Ministry of Defense (Afghanistan) in the context of "Bagram Airfield"

Abdul Karim Mustaghni (Dari: عبدالکریم مستغنی, July 11, 1911 – January 13, 2004) was an Afghan scientist, military officer and politician. Mustaghni was Defense Minister of Afghanistan from 1973 to 1977. Mustaghni assisted Mohammed Daoud Khan in the 1973 bloodless coup against the monarchy of Mohammed Zahir Shah. Zahir and his ministers were aware of a possible coup plot, but Mustaghni, fully aware of the plans, misled them into believing that the coup would occur months later, allowing the coup to occur while Zahir and several of his key ministers were out of country.

Mustaghni was the son of Afghan poet Abdul Ali Mustaghni.

Colonel General Abdul Qadir Dagarwal (Pashto: عبدالقادر ډگروال Dari: عبد القادر دگروال, 1944 – April 22 2014), commonly known as Abdul Qadir, was an Afghan military officer and politician. He was a participant of the 1973 Afghan coup d'état that created the Republic of Afghanistan under President Mohammad Daoud Khan, and later directed the Afghan Air Force and Army Air Corps squadrons that attacked the Radio-TV station during the Saur Revolution.

He served as the acting head of state for three days when the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) took power and declared the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, before handing over power to PDPA leader Noor Mohammad Taraki. He later served two terms as Minister of Defense, the first as part of the Taraki government from April to August 1978, and the latter as part of the Babrak Karmal government from 1982 to 1986.

Ahmad Shah Massoud (2 September 1953 – 9 September 2001) was an Afghan military leader and politician. Known as the "Lion of Panjshir", he was the foremost commander of Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet occupation during the Soviet–Afghan War from 1979 to 1989. In the 1990s, he led the government's military wing against rival militias, and actively fought against the Taliban and their Al-Qaeda allies, from the time the regime rose to power in 1996, and until his assassination in 2001.

Massoud came from a Tajik Sunni Muslim background in the Panjshir Valley in northern Afghanistan. He began studying engineering at Polytechnical University of Kabul in the 1970s, where he became involved with religious anti-communist movements around Burhanuddin Rabbani, a leading Islamist. He participated in a failed uprising against Mohammed Daoud Khan's government. He later joined Rabbani's Jamiat-e Islami party. During the Soviet–Afghan War, he successfully resisted the Soviets from taking the Panjshir Valley. In 1992, he signed the Peshawar Accord, a peace and power-sharing agreement, in the post-communist Islamic State of Afghanistan. He was appointed the Minister of Defense as well as the government's main military commander. The accord was opposed by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and other warlords, initiating the Second Afghan Civil War.

Bagram Airfield-BAF, also known as Bagram Air Base (IATA: OAI, ICAO: OAIX), is located 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) southeast of Charikar in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. It is owned and operated by the country's Ministry of Defense. Sitting on the site of the ancient town of Bagram at an elevation of 1,492 metres (4,895 ft) above sea level, the air base has two concrete runways. The main one measures 3,602 by 46 metres (11,819 ft × 151 ft), capable of handling large military aircraft, including the Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy. The second runway measures 2,953 by 26 metres (9,687 ft × 85 ft). The air base also has at least three large hangars, a control tower, numerous support buildings, and various housing areas. There are also more than 13 hectares (32 acres) of ramp space and five aircraft dispersal areas, with over 110 revetments.

Bagram Airfield was built by the Soviet Union in the 1950s. Bagram Air Base was formerly the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan, staffed by the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing of the U.S. Air Force, along with rotating units of the U.S. and coalition forces. It was expanded and modernized by the Americans. There is also a hospital with 50 beds, three operating theatres and a modern dental clinic. Kabul International Airport is located approximately 40 km (25 mi) south of Bagram, connected by two separate roads.

Camp Shorabak (formerly Camp Bastion) is a former British Military airbase, located northwest of the city of Lashkargah in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The camp was situated in a remote desert area, far from population centres.

The camp was built by the British Army in 2005–06, and on 27 October 2014 the British Military handed over control to the Afghan Ministry of Defense. Between 2005 and October 2014 it was the logistics hub for International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operations in Helmand during the War in Afghanistan and Operation Herrick, and it was capable of accommodating over 32,000 people. It was the largest British overseas military camp built since the Second World War. The base was also home to troops from other states, including the United States and Denmark.