August 20, 1998: “Good afternoon. Today I ordered our Armed Forces to strike at terrorist-related facilities in Afghanistan and Sudan because of the imminent threat they presented to our national security,” said President Bill Clinton.
“Two weeks ago, 12 Americans & nearly 300 Kenyans & Tanzanians lost their lives, & another 5,000 were wounded when our embassies in Nairobi & Dar es Salaam were bombed,” said Clinton. Intel community said it was bin Laden’s network. Read full address: clintonwhitehouse6.archives.gov/1998/08/1998-0…
August 20, 1998: U.S. air strikes hit Al-Qaeda training camp in Zhawar Kili Al-Badr, Khost Province, AFG

It was not known if bin Laden & his fellow Arab terrorists were in Khost at time but NSC endorsed strike anyway

Attack on Afghanistan was later justified under UN Article 51
August 1998 attack on AFG by US forces was aimed at preempting more attacks by alQaeda

Operation Infinite Reach took weeks to plan, missiles passed Pakistani airspace. But PAK was notified only 10 minutes before attack since Clarke didn’t trust ISI (the MI6 trained intel agency)
August 21, 1998: “Afghanistan’s reaction to US airstrikes follows predictable lines: Taliban are angry, their opponents support US”

Mullah Abdul Hye Mutmain, Taliban’s Kandahar-based spokesperson said US air strike killed 30, injured. US embassy estimated between 15-65 killed.
August 22, 1998: Mullah Omar’s talked with State Dept about US air strike on Khost.

Omar listened to US reason for attacking AFG. “While he was no way threatening, he claimed that the strikes could spark more terrorist attacks. He asked for evidence of bin Laden involvement.
August 22, 1998: Mullah Omar had a conference call with SA/PAB Director Michael Malinowski.

This is the first recorded conversation with founder of Taliban and a US official.

Read the summary of conference call. Malinowski told Mullah Omar target of attack was not the Taliban.
“Mullah Omar said that in order to rebuild U.S. popularity in the Islamic world and because of his current domestic political difficulties Congress should force Pres Clinton to resign.”

He had no evidence Bin Laden “engaged in or planned terrorist attacks while on Afghan solid.”
“Omar’s contract with a USG official is rather remarkable, given his reclusive nature and his past avoidance of contact with a things America.”

“Taliban, despite implying that we should initiate the contact, are interested in a dialogue with us on Bin Laden.”

Thread by Mariam A

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More from @AfghanHistorian

8 Dec 20
#Kanishka I was, the greatest, and certainly the most famous, of the #Kushan kings.
He is known, from the combined testimony of the literary, epigraphic, and numismatic sources, to have ruled over an extensive dominion extending from Bihar in the east to #Khorasan
@atalbrave
in the west, and from #Khotan in the north to, perhaps, #Konkan in the south.
The dates and findspots of some of the inscriptions of #Kanishka I are interesting:
#Kosam inscription dated year 2,
#Sarnath inscription dated year 3,
#Mathur¹ inscription dated year 4,
#Suivihar inscription dated year 11, and
#Manikiala inscription dated year 18.
#AFG
Read 16 tweets
7 Dec 20
The Buddhist site of #TapaSardar
Buddhist sanctuary rises on a hill which dominates a vast portion of the Dasht-i Manara plain Ghanzi #Afghanistan. The excavation of the site, carried out by the Italian Archaeological Mission between the late 1960s and the late 1970s.
@atalbrave
As attested by an inscribed votive pot found in the site, the sanctuary was known in the past as the #Kanika mahārāja vihāra (“the temple of the Great King #Kanishka”). This evidence confirms that the sacred area of Tapa Sardar was founded during the #Kushan period
(either by #Kanishka I or #Kanishka II, in the 2nd or 3rd century CE) and also reinforces the hypothesis that it may well correspond to the Šāh Bahār (“The temple of the King”) that, according to the Kitāb al-buldān, was destroyed in 795 CE by the Muslim army.
Read 15 tweets
4 Dec 20
The site of Tepe Narenj, which literally means “orange hill”, stands on a relief that is currently denoted as Koh-e Zamburak, or “mountain of the small wasp”, situated on the eastern slopes of the #Hindukush mountain chain, only a few kilometers South of #Kabul #Afghanistan Image
so far only partially investigated, it covers an area of more than four hectares and occupies a dominant position; it faces East and is quite visible from a considerable distance. The site has earlier origins, dated by pottery, paleographic and numismatic finds to the 2nd-3rd CE ImageImage
the period most intensively documented in the excavations, during which the sacred area was reworked, renovated and extended several times, dates to between the end of the 5th century CE and the 9th/10th century CE.
Read 25 tweets
11 Aug 20
#MazarMassacre: There is no way to precisely know how many were killed in weeks following the fall of Mazar to Taliban in 1998. Hazaras & Uzbeks were killed in reprisal for killing thousands of Taliban after a failed attempt by Taliban to take Mazar in May-July 1997. Source HRW.
Taliban tried to take Mazar twice before Aug1998. After Taliban killed Pres Najib in 1996, there was an attempt for peace. "I’ve proposed to Taliban not continue with this war since it’s better to solve our problems peacefully, through negotiations rather than fighting,” -Dostum.
For background from my thread on Pres Rabbani. Dostum ended up welcoming him to Mazar when Taliban took Kabul. A stronger alliance was made with Rabbani/Massoud. The fighting continued into 1997 and 1998.
Read 5 tweets
11 Jul 20
Thread on Naghlu Dam
Tweets by AF (@TheFahimi): 1/8

Khrushchev and Bulganin welcomed by PM Muhammad Daud Khan in #Kabul in Dec 1955. They agreed to extend a $100 million aid by USSR to #Afghanistan which would build #Naghlu dam, Bagram military airfield and Darunta dam.
2/8
Naghlu dam, also #Afghanistan’s largest hydropower plant with a 100 MW generation capacity, is located on Kabul River in Surobi district of #Kabul. Work on the dam started in January 1960 and by 1968 the dam was ready for operation. /AF
3/8
When Surobi area was controlled by Hekmatyar's militia (i.e. during #Soviet-#Afghan war and in the years leading to the #Taliban rule), they used the power plant as a tool to pressure Kabul by cutting the electricity connection.
Later, the Taliban would do the same. /AF
Read 8 tweets
14 Jun 20
June 13, 2020. #AhmadZahir would have been 74 years old today. MM 1/11
While the details of #AhmadZahir's death are shrouded in both mystery and controversy, it seems more apt to celebrate the societal contributions he made during his life. MM 2/11
The photo below is a glimpse of #AhmadZahir, as a teenager. He holds in his arms an accordion, an instrument he had long since mastered. MM 3/11
Photo Source: @afghanmagazine
Read 11 tweets

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