ethnic_group mohammed asif safi
Shah ( pronounced , " king ") is a title given to the emperors , kings , princes and lords of Iran ( historically also known as Persia ). It was also adopted by the kings of Shirvan ( a historical Iranian region in Transcaucasia ) namely the Shirvanshahs , the rulers and offspring of the Ottoman Empire ( in that context spelled as " eh "), Mughal emperors of the Indian Subcontinent , the Bengal Sultanate , as well as in Georgia and Afghanistan . In Iran ( Persia and Greater Persia ) the title was continuously used ; rather than King in the ___MASK5___ sense , each Persian ruler regarded himself as the " Šhanšh " ( King of Kings ) or Emperor of the Persian Empire . Mazar - i - Sharif or Mazar - e - Sharif ( Persian / Pashto :    ) is the fourth - largest city of Afghanistan , with a population of 693 , 000 ( 2015 ). It is the capital of Balkh province and is linked by highways with Kunduz in the east , Kabul in the southeast , Herat in the west and Uzbekistan in the north . Mazar - e Sharif , along with Herat , Jalalabad in the east and Kandahar in the south , makes Afghanistan an important strategic location in ___MASK38___ . The city also serves as one of the many tourist attractions because of its famous shrines as well as the Muslim and Hellenistic archeological sites . In 2006 , the discovery of new Hellenistic remains was announced . The North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO '), also called the North Atlantic Alliance , is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949 . The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party . Three NATO members are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and are officially nuclear - weapon states : the United States , ___MASK21___ and the ___MASK69___ . NATO ' s headquarters are located in Haren , Brussels , Belgium , where the Supreme Allied Commander also resides . Belgium is one of the 28 member states across North America and Europe , the newest of which , Albania and ___MASK31___ , joined in April 2009 . An additional 22 countries participate in NATO ' s Partnership for Peace program , with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programmes . The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70 % of the global total . Members ' defence spending is supposed to amount to 2 % of GDP . A president is the leader of a country or a division or part of a country , typically a republic , a democracy , or a dictatorship . The title " president " is sometimes used by extension for leaders of other groups , including corporate entities and social groups . Sardar Mohammed Daoud Khan or Daud Khan ( July 18 , 1909  April 28 , 1978 ) was the Prime Minister of Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963 , and later became the first President of Afghanistan . He overthrew the Musahiban monarchy of his first cousin Mohammed Zahir Shah and declared himself as the first President of Afghanistan from 1973 until his assassination in 1978 as a result of the Saur Revolution led by the People ' s Democratic Party of Afghanistan ( PDPA ). Daoud Khan was known for his progressive policies , his efforts for the improvement of women ' s rights and for initiating two five - year modernization plans which increased the labor force by about 50 percent . A corps ( plural " corps " ; via French , from the ___MASK72___ " corpus " " body ") is a military unit usually consisting of several divisions . Central ___MASK38___ or Middle ___MASK38___ is the core region of the Asian continent and stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east and from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the north . It is also colloquially referred to as " the ' stans " ( as the six countries generally considered to be within the region all have names ending with the Persian suffix "- stan ", meaning " land of ") and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent . Pashto (; " Pax  t " ), also known in older literature as Afghn or Pahn , is the South - Central Asian language of the Pashtuns . Its speakers are called Pashtuns or Pukhtuns and sometimes Afghans or Pathans . It is an Eastern Iranian language , belonging to the Indo - ___MASK5___ family . Pashto is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan , and it is the second - largest regional language of ___MASK97___ , mainly spoken in the west and northwest of the country . ___MASK97___ ' s Federally Administered Tribal Areas ( FATA ) are almost 100 % Pashto - speaking , while it is the majority language of the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the northern districts of Balochistan . Pashto is the main language among the Pashtun diaspora around the world . The total number of Pashto - speakers is estimated to be 45  60 million people worldwide . Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan , is a doubly landlocked country in Central ___MASK38___ . It is a unitary , constitutional , presidential republic , comprising twelve provinces , one autonomous republic and a capital city . Uzbekistan is bordered by five landlocked countries : Kazakhstan to the north ; Tajikistan to the southeast ; Kyrgyzstan to the northeast ; Afghanistan to the south ; and Turkmenistan to the southwest . The Afghan National Army ( ANA ) is the main branch of the Afghan Armed Forces , responsible for ground warfare . It is under the Ministry of Defense in Kabul and is being heavily assisted by the United States and NATO . The ANA is divided into six regional Corps , with the 201st in Kabul followed by the 203rd in Gardez , 205th in Kandahar , 207th in Herat , 209th in Mazar - i - Sharif and the 215th in Lashkar Gah . The current Chief of Staff of the Afghan National Army is General Qadam Shah Shahim . Gardz is the capital of the Paktia Province of Afghanistan . The population of the city was estimated to be ca . 10 , 000 in the 1979 census and was estimated to be 70 , 000 in 2008 . The population is overwhelmingly Pashtun . The city of Gardez is located at the junction between two important roads that cut through a huge alpine valley . Surrounded by the mountains and deserts of the ___MASK53___ Kush , which boil up from the valley floor to the north , east and west , it is the axis of commerce for a huge area of eastern Afghanistan and has been a strategic location for armies throughout the country  s long history of conflict . Observation posts built by Alexander the Great are still crumbling on the hilltops just outside the city limits . the city of Gardez has a population of 70 , 641 ( in 2015 ). it has 6 districts and a total land area of . The total number of dwellings in this city are 7 , 849 . South ___MASK38___ or Southern ___MASK38___ is a term used to represent the southern region of the Asian continent , which comprises the sub - Himalayan SAARC countries and , for some authorities , adjoining countries to the west and east . Topographically , it is dominated by the Indian Plate , which rises above sea level as Nepal and northern parts of India situated south of the Himalayas and the ___MASK53___ Kush . South ___MASK38___ is bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean and on land ( clockwise , from west ) by West ___MASK38___ , Central ___MASK38___ , East ___MASK38___ , and Southeast ___MASK38___ . ___MASK97___ ( or ), officially the Islamic Republic of ___MASK97___ , is a federal parliamentary republic in South ___MASK38___ on crossroads of Central ___MASK38___ and Western ___MASK38___ . It is the sixth - most populous country with a population exceeding 200 million people . It is the 36th largest country in the world in terms of area with an area covering . ___MASK97___ has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east , Afghanistan to the west , Iran to the southwest and China in the far northeast respectively . It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistan ' s narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north , and also shares a maritime border with Oman . China , officially the People ' s Republic of China ( PRC ), is a unitary sovereign state in East ___MASK38___ . With a population of over 1 . 381 billion , it is the world ' s most populous country . The state is governed by the Communist Party of China , and its capital is Beijing . It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces , five autonomous regions , four direct - controlled municipalities ( Beijing , Tianjin , Shanghai , and Chongqing ), and two mostly self - governing special administrative regions ( Hong Kong and Macau ), and claims sovereignty over Taiwan . The country ' s major urban areas include Shanghai , Guangzhou , Beijing , Chongqing , Shenzhen , Tianjin and Hong Kong . China is a great power and a major regional power within ___MASK38___ , and has been characterized as a potential superpower . An army ( from ___MASK72___ " arma " " arms , weapons " via Old French " armée ", " armed " ( feminine )) or ground force is a fighting force that fights primarily on land . In the broadest sense , it is the land - based military branch , service branch or armed service of a nation or state . It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps . Within a national military force , the word army may also mean a field army . They differ from army reserves who are activated only during such times as war or natural disasters . Democracy ("" literally " rule of the commoners "), in modern usage , is a system of government in which the citizens exercise power directly or elect representatives from among themselves to form a governing body , such as a parliament . Democracy is sometimes referred to as " rule of the majority ". Democracy was originally conceived in Classical ___MASK89___ , where political representatives were chosen by a jury from amongst the male citizens : rich and poor . Iran (, also , ; ' ), also known as Persia , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (' ), is a sovereign state in Western ___MASK38___ . It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia , the " de facto " Nagorno - Karabakh Republic , and Azerbaijan ; to the north by the Caspian Sea ; to the northeast by Turkmenistan ; to the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan ; to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman ; and to the west by Turkey and Iraq . Comprising a land area of , it is the second - largest country in the Middle East and the 18th - largest in the world . With 82 . 