It has been an eventful year in Afghanistan - a year of triumphs and tribulations. Starting with the national team's victory over India for the SAFF Title, our editors picked 13 moments from 2013 and gauged their potential to shape the future.
1. The Afghan National Football Team Wins the SAFF Cup in Nepal – a sign of good things to come?
In a highly anticipated championship match, the Afghan National Football Team defeated India soundly 2-0 in September to take the 2013 SAFF Cup. It was the first time Afghanistan has won the tournament. Afghanistan, ranked 139th in the world as compared to India's 145th, were rewarded for an early assault on the Indian goal when Azadzoy scored following a swift move from the right flank.
Celebrations erupted around the country and the team went on to secure a steady stream of victories. In August they also defeated Pakistan at home in Kabul for the first time in 37 years - solidifying Afghanistan's status as a new regional football powerhouse.
2. Karzai Trip to U.S. in January for Talks With President Obama
With the U.S. poised to draw down its military forces from Afghanistan and peace talks with the Taliban seemingly back on the agenda, President Hamid Karzai visited Washington in January for three days of discussions with far-reaching implications for both countries.
The encounter marked his first face-to-face talks with President Obama since last year's NATO summit in Chicago, shortly after the pair had signed a long-term strategic partnership.
Karzai has said that the main topic of discussion will be the continued US military involvement in Afghanistan. The Obama administration is committed to withdrawing the majority of its 60,000-strong military stationed there by the end of next year – with the size of the remaining force still to be decided, as well as the key question of legal immunity for US military operating in the country.
But the Afghan leader is said to want an end to U.S. military operations in villages, as well as protection from militants based across the border in Pakistan.
3. Bagram shifts to Afghan control – What Challenges Lie Ahead?
The U.S. military handed over full control of the only U.S.-run prison in Afghanistan to the Afghan government in March, easing tensions over one of the longest-running standoffs between Kabul and Washington.
Around 3000 prisoners and most of the detention center were transferred to Afghan control in September as per the original Afghan-U.S. prison handover agreement signed in March 2012.
Afghan military commander in Bagram, Safiullah Safi, said the Afghan security forces are confident of their ability to provide security for the prison, which holds some of the most dangerous insurgents captured in the 11-year war.
4. Afghan, Pakistani and UK Leaders Meet in London – Talks for Peace Process
Following talks hosted by the UK, Afghan, Pakistani and British leaders in February had vowed to achieve a peace settlement for Afghanistan within six months.
The three leaders also said they supported the opening of an office in Qatar for the Afghan Taliban to hold talks for the purpose of negotiations between the Taliban and the High Peace Council of Afghanistan as part of an Afghan-led peace process.
5. Taliban Opens Qatar Office As U.S. Announces Talks - Increasing of Tensions Between U.S. and Afghanistan
The Taliban opened a political office in Doha in January, as Washington said it hoped to begin talks with its Afghan foe in the Qatari capital "in a couple of days."
The group, which has waged a deadly insurgency against U.S.-led troops ever since its government in Kabul was overthrown after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, pledged it would never allow Afghan territory to be used to threaten a foreign country.
The Taliban have consistently refused to meet the High Peace Council (HPC), the official negotiators of the Afghan government, saying that President Hamid Karzai is a puppet of the United States.
Karzai suspended talks over the security pact, which would allow some U.S. troops to stay in Afghanistan after 2014, in protest at how the Taliban had opened an office in Qatar that appeared as if it was an embassy for the insurgents.
6. Loya Jirga for Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) Between Kabul-Washington
Afghan tribal elites concluded a four-day Loya Jirga in November, endorsing the BSA with the United States, which allows residual U.S. troops to remain in Afghanistan beyond 2014.
A unanimous majority of the 2,500-member Jirga called on President Hamid Karzai to sign the document by the end of this year. But the Afghan president has laid out three pre-conditions to the U.S. before he will sign the security pact: transparent elections in April, no raids on Afghan homes, and a breakthrough in talks with the Taliban.
The U.S. has warned that if the agreement is not signed, it will be left with no other choice but to go with the "zero option," which would mean a complete drawdown of forces and aid.
Last year, the U.S. and other international donors pledged to provide 16 billion USD to Afghanistan until 2015, including at least four billion USD in military aid. But the U.S. still awaits the signing of the BSA, which would provide the essential legal framework for some 8,000-12,000 American soldiers to stay behind in Afghanistan post-2014.
