February 2003 in Afghanistan

See also: 2002 in Afghanistan, 2004 in Afghanistan and Timeline of the War in Afghanistan (2001-present).

2003 in Afghanistan. A list of notable incidents in Afghanistan during 2003

February 1: The Afghan Presidential Protective Service began assisting U.S. agents to protect President Karzai.

February 2: As part of a global U.N. campaign to cut deaths among mothers and new-born children, UNICEF began a week-long project to vaccinate 740,000 women in four major [Afghan cities.

February 3: A private memo from Canadian deputy chief, Vice-Admiral Greg Maddison to the chief of the Canadian defense staff, Gen. Ray Henault, said that command of the United Nations forces in Afghanistan was "not viable with Canada as the lead nation" without multinational support. Canada was scheduled to take over command in August 2003.

February 4: Afghan government forces clashed with suspected Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters in the mountainous area of Shawali Kot north of the city of Kandahar. Two Dutch F-16 aircraft bombed the cave complex as part of a follow-up to the attack.

February 5:Helge Boes, a CIA counter terrorism officer, was killed and two wounded in a grenade accident during a live fire exercise in eastern Afghanistan.

February 6: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers and the head of the U.S. Permanent Mission, Ambassador Kevin Moley, signed agreements for U.S. contributions for humanitarian needs of $15 million for Afghanistan and $12.1 million for Iraq.

February 7: U.S. troops were fired upon while they were searching a compound south-west of Gardez, Afghanistan in an early morning operation following an intelligence report. There were no casualties on either side.

February 8: German Defence Minister Peter Struck said that US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had assured Struck that he would support the German proposal for NATO to take over.

February 9: On the orders of President Karzai, 138 people, including 72 members of the Taliban, were freed from Afghan jails in a goodwill gesture before the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha. Freed were prisoners who were critically ill, older than 60, serving minor offences or women who had finished half their sentence.

February 10: Afghanistan became the 89th nation to join the International Criminal Court. The ratification took effect May 1, 2003. The court will prosecute those accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. It will intervene only when a country is unable or lacks the political will to carry out the trial.

February 11: U.S. bombers fired laser-guided bombs at 25 armed Taliban suspects near the village of Lejay in the Baghran valley. Afghan authorities said that the raids had killed 17 civilians.

February 12: Canada said it would send up to 2,000 troops (consisting of a battle group and a brigade headquarters) to Afghanistan later in the year to bolster the United Nations peacekeeping mission. To date, Canada had two warships, two maritime patrol aircraft, three transport plans, and about 850 military personnel in the region searching for al Qaeda or Taliban operatives from Afghanistan.

February 13: In Operation Eagle Fury, coalition warplanes dropped four 500 pound bombs and fired several hundred rounds of ammunition at the caves. Special forces patrols had collected abandoned ammunition casings and rocket-launchers. 15 fighters were captured by more than 100 US troops, while an estimated 30 rebels were believed to have suffered heavy injuries.

February 14: In Kabul, four armed robbers stormed into the office of a French charity (Solidarity, working to help farmers), tied up two Afghan employees and stole cash. Police chief General Basir Falangi said authorities were investigating and vowed to find the robbers.

February 15: U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that the Bush administration continued to hold the belief that Afghanistan still belonged to the Afghans. He said US forces were in Afghanistan to promote the goal of long-term stability and independence through the development of local institutions. In response to concerns over the U.S. shifting its focus onto Iraq, he said that whatever else happens in the world, the US would not abandon Afghanistan.

February 16: In Balochistan, Pakistan, strong winds and heavy rains caused a wall to collapse in a Latifabad refugee camp, killing a nine-year-old girl and injuring three of her family members. Some 50 Afghan families in a Mohammad Kheil camp also lost their homes and tents in the storms. Later in the week, UNHCR distributed tents, food, coal and blankets to the affected refugees, along with 150 tents and 900 quilts to storm-hit refugees in Chaghi refugee village in Baluchistan's Dalbandin area.

February 17: Afghan officials, workers, and citizens gathered at the Kabul museum for the opening of two newly renovated rooms. The purpose of the rooms was to begin repairing the collection of thousands of statues that were smashed in the Spring of 2001. The British Government, with the advice of the British Museum, paid for the renovation, and British soldiers partook in the work. Japan promised photographic equipment, Greece was to rebuild one wing, the Asian Foundation was to develop an inventory, and the U.S. pledged more money for a restoration department. UNESCO was to work on the windows and water supply.

February 18: A fire swept through an observation post outside the U.S. headquarters outside the U.S. military Bagram Air Base, forcing a quick evacuation. The cause of the fire was not known. No one was injured.

February 19: Operation Viper began as U.S. CH-47 Chinook helicopters carrying US troops touched down in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. Their mission was to hunt down Taliban leaders believed hiding there.

February 20: President Karzai left Kabul for a four-nation tour (Japan, Malaysia, the U.S., and India). Karzai is accompanied by Foreign Minister Dr. Abdullah and a high-level official delegation.

February 21: President Karzai arrived in Tokyo, Japan to attend a conference of nations involved in pledging donations toAfghanistan. In a press conference, Karzai expressed confidence that his government would succeed in creating a unified Afghan fighting force, and in stabilizing areas beyond Kabul. But he also acknowledged that fighting has continued between rival warlords and that terrorist pockets continue to plague areas along the Afghan-Pakistani border. He estimated that about 100,000irregular troops still need to disarm. Japan is the second largest donor nation of Afghanistan after the U.S.

February 22: A one-day international donors' conference to help President Karzai tighten control over Afghanistan took place in Tokyo, Japan. There were about 45 donor nations and international organizations in attendance. The meeting, called by Japan, sought to raise money for efforts to disarm warlords and extend President Karzai's authority outside Kabul, Afghanistan.

February 23: An International Committee of the Red Cross project started in Bamyan that provided women with vegetable seeds and training to tend family plots more productively.

February 24: Afghan Minister for Mines and Industries Juma Mohammad Mohammadi and Pakistan foreign ministry official Mohammad Farhad Ahmed were among eight people on board a Cessna plane that crashed into the Arabian Sea shortly after takeoff. The aircraft was headed for Balochistan, Pakistan near the Iranian border. Also on board the aircraft were three other Afghan officials, two crew members and Sun Changsheng, CEO of MCC Resource Development. They had been traveling to a copper and gold mining project being run by a Chinese firm in Balochistan. Weather officials say it was clear and sunny in Karachi at the time of the crash. The plane had crossed into a Pakistan military "no-fly zone" before it crashed into the sea.

February 25: Habibullah Jan, a district administrator in Nimroz Province in Dilaram, 135 miles northwest of Kandahar, Afghanistan, was assassinated. Jan's body guard was wounded in the attack.

February 26: President Karzai visited the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, D.C.. What was to be a private panel discussion instead turned into a hearing with television cameras and reporters present. The Bush administration later apologized to Karzai for the way he was treated by the senate. In the hearing, Karzai gave an optimistic view of the state of Afghanistan, to the dismay of some senators. Karzai disputed beliefs that 100,000 militiamen living in the provinces are beyond the influence of his government. He also turned down offers from senators that they lobby for an expansion of the international force, saying he would prefer to expand the new national Afghan army, which to date had about 3,000 trained troops.

February 27: During a meeting at the White House, President Karzai asked President George W. Bush "to do more for us in making the life of the Afghan people better, more stable, more peaceful." Bush said the U.S. had "a desire for human life to improve" in Afghanistan, but offered no public assurances that a war with Iraq would not hinder the Afghan recovery.

February 28: Using a pistol and then a sub-machinegun, an Afghan man killed two policemen guarding the U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan. Five other officers and a passerby were injured.

References

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