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68-583: Sources disagree on the termini of the highway, with Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan ; Termiz, Uzbekistan ; Dushanbe, Tajikistan ; and Khorog, Tajikistan all being offered as the beginning of the highway. All sources, however, agree that the highway ends in Osh , Kyrgyzstan. Today, the route is part of the M41 highway, which starts at Termiz at 37°12′39″N 67°16′20″E  /  37.21083°N 67.27222°E  / 37.21083; 67.27222 and ends at Kara-Balta to

136-712: A double bombing. Mazar-i-Sharif is also known for the Afghan song Bia ke berem ba Mazar ( Come let's go to Mazar ) by Sarban . Mazar-i-Sharif has a cold steppe climate ( Köppen climate classification BSk ) with hot summers and cold winters. Precipitation is low and mostly falls between December and April. The climate in Mazar-i-Sharif is very hot during the summer with daily temperatures of over 40 °C (104 °F) from June to August. The winters are cold with temperatures falling below freezing; it may snow from November through March. The city of Mazar-i-Sharif has

204-612: A female slave from the period of the Gaochang kingdom under the rule of Qu clan and mentioned the Sogdian word "twrkstn", which may have referred to the lands to the east and north of Syr Darya in the realm of the First Turkic Khaganate . In 2024, Turkish Ministry of Education changed the term 'Central Asia' ( Turkish : Orta Asya ) to 'Turkestan' ( Turkish : Türkistan ) in history textbooks. The history of

272-761: A reason why the Qara Khitai did not convert to Islam . Despite the Chinese trappings, there were comparatively few Han Chinese among the population of the Qara Khitai. These Han Chinese had lived in Kedun  [ zh ] during the Liao dynasty, and in 1124 migrated with the Khitans under Yelü Dashi along with other people of Kedun, such as the Bohai , Jurchen, and Mongol tribes, as well as other Khitans in addition to

340-725: A reference to the tomb of Ali , cousin, son-in-law and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . The tomb is housed in the large, blue-tiled sanctuary and mosque in the center of the city known as the Shrine of Ali or the Blue Mosque. The Achaemenids controlled the region from the sixth century BCE. Alexander the Great conquered the area but it was then incorporated into the Seleucid Empire after his death. The decline of

408-529: A result, several people were killed and wounded from explosions over the years. These rockets, left behind by the Soviet Army in 1989 at the end of the Soviet–Afghan War , were used as cheap building materials by the poor residents of the village. It was estimated that over 400 rockets were incorporated into the village as wall and ceiling beams, door-stoppers, and even footbridges used by children. When

476-671: A rout from the rest of the north and west of Afghanistan. After the Battle of Mazar-i-Sharif in November 2001, the city was officially captured by forces of the Northern Alliance. They were joined by the United States Special Operations Forces and supported by U.S. Air Force aircraft. As many as 3,000 Taliban fighters who surrendered were reportedly massacred by the Northern Alliance after

544-587: A single nation state . Persian geographers first used the word to describe the place where Turkic peoples lived. According to ethnographer Dávid Somfai Kara , prior to the Russian conquest , Turkestan historically referred only to the western portion of Central Asia: The Eastern part of Central Asia (inhabited by nomads of the Tien Shan Mountains and settled peoples of the Tarim Basin )

612-434: A station near Mazar-i-Sharif Airport , where the goods are reloaded onto trucks or airplanes and sent to their last destinations across Afghanistan. As of June 2016 Mazar-i-Sharif Airport has direct air connections to Kabul , Mashad , Tehran , and Istanbul . Highway AH76 links Mazar-i-Sharif to Sheberghan in the west, and Pul-e Khomri and Kabul to the south-east. Roads to the east link it to Kunduz . Roads to

680-736: A strategic military road along which it would be possible to quickly transfer troops from Fergana to the Alay Valley and carry out their effective supply. The construction was planned and carried out in deep secrecy and for a long time the existence of a road through the Alay Range in Russian Turkestan in Europe was not known. In the summer of 1903, an officer of the Russian army, military geographer Nikolai Korzhenevsky , climbing

