Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
and
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
established diplomatic relations in 1928. Afghanistan has an embassy in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
.
History
Modern relations between Afghanistan and Poland dated back from 20th century, when King
Amanullah Khan
Ghazi Amanullah Khan ( Pashto and Dari: ; 1 June 1892 – 25 April 1960) was the sovereign of Afghanistan from 1919, first as Emir and after 1926 as King, until his abdication in 1929. After the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War in August 1 ...
visited Poland at 1928 and received a warm welcome from the Polish Government. This developed into full diplomatic relations bewteen the two states. However, relations were severed after the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
and later
Cold War, in which both countries had little to no formal contact.
Following the
Saur Revolution, Afghanistan became a Communist country aligning itself with the eastern bloc nations. Following internal problems the Soviet Union intervened in Afghanistan in December 1979 killing the
Khalqist leader
Hafizullah Amin
Hafizullah Amin (Pashto/ prs, حفيظ الله امين; 1 August 192927 December 1979) was an Afghan communist revolutionary, politician and teacher. He organized the Saur Revolution of 1978 and co-founded the Democratic Republic of Afghan ...
during
Operation Storm-333
Operation Storm-333 (russian: Шторм-333, ), also known as the Tajbeg Palace Assault, was executed by the Soviet Union in Afghanistan on 27 December 1979. It saw Spetsnaz storm the heavily fortified Tajbeg Palace in Kabul and subsequently as ...
and starting the
Soviet-Afghan War. Poland as part of communist
Eastern Bloc sided with the
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
against the western backed
Mujahedeen
''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term t ...
, but at the same time, the growing
Solidarity movement
Solidarity ( pl, „Solidarność”, ), full name Independent Self-Governing Trade Union "Solidarity" (, abbreviated ''NSZZ „Solidarność”'' ), is a Polish trade union founded in August 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk, Poland. Subseq ...
in Poland would lead to the collapse of communist rule there. Many anti Communist Poles showed support and solidarity toward Mujahedeen against the DRA and USSR.
Modern
On February 15, 1989, the Soviet Union withdrew its forces from the
Republic of Afghanistan
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
starting the
Afghan Civil War between forces loyal to
Mohammad Najibullah's Fatherland Party government and those of the Pakistani backed
Afghan Interim Government. On June 4, 1989, Poland communist rule ended in Poland with the Polish People's Republic being dissolved in 1990. In 1991
Communist hardliners attempted a coup d'état against
President Gorbachav. The failure of the Coup accelerated the dissolution of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. Poland supported the Yeltsin government while Afghanistan supported the Communist hardliners, many of whom were in favor of continued financial aid to Najibullah's internationally isolated government. The new Russian President
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
would soon cut aid in 1992 causing mass starvation and leading to
Najibullah to announce his resignation. Peace did not come however as various warlords fought for control of the capital of Kabul leading to another even bloodier
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
involving bloody urban fighting destroying a third of the relatively untouched city of Kabul, crime was rampant as the dissolution of the
Afghan Army
The Army of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be tr ...
and
law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules
Rule or ruling may refer to:
Education ...
had led to a breakdown of civil order. In 1994 a movement called the
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...
mostly made up of orphans was formed. The Taliban rapidly expanded recruiting former Mujahedeen and Communist Soldiers. In 1996 the Taliban would take Kabul leading to many of the various warlords who had fought each other for Kabul to unite into the Northern Alliance as a attempt to stop the Taliban from gaining more territory. Poles showed support to the
Northern Alliance
The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( prs, جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان ''Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islāmi-yi Millī barāyi Nijāt ...
. Warlord Shah Massoud also had an interview with a number of Poles, including Piotr Balcerowicz, the last to give interview to him before his assassination . Polish intelligence led by Alexander Makowski, assisted by anti-Taliban militias in Afghanistan, also helped discovering the existence of
Osama bin Laden and had urged the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
to kill him at 1999, but the CIA rejected and thus, had missed the chance. The failed attempt was believed to had played a role leading to
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
by Bin Laden to the U.S. to growing anti-Western sentiment in Muslim world, which Makowski contributed to the missed opportunity to eliminate Bin Laden's threat at 1999.
Poland also contributed troops to Afghanistan in the subsequent
Afghan War after the collapse of Taliban rule as part of
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
mission to the country. The Poles were able to win supports from Afghan locals, but it was hampered by American futile efforts in the war. However, due to the cost of the war, sometimes it was referred as Poland's "Vietnam Syndrome" because of incidents like
Nangar Khel incident. In October 2012, Afghanistan gave back to Poland one of the country's original
Renault FT-17 tanks that had been captured by the Soviets in the
Polish-Soviet War and subsequently gifted to the
Kingdom of Afghanistan
The Kingdom of Afghanistan ( ps, , Dǝ Afġānistān wākmanān; prs, پادشاهی افغانستان, Pādešāhī-ye Afġānistān) was a constitutional monarchy in Central Asia established in 1926 as a successor state to the Emirate of A ...
.
Resident diplomatic missions
* Afghanistan has an embassy in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
.
* Poland is accredited to Afghanistan from its embassy in
New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...
, India.
File:Ambasada. Afganistanu.jpg, Embassy of Afghanistan in Warsaw
See also
*
Nangar Khel incident
References
External links
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in WarsawEmbassy of the Republic of Poland in Kabul
{{DEFAULTSORT:Afghanistan-Poland relations
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
Bilateral relations of Poland