The Sarda Dam ( Pashto : د سردا بند ) is located near the town of Sardeh Band , in the eastern part of Andar District of Ghazni Province of Afghanistan . Part of its reservoir , which provides fresh water to much of southern Ghazni, is in neighboring Paktika Province . In recent years, the locals proposed to turn the area into a national park , similar to the Band-e Amir National Park in Bamyan Province .
150-566: The Sarda Dam was constructed in 1967 (1346 in the Islamic calendar ) by engineers from the then- Soviet Union , during the reign of Mohammad Zahir Shah . It provided irrigation water to more than 67,000 jeribs of land after completion. Currently only 2,000 jeribs of land is under cultivation. Maximum capacity of the reservoir is 260 million cubic meters of water, and the reservoir holds about 164 million gallons at present. The dam system contains an earth dam, intake, spillway, one main canal (which
300-656: A feudal system into a Communist society, while the moderate Parcham faction favored a more gradualist and gentler approach, arguing that Afghanistan was simply not ready for Communism and would not be for some time. The Parcham faction favored building up the PDPA as a mass party in support of the Daoud Khan government, while the Khalq faction were organized in the Leninist style as a small, tightly organized elite group, allowing
450-517: A violent uprising in Herat , wherein a number of Soviet military advisers were executed. The ruling People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), which had determined that it could not subdue the uprising by itself, asked for urgent Soviet military assistance; in 1979, over 20 requests were sent. Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin , declining to send troops, advised in one call to Afghan prime minister Nur Muhammad Taraki to use local industrial workers in
600-518: A Russian firm called Hydroproject (Russian: Институт «Гидропроект», Gidroproekt). It is unclear if Hydroproject was involved in the design or construction of Band E Sardeh Dam. Other expeditionary projects undertaken by Hydroproject include: Islamic calendar (refresh if needed) The Hijri calendar ( Arabic : ٱلتَّقْوِيم ٱلْهِجْرِيّ , romanized : al-taqwīm al-hijrī ), or Arabic calendar , also known in English as
750-492: A Vietnamese quagmire? ' " When asked to clarify this remark, Slocombe explained: "Well, the whole idea was that if the Soviets decided to strike at this tar baby [Afghanistan] we had every interest in making sure that they got stuck." Yet a 5 April memo from National Intelligence Officer Arnold Horelick warned: "Covert action would raise the costs to the Soviets and inflame Moslem opinion against them in many countries. The risk
900-562: A coin from AH 17, the first surviving attested use of a Hijri calendar date alongside a date in another calendar ( Coptic ) is on a papyrus from Egypt in AH 22, PERF 558 . Due to the Islamic calendar's reliance on certain variable methods of observation to determine its month-start-dates, these dates sometimes vary slightly from the month-start-dates of the astronomical lunar calendar, which are based directly on astronomical calculations. Still,
1050-574: A country says it does is impossible. Due to the somewhat variable nature of the Islamic calendar, in most Muslim countries, the Islamic calendar is used primarily for religious purposes, while the Solar-based Gregorian calendar is still used primarily for matters of commerce and agriculture . If the Islamic calendar were prepared using astronomical calculations, Muslims throughout the Muslim world could use it to meet all their needs,
1200-745: A covert operation under MI 's Major-General Naseerullah Babar . In 1974, Bhutto authorized another secret operation in Kabul where the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Air Intelligence of Pakistan (AI) extradited Burhanuddin Rabbani , Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Ahmad Shah Massoud to Peshawar , amid fear that Rabbani, Hekmatyar and Massoud might be assassinated by Daoud. According to Baber, Bhutto's operation
1350-470: A day of rest. A few others (e.g., Turkey, Pakistan, Morocco, Nigeria, Malaysia) have adopted the Saturday-Sunday weekend while making Friday a working day with a long midday break to allow time off for worship. Each month of the Islamic calendar commences on the birth of the new lunar cycle. Traditionally, this is based on actual observation of the moon's crescent ( hilal ) marking the end of
1500-531: A larger Soviet strategy for the development of third world nations it sought to bring under its sphere of influence. Large lettered Russian writing is still present on the down-stream face of the dam (visible from over 500 meters away) commemorating its completion in Russian and Pashto script. On the left it reads: "сарде 1967" and on the right: دسرده بند۱۳۴۶ According to USAID's Ghazni Infrastructure Needs Assessment: September 14–18, 2003, local officials agreed that
1650-460: A particular season. The Qur'an links the four forbidden months with Nasī ' , a word that literally means "postponement". According to Muslim tradition, the decision of postponement was administered by the tribe of Kinanah , by a man known as the al-Qalammas of Kinanah and his descendants (pl. qalāmisa ). Different interpretations of the concept of Nasī ' have been proposed. Some scholars, both Muslim and Western, maintain that
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#17327916350391800-536: A preemptive strike. What was envisioned in the fall of 1979 was a short intervention under which Moscow would replace radical Khalqi Communist Amin with the moderate Parchami Communist Babrak Karmal to stabilize the situation. Contrary to the contemporary view of Brzezinski and the regional powers, access to the Persian Gulf played no role in the decision to intervene on the Soviet side. The concerns raised by
1950-539: A pretext for the Red Army interventions in 1929 and 1930. The Soviet Union (USSR) had been a major power broker and influential mentor in Afghan politics , its involvement ranging from civil-military infrastructure to Afghan society. Since 1947, Afghanistan had been under the influence of the Soviet government and received large amounts of aid, economic assistance, military equipment training and military hardware from
2100-650: A propaganda campaign targeting the Soviet-backed leadership of the DRA, which (in the words of Steve Coll ) "seemed at the time a small beginning." The Amin government, having secured a treaty in December 1978 that allowed them to call on Soviet forces, repeatedly requested the introduction of troops in Afghanistan in the spring and summer of 1979. They requested Soviet troops to provide security and to assist in
2250-500: A propaganda victory to their opponents, and Afghanistan's overall inconsequential weight in international affairs, in essence realizing they had little to gain by taking over a country with a poor economy, unstable government, and population hostile to outsiders. However, as the situation continued to deteriorate from May–December 1979, Moscow changed its mind on dispatching Soviet troops. The reasons for this complete turnabout are not entirely clear, and several speculative arguments include:
2400-786: A significant part of your own people. And the people would never forgive such things. – Alexei Kosygin, the Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers, in response to Taraki's request for Soviet presence in Afghanistan Following the Herat uprising , the first major sign of anti-regime resistance, General Secretary Taraki contacted Alexei Kosygin , chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers and asked for "practical and technical assistance with men and armament". Kosygin
2550-561: A small monthly variation of 44 minutes to account for, which adds up to a total of 24 hours (i.e., the equivalent of one full day) in 2.73 years. To settle accounts, it is sufficient to add one day every three years to the lunar calendar, in the same way that one adds one day to the Gregorian calendar every four years. The technical details of the adjustment are described in Tabular Islamic calendar . The Islamic calendar, however,
2700-407: A span of six months to one year. However, they were met with fierce resistance from Afghan guerrillas and experienced great operational difficulties on the rugged mountainous terrain. By the mid-1980s, the Soviet military presence in Afghanistan had increased to approximately 115,000 troops and fighting across the country intensified; the complication of the war effort gradually inflicted a high cost on
2850-724: A synonym to the Arabic word for "intercalation" ( kabīsa ). The Arabs, according to one explanation mentioned by Abu Ma'shar, learned of this type of intercalation from the Jews. The Jewish Nasi was the official who decided when to intercalate the Jewish calendar. Some sources say that the Arabs followed the Jewish practice and intercalated seven months over nineteen years, or else that they intercalated nine months over 24 years; there is, however, no consensus among scholars on this issue. Nasi'
3000-573: A village located in the middle of Andar, has suffered from drought and poor water management. With mentoring from the PRT, cooperation from the district sub-governor and village elders, the CADG will rebuild the village canal. It is the first stage of a long term cash-for-work program aimed at restoring the irrigation system and rehabilitating the Kahnjoor farming zone. Capacity building in this unstable district
3150-604: A year of 12 lunar months is 354.37 days long. In this calendar system, lunar months begin precisely at the time of the monthly "conjunction", when the Moon is located most directly between the Earth and the Sun. The month is defined as the average duration of a revolution of the Moon around the Earth (29.53 days). By convention, months of 30 days and 29 days succeed each other, adding up over two successive months to 59 full days. This leaves only
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#17327916350393300-411: Is Rajab , month 7. These months were considered forbidden both within the new Islamic calendar and within the old pagan Meccan calendar. Traditionally, the Islamic day begins at sunset and ends at the next sunset. Each Islamic day thus begins at nightfall and ends at the end of daylight. The days in the seven-day week are, with the exception of the last two days, named after their ordinal place in
3450-573: Is 1446 AH. In the Gregorian calendar reckoning, 1446 AH runs from 7 July 2024 to approximately 26 June 2025. For central Arabia, especially Mecca , there is a lack of epigraphical evidence but details are found in the writings of Muslim authors of the Abbasid era. Inscriptions of the ancient South Arabian calendars reveal the use of a number of local calendars. At least some of these South Arabian calendars followed
3600-550: Is also the Qur'anic meaning of Nasī ' . The Encyclopaedia of Islam concludes "The Arabic system of [Nasī'] can only have been intended to move the Hajj and the fairs associated with it in the vicinity of Mecca to a suitable season of the year. It was not intended to establish a fixed calendar to be generally observed." The term "fixed calendar" is generally understood to refer to the non-intercalated calendar. Others concur that it
3750-413: Is an increase in disbelief, by which the disbelievers are led ˹far˺ astray. They adjust the sanctity one year and uphold it in another, only to maintain the number of months sanctified by Allah, violating the very months Allah has made sacred. Their evil deeds have been made appealing to them. And Allah does not guide the disbelieving people. The prohibition of Nasī' would presumably have been announced when
3900-448: Is based on a different set of conventions being used for the determination of the month-start-dates. Each month still has either 29 or 30 days, but due to the variable method of observations employed, there is usually no discernible order in the sequencing of either 29 or 30-day month lengths. Traditionally, the first day of each month is the day (beginning at sunset) of the first sighting of the hilal (crescent moon) shortly after sunset. If
4050-508: Is considered the most critical mission for the development, reconstruction and stabilization efforts being made in Andar. 'Our problems are our water (supply) and our roads,' said Niaz Mohammad, an elder from Chardewal. 'We do not have enough water, wells or roads.' The project hopes to provide cash-for-work for deprived households in a Pashtun dominated area. The project could improve the agricultural potential for more than 2,000 people." During
4200-648: Is divides into two branches (the 21.5-kilometer Right Canal with 6 sub-canals and the 30-kilometres Left Canal with 16 sub-canals) and administration buildings. The reservoir of Sarda Dam is fed by the Jilga River which flows north–south from Paktia and Paktika provinces. The river is also labeled as the Gardez River north of the dam and the Sarda River south of the dam (by the National Atlas of
4350-535: Is forbidden, listed as Rajab and the three months around the pilgrimage season, Dhu al-Qa‘dah, Dhu al-Hijjah, and Muharram. A similar if not identical concept to the forbidden months is also attested by Procopius , where he describes an armistice that the Eastern Arabs of the Lakhmid al-Mundhir respected for two months in the summer solstice of 541 CE. However, Muslim historians do not link these months to
4500-499: Is interpreted to signify either the postponement of the pre-Islamic month of Hajj, or the (also pre-Islamic) practice of intercalation – periodic insertion of an additional month to reset the calendar into accordance with the seasons. In the tenth year of the Hijra, as documented in the Qur'an ( Surah At-Tawbah (9) :36–37), Muslims believe God revealed the "prohibition of
4650-747: Is sometimes simply referred to as " Afgan " (Russian: Афган ), with the understanding that this refers to the war (just as the Vietnam War is often called "Vietnam" or just " 'Nam" in the United States ). It is also known as the Afghan jihad , especially by the non-Afghan volunteers of the Mujahideen. In the 19th century, the British Empire was fearful that the Russian Empire would invade Afghanistan and use it to threaten
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4800-490: The 1978 April coup in Afghanistan After the revolution, Taraki assumed the leadership, prime ministership and general secretaryship of the PDPA. As before in the party, the government never referred to itself as " communist ". The government was divided along factional lines, with Taraki and Deputy Prime Minister Hafizullah Amin of the Khalq faction pitted against Parcham leaders such as Babrak Karmal. Though
4950-770: The American embassy in Kabul and "was capable of reaching an agreement with the United States "; however, allegations of Amin colluding with the Americans have been widely discredited and it was revealed in the 1990s that the KGB actually planted the story; and the deteriorating ties with the United States after NATO's two-track missile deployment decision in response to Soviet nuclear presence in Eastern Europe and
5100-841: The Caucasus campaign . Afterwards, the Soviet Army deployed around 120,000–160,000 troops in Central Asia, a force similar to the peak strength of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in size. By 1926–1928, the Basmachis were mostly defeated by the Soviets, and Central Asia was incorporated into the Soviet Union. In 1929, the Basmachi rebellion reignited, associated with anti- forced collectivization riots. Basmachis crossed over into Afghanistan under Ibrahim Bek , which gave
5250-547: The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the protracted Afghan conflict , it saw the Soviet Union and the Afghan military fight against the rebelling Afghan mujahideen . While they were backed by various countries and organizations, the majority of the mujahideen's support came from Pakistan , the United States (as part of Operation Cyclone ),
5400-526: The Dominion of Pakistan gained independence from British India and inherited the Durand Line as its frontier with Afghanistan. Under the regime of Daoud Khan, Afghanistan had hostile relations with both Pakistan and Iran. Like all previous Afghan rulers since 1901, Daoud Khan also wanted to emulate Emir Abdur Rahman Khan and unite his divided country. To do that, he needed a popular cause to unite
5550-564: The Hijrah . In the West, dates in this era are usually denoted AH ( Latin : Anno Hegirae , lit. 'In the year of the Hijrah';). In Muslim countries, it is also sometimes denoted as H from its Arabic form ( سَنَة هِجْرِيَّة , abbreviated ھ ). In English, years prior to the Hijra are denoted as BH ("Before the Hijra"). Since 7 July 2024 CE, the current Islamic year
5700-475: The KGB , Soviet leaders felt that Prime Minister Hafizullah Amin 's actions had destabilized the situation in Afghanistan. Following his initial coup against and killing of Taraki , the KGB station in Kabul warned Moscow that Amin's leadership would lead to "harsh repressions, and as a result, the activation and consolidation of the opposition." The Soviets established a special commission on Afghanistan, comprising
5850-600: The KGB chairman Yuri Andropov , Boris Ponomarev from the Central Committee and Dmitry Ustinov , the Minister of Defence . In late April 1979, the committee reported that Amin was purging his opponents, including Soviet loyalists, that his loyalty to Moscow was in question and that he was seeking diplomatic links with Pakistan and possibly the People's Republic of China (which at the time had poor relations with
6000-746: The Khyber Pass . The demarcation of the mountainous region resulted in an agreement, signed with the Afghan Emir, Abdur Rahman Khan , in 1893. It became known as the Durand Line . In 1947, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Afghanistan, Mohammad Daoud Khan , rejected the Durand Line, which had been accepted as an international border by successive Afghan governments for over half a century. The British Raj also came to an end, and
6150-626: The Levant and Mesopotamia ( Iraq , Syria , Jordan , Lebanon and Palestine ), but the religious calendar is the Hijri one. This calendar enumerates the Hijri era , whose epoch was established as the Islamic New Year in 622 CE . During that year, Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to Medina and established the first Muslim community ( ummah ), an event commemorated as
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6300-484: The Muslim calendar and Islamic calendar , is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to determine the proper days of Islamic holidays and rituals, such as the annual fasting and the annual season for the great pilgrimage . In almost all countries where the predominant religion is Islam, the civil calendar is the Gregorian calendar , with Syriac month-names used in
6450-624: The Rashid Caliph Umar ( r. 634–644 ) in Basra , complained about the absence of any years on the correspondence he received from Umar, making it difficult for him to determine which instructions were most recent. This report convinced Umar of the need to introduce an era for Muslims. After debating the issue with his counsellors, he decided that the first year should be the year of Muhammad's arrival at Medina (known as Yathrib, before Muhammad's arrival). Uthman then suggested that
6600-552: The Revolutionary Council and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the newly established Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. On 5 December 1978, a treaty of friendship was signed between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan. "We only need one million people to make the revolution. It doesn't matter what happens to the rest. We need the land, not the people." — Announcement from Khalqist radio-broadcast after
6750-423: The Sardeh Band Airport and a garrison next to the Sarda Dam. They were used for training Afghan government forces , including logistics and launching places for military operations against rebel groups . The wrecked hulls of Soviet tanks, armored personnel carriers, and other heavy equipment were still present in 2012. During the recent United States war in Afghanistan , both the Afghan and U.S. forces have used
6900-467: The Soviet military , under the command of Leonid Brezhnev , moved into Afghanistan to support the Afghan administration that had been installed during Operation Storm-333 . Debate over their presence in the country soon ensued in international channels, with the Muslim world and the Western Bloc classifying it as an invasion, while the Eastern Bloc asserted that it was a legal intervention. Nevertheless, numerous sanctions and embargoes were imposed on
7050-439: The Tajbeg Palace , where Amin was moving to. In Moscow, Leonid Brezhnev was indecisive and waffled as he usually did when faced with a difficult decision. The three decision-makers in Moscow who pressed the hardest for an invasion in the fall of 1979 were the troika consisting of Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko ; the Chairman of KGB, Yuri Andropov , and the Defense Minister Marshal Dmitry Ustinov . The principal reasons for
7200-407: The United Kingdom , China , Iran , and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf , in addition to a large influx of foreign fighters known as the Afghan Arabs . American and British involvement on the side of the mujahideen escalated the Cold War , ending a short period of relaxed Soviet Union–United States relations . Combat took place throughout the 1980s, mostly in the Afghan countryside, as most of
7350-454: The lunisolar system . Both al-Biruni and al-Mas'udi suggest that the ancient Arabs used the same month names as the Muslims, though they also record other month names used by the pre-Islamic Arabs. The Islamic tradition is unanimous in stating that Arabs of Tihamah , Hejaz , and Najd distinguished between two types of months, permitted ( ḥalāl ) and forbidden ( ḥarām ) months. The forbidden months were four months during which fighting
7500-451: The pre-Islamic calendar used in central Arabia was a purely lunar calendar similar to the modern Islamic calendar. According to this view, Nasī ' is related to the pre-Islamic practices of the Meccan Arabs, where they would alter the distribution of the forbidden months within a given year without implying a calendar manipulation. This interpretation is supported by Arab historians and lexicographers, like Ibn Hisham , Ibn Manzur , and
7650-410: The 1950s and 1960s. The USSR began to import Afghan gas from 1968 onwards. Between 1954 and 1977, the Soviet Union provided Afghanistan with economic aid worth of about 1 billion rubles. In the 19th century, with the Czarist Russian forces moving closer to the Pamir Mountains , near the border with British India, civil servant Mortimer Durand was sent to outline a border, likely in order to control
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#17327916350397800-399: The 20th century. These names were collectively referred to as the "Turki lunar year" or "Turki lunar calendar". or ربيع الأولى , rabīʿa l-ʾūlā or ربيع الآخر , rabīʿa l-ʾākhir or جمادى الأولى , jumādā l-ʾūlā or جمادى الآخرة , jumādā l-ʾākhirah or برات آی , bärât ay Twelver Shia Muslims believe the Islamic new year and first month of
7950-410: The 7 August 2011 plenary session of the Meshrano Jirga (MJ) Senators invited the Emergency Response Committee to hear about their preparations for emergencies. When discussing current drought conditions, Alhaj Allah Dad (Ghazni Senator) said: "The Bandi Sardi dam is full of mud. If cleared, it could irrigate thousands of acres of agricultural land." During the 1980s Soviet–Afghan War , the Soviets built
8100-415: The Afghan Army, on the orders of Daoud Khan following his policy of Pashtun irredentism , made two unsuccessful incursions into Pakistan's Bajaur District . In both cases, the Afghan army was routed , suffering heavy casualties. In response, Pakistan closed its consulate in Afghanistan and blocked all trade routes through the Pakistan–Afghanistan border. This damaged Afghanistan's economy and Daoud's regime
8250-421: The Afghan people divided along tribal lines, and a modern, well equipped Afghan army which would be used to suppress anyone who would oppose the Afghan government. His Pashtunistan policy was to annex Pashtun areas of Pakistan, and he used this policy for his own benefit. Daoud Khan's irredentist foreign policy to reunite the Pashtun homeland caused much tension with Pakistan, a state that allied itself with
8400-434: The Afghans would use the weapons against Pakistan. As a consequence, Afghanistan, though officially neutral in the Cold War, drew closer to India and the Soviet Union, which were willing to sell them weapons. In 1962, China defeated India in a border war , and as a result, China formed an alliance with Pakistan against their common enemy, India, pushing Afghanistan even closer to India and the Soviet Union. In 1960 and 1961,
8550-509: The Amin/Taraki period in response to the revolts. The revolt began in October among the Nuristani tribes of the Kunar Valley in the northeastern part of the country near the border with Pakistan, and rapidly spread among the other ethnic groups. By the spring of 1979, 24 of the 28 provinces had suffered outbreaks of violence. The rebellion began to take hold in the cities: in March 1979 in Herat , rebels led by Ismail Khan revolted. Between 3,000 and 5,000 people were killed and wounded during
8700-401: The Bandee Sardi Dam throughout much of Andar, but due to neglect the canals have fallen into disrepair. Currently, water flows at only 50 percent capacity, limiting the ability of local farmers of the Kahnjoor farming zone to make a living. The reconstructed canal would be a one-kilometer cobblestone irrigation channel along the village with a curb separating the roadway from the canal. Chardewal,
8850-402: The Chief of the Soviet Army General Staff, Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov who warned about the possibility of a protracted guerrilla war, were dismissed by the troika who insisted that any occupation of Afghanistan would be short and relatively painless. Most notably, though the diplomats of the Narkomindel at the Embassy in Kabul and the KGB officers stationed in Afghanistan were well informed about
9000-409: The Czechoslovak StB ; files from January 1979 revealed information that Afghanistan sent AGSA spies to Czechoslovakia to find and assassinate Karmal. In 1978, the Taraki government initiated a series of reforms, including a radical modernization of the traditional Islamic civil law, especially marriage law, aimed at "uprooting feudalism " in Afghan society. The government brooked no opposition to
9150-427: The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, page 13-14). The Sarda Dam is an indication of the presence of aid from the USSR in Afghanistan prior to the invasion and subsequent occupation from 1979 to 1989. According to C.J. Chivers of the New York Times : "Moscow built schools, roads, airports and dams, and sponsored ministries, too. Soviet officials recruited students and bureaucrats for all manner of training, and invited
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#17327916350399300-400: The Herat revolt. Some 100 Soviet citizens and their families were killed. By August 1979, up to 165,000 Afghans had fled across the border to Pakistan. The main reason the revolt spread so widely was the disintegration of the Afghan army in a series of insurrections. The numbers of the Afghan army fell from 110,000 men in 1978 to 25,000 by 1980. The U.S. embassy in Kabul cabled to Washington
9450-406: The Hijra, the calendar was named the Hijri calendar. F A Shamsi (1984) postulated that the Arabic calendar was never intercalated. According to him, the first day of the first month of the new fixed Islamic calendar (1 Muharram AH 1) was no different from what was observed at the time. The day the Prophet moved from Quba' to Medina was originally 26 Rabi' I on the pre-Islamic calendar. 1 Muharram of
9600-411: The Hijri calendar is Rabi' al-Awwal rather than Muharram, due to it being the month in which the Hijrah took place. This has led to difference regarding description of the years in which some events took place, such as the Muharram-occurring battle of Karbala , which Shias say took place in 60 AH, while Sunnis say it took place in 61 AH. The mean duration of a tropical year is 365.24219 days, while
9750-426: The Islamic calendar roughly approximates the astronomical-lunar-calendar system, seldom varying by more than three days from it. Both the Islamic calendar and the astronomical-lunar-calendar take no account of the solar year in their calculations, and thus both of these strictly lunar based calendar systems have no ability to reckon the timing of the four seasons of the year. In the astronomical-lunar-calendar system,
9900-418: The Khalqis to eliminate their rivals so the Soviets would have no other choice but to back them. Within the PDPA, conflicts resulted in exiles , purges and executions of Parcham members. The Khalq state executed between 10,000 and 27,000 people, mostly at Pul-e-Charkhi prison , prior to the Soviet intervention. Political scientist Olivier Roy estimated between 50,000 and 100,000 people disappeared during
10050-505: The King in a bloodless coup , and established the first Afghan republic . Following his return to power, Daoud revived his Pashtunistan policy and for the first time started proxy warring against Pakistan by supporting anti-Pakistani groups and providing them with arms, training and sanctuaries. The Pakistani government of prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was alarmed by this. The Soviet Union also supported Daoud Khan's militancy against Pakistan as they wanted to weaken Pakistan, which
10200-408: The Nasī ' ". Indeed, the number of months ordained by Allah is twelve—in Allah's Record since the day He created the heavens and the earth—of which four are sacred. That is the Right Way. So do not wrong one another during these months. And together fight the polytheists as they fight against you together. And know that Allah is with those mindful ˹of Him˺. Reallocating the sanctity of ˹these˺ months
10350-411: The PDPA government pursued a solo war effort against the mujahideen, and the conflict evolved into the Afghan Civil War . However, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991, all support to the Democratic Republic was pulled, leading to the toppling of the government at the hands of the mujahideen in 1992 and the start of a second Afghan Civil War shortly thereafter. In Afghanistan,
10500-478: The PDPA split into two rival factions, the Khalq (Masses) faction headed by Nur Muhammad Taraki and the Parcham (Flag) faction led by Babrak Karmal . Symbolic of the different backgrounds of the two factions were the fact that Taraki's father was a poor Pashtun herdsman while Karmal's father was a Tajik general in the Royal Afghan Army. More importantly, the radical Khalq faction believed in rapidly transforming Afghanistan, if necessary even using violence, from
10650-493: The PDPA was sparked by the repression imposed on them by Daoud's regime and the death of a leading PDPA member, Mir Akbar Khyber . The mysterious circumstances of Khyber's death sparked massive anti-Daoud demonstrations in Kabul , which resulted in the arrest of several prominent PDPA leaders. On 27 April 1978, the Afghan Army , which had been sympathetic to the PDPA cause, overthrew and executed Daoud along with members of his family. The Finnish scholar Raimo Väyrynen wrote about
10800-474: The Soviet Union ). Of specific concern were Amin's supposed meetings with the U.S. chargé d'affaires, J. Bruce Amstutz , which were used as a justification for the invasion by the Kremlin . Information forged by the KGB from its agents in Kabul provided the last arguments to eliminate Amin. Supposedly, two of Amin's guards killed the former General Secretary Nur Muhammad Taraki with a pillow, and Amin himself
10950-508: The Soviet Union as military, economic, and political resources became increasingly exhausted. By mid-1987, reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev announced that the Soviet military would begin a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan . The final wave of disengagement was initiated on 15 May 1988, and on 15 February 1989, the last Soviet military column occupying Afghanistan crossed into the Uzbek SSR . With continued external Soviet backing,
11100-472: The Soviet Union by the international community shortly after the beginning of the conflict. Soviet troops occupied Afghanistan's major cities and all main arteries of communication, whereas the mujahideen waged guerrilla warfare in small groups across the 80% of the country that was not subject to uncontested Soviet control—almost exclusively comprising the rugged, mountainous terrain of the countryside. In addition to laying millions of landmines across Afghanistan,
11250-625: The Soviet Union. Economic assistance and aid had been provided to Afghanistan as early as 1919, shortly after the Russian Revolution and when the regime was facing the Russian Civil War . Provisions were given in the form of small arms , ammunition, a few aircraft, and (according to debated Soviet sources) a million gold rubles to support the resistance during the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919. In 1942,
11400-417: The Soviets used their aerial power to deal harshly with both Afghan resistance and civilians, levelling villages to deny safe haven to the mujahideen, destroying vital irrigation ditches and other infrastructure through tactics of scorched earth . The Soviet government had initially planned to swiftly secure Afghanistan's towns and road networks, stabilize the PDPA, and withdraw all of their military forces in
11550-570: The Taraki–Amin period: There is only one leading force in the country – Hafizullah Amin. In the Politburo, everybody fears Amin. During its first 18 months of rule, the PDPA applied a Soviet-style program of modernizing reforms, many of which were viewed by conservatives as opposing Islam. Decrees setting forth changes in marriage customs and land reform were not received well by a population deeply immersed in tradition and Islam, particularly by
11700-667: The Third World, particularly beginning in mid-1979." In March 1979, "CIA sent several covert action options relating to Afghanistan to the SCC [ Special Coordination Committee ]" of the United States National Security Council . At a 30 March meeting, U.S. Department of Defense representative Walter B. Slocombe "asked if there was value in keeping the Afghan insurgency going, 'sucking the Soviets into
11850-619: The USSR again moved to strengthen the Afghan Armed Forces by providing small arms and aircraft and establishing training centers in Tashkent , Uzbek SSR . Soviet-Afghan military cooperation began on a regular basis in 1956, and further agreements were made in the 1970s, which saw the USSR send advisers and specialists. The Soviets also had interests in the energy resources of Afghanistan, including oil and natural gas exploration from
12000-662: The United Kingdom, such as using it as a base for a revolutionary advance towards British-controlled India . The Red Army intervened in Afghanistan to suppress the Islamic Basmachi movement in 1929 and 1930 , supporting the ousted king Amanullah, as part of the Afghan Civil War (1928–1929) . The Basmachi movement had originated in a 1916 revolt against Russian conscription during World War I , bolstered by Turkish general Enver Pasha during
12150-580: The United States. The policy had also angered the non-Pashtun population of Afghanistan, and similarly, the Pashtun population in Pakistan were also not interested in having their areas being annexed by Afghanistan. In 1951, the U.S. State Department urged Afghanistan to drop its claim against Pakistan and accept the Durand Line. In 1954, the United States began selling arms to its ally Pakistan, while refusing an Afghan request to buy arms, out of fear that
12300-537: The army was melting away "like an ice floe in a tropical sea". According to scholar Gilles Dorronsoro, it was the violence of the state rather than its reforms that caused the uprisings. Pakistani intelligence officials began privately lobbying the U.S. and its allies to send materiel assistance to the Islamist rebels. Pakistani President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq 's ties with the U.S. had been strained during Jimmy Carter 's presidency due to Pakistan's nuclear program and
12450-536: The base as a gathering place for locals and elders to discuss local security. On 12 June 2002, a Lockheed MC-130H Hercules was participating in a night exfiltration mission to relocate some U.S. Army Special Forces from the area when it tried to take off from Sardeh Band Airport. The plane impacted the ground and crashed in a barren area, 2.5 nautical miles from the airstrip. The Soviet Union built many other dams in other countries as it sought to extend its sphere of influence. Many of these projects were undertaken by
12600-479: The beginning of months. Thus, Malaysia , Indonesia , and a few others begin each month at sunset on the first day that the moon sets after the sun (moonset after sunset). In Egypt, the month begins at sunset on the first day that the moon sets at least five minutes after the sun. A detailed analysis of the available data shows, however, that there are major discrepancies between what countries say they do on this subject, and what they actually do. In some instances, what
12750-414: The beginning of these months. However, some Islamic jurists see no contradiction between Muhammad's teachings and the use of calculations to determine the beginnings of lunar months. They consider that Muhammad's recommendation was adapted to the culture of the times, and should not be confused with the acts of worship. Soviet%E2%80%93Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in
12900-451: The corpus of Qur'anic exegesis . This is corroborated by an early Sabaic inscription, where a religious ritual was "postponed" ( ns'w ) due to war. According to the context of this inscription, the verb ns'’ has nothing to do with intercalation, but only with moving religious events within the calendar itself. The similarity between the religious concept of this ancient inscription and the Qur'an suggests that non-calendaring postponement
13050-457: The country's cities remained under Soviet control. The conflict resulted in the deaths of approximately 3,000,000 Afghans, while millions more fled from the country as refugees ; most externally displaced Afghans sought refuge in Pakistan and in Iran . Approximately 6.5% to 11.5% of Afghanistan's erstwhile population of 13.5 million people (per the 1979 census) is estimated to have been killed over
13200-586: The country’s elite and its officer-, civil-service and intellectual classes to long periods of study in the Soviet Union. Education, development and modernization—like this dam, which still influences both flood control and irrigation downstream—played no small part in the Kremlin’s Afghan policy, which ultimately failed." The Sarda Dam was built during the same period as the High Dam in Aswan, Egypt, indicating
13350-522: The course of the Soviet–Afghan War. The decade-long confrontation between the mujahideen and the Soviet and Afghan militaries inflicted grave destruction throughout Afghanistan and has also been cited by scholars as a significant factor that contributed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991; it is for this reason that the conflict is sometimes referred to as "the Soviet Union's Vietnam " in retrospective analyses. In March 1979, there had been
13500-563: The crisis between Pakistan and Afghanistan was resolved and Pakistan re-opened the trade routes. After the removal of Daoud Khan, the King installed a new prime minister and started creating a balance in Afghanistan's relation with the West and the Soviet Union, which angered the Soviet Union. In 1973, Daoud Khan, supported by Soviet-trained Afghan Army officers and a large base of the Afghan Commando Forces , seized power from
13650-483: The dam are: International Engineering Consultancy Company, ACLU, LERCC and ARA (local NGO). In February 2010 members of Ghazni Provincial Reconstruction Team and Central Asia Development Group met with key leaders from Andar district to enlist support for a massive irrigation project concerning the repair of the irrigation canals fed by the Sarda Dam. "The Chardewal irrigation system was built to distribute water from
13800-525: The developments in that country, such information rarely filtered through to the decision-makers in Moscow who viewed Afghanistan more in the context of the Cold War rather than understanding Afghanistan as a subject in its own right. The viewpoint that it was the United States that was fomenting the Islamic insurgency in Afghanistan with the aim of destabilizing Soviet-dominated Central Asia tended to downplay
13950-416: The effects of an unpopular Communist government pursuing policies that the majority of Afghans violently disliked as a generator of the insurgency and strengthened those who argued some sort of Soviet response was required to a supposed "outrageous American provocation." It was assumed in Moscow that because Pakistan (an ally of both the United States and China) was supporting the mujahideen that therefore it
14100-542: The enemies of the revolution, and millions of people had to be eliminated in order to secure the victory of the October Revolution . Taraki and Amin's regime even attempted to eliminate Parcham's leader Babrak Karmal. After being relieved of his duties as ambassador, he remained in Czechoslovakia in exile, fearing for his life if he returned as the regime requested. He and his family were protected by
14250-554: The execution of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in April 1979, but Carter told National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski and Secretary of State Cyrus Vance as early as January 1979 that it was vital to "repair our relationships with Pakistan" in light of the unrest in Iran . According to former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) official Robert Gates , "the Carter administration turned to CIA ... to counter Soviet and Cuban aggression in
14400-484: The failure of Congress to ratify the SALT II treaty, creating the impression that détente was "already effectively dead." The British journalist Patrick Brogan wrote in 1989: "The simplest explanation is probably the best. They got sucked into Afghanistan much as the United States got sucked into Vietnam, without clearly thinking through the consequences, and wildly underestimating the hostility they would arouse". By
14550-537: The fall of 1979, the Amin regime was collapsing with morale in the Afghan Army having fallen to rock-bottom levels, while the mujahideen had taken control of much of the countryside. The general consensus amongst Afghan experts at the time was that it was not a question of if, but when the mujahideen would take Kabul. In October 1979, a KGB Spetsnaz force Zenith covertly dispatched a group of specialists to determine
14700-446: The fight against the mujahideen ("Those engaged in jihad ") rebels. After the killing of Soviet technicians in Herat by rioting mobs, the Soviet government sold several Mi-24 helicopters to the Afghan military. On 14 April 1979, the Afghan government requested that the USSR send 15 to 20 helicopters with their crews to Afghanistan, and on 16 June, the Soviet government responded and sent a detachment of tanks, BMPs , and crews to guard
14850-473: The following months right up to December 1979. However, the Soviet government was in no hurry to grant them. We should tell Taraki and Amin to change their tactics. They still continue to execute those people who disagree with them. They are killing nearly all of the Parcham leaders, not only the highest rank, but of the middle rank, too. – Kosygin speaking at a Politburo session. Based on information from
15000-547: The government in Kabul and to secure the Bagram and Shindand air bases. In response to this request, an airborne battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel A. Lomakin, arrived at Bagram on 7 July. They arrived without their combat gear, disguised as technical specialists. They were the personal bodyguards for General Secretary Taraki. The paratroopers were directly subordinate to the senior Soviet military advisor and did not interfere in Afghan politics. Several leading politicians at
15150-456: The government. They started their rebellion in the Panjshir valley , but lack of support along with government forces easily defeating them made it a failure, and a sizable portion of the insurgents sought refuge in Pakistan where they enjoyed the support of Bhutto's government. The 1975 rebellion, though unsuccessful, shook President Daoud Khan and made him realize that a friendly Pakistan
15300-478: The grave internal situation and inability for the Afghan government to retain power much longer; the effects of the Iranian Revolution that brought an Islamic theocracy into power, leading to fears that religious fanaticism would spread through Afghanistan and into Soviet Muslim Central Asian republics; Taraki's murder and replacement by Amin, who the Soviet leadership believed had secret contacts within
15450-522: The hands of our enemies – both yours and ours". Brezhnev also advised Taraki to ease up on the drastic social reforms and to seek broader support for his regime. In 1979, Taraki attended a conference of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana , Cuba. On his way back, he stopped in Moscow on 20 March and met with Brezhnev, Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko and other Soviet officials. It
15600-402: The hilal is not observed immediately after the 29th day of a month (either because clouds block its view or because the western sky is still too bright when the moon sets), then the day that begins at that sunset is the 30th. Such a sighting has to be made by one or more trustworthy men testifying before a committee of Muslim leaders. Determining the most likely day that the hilal could be observed
15750-654: The intercalated month had returned to its position just before the month of Nasi' began. If Nasī' meant intercalation, then the number and the position of the intercalary months between AH 1 and AH 10 are uncertain; western calendar dates commonly cited for key events in early Islam such as the Hijra , the Battle of Badr , the Battle of Uhud and the Battle of the Trench should be viewed with caution as they might be in error by one, two, three or even four lunar months. This prohibition
15900-514: The invasion were the belief in Moscow that Amin was a leader both incompetent and fanatical who had lost control of the situation, together with the belief that it was the United States via Pakistan who was sponsoring the Islamist insurgency in Afghanistan. Andropov, Gromyko and Ustinov all argued that if a radical Islamist regime came to power in Kabul, it would attempt to sponsor radical Islam in Soviet Central Asia , thereby requiring
16050-697: The large British colonies in India . This regional rivalry was called the " Great Game ". In 1885, Russian forces seized a disputed oasis south of the Oxus River from Afghan forces, which became known as the Panjdeh Incident . The border was agreed by the joint Anglo-Russian Afghan Boundary Commission of 1885–87. The Russian interest in Afghanistan continued through the Soviet era, with billions in economic and military aid sent to Afghanistan between 1955 and 1978. Following Amanullah Khan 's ascent to
16200-418: The latter to enjoy ascendancy over the former. In 1971, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul reported that there had been increasing leftist activity in the country, attributed to disillusionment of social and economic conditions, and the poor response from the Kingdom's leadership. It added that the PDPA was "perhaps the most disgruntled and organized of the country's leftist groups." Intense opposition from factions of
16350-479: The local military garrison in the Nuristan region of eastern Afghanistan and soon civil war spread throughout the country. In September 1979, Deputy Prime Minister Hafizullah Amin seized power, arresting and killing Taraki. More than two months of instability overwhelmed Amin's regime as he moved against his opponents in the PDPA and the growing rebellion. Even before the revolutionaries came to power, Afghanistan
16500-500: The long-term average duration of a synodic month is 29.530587981 days. Thus the average lunar year (twelve new moons) is 10.87513 days shorter than the average solar year (365.24219 − (12 × 29.530587981)), causing months of the Hijri calendar to advance about eleven days earlier each year, relative to the equinoxes. "As a result," says the Astronomical Almanac , "the cycle of twelve lunar months regresses through
16650-453: The lunar crescent becomes visible only some 17 hours after the conjunction, and only subject to the existence of a number of favourable conditions relative to weather, time, geographic location, as well as various astronomical parameters. Given the fact that the moon sets progressively later than the sun as one goes west, with a corresponding increase in its "age" since conjunction, Western Muslim countries may, under favorable conditions, observe
16800-457: The months begin with Muharram, in line with the established custom of the Arabs at that time. The years of the Islamic calendar thus began with the month of Muharram in the year of Muhammad's arrival at the city of Medina, even though the actual emigration took place in Safar and Rabi' I of the intercalated calendar, two months before the commencement of Muharram in the new fixed calendar. Because of
16950-667: The months of the Hijri calendar, one of which was used by the Pashtuns and the other by the Hazaras . They were in use until the time of Amanullah Khan 's reign, when the usage of the Solar Hijri Calendar was formalized across Afghanistan. In Xinjiang , the Uyghur Muslims traditionally had different names for the months of the Hijri calendar, which were in use until the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in
17100-566: The new fixed calendar corresponded to Friday, 16 July 622 CE, the equivalent civil tabular date (same daylight period) in the Julian calendar . The Islamic day began at the preceding sunset on the evening of 15 July. This Julian date (16 July) was determined by medieval Muslim astronomers by projecting back in time their own tabular Islamic calendar , which had alternating 30- and 29-day months in each lunar year plus eleven leap days every 30 years. For example, al-Biruni mentioned this Julian date in
