Afghanistan's recent history is a story of war and civil unrest. The
Soviet Union invaded in 1979, but was forced to withdraw 10 years later by
anti-Communist mujahidin forces. The Communist regime in Kabul collapsed
in 1992. Fighting that subsequently erupted among the various mujahidin
factions eventually helped to spawn the Taliban, a hardline
Pakistani-sponsored movement that fought to end the warlordism and civil
war that gripped the country. The Taliban seized Kabul in 1996 and were
able to capture most of the country outside of Northern Alliance
strongholds primarily in the northeast. Following the 11 September 2001
terrorist attacks, a US, Allied, and Northern Alliance military action
toppled the Taliban for sheltering Osama BIN LADIN. In late 2001, a
conference in Bonn, Germany, established a process for political
reconstruction that ultimately resulted in the adoption of a new
constitution and presidential election in 2004. On 9 October 2004, Hamid
KARZAI became the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan.
The new Afghan government's next task is to hold National Assembly
elections, tentatively scheduled for April 2005.
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