Kandahar (کندھار)
Province
Country	Afghanistan
Capital	Kandahar
- coordinates	31°00′N 65°30′E / 31.0°N 65.5°E / 31.0; 65.5
Area	54,022 km2 (20,858 sq mi)
Population	990,200 [1]
Timezone	UTC+4:30
Main language	Pashto
Map of Afghanistan with Kandahar highlighted

Kandahar or Qandahar (Pashto: کندھار or قندهار) (Persian: قندهار‎) is one of the largest of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is located in southern Afghanistan, between Helmand, Oruzgan and Zabul provinces. Its capital is the city of Kandahar, which is located on the Arghandab River. The province has a population of nearly 913,000, with over 800,000 living in its capital city. The main inhabitants of Kandahar province are the Pashtuns. In spring 2010, the province as well as its capital city that are called "Kandahar city" also became a target of American operations following Operation Moshtarak in neighbouring Helmand province.^[2] Kandahar has been the site of much of the violence in the War on Terror in Afghanistan.

Name[link]

There is speculation about the origin of the name "Kandahar". It is believed that Kandahar bears Alexander's name, and derives from the Pashto rendering of Iskandariya or Alexandria.^[3] A temple to the deified Alexander as well as an inscription in Greek and Aramaic by the emperor Ashoka, who lived a few decades later, have been discovered in the old citadel.^[4] Alternatively, it is believed that "Kandahar" may derive its name from Gandhara, an ancient Indic kingdom along the modern Kashmir and Afghanistan border,^[5] and former satrapy of the Persian Empire.^[6][7] It is suggested that people of Gandhara migrated south to Arachosia and transferred the name with them.^[8]

History[link]

For a more comprehensive history of Kandahar Province, see Kandahar City.

Kandahar, the city and province, dates back to the time of the Mahabharata One of the important personalities in Mahabharat, is Shakuni who hails from this so called Ghandar/Kandhar as per the Mahabharat Documentation.^{[citation needed]}, which dates back to 3120 BC Indo-Aryan era^{[citation needed]}. The city has been a frequent target for conquest because of its strategic location in Asia, which connects Southern, Central and Southwest Asia. It was part of the Persian Achaemenid empire before the Greek invasion in 330 B.C. It came under the influence of the Indian emperor Ashoka who erected a pillar there with a bilingual inscription in Greek and Aramaic.^[9] , Every single name in Afghanistan does not have his own meaning ,

British and allied forces at Kandahar after the 1880 Battle of Kandahar, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The large defensive wall around the city was finally removed in the early 1930s by the order of King Nader Khan, the father of King Zahir Shah.

Under the Abbasids and later Turkic invaders, Kandahar converted to Islam. Kandahar would go on to be conquered by the Arabs in the 7th century, Turkic Ghaznavids in the 10th century, and Genghis Khan in the 13th century. Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder of Afghanistan, gained control of the city and province in 1747 and made it the capital of his new Afghan Kingdom. In the 1770s, the capital was transferred to Kabul. Ahmad Shah Durrani's mausoleum is located somewhere in the center of the city.^[9]

British-Indians forces occupied the province during the First Anglo-Afghan War from 1832 to 1842. They also occupied the city during the Second Anglo-Afghan War from 1878 to 1880. It remained peaceful for about 100 years until the late 1970s.

During the Soviet occupation of 1979 to 1989, Kandahar province witnessed many fights between Soviet and local Mujahideen rebels. After the Soviet withdrawal the city fell to Gul Agha Sherzai, who became a powerful warlord and controlled the province.

At the end of 1994, the Taliban emerged from the area and set out to conquer the rest of the country. Since the removal of the Taliban in late 2001, Kandahar again came under the control of Gul Agha Sherzai. He was replaced in 2003 by Yousef Pashtun followed by Asadullah Khalid taking the post in 2005. The province is currently occupied by NATO forces.

Demographics[link]

A gathering of tribal and religious leaders following a shura held by Afghan President Hamid Karzai in June 2010 to start a dialogue for peace with the Taliban.

