Afghanistan is a lawless region in Southern Asia, formerly controlled by the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east, Iran and Uyghuristan in the far northeast.
History[]
Pre-Doomsday[]
Afghanistan (meaning land of the Afghans) has a very long history, it has been an ancient focal point of the Silk Road and migration. It is an important geostrategic location, connecting East and West Asia or the Middle East. The land has been a target of various invaders, as well as a source from which local powers invaded neighboring regions to form their own empires. Ahmad Shah Durrani created the Durrani Empire in 1747, which is considered the beginning of modern Afghanistan. Its capital was shifted later from Kandahar to Kabul and most of its territories ceded to neighboring empires. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a buffer state in "The Great Game" played between the British Indian Empire and Russian Empire. On August 19, 1919, following the third Anglo-Afghan war, the country regained independence from the United Kingdom over its foreign affairs.
Since the late 1970s Afghanistan has experienced a continuous state of civil war punctuated by foreign occupations. The 1979 Soviet invasion heightened Cold War tensions and is considered to be one of the causes of Doomsday.
Post-Doomsday[]
Soviet convoy leaves Afghanistan in October 1983
On September 26, 1983, the response to the Soviet nuclear strike targeted Kabul, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, and Herat, the site of the main access route to the Soviet Union. Other targets included the three principal Soviet military bases: Dasht-e-Kiligai in Baghlan Province astride the north-south highway; Bagram AFB, 45 miles north of Kabul; and Shindand AFB in Farah Province. The nuclear destruction brought on Afghanistan caused a rapid decline of the Soviet backed state and encouraged the Mujahideen resistance in the country to attack the remaining Soviet forces in the area. In October, with the Soviet Union destroyed and with violence in Afghanistan increasing, the remaining Soviet leadership ordered a withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan. The plan was to meet up in Siberia where there was unconfirmed rumors of a still functioning Soviet government. The withdrawal was mostly unorganized, many Soviet soldiers abandoned their equipment and vehicles in their desperate attempts to leave the country. The whole time during the withdrawal over the border troop convoys were coming under attack by enemy fighters. In all over 2,000 Soviet soldiers were killed during the withdrawal. Some Soviet soldiers decided to stay, going warlord and joining in the general anarchy that gripped the country following Doomsday.
Anarchy[]
From 1984 to 2009 Afghanistan devolved into a state of anarchy. Cooperation among the different Mujahideen factions quickly ended. Though there were attempts to form a coalition government these soon failed as the aftermath of Doomsday took its toll on the landlocked nation. As fighting over the limited resources increased, refugees poured out of Afghanistan into the surrounding territories. In Pakistan, the government moved quickly to contain the refugees in hastily built camps along the border. From these refugees the Pakistan government sponsored the creation of a "government-in-exile" officially called the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. This new government meanwhile competed for legitimacy with the other governments and warlords who each claimed to be the lawful government of Afghanistan.
Pakistani Invasion[]
Pakistan trained Afghan soldiers on patrol near Qandahar
On April 26th, 2009, soldiers representing the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Pakistani regular crossed the border into Afghanistan. A representative of the Pakistani government said that the soldiers were sent to "aide our Islamic brothers in bringing order to the state and impose the just law of Allah over the faithful once more." The Pakistani government hopes that if order can be brought to Afghanistan, it could be the start of a long term goal to unify the remaining Muslim population of the globe.
While the joint forces of the IRA and Pakistan were successful in capturing the city of Qandahar and declaring it the new capital of Afghanistan, both nations soon discovered that bringing order to the region would be harder then originally expected. An alliance of various Afghan factions backed by Socialist Siberia, dubbed the "Northern Alliance", has managed to put a strong resistance to continued IRA/Pakistan encroachment.
Successor States[]
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