February 10 - The hijacking of an Ariana (Afghani airline) Boeing 727 aircraft, which was seized on an internal flight, and forced to fly via Central Asia to Moscow and then on to the UK, ends peacefully at Stansted airport north of London
April 13 - After reaching an agreement with the
UNHCR,
Iran started a repatriation program that would send 7,700
Afghan refugees back to their homeland over the next three weeks.
April 20 -
UNICEF announced that over the past three weeks the
measles had killed nearly 100 children in Tolak district,
Ghor province,
Afghanistan, and over 50 children in the Yaftalafain district of
Badakhshan province. This brought the death toll to more than 1000. The outbreak first erupted in Dara-e-Souf district,
Samangan province in January. UNICEF dispatched
vaccine and other medicines to the areas.
April 20 - A six-month repatriation program designed by
Iran and the
UNHCR for
Afghan refugees began. Under the agreement, 3000 refugees would be repatriated to Afghanistan every week.
April 24 -
Northern Alliance forces captured three
Taliban military posts in
Parwan province. Five Taliban militiamen were killed in the attack. The Taliban claimed these offensives were illegal under international rules because they occurred during an agreed
cease fire meant to allow the
U.N. to carry out a
poliovaccination campaign. The Taliban voiced concerns that the U.N. made no condemnation of the breach by the Northern Alliance.
April 26 - Under a decree by Supreme Leader Mulla
Mohammed Omar, the
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan released approximately 300 opposition prisoners from the
Pul-e-Charkhi prison in central
Kabul. Many of those released were elderly. The decree was described as a goodwill gesture to mark the anniversary of the defeat of Afghanistan's communist government in 1992. About 1,500 prisoners remained in the jail.
April 27 - The
World Food Program reported that the
drought situation in
Kandahar province and
Zabul province were desperate. The
Koochi people had lost up to 80% of their
cattle and
irrigation systems built to collect rainwater had dried up.
Apricot and
almond trees had withered and were without fruit.
Camels were dying. Since February, the WFP had been feeding 30,000 families in the region and planned on adding another 10,000 families in May. The WFP was offering Afghans additional flour as an incentive if they remain in their villages.
April 27 - Dozens of
Afghans awaiting the decision of their requests for
asylum staged a demonstration in front of the Parliament House in
Stockholm,
Sweden. They called on officials to quicken their requests for immigration and positively respond to them.
April 30 -
Pakistani forces near South
Waziristan prevented smugglers from bringing anti-aircraft guns, mortar guns and over shells into the country.
May
May 1 - The annual
U.S. report on international
terrorism was released and named
Afghanistan as posing a major terrorist threat, partly because it sheltered
Osama bin Laden. The report also said that
Pakistan refused to end support for groups that trained terrorists in Afghanistan[2] and in Pakistan itself and that Pakistan did not close schools that serve as conduits for terrorism.
May 1 - In a sports stadium in
Mazar-i-Sharif,
Afghanistan, before a crowd of several thousand spectators, a woman found guilty of committing adultery was stoned to death.
May 2 - Eric de Mul, the
U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan, made an urgent appeal for US$1.8 million for
Afghan people affected by tremendous
drought.
Early May - Peace talks are held between representatives of the warring factions in
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. An earlier round of talks in March ended inconclusively.
Mid-May - The
Iraniangovernment decides to secure the Iran-Afghanistan border with the
construction of
walls and high-security fencing along the almost 1,000 km stretch of
desert.
Early June - The
UN calls for immediate international drought relief of around U.S. $67 million to aid over 10 million people affected by severe droughts across
Afghanistan.
July 9 - Mary McMakin, a
U.S.aid worker in her 70s who has spent the last 30 years in
Afghanistan, is arrested in Kabul on suspicion of
espionage. The
U.S. government calls the accusations "ridiculous."
Mid-July - The Taliban authorities order the
UN and
foreign aid agencies to dismiss all Afghan
women working for them.
Mid- to late July 2000 - Kabul is hit by five bomb attacks in two weeks. The Taliban authorities accuse
saboteurs of trying to create the impression of anarchy in the
capital.
Late July - The authorities announce the arrest of Commander
Bashir Baghlani, a key Taliban leader in the northern regions, on suspicion of colluding with anti-government forces.
July 27 - The Taliban issued a decree banning opium poppy cultivation.[4]
July 31 - The Taliban authorities announce that the severe
drought affecting much of the country was God's
punishment for the people's neglect of their
religious beliefs.
August
September
Early September - Despite encouraging hints of peace initiatives brokered by neighbouring
Turkmenistan in late August,
Taliban forces press on with their attack on the
oppositionNorthern Alliance's northeast supply routes, taking the key
town of
Taloqan after heavy fighting.
September - The Taliban
regime steps up its efforts to gain
diplomatic and
UN recognition, having reinforced its claims to effective control of the country thanks to
military successes in the northeast. The
U.S. sustains its criticisms over
drug trafficking, support for
terrorism, and a "deplorable
human rights record," although
State Department officials do meet Taliban representatives in
Washington, D.C., on September 29 to discuss these issues.
Mid-September - Around 150,000 people are said to be heading for the sealed
border with
Tajikistan in the wake of the successful advance of Taliban forces in the north of the country. The
refugees include almost the entire population of Taloqan.
Mid-September - Although Afghanistan remains the world's biggest producer of
opium, the
UN drug control agency announces that the country's
crop for 2000 appears to be 30% smaller than that
harvested in 1999. Despite the agency's program to convince local farmers to grow other crops, the fall may be solely due to the terrible drought affecting the region.
Mid-September - The Taliban authorities announce that traders arriving from
Pakistan will be allowed to transport their goods through Afghanistan without paying
customs duties. Taliban deputy commerce minister Faiz Faizan also says that any
foreigners are welcome to
invest in the country tax-free.
October
October 10 - A three-day
cease-fire is called to allow
UNmedical officers to continue providing polio vaccinations for children displaced by the fighting. A massive campaign to
immunize approximately 4.5 million children in
Afghanistan, one of only 30 countries where the
disease still exists, began in early June.
Late October - A ban on the
farming of
opium poppy, from which
heroin is derived, starts to be implemented by the
Taliban authorities. The fatwa against opium poppy cultivation had been pronounced in July 2000, after which followed a period when local shuras disseminated the information among the population. Finally, in October 2000 the shuras started the enforcement of the opium cultivation ban.[5]
Mid-December - Fearing a violent response to a
UN resolution tightening international sanctions against the Taliban regime, non-Afghan UN staff are gradually withdrawn from the country, resulting in their complete absence in Afghanistan from December 19.[6]
December 19 - The UN Security Council adopts
Resolution 1333 that expands the regime of anti-Taliban sanctions imposed by Resolution 1267 back in
1999. The key drivers behind the new Resolution are
Russia and the US. UN Secretary General, UN relief officials and some analysts like
Barnett Rubin express disappointment with the severity of the imposed sanctions.[6]
Late December 2000 - The return of
exiled opposition leader
Karim Khalili from
Iran prompts a new offensive by the Northern Alliance in north-central Afghanistan. The governing
Talibanregime admits it has temporarily lost control of the central town of Yakawlang, near
Bamyan, but denies opposition claims of further gains in neighbouring
Ghor Province.