Timeline of Afghan history

October 9, 2004

• In Afghanistan's first-ever direct presidential election, Hamid Karzai was elected President of Afghanistan.

October 8, 2004

• In London, England, the trial began for former Afghan warlord Zardad Khan.

October 7, 2004

• In Moscow, Russia, Russia and France signed an agreement on military transits to Afghanistan via Russia. Signing for Russia was Sergei Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and for France, Jean Cadet , Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Russia.

October 6, 2004

• In Badakhshan province, Afghanistan, an assassination attempt on vice-presidential candidate Ahmed Zia Massood killed one person and injured five others, including the former provincial governor.

October 5, 2004

• Afghan interim president Hamid Karzai flew to Ghazni to speak to a crowd of about 5,000. While airborne, his helicopter was escorted by a U.S. AH-64 Apache and an A-10 Thunderbolt II.
• Yunus Qanuni held a presidential campaign rally before 2,000 people at a Kabul football stadium.
• In Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, Rashid Dostum held a presidential campaign rally.
• In Kandahar province, Afghanistan, seven policemen were killed when their vehicle drove over a landmine.

October 3, 2004

• Afghan interim president Hamid Karzai visited Germany, where he met Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and accepted a prize from the private organization Werkstatt Deutschland .
• Three members of a Japanese election monitoring team arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan.

October 2, 2004

• Afghan presidential candidate Yunus Qanuni held a rally in Kandahar.
• Karim Khalili , the running-mate of Afghan interim president Hamid Karzai, held a rally at the Herat airport.
• In Policharki district , Afghanistan, local intelligence agents backed by ISAF peacekeepers arrested 25 people allegedly linked to the Taliban.
• Rebels killed two guards at the home of a former senior official in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan.

October 1, 2004

• In Pakistan, hundreds of Afghan refugees, including women, lined up at special voting registration centers near Quetta and Peshawar.
• Former Afghan Education Minister Yunus Qanooni held a rally in Herat that drew several hundred people.
• Near the city of Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, Afghan National Army authorities arrested 60 rebels who were planning to derail the upcoming presidential election.