WEvents from the year 2012 in Afghanistan.
WOn 11 June 2012, two moderate earthquakes struck northern Afghanistan, causing a large landslide. The landslide buried the town of Sayi Hazara, trapping 71 people. After four days of digging, only five bodies were recovered and the search was called off. Overall, 75 people were killed and 13 others were injured.
WThe 2012 Afghanistan Quran burning protests was a series of protests of varying levels of violence which took place early in 2012 in response to the burning of Islamic religious material by soldiers from the United States Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. On 22 February 2012, U.S. troops at Bagram Base disposed of copies of the Quran that had been used by Taliban prisoners to write messages to each other. As part of the disposal, parts of the books were burned. Afghan forces working at the base reported this, resulting in outraged Afghans besieging Bagram AFB, raining it with petrol bombs and stones. After five days of protest, 30 people had been killed, including four Americans. Over 200 people were wounded. International condemnation followed the burning of copies of the Quran, on 22 February 2012, from the library that is used by inmates at the base's detention facility. The protests included domestic riots which caused at least 41 deaths and at least 270 injuries.
WBelow is the disposition and structure of international military forces that were participating in the War in Afghanistan in November 2012, listing deployed units under the command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which controlled both combat and reconstruction operations. During its existence from 2001 to 2014, ISAF comprised units from many countries. In this article, units are assumed to be from the United States unless otherwise stated. This list is a rough and unofficial listing of units and formations.
WThe following addresses the events in Northern Afghanistan between April 2009 and 2014. While this part of the country had long been relatively peaceful compared to the all-out war zones of the south and east, tensions would flare up again in 2008 when the German soldiers deployed to the area came under attack more often, leading to the deaths of the several soldiers. Previously hindered by national caveats, the deteroriating security situation prompted the German-led Regional Command North to launch a series of operations to take on the rising insurgency. Concerted operations began after an insurgent attack on PRT Kunduz within minutes of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's departure from a visit. Within two years, the German presence would be doubled and additional reinforcements from the American ISAF contingent were called in, including heavy German armoured vehicles and US aviation assets, allowing for a more aggressive approach towards the insurgency.
WThe Insurgents' bodies incident is an incident involving American soldiers and Afghan policemen who posed with body parts of dead insurgents during the War in Afghanistan.
WOn April 18, 2012 the Los Angeles Times released photos of U.S. soldiers posing with body parts of dead insurgents, after a soldier in the 82nd Airborne Division gave the photos to the L.A. Times to draw attention to "a breakdown in security, discipline and professionalism" among U.S. troops operating in Afghanistan. The pictures had been taken at a police station in Zabol province in February 2010.
WUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 2041 was unanimously adopted on 22 March 2012.
WUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 2069 was unanimously adopted at its 6843rd meeting, on 9 October 2012.
WA video of U.S. Marines urinating on Taliban fighters was posted to websites in January 2012. The video was widely viewed on YouTube, TMZ and other sites, and caused anger and outrage in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
WThe war on terror, also known as the Global War on Terrorism and U.S. War on Terror, is an international military campaign launched by the United States government after the September 11 attacks. The targets of the campaign are primarily Sunni Islamic fundamentalist armed groups located throughout the Muslim world, with the most prominent groups being Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, the Taliban, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, and the various franchise groups of the former two organizations. The naming of the campaign uses a metaphor of war to refer to a variety of actions that do not constitute a specific war as traditionally defined. U.S. president George W. Bush first used the term "war on terrorism" on 16 September 2001, and then "war on terror" a few days later in a formal speech to Congress. In the latter speech, George Bush stated, "Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them." The term was originally used with a particular focus on countries associated with al-Qaeda. The term was immediately criticised by such people as Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and more nuanced terms subsequently came to be used by the Bush administration to publicly define the international campaign led by the U.S. While it was never used as a formal designation of U.S. operations in internal government documentation, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal was issued.