748-402: A total population of 500,207, and is the fourth-largest city of Afghanistan by population. It has a total land area of 8,304 Hectares with 77,615 total number of dwellings. The November 2003 issue of National Geographic magazine indicated the ethnic composition as Pashtuns 15%, Hazaras 12%, Tajiks 53%, Turkmens 10%, and Uzbeks 20%. Occasional ethnic violence has been reported in

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816-417: Is also home to an international airport . It has the highest percentage of built-up land (91%) of all the Afghan provincial capitals, and it has additional built-up area extending beyond the municipal boundary but forming a part of the larger urban area . It is also the lowest-lying major city in the country, about 357 metres (1,171 ft) above sea level. The city was spared the devastation that occurred in

884-583: Is designated as route M-41 over much of its length in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and is known as the second highest altitude international highway in the world (4,655 m). The section between Dushanbe and Murghab has the European route number E 008 . The section between Sary-Tash and Osh, Kyrgyzstan has the European route number E 007 . Construction and maintenance levels vary substantially along

952-1104: Is followed from Osh, the route of the highway can be written as follows: Osh city – Taldyk lane (3615 m, pass through the Alay Range ) – Gulcha village – Gulcha river valley – Kyrgyzstan lane (3541 m) – Sary-Tash village (Alay valley) – Kyzylart lane (4250 m, pass through the Trans-Alay range , entrance to the territory of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region , border crossing between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan) – Markansu river valley – Uybulak lane (4200 m) – lake Karakul  — Ak-Baital Pass lane (4655 m) — Murghab — Naizatash Lane (4314 m) — Alichur valley — Khargush Lane (4091 m) + Tagarkaty Lane (4168 m) — Sulu-Tagarkaty river valley — Koi-Tezek Lane (4251 m) — Gunt river valley  — Khorog — Panj river valley  — Qal'ai Khumb village  — Khaburabot lane (3720 m) — Obihingou river valley — Vakhsh river valley  — Dushanbe city. Currently,

1020-608: Is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its borders, and extends directly to the east of the Caspian Sea . Turkestan is primarily inhabited by Turkic peoples , as well as Russian and Tajik-Persian minorities. Turkestan is subdivided into Afghan Turkestan , Russian Turkestan , and East Turkistan (the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China). Throughout history,

1088-830: Is skepticism over Afghan abilities to combat the Taliban insurgency . On 10 November 2016, a suicide attacker rammed a truck bomb into the wall of the German consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif. Eight people were killed and more than a hundred others were injured. On 21 April 2017, a coordinated Taliban attack killed more than 100 people at Camp Shaheen , the Afghan Army base in Mazar-i-Sharif. In November 2018, VOA reported that 40 houses in Qazil Abad, an immediate suburb of Mazar-i-Sharif, used unexploded Soviet Grad surface-to-surface rockets as construction materials. As

1156-573: Is stationed at Camp Northern Lights which is located ten kilometres (six miles) west of Camp Marmal. Camp Nidaros , located within Camp Marmal, has soldiers from Latvia and Norway and is led by an ISAF-officer from Norway. In 2006, the discovery of new Hellenistic remains was announced. On April 1, 2011, ten foreign employees working for United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan ( UNAMA ) were killed by angry demonstrators in

1224-458: Is subdivided into Afghan Turkestan and historical Russian Turkestan (the latter of which extended in the south to Persia , in the west to the Aral and Caspian Seas and in the northeast to Lake Balkhash and Lake Zaysan ) in the west, and Chinese Turkestan or East Turkestan in the east. Of Persian origin (see -stan ), the term "Turkestan" ( ترکستان ) had historically never referred to

1292-554: Is the capital of Balkh province and is linked by highways with Kunduz in the east, Kabul in the southeast, Herat in the southwest and Termez , Uzbekistan in the north. It is about 55 km (34 mi) from the Uzbek border. The city is also a tourist attraction because of its famous shrines as well as the Islamic and Hellenistic archeological sites. The ancient city of Balkh is also nearby. The region around Mazar-i-Sharif has been historically part of Greater Khorasan and

