Afghanistan

**Afghanistan** was a landlocked country in the Middle East. Its neighbors included Iran to the west; Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan to the north; and Pakistan and China to the east. ("Day 7: 12:00am-1:00am")

## History

During the late 1970s, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. The CIA provided covert military aid to resisting local tribes, including Taj Ali Kahlil's, whose chieftain was provided with shoulder-mounted missile launchers. (*Operation Hell Gate*) Veterans of the Soviet campaign included Anatoly Markov and Dmitri Gredenko, who served in the same unit. ("Day 6: 5:00pm-6:00pm")

During his time in the United States Army, Jack Bauer headed a Delta Force team in Afghanistan. Buchanan and Amy Seelaki also served on the team. (*Cold Warriors*)

David Emerson served two tours in Afghanistan. After he finished his military service, he returned as a private contractor.("Day 7: 11:00am-12:00pm")

John Quinn served a tour of duty in Afghanistan. He killed seven people using a McMillan Tac-50. His longest measure was 2,012 meters. ("Day 7: 10:00pm-11:00pm")

Jason Pillar had made a name for himself hunting high value targets behind enemy lines in Afghanistan. ("Day 8: 8:00am-9:00am")

### Day 2

Syed Ali was originally from Afghanistan, and set up several Second Wave terrorist training camps in the country. During Day 2, the NSA found evidence of these camps operating unimpeded in Afghanistan. David Palmer contacted their Prime Minister and threatened that if Second Wave succeeded in their nuclear attack then the US would be forced to retaliate against Afghanistan. The security forces then took four Second Wave members into custody for questioning, and intelligence agent Yusuf Auda raided Ali's safehouse. ("Day 2: 8:00am-9:00am")

Later, Palmer met with Afghan ambassador Shareef and intelligence officer Farhad Salim and agreed to an intelligence sharing deal between Afghanistan and the US. However, they were both killed in a helicopter crash set up by Roger Stanton, who did not trust them. Auda then flew to the United States to bring the evidence they found at Ali's safehouse to CTU Los Angeles. Forces loyal to America also located Ali's family, and held them at gunpoint in order to coerce Ali into giving up the location of a nuclear bomb. ("Day 2: 12:00pm-1:00pm", "7:00pm-8:00pm")

When Auda arrived at CTU, he handed over the Cyprus recording which implicated a high ranking Afghan official in the nuclear attack, as well as officials from two other Middle Eastern countries. Deputy Prime Minister Barghouti contacted Palmer to assure him that Ali was a criminal in their eyes, however, the United States went ahead with a planned invasion of Afghanistan as a response. Only when Jack Bauer managed to prove that the Cyprus recording was false was the strike called off and war averted. ("Day 2: 11:00pm-12:00am", "7:00am-8:00am")

### Day 9

As of Day 9, several years later, the United States and United Kingdom had deployed military forces in Afghanistan, including in Kajaki Province near Kandahar. The U.S. Air Force's 18th Reconnaissance Squadron operated unmanned drones in the region, one of which was hacked and used on soldiers by Derrick Yates in a successful test of the Defense override module. ("Day 9: 11:00am-12:00pm")

## Geography

 File:9x01 Afghanistan Map.jpg
**Regions**

* Kajaki Province

**Settlements**

* Bamian
* Chaghcharan
* Lashkar Gah
* Now Zad
* Qal`eh-ye Now
* Qalat
* Qarah Bagh
* Tarin Kowt

## Background information and notes

* The fact that Afghanistan was the home country of Season 2's terrorist cell Second Wave was never spoken in the dialogue. Instead, it was referred to only as "their country" or "our country", etc. The country was identified, however, on the secret surveillance photos handed to Shareef by Roger Stanton during Day 2: 12:00pm-1:00pm.

## Appearances

* **Season 2**
	+ "8:00am-9:00am"
	+ "9:00am-10:00am"
	+ "10:00am-11:00am"
	+ "11:00am-12:00pm"
	+ "12:00pm-1:00pm"
	+ "1:00pm-2:00pm"
	+ "2:00pm-3:00pm"
	+ "3:00pm-4:00pm"
	+ "4:00pm-5:00pm"
	+ "5:00pm-6:00pm"
	+ "6:00pm-7:00pm"
	+ "7:00pm-8:00pm"
	+ "8:00pm-9:00pm"
	+ "9:00pm-10:00pm"
	+ "10:00pm-11:00pm"
	+ "11:00pm-12:00am"
	+ "12:00am-1:00am"
	+ "1:00am-2:00am"
	+ "2:00am-3:00am"
	+ "3:00am-4:00am"
	+ "4:00am-5:00am"
	+ "5:00am-6:00am"
	+ "6:00am-7:00am"
	+ "7:00am-8:00am"