7. Pakistan PM Visits Kabul – Supports BSA
Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visiting Kabul in November said that his country respects the Afghan people's decision on signing the Kabul-Washington Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) after a Loya Jirga voted to approve the accord.
Sharif, who arrived Kabul for his first trip to Afghanistan, spoke in a joint news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
"Afghanistan is an independent country and the BSA signing is up to the country," Sharif said. "We respect the decision of Afghanistan's people."
Sharif said that Afghanistan would face many challenges in 2014 and it was important for the security transition process with NATO troops leaving the and political transition with the April elections to be orchestrated peacefully.
8. Afghan Cricket Team Qualifies for 2015 World Cup – First Time in History
The Afghan National Cricket Team qualified for the 2015 Cricket World Cup, after defeating Kenya in the last match of the World Cup qualifying round held in Sharjah in October.
Following the team's victory over Kenya, people across Afghanistan poured into the streets to celebrate the historic moment. President Karzai also congratulated citizens on the historic win and expressed hope that in the future our players will win more laurels and make the nation proud.
9. Afghan Forces Take Control of Nationwide Security from NATO
The Afghan government took control of nationwide security in January and ordered envoys to try to open peace talks with the Taliban as US-led troops prepare to withdraw after 12 years of war.
President Hamid Karzai announced the security handover at a military academy outside Kabul, marking a major milestone in the long and bloody foreign combat mission that began after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
Karzai pledged that Afghan forces were ready to take on insurgents, but persistent violence was highlighted when a bomb targeting a lawmaker killed three people in the capital just before the ceremony began.
"From here, all security responsibility and all security leadership will be taken by our brave forces," he said.
10. Supreme Court Attack in Kabul
A bomb blast tore through Masud Square near the Supreme Court in Kabul in June.
"A car full of explosives was detonated at the backside of the Supreme Court compound," security officials said.
It is said that the car hit three buses, which were waiting to pick up the Supreme Court employees. The Head of Kabul Police Criminal Investigation Department Gen. Mohammad Zahir Zahir said that 17 civilians including women were killed and 40, including children, were injured in the blast.
11. Afghanistan Leading Producer and Cultivator of Opium
Afghanistan has retained its position as the lead producer and cultivator of opium globally, with 74 percent of the world's illicit opium production in 2012, according to the 2013 World Drug Report, launched by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) at a special high-level event of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna.
The report also notes that the global area under opium poppy cultivation amounted to 236,320 hectares in 2012, up 14 per cent from 2011. Nonetheless, given a poor yield, owing to a plant disease affecting the opium poppy in Afghanistan, global opium production fell to 4,905 tons in 2012, 30 per cent less than a year earlier and 40 per cent less than in the peak year of 2007.
"Afghanistan's large-scale drugs economy is another source, driver and symptom of instability. This illicit production and trade simultaneously funds insurgent activity and if not curtailed, threatens to undermine Afghanistan's institutions, security and economic self-sufficiency. The global and regional consequences demand resolute and targeted action," said the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Ján Kubiš.
According to UNODC data, nearly one million Afghans, between 15-64 years of age, are affected by drug use in the South Asian nation.
12. Afghanistan Tops World Corruption List
In its annual report in December, Transparency International placed Afghanistan amongst the top most corrupt countries in the world, putting it in the company of countries like Somalia and North Korea.
Transparency International indicated rampant corruption in Afghanistan was especially troubling given that the NATO coalition is set to depart Afghanistan by the end of next year.
The good governance watchdog said that it seemed the Western alliance had failed to quash runaway corruption in Afghanistan, which has persistently grown over the years since aid money first began flooding in after the 2001 invasion.
"The West has not only invested in security but also in trying to establish the rule of law," a Transparency official named Heinrich said. "But there have been surveys in the last couple of years showing the share of people paying bribes is still one of the highest in the world."
13. Ghazni Named Capital of Islamic Civilisation
Afghanistan's city of Ghanzi in Apirl 2013 was officially named by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO) as the capital of culture and civilisation for the Muslim world in a ceremony in the central-eastern city.
Speaking at the ceremony, officials of the Morocco-based organisation said their cooperation will not end simply with the naming of the city but they will make an effort for the renovation of the archaeological sites of the province.
The ceremony was attended by high-ranking officials of the Afghan government and foreign countries who watched groups of Afghan performers doing traditional Afghan dance of Atan, swordsmanship, and traditional music.
Many foreign officials including representatives of the international cultural organisations stated their commitment to renovating the ancient remains of the province.
