2003 in Afghanistan – Sludge Pump EZG – Slurry Pump EMM
first time a Norwegian aircraft had fired at hostile forces in combat since World War II. The B-1s dropped nineteen 2,000 pound (900 kg) bombs.
The United Nations Development Programme held a ceremony reopening thirty communal baths (hammams) in Kabul, Afghanistan, bringing back to female citizens a vital institution for their social and hygienic needs.
January 28: U.S. war planes, including B-1 Lancer bombers, F-16 Fighting Falcons and AC-130 gunships, bombed rebel fighters in the mountainous region near Spin Boldak, Afghanistan. Some 200 U.S. special forces troops were engaged in the mountain battle.
Before giving his State of the Union address, U.S. president George W. Bush spoke by telephone with President Karzai and reiterated the commitment of the U.S. to seeing “a prosperous, democratic and stable Afghanistan” and that the U.S. would “stay the course.”
In Afghanistan, a decree by Herat Province governor Ismail Khan allowed women to perform on radio, television, and the stage for the first time since 1992. This move came in response to accusations that Khan was stymieing the advancement of women in the province.
In the Bagram Air Base barracks north of Kabul, South Korean army major Lee Kyu-sang shot and killed Captain Kim Hyo-sung. The captain had refused an order to speak quietly on the telephone. The call involved the leasing of construction equipment with some Afghans. Kyu-sang, who said he didn’t know the gun was loaded, was arrested.
January 29: The United Nations Environment Programme reported that more than half of Kabul’s water supply was going to waste. It found children working 12-hour shifts in dangerous factories, and sleeping at their machines. In Herat, only 10% of the 150 public taps were working. There, and in Mazari Sharif, Kandahar and Kabul, the team found medical waste from hospitals in the streets and an abandoned well.
In the Adi Ghar mountain area about 14 miles (23 km) north of Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, U.S.-led coalition forces, consisting of 300 men, identified 27 caves and had cleared 12 of them. The caves contained supplies such as food, water, blankets, fuel, mules, and signs that wounded men had been treated. U.S. and allied warplanes then pounded the cave complex with 500 and 2,000 pound (220 and 900 kg) bombs. In fire exchanges, at least 18 rebel fighters were killed. A U.S. AH-64 Apache helicopter came under small-arms fire. This was part of Operation Mongoose.
President Karzai fired his interior minister and replaced him with Ali Ahmad Jalali, a formermujahideen (holy warrior) commander who fought in the resistance during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
UNESCO and the Afghan government launched a major project to boost literacy throughout Afghanistan. The project was financed by a US0,000 contribution from the Japanese government through a funds-in-trust. The main focus of the project involved development of literacy teachers production of teaching materials. To date, only 51.9 percent of men over the age of 15 and a mere 21.9 percent of women in the same age group could read and write.
January 30: An MH-60, an adapted version of the Black Hawk, crashed during training near Bagram Air Base, killing four.
Sweden announced it would contribute .9 million to help Afghanistan repay debts to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
January 31: An anti-tank mine rigged to a mortar bomb destroyed a bridge outside Kandahar, Afghanistan, killing as many as 15 people travelling on a bus. The bus driver Ahmad Zia, and a 12-year-old boy survived.
February
February 1: The Afghan Presidential Protective Service began assisting U.S. agents to protect President Karzai.
The U.S. base in Gardez was designated as the location of a coordination center for reconstruction projects in the region.
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.
Nabil Okal, an Israeli military court sentenced a Palestinian man to 27 years in prison for training in Afghanistan with al-Qaeda. Okal said he was innocent.
The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime reported that Afghanistan remained the world’s largest producer of opium poppy despite efforts to stop trade and cultivation.
Troops of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division completed clearing more than 75 caves in the Adi Ghar mountain of Afghanistan.
February 4: Afghan government forces clashed with suspected Taliban and