Mazar-i-Sharīf ( ;

Dari Dari (; endonym: ), Dari Persian (, , or , ), or Eastern Persian is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the Afghan government's official term for the Persian language;Lazard, G.Darī – The New Persian ...

and ), also known as Mazar-e Sharīf or simply Mazar, is the fifth-largest city in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

by population, with the estimates varying from 500,000-680,000. It is the capital of

Balkh province Balkh (Dari and , ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north of the country. It is divided into 15 districts and has a population of about 1,509,183, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a Persian-speaking society. The city o ...

and is linked by highways with

Kunduz Kunduz (; ; ) is a city in northern Afghanistan and the capital of Kunduz Province. The city has an estimated population of about 268,893 as of 2015, making it about the List of cities in Afghanistan, seventh largest city of Afghanistan, and the ...

in the east,

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

in the southeast,

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

in the southwest and

Termez Termez ( ) is the capital of Surxondaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan. Administratively, it is a district-level city. Its population is 182,800 (2021). It is notable as the site of Alexander the Great's city Alexandria on the Oxus, as a center ...

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

in the north. It is about from the Uzbek border. The city is also a tourist attraction because of its famous shrines as well as the

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

and

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

archeological sites. The ancient city of

Balkh Balkh is a town in the Balkh Province of Afghanistan. It is located approximately to the northwest of the provincial capital city Mazar-i-Sharif and approximately to the south of the Amu Darya and the Afghanistan–Uzbekistan border. In 2021 ...

is also nearby. The region around Mazar-i-Sharif has been historically part of

Greater Khorasan KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West Asia, West and Central Asia that encompasses wes ...

and was controlled by the

Tahirids The Tahirid dynasty (, ) was an Arabized Sunni Muslim dynasty of Persian dehqan origin that ruled as governors of Khorasan from 821 to 873 as well as serving as military and security commanders in Abbasid Baghdad until 891. The dynasty was f ...

followed by the

Saffarids The Saffarid dynasty () was a Persianate dynasty of eastern Iranian origin that ruled over parts of Persia, Greater Khorasan, and eastern Makran from 861 to 1002. One of the first indigenous Persian dynasties to emerge after the Islamic conq ...

Samanids People Samanid Samanid Samanid The Samanid Empire () was a Persianate society, Persianate Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, ruled by a dynasty of Iranian peoples, Iranian ''dehqan'' origin. The empire was centred in Greater Khorasan, Khorasan an ...

Ghaznavids The Ghaznavid dynasty ( ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a Persianate Muslim dynasty of Turkic peoples, Turkic ''mamluk'' origin. It ruled the Ghaznavid Empire or the Empire of Ghazni from 977 to 1186, which at its greatest extent, extended from the Oxus ...

Ghurids The Ghurid dynasty (also spelled Ghorids; ; self-designation: , ''Šansabānī'') was a Persianate dynasty of eastern Iranian Tajik origin, which ruled from the 8th-century in the region of Ghor, and became an Empire from 1175 to 1215. The G ...

Ilkhanids The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...

Timurids The Timurid Empire was a late medieval, culturally Persianate, Turco-Mongol empire that dominated Greater Iran in the early 15th century, comprising modern-day Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, much of Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and parts of contem ...

, and

Khanate of Bukhara The Khanate of Bukhara was an Uzbek state in Central Asia from 1501 to 1785, founded by the Abu'l-Khayrid dynasty, a branch of the Shaybanids. From 1533 to 1540, Bukhara briefly became its capital during the reign of Ubaidullah Khan. The Khana ...

until 1751 when it became part of the

Durrani Empire The Durrani Empire, colloquially known as the Afghan Empire, or the Saddozai Kingdom, was an Afghanistan, Afghan empire founded by the Durrani tribe of Pashtuns under Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1747, which spanned parts of Central Asia, the Iranian ...

(although under autonomous emirs). Eventually the city passed to a few local rulers before becoming part of Afghanistan in 1849. Mazar-i-Sharif is the regional hub of northern Afghanistan, located in close proximity to both Uzbekistan and

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

. It is also home to an international airport. It has the highest percentage of built-up land (91%) of all the Afghan provincial capitals, and it has additional built-up area extending beyond the municipal boundary but forming a part of the larger

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

. It is also the lowest-lying major city in the country, about above sea level. The city was spared the devastation that occurred in the country's other large cities during the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War took place in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. Marking the beginning of the 46-year-long Afghan conflict, it saw the Soviet Union and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic o ...

and subsequent

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, 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.J ...

, and was long regarded as one of the safest cities in the country. On 14 August 2021, Mazar-i-Sharif was seized by

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

fighters, becoming the twenty-fifth provincial capital to be captured by the Taliban as part of the wider

2021 Taliban offensive The 2021 Taliban offensive was a Offensive (military), military offensive by the Taliban insurgent group and allied militants that led to the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the end of the nearly 20-year War in Afghanistan (200 ...

Etymology

The name ''Mazar-i-Sharif'' means "tomb of the saint", a reference to the tomb of

Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...

, cousin, son-in-law and companion of the

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

. The tomb is housed in the large, blue-tiled sanctuary and mosque in the center of the city known as the Shrine of Ali or the Blue Mosque.

History

Ancient period

The

Achaemenids The Achaemenid dynasty ( ; ; ; ) was a royal house that ruled the Achaemenid Empire, which eventually stretched from Egypt and Thrace in the west to Central Asia and the Indus Valley in the east. Origins The history of the Achaemenid dy ...

controlled the region from the sixth century BCE.

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

conquered the area but it was then incorporated into the

Seleucid Empire The Seleucid Empire ( ) was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great ...

after his death. The decline of the Seleucids consequently led to the emergence of the

Greco-Bactrian kingdom The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom () was a Ancient Greece, Greek state of the Hellenistic period located in Central Asia, Central-South Asia. The kingdom was founded by the Seleucid Empire, Seleucid satrap Diodotus I, Diodotus I Soter in about 256 BC, ...

. Around 130 BCE, the

Saka The Saka, Old Chinese, old , Pinyin, mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit (Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples, Eastern Iranian peoples who lived in the Eurasian ...

s occupied the region and the Greco-Bactrian kingdom fell. The

Yuezhi The Yuezhi were an ancient people first described in China, Chinese histories as nomadic pastoralists living in an arid grassland area in the western part of the modern Chinese province of Gansu, during the 1st millennium BC. After a major defea ...

took Mazar-i-Sharif and the surrounding area which led to the creation of the

Kushan Empire The Kushan Empire (– CE) was a Syncretism, syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of what is now Afghanistan, Eastern Iran, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbe ...

. The

Sasanians The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

subsequently controlled the area after the fall of the Kushans. The Islamic conquests reached Mazar-i-Sharif in 651 CE.

9th century until 1919

The region around Mazar-i-Sharif has been historically part of

and was controlled by the

followed by the

, and

. The poet Jalal al-Din Rumi was born somewhere in this area. His father Baha' Walad was descended from the first caliph

Abu Bakr Abd Allah ibn Abi Quhafa (23 August 634), better known by his ''Kunya (Arabic), kunya'' Abu Bakr, was a senior Sahaba, companion, the closest friend, and father-in-law of Muhammad. He served as the first caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruli ...

. The

Seljuk Seljuk (, ''Selcuk'') or Saljuq (, ''Saljūq'') may refer to: * Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia * Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities * S ...

sultan

Ahmed Sanjar Sanjar (, ; full name: ''Muizz ad-Dunya wa ad-Din Adud ad-Dawlah Abul-Harith Ahmad Sanjar ibn Malik-Shah'') (6 November 1086 – 8 May 1157) was the Seljuq ruler of Khorasan from 1097 until 1118,Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...

and his Mongol army in the 13th century, and then rebuilt. During the nineteenth century, due to the absence of drainage systems and the weak economy of the region, the excess water of this area flooded many acres of the land in the vicinity of residential areas causing a malaria epidemic in the region. The ruler of North Central Afghanistan decided to move the capital to Mazar-i-Sharif. The city along with the region south of the

Amu Darya The Amu Darya ( ),() also shortened to Amu and historically known as the Oxus ( ), is a major river in Central Asia, which flows through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. Rising in the Pamir Mountains, north of the Hindu Ku ...

became part of the

in around 1751. For the most part the region was controlled by autonomous Uzbek rulers). After the Bukharan-Durrani war of 1788–1790, Qilich Ali Beg of

Khulm Kholm or Khulm (Dari/Pashto: خلم), formerly known as Tashqurghan (Dari/Uzbek: تاشقرغان), is a town in Samangan Province of northern Afghanistan, 60 km east of Mazar-i-Sharif one-third of the way to Kunduz. Kholm is an ancient town ...

formed a mini-empire stretching from Balkh to

Aybak Izz al-Din AybakThe name Aybeg or Aibak or Aybak is a combination of two Turkic words, "Ay" = Moon and "Beg" or variant "Bak" = Emir in Arabic. -(Al-Maqrizi, Note p.463/vol.1 ) () (''epithet:'' al-Malik al-Mu'izz Izz al-Din Aybak al-Jawshangir ...

, Saighan,

Kahmard Kahmard () is a town in and the capital of Kahmard District in Bamyan Province in northern Afghanistan.National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency History Kahmard was conquered from Murad Beg, the Khan of Kunduz, by Dost Mohammad Khan in the Af ...

, Darra-i Suf, and Qunduz. When he died in 1817, the

and Mazar-i Sharif region became an independent city state with Aqcha as its dependency. In November 1837 the Bukharans conquered the city but Balkh was still able to retain autonomy. In 1849 the city was conquered and annexed into Afghanistan.

Late 20th century

During the 1980s

, Mazar-i-Sharif was a strategic base for the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

as they used its airport to launch air strikes on

mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' (), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' (), an Arabic term that broadly refers to people who engage in ''jihad'' (), interpreted in a jurisprudence of Islam as the fight on behalf of God, religion or the commun ...

rebels. Mazar-i-Sharif was also the main city that linked to Soviet territory in the north, especially the roads leading to the

Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (, ), also known as Soviet Uzbekistan, the Uzbek SSR, UzSSR, or simply Uzbekistan and rarely Uzbekia, was a Republics of the Soviet Union, union republic of the Soviet Union. It was governed by the Communist ...

. As a garrison for the Soviet-backed

Afghan Army The Islamic National Army (, ), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the land force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be traced back to the early 18th century when the Ho ...

, the city was under the command of General

Abdul Rashid Dostum Abdul Rashid Dostum ( ; ; Uzbek language, Uzbek Uzbek alphabet, Latin: , Uzbek Uzbek alphabet, Cyrillic: , ; born 25 March 1954) is an Afghan former Officer (armed forces), military officer, warlord and exiled politician. He is the founder and ...

. Mujahideen militias

Hezbe Wahdat Hezb-e Wahdat-e Islami Afghanistan (, "the Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan"), shortened to Hezbe Wahdat (, "the Unity Party"), is a Hazara political party founded in 1989. Like most contemporary major political parties in Afghanistan, Hezb-e ...

and

Jamiat-e Islami Jamiat-e-Islami (also rendered as Jamiati Islami; ), sometimes shortened to Jamiat, is a predominantly Afghan Tajik political party and former paramilitary organisation in Afghanistan. It is the oldest and largest functioning political part ...

both attempted to contest the city but were repelled by the Army. Dostum mutinied against

Mohammad Najibullah Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (6 August 1947 – 27 September 1996) was an Afghan military officer and politician who served as the second president of Afghanistan from 1987 until his resignation in April 1992, shortly after the Afghan mujahideen' ...

's government on March 19, 1992, shortly before its collapse, and formed his new party and militia, Junbish-e Milli. The party took over the city the next day. Afterwards Mazar-i-Sharif became the '' de facto'' capital of a relatively stable and secular

proto-state A quasi-state (sometimes referred to as a state-like entity or formatively a proto-state) is a political entity that does not represent a fully autonomous sovereign state with its own institutions. The precise definition of ''quasi-state'' in po ...

in northern Afghanistan under the rule of Dostum. The city remained peaceful and prosperous, whilst rest of the nation disintegrated and was slowly taken over by fundamentalist

forces. The city was called at the time a "glittering jewel in Afghanistan's battered crown". Money rolled in from foreign donors

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, newly independent

and others, with whom Dostum had established close relations. He printed his own currency for the region and established his own airline. The city remained relatively liberal as

previously was, where activities such as coeducational schools and betting was legal as opposed to the Taliban dominated regions in the south of the country. This peace was shattered in May 1997 when he was betrayed by one of his generals, warlord

Abdul Malik Pahlawan Abdul Malik Pahlawan is an Afghan Uzbek warlord and politician based in Faryab Province in northern Afghanistan. He is the head of the Afghanistan Liberation Party and was heavily involved in the factional fighting that consumed Afghanistan t ...

who allied himself with the Taliban, forcing him to flee from Mazar-i-Sharif as the Taliban were getting ready to take the city through Pahlawan. Afterwards Pahlawan himself mutinied the Taliban on the deal and it was reported that between May and July 1997 that Pahlawan executed thousands of Taliban members, that he personally did many of the killings by slaughtering the prisoners as a revenge for the 1995 death of

Abdul Ali Mazari Ustad Abdul Ali Mazari (; 26 May 194613 March 1995) was an Afghan Hazara politician and leader of the Hezbe Wahdat during and following the Soviet–Afghan War, who advocated for a federal system of governance in Afghanistan. Mazari envisioned ...

. "He is widely believed to have been responsible for the brutal massacre of up to 3,000 Taliban prisoners after inviting them into Mazar-i-Sharif." Several of the Taliban escaped the slaughtering and reported what had happened. Meanwhile, Dostum came back and took the city again from Pahlawan. However the Taliban retaliated in 1998 attacking the city and killing an estimated 8,000

non-combatant Non-combatant is a term of art in the law of war and international humanitarian law to refer to civilians who are not taking a direct part in hostilities. People such as combat medics and military chaplains, who are members of the belligerent arm ...

s. At 10 am on 8 August 1998, the Taliban entered the city and for the next two days drove their pickup trucks "up and down the narrow streets of Mazar-i-Sharif shooting to the left and right and killing everything that moved—shop owners, cart pullers, women and children shoppers and even goats and donkeys."Rashid, ''Taliban'' (2000), p.73. More than 8000 noncombatants were reported killed in Mazar-i-Sharif and later in

Bamiyan Bamyan (), also spelled Bamian or Bamiyan, is the capital of Bamyan Province in central Afghanistan. Its population of approximately 100,000 people makes it the largest city in Hazarajat. Bamyan is at an altitude of about above sea level. The ...

. In addition, the Taliban were criticized for forbidding anyone from burying the corpses for the first six days (contrary to the injunctions of Islam, which demands immediate burial) while the remains rotted in the summer heat and were eaten by dogs. The Taliban also reportedly sought out and massacred members of the Hazara, while in control of Mazar.

Since 2001

Following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

in 2001, Mazar-i-Sharif was the first Afghan city to fall to the U.S.-backed Afghan military alliance,

Northern Alliance The Northern Alliance ( ''Da Šumāl E'tilāf'' or ''Ettehād Šumāl''), officially known as the United National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( ''Jabha-ye Muttahid-e barāye Afğānistān''), was a military alliance of groups that op ...

(United Front). The Taliban's defeat in Mazar quickly turned into a rout from the rest of the north and west of Afghanistan. After the Battle of Mazar-i-Sharif in November 2001, the city was officially captured by forces of the Northern Alliance. They were joined by the

United States Special Operations Forces United States special operations forces (SOF) are the active and reserve component forces of the United States Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force within the US military, as designated by the Secretary of Defense and specifically organized, ...

and supported by

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

aircraft. After this battle, the Northern Alliance advanced towards the city of

, which was the last remaining Taliban stronghold in northern Afghanistan. The siege of the city lasted two weeks with the city being captured on November 25. Around 8,000 Taliban fighters were captured. They were taken to Mazar-i-Sharif and then to

Sheberghan Sheberghān or Shaburghān or shāhpurgān ( Uzbek, Pashto, ), also spelled ''Shebirghan'' and ''Shibarghan'', is the capital city of the Jowzjan Province in northern Afghanistan. The city of Sheberghan has a population of 175,599. It has four ...

prison in

Jowzjan Province Jowzjan, sometimes spelled Jawzjan or Jowzjan () is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north of the country bordering neighboring Turkmenistan. The province is divided into 11 districts and contains hundreds of villag ...

. Between 400 and 3,000 prisoners were reportedly

massacred A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians en masse by an armed group or person. The word is a loan of a French term for "b ...

by the Northern Alliance during the journey and buried in mass graves in the Dasht-e Leili desert west of Sheberghan. Luftwaffe Tornados in Afghanistan

The city slowly came under the control of the

Karzai administration The Karzai administration was the government of Afghanistan under President Hamid Karzai, who became the head of state of Afghanistan in December 2001 after the Taliban government was overthrown. Karzai was appointed at the 2002 Loya Jirga as ...

after 2002, which is led by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan politician who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, including as the first president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014. He previously served a ...

. The 209th Corps (Shaheen) of the

Afghan National Army The Islamic National Army (, ), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the army, land force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be traced back to the early 18th century when th ...

is based at Mazar-i-Sharif, which provides

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

assistance to northern Afghanistan. The

Afghan Border Police The Afghan Border Force (ABF) was a paramilitary police responsible for counterinsurgency and security of Afghanistan's border area with neighboring countries extending up to into the interior and formed part of the Afghan National Army. In ...

headquarters for the Northern Zone is also located in the city. Despite the security put in place, there are reports of Taliban activities and

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

s of tribal elders. Officials in Mazar-i-Sharif reported that between 20 and 30 Afghan tribal elders have been assassinated in

Balkh Province Balkh (Dari and , ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north of the country. It is divided into 15 districts and has a population of about 1,509,183, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a Persian-speaking society. The city o ...

in the last several years. There is no conclusive evidence as to who is behind it but majority of the victims are said to have been associated with the Hezb-i Islami political party. Small-scale clashes between militias belonging to different commanders persisted throughout 2002, and were the focus of intensive UN peace-brokering and small arms disarmament programme. After some pressure, an office of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission opened an office in Mazar in April 2003. There were reports about northern

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

civilians being ethnically cleansed by the other groups, mainly by ethnic Tajiks, Hazaras and Uzbeks. NATO-led peacekeeping forces in and around the city provided assistance to the Afghan government. ISAF Regional Command North, led by

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, is stationed at

Camp Marmal Camp Marmal was an installation of the Afghan Armed Forces. It was adjacent to Maulana Jalaluddin Balkhi International Airport in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, at the foot of the Hindu Kush mountains. The camp was opened in September 2005. The c ...

which lies next to

Mazar-i-Sharif Airport Mazar-e-Sharif International Airport (, ''Maydâne Hawâyiye Mazâre Šarif''; ) , officially called Mawlana Jalaluddin Mohammad Balkhi International Airport, is located about east of Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, which is around 15 min ...

. Since 2006, Provincial Reconstruction Team Mazar-i-Sharif had unit commanders from Sweden on loan to ISAF. The unit is stationed at

Camp Northern Lights Camp may refer to: Areas of confinement, imprisonment, or for execution * Concentration camp, an internment camp for political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups * Extermination ...

which is located west of Camp Marmal. Camp Nidaros, located within Camp Marmal, has soldiers from

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and Norway and is led by an ISAF-officer from Norway. In 2006, the discovery of new

remains was announced. On April 1, 2011, ten foreign employees working for

United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan ('UNAMA'') is a UN Special Political Mission tasked with assisting the people of Afghanistan. UNAMA was established on 28 March 2002 by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1401. Revi ...

(

UNAMA The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan ('UNAMA'') is a UN Special Political Mission tasked with assisting the people of Afghanistan. UNAMA was established on 28 March 2002 by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1401. Revi ...

) were killed by angry demonstrators in the city. The demonstration was organized in retaliation to

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh actor, comedian, director, historian, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones a ...

and Wayne Sapp's March 21 Qur'an-burning in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, United States. Among the dead were five

Nepalis Nepali or Nepalese () are the permanent citizens of Nepal under Nepali nationality law. The term ''Nepali'' strictly refers to ''nationality'', meaning people holding citizenship of Nepal. Conversely, people without Nepalese citizenship but wi ...

, a Norwegian,

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

and Swedish nationals, two of them were said to be

decapitated Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common ...

. Terry Jones, the American pastor who was going to burn

Holy Book Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

, denied his responsibility for incitement. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

strongly condemned both the Quran burning, calling it an act of "extreme intolerance and bigotry", and the "outrageous" attacks by protesters, referring to them as "an affront to human decency and dignity." "No religion tolerates the slaughter and beheading of innocent people, and there is no justification for such a dishonorable and deplorable act." U.S. legislators, including Senate Majority Leader

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2 ...

, also condemned both the burning and the violence in reaction to it. By July 2011 violence grew to a record high in the

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare against a larger authority. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric warfare, asymmetric nature: small irregular forces ...

. In late July 2011, NATO troops also handed control of Mazar-i-Sharif to local forces amid rising security fears just days after it was hit by a deadly bombing. Mazar-i-Sharif is the sixth of seven areas to transition to Afghan control, but critics say the timing is political and there is skepticism over Afghan abilities to combat the

Taliban insurgency {{Infobox military conflict , partof = the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), the Afghan conflict, and the War on terror , image = 2021 Taliban Offensive.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Map of th ...

. On 10 November 2016, a

suicide attack A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...

er rammed a truck bomb into the wall of the German consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif. Eight people were killed and more than a hundred others were injured. On 21 April 2017, a coordinated Taliban attack killed more than 100 people at Camp Shaheen, the Afghan Army base in Mazar-i-Sharif. In November 2018,

VOA Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American international ...

reported that 40 houses in Qazil Abad, an immediate

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

of Mazar-i-Sharif, used unexploded

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Grad surface-to-surface rockets as construction materials. As a result, several people were killed and wounded from explosions over the years. These rockets, left behind by the

in 1989 at the end of the

, were used as cheap building materials by the poor residents of the village. It was estimated that over 400 rockets were incorporated into the village as wall and ceiling beams, door-stoppers, and even footbridges used by children. When the rest of the world discovered this fact, the

Danish demining group Danish Demining Group (DDG) is the Human Security Unit under the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), specialised in clearing landmines and unexploded ordnance and reducing armed violence. DDG’s mission is to recreate a safe environment where one ca ...

of the

Danish Refugee Council Danish Refugee Council (DRC) () is a private Danish humanitarian nonprofit organization, founded in 1956. It serves as an umbrella organization for 33 member organizations. Formed after the Second World War in response to the European refugee c ...

visited the village and, after asking the residents, began

demining Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By cont ...

and rebuilding the village, safely removing and disposing of the rockets through controlled detonation at the border with Uzbekistan. President Ghani visited the city on 11 August 2021 to rally local warlords to fight the Taliban. On 14 August, the Taliban captured Mazar-i-Sharif along with

Sharana Sharana () is the capital of Paktika Province, Afghanistan. It is located at an altitude of 2,200 meters. Its population was estimated to be 2,200 in 2006. The city of Sharana has a population of 15,651 (in 2015) and is located within the heartl ...

and Asadabad, the provincial capitals of

Paktika Paktika (Pashto: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktika has a population of about 789,000 residents, who are mostly ethnic Pashtuns but smal ...

and Kunar provinces respectively. Local government forces and regional leaders

and Atta Mohammad Noor fled to neighboring

. On 21 April 2022,

Islamic State – Khorasan Province The Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP or ISIS–K) is a regional branch of the Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist group Islamic State (IS) active in Central Asia, Central and South Asia, primarily Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uz ...

killed 31 people by bombing a

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

. A week later, 11 people were killed in a double bombing. Mazar-i-Sharif is also known for the Afghan song ''Bia ke berem ba Mazar'' (''Come let's go to Mazar'') by Sarban.

Geography

Climate

Mazar-i-Sharif has a cold steppe climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''BSk'') with hot summers and cold winters. Precipitation is low and mostly falls between December and April. The climate in Mazar-i-Sharif is very hot during the summer with daily temperatures of over from June to August. The winters are cold with temperatures falling below freezing; it may snow from November through March.

Demographics

Maulana Jalaludin park in northern Afghanistan-2

The city of Mazar-i-Sharif has a total population of 500,207, and is the fourth-largest city of Afghanistan by population. It has a total land area of 8,304 Hectares with 77,615 total number of dwellings. The November 2003 issue of ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'' magazine indicated the ethnic composition as

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghan (ethnon ...

15%,

Hazaras The Hazaras (; ) are an ethnic group and a principal component of Afghanistan’s population. They are one of the largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan, primarily residing in the Hazaristan (Hazarajat) region in central Afghanistan. Hazaras al ...

12%,

Tajiks Tajiks (; ; also spelled ''Tadzhiks'' or ''Tadjiks'') is the name of various Persian-speaking Eastern Iranian groups of people native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Even though the term ''Tajik'' ...

53%,

Turkmens Turkmens (, , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern regions of Iran and north-western Afghanistan. Sizeable groups of Turkmens are found also in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, ...

10%, and

Uzbeks The Uzbeks () are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakhs, Kazakh and Karakalpaks, Karakalpak ...

20%. Occasional

ethnic violence An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's position within so ...

has been reported in the region in the last decades, mainly between Pashtuns and the other groups. In 2011 news reports mentioned assassinations taking place in the area but with no evidence as to who is behind them. The dominant language in Mazar-i-Sharif is

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, followed by

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

, and Uzbek.

Economy

Mazar-i-Sharif serves as the major trading center in northern Afghanistan. The local economy is dominated by trade, agriculture and Karakul

sheep farming Sheep farming or sheep husbandry is the raising and breeding of domestic sheep. It is a branch of animal husbandry. Sheep are raised principally for their meat (lamb and mutton), milk (sheep's milk), and fiber (wool). They also yield sheepskin ...

. Small-scale oil and gas exploitation have also boosted the city's prospects. It is also the location of consulates of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

for trading and political links.

Main sights

The modern city of Mazar-i Sharif is centred around the Shrine of Ali. Much restored, it is one of Afghanistan's most glorious monuments. Outside Mazar-i Sharif lies the ancient city of

. The city is a centre for the traditional

buzkashi Buzkashi () is the most favored sport of Afghanistan. It is a traditional sport in which horse-mounted players attempt to place a goat or Calf (animal), calf carcass in a goal. Similar games are known as kokpar, kupkari, and ulak tartysh in Uzbek ...

sport, and the Blue Mosque is the focus of northern Afghanistan's

Nowruz Nowruz (, , () , () , () , () , Kurdish language, Kurdish: () , () , () , () , , , , () , , ) is the Iranian or Persian New Year. Historically, it has been observed by Iranian peoples, but is now celebrated by many ...

celebration. Although most Muslims believe that the real grave of

is found within Imam Ali Mosque in

Najaf Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, others still come to Mazar-i-Sharif to pay respect. C-5 Galaxy at Mazar-e-Sharif Airport in northern Afghanistan

* Airports **

– serves the population of

and is also used by NATO-led forces, including the

Afghan Air Force The General Command of the Air Force (, Dari: ) also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Air Force and the Afghan Air Force, is the air force branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. The Royal Afghan Air Force was established in 1921 under the reign o ...

. It is being expanded to become the 4th international airport in Afghanistan. * Mosques ** Shrine of Ali * Parks and monuments ** Park-e-Ariana ** Maulana Jalaludin Cultural Park ** Tashkurgan Palace ** Governors Palace ** Mazar-i-Sharif Gate ** Khalid Ibn-al Walid Park * Universities ** Balkh University ** Aria University **

Sadat University Sadat () is a suffix, which is given to families believed to be descendants of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. In Iran, after the revolution, it is mandatory to mention "Seyed" or "Sadat" in the names of or whose descent from Muhammad has been men ...

** Mawlana University ** Taj University ** Turkistan University ** Rah-e-Saadat University

Sports

;Professional sports teams from Mazar-i-Sharif * Stadiums **

Balkh Cricket Stadium This is a list of cricket grounds in Afghanistan. The Afghan national cricket team does not play its home matches inside Afghanistan due to security threats and the lack of international standard facilities. See also * Cricket in Afghanistan * ...

** Buzkashi Stadium

Infrastructure

Transportation

Rail

It became the first city in Afghanistan to connect itself by rail with a neighboring country.

Rail service Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

from Mazar-i-Sharif to

began in December 2011 and cargo on

freight trains A freight train, also called a goods train or cargo train, is a railway train that is used to carry cargo, as opposed to passengers. Freight trains are made up of one or more locomotives which provide propulsion, along with one or more railroad ...

arrive at a station near

, where the goods are reloaded onto trucks or airplanes and sent to their last destinations across Afghanistan.

Air

As of June 2016

has direct air connections to

Mashad Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. In the Central District of Mashhad ...

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, and

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Road

Highway

AH76 Asian Highway 76 (AH76) is a major road of northern Afghanistan. It connects Pole khomri at AH7 to Mazar-i-Sharif, passing through Samangan on the way, and then passes west and eventually ends at Herat, where it unites with AH1 and AH77 At Ma ...

links Mazar-i-Sharif to

in the west, and Pul-e Khomri and

to the south-east. Roads to the east link it to

. Roads to the north link it to the Uzbek border town

, where it becomes highway M39 going north to

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

and

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

. Roads to the south link it to Bamiyan Province and the mountainous range of central Afghanistan.

Notable people

* Emir

Wazir Akbar Khan Wazir Akbar Khān (1816–1847) also known as Mohammad Akbar Khān or Amīr Akbar Khān was a Barakzai prince and military commander who served as emir of Afghanistan from 1842 to 1843. He also served as vizier and heir apparent to his fathe ...

, buried in the city * Emir

Sher Ali Khan Sher Ali Khan (Dari/; c. 1825 – 21 February 1879) was Amir of Afghanistan from 1863 to 1866 and from 1868 until his death in 1879. He was one of the sons of Dost Mohammed Khan, founder of the Barakzai dynasty in Afghanistan. Life Sher Al ...

, buried in the city * Ajab Khan Afridi, freedom fighter against the British Raj *

Morsal Obeidi Morsal Obeidi ( 7 September 1991 – 15 May 2008) was a German-Afghan girl who was murdered in an honour killing in Hamburg. Her brother Ahmad Sobair Obeidi killed her, making it an act of sororicide, and he was jailed for life for the act. B ...

(German-Afghan murder victim) – Born in Mazar-i-Sharif, moved to Germany at age three, – Original German version: �
PDF page
and lived in Mazar-i-Sharif for eight months after her parents sent her there to Islamize her. – Original German version: �
PDF page
/ref> *

Zalmay Khalilzad Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad (born March 22, 1951) is an American diplomat and foreign policy expert. Khalilzad was the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation from September 2018 to October 2021. Khailzad was appointed by Preside ...

(Afghan born American diplomat) * Wasef Bakhtari,

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

poet of the

language, literary figure and intellectual, one of the first Persian poets to introduce '' she’r-e nimaa'i'' ("Nimaic poetry") to Afghan-Persian literature, grew up in Mazar-i-Sharif *

, ethnic Hazara and political leader of the Hezb-e Wahdat party, born in the village of Charkent, south of the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif *

Muhammad Mohaqiq Haji Muhammad Mohaqiq (Hazaragi/; born 26 July 1955 in Balkh) is an Afghan politician who served as a member of the Afghanistan Parliament. He is also the founder and chairman of the People's Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan. During the 1980s ...

, politician in Afghanistan as a member of the Afghanistan Parliament, founder and chairman of the

People's Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan People's Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan (, ''Hezb-e Wahdat Islami Mardum-e Afghanistan'') is a political party in Afghanistan, formed after a split in the ''Hezbe Wahdat''. The party is led by Mohammed Mohaqiq. The party was founded in 2004 ...

Atta Muhammad Nur Attā Muhammad Nur (also spelled Atā Mohammed Noor; ; born 1964) is an Afghanistan, Afghan exiled politician and former mujahideen leader who served as the List of governors of Balkh, Governor of Balkh Province in Afghanistan from 2004 to Janua ...

, former

resistance commander for the

against the Soviets and also commander in the

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political and/ ...

(Northern Alliance) under

Ahmad Shah Massoud Ahmad Shāh Massoud (2 September 19539 September 2001) was an Afghan militant leader and politician. He was a guerrilla commander during the resistance against the Soviet occupation during the Soviet–Afghan War from 1979 to 1989. In the 19 ...

against the Taliban, also former

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

(2004–2018), born in Mazar-i-Sharif * Farshad Noor,

professional football player who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for the

Afghanistan national football team The Afghanistan national football team represents Afghanistan in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Afghanistan Football Federation. History Early history The Afghanistan Football Federation was est ...

Twin towns and sister cities

* Dushanbe, Tajikistan (since 1991) * Mashhad, Iran

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Balkh Province Cities in Afghanistan Cities in Central Asia Populated places in Balkh Province Populated places along the Silk Road Provincial capitals in Afghanistan Populated places with period of establishment missing

Etymology

History

Ancient period

9th century until 1919

Late 20th century

Since 2001

Geography

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Main sights

Sports

Infrastructure

Transportation

Rail

Air

Road

Notable people

Twin towns and sister cities

See also

References

Further reading

External links