|
|
|
 | ||
   | ||
|
Latest coverage
Second man charged in U.S. embassy attack
Prior Coverage
Terror figure's family has benign ties in US Bomb kills 1, hurts 25 at Cape Town eatery Japan cult may have used agent found in Sudan Heightened security signals wariness of terror Taliban report vow by Saudi tied to blasts Arab League calls missile attacks "blatant violation"
Assets frozen
Detainees speak
Prepared to die
Flashpoints Elsewhere
Hardening Policy
Local Response
News Analysis
Vacation Redux Afghans, Sudanese denounce attacks
Chronology Security levels raised across US US calls terrorists' losses significant Security at monument is tightened Pakistan multinational staff says they feel threatened Egypt says it not involved in strikes on Sudan Sudanese mob British embassy in Khartoum Reports dull success of strikes Pakistan says missile didn't land on soil Most Americans approve of Clinton's decision More than 70 protest in Boston US hits "terrorist facilities" in Afghanistan, Sudan At home, timing of move appears suspect to some Rapid retaliation departure for US With 2d address, a different Clinton
Reaction
The weapon Religious zeal supplanting politics as motive An attack project born amid turmoil Quick, need rewrite! A vacation hiatus surprises press Culture of cynicism makes comparisons to movie inevitable
Editorial With 2d address, a different Clinton
Profile
The Air Strikes Details
Out Front (Associated Press) "Islamic Int'l" now in sights of a superpower Prominent Arab militants from Afghanistan Maps From the CIA
Statements President Clinton
|
|
Impoverished, remote, but long a favorite of warriorsBy The Associated PressAfghanistan has long been a second home to Osama bin-Laden, the Islamic militant whose followers were the target of U.S. air strikes Thursday. It was a natural choice: a remote mountainous nation in the embrace of fundamentalist Islam, and a place where the Saudi-born bin Laden, armed with a hefty checkbook and an AK-47, made his name as a protector of the faith. War has torn the central Asian nation since 1979, when Soviet troops invaded to oust one leftist leader, replace him with another and touch off popular resistance among traditionalist, anti-communist Afghans, whose forces were aided by thousands of like-minded Arabs, including bin Laden, who flocked to the battlefront. In 1989, a beleaguered Soviet Union finally withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, and three years later the Moscow-allied government collapsed under pressure from Islamic rebel forces. Because of ethnic and other quarrels, the victorious rebels soon fell to fighting among themselves, in a sporadic war that now appears near its end with a final triumph for the extreme fundamentalists of the Taliban movement. Wedged between the Indian subcontinent, the Russian realm, China and Iran, the Afghan valleys have for centuries been an Asian crossroads of trade and conquest. Afghanistan's 24 million people are among the world's poorest, millions eking out a living - when cease-fires allow - by farming and raising sheep and goats. Its paltry exports include handwoven carpets, some gems, fruits and nuts. At the height of the war, one-third of the population had fled the country. Afghanistan, in size slightly smaller than Texas, is believed to be the world's second-largest producer of illicit opium and is a major source of hashish. |
|
| |
|
© Copyright 1998 Boston Globe Electronic Publishing, Inc. Click here for assistance. Please read our user agreement. Use Boston.com to do business with the Boston Globe: advertise, subscribe, contact the news room, and more. | |