A park scene in Kandahar

The population of 913,000 people is primarily Pashtun. There are also some Balochs, Tajiks and Hazaras.

Tribes[link]

• Durrani (Abdali)
  • Zirak
    • Achakzai (Gujanzai and Badinzai)
    • Barakzai (Mohammadzai)
    • Shenwari
    • Popalzai
  • Panjpai
    • Alizai (Jalozai and Hasanzai)
    • Nurzai
  • Barech
  • Kiral
• Ghilzai
  • Tokhi
  • Hotak
  • Tarakai
• Kakar
• Tareen

There are also Baloch Tribes living in southern and desert parts of Kandahar province are:

• Baloch
  • Brahui
  • Sumalani
  • Sanjrani
  • Muhammed Hasni
  • Mengal
  • Badini
  • Jamaldini
  • Notezai
  • Sarparah
  • Rodeni

Government and administration[link]

Governors[link]

Gul Agha Sherzai was Governor of the province before and after the Taliban regime, until early 2004, when mounting criticism of his efforts led President Hamid Karzai to remove him from the post. He was replaced by Asadullah Khalid, who governed the province until the appointment of Rahmatullah Raufi in August 2008.^[11] For the last 250 years, mostly Pashtuns have been ruling Afghanistan. History shows that many Afghan rulers were from Kandahar, such as Ahmad Shah Durrani, Abdur Rahman Khan, Nadir Khan, Zahir Shah, Hamid Karzai, etc. Kandahar province is made up of 17 districts, and each district has its own Chief. The current Governor of Kandahar Province is Tooryalai Wesa, appointed in December 2008. He is an Afghan Canadian with roots in Arghandab district.

Districts[link]

The following is a list of the districts of Kandahar Province:

Districts of Kandahar.

Economy[link]

Kandahar had well-irrigated gardens and orchards and was famous for its grapes, melons, and pomegranates, but these were made inaccessible by land mines or destroyed outright in the conflict between the Soviets and the mujahideen, Islamic guerrilla fighters during the Soviet occupation. The city is of significant strategic importance in the region due to the major airport built in the early 1970s with development funding from the United States. The main source of trade is to Pakistan, Iran, and the United States. Kandahar is an agricultural state and several of the districts are irrigated by the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority.^[14]

Transportation[link]

Kandahar International Airport

Kandahar International Airport serves the population of southern Afghanistan, especially the Kandahar region, as a method of traveling to other domestic cities by air or to a number of nearby countries. The airport was built in the 1960s with US financial and technical assistance under the United States Agency for International Development program. Kandahar International Airport has been used by the NATO forces to deliver troops and humanitarian supplies since late 2001. The airport was severely damaged during the Soviet attacks on the city during 1979-89 and again during the US raids in late 2001. Repairs and upgrades also occurred during that period; the airport re-opened for civilian use in late 2006.^[15]

Kandahar province has bus services to major towns or village headquarters. Its capital, Kandahar, has a public bus system that take commuters on daily routes to many destinations throughout the city. Besides the buses, there are yellow and white taxicabs that provides transportation service inside the city as well as throughout the province. Other traditional methods of ground transportation are also used. Private vehicles are on the rise in Kandahar, with large showrooms selling new or second-hand vehicles imported from the United Arab Emirates. More people are buying new cars as the roads and highways are being improved.

Notable Assassinations in Kandahar[link]

Kandahar witnessed a wave of assassinations of tribal elders and government officials. Here are some of the notable assassinations:

• Ahmed Wali Karzai Brother of current President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai was assassinated by his long-time head of security, Sardar Mohammad in his resident when walking out of the bathroom on 12 July 2011.

• Ghulam Haider Hamidi Former mayor of Kandahar was murdered by a turban bomber while addressing a crowd in Kandahar municipality on 27 July 2011.

Education[link]

Efforts to improve education in Afghanistan are severely hampered without books, which are in short supply. Lack of funding, and political will, has led to only small gains since the fall of the Taliban. Education has moved somewhat upward in the rest of the country, but southern states, like Kandahar, have seen slow to no progress because of the continued fighting and instability of the region. In 2006 alone, almost 150 educational institutes have closed in Kandahar province alone, according to the education ministry. Regionally more than 50 schools have been attacked this year. Over 60,000 students cannot attend school because of the risk of attack.^[16]

Kandahar University is the largest college or university in the province. In partnership with the Asia Foundation, Kandahar University conducted a pilot project that provided female high school graduates with a four-month refresher course to prepare for the college entrance examination. Kandahar University, for example, currently has an enrollment of six women and 1,094 men.^[17] All of the 24 women who sat for the exam passed and have been admitted to universities to study medicine, engineering, economics, law, and agriculture. The university is only one of two universities in Kandahar that serve all of southern Afghanistan. The conditions in the university are poor, with no water and limited power. The university is far behind the universities of the North because of the violence, the two universities in southern Afghanistan also receive very limited funding.

See also[link]

• Kandahar
• Registan Desert
• History of Afghanistan
• Khosrow Sofla
• Tarok Kolache
• Lower Babur

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Vogelsang, W. (1985). Early historical Arachosia in South-east Afghanistan; Meeting-place between East and West.
• Dupree, Louis. (1973) Afghanistan. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Rashid, Ahmed. (2000) Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil, and Fundamentalism in Central Asia. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kandahar Province

• The Taliban's Campaign for Kandahar

		Orūzgān Province	Zabul Province
	Helmand Province
		Kandahar Province    East
			Balochistan,  Pakistan

v t e Provinces of Afghanistan Badakhshan Badghis Baghlan Balkh Bamyan Daykundi Farah Faryab Ghazni Ghōr Helmand Herat Jowzjan Kabul Kandahar Kapisa Khost Kunar Kunduz Laghman Logar Maidan Wardak Nangarhar Nimruz Nuristan Orūzgān Paktia Paktika Panjshir Parwan Samangan Sar-e Pol Takhar Zabul

Kandahar کندهار Candahar
—  City  —
Kandahar University
Kandahar Location in Afghanistan
Coordinates: 31°37′01″N 65°43′01″E / 31.61694°N 65.71694°E / 31.61694; 65.71694Coordinates: 31°37′01″N 65°43′01″E / 31.61694°N 65.71694°E / 31.61694; 65.71694
Country	Afghanistan
Province	Kandahar
District	Kandahar
Government
• Mayor	Vacant
Elevation	1,000 m (3,000 ft)
Population (2006)
• Total	512,200
	[1]
Time zone	Afghanistan Standard Time (UTC+4:30)

Kandahar, occasionally Candahar, or Qandahar, (Pashto: کندهار Kandahār) is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011.^[1] It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m (3,297 feet) above sea level. The Arghandab River runs along the west of the city.

Kandahar is the original and most culturally significant city of the Pashtuns and has always been their traditional seat of power. It is a major trading center for sheep, wool, cotton, silk, felt, food grains, fresh and dried fruit, and tobacco. The region produces fine fruits, especially pomegranates and grapes, and the city has plants for canning, drying, and packing fruit. Kandahar has an international airport and extensive road links with Farah and Herat to the west, Kabul and Peshawar to the northeast, Tarinkot to the north, and Quetta in neighboring Balochistan (Pakistan) to the south.

The region around Kandahar is one of the oldest known human settlements. Alexander the Great is said to have laid-out the foundation of what is now Old Kandahar in the 4th century BC and gave it the Ancient Greek name Αλεξάνδρεια Aραχωσίας (Alexandria of Arachosia). Many empires have long fought over the city due to its strategic location along the trade routes of southern, central and western Asia. In 1709, Mirwais Hotak made the region an independent kingdom and turned Kandahar into the first capital of the Hotaki dynasty. In 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the last Afghan empire, made it the capital of modern Afghanistan.^[2][3]

Since the 1978 Marxist revolution, the city has been a magnet for groups such as the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, Quetta Shura, Hezbi Islami, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups, many of which are believed to receive support from Pakistan's ISI spy network.^[4][5] From late 1994 to 2001, it served as the capital of the Taliban government. It was toppled by US-led NATO forces during Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001 and replaced by the current government of President Hamid Karzai.

Name[link]

Bilingual Edict of Ashoka (in Greek and Aramaic), found in Kandahar. c. 250 BC

It is believed that Kandahar may have derived from Alexandria (Iskandariya in various local languages)^[6] or Alexandropolis, one of the many cities renamed by Alexander the Great after himself.^[7] A temple to the deified Alexander as well as an inscription in Greek and Aramaic by the Indian Emperor Ashoka, who lived a few decades later, have been discovered in Kandahar.^{[8][dead link]}

An alternative etymology derives the name of the city from Gandhara,^[9][10] the name of an ancient Hindu kingdom from the Vedic period and its capital city located between the Hindu Kush and Sulaiman Mountains (basically identical to the modern extent of the Pashtun-inhabited territories in Pakistan and Afghanistan),^[11] although Kandahar in modern times and the ancient Gandhara are not geographically identical but are far away from each other.^[12][13]

Another etymology offered is that the word "kand" or "qand" in Persian and Pashto (the local languages) means "candy", and "har" means necklace. The name of the city (قند هار/Qandahar) in this form translates to "candy-necklace". The ق is not an actual Persian alphabet, but in Turkish languages (especially in Uzbeki) the <<qand>> means "candy" and <<ar>> means "river", and <<har> is extraction an of <<ar>>, therefore, "Qandahar" becomes "river of candy". And the ancient word Gandh derived from Gandhar also means a sweet nice smell. This probably has to do with the city being known for producing fine grapes, pomegranates, apricots, melons and other sweet fruits.^{[2][not in citation given]}

The historian of Islamic cultures in India André Wink gives the meaning "where people do not eat cows."^[14]

A fourth etymology derives the name of the city as combination of two PIE words, even used in Indo-Pakistan now by nomadic Bagga and Sansi tribes, kand = wall and har = mountain or stone leading to understand a city made of stones or fortress with stone wall.^{[citation needed]}

Yet a fifth etymology derives the name of the city from the name of the Indo-Parthian King Gondophares: he founded it under the name Gundopharron.^[15]

History[link]

History of Afghanistan

See also: Timeline

Pre-Islamic Proto-Elamite civilization (2300–1800 BC) Indus valley civilization (2200–1800 BC) Oxus civilization (2100–1800 BC) Aryans (1700–700 BC) Median Empire (728–550 BC) Achaemenids (550–330 BC) Seleucids (330–150 BC) Mauryans (305–180 BC) Greco-Bactrians (256–125 BC) Indo-Greeks (180–130 BC) Indo-Scythians (Sakas) (155–80? BC) Indo-Parthians (20 BC–50? AD) Kushans (135 BC–248 AD) Sassanids (230–565) Indo-Sassanids (248–410) Kidarites (320–465) Hephthalites (410–557) Kabul Shahi (565–879) Islamic period Rashidun Caliphate (642–641) Umayyads (661–750) Abbasids (750–821) Tahirids (821–873) Saffarids (863–900) Samanids (875–999) Ghaznavids (963–1187) Seljukids (1037–1194) Khwarezmids (1077–1231) Ghorids (1149–1212) Ilkhanate (1258–1353) Kartids (1245–1381) Timurids (1370–1506) Arghun (1479-1522) Mughals (1501–1738) |Safavids (1510–1709) Hotaki dynasty (1709–1738) Afsharids (1738–1747) Modern history Durrani Empire (1747–1826) Emirate (1826–1919) Kingdom (1919–1973) Republic (1973–1978) Democratic Republic (1978–1992) Islamic State (1992–1996) Islamic Emirate (1996–2001) Islamic Republic (2001–present) Afghan Civil War  (1979–present) Soviet war  (1979–1989) Civil War, first phase (1989–1992) Civil War, second phase (1992–1996) Civil War, third phase (1996–2001)  War in Afghanistan (2001–present)

Book ·  Category ·  Portal

Prehistory[link]

Excavations of prehistoric sites by archaeologists such as Louis Dupree and others suggest that the region around Kandahar is one of the oldest human settlements known so far.

...Early peasant farming villages came into existence in Afghanistan ca. 5000 B.C., or 7000 years ago. Deh Morasi Ghundai, the first prehistoric site to be excavated in Afghanistan, lies 27 km (17 mi.) southwest of Kandahar (Dupree, 1951). Another Bronze Age village mound site with multiroomed mud-brick buildings dating from the same period sits nearby at Said Qala (J. Shaffer, 1970). Second millennium B.C. Bronze Age pottery, copper and bronze horse trappings and stone seals were found in the lowermost levels in the nearby cave called Shamshir Ghar (Dupree, 1950). In the Seistan, southwest of these Kandahar sites, two teams of American archaeologists discovered sites relating to the 2nd millennium B.C. (G. Dales, University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, 1969, 1971; W, Trousdale, Smithsonian Institution, 1971 – 76). Stylistically the finds from Deh Morasi and Said Qala tie in with those of pre-Indus Valley sites and with those of comparable age on the Iranian Plateau and in Central Asia, indicating cultural contacts during this very early age...^[16]

—N. Dupree, 1971

Hellenistic era[link]

Kandahar was founded in 330 BC by Alexander the Great, near the site of the ancient city of Mundigak (established around 3000 BC). Previously, Mundigak served as the provincial capital of Arachosia and was ruled by the Achaemenid Empire. The main inhabitants of Arachosia were the Pactyans,^[17] an ancient Iranian tribe, who may be among the ancestors of today's Pashtuns. Kandahar was named Alexandria, a popular name given to many cities that Alexander found during his conquests.^[6]

The city has been a frequent target for conquest because of its strategic location in Southern Asia, controlling the main trade route linking the Indian subcontinent with the Middle East, Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.^[18] It later became part of the Indian Mauryan Empire under Chandragupta Maurya, after the departure of Alexander. The Mauryan emperor Ashoka erected a pillar there with a bilingual inscription in Greek and Aramaic.^[19] The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom occupied Kandahar after the Mauryans, but then lost the city to the Indo-Scythians.

Islamization and Mongol invasion[link]

A miniature from Padshahnama depicting the surrender of the Shi'a Safavid at what is now Old Kandahar in 1638 to the Mughal army of Shah Jahan commanded by Kilij Khan.

In the 7th century AD, Arab armies conquered the region with the new religion of Islam but were unable to succeed in fully converting the population. In 870 AD, Yaqub ibn Layth Saffari, a local ruler of the Saffarid dynasty conquered Kandahar and the rest of the nearby regions in the name of Islam.

...Arab armies carrying the banner of Islam came out of the west to defeat the Sasanians in 642 AD and then they marched with confidence to the east. On the western periphery of the Afghan area the princes of Herat and Seistan gave way to rule by Arab governors but in the east, in the mountains, cities submitted only to rise in revolt and the hastily converted returned to their old beliefs once the armies passed. The harshness and avariciousness of Arab rule produced such unrest, however, that once the waning power of the Caliphate became apparent, native rulers once again established themselves independent. Among these the Saffarids of Seistan shone briefly in the Afghan area. The fanatic founder of this dynasty, the coppersmith’s apprentice Yaqub ibn Layth Saffari, came forth from his capital at Zaranj in 870 AD and marched through Bost, Kandahar, Ghazni, Kabul, Bamiyan, Balkh and Herat, conquering in the name of Islam.^[16]

—N. Dupree, 1971

It is believed that the Zunbil dynasty, who were related to the Shahi dynasty of Kabul, were probably the rulers of the Kandahar region from the 7th century until the late 9th century AD.

The Zunbils ruled in the Kandahar area for nearly 250 years until the late 9th century AD.^[20]

—Anthony McNicoll

Kandahar was taken by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni in the 11th century followed by the Ghurids of Ghor. The region was invaded in the 13th century by Genghis Khan and his Mongol armies, who caused destruction but did not settle. It became part of the Timurid Empire from the 14th century to the 15th century, which was founded by Timur (Tamerlane). Pir Muhammad, a grandson of Tamerlane, held the seat of government in Kandahar from about 1383 until his death in 1407. Following his death, the city was ruled by other Timurid government officials. Kandahar was entrusted to the Arghuns in the late 15th century, who eventually achieved independence from the Timurids.

Tamerlane's descendant, Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire, annexed Kandahar in the 16th century. Babur's son, Humayun, lost it to the Shi'a Safavids of Persia. The Mughals gained he city in 1595 and resisted a Persian siege in 1605–1606. Humayun's son, Akbar, regained control of Kandahar in 1638 but lost the city permanently to the Safavid Persians during the 1649-53 Mughal–Safavid War.

Modern history[link]

Mirwais Hotak, known today as Afghanistan's George Washington,^[21] revolted against the Safavid rule and declared the Kandahar region an independent Afghan kingdom in 1709, which was later expanded by his son Mahmud to include Persia.

Mirwais Hotak, chief of the Ghilzai tribe, revolted in 1709 by killing Gurgin Khan, an ethnic Georgian and governor for the Shia Safavid Persians. After establishing the Hotaki dynasty in Kandahar, Mirwais and his army successfully defeated subsequent expeditions by Kay Khusraw and Rustam Khán. Mirwais resisted attempts by the Persian government who were seeking to convert the Afghans from Sunni to the Shia sect of Islam. He died of a natural death in November 1715 and was succeeded by his brother Abdul Aziz, but after being suspected of giving Kandahar's sovereignty back to the Persians he was killed by his nephew Mahmud Hotaki.^[22][23]

In 1722, Mahmud led an army of Afghans to the Safavid capital Isfahan and proclaimed himself King of Persia. The Hotaki dynasty was eventually removed from power by a new ruler, Nader Shah Afshar of Mashad in Khorasan. In 1738, Nader Shah invaded Afghanistan and destroyed the now Old Kandahar which was held by Hussain Hotaki and his Ghilzai tribes.^[24] In the meantime, Nader Shah freed Ahmad Khan (later Ahmad Shah Durrani) and his brother Zulfikar who were held prisoners by the Hotaki ruler. Before leaving southern Afghanistan for Delhi in India, Nader Shah laid out the foundation for a new town to be built next to the destroyed ancient city, naming it "Naderabad". His rule ended in June 1747 after being murdered by his Persian guards.^[25]

British and allied forces at Kandahar after the 1880 Battle of Kandahar, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The large defensive wall around the city was finally removed in the early 1930s by the order of King Nader Khan, the father of King Zahir Shah.

Ahmad Shah Durrani, chief of the Durrani tribe, gained control of Kandahar and made it the capital of his new Afghan Empire in October 1747. Previously, Ahmad Shah served as a military commander of Nader Shah Afshar. His empire included present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Khorasan and Kohistan provinces of Iran, along with Punjab in India. In October 1772, Ahmad Shah retired and died from a natural cause.^[26] A new city was laid out by Ahmad Shah and is dominated by his mausoleum, which is adjacent to the Friday Mosque in the center of the city. By 1776, his eldest son Timur Shah had transferred Afghanistan's main capital from Kandahar to Kabul, where the Durrani legacy continued.^[16]

In September 1826, Syed Ahmad Shaheed's followers arrived to Kandahar in search of volunteers to help them wage jihad against the Sikh invaders to what is now Pakistan. Led by Ranjit Singh, the Sikhs had captured several of Afghanistan's territories in the east, including what is now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Kashmir. More than 400 local Kandahar warriors assembled themselves for the jihad. Sayed Din Mohammad Kandharai was appointed as their leader.

British-led Indian forces from neighboring British India invaded the city in 1839, during the First Anglo-Afghan War, but withdrew in 1842. The British and Indian forces returned in 1878 during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. They emerged from the city in July 1880 to confront the forces of Ayub Khan, but were defeated at the Battle of Maiwand. They were again forced to withdraw a few years later, despite winning the Battle of Kandahar.

Kandahar remained peaceful for the next 100 years, except during 1929 when loyalists of Habibullah Kalakani (Bache Saqqaw) placed the fortified city on lock-down and began torturing its population. Nobody was allowed to enter or leave from within the city's tall defensive walls, and as a result of this many people suffered after running out of food supplies. This lasted until October 1929 when Nadir Khan and his Afghan army came to eliminate Kalakani, known as the Tajik bandit from the village of Kalakan in northern Kabul Province.

During Zahir Shah's rule, the city slowly began expanding by adding modern style streets and housing schemes. In the 1960s, during the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, Kandahar International Airport was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers next to the city. The U.S. also completed several other major projects in Kandahar and in other parts of southern Afghanistan. In the meantime, Soviet engineers were busy building major infrastructures in other parts of the country, such as Bagram Airfield and Kabul International Airport.

During the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan, Kandahar was tightly under pro-Communist government control and witnessed heavy fighting. Soviet-backed government troops surrounded the city and subjected it to heavy bombardment in which many civilians lost lives.^[27] Kandahar International Airport was used by the Soviet Army during their ten-year troop placement in the country. The city also became a battle ground for the US and Pakistani-backed mujahideen forces who waged a strong guerrilla warfare against the pro-Communist government of Afghanistan. After the Soviet withdrawal and the collapse of Najibullah's government in 1992, Kandahar fell to local mujahideen commander, Gul Agha Sherzai.

U.S. Army troops in 2009 passing by the starting point of the Army Ten-Miler run at their base next to Kandahar International Airport.

Members of the honor guard for the Afghan National Police at the Recruit Training Camp in Kandahar Province in February 2009.

In August 1994 the Taliban captured Kandahar and soon after the city was turned into their capital. The Taliban began cleaning the city from warlords and criminals who were sometimes also involved in bacha bazi. In December 1999, a hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814 plane by Pakistani militants loyal to Harkat-ul-Mujahideen landed at Kandahar International Airport and kept the passengers hostage as part of a demand to release 3 Pakistani militants from prison in India.

In October 2001, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the United States Navy began hitting targets inside the city by precision-guided cruise missiles that were fired from the Persian Gulf. These targets were the airport and buildings that were occupied by the Taliban, including Arab families who had arrived several years earlier and were residing in the area.^[28] About a month later, the Taliban began surrendering in mass numbers to a private militia that had been formed by Gul Agha Sherzai and Hamid Karzai.^[29] Kandahar once again fell into the hands of Sherzai, who had control over the area before the rise of the Taliban. He was transferred in 2003 and replaced by Yousef Pashtun until Asadullah Khalid took the post in 2005. The current Governor of the province is Toryalai Wesa. He was appointed by President Hamid Karzai in December 2008 after Rahmatullah Raufi's four month rule.

As of 2002, Kandahar International Airport is used by members of the United States armed forces and NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). NATO began training the newly-formed Afghan National Police and are now given the security responsibility of the city. The military of Afghanistan, backed by NATO forces, has gradually expanded its authority and presence throughout most of the country. The 205th Corps of the Afghan National Army is based at Kandahar and provides military assistance to the south of the country. The Canadian Forces maintain their military command headquarters at Kandahar, heading the Regional Command South of the NATO led International Security Assistance Force in Kandahar Province. The Taliban also have supporters inside the city reporting on events.^[30]

U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Toryalai Wesa, the Governor of Kanahar Province.

NATO forces expanded the Afghan police force for the prevention of a Taliban comeback in Kandahar, the militants' "spiritual birthplace" and a strategic key to ward off the Taliban insurgency, as a part of a larger effort that also aimed to deliver services such as electricity and clean drinking water that the Taliban could not provide – encouraging support for the government in a city that was once the Taliban's headquarters. The most significant battle between NATO troops and the Taliban lasted throughout the summer of 2006, culminating in Operation Medusa. The Taliban failed to defeat the Western troops in open warfare, which marked a turn in their tactics towards IED emplacement.^[31] In June 2008, it was reported that over 1,000 inmates had escaped from Kandahar detention facility (Sarposa Prison). In Spring 2010, the province and the city of Kandahar became a target of American operations following Operation Moshtarak in the neighboring Helmand province.^[32] In March 2010, U.S. and NATO commanders released details of plans for the biggest offensive of the war against the Taliban insurgency.^[33]