Afghanistan timeline September 2003

September 30, 2003

• Afghan Central Bank governor Anwar Ul-Haq Ahadi announced that Afghans should use their own Afghani currency in daily transactions rather than U.S. dollars or Pakistani rupees.

September 29, 2003

• In Shkin, Paktika province, Afghanistan, a U.S. soldier was killed and two others wounded in a gun battle which also left two rebel fighters dead.

September 28, 2003

• In Kapisa province, Afghanistan, Kabul police found an 18 pound bomb, a radio filled with explosives and two remote-control detonation devices disguised as mobile phones. Two people arrested.
• Rebels fired six rockets at the U.S. base in Shkin, Paktika province, Afghanistan.

September 27, 2003

• In Ottawa, Canada, Afghan President Hamid Karzai met with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Reports surfaced that Canada would take over ISAF command in 2004, but Chrétien said Canada would not send any more troops to Afghanistan until its current 12-month peacekeeping mission was over.
• In Badakhshan province, Afghanistan, eight men were arrested on suspicion of smuggling boys. Afghan authorities said they had rescued 85 boys who had been abducted. They were being smuggled into Iran and into Pakistan. Children abducted in the region were sold as sex slaves or child laborers.
• NATO Secretary General George Robertson arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan to visit ISAF peacekeepers. He also met with Afghan Defense Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim, Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali and United Nations officials.
• In the Mir Mundo area of Helmand province, Afghanistan, rebels killed seven bodyguards of Helmand Governor Sher Mohammed Akhundzada.
• In the village of Shaga, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, arsonists burned down a coed secondary school.
• Rebels fired two rockets at the U.S. base in Shkin, Paktika province, Afghanistan.

September 26, 2003

• Near Gardez in Paktia province, Afghanistan, rebels attacked with a bomb and small arm fire a U.S.-led convoy on an overnight patrol. There were no casualties on either side
• NATO Secretary General George Robertson announced that Canada would take over command of ISAF in February, 2004.
• Mullah Abdul Razzaq Nafees, a member of the 10-strong Taliban shura formed in June, was killed in a clash with U.S.-led coalition and Afghan in Uruzgan province.

September 24, 2003

• In New York, New York, Afghan President Hamid Karzai addressed the United Nations General Assembly. He called for a wider international military presence in Afghanistan and an extension of ISAF beyond Kabul. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told the General Assembly that, in order for Afghanistan’s political reform effort to succeed, it needed sustained international support. Karzai later met privately with United States President George W. Bush.
• United States President George W. Bush announced that Zalmay Khalilzad, his special envoy in Afghanistan, would also be the new U.S. ambassador in Kabul.
• In the Ozikhushk area of Helmand province, Afghanistan, armed men opened fire on the vehicle carrying three Afghan workers for the Voluntary Association for the Rehabilitation of Afghanistan, killing an engineer for a local aid group and wounding his driver.

September 23, 2003

• United States President George W. Bush addressed the United Nations General Assembly regarding Afghanistan.
• Near Shkin in Paktika province, Afghanistan, eight rockets landed near the U.S. base
• In Kunar province, Afghanistan, two rockets landed near a U.S. base.

September 20, 2003

• Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced new political appointments to the defence ministry. Eight appointments were given to members of the Pashtun majority, including the deputy ministerial position to Major General Farooq Wardak who replaced General Bismullah Khan. Five Tajiks, four Hazaras, two Uzbeks, one Baluchi and one Nuristani were also named to new positions.

September 19, 2003

• In Afghanistan, near the Bagram Air Base, at least six people were killed in two blasts at the home of an explosives trader. A boy in was killed by shrapnel when a rocket exploded after the main blast. Six to 10 people were injured in the second explosion.
• Near Khost, Afghanistan, while trying to defuse a rocket aimed at the town, an Afghan National Army soldier was killed and another severely wounded.
• Near the Bagram Air Base north of Kabul, Afghanistan, six people were killed in an accidental blast at an explosives-filled house.
• Nine were killed in an accidental blast at an explosives dealer's house in Mehtarlam, Laghman province, Afghanistan.

September 15, 2003

• In Paktia province, Afghanistan, a group of a dozen Taliban members stopped vehicles on the highway and threatened to cut off the noses and ears of men who shave their beards or anyone caught listening to music.
• In the Chaman area of Afghanistan, an Afghan National Army major crossed into Pakistan carrying an AK-47. He was arrested by Pakistani border guards.

September 14, 2003

• Afghan Commerce Minister Sayed Mustafa Kazemi announced the approval of 5,000 investment projects worth $4.5 billion, expecting to employ more than 400,000 people.
• In Maruf district, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, fifteen Taliban rebels were killed by U.S.-led coalition forces, including Mullah Hafiz Abdul Rahim. Taliban leader Abdur Rahman was captured and interrogated. Five Afghan National Army troops were wounded, two of them seriously.

September 13, 2003

• Iran and Afghanistan signed a memorandum of understanding on customs cooperation. The Head of Iran`s Custom Administration Masoud Karbasian and the Head of Afghanistan's Custom Administration Gholam Jilani Pupel signed the document.
• In the Taftan area, Pakistani border security forces arrested around 100 Afghans who crossed into Pakistan from Iran.

September 12, 2003

• Miloon Kothari, appointed by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to investigate housing rights in Afghanistan, announced that Defence Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim and Education Minister Yunus Qanooni were illegally occupying land and should be removed from their posts. However, on September 15, Kothari sent a letter to Lakhdar Brahimi, the head of the U.N. in Afghanistan, saying he had gone too far in naming the ministers.
• In Afghanistan, two explosions took place near Kabul International Airport, closing the airport for two hours.

September 11, 2003

• In east Kabul, Afghanistan, a rocket exploded in the International Security Assistance Force base, Camp Warehouse, causing some damage but no casualties.
• In southwest Kabul, Afghanistan, an explosion shook an ISAF base used by Canadian troops.
• The International Boxing Association offered Afghanistan provisional affiliation. Boxing had been banned during the Taliban rule.

September 10, 2003

• A joint meeting between officials of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States was held at the checkpost of Friendship Gate in the border town of Chaman, Afghanistan. It was decided that the neighboring nations would deploy more troops at their border.

September 9, 2003

• Over 10,000 Afghan citizens filled Kabul sports stadiums to honor the anniversary of the 2001 assassination of Ahmed Shah Massoud. President Hamid Karzai spoke to crowds.
• The U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan alerted U.S. citizens to avoid public places. A ban on unofficial travel within the capital was maintained.

September 8, 2003

• United States Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Afghanistan and met with President Hamid Karzai.
• Afghan President Hamid Karzai signed a decree postponing for two months the loya jirga set to approve the new constitution. Rather than meet in October, it would take place in December.
• Five Afghan soldiers in a convoy were killed in an attack by suspected Taliban rebels in Kandahar province.
• Two United States soldiers were injured in exchanges of fire in Paktika province and Kunar province, Afghanistan.
• In Ghazni province, four Afghan citizens were killed and one injured in their pick-up truck when they were stopped by rebels, then tied up and then shot. The citizens were employees of the Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees, and were part of a water supply project in the area.
• The interim Afghan cabinet approved a law allowing political parties to form.
• Pakistan suspended the transportation of Indian cargo through Pakistani territory to Afghanistan, particularly equipment meant for the Afghan National Army.

September 7, 2003

• In Washington, DC, U.S., United States President George W. Bush announced he would ask the United States Congress for an additional $87 billion for U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Just $800 million was earmarked for Afghan reconstruction.
• Rebels attacked Afghan government troops in Kighai Gorge, Kandahar province, killing five soldiers dead and wounding five others.

September 5, 2003

• In Kabul, Afghanistan, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham met with Afghan interim President Hamid Karzai and Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. Graham also opened the Canadian Embassy in Kabul (which had been closed since 1979) and signed an agreement lowering duties on textiles, such as Afghan rugs.
• Afghan troops patrolling the Mizan district of Zabul province, captured five Taliban rebels, including a top Taliban commander, Mulla Abdul Salaam.

September 4, 2003

• The United Nations Commission on Human Rights criticized Kabul police for forcing the evicting 30 families in Shir Pur village near the up-market Wazir Akbar Khan district of central Kabul by bulldozing their homes. Both the United Nations and the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission appealed to authorities to suspend the operation until an alternative could be offered. The families had lived there for 30 years.

September 3, 2003

• In the Sar Murghab area of In Uruzgan province, Afghanistan, a remote-controlled bomb went off killing senior Afghan military commander Mullah Gul Akhund was killed along with his bodyguard. A third person in their car was seriously wounded.
• In the Nava district near Asadabad, Kunar province, Afghan authorities seized 100 anti-tank mines, mortar shells and remote control bombs.

September 2, 2003

• The Germany cabinet agreed to extending its peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan beyond Kabul, if the United Nations voted to expand the ISAF mandate there.
• Both Pakistan and Afghanistan officials announced that Pakistan had agreed to train 800 Afghan policemen in three of Pakistani training centers. Pakistan would also provide stipends to the Afghan police cadets during their training.
• In the Muhammad Agha district of Logar province, Afghanistan, the coed Moghul Khil Elementary School was set on fire, destroying two rooms and two tents. Leaflets were scattered that said girls should not be allowed in the classroom, threatening teachers who taught girls. Classes resumed the next day.
• Five rockets were fired at the U.S. base in Gardez, Afghanistan; there was no damage or injuries.
• The United States barred its diplomats in Kabul, Afghanistan from any unofficial travel.

September 1, 2003

• Four Afghan policemen were killed, four were wounded and four were missing after a raid on their checkpoint 115 miles northeast of Kandahar, Zabul province. Indian contractors working for the Louis Berger Group came under small-arms fire in nearby a guest house. Two of the company's security guards were shot dead when assailants opened fire on their vehicle.
• Taliban troops mounted a surprise attack behind U.S. and Afghan army lines, killing at least eight Afghan soldiers and slightly wounding General Sayf Allah. One U.S. soldier died when his parachute failed to open.

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