War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)

The War in Afghanistan is a coalition conflict which began on October 7, 2001, as the US military's Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) that was launched, along with the British military , in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US . The UK has, since 2002, led its own military operation, Operation Herrick , as part of the same war in Afghanistan . The character of the war evolved from a violent struggle against Al-Qaeda and its Taliban supporters to a complex counterinsurgency effort. June 7, 2010, marked the 104th month of US military engagement in Afghanistan, making it the longest war in the history of the United States (American involvement in the Vietnam War lasted 103 months). The first phase of the war was the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when the United States launched Operation Enduring Freedom, to remove the safe haven to Al-Qaeda and its use of the Afghan territory as a base of operations for terrorist activities . In that first phase, U.S. and coalition forces, working with the Afghan opposition forces of the Northern Alliance , quickly ousted the Taliban regime. During the following Karzai administration , the character of the war shifted to an effort aimed at smothering insurgency, in which the insurgents preferred not to directly confront the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops, but blended into the local population and mainly used improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and suicide bombings . The stated aim of the invasion was to find Osama bin Laden and other high-ranking Al-Qaeda members to be put on trial, to destroy the whole organization of Al-Qaeda, and to remove the Taliban regime which supported and gave safe harbor to Al-Qaeda. The Bush administration stated that, as policy , it would not distinguish between terrorist organizations and nations or governments that harbor them. The United Nations did not authorize the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan. The second operation is the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which was established by the UN Security Council at the end of December 2001 to secure Kabul and the surrounding areas. NATO assumed control of ISAF in 2003. By July 23, 2009, ISAF had around 64,500 troops from 42 countries, with NATO members providing the core of the force. The NATO commitment is particularly important to the United States because it gives international legitimacy to the war. The United States has approximately 29,950 troops in ISAF. The US and UK led the aerial bombing, in support of ground forces supplied primarily by the Afghan Northern Alliance . In 2002, American , British and Canadian infantry were committed, along with special forces from several allied nations, including Australia . Later, NATO troops were added. The initial attack removed the Taliban from power, but Taliban forces have since regained some strength. Since 2006, Afghanistan has seen threats to its stability from increased Taliban-led insurgent activity, record-high levels of illegal drug production , and a fragile government with limited control outside of Kabul . By the end of 2008, the Taliban had severed any remaining ties with al-Qaeda. According to senior U.S. military intelligence officials, there are perhaps fewer than 100 members of Al-Qaeda remaining in Afghanistan. The Taliban can sustain itself indefinitely, according to a December 2009 briefing by the top U.S. intelligence officer in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama announced that he would escalate U.S. military involvement by deploying an additional 30,000 soldiers over a period of six months. He also proposed to begin troop withdrawals 18 months from that date. The following day, the American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. McChrystal , cautioned that the timeline was flexible and “is not an absolute” and Defense Secretary Robert Gates , when asked by a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee if it is possible that no soldiers would be withdrawn in July 2011, responded, "The president, as commander in chief, always has the option to adjust his decisions." On January 26, 2010, at the International Conference on Afghanistan in London , which brought together some 70 countries and organizations, Afghan President Hamid Karzai told world leaders that he intended to reach out to the top echelons of the Taliban within a few weeks with a peace initiative. Karzai set the framework for dialogue with Taliban leaders when he called on the group's leadership to take part in a "loya jirga "—or large assembly of elders—to initiate peace talks. German President Horst Köhler resigned on May 31, 2010 over his remarks that German troops serving in Afghanistan and other regions were deployed to protect German economic interests. Forces in Afghanistan - Updated July 15, 2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page ). "Moins de 50 combattants d'al-Qaida en Afghanistan" . slate.fr . Al Qaeda's training adapts to drone attacks. Council on Foreign relations . Op Herrick casualty and fatality tables. The Canadian Press. 2009/02/06 Australian wounded by insurgent gunfire. The China Post. 5 July 2007 . Afghanistan: and the troubled future of unconventional warfare By Hy S. The New York Times . "Obama to announce war strategy" Associated Press. "Obama details Afghan war plan, troop increases" Associated Press. The New York Times (global edition).

The war in Afghanistan is the period in which the United States invaded the country after the September 11 attacks , supported initially by close allies, and eventually by the wider North Atlantic Treaty Organization , beginning in 2003. The conflict is also known as the U.S. war in Afghanistan . It followed the Afghan Civil War's 1996–2001 phase . Its public aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda , and to deny it a safe base of operations in Afghanistan by removing the Taliban from power. Key allies supported the U.S. from the start, including the United Kingdom. In August 2003, NATO became involved as an alliance, taking the helm of the International Security Assistance Force . On 28 December 2014, NATO formally ended combat operations in Afghanistan and transferred full security responsibility to the Afghan government, via a ceremony in Kabul . Bush demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden and expel al-Qaeda, bin Laden had already been wanted by the U.N. since 1999. The Taliban declined to extradite him unless given what they deemed convincing evidence of his involvement in the 9/11 attacks and ignored demands to shut down terrorist bases and hand over other terrorist suspects apart from bin Laden. The request was dismissed by the U.S. as a meaningless delaying tactic and it launched Operation Enduring Freedom on 7 October 2001 with the United Kingdom . The two were later joined by other forces, including the Northern Alliance . The U.S. and its allies drove the Taliban from power and built military bases near major cities across the country. Most al-Qaeda and Taliban were not captured, escaping to neighboring Pakistan or retreating to rural or remote mountainous regions. In December 2001, the United Nations Security Council established the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), to assist the Afghan interim authorities with securing Kabul. At the Bonn Conference in December 2001, Hamid Karzai was selected to head the Afghan Interim Administration , which after a 2002 loya jirga in Kabul became the Afghan Transitional Administration . In the popular elections of 2004 , Karzai was elected president of the country, now named the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan . In 2003, NATO assumed leadership of ISAF, with troops from 43 countries. NATO members provided the core of the force. One portion of U.S. forces in Afghanistan operated under NATO command; the rest remained under direct U.S. command. Taliban leader Mullah Omar reorganized the movement, and in 2003, launched an insurgency against the government and ISAF. Though vastly outgunned and outnumbered, the Taliban insurgents, most notably the Haqqani Network and Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin , have waged asymmetric warfare with guerilla raids and ambushes in the countryside, suicide attacks against urban targets and turncoat killings against coalition forces. The Taliban exploited weaknesses in the Afghan government, among the most corrupt in the world , to reassert influence across rural areas of southern and eastern Afghanistan. ISAF responded in 2006 by increasing troops for counterinsurgency operations to " clear and hold " villages and " nation building " projects to " win hearts and minds ". While ISAF continued to battle the Taliban insurgency, fighting crossed into neighboring North-West Pakistan . In 2004, the Pakistani Army began to clash with local tribes hosting al-Qaeda and Taliban militants. The US military launched drone attacks in Pakistan to kill insurgent leaders. This resulted in the start of an insurgency in Waziristan in 2007. In May 2012, NATO leaders endorsed an exit strategy for withdrawing their forces. UN-backed peace talks have since taken place between the Afghan government and the Taliban. In May 2014, the United States announced that its combat operations would end in 2014, leaving just a small residual force in the country until the end of 2016. As of 2015, tens of thousands of people have been killed in the war. Over 4,000 ISAF soldiers and civilian contractors as well as over 15,000 Afghan national security forces members have been killed. In October 2014, British forces handed over the last bases in Helmand to the Afghan military, officially ending their combat operations in the war. The Long War Journal . Time for some new U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan" . The Huffington Post . 21 October 2012 . "Sirajuddin Haqqani dares US to attack N Waziristan, by Reuters, Published: September 24, 2011" . The New York Times . EDT Number of Afghanistan UK Military and Civilian casualties (7 October 2001 to 30 November 2014) "Over 2,000 Canadians were wounded in Afghan mission: report" . The New York Times . Council on Foreign Relations. 2014 . "After the September Eleventh Terrorist attacks on America, "It's time for war, Bush and Blair tell Taliban – We're ready to go in – PM|Planes shot at over Kabul" " . The New York Times . Afghanistan: and the troubled future of unconventional warfare By Hy S. Center for Strategic and International Studies .

