{{Infobox military conflict , partof = the

War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) The War in Afghanistan was an armed conflict that 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 r ...

and the Afghanistan conflict , image = 2021 Taliban Offensive.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Map of the

2021 Taliban offensive A military offensive by the Taliban insurgent group and other allied militants led to the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan based in Kabul and marked the end of the nearly 20-year-old War in Afghanistan, that had begun following the ...

. , date = 17 December 2001 – 15 August 2021
({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=12, day1=17, year1=2001, month2=8, day2=15, year2=2021) , place = Islamic Republic of Afghanistan , result = Taliban victory * Coalition failure to quell the insurgency * Fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan * Reestablishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan , combatant1 = {{flagcountry, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan * Afghan National Security Forces {{collapsible list , bullets= yes , title= {{flagicon image, Flag of the Resolute Support Mission.svg RS (2015 onwards){{cite web, url=http://www.rs.nato.int/troop-numbers-and-contributions/index.php, title=News – Resolute Support Mission, access-date=17 July 2015, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://archive.today/20150228192832/http://www.rs.nato.int/troop-numbers-and-contributions/index.php, archive-date=28 February 2015 , {{flag, Luxembourg , {{flag, Slovenia , {{flag, New Zealand , {{flag, Greece , {{flag, Austria , {{flag, Ukraine , {{flag, Sweden , {{flag, Montenegro , {{flag, Latvia , {{flag, Estonia , {{flag, North Macedonia , {{flag, Lithuania , {{flag, Slovakia , {{flag, Norway , {{flag, Finland , {{flag, Bosnia and Herzegovina , {{flag, Belgium , {{flag, Hungary , {{flag, Albania , {{flag, Azerbaijan , {{flag, Armenia , {{flag, Denmark , {{flag, Bulgaria , {{flag, Netherlands , {{flag, Portugal , {{flag, Mongolia , {{flag, Poland , {{flag, Australia , {{flag, Croatia , {{flag, Czech Republic , {{flag, Georgia (IPAP) , {{flag, Germany , {{flag, Italy , {{flag, Romania , {{flag, Spain , {{flag, Turkey , {{flag, United Kingdom , {{flag, United States {{reflist, group=fn Allied militias * {{flagicon image, Flag of Jihad.svg High Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (allegedly since 2015){{Cite web, url=https://ctc.usma.edu/red-red-analyzing-afghanistans-intra-insurgency-violence/ , title=Red on Red: Analyzing Afghanistan's Intra-Insurgency Violence , author=Matthew DuPée , work=

Combating Terrorism Center The Combating Terrorism Center is an academic institution at the United States Military Academy (USMA) in West Point, New York that provides education, research and policy analysis in the specialty areas of terrorism, counterterrorism, homelan ...

, date=January 2018 , access-date=18 February 2018{{cite web , title=Local Officials Criticized for Silence on Shindand Strike , url=https://tolonews.com/afghanistan/local-officials-criticized-silence-shindand-strike , website=TOLOnews , language=en , date=11 January 2020 * {{flagicon image, Flag of Jamiat-e Islami.svg

Jamiat-e Islami Jamayat-E-Islami (also rendered as Jamiat-e-Islami and Jamiati Islami; fa, جمعیت اسلامی افغانستان, lit=Islamic Society), sometimes shortened to Jamiat, is a predominantly Tajik political party in Afghanistan. It was origi ...

{{cite web, title=Afghanistan's warlord vice-president spoiling for a fight with the Taliban, url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/04/afghan-vice-president-militia-taliban-general-dostum, website=The Guardian, date=4 August 2015, access-date=15 August 2015 * {{flagicon image} Junbish-i-Milli * {{flagicon image, flag of Hezbe Wahdat.svg

Hezbe Wahdat Hezb-e Wahdat-e Islami Afghanistan ( prs, حزب وحدت اسلامی افغانستان, "the Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan"), shortened to Hezbe Wahdat (, "the Unity Party"), is an Afghan political party founded in 1989. Like most contem ...

---- Formerly: {{collapsible list , bullets= yes , title= {{flagicon image, Flag of the International Security Assistance Force.svg

ISAF ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , command ...

(2001–2014) , {{flag, Albania , {{flag, Armenia ( IPAP) , {{flag, Australia ( GP) , {{flag, Austria ( PfP) , {{flag, Azerbaijan ( PfP) , {{flag, Bahrain ( ICI) , {{flag, Belgium , {{flag, Bosnia and Herzegovina ( IPAP) , {{flag, Bulgaria{{refn, group=fn, name=MCN, Major contributing nations with more than 200 troops as of May 2015 , {{flag, Canada , {{flag, Croatia , {{flag, Czech Republic , {{flag, Denmark , {{flag, El Salvador , {{flag, Estonia , {{flag, Finland ( PfP) , {{flag, France, 1974 , {{flag, Georgia{{refn, group=fn, name=MCN ( IPAP) , {{flag, Germany{{refn, group=fn, name=MCN , {{flag, Greece , {{flag, Hungary , {{flag, Iceland , {{flag, Ireland ( PfP) , {{flag, Italy{{refn, group=fn, name=MCN , {{flag, Jordan{{refn, group=fn, name=MCN ( MD) , {{flag, Latvia , {{flag, Lithuania , {{flag, Luxembourg , {{flag, Malaysia , {{flag, Mongolia ( GP) , {{flag, Montenegro ( PfP) , {{flag, Netherlands , {{flag, New Zealand ( GP) , {{flag, Norway , {{flag, Poland{{refn, group=fn, name=MCN , {{flag, Portugal , {{flag, North Macedonia (

MAP A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...

) , {{flag, Romania{{refn, group=fn, name=MCN , {{flag, Singapore (2008–13) , {{flag, Slovakia , {{flag, Slovenia , {{flag, South Korea ( GP) , {{flag, Spain , {{flag, Sweden ( PfP) , {{flag, Switzerland (2004–08) ( PfP) , {{flag, Tonga , {{flag, Turkey{{refn, group=fn, name=MCN , {{flag, Ukraine ( PfP) , {{flag, United Arab Emirates ( ICI) , {{flag, United Kingdom{{refn, group=fn, name=MCN , {{flag, United States{{refn, group=fn, name=MCN , combatant2 = {{flag, Taliban *

Haqqani network The Haqqani network is an Afghan Islamist group, built around the family of the same name, that has used asymmetric warfare in Afghanistan to fight against Soviet forces in the 1980s, and US-led NATO forces and the Islamic Republic of Afghanist ...

The Taliban’s new leadership is allied with al Qaeda
{{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617003457/http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/07/the-talibans-new-leadership-is-allied-with-al-qaeda.php , date=17 June 2016, The Long War Journal, 31 July 2015 Support:
{{Flag, Pakistan

{{flagu, Iran
(alleged, but denied by Iran){{Cite web , last=Kugelman , first=Michael , title=What Was Mullah Mansour Doing in Iran? , url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/05/27/mullah-mansour-iran-afghanistan-taliban-drone/ , website=Foreign Policy
{{flagu, Russia
(alleged, but denied by Russia)
{{flag, Qatar (alleged by Saudi Arabia, denied by Qatar)
{{flag, Saudi Arabia (overtly until 2001, allegedly until 2013) ---- Allied groups * {{flagicon image, Flag of Hezbi Islami Gulbuddin.svg

Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin The Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin ( fa, حزب اسلامی گلبدین; abbreviated HIG), also referred to as Hezb-e-Islami or Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA), is an Afghan political party and former militia, originally founded in 1976 as Hezb-e-Isl ...

(until 2016) * {{flagicon image, Flag_of_Jihad.svg al-Qaeda * {{flagicon image, Flag_of_Jihad.svg

Islamic Jihad Union The Islamic Jihad Union (IJU; ) is a militant Islamist organization founded in 2002 as a splinter group of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). Headquartered in North Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afgha ...

* {{flagicon image, Flag of Turkistan Islamic Party.svg

Turkistan Islamic Party The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) or the Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), formerly known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and other names, is a Uyghur Islamic extremist organization founded in Western China. Its stated goals ar ...

* {{flagicon image, Flag of Jihad.svg

Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU; uz, Ўзбекистон исломий ҳаракати/Oʻzbekiston islomiy harakati; russian: Исламское движение Узбекистана ) was a militant Islamist group formed in 1998 ...

(until 2015) ---- Taliban splinter groups (from 2015) *

Dadullah Front The Mullah Dadullah Front (also known as the Dadullah Front, the Mullah Dadullah Lang Allegiance or the Mullah Dadullah Mahaz) is an insurgent group in Afghanistan that has claimed responsibility for a series of bombings and assassinations cente ...

Fidai Mahaz The Sacrifice Front, more commonly known as Fidai Mahaz (), is a Taliban splinter group and faction in the War in Afghanistan (2001–present), War in Afghanistan. It is led by Najibullah (militant leader), Mullah Najibullah, also known as Omar K ...

, commander1 = {{flagicon, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Ashraf Ghani Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan politician, academic, and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was overthrown by the Taliban. Born in ...

(President of Afghanistan)
{{flagicon, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Abdullah Abdullah Abdullah Abdullah ( Dari/ ps, عبدالله عبدالله, ; born as Abdullah on 5 September 1960) is an Afghan politician who led the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) from May 2020 until August 2021, when the Afghan government w ...

(CEO of Afghanistan)
{{flagicon, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Abdul Rashid Dostum Abdul Rashid Dostum ( ; prs, عبدالرشید دوستم; Uzbek Latin: , Uzbek Cyrillic: , ; born 25 March 1954) is an Afghan exiled politician, former Marshal in the Afghan National Army, founder and leader of the political party Junbish- ...

(Vice-President of Afghanistan)
{{flagicon, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Mohammad Mohaqiq Haji Muhammad Mohaqiq ( prs, حاجی محمد محقق; born 26 July 1955 in Balkh) is a politician in Afghanistan, who served as a member of the Afghanistan Parliament. He is also the founder and chairman of the People's Islamic Unity Party of A ...

(Deputy CEO of Afghanistan)
{{flagicon, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Atta Muhammad Nur Atta Muhammad Nur (also spelled Ata Mohammed Noor; fa, عطا محمد نور; born 1964) is an Afghan exiled politician and former militant who served as the Governor of Balkh Province in Afghanistan from 2004 to January 25, 2018. An ethnic ...

(Governor of Balkh Province)
{{flagicon, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Bismillah Khan Mohammadi Bismillah Khan Mohammadi (; born 1961, in Panjshir Province), or Bismillah Khan, is an Afghan politician who served as the defense minister of Afghanistan from 2012 to 2015 and for two months in 2021. From 2002 to 2010, he served as Chief of St ...

(Defense Minister of Afghanistan)
{{flagicon, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Sher Mohammad Karimi
(Chief of Army Staff)
{{flagicon image, Flag of Jihad.svg Nangialai{{KIA
{{flagicon image, Flag of Jihad.svg Abdul Manan Niazi{{KIA
Coalition:
{{collapsible list , bullets= yes , title= {{flagicon image, Flag of the Resolute Support Mission.svg RS (2015 onwards) , {{flagicon, Luxembourg

Xavier Bettel Xavier Bettel (; born 3 March 1973) is a Luxembourger lawyer and politician serving as Prime Minister of Luxembourg since 2013. He was previously a member of the Chamber of Deputies (1999–2013) and Mayor of Luxembourg City (2011–2013). Be ...

, {{flagicon, Slovenia

Borut Pahor Borut Pahor (; born 2 November 1963) is a Slovenian politician who served as President of Slovenia from 2012 to 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Slovenia from November 2008 to February 2012. A longtime member and former presi ...

, {{flagicon, New Zealand

Jacinda Ardern Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician who has been serving as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the member of ...

, {{flagicon, New Zealand

Bill English Sir Simon William English (born 30 December 1961) is a New Zealand former National Party politician who served as the 39th prime minister of New Zealand from 2016 to 2017 and as the 17th deputy prime minister of New Zealand and minister of f ...

, {{flagicon, New Zealand

John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to 2016. After resigning from bo ...

, {{flagicon, Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis , {{flagicon, Greece Alexis Tsipras , {{flagicon, Austria

Alexander Van der Bellen Alexander Van der Bellen (; born 18 January 1944) is the current president of Austria. He previously served as a professor of economics at the University of Vienna, and after joining politics, as the spokesman of the Austrian Green Party. Va ...

, {{flagicon, Austria

Heinz Fischer Heinz Fischer Order of Prince Henry, GColIH Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, OMRI Royal Order of the Seraphim, RSerafO Military Order of Saint James of the Sword, GCollSE (; born 9 October 1938) is a former Austrian politician. He took off ...

, {{flagicon, Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelensky Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...

, {{flagicon, Ukraine

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko ( uk, Петро́ Олексі́йович Пороше́нко, ; born 26 September 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Poroshenko se ...

, {{flagicon, Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf , {{flagicon, Montenegro

Milo Đukanović Milo Đukanović ( cnr, Мило Ђукановић, ; born 15 February 1962) is a Montenegrin politician serving as the President of Montenegro since 2018, previously serving in the role from 1998 to 2003. He also served as the Prime Minister ...

, {{flagicon, Montenegro

Filip Vujanović Filip Vujanović ( Montenegrin Cyrillic: Филип Вујановић, ; born 1 September 1954) is a Montenegrin politician who served as the President of Montenegro from 2003 to 2018. Early life and career Born and raised in Belgrade, Vujano ...

, {{flagicon, Latvia

Egils Levits Egils Levits (born 30 June 1955) is a Latvian politician, lawyer, political scientist and jurist who has served as the tenth president of Latvia since 8 July 2019. He was a member of the European Court of Justice from 2004 to 2019. During the la ...

, {{flagicon, Latvia

Raimonds Vējonis Raimonds Vējonis (born 15 June 1966) is a Latvian politician who served as the 9th President of Latvia from 2015 to 2019 and the president of the Latvian Basketball Association since 2020. He is a member of the Latvian Green Party, part of the ...

, {{flagicon, Estonia

Kersti Kaljulaid Kersti Kaljulaid (; born 30 December 1969) is an Estonian politician who served as the fifth president of Estonia between 2016 and 2021. She was also the first and only female head of state of Estonia since the country declared independence in ...

, {{flagicon, Estonia

Toomas Hendrik Ilves Toomas Hendrik Ilves (; born 26 December 1953) is an Estonian politician who served as the fourth president of Estonia from 2006 until 2016. Ilves worked as a diplomat and journalist, and he was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the ...

, {{flagicon, North Macedonia

Stevo Pendarovski Stevo Pendarovski ( mk, Стево Пендаровски, ; born 3 April 1963) is a Macedonian politician who serves as the 5th and current President of North Macedonia since 12 May 2019. Early life and education Stevo Pendarovski was born o ...

, {{flagicon, North Macedonia

Gjorge Ivanov Gjorge Ivanov ( mk, Ѓорге Иванов, ; born 2 May 1960) is a Macedonian politician, who served as the 4th President of North Macedonia from 2009 to 2019. Early and personal life Born at Valandovo, Ivanov finished primary and secondary sc ...

, {{flagicon, Lithuania

Gitanas Nausėda Gitanas Nausėda (born 19 May 1964) is a Lithuanian economist, politician and banker who is serving as the ninth and incumbent President of Lithuania since 2019. He was previously director of monetary policy at the Bank of Lithuania from 1996 un ...

, {{flagicon, Lithuania

Dalia Grybauskaitė Dalia Grybauskaitė (; born 1 March 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who served as the eighth President of Lithuania from 2009 until 2019. She is the first woman to hold the position and in 2014 she became the first President of Lithuania to be ...

, {{flagicon, Slovakia

Zuzana Čaputová Zuzana Čaputová, (; Strapáková; born 21 June 1973) is a Slovak politician, lawyer and environmental activist. She is the fifth president of Slovakia, a position she has held since 15 June 2019. Čaputová is the first woman to hold the presi ...

, {{flagicon, Slovakia

Andrej Kiska Andrej Kiska (; born 2 February 1963) is a Slovak politician, entrepreneur, writer and philanthropist who served as the fourth president of Slovakia from 2014 to 2019. He ran as an independent candidate in the 2014 presidential election in which ...

, {{flagicon, Norway

Erna Solberg Erna Solberg (; born 24 February 1961) is a Norwegian politician and the current Leader of the Opposition. She served as the 35th prime minister of Norway from 2013 to 2021, and has been Leader of the Conservative Party since May 2004. Solberg w ...

, {{flagicon, Finland Sauli Niinistö , {{flagicon, Spain

Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has been Prime Minister of Spain since June 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since June 2017, having pr ...

, {{flagicon, Spain

Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...

, {{flagicon, Bosnia and Herzegovina Sifet Podžić , {{flