2001 in Afghanistan - January

January

• January 1 - The Afghan 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.
• Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan 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 and the Crowning of Cordell Brown .

• January 2 - 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.

• January 3 - 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.
• A meeting held in Panjab District of Bamyan province, Afghanistan was attended by a large number of the people including Ustad Akbari. Leaders denounced the conspiracies and plots of anti-Islamic states, including the United States and Russia.
• The United Nations announced that the number of its foreign workers returning to Afghanistan had reached 24, and would increase, but not go beyond 34. Less than two weeks earlier, the U.N. had pulled all of its workers from the nation to coincide with sanction activities.
• The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan announced it was allowing all humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, to continue their operations, except for the offices of United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan.

• January 4 - A Chinese delegation of the Chinese OFEM company arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan to assist the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan with the revival of hydel power projects. The delegation met with Taliban Minister for Water and Power Maulvi Ahmed Jan, visited the Sarobi dam and pledged to install new turbine in the power house. Delegates also made commitment about the installation of mobile telephone system in Afghanistan.
• The Taliban admit that resistance forces have captured the strategically important town of Bamiyan after heavy fighting.

• January 5 - In Patras, Greece, while attempted to board a ship bound for Italy, more than 20 Iraqi Kurds clashed with 15 Afghans. Eight were injured and taken to a hospital for treatment. The rest were arrested by authorities.

• 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.

• Early January - The UNHCR expresses serious concern for some 10,000 Afghan refugees camping on the country's northern border with Tajikistan.

• Mid-January - 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.

• Mid-January - 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.

• January 22 - 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.

• Late January - 110 internal refugees sheltering in the west of the country die in one night as temperatures drop to -25°C.

• Late January - The UN World Food Program (WFP) warns that the level of malnutrition among children in the north of the country is alarming.