The continued list includes nations who have contributed fewer than 200 troops as of May 2017. The War in Afghanistan followed the United States invasion of Afghanistan of 7 October 2001, when the United States of America and its allies successfully drove the Taliban from power in order to deny al-Qaeda a safe base of operations in Afghanistan . Since the initial objectives were completed, a coalition of over 40 countries (including all NATO members) formed a security mission in the country called International Security Assistance Force (ISAF, succeeded by the Resolute Support Mission (RS) in 2014), of which certain members were involved in military combat allied with Afghanistan's government. The war has afterwards mostly consisted of Taliban insurgents fighting against the Afghan Armed Forces and allied forces; the majority of ISAF/RS soldiers and personnel are American . The war is code named by the US as Operation Enduring Freedom (2001–14) and Operation Freedom's Sentinel (2015–present); it is the longest war in US history . Bush claimed was carried out by the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization led by Osama bin Laden who was living or hiding in Afghanistan and had already been wanted since the 1998 United States embassy bombings , President Bush demanded that the Taliban, who were de facto ruling the country, hand over bin Laden. The Taliban declined to extradite him unless they were provided clear evidence of his involvement in the attacks, which the US refused to provide and dismissed as a delaying tactic and then on 7 October 2001 launched Operation Enduring Freedom with the United Kingdom. To justify the War, the Bush administration claimed that Afghanistan only had "selective sovereignty", and that intervention was necessary because the Taliban threatened the sovereignty of other states. The two were later joined by other forces, including the Northern Alliance – the Afghan opposition which had been fighting the Taliban in the ongoing civil war since 1996 . By December 2001, the Taliban and their al-Qaeda allies were mostly defeated in the country, and at the Bonn Conference new Afghan interim authorities (mostly from the Northern Alliance) elected Hamid Karzai to head the Afghan Interim Administration . The United Nations Security Council established the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to assist the new authority with securing Kabul , which after a 2002 loya jirga (grand assembly) became the Afghan Transitional Administration . A nationwide rebuilding effort was also made following the end of the totalitarian Taliban regime. In the popular elections of 2004 , Karzai was elected president of the country, now named the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan . NATO became involved in ISAF in August 2003, and later that year assumed leadership of it. At this stage, ISAF included troops from 43 countries with NATO members providing the majority of the force. One portion of US forces in Afghanistan operated under NATO command; the rest remained under direct US command. Following defeat in the initial invasion, the Taliban was reorganized by its leader Mullah Omar , and launched an insurgency against the Afghan government and ISAF in 2003. Though outgunned and outnumbered, insurgents from the Taliban (and its ally Haqqani Network )—and to a lesser extent Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin and other groups—waged asymmetric warfare with guerrilla raids and ambushes in the countryside, suicide attacks against urban targets, and turncoat killings against coalition forces. The Taliban exploited weaknesses in the Afghan government to reassert influence across rural areas of southern and eastern Afghanistan. From 2006 the Taliban made significant gains and showed an increased willingness to commit atrocities against civilians – ISAF responded by increasing troops for counter-insurgency operations to " clear and hold " villages. Violence sharply escalated from 2007 to 2009. Troop numbers began to surge in 2009 and continued to increase through 2011 when roughly 140,000 foreign troops operated under ISAF and US command in Afghanistan. Of these 100,000 were from the US. NATO leaders in 2012 commended an exit strategy for withdrawing their forces, and later the United States announced that its major combat operations would end in December 2014, leaving a residual force in the country. In October 2014, British forces handed over the last bases in Helmand to the Afghan military , officially ending their combat operations in the war. On 28 December 2014, NATO formally ended ISAF combat operations in Afghanistan and officially transferred full security responsibility to the Afghan government. The NATO-led Operation Resolute Support was formed the same day as a successor to ISAF. At the beginning of Donald Trump 's presidency in early 2017, there were fewer than 9,000 American troops in Afghanistan. By early summer 2017, troop levels increased by about 50%; there were no formal plans to withdraw. In August 2019, the Taliban planned to negotiate with the US to reduce troop levels back to where they had been when Trump took office, but Trump canceled the negotiations after a Taliban attack. The Taliban remains by far the largest single group fighting against the Afghan government and foreign troops. On 29 February 2020, the United States and the Taliban signed a conditional peace deal in Doha, Qatar, which requires that U.S. troops to withdraw from Afghanistan within 14 months so long as the Taliban cooperates with the terms of the agreement. Over 100,000 people have been killed in the war, including more than 4,000 ISAF soldiers and civilian contractors , more than 62,000 Afghan national security forces , 31,000 civilians and even more Taliban. " The Osama bin Laden I Know , 2006 "ISAF's mission in Afghanistan (2001–2014)" . The New York Times . The group had recently aligned itself with the government, and fighters were sent to Niazi as part of an uprising force to secure a number of Herat districts. The Long War Journal . The New York Times . The Hezb-e-islami Split , David C. Isby, June 2, 2004 "Taliban storm Kunduz city" . The Long War Journal . The Long War Journal . 24 August 2015 . Voice of America . 25 October 2016 . London School of Economics . International Institute for Strategic Studies . Politico and Axel Springer AG . The New York Times . Government of France through France Médias Monde . The New York Times . The Express Tribune . 29 July 2015 . The New York Times . The New York Times . Afghanistan after the Western Drawdown . "Final weeks of fighting among deadliest for Afghan security forces, former official says: 4,000 dead and 1,000 missing" . The Washington Post . 30 December 2021 . Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan . United Kingdom: House of Commons . The Costs of War . Enduring the Freedom: A Rogue Historian in Afghanistan . Humanitarian intervention, the war on terror and the future of Afghanistan". "After the September Eleventh Terrorist attacks on America, "It's time for war, Bush and Blair tell Taliban – We're ready to go in – PM|Planes shot at over Kabul" " . The New York Times . Afghanistan: and the troubled future of unconventional warfare By Hy S. Council on Foreign Relations . The New York Times . There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).

Conflict between NATO Western forces and the Taliban This article is about the American war in Afghanistan. The continued list includes nations who have contributed fewer than 200 troops as of May 2017. The War in Afghanistan was an armed conflict from 2001 to 2021. It began when an international military coalition led by the United States launched an invasion of Afghanistan , toppling the Taliban -ruled Islamic Emirate and establishing the internationally recognized Islamic Republic three years later. The conflict ultimately ended with the 2021 Taliban offensive , which overthrew the Islamic Republic, and re-established the Islamic Emirate. It was the longest war in the military history of the United States , surpassing the length of the Vietnam War (1955–1975) by approximately 6 months. Following the September 11 attacks , President George W. Bush demanded that the Taliban immediately extradite al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to the United States; the Taliban refused to do so without evidence of Bin Laden's involvement. The US declared Operation Enduring Freedom , as part of the earlier-declared war on terror . Afghanistan was invaded and the Taliban and its allies were soon expelled from major population centers by the US-led forces, supporting the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance ; however, Bin Laden relocated to neighboring Pakistan . The US-led coalition remained in Afghanistan, forming a security mission (ISAF)—sanctioned by the United Nations —with the goal of creating a new democratic authority in the country that would prevent the Taliban from returning to power. A new Afghan Interim Administration was established, and international rebuilding efforts were launched. By 2003, the Taliban had reorganized under their founder, Mullah Omar , and began a widespread insurgency against the new Afghan government and coalition forces. Insurgents from the Taliban and other Islamist groups waged asymmetric warfare , fighting with guerrilla warfare in the countryside, suicide attacks against urban targets, and reprisals against perceived Afghan collaborators. By 2007, large parts of Afghanistan had been retaken by the Taliban. In response, the coalition sent a major influx of troops for counter-insurgency operations , with a " clear and hold " strategy for villages and towns; this influx peaked in 2011, when roughly 140,000 foreign troops were operating under ISAF command across Afghanistan. A US covert operation in neighboring Pakistan led to the killing of Osama bin Laden in May 2011, and NATO leaders began planning an exit strategy from Afghanistan. On 28 December 2014, NATO formally ended ISAF combat operations in Afghanistan and officially transferred full security responsibility to the Afghan government. Unable to eliminate the Taliban through military means, coalition forces (and separately, the Afghan government led by Ashraf Ghani ) turned to diplomacy to end the conflict. These efforts culminated in the US–Taliban deal in February 2020, which stipulated the withdrawal of all US troops from Afghanistan by 2021. In exchange, the Taliban pledged to prevent any militant group from staging attacks from Afghan territory against the US and its allies. However, the Afghan government was not a party to the deal and rejected its terms. Coinciding with the withdrawal of troops, the Taliban launched a broad offensive throughout the summer of 2021, successfully reestablishing their control over Afghanistan, including the capital city of Kabul on 15 August . On the same day, the last president of the Islamic Republic, Ashraf Ghani, fled the country; the Taliban declared victory and the war was formally brought to a close. By 30 August, the last American military aircraft departed from Afghanistan , ending the protracted US-led military presence in the country. Overall, the war killed an estimated 176,000–212,000+ people, including 46,319 civilians. While more than 5.7 million former refugees returned to Afghanistan after the 2001 invasion, by the time the Taliban returned to power in 2021, 2.6 million Afghans remained refugees , while another 4 million were internally displaced . " The Osama bin Laden I Know , 2006 "ISAF's mission in Afghanistan (2001–2014)" . The New York Times . The group had recently aligned itself with the government, and fighters were sent to Niazi as part of an uprising force to secure a number of Herat districts. The Long War Journal . The New York Times . The Hezb-e-islami Split , David C. Isby, June 2, 2004 "Taliban storm Kunduz city" . The Long War Journal . The Long War Journal . 24 August 2015 . Voice of America . 25 October 2016 . London School of Economics . International Institute for Strategic Studies . Politico and Axel Springer AG . The New York Times . Government of France through France Médias Monde . The New York Times . The Express Tribune . 29 July 2015 . The New York Times . The New York Times . Afghanistan after the Western Drawdown . "Final weeks of fighting among deadliest for Afghan security forces, former official says: 4,000 dead and 1,000 missing" . The Washington Post . 30 December 2021 . Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan . United Kingdom: House of Commons . The Costs of War . "U.S. signs peace deal with Taliban agreeing to full withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan" . The New York Times . The Costs of War . There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).

Armed conflict between NATO countries and Afghanistan This article is about the American war in Afghanistan. The continued list includes nations who have contributed fewer than 200 troops as of May 2017. The war in Afghanistan was a prolonged armed conflict lasting from 2001 to 2021. It began with the invasion by a United States–led coalition under the name Operation Enduring Freedom in response to the September 11 attacks carried out by al-Qaeda . The Taliban and its allies were quickly expelled from major population centers by US-led forces supporting the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance , thus toppling the Taliban -ruled Islamic Emirate . Three years later the US-sponsored Islamic Republic was established, but by then the Taliban had reorganized under their founder, Mullah Omar , and began a widespread insurgency against the new Afghan government and coalition forces. The conflict finally ended decades later as the 2021 Taliban offensive reestablished the Islamic Emirate. It was the longest war in United States military history , surpassing the Vietnam War by six months. Following the September 11 attacks, masterminded by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden , US President George W. Bush demanded that the Taliban immediately extradite him to the United States; the Taliban refused. After expelling the Taliban and their allies, the US-led coalition remained in Afghanistan, forming a security mission (ISAF)—sanctioned by the United Nations —with the goal of creating a new democratic authority in the country that would prevent the Taliban from returning to power. A new Afghan Interim Administration was established, and international rebuilding efforts were launched. By 2003, the Taliban had reorganized under their founder, Mullah Omar , and began a widespread insurgency against the new Afghan government and coalition forces. Insurgents from the Taliban and other Islamist groups waged asymmetric warfare , fighting with guerrilla warfare in the countryside, suicide attacks against urban targets, and reprisals against perceived Afghan collaborators. By 2007, large parts of Afghanistan had been retaken by the Taliban. In response, the coalition sent a major influx of troops for counter-insurgency operations , with a " clear and hold " strategy for villages and towns; this influx peaked in 2011, when roughly 140,000 foreign troops were operating under ISAF command across Afghanistan. A US covert operation in neighboring Pakistan led to the killing of Osama bin Laden in May 2011, and NATO leaders began planning an exit strategy from Afghanistan. On 28 December 2014, NATO formally ended ISAF combat operations in Afghanistan and officially transferred full security responsibility to the Afghan government. Unable to eliminate the Taliban through military means, coalition forces (and separately, the Afghan government led by Ashraf Ghani ) turned to diplomacy to end the conflict. These efforts culminated in the United States–Taliban deal in February 2020, which stipulated the withdrawal of all US troops from Afghanistan by 2021. In exchange, the Taliban pledged to prevent any militant group from staging attacks from Afghan territory against the US and its allies. However, the Afghan government was not a party to the deal and rejected its terms. Coinciding with the withdrawal of troops, the Taliban launched a broad offensive throughout the summer of 2021, successfully reestablishing their control over Afghanistan, including the capital city of Kabul on 15 August . On the same day, the last president of the Islamic Republic, Ashraf Ghani, fled the country; the Taliban declared victory and the war was formally brought to a close. By 30 August, the last American military aircraft departed from Afghanistan , ending the protracted US-led military presence in the country. Overall, the war killed an estimated 176,000–212,000+ people, including 46,319 civilians. In addition, 66,650 people were killed in the related War in North-West Pakistan . While more than 5.7 million former refugees returned to Afghanistan after the 2001 invasion, by the time the Taliban returned to power in 2021, 2.6 million Afghans remained refugees , while another 4 million were internally displaced . " The Osama bin Laden I Know , 2006 "ISAF's mission in Afghanistan (2001–2014)" . The New York Times . The group had recently aligned itself with the government, and fighters were sent to Niazi as part of an uprising force to secure a number of Herat districts. The Long War Journal . The New York Times . The Hezb-e-islami Split , David C. Isby, June 2, 2004 "Taliban storm Kunduz city" . The Long War Journal . The Long War Journal . 24 August 2015 . Voice of America . 25 October 2016 . London School of Economics . International Institute for Strategic Studies . Politico and Axel Springer AG . The New York Times . Government of France through France Médias Monde . The New York Times . The Express Tribune . 29 July 2015 . The New York Times . The New York Times . Afghanistan after the Western Drawdown . "Final weeks of fighting among deadliest for Afghan security forces, former official says: 4,000 dead and 1,000 missing" . The Washington Post . 30 December 2021 . Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan . United Kingdom: House of Commons . The Costs of War . "U.S. signs peace deal with Taliban agreeing to full withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan" . The New York Times . The Costs of War . There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ).