Afghanistan is an Asian country, part of the Middle or Far East geographical region whose capital is Kabul. It shares borders with Pakistan and Iran, as with others. It is a country with a historical political instability, as in the past two centuries it has suffered so much as a geographical “wildcard” during the Cold War, by the Soviet invasion during that same cold war period, their own civil war, the so-called "holy war" of Saudi Arabia, and more recently, the Afghan war or military invasion by the U.S.

It is worth mentioning during the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, the entire region was severely devastated which led both sides to sign agreements; with one of those agreements with the U.S. made on grounds of a joint Afghan army and the CIA to recruit Islamic extremist fighters to help the U.S. to combat against the USSR. One of these Islamic warlords, the most influential and important, was Osama Bin Laden, a Saudi millionaire, who studied in Britain and was financed and indoctrinated by the CIA.

This country always surrounded and immersed in conflict was labeled by some media as the BBC as "the Asian battleground" portraying a fairly representative view of its unfortunate situation.

Afghans are almost entirely Muslim, but also live with Sunnis, Shias, Buddhists, Hindu and Judaists.

Since 1996, when they were overthrown by the Taliban regime until the U.S. military occupation during 2001, their social and religious laws were based on Sharia, which is the fundamental base and "law" of the Taliban. Sharia is the Islamic law code, hosting several Islamic regions, apart from Afghanistan.

Since 2001, the UN imposed the introduction of a new Afghan government with the appointment of Hamid Karzai as President and after 2 elections continues to lead the country attempting to reconcile the different ethnic groups and religions, poverty, extremist Islamist guerrillas and conflict with U.S., among other problems.

Al Qaeda

It is an Islamic military organization, allegedly founded and led by Osama Bin Laden, considered the most dangerous terrorist organization in pursuit today. Their internal organization is based on "cells" and a cooperating network that extends worldwide. Its original intention is to assemble, train and mobilize as many Muslims as possible for the "Islamic resistance" and the military defense of Islamic law. Many attacks have been attributed: the 11S New York, the M11 in Madrid, or the 2005 London bombings, and more recently, the attempted abduction of an American plane bounded for Detroit, supposedly to reclaim the release of Guatanamo prisoners.

Translated from Spanish thanks to the project: Freetranslation of websites for NGOs and non-profit organisations. A project managed by Mondo Services. Translator: Samuel Sadek.