8 million inhabitants , Iran is the world ' s 17th - most - populous country . It is the only country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline . The country ' s central location in Eurasia and Western ___MASK38___ , and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz , make it of great geostrategic importance . Tehran is the country ' s capital and largest city , as well as its leading economic center . Afghanistan ( Pashto / Dari : , " Afnistn "), officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan , is a landlocked country located within South ___MASK38___ and Central ___MASK38___ . It has a population of approximately 32 million , making it the 42nd most populous country in the world . It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east ; Iran in the west ; Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan , and Tajikistan in the north ; and China in the far northeast . Its territory covers , making it the 41st largest country in the world . A nation ( from ___MASK72___ : " natio ", " people , tribe , kin , genus , class , flock ") is a large group or collective of people with common characteristics attributed to them  including language , traditions , " mores " ( customs ), " habitus " ( habits ), and ethnicity . By comparison , a nation is more impersonal , abstract , and overtly political than an ethnic group . It is a cultural - political community that has become conscious of its autonomy , unity , and particular interests . Tajikistan (, or ), officially the Republic of Tajikistan (" Çumhuriji Toçikiston "), is a mountainous , landlocked country in Central ___MASK38___ with an estimated 8 million people in 2013 , and an area of . It is bordered by Afghanistan to the south , Uzbekistan to the west , Kyrgyzstan to the north , and China to the east . Pakistan lies to the south , separated by the narrow Wakhan Corridor . Traditional homelands of Tajik people included present - day Tajikistan , Afghanistan and Uzbekistan . General Mohammed Asif Safi ( 1923 -- July 26 , 2009 ) ( Pashto :        ) was an Army General in the Afghan National Army during King Zahir Shah ' s rule in Afghanistan , and later during the 1970s era of President Mohammed Daoud Khan . General Asif Khan was supporter of a strong and unified military made up of all the ethnic groups in Afghanistan . Afghan ( Pashto also Persian :  ; see " etymology ") refers to someone or something from Afghanistan , in particular a citizen of that country . Prior to the rise of the nation as Afghanistan , it was used by Persian speakers and those influenced by the Persian language to denote the ___MASK83___ . In modern times , " Afghan " is rarely used as an ethnic term for the Pashtuns , but is rather used as the national demonym for all citizens of Afghanistan  Pashtuns , Tajiks , and also a large number of Hazaras , Uzbeks , Aimaqs , Turkmens , Balochs , Nuristanis , Pashayis , Pamiris , Arabs , and others . According to the " Encyclopædia Iranica ", the word Afghan ( afn ) in current political usage means any citizen of Afghanistan , regardless of their tribal or religious affiliation . According to the 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan , all Afghans are equal in rights and obligations before the law . The fourth article of the current Constitution of Afghanistan states that citizens of Afghanistan consist of Pashtuns , Tajiks , Hazara , Uzbek , Turkmen , Aymaq , Arab , Baluch , Pashayi , Nuristani , Qezelbash , Gujjars , Brahui , and members of other tribes . Old French (', ', ""; Modern French ) was the Gallo - Romance dialect continuum spoken from the 9th century to the 14th century . In the 14th century , these dialects came to be collectively known as the " langues d ' oïl ", contrasting with the " langue d ' oc " or Occitan language in the south of ___MASK21___ . The mid - 14th century is taken as the transitional period to Middle French , the language of the French Renaissance , specifically based on the dialect of the Île - de - ___MASK21___ region . Turkmenistan ( or ); formerly known as Turkmenia is a country in Central ___MASK38___ , bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest , Uzbekistan to the north and east , Afghanistan to the southeast , Iran to the south and southwest , and the Caspian Sea to the west . ___MASK72___ ( ___MASK72___ : ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo - European languages . The ___MASK72___ alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets .