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Afghanistan's Ghazni To Be Declared Islamic Capital Of Culture
By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan April 13, 2013
GHAZNI, Afghanistan -- Security in Afghanistan's southeastern province of Ghazni was tight as the provincial capital is set to be declared an Islamic capital of culture in 2013.
Thousands of additional security forces were reportedly deployed in the city of Ghazni as Afghan officials and foreign dignitaries attended an official ceremony on April 13.
Afghan officials say Iran's culture minister, representatives from Tajikistan and Egypt, and a delegation from the Islamic Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) participated.
On April 12, Afghan Cultural Minister Saied Makhdom Raheen invited the Taliban to also join the event.
In 2007, ISESCO designated the ancient city of Ghazni, which means "jewel," as an Islamic capital of culture for the Asian region for 2013.
News Analysis: Killing of civilians by U.S.-led NATO forces could jeopardize signing of security pact
by Abdul Haleem
KABUL, April 13 (Xinhua) -- The killing of innocent civilians, including women and children, in recent attacks by U.S.-led coalition forces against the Taliban insurgents has generated anti- American sentiments among Afghans and could jeopardize the signing of the proposed bilateral security agreement (BSA) between Kabul and Washington.
In the coalition air strikes on April 6 in the eastern province of Kunar, 11 Afghan children were reported to have been killed and six women injured.
President Hamid Karzai has denounced the killing of civilians by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and warned that repeated killing of Afghan civilians could negatively impact Afghan-U.S. relations.
A statement released by the president's office said that Karzai has expressed to U.S. President Barak Obama his grave concerns over continued civilian casualties, particularly referring to the deaths of children in the recent ISAF military operation in Kunar province.
The statement said that Karzai told Obama on Tuesday that the continuation of such incidents could jeopardize the signing of a bilateral security pact that is aimed at allowing continued but limited U.S. military presence in Afghanistan after the pullout of all foreign troops from the country in 2014.
"There is no doubt that the killing of civilians by NATO troops would have an adverse impact on the people's perception of the intent of the foreign forces and has damaged the credibility of government in protecting its citizens in the protracted war on terror," Pariani Nazari, editor-in-chief of the Daily Mandegar, an Afghan newspaper, said.
Nazari also lashed at the Taliban for using civilians as shield in the fight against the NATO forces, saying it is the responsibility of NATO, the government, and the Taliban to protect the lives of innocent civilians, especially children and women.
Residents of Shalton area of Shigal district in Kunar province, where the 11 children were killed, brought the bodies of their dead to the district headquarters last week. They demanded that the government bring to justice those responsible for the carnage.
Civilian casualties by the ISAF has served as a source of tension between Kabul and Washington.
Karzai has said on several occasions that war against terrorists in Afghan villages is not a correct approach since, according to him, the actual sanctuaries of the Taliban and other armed insurgents are not inside but outside Afghanistan, referring to the border areas inside Pakistan. Pakistan, however, has denied claims that the Taliban is based on Pakistani soil.
In March, Karzai's chief spokesman Aimal Faizy described NATO- led forces' war on terror in Afghanistan as "aimless and unwise," adding that most Afghans believe that this war should be discontinued.
Over the past year, officials of Afghanistan and the United States have been trying to craft the BSA but apparently still have gotten nowhere.
Washington has insisted on seeking immunity from prosecution for its military personnel who will remain in Afghanistan after 2014, a condition that is a standard provision in all the status of forces agreement (SOFA) that the United States has with other countries.
Karzai has said that the grant of immunity from suit against American servicemen would have to be decided by the Loya Jirga or grand assembly composed of tribal chieftains, notables and functionaries.
Earlier in February, in the wake of complaints from local officials in Wardak province, Karzai ordered the pullout of U.S. special forces from the central province, a decision widely welcomed by the people there.
58 Afghan refugees missing after boat sinks off Indonesia
JAKARTA, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Some 58 Afghan refugees are still missing after the boat taking them to Australia sank in Indonesian waters, while 14 have been rescued by local fishermen, a rescue official said Saturday.
The boat, which was believed to carry 72 asylum seekers from Afghanistan, sank in waters off Indonesia's Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra islands around Wednesday, Roghmali, spokesman of the Search and Rescue Agency of Bandung, West Java told Xinhua.
Roghmali said the rescue team is still searching around the waters off the west of Java for survivors amid bad weather after 14 refugees were rescued by Indonesian fisherman.
Roghmali said it's difficult to know the exact number of refugees on board and located the capsizal spot as refugees were not cooperative.
"14 people were rescued at Ujung Genteng area, in West Java's Suakbumi Regency early Friday after about 24-hour drift at sea," Roghmali said.
Roghmali added that 12 of them have arrived in Jakarta for investigation on Friday and the other two are still in the immigration office of West Java's Bogor City.
Indonesia is a transit hub for refugees from the Middle East and South Asia seeking asylum in Australia. However, the asylum seekers prefer to turn to Australia for help when their boat malfunctioned as Indonesia usually deport the refugees instead of granting them refugee status.
Kazakhstan's Defense Minister makes official visit to Afghanistan
Global Post April 12, 2013
Kazakhstan's Defense Minister Adilbek Jaksybekov made his first official visit to Afghanistan on April 10, the Defense Ministry's press service said.
Defense Ministet Jaksybekov met with President Hamid Karzai.
Kazakhstan supports the efforts of Afghanistan aimed to consolidate the Afghan society and to bring stability to the country, Minister Jaksybekov said at the meeting.
Military cooperation areas were discussed at the meeting with Afghanistan's Defense Minister Bismillah Han Mohammadi.
The military production complex of Kazakhstan has a necessary capacity for repair and modernization of armament and military equipment. Certain possibilities exist for cooperation in this sphere, the Defense Ministry's press service said.
Minister Jaksybekov invited Afghan specialists to attend the Armament and Military Equipment Exhibition KADEX and to watch the peacemaking exercises “Steppe Eagle” in August 2013.
Kazakhstan considers training possibility for Afghan military at the country's military training institutions. This training project may serve as another cooperation modality, the sides say.
It was noted at meetings that exchange of information and views concerning security information and existing threats could be another important aspect of military cooperation.
Senior Taliban leader arrested in S. Afghan operation
Xinhua April 13, 2013
KABUL - A senior Taliban leader was captured Saturday in an operation in southern Afghan province of Helmand, said the NATO-led coalition forces.
"An Afghan and coalition security force arrested a senior Taliban leader and detained two other insurgents during an operation in Nad Ali district, Helmand province, today," the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a press release.
The leader commands multiple cells of Taliban fighters, and with his subordinates, he is alleged to have participated in numerous complex attacks against Afghan and coalition forces throughout the province 555 km south of Afghan capital Kabul, the release added without revealing the name of the man.
On Friday morning, up to eight Taliban were killed and 11 wounded when they came in contact with the Afghan army and police in Helmand's Sangin district, the provincial governor spokesman Omar Zhwak told Xinhua Saturday.
An Afghan policeman was also killed and six army soldiers and four cops were wounded in the fight in Zard Rigi and Sadon areas of the district that lasted for hours, the spokesman said, adding "the insurgents were intimidating locals before the arrival of the security forces in the area."
The Taliban insurgent group, which has been waging an insurgency of more than one decade, has yet to make comments.
India, China look to cooperate to counter terror in Afghanistan
The Economic Times 12 April 2013
BEIJING - India and China discussed ways to step up cooperation to counter terror in Afghanistan and in the region as the Taliban and Al Qaeda militant groups attempt to stage a come back in the resource-rich country following the withdrawal of US forces next year.
"The two sides had in-depth exchange of views and opinions on international and regional counter terrorism situation and bilateral cooperation in this field," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said briefing the media on the two-day India-China counter-terrorism dialogue which ended here today.
The increasingly fragile Afghan situation with increased attacks by Taliban, and initiatives by China, India and Russia to deal with critical situation emerging out of US troops withdrawal was reportedly discussed.
The six round of annual Sino-Indian counter-terrorism talks were held between inter-agency delegations headed by Additional Secretary of External Affairs Ministry, Navtej Sarna and the Director General, External Security of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Qiu Guohong.
Sarna and his delegation today called on Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping, who took part in the recent India, China and Russia trilateral dialogue in Moscow, which was also attended by National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon to discuss situation in Afghanistan.
While Menon was expected to be in Beijing to establish contacts with China's new leadership, Afghanistan would once again be discussed during Joint Secretary-level talks between the two countries later this month.
With over USD three billion investment in resource-rich Afghanistan, China is increasingly getting interested in the emerging situation there after US and NATO troops withdraw next year owing to its own concern in the fragile security situation in Xinjiang, the Muslim Uygur dominated province where East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is fomenting a separatist movement.
India too has its concerns over the impact of a destabilised Afghanistan on the situation in Kashmir.
The US has 66,000 troops in Afghanistan now. The Obama administration plans to withdraw 34,000 by February and bring home most of the rest by the end of 2014, leaving a small force to train and advise Afghan forces and carry out counter-terrorism efforts.
Catastrophe at Kabul
The British invaded Afghanistan in 1839 with high hopes. Before they fought a single Afghan, officers were fighting, soldiers were on half rations and cannons were abandoned.
The Wall Street Journal By Michael Fathers April 12, 2013
Foreign armies have always, and unwisely, dismissed Afghanistan's fighters. I can remember as early as 1979, several months before the Soviet invasion in December of that year, listening to a U.S. official in Peshawar, once the winter residence of Afghan kings, mocking the small groups of local tribesmen who opposed Kabul's isolated communist rulers. These stubborn insurgents saw off the Soviets as they had seen off the British before—and will soon have seen off the Americans as Afghanistan slips back into the rule of warlords and the Taliban.William Dalrymple's book is more than timely. "Return of a King" is about an invasion by one imperial power hoping to thwart a perceived (but misread) threat from another imperial power. The rivalry between Britain and Russia for control and influence in Central Asia was known on the British side as "the Great Game" and by the Russians as "the Tournament of Shadows." It began as Britain's control over India spread and deepened after the Napoleonic wars, coinciding with Russia's move south into the Khanates of Central Asia. The fault line was Afghanistan, the only gateway south into the Indian subcontinent.
Britain invaded Afghanistan in 1839 because it believed Russia was about to get there first. (Mr. Dalrymple shows that the Russians had rejected such a plan.) The British ousted a popular ruler, Dost Mohammad Khan, who had sought friendship with them, but was wrongly believed to be pro-Russian. He was replaced by a puppet, Shah Shuja, a haughty former king who had lived in exile in India under British protection for over 20 years.
The British army entered Afghanistan through Baluchistan and the Bolan Pass. The invasion force comprised 21,000 Indian and European soldiers, no fewer than 38,000 camp followers and 30,000 camels to carry baggage. Three hundred camels were earmarked to carry the military wine cellar. The army was a wreck before it had fought a single Afghan, writes Mr. Dalrymple. Commanding officers were squabbling, cannon had been left behind, soldiers were on half rations and facing the burning Afghan summer in winter uniform.
Luck however, was on their side. Exaggerated reports of their might and bribes led to important defections, and Kandahar, the old capital of southern Afghanistan, surrendered. Two months later, the impregnable fort of Ghazni was taken by subterfuge on the march north to Kabul and its defenders were routed with the loss of fewer than 20 British dead. Eight months after crossing the Indus and leaving India, the British marched into Kabul without a shot being fired. What followed this extraordinary success was the rapid isolation and collapse of an occupying army and the unraveling of an imperial plan to install a puppet regime in Afghanistan.
The story of Britain's humiliation is legendary among Afghans. The author's deep research provides a whole new take on almost every aspect of that story. Mr. Dalrymple is a skilled storyteller and fills important gaps, mining new sources in St. Petersburg, Kabul, Lahore, New Delhi and London. He found letters and records involving the Polish-born noble Ivan Vitkevitch, who was Russia's man in Central Asia and whose secretive movements in Bukhara, Persia and Afghanistan so worried the British. His rival was the linguistically clever and resourceful young Scotsman Alexander Burnes, whose seduction of Afghan women outraged tribal leaders. The picture of the occupation of Kabul is almost orgiastic in the way the British were said to have seduced Afghan women of all classes, including favored concubines. On the Afghan side, Mr. Dalrymple uncovered a haul of narrative poetry in Kabul that details the reaction to every aspect of the British invasion, occupation and retreat.
Mr. Dalrymple's writing is sly, charming and clever. His histories read like novels. ("As far as he and his courtiers were concerned this was not an unjustified, unprovoked and unnecessary British invasion of an independent country," the author writes of Shah Shuja. "This was the return of a king.") This latest book delights and shocks as he points a finger at both sides for their deceit, treachery and cruelty. The final chapters are horrifying and extraordinarily graphic as an army of 5,000 troops and cavalry and 14,000 camp followers, frozen, starving and exhausted, are wiped out over five days after abandoning Kabul.
The grand historical sweep of Mr. Dalrymple's book reveals the hubris of British officials and their rejection of expert views from agents on the spot; the bumbling and squabbling among military commanders; incompetence in high places and the ease with which officials jumped to the wrong conclusions. There are numerous parallels to contemporary events, but Mr. Dalrymple does not belabor them.
"Return of a King" is probably the final book in a trilogy on India under the rule of Britain's East India Company. Mr. Dalrymple's earlier works, "White Mughals" (2002) and "The Last Mughal" (2006), covered the easy relationship between British officials and Indian rulers in the 18th century and ended with the Indian mutiny in 1857. From then on power in India was taken away from the company and institutionalized under Parliament and the monarchy in London. An elite corps of professionally trained civil servants ruled India, and the era of the adventurer and fraternization between the two races came to an end. Arrogance and torpor took over.
Few come out well from Mr. Dalrymple's magnificent account except perhaps the wily Dost Mohammad Khan, who returned to the throne that had been grabbed from him, as if the war had never taken place.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com
By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan April 13, 2013
GHAZNI, Afghanistan -- Security in Afghanistan's southeastern province of Ghazni was tight as the provincial capital is set to be declared an Islamic capital of culture in 2013.
Thousands of additional security forces were reportedly deployed in the city of Ghazni as Afghan officials and foreign dignitaries attended an official ceremony on April 13.
Afghan officials say Iran's culture minister, representatives from Tajikistan and Egypt, and a delegation from the Islamic Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) participated.
On April 12, Afghan Cultural Minister Saied Makhdom Raheen invited the Taliban to also join the event.
In 2007, ISESCO designated the ancient city of Ghazni, which means "jewel," as an Islamic capital of culture for the Asian region for 2013.
News Analysis: Killing of civilians by U.S.-led NATO forces could jeopardize signing of security pact
by Abdul Haleem
KABUL, April 13 (Xinhua) -- The killing of innocent civilians, including women and children, in recent attacks by U.S.-led coalition forces against the Taliban insurgents has generated anti- American sentiments among Afghans and could jeopardize the signing of the proposed bilateral security agreement (BSA) between Kabul and Washington.
In the coalition air strikes on April 6 in the eastern province of Kunar, 11 Afghan children were reported to have been killed and six women injured.
President Hamid Karzai has denounced the killing of civilians by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and warned that repeated killing of Afghan civilians could negatively impact Afghan-U.S. relations.
A statement released by the president's office said that Karzai has expressed to U.S. President Barak Obama his grave concerns over continued civilian casualties, particularly referring to the deaths of children in the recent ISAF military operation in Kunar province.
The statement said that Karzai told Obama on Tuesday that the continuation of such incidents could jeopardize the signing of a bilateral security pact that is aimed at allowing continued but limited U.S. military presence in Afghanistan after the pullout of all foreign troops from the country in 2014.
"There is no doubt that the killing of civilians by NATO troops would have an adverse impact on the people's perception of the intent of the foreign forces and has damaged the credibility of government in protecting its citizens in the protracted war on terror," Pariani Nazari, editor-in-chief of the Daily Mandegar, an Afghan newspaper, said.
Nazari also lashed at the Taliban for using civilians as shield in the fight against the NATO forces, saying it is the responsibility of NATO, the government, and the Taliban to protect the lives of innocent civilians, especially children and women.
Residents of Shalton area of Shigal district in Kunar province, where the 11 children were killed, brought the bodies of their dead to the district headquarters last week. They demanded that the government bring to justice those responsible for the carnage.
Civilian casualties by the ISAF has served as a source of tension between Kabul and Washington.
Karzai has said on several occasions that war against terrorists in Afghan villages is not a correct approach since, according to him, the actual sanctuaries of the Taliban and other armed insurgents are not inside but outside Afghanistan, referring to the border areas inside Pakistan. Pakistan, however, has denied claims that the Taliban is based on Pakistani soil.
In March, Karzai's chief spokesman Aimal Faizy described NATO- led forces' war on terror in Afghanistan as "aimless and unwise," adding that most Afghans believe that this war should be discontinued.
Over the past year, officials of Afghanistan and the United States have been trying to craft the BSA but apparently still have gotten nowhere.
Washington has insisted on seeking immunity from prosecution for its military personnel who will remain in Afghanistan after 2014, a condition that is a standard provision in all the status of forces agreement (SOFA) that the United States has with other countries.
Karzai has said that the grant of immunity from suit against American servicemen would have to be decided by the Loya Jirga or grand assembly composed of tribal chieftains, notables and functionaries.
Earlier in February, in the wake of complaints from local officials in Wardak province, Karzai ordered the pullout of U.S. special forces from the central province, a decision widely welcomed by the people there.
58 Afghan refugees missing after boat sinks off Indonesia
JAKARTA, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Some 58 Afghan refugees are still missing after the boat taking them to Australia sank in Indonesian waters, while 14 have been rescued by local fishermen, a rescue official said Saturday.
The boat, which was believed to carry 72 asylum seekers from Afghanistan, sank in waters off Indonesia's Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra islands around Wednesday, Roghmali, spokesman of the Search and Rescue Agency of Bandung, West Java told Xinhua.
Roghmali said the rescue team is still searching around the waters off the west of Java for survivors amid bad weather after 14 refugees were rescued by Indonesian fisherman.
Roghmali said it's difficult to know the exact number of refugees on board and located the capsizal spot as refugees were not cooperative.
"14 people were rescued at Ujung Genteng area, in West Java's Suakbumi Regency early Friday after about 24-hour drift at sea," Roghmali said.
Roghmali added that 12 of them have arrived in Jakarta for investigation on Friday and the other two are still in the immigration office of West Java's Bogor City.
Indonesia is a transit hub for refugees from the Middle East and South Asia seeking asylum in Australia. However, the asylum seekers prefer to turn to Australia for help when their boat malfunctioned as Indonesia usually deport the refugees instead of granting them refugee status.
Kazakhstan's Defense Minister makes official visit to Afghanistan
Global Post April 12, 2013
Kazakhstan's Defense Minister Adilbek Jaksybekov made his first official visit to Afghanistan on April 10, the Defense Ministry's press service said.
Defense Ministet Jaksybekov met with President Hamid Karzai.
Kazakhstan supports the efforts of Afghanistan aimed to consolidate the Afghan society and to bring stability to the country, Minister Jaksybekov said at the meeting.
Military cooperation areas were discussed at the meeting with Afghanistan's Defense Minister Bismillah Han Mohammadi.
The military production complex of Kazakhstan has a necessary capacity for repair and modernization of armament and military equipment. Certain possibilities exist for cooperation in this sphere, the Defense Ministry's press service said.
Minister Jaksybekov invited Afghan specialists to attend the Armament and Military Equipment Exhibition KADEX and to watch the peacemaking exercises “Steppe Eagle” in August 2013.
Kazakhstan considers training possibility for Afghan military at the country's military training institutions. This training project may serve as another cooperation modality, the sides say.
It was noted at meetings that exchange of information and views concerning security information and existing threats could be another important aspect of military cooperation.
Senior Taliban leader arrested in S. Afghan operation
Xinhua April 13, 2013
KABUL - A senior Taliban leader was captured Saturday in an operation in southern Afghan province of Helmand, said the NATO-led coalition forces.
"An Afghan and coalition security force arrested a senior Taliban leader and detained two other insurgents during an operation in Nad Ali district, Helmand province, today," the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a press release.
The leader commands multiple cells of Taliban fighters, and with his subordinates, he is alleged to have participated in numerous complex attacks against Afghan and coalition forces throughout the province 555 km south of Afghan capital Kabul, the release added without revealing the name of the man.
On Friday morning, up to eight Taliban were killed and 11 wounded when they came in contact with the Afghan army and police in Helmand's Sangin district, the provincial governor spokesman Omar Zhwak told Xinhua Saturday.
An Afghan policeman was also killed and six army soldiers and four cops were wounded in the fight in Zard Rigi and Sadon areas of the district that lasted for hours, the spokesman said, adding "the insurgents were intimidating locals before the arrival of the security forces in the area."
The Taliban insurgent group, which has been waging an insurgency of more than one decade, has yet to make comments.
India, China look to cooperate to counter terror in Afghanistan
The Economic Times 12 April 2013
BEIJING - India and China discussed ways to step up cooperation to counter terror in Afghanistan and in the region as the Taliban and Al Qaeda militant groups attempt to stage a come back in the resource-rich country following the withdrawal of US forces next year.
"The two sides had in-depth exchange of views and opinions on international and regional counter terrorism situation and bilateral cooperation in this field," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said briefing the media on the two-day India-China counter-terrorism dialogue which ended here today.
The increasingly fragile Afghan situation with increased attacks by Taliban, and initiatives by China, India and Russia to deal with critical situation emerging out of US troops withdrawal was reportedly discussed.
The six round of annual Sino-Indian counter-terrorism talks were held between inter-agency delegations headed by Additional Secretary of External Affairs Ministry, Navtej Sarna and the Director General, External Security of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Qiu Guohong.
Sarna and his delegation today called on Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping, who took part in the recent India, China and Russia trilateral dialogue in Moscow, which was also attended by National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon to discuss situation in Afghanistan.
While Menon was expected to be in Beijing to establish contacts with China's new leadership, Afghanistan would once again be discussed during Joint Secretary-level talks between the two countries later this month.
With over USD three billion investment in resource-rich Afghanistan, China is increasingly getting interested in the emerging situation there after US and NATO troops withdraw next year owing to its own concern in the fragile security situation in Xinjiang, the Muslim Uygur dominated province where East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) is fomenting a separatist movement.
India too has its concerns over the impact of a destabilised Afghanistan on the situation in Kashmir.
The US has 66,000 troops in Afghanistan now. The Obama administration plans to withdraw 34,000 by February and bring home most of the rest by the end of 2014, leaving a small force to train and advise Afghan forces and carry out counter-terrorism efforts.
Catastrophe at Kabul
The British invaded Afghanistan in 1839 with high hopes. Before they fought a single Afghan, officers were fighting, soldiers were on half rations and cannons were abandoned.
The Wall Street Journal By Michael Fathers April 12, 2013
Foreign armies have always, and unwisely, dismissed Afghanistan's fighters. I can remember as early as 1979, several months before the Soviet invasion in December of that year, listening to a U.S. official in Peshawar, once the winter residence of Afghan kings, mocking the small groups of local tribesmen who opposed Kabul's isolated communist rulers. These stubborn insurgents saw off the Soviets as they had seen off the British before—and will soon have seen off the Americans as Afghanistan slips back into the rule of warlords and the Taliban.William Dalrymple's book is more than timely. "Return of a King" is about an invasion by one imperial power hoping to thwart a perceived (but misread) threat from another imperial power. The rivalry between Britain and Russia for control and influence in Central Asia was known on the British side as "the Great Game" and by the Russians as "the Tournament of Shadows." It began as Britain's control over India spread and deepened after the Napoleonic wars, coinciding with Russia's move south into the Khanates of Central Asia. The fault line was Afghanistan, the only gateway south into the Indian subcontinent.
Britain invaded Afghanistan in 1839 because it believed Russia was about to get there first. (Mr. Dalrymple shows that the Russians had rejected such a plan.) The British ousted a popular ruler, Dost Mohammad Khan, who had sought friendship with them, but was wrongly believed to be pro-Russian. He was replaced by a puppet, Shah Shuja, a haughty former king who had lived in exile in India under British protection for over 20 years.
The British army entered Afghanistan through Baluchistan and the Bolan Pass. The invasion force comprised 21,000 Indian and European soldiers, no fewer than 38,000 camp followers and 30,000 camels to carry baggage. Three hundred camels were earmarked to carry the military wine cellar. The army was a wreck before it had fought a single Afghan, writes Mr. Dalrymple. Commanding officers were squabbling, cannon had been left behind, soldiers were on half rations and facing the burning Afghan summer in winter uniform.
Luck however, was on their side. Exaggerated reports of their might and bribes led to important defections, and Kandahar, the old capital of southern Afghanistan, surrendered. Two months later, the impregnable fort of Ghazni was taken by subterfuge on the march north to Kabul and its defenders were routed with the loss of fewer than 20 British dead. Eight months after crossing the Indus and leaving India, the British marched into Kabul without a shot being fired. What followed this extraordinary success was the rapid isolation and collapse of an occupying army and the unraveling of an imperial plan to install a puppet regime in Afghanistan.
The story of Britain's humiliation is legendary among Afghans. The author's deep research provides a whole new take on almost every aspect of that story. Mr. Dalrymple is a skilled storyteller and fills important gaps, mining new sources in St. Petersburg, Kabul, Lahore, New Delhi and London. He found letters and records involving the Polish-born noble Ivan Vitkevitch, who was Russia's man in Central Asia and whose secretive movements in Bukhara, Persia and Afghanistan so worried the British. His rival was the linguistically clever and resourceful young Scotsman Alexander Burnes, whose seduction of Afghan women outraged tribal leaders. The picture of the occupation of Kabul is almost orgiastic in the way the British were said to have seduced Afghan women of all classes, including favored concubines. On the Afghan side, Mr. Dalrymple uncovered a haul of narrative poetry in Kabul that details the reaction to every aspect of the British invasion, occupation and retreat.
Mr. Dalrymple's writing is sly, charming and clever. His histories read like novels. ("As far as he and his courtiers were concerned this was not an unjustified, unprovoked and unnecessary British invasion of an independent country," the author writes of Shah Shuja. "This was the return of a king.") This latest book delights and shocks as he points a finger at both sides for their deceit, treachery and cruelty. The final chapters are horrifying and extraordinarily graphic as an army of 5,000 troops and cavalry and 14,000 camp followers, frozen, starving and exhausted, are wiped out over five days after abandoning Kabul.
The grand historical sweep of Mr. Dalrymple's book reveals the hubris of British officials and their rejection of expert views from agents on the spot; the bumbling and squabbling among military commanders; incompetence in high places and the ease with which officials jumped to the wrong conclusions. There are numerous parallels to contemporary events, but Mr. Dalrymple does not belabor them.
"Return of a King" is probably the final book in a trilogy on India under the rule of Britain's East India Company. Mr. Dalrymple's earlier works, "White Mughals" (2002) and "The Last Mughal" (2006), covered the easy relationship between British officials and Indian rulers in the 18th century and ended with the Indian mutiny in 1857. From then on power in India was taken away from the company and institutionalized under Parliament and the monarchy in London. An elite corps of professionally trained civil servants ruled India, and the era of the adventurer and fraternization between the two races came to an end. Arrogance and torpor took over.
Few come out well from Mr. Dalrymple's magnificent account except perhaps the wily Dost Mohammad Khan, who returned to the throne that had been grabbed from him, as if the war had never taken place.
www.afghanistannewscenter.com