17250-458: The new moon one day earlier than eastern Muslim countries. Due to the interplay of all these factors, the beginning of each month differs from one Muslim country to another, during the 48-hour period following the conjunction. The information provided by the calendar in any country does not extend beyond the current month. A number of Muslim countries try to overcome some of these difficulties by applying different astronomy-related rules to determine
17400-696: The new regime promptly allied itself to the Soviet Union, many Soviet diplomats believed that the Khalqi plans to transform Afghanistan would provoke a rebellion from the general population, which was socially and religiously conservative. Immediately after coming to power, the Khalqis began to persecute the Parchamis, not the least because the Soviet Union favored the Parchami faction whose "go slow" plans were felt to be better suited for Afghanistan, thereby leading
17550-606: The ones who had supported his coup, and started replacing them with familiar faces from Kabul's traditional government elites. Daoud also started reducing his dependence on the Soviet Union. As a consequence of Daoud's actions, Afghanistan's relations with the Soviet Union deteriorated. In 1978, after witnessing India's nuclear test, Smiling Buddha , Daoud Khan initiated a military buildup to counter Pakistan's armed forces and Iranian military influence in Afghan politics. The Marxist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan 's strength grew considerably after its foundation. In 1967,
17700-458: The original price; however, the Soviets were not pleased about the developments in Afghanistan and Brezhnev impressed upon Taraki the need for party unity. Despite reaching this agreement with Taraki, the Soviets continued to be reluctant to intervene further in Afghanistan and repeatedly refused Soviet military intervention within Afghan borders during Taraki's rule as well as later during Amin's short rule. Lenin taught us to be merciless towards
17850-399: The potential reaction from local Afghans to a presence of Soviet troops there. They concluded that deploying troops would be unwise and could lead to war, but this was reportedly ignored by the KGB chairman Yuri Andropov . A Spetsnaz battalion of Central Asian troops , dressed in Afghan Army uniforms, was covertly deployed to Kabul between 9 and 12 November 1979. They moved a few days later to
18000-476: The powerful landowners harmed economically by the abolition of usury (although usury is prohibited in Islam) and the cancellation of farmers' debts. The new government also enhanced women's rights, sought a rapid eradication of illiteracy and promoted Afghanistan's ethnic minorities, although these programs appear to have had an effect only in the urban areas. By mid-1978, a rebellion started, with rebels attacking
18150-525: The previous lunar cycle and hence the previous month, thereby beginning the new month. Consequently, each month can have 29 or 30 days depending on the visibility of the Moon, astronomical positioning of the Earth and weather conditions. Four of the twelve Hijri months are considered sacred: Rajab (7), and the three consecutive months of Dhū al-Qa'dah (11), Dhu al-Ḥijjah (12) and Muḥarram (1), in which battles are forbidden. The "Afghan lunar calendar" refers to two distinct naming systems for
18300-443: The province. This was apparently on the belief that these workers would be supporters of the Afghan government. This was discussed further in the Soviet Union with a wide range of views, mainly split between those who wanted to ensure that Afghanistan remained a socialist state and those who were concerned that the unrest would escalate. Eventually, a compromise was reached to send military aid, but not troops. The conflict began when
18450-568: The reforms and responded with violence to unrest. Between April 1978 and the Soviet Intervention of December 1979, thousands of prisoners, perhaps as many as 27,000, were executed at the notorious Pul-e-Charkhi prison , including many village mullahs and headmen. Other members of the traditional elite, the religious establishment and intelligentsia fled the country. Large parts of the country went into open rebellion. The Parcham Government claimed that 11,000 were executed during
18600-405: The religious authorities also allow the testimony of less experienced observers and thus often announce the sighting of the lunar crescent on a date when none of the official committees could see it. Each Islamic state proceeds with its own monthly observation of the new moon (or, failing that, awaits the completion of 30 days) before declaring the beginning of a new month on its territory. However,
18750-656: The sacred months, but in fact they profane that which God has declared to be inviolable, and sanctify that which God has declared to be profane. Assuredly time, in its revolution, has returned to such as it was at the creation of the heavens and the earth. In the eyes of God the number of the months is twelve. Among these twelve months four are sacred, namely, Rajab, which stands alone, and three others which are consecutive. The three successive sacred (forbidden) months mentioned by Muhammad (months in which battles are forbidden) are Dhu al-Qa'dah , Dhu al-Hijjah , and Muharram , months 11, 12, and 1 respectively. The single forbidden month
18900-539: The seasons over a period of about 33 [ solar ] years". In pre-Islamic Arabia, it was customary to identify a year after a major event which took place in it. Thus, according to Islamic tradition, Abraha , governor of Yemen, then a province of the Christian Kingdom of Aksum of Northeast Africa and South Arabia , attempted to destroy the Kaaba with an army which included several elephants. The raid
19050-523: The so-called "Saur Revolution": "There is a multitude of speculations on the real nature of this coup. The reality appears to be that it was inspired first of all by domestic economic and political concerns and that the Soviet Union did not play any role in the Saur Revolution". After this the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) was formed. Nur Muhammad Taraki, General Secretary of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, became Chairman of
19200-429: The start-date of the month is still followed in the overwhelming majority of Muslim countries. For instance, Saudi Arabia uses the sighting method to determine the beginning of each month of the Hijri calendar. Since AH 1419 (1998/99), several official hilal sighting committees have been set up by the government to determine the first visual sighting of the lunar crescent at the beginning of each lunar month. Nevertheless,
19350-591: The throne in 1919 and the subsequent Third Anglo-Afghan War , the British conceded Afghanistan's full independence. King Amanullah afterwards wrote to Russia (now under Bolshevik control) desiring for permanent friendly relations. Vladimir Lenin replied by congratulating the Afghans for their defence against the British, and a treaty of friendship between Afghanistan and Russia was finalized in 1921. The Soviets saw possibilities in an alliance with Afghanistan against
19500-461: The time such as Alexei Kosygin and Andrei Gromyko were against intervention. After a month, the Afghan requests were no longer for individual crews and subunits, but for regiments and larger units. In July, the Afghan government requested that two motorized rifle divisions be sent to Afghanistan. The following day, they requested an airborne division in addition to the earlier requests. They repeated these requests and variants to these requests over
19650-543: The top priority for irrigation infrastructure rehabilitation in Ghazni province is the Sarda Dam. They were disappointed in the progress of the donor community on the dam. They reported that 14 NGOs, both national and international, have been asked to conduct assessments on the dam and surveys for funding the rehabilitation of the dam. Of these 14 NGOs, only four have conducted the assessments, and none have received funding for work to date. The NGOs who have conducted assessments on
19800-526: The war is usually called the Soviet war in Afghanistan ( Pashto : په افغانستان کې شوروی جګړه , romanized: Pah Afghanistan ke Shuravi Jagera ; Dari : جنگ شوروی در افغانستان , romanized: Jang-e Shuravi dar Afghanestan ). In Russia and elsewhere in the former Soviet Union, it is usually called the Afghan war ( Russian : Афганская война ; Ukrainian : Війна в Афганістані ; Belarusian : Афганская вайна ; Uzbek : Afgʻon urushi ); it
19950-405: The way they use the Gregorian calendar today. But, there are divergent views on whether it is licit to do so. A majority of theologians oppose the use of calculations (beyond the constraint that each month must be not less than 29 nor more than 30 days) on the grounds that the latter would not conform with Muhammad's recommendation to observe the new moon of Ramadan and Shawal in order to determine
20100-529: The week. On the sixth day of the week, the "gathering day" ( Yawm al-Jumʿah ), Muslims assemble for the Friday-prayer at a local mosque at noon. The "gathering day" is often regarded as the weekly day off. This is frequently made official, with many Muslim countries adopting Friday and Saturday (e.g., Egypt, Saudi Arabia) or Thursday and Friday as official weekends , during which offices are closed; other countries (e.g., Iran) choose to make Friday alone
20250-632: The west, and Afghanistan would be forced into a closer relationship with the Soviet Union. The pro-Soviet Afghans (such as the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA)) also supported Daoud Khan's hostility towards Pakistan, as they believed that a conflict with Pakistan would induce Afghanistan to seek aid from the Soviet Union. As a result, the pro-Soviet Afghans would be able to establish their influence over Afghanistan. In response to Afghanistan's proxy war, Pakistan started supporting Afghans who were critical of Daoud Khan's policies. Bhutto authorized
20400-459: The year 1000 CE. Although not used by either medieval Muslim astronomers or modern scholars to determine the Islamic epoch, the thin crescent moon would have also first become visible (assuming clouds did not obscure it) shortly after the preceding sunset on the evening of 15 July, 1.5 days after the associated dark moon (astronomical new moon ) on the morning of 14 July. Though Michael Cook and Patricia Crone in their book Hagarism cite
20550-546: Was "a militarily and politically neutral nation, effectively dependent on the Soviet Union." A treaty, signed in December 1978, allowed the Democratic Republic to call upon the Soviet Union for military support. We believe it would be a fatal mistake to commit ground troops. [...] If our troops went in, the situation in your country would not improve. On the contrary, it would get worse. Our troops would have to struggle not only with an external aggressor, but with
20700-408: Was a motivation for Muslim interest in astronomy, which put Islam in the forefront of that science for many centuries. Still, due to the fact that both lunar reckoning systems are ultimately based on the lunar cycle itself, both systems still do roughly correspond to one another, never being more than three days out of synchronisation with one another. This traditional practice for the determination of
20850-439: Was an ally of both the United States and China. However, it did not openly try to create problems for Pakistan as that would damage the Soviet Union's relations with other Islamic countries, hence it relied on Daoud Khan to weaken Pakistan. They had the same thought regarding Iran, another major U.S. ally. The Soviet Union also believed that the hostile behaviour of Afghanistan against Pakistan and Iran could alienate Afghanistan from
21000-485: Was an excellent idea and it had hard-hitting impact on Daoud and his government, which forced Daoud to increase his desire to make peace with Bhutto. Pakistan's goal was to overthrow Daoud's regime and establish an Islamist theocracy in its place. The first ever ISI operation in Afghanistan took place in 1975, supporting militants from the Jamiat-e Islami party, led by Ahmad Shah Massoud, attempting to overthrow
21150-551: Was in his best interests. He started improving relations with Pakistan and made state visits there in 1976 and 1978. During the 1978 visit, he agreed to stop supporting anti-Pakistan militants and to expel any remaining militants in Afghanistan. In 1975, Daoud Khan established his own party, the National Revolutionary Party of Afghanistan and outlawed all other parties. He then started removing members of its Parcham wing from government positions, including
21300-459: Was mentioned by Muhammad during the farewell sermon which was delivered on 9 Dhu al-Hijjah AH 10 (Julian date Friday 6 March 632 CE) on Mount Arafat during the farewell pilgrimage to Mecca. Certainly the Nasi' is an impious addition, which has led the infidels into error. One year they authorise the Nasi', another year they forbid it. They observe the divine precept with respect to the number of
21450-504: Was not heard. During meetings between General Secretary Taraki and Soviet leaders in March 1979, the Soviets promised political support and to send military equipment and technical specialists, but upon repeated requests by Taraki for direct Soviet intervention, the leadership adamantly opposed him; reasons included that they would be met with "bitter resentment" from the Afghan people, that intervening in another country's civil war would hand
21600-511: Was originally a lunar calendar, but suggest that about 200 years before the Hijra it was transformed into a lunisolar calendar containing an intercalary month added from time to time to keep the pilgrimage within the season of the year when merchandise was most abundant. This interpretation was first proposed by the medieval Muslim astrologer and astronomer Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi , and later by al-Biruni , al-Mas'udi , and some western scholars. This interpretation considers Nasī ' to be
21750-464: Was portrayed as a CIA agent. The latter is widely discredited, with Amin repeatedly demonstrating friendliness toward the various delegates of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and maintaining the pro-Soviet line. Soviet General Vasily Zaplatin , a political advisor of Premier Brezhnev at the time, claimed that four of General Secretary Taraki's ministers were responsible for the destabilization. However, Zaplatin failed to emphasize this in discussions and
21900-438: Was pushed towards closer alliance with the Soviet Union for trade. However, these stopgap measures were not enough to compensate the loss suffered by Afghanistan's economy because of the border closure. As a result of continued resentment against Daoud's autocratic rule, close ties with the Soviet Union and economic downturn, Daoud Khan was forced to resign by the King of Afghanistan, Mohammed Zahir Shah . Following his resignation,
22050-571: Was rumoured that Karmal was present at the meeting in an attempt to reconcile Taraki's Khalq faction and the Parcham against Amin and his followers. At the meeting, Taraki was successful in negotiating some Soviet support, including the redeployment of two Soviet armed divisions at the Soviet-Afghan border, the sending of 500 military and civilian advisers and specialists and the immediate delivery of Soviet armed equipment sold at 25 percent below
22200-581: Was that a substantial U.S. covert aid program could raise the stakes and induce the Soviets to intervene more directly and vigorously than otherwise intended." In May 1979, U.S. officials secretly began meeting with rebel leaders through Pakistani government contacts. After additional meetings Carter signed two presidential findings in July 1979 permitting the CIA to spend $ 695,000 on non-military assistance (e.g., "cash, medical equipment, and radio transmitters") and on
22350-528: Was unfavorable to the proposal on the basis of the negative political repercussions such an action would have for his country, and he rejected all further attempts by Taraki to solicit Soviet military aid in Afghanistan. Following Kosygin's rejection, Taraki requested aid from Leonid Brezhnev , the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Soviet head of state , who warned Taraki that full Soviet intervention "would only play into
22500-508: Was unsuccessful, but that year became known as the Year of the Elephant , during which Muhammad was born (surah al-Fil ). Most equate this to the year 570 CE, but a minority use 571 CE. The first ten years of the Hijra were not numbered, but were named after events in the life of Muhammad according to al-Biruni : In c. 638 (17 AH), Abu Musa al-Ash'ari , one of the officials of
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