1360-651: The History of Liao (one of the Twenty-Four Histories ), which was compiled officially during the Yuan dynasty by Toqto'a et al. After the fall of the Tang dynasty , various dynasties of non- Han ethnic origins gained prestige by portraying themselves as the legitimate dynasty of China. Qara Khitai monarchs used the title of " Chinese emperor ", and were also called the "Khan of Chīn". The Qara Khitai used

1428-695: The Amu Darya became part of the Durrani Empire in around 1751. For the most part the region was controlled by autonomous Uzbek rulers). After the Bukharan-Durrani war of 1788–1790, Qilich Ali Beg of Khulm formed a mini-empire stretching from Balkh to Aybak , Saighan , Kahmard , Darra-i Suf , and Qunduz . When he died in 1817, the Balkh and Mazar-i Sharif region became an independent city state with Aqcha as its dependency. In November 1837

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1496-584: The Murghab River . The highway then passes through the 4,655-meter (15,270 ft) high Ak-Baital Pass and past Lake Karakul before crossing into Kyrgyzstan to its terminus in Osh. The road was constructed partly in the end of 19th century (during The Great Game ), and mostly in 1930s by the Soviet Union . In 2000s Pamir Highway was connected with China and Karakoram Highway . The Pamir Highway

1564-705: The "image of China" to legitimize their rule to the Central Asians. The Chinese emperor, together with the rulers of the Turks, Arabs, India and the Byzantine Romans, were known to Islamic writers as the world's "five great kings". Qara Khitai kept the trappings of a Chinese state, such as Chinese coins, Chinese imperial titles, the Chinese writing system, tablets, seals, and used Chinese products like porcelain, mirrors, jade and other Chinese customs. The adherence to Liao Chinese traditions has been suggested as

1632-410: The 13th century, and then rebuilt. During the nineteenth century, due to the absence of drainage systems and the weak economy of the region, the excess water of this area flooded many acres of the land in the vicinity of residential areas causing a malaria epidemic in the region. The ruler of North Central Afghanistan decided to move the capital to Mazar-i-Sharif. The city along with the region south of

1700-536: The 19th century, the Russians under Nikolai Aleksandrovich Veryovkin  [ ru ] took the city of Turkistan (in present-day Kazakhstan ) in 1864. Mistaking its name for the entire region, they adopted the name of "Turkestan" ( Russian : Туркестан ) for their new territory . In 1969, a Turfanian document from 639 CE was found in the Astana district of Turpan, which recorded Sogdian sale contract of

1768-609: The 8th century. The Persian Samanid dynasty subsequently conquered it and the area experienced economic success. The entire territory was held at various times by Turkic forces, such as the Göktürks , until the conquest by Genghis Khan and the Mongols in 1220. Genghis Khan gave the territory to his son Chagatai and the area became the Chagatai Khanate . Timur took over the western portion of Turkestan in 1369, and

1836-783: The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission opened an office in Mazar in April 2003. There were reports about northern Pashtun civilians being ethnically cleansed by the other groups, mainly by ethnic Tajiks, Hazaras and Uzbeks. NATO-led peacekeeping forces in and around the city provided assistance to the Afghan government. ISAF Regional Command North , led by Germany , is stationed at Camp Marmal which lies next to Mazar-i-Sharif Airport . Since 2006, Provincial Reconstruction Team Mazar-i-Sharif had unit commanders from Sweden on loan to ISAF. The unit

1904-461: The Bukharans conquered the city but Balkh was still able to retain autonomy. In 1849 the city was conquered and annexed into Afghanistan. During the 1980s Soviet–Afghan War , Mazar-i-Sharif was a strategic base for the Soviet Army as they used its airport to launch air strikes on mujahideen rebels. Mazar-i-Sharif was also the main city that linked to Soviet territory in the north, especially

1972-632: The Central Asian region that was later called Turkestan dates back to at least the third millennium BC. Many artifacts were produced in that period, with much trade being conducted. The region was a focal point for cultural diffusion , as the Silk Road traversed it. Turkic sagas, such as the " Ergenekon " legend, and written sources, such as the Orkhon Inscriptions , in the 8th century AD, state that Turkic peoples originated in

2040-717: The Pamir Highway is part of the M41 highway. At the end of the 19th century — the beginning of the 20th century in Central Asia between the British and Russian empires continued a sharp geopolitical rivalry for influence in the region, which received the name "Great Game" in world history. The military department of the Russian Empire, concerned about the activity of the British in the Pamirs, decided to build

2108-466: The Quran burning, calling it an act of "extreme intolerance and bigotry", and the "outrageous" attacks by protesters, referring to them as "an affront to human decency and dignity." "No religion tolerates the slaughter and beheading of innocent people, and there is no justification for such a dishonorable and deplorable act." U.S. legislators, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , also condemned both

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2176-927: The River Oxus when approached from the south, emphasizing Turkestan's long-standing relationship with Iran , the Persian Empires , and the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates . Oghuz Turks (also known as Turkmens ), Kyrgyzs , Uzbeks , Kazakhs , Khazars , Uyghurs , and Hazaras are some of the Turkic inhabitants of the region who, as history progressed, have spread further into Eurasia forming such Turkic nations as Turkey , and subnational regions like Tatarstan in Russia and Crimea in Ukraine . Tajiks and Russians form sizable non-Turkic minorities. It

2244-854: The Seleucids consequently led to the emergence of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom . Around 130 BCE, the Sakas occupied the region and the Greco-Bactrian kingdom fell. The Yuezhi took Mazar-i-Sharif and the surrounding area which led to the creation of the Kushan Empire . The Sasanians subsequently controlled the area after the fall of the Kushans. The Islamic conquests reached Mazar-i-Sharif in 651 CE. The region around Mazar-i-Sharif has been historically part of Greater Khorasan and

2312-535: The Taldyk Pass (Kyrgyzstan) with a height of 3615 meters, discovered a memorial pillar with the names of people who took part in the design and laying of a road along the Hissaro-Alay in the "Russian" of Turkestan. They were Lieutenant Colonel Bronisław Grombczewski , railway engineers Mickiewicz, Burakovsky, Zarakovsky and Podporuchik Irmuth. For a long time, Europeans believed that the first road through

2380-569: The Taldyk Pass was built in 1916 by Austrians captured in the First World War. Korzhenevsky's diary testifies to something else. He believed that in 1893 it was built by Russian sapper units. However, according to other sources, the first road connecting Osh and Gulcha in Kyrgyzstan through the Taldyk Pass was built in 1876 by a Russian detachment under the command of General Alexander Konstantinovich Abramov . Later, this small section of

2448-466: The Taliban were getting ready to take the city through Pahlawan. Afterwards Pahlawan himself mutinied the Taliban on the deal and it was reported that between May and July 1997 that Pahlawan executed thousands of Taliban members, that he personally did many of the killings by slaughtering the prisoners as a revenge for the 1995 death of Abdul Ali Mazari . "He is widely believed to have been responsible for

2516-449: The Taliban. On 14 August, the Taliban captured Mazar-i-Sharif along with Sharana and Asadabad , the provincial capitals of Paktika and Kunar provinces respectively. Local government forces and regional leaders Abdul Rashid Dostum and Atta Mohammad Noor fled to neighboring Uzbekistan . On 21 April 2022, Islamic State – Khorasan Province killed 31 people by bombing a Shia mosque . A week later, 11 people were killed in

2584-595: The Xiao consort clan. Qara Khitai's rule over the Muslim-majority Central Asia has the effect of reinforcing the view among some Muslim writers that Central Asia was linked to China even though the Tang dynasty had lost control of the region a few hundred years ago. Marwazī wrote that Transoxiana was a former part of China, while Fakhr al-Dīn Mubārak Shāh defined China as part of "Turkestan", and

