand up to the Indian Ocean. The situation was salvaged by Great Britain who managed to send troops to the country after which they put their governors who could sympathize with the cause. The Afghanistan people did not accept the English who they perceived as invaders. They constantly harassed them and with several confrontations, the Afghanistan people managed to recover their sovereignty in 1921. Muhammad Daoud Kan in 1973 managed to head a military coup that saw the monarch retire after which the country settled (Richard  Donald, 2001).

The country was again invaded in 1979 by the Soviet Union in a bid to support communist rule, an act that generated war between the Soviets and the Afghanistan. The soviet army was forced to withdraw between 1986 and 1989, but another civil war was started by Muyahidin between the Afghan groups. Mohamed Najibula left presidency in 1992 after which a coalition government between Guerrilla groups was formed. Kabul was taken over by the Taliban in 1996 leading to the establishment of a fundamentalist administration. From that time, Afghanistan has been under the rule of political and religious fundamentalists. Some of Afghanistans historical events revolve around the struggle for power with the invasion of the Soviet Union and the British on their territory. They also include the rise of religion and its domination in the country, modernization and how the Taliban came to seize power (Hassan, 1997).

Afghanistans Social Structure
Geography Afghanistan measures 652,230 sq. km. Its main cities are the capital Kabul, Kandahar, Mazar-e-sharif, Herat, Jalalabad, Terrain and Konduz. The country is terrain such that it is land locked with mountains and deserts forming the major part of it. It has a dry climate with occasional cold winters and hot summers (Peter, 2004).

People It has a population of about 28 million people with more than 3 million living outside the country mainly in the neighboring Pakistan and Iran. Since the removal of Taliban from power, a considerable number of people have returned to the country. Its population growth rate is estimated to be 2.6  on an annual basis. The major ethnic groups are the Sunni Muslims who form 80  of the total population, followed by the Shia Muslims who form 19  and the remaining 1  comprises of other religions. The main languages used are Dari and Pashto (Richard  Donald, 2001).

Economy in 2009, Afghanistan was estimated to have a GDP of 23.35 billion. The average GDP growth between 2004 and 2009 was averagely estimated to be 11.25 . Its GDP per capita was 800. Oil, natural gas, copper, coal, talc, barites, chromites, sulfur, iron ore, lead, zinc, salt and precious stones are among the natural resources that are found in Afghanistan. 31 of the GDP is said to be derived from agriculture. Some of agricultural products include opium, lambskins, wheat, sheepskins, corn, rice, barley, cotton, wool, mutton, fruits, karakul pelts and nuts. Industrial sector is estimated to be contributing 26 of the GDP. Some of the industries include small scale industries involved in the production of soap, textiles, fertilizer, shoes, hand woven carpets, furniture, cement, coal, copper and natural gas. The service industry is estimated to contribute about 43 of the countries GDP. Afghanistan acquires approximately 547 million from exports with the exception opium export. Their major markets are the USA, central Asian republics, Russia, India and Pakistan. Its imports are estimated to be 5.3 billion which are mainly petroleum products, machinery, food, textiles and consumer goods (Martin, 2002).

Government and political conditions The first democratic national elections were held in 9th October 2004 in which an estimated 8 million people participated. Another election for the lower houses was held in 2005 which had a turnover of about 53 of the registered voters. The Afghanistan constitution provided an indirect upper house election. The first democratic national assembly was inaugurated on 19th December 2005 with Younus Qanoon being elected as speaker of Wolesi Jirga (lower house) and Sigbatullah Mojadeddi becoming the speaker of Meshrano Jirga (upper house) (Peter, 2004).  

Education there have been impressive advances in terms of providing basic education. About 10,000 schools are now offering education to an estimated population of 6.3 million children. Adult literacy rapidly increased in 2009 with learning centers growing from 1,100 to 6,865. The government has managed to bring financial services to an estimated 169,000 people (Martin, 2002).

Transportation they have managed to restore ring road which connects Kabul, Herat and Kandahar with northern cities of Kunduz and Mazar-e-shariff. The country has no functioning railway system and therefore relies mainly on Amu Danya River on the boarder of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. This river acts as a vital trade route among the neighboring countries.

Prominent political figures
King Zahi he was a cousin to the prime minister of Afghanistan who took control of the government in a bloodless coup in 1973. He modernized the military by sending them to USSR for training although he was perceived to be running an oppressive regime. He reigned between 1973 and 1978 after which there was an increased communist threat against him. This led to the split of the party between Taraki and Amin. A military coup was organized by Amin but Taraki took control of the government. After one year, Amin organized an assassination against Taraki and he was assassinated. Amins administration took power but only lasted for a period of 3 months after which the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Amin was killed and Babrak Karmal took over who was replaced by Mohammed Najibullah in 1986. Mohammed brought numerous reforms to the country and in 1989, the Soviet Union left leaving him to run the government independently (Peter, 2004).

According to Chris (2004), Mohammeds regime collapsed in 1992 and an interim government was formed under the leadership of Rabbani. The war lords started fighting after which the Taliban took control in 1994. It received a lot of backing from the people and promised to eliminate warlord control and bring back the king. It controlled the country until 2001 when the US and UK led a campaign that removed them from power and an interim government was put into place.

Afghan National security forces
Afghanistan national security branches include Afghan National Army, Afghan National Air corps, Afghan National police, Afghan boarder police and Afghan public protection program. Afghan national security forces are responsible for ensuring that peace prevails in Logar province and other provinces.