Timeline of Afghan history

May 24, 2000

• Russia threatens air strikes against "terrorist training camps ," in response to which the Taliban authorities warn neighbouring countries of retaliation if they play host to Russian forces launching such attacks. They also come to an agreement with the military authorities in Islamabad to close down camps training Pakistani nationals, and assure the Chinese foreign minister in late July that they will not tolerate Chinese Muslim extremists using Afghan territory for military training.

Mid-May 2000

• The Iranian government decides to secure the Iran-Afghanistan border with the construction of walls and high-security fencing along the almost-1,000-km stretch of desert.

Early May 2000

• Peace talks are held between representatives of the warring factions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. An earlier round of talks in March ended inconclusively.

May 3, 2000

• Northern Alliance leader Haji Abdul Qadeer admitted that one of their key commanders, Abdullah Jan Wahidi , had defected to the Taliban.

May 2, 2000

• Eric de Mul , the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Afghanistan, made an urgent appeal for US$1.8 million for Afghan people affected by tremendous drought.
• A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hit the mountainous border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan, 210 miles southeast of Dushanbe.
• In Kabul, Afghanistan, Afghan foreign minister Maulvi Wakil Ahmed Mutawakel met with a Canadian delegation to discuss drugs, terrorism and human rights.

May 1, 2000

• The annual U.S. report on international terrorism was released and named Afghanistan as posing a major terrorist threat, partly because it sheltered Osama bin Laden. The report also said that Pakistan refused to end support for groups that trained terrorists in Afghanistan and in Pakistan itself and that Pakistan did not close schools that serve as conduits for terrorism.
• In a sports stadium in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, before a crowd of several thousand spectators, a woman found guilty of committing adultery was stoned to death.
• In Kunar province, Afghanistan, two Pakistani employees of the Bajaur Agency were killed and a third was injured when they resisted a robbery attempt.
• More than 100 members of the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan held a demonstration in Washington, DC condemning the Taliban.