2001 in Afghanistan
The UN World Food Program (WFP) warns that the level of malnutrition among children in the north of the country is alarming.
110 internal refugees sheltering in the west of the country die in one night as temperatures drop to -25° C.
The Taliban regime reveals Afghanistan's revamped air traffic control system, marking the first major improvement in the country's infrastructure for years. The upgrade is likely to increase the amount of air traffic flying over Afghanistan in future.
Supporters of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance reportedly retake the town of Yakawlang after heavy fighting. The UN reports that Taliban forces killed around 100 civilians when they reentered the town in December 2000 after briefly losing control of it. The UN also says that large numbers of refugees have fled the town despite severe winter weather.
The International Red Cross (ICRC) announces that it will end its relief mission in Kabul, saying that the Afghan capital is no longer adversely affected by the country's civil war. The 20,000 families that have been receiving aid from the ICRC since 1994 will be given their last shipment of cooking oil, rice, soap, and wheat in March.
The UNHCR expresses serious concern for some 10,000 Afghan refugees camping on the country's northern border with Tajikistan.
Taliban leader Mohammad Omar decrees that religious conversion away from Islam will be punishable by death. Omar suggests that outside forces are attempting to undermine the Islamic regime by covertly preaching Christianity and Judaism in the country.
- Taliban forces pounded opposition positions with heavy artillery initiating a counter-attack to retake the Ghalmin district in Ghor province, Afghanistan.
- Fighting between the Taliban and opposition forces was reported in northeastern Afghanistan near the border with Tajikistan.
- In Ghor province, Afghanistan, Taliban fighter planes bombed the Ghalmin district in support of a two-pronged infantry attack in which two opposition soldiers were wounded and six militia men killed.
- The Northern Alliance captured the Ghalmin district in Ghor province, Afghanistan. The Taliban tried several times to recapture the area but failed. Retreating Taliban left five dead soldiers behind. Another 13 Taliban were reportedly wounded.
- Taliban authorities in Afghanistan raised postal rates beyond affordable levels for the majority of ordinary citizens. Mulla Abdul Baqi Mukhles, head of the central postal department, said the rise was linked to the steep fall of the afghani and the decisions of the 1999 International Postal Union congress in Beijing.