2004 in Afghanistan - August

August

Sunday, August 1 - A three-day battle began between Afghan National Army and U.S. troops and militants near Zhawara, Khost Province. Coalition ground forces were assisted by U.S. B-1 Lancer, A-10 Thunderbolt II and helicopter gunships. Between 10 and 70 rebels were killed; at least one Afghan soldier was killed.

• Several people were killed in a gunfight between rebels and Afghan forces in Gurbuz District, Khost Province.
• In Kandahar Province, rebels threw grenades at the office of a demining group.
• In Logar Province, a bomb hit a vehicle carrying a mayor and a judge, killing three of the judge's children.

Wednesday, August 4 - Two Afghans, a field officer and his driver, working for Malteser Germany, a Catholic relief agency, were killed by gunmen in Zormat. As a result of the attack, Malteser suspended its operations in Afghanistan.

• Afghan Defense Minister Mohammed Fahim endorsed the presidential candidacy of Hamid Karzai.
• At an undisclosed school in Parwan Province, about 100 boy soldiers enroll in the Afghan New Beginnings Program.

Thursday, August 5 - As part of the Combatant Status Review Tribunals at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, with hands bound and feet chained to a metal ring in the floor, an Afghan detainee pleaded for his freedom before the first U.S. military review tribunal partially opened to observers.

• In Kabul, authorities charged Reza Khan of murder, rape and highway robbery involving four foreign journalists on November 19, 2001.

Friday, August 6 - A convoy of ten U.S. vehicles east of Daychopan, Zabul Province, was ambushed by about ten rebels who fired rocket propelled grenades. One Humvee was struck, injuring five soldiers.

• Rebels set off a roadside IED near Qalat, Zabul Province, injuring three U.S. soldiers.
• In response to the killings of two relief workers on August 4, the UNHCR announced it was scaling operations down in southeastern Afghanistan.
• In Uruzgan Province, rebels ambushed a convoy of Afghan election workers, killing two.

Saturday, August 7 - Two U.S. soldiers and their Afghan interpreter were killed when their Humvee struck a landmine positioned along their route in Ghazni Province. A third soldier was wounded.

Tuesday, August 10 - Afghan election officials released the list of approved presidentual candidates for the October 7 election; the list of seventeen included Hamid Karzai, Yunus Qanooni, Mohammed Fahim and Abdullah Abdullah.

Wednesday, August 11 - Mullah Janan, a Taliban military commander, was killed while leading an ambush on a U.S.-Afghan military convoy in Laghman Province.

• U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Kabul.

Thursday, August 12 - A U.S. UH-60 Black Hawk crashed in Khost Province, killing at least one soldier and injuring fourteen. Four personnel were seriously injured and evacuated to the hospital at Bargam Air Base.

Tuesday, August 17 - U.S. warplanes bombed the forces of Amanullah near Herat. Khan's forces were engaged in fighting the militia backing Herat Province governor Ismail Khan. Amanullah agreed to a cease-fire.

• United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan reported to the United Nations Security Council that more than 9.9 million people had registered to vote in Afghanistan, a number that exceeded the estimated total of eligible voters for the whole country.

Wednesday, August 18 - 18-year-old Friba Razayee became the first woman ever to compete for Afghanistan at the Olympic Games. She competed in judo against Spain's Cecila Blanco.

Thursday, August 19 - A bomb exploded in a U.N.-run voter registration building in Farah. Several security personnel were injured.

Saturday, August 21 - Three people were killed and two others critically wounded when their pickup truck tried to run a checkpoint in Ghazni Province. An infant in the vehicle was unhurt.

Monday, August 23 - Afghan interim president Hamid Karzai began a two-day visit in Pakistan, meeting first with Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf.

• Members of the Afghan National Army raided rebel hideouts near the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
• Twelve Afghan presidential candidates called for interim president Hamid Karzai to resign and to withdraw from the October 9 election. They argued that as an incumbent, he has an unfair advantage.

Friday, August 27 - Pashtun warlord Amanullah was brought by Afghan authorities from Herat to Kabul and held under arrest.

Saturday, August 28 - In Zabul Province, U.S. and Afghan National Army soldiers captured 22 Taliban suspects.

• Ten people, including nine children, were killed after a bomb exploded at a religious school in Paktia Province.

Sunday, August 29 - Georgia's 16th mountain battalion, commanded by Captain Shavleg Tabatadze, traveled to Germany for a two-week training before they embark on a 100-day mission in Afghanistan.

• At least nine children and one adult were killed when a bomb exploded in a school in Paktia Province.
• At least nine people were killed and dozens injured when a bomb hidden in a car exploded in front of the DynCorp office in Kabul. Taliban spokesman Mullah Hakim Latifi claimed responsibility.
• In Afghanistan, a Dutch AH-64 Apache on regular patrol over Kabul crashed, slightly injuring one crewman.
• In Kandahar, Afghan security forces arrested five men suspected of planning an ambush on U.S. troops., an Afghan official said.
• Iran opened its first bank, Arjan, in Afghanistan.

Monday, August 30 - NATO troops detained a man on the grounds of Kabul Airport and found traces of explosives on his hands. They then turned him over to local authorities.

• The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan e-mailed U.S. citizens in Kabul, informing them to limit their movements, take strict security measures and avoid "potential target areas" such as government offices, military bases and upscale restaurants frequented primarily by foreigners.
• Eight people in Waradesh in Pech district in Kunar Province were killed and an Afghan aid worker injured when U.S. planes bombed the village.

Tuesday, August 31 - In Nangahar Province, security forces arrested two men, Afghan Hesmatullah and Pakistani Shahzada Gul, distributing Taliban leaflets calling for a holy war against U.S.-led coalition forces and the government.

• Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah traveled to India to discuss a US$400 million Indian aid package for Afghanistan. He met with Natwar Singh and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other senior officials.
• NATO peacekeepers seized dozens of rockets, mortar shells and hand grenades from a truck which was trying to enter Kabul.
• In Kabul, Afghan intelligence agents arrested a bus driver with several guns and ammunition in his vehicle.