2652-410: The area became part of the Timurid Empire . The eastern portion of Turkestan was also called Moghulistan and continued to be ruled by descendants of Genghis Khan. In Chinese historiography , the Qara Khitai is most commonly called the "Western Liao" ( 西遼 ) and is considered to be a legitimate Chinese dynasty , as is the case for the Liao dynasty . The history of the Qara Khitai was included in

2720-501: The area has been conquered and reconquered by several different groups and countries, including the Huns , the Chinese, Arab forces, the Persian Empire , various Turkic forces, and the Mongols . The Qara Khitai also included the majority of Turkestan's land. Known as Turan to the Persians , western Turkestan has also been known historically as Sogdia , "Ma wara'u'n-nahr" (by its Arab conquerors), and Transoxiana by western travelers. The latter two names refer to its position beyond

2788-399: The battle, and reports also place U.S. ground troops at the scene of the massacre. The Irish documentary Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death investigated these allegations. Filmmaker Doran claims that mass graves of thousands of victims were found by United Nations investigators. The Bush administration reportedly blocked investigations into the incident. The city slowly came under

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2856-400: The brutal massacre of up to 3,000 Taliban prisoners after inviting them into Mazar-i-Sharif." Several of the Taliban escaped the slaughtering and reported what had happened. Meanwhile, Dostum came back and took the city again from Pahlawan. However the Taliban retaliated in 1998 attacking the city and killing an estimated 8,000 non-combatants . At 10 am on 8 August 1998, the Taliban entered

2924-402: The burning and the violence in reaction to it. By July 2011 violence grew to a record high in the insurgency . In late July 2011, NATO troops also handed control of Mazar-i-Sharif to local forces amid rising security fears just days after it was hit by a deadly bombing. Mazar-i-Sharif is the sixth of seven areas to transition to Afghan control, but critics say the timing is political and there

2992-413: The cities of Balāsāghūn and Kashghar were considered part of China. The association of Khitai with China meant that the most enduring trace of the Khitan's power is names that are derived from it, such as Cathay , which is the medieval Latin appellation for China. Names derived from Khitai are still current in modern usage, such as the Russian, Bulgarian, Uzbek and Mongolian names for China. However,

3060-429: The city and for the next two days drove their pickup trucks "up and down the narrow streets of Mazar-i-Sharif shooting to the left and right and killing everything that moved—shop owners, cart pullers, women and children shoppers and even goats and donkeys." More than 8000 noncombatants were reported killed in Mazar-i-Sharif and later in Bamiyan . In addition, the Taliban were criticized for forbidding anyone from burying

3128-593: The city the next day. Afterwards Mazar-i-Sharif became the de facto capital of a relatively stable and secular proto-state in northern Afghanistan under the rule of Dostum. The city remained peaceful and prosperous, whilst rest of the nation disintegrated and was slowly taken over by fundamentalist Taliban forces. The city was called at the time a "glittering jewel in Afghanistan's battered crown". Money rolled in from foreign donors Russia , Turkey , newly independent Uzbekistan and others, with whom Dostum had established close relations. He printed his own currency for

3196-401: The city's prospects. It is also the location of consulates of India and Pakistan for trading and political links. The modern city of Mazar-i Sharif is centred around the Shrine of Ali. Much restored, it is one of Afghanistan's most glorious monuments. Outside Mazar-i Sharif lies the ancient city of Balkh . The city is a centre for the traditional buzkashi sport, and the Blue Mosque is

3264-459: The city. The demonstration was organized in retaliation to pastors Terry Jones and Wayne Sapp's March 21 Qur'an-burning in Florida , United States. Among the dead were five Nepalis , a Norwegian , Romanian and Swedish nationals, two of them were said to be decapitated . Terry Jones, the American pastor who was going to burn Islam 's Holy Book , denied his responsibility for incitement. President Barack Obama strongly condemned both

3332-578: The control of the Karzai administration after 2002, which is led by President Hamid Karzai . The 209th Corps (Shaheen) of the Afghan National Army is based at Mazar-i-Sharif, which provides military assistance to northern Afghanistan. The Afghan Border Police headquarters for the Northern Zone is also located in the city. Despite the security put in place, there are reports of Taliban activities and assassinations of tribal elders. Officials in Mazar-i-Sharif reported that between 20 and 30 Afghan tribal elders have been assassinated in Balkh Province in

3400-482: The corpses for the first six days (contrary to the injunctions of Islam, which demands immediate burial) while the remains rotted in the summer heat and were eaten by dogs. The Taliban also reportedly sought out and massacred members of the Hazara , while in control of Mazar. Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, Mazar-i-Sharif was the first Afghan city to fall to the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance (United Front). The Taliban's defeat in Mazar quickly turned into

3468-405: The country's other large cities during the Soviet–Afghan War and subsequent civil war , and was long regarded as one of the safest cities in the country. On 14 August 2021, Mazar-i-Sharif was seized by Taliban fighters, becoming the twenty-fifth provincial capital to be captured by the Taliban as part of the wider 2021 Taliban offensive . The name Mazar-i-Sharif means "tomb of the saint",

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3536-469: The decoy GLG-20s played by Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd are told to meet their contacts on the "road to Dushanbe," a reference to the M41 highway. Mazari Sharif Mazar-i-Sharīf ( / m ə ˈ z æ r i ʃ ə ˈ r iː f / mə- ZARR -ee shə- REEF ; Dari and Pashto : مزار شریف ), also known as Mazar-e Sharīf or simply Mazar , is the third-largest city in Afghanistan by population, with an estimated 500,207 residents in 2021. It

3604-428: The decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 5, 1941, the tract was named after Stalin. During the 2022 protests in Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region  [ tg ] , the Pamir Highway was temporarily blocked by a group of protestors led by Muhammadboqir Muhammadboqirov . Muhammadboqirov was later killed on 23 May 2022, and the road reopened. In the 1985 film Spies Like Us ,

3672-432: The focus of northern Afghanistan's Nowruz celebration. Although most Muslims believe that the real grave of Ali is found within Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf , Iraq , others still come to Mazar-i-Sharif to pay respect. It became the first city in Afghanistan to connect itself by rail with a neighboring country. Rail service from Mazar-i-Sharif to Uzbekistan began in December 2011 and cargo on freight trains arrive at

3740-437: The highway. The roadway is unpaved in some areas, but otherwise paved most of the way. Except for its stretches in Kyrgyzstan and nearing Dushanbe, the road is heavily damaged in most of its length by erosion , earthquakes , landslides , and avalanches . Sometimes referred to as the "Heroin Highway," much of the ninety tonnes of heroin that are trafficked through Tajikistan each year pass along this route. If Pamir Highway

3808-405: The last several years. There is no conclusive evidence as to who is behind it but majority of the victims are said to have been associated with the Hezb-i Islami political party. Small-scale clashes between militias belonging to different commanders persisted throughout 2002, and were the focus of intensive UN peace-brokering and small arms disarmament programme. After some pressure, an office of

3876-444: The nearby Altai Mountains , and, through nomadic settlement, started their long journey westwards. Much earlier than the Gokturks or their Orkhon Inscriptions, other groups such as the Huns conquered the area after they conquered Kashgaria in the early 2nd century BC. With the dissolution of the Huns' Empire, Chinese rulers took over Eastern Central Asia, which was centuries later also called Turkestan. Arab forces captured it in

3944-422: The north link it to the Uzbek border town Termez , where it becomes highway M39 going north to Samarkand and Tashkent . Roads to the south link it to Bamiyan Province and the mountainous range of central Afghanistan. Turkestan Turkestan , also spelled Turkistan , is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan ( Xinjiang ). The region

4012-445: The region and established his own airline. The city remained relatively liberal as Kabul previously was, where activities such as coeducational schools and betting was legal as opposed to the Taliban dominated regions in the south of the country. This peace was shattered in May 1997 when he was betrayed by one of his generals, warlord Abdul Malik Pahlawan who allied himself with the Taliban, forcing him to flee from Mazar-i-Sharif as

4080-507: The region in the last decades, mainly between Pashtuns and the other groups. In 2011 news reports mentioned assassinations taking place in the area but with no evidence as to who is behind them. The dominant language in Mazar-i-Sharif is Persian , followed by Pashto , and Uzbek . Mazar-i-Sharif serves as the major trading center in northern Afghanistan. The local economy is dominated by trade, agriculture and Karakul sheep farming . Small-scale oil and gas exploitation have also boosted

4148-400: The rest of the world discovered this fact, the Danish demining group of the Danish Refugee Council visited the village and, after asking the residents, began demining and rebuilding the village, safely removing and disposing of the rockets through controlled detonation at the border with Uzbekistan . President Ghani visited the city on 11 August 2021 to rally local warlords to fight

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4216-509: The road (88 versts - 1.1 km) from Fergana to the Alay Valley of Kyrgyzstan was called the "Old Pamir Highway". According to the testimony of Korzhenevsky, in 1910 only a dangerous pack trail went further from Gulchi to the south, through the Eastern Pamirs. Along the Panj, from Darvaz to Rushan in 1915, Russian units, with the help of the local population, also laid a pack trail, cargo was transported by packs on horses and donkeys. Rockfalls, landslides, avalanches, waterfalls, floods often destroyed

4284-482: The roads leading to the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic . As a garrison for the Soviet-backed Afghan Army , the city was under the command of General Abdul Rashid Dostum . Mujahideen militias Hezbe Wahdat and Jamiat-e Islami both attempted to contest the city but were repelled by the Army. Dostum mutinied against Mohammad Najibullah 's government on March 19, 1992, shortly before its collapse, and formed his new party and militia, Junbish-e Milli . The party took over

4352-406: The trail. By 1930, according to eyewitnesses, this trail was in terrible condition, even packhorses could hardly pass through it, they had to be constantly unloaded in order to transfer them to the ovrings. With the completion in 1937, in Soviet era, of the construction of a highway connecting the cities of Osh and Khorog, the Old Pamir Highway became an integral part of the large Pamir Highway. By

4420-486: The west of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan at 42°49′40″N 73°52′53″E  /  42.82778°N 73.88139°E  / 42.82778; 73.88139 . The route passes northward through Termiz before turning east and crossing into Tajikistan. It then follows a general eastward route through Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, to Khorog , crossing the Kafirnigan , Vakhsh , and Bartang Rivers. From there, it continues east for about 310 kilometers to Murghab , where it crosses

4488-427: Was called Moghulistan (“Mongol land”). The Western part (inhabited by nomads of Syr-darya and settled peoples of Khwarazm ) was called Turkestan (Turk land), although they were both inhabited by linguistically Turkic ethnic groups. Beginning in the nineteenth century, the term Turkestan was also applied to Ferghana and Mawara-an-nahr by the Russians. On their way southward during the conquest of Central Asia in

4556-461: Was controlled by the Tahirids followed by the Saffarids , Samanids , Ghaznavids , Ghurids , Ilkhanids , Timurids , and Khanate of Bukhara until 1751 when it became part of the Durrani Empire (although under autonomous emirs). Eventually the city passed to a few local rulers before becoming part of Afghanistan in 1849. Mazar-i-Sharif is the regional hub of northern Afghanistan, located in close proximity to both Uzbekistan and Tajikistan . It

4624-443: Was controlled by the Tahirids followed by the Saffarids , Samanids , Ghaznavids , Ghurids , Ilkhanids , Timurids , and Khanate of Bukhara . The poet Jalal al-Din Rumi was born somewhere in this area. His father Baha' Walad was descended from the first caliph Abu Bakr . The Seljuk sultan Ahmed Sanjar ordered a city and shrine to be built on the location, which was later destroyed by Genghis Khan and his Mongol army in

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