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Afghanistan has overcome the worst political crisis and security upheaval in 2014 through the first- ever successful transfer of power from one elected president to another albeit through a protracted electoral process that tested the will and strength of the battle-scarred Afghan people.
Also during the latter part of the year, the new Afghan unity government signed the much-anticipated bilateral security agreement (BSA) with Washington that would allow the continued military presence of the U.S. and NATO forces but on a limited scale in the country.
The Afghan presidential elections were held on April 5, and since none of the candidates secured more than 50 percent of the some 8 million votes, a runoff poll was conducted between leading candidates -- Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and his challenger Abdullah Abdullah--on June 14.
However, the result of the allegedly fraud-marred elections announced on Sept. 21 that declared Ghani as winner was disputed by Abdullah as unfair. This eventually brought the conflict-ridden country to its worst political crisis.
To rescue the country from plunging into the abyss, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Kabul at least two times and struck a deal under which both Ghani and Abdullah agreed to form a national unity government with former as president and later as chief executive, a newly created post that is equal to the post of prime minister.
In addition to facing political and security challenges, alleged rampant corruption and unchecked poppy cultivation have once again placed Afghanistan among the most corrupt nations and top drug-producing countries in 2014.
In 2014, Afghanistan was also struck by two major natural disasters -- a landslide which had claimed more than 300 lives in the northeast Badakhshan province and a flashflood that left more than 100 dead and hundreds of houses washed away in the northern Baghlan province.
As expected, thousands of Afghans affected by the catastrophes have accused the government of mismanagement and criminal neglect.
President Ghani has vowed to give the Afghans a better government that they deserve, revive the economy and put in place an effective security apparatus that would be able to defeat the Taliban.
It was this overarching need to win against the Taliban that Ghani's first order of priority was to mend relations with the United States and allied nations which were strained during the latter part of former President Hamid Karzai's rule.
Ghani signed the BSA with Washington and a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with NATO. The two pacts would allow the U.S.-led NATO military alliance to keep some 13,000 of their forces in Afghanistan beyond 2014.
Karzai had refused to sign the contentious BSA with United States even after the 2,500 Afghan delegates in a grand assembly in November 2013 had urged Karzai to sign it. His refusal brought Kabul-Washington relations to its lowest level before he left office.
In a bid to engage the Taliban in a peace dialogue and to end the decades-old militancy in the country, President Ghani has described Taliban militants as part of the political opposition. He called on them to stop fighting and join the political mainstream.
During his state visits to Saudi Arabia, China and Pakistan, Ghani also sought their support in bolstering Afghan peace process and bringing about stability and prosperity in his strife-torn country.
However, the Taliban militants, who have termed the U.S.-led NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) withdrawal from Afghanistan as "defeat of occupying forces," have spurned the offer for talks, vowing to continue its jihad or holy war until all foreign forces would be expelled from the country.
The combat mission of the U.S.-led NATO troops in Afghanistan ends by Dec. 31, 2014, forcing the Afghan national security forces to take primary responsibility for the security the country from Jan. 1, 2015.
Foreign ministers of NATO-member said at their conference in Brussels and donor -nations at London Conference on Afghanistan early this month announced their support to Afghanistan through what they termed as "transformation decade" that spans from January 2015 to 2024.
The ISAF Joint Command (IJC), in a ceremony held here in Kabul on Dec. 8, officially ended its 13-year combat mission against Taliban and other militant groups in Afghanistan.
Speaking at the ceremony, the U.S. commander of NATO-led ISAF troops, General John F. Campbell, said that the ceremony "casing of colors" symbolizes the end of combat mission and shifting NATO- led forces role to training and supporting the Afghan security from Jan. 1, 2015.
"ISAF is transitioning to the NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission which will focus on training, advising and assisting Afghan Security Institutions and ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces) at the ministerial, institutional, and operational levels. The RS mission begins Jan. 1, 2015," an ISAF statement released here on Dec. 8 said.
Looking forward with optimism, Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi at a joint press conference with NATO's civilian spokesman Christopher Chambers said on Dec. 9 that " Afghan national security forces are capable enough to take security responsibility of Afghanistan from Jan. 1, 2015" and provide security to the whole nation.
