For the Love of a Son: One Afghan Woman's Quest for Her Stolen Child

association with communism.
    1992 : President
Najibbulah falls from power when Kabul is captured by the Mujahedin
fighters. Rival militias fight each other for control.
    1993 :
Burhanuddin Rabbani is proclaimed President after fighting factions
agree on formation of a government.
    1994 : Factional
fighting continues with the Pashtun-dominated Taliban emerging as
the main challenge to the government of President
Rabbani.
    1996 : The
Taliban, lead by Mullah Omar, seizes control of Kabul. Soon after
gaining power the new government introduces the most conservative
version of Islam. They enforce the strongest Islamic punishments,
including stoning and amputations. Women are banned from public
life, including work. Many widows and children suffer enormous
hardship without a man to work or to protect them.
    1997 : Saudi
Arabia and Pakistan recognize the Taliban while the rest of the
world recognizes President Rabbani as the head of state.
    1998 : Much of
the western world first learns about Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda
when he is accused of organizing the bombings of US embassies in
Africa.
    1998 : President
Bill Clinton orders the launching of air strikes on suspected
Al-Qaeda bases in Afghanistan.
    1999 : The UN
imposes financial sanctions and air embargoes against the Afghan
government and people in an attempt to force Mullah Omar and the
Taliban to deliver Osama Bin Laden for trial for the African
embassy bombings. Mullah Omar refuses.
    2001 : The
Taliban blow up the famous Buddha statues despite international
efforts to save them.
    2001 : The
Taliban tighten restrictions when they order religious minorities
to wear tags indentifying themselves as non-Muslims. There is an
outcry from humanitarian organizations world-wide, but protests are
ignored.
    2001 : The
legendary Afghan fighter Ahmed Massoud, who is the main opposition
against the Taliban, is assassinated by men posing as journalists.
Many blame Al-Qaeda or the Taliban.
    2001 : 11
September, four US airliners are hijacked. Two of the planes are
flown into the World Trade Center. One is flown into the Pentagon.
The fourth crashes in Pennsylvania. 2,986 innocent people are
killed in the attacks on civilian life. Al-Qaeda is named as the
organizer of the attacks. The United States government requests
that Mullah Omar turns over Osama Bin Laden, the Saudi organizer
held responsible for the attacks on America. Mullah Omar stubbornly
refuses.
    2001 : During the
month of October, the United States and Great Britain launch air
attacks against Afghanistan.
    2001 : During the
month of November, opposition forces march into Kabul and other key
Afghan cities.
    2001 : During the
month of December, Osama Bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda followers are
forced to flee Afghanistan. During this same month, Mullah Omar and
the Taliban flee Kandahar, although Mullah Omar’s whereabouts
remain unknown.
    2001 : On 22
December, Pashtun royalist Hamid Karzai becomes head of a
thirty-member interim power-sharing government.
    2002 : The first
contingent of foreign peacekeepers move into
Afghanistan.
    2003 : Allied
forces continue their operations to clear Taliban and Al-Qaeda
forces from the south-east region of Afghanistan.
    2004 :
Afghanistan’s grand assembly adopts a new constitution.
    2004 : President
Karzai wins re-election with 55 per cent of the popular
vote.
    2005 :
Parliamentary and provincial elections take place for the first
time in thirty years, with a few women elected to
office.
    2005–2006 :
Suicide bombings thought to be the work of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda
kill nearly 200 people.
    2006 : NATO
assumes control of Afghan security. (NOTE: During these years of
international support of Afghan security, many nations have
contributed by sending troops. These nations include: the United
States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Turkey, Italy, France, Germany,
the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Poland, as well as other members
of the European Union and of NATO, and Australia, New Zealand,
Azerbaijan and Singapore.)
    2007 : With
resistance attacks from the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, surging NATO and
Afghan forces jointly launch Operation Achilles, a huge offensive
against the Taliban in the south.
    2008 : The
Taliban rejects an offer of peace talks from President
Karzai.
    2008 :
Afghanistan and Pakistan governments agree jointly to fight
militants in their border regions.
    2009 : Newly
elected US President Barack Obama announces that the United States
will increase its presence in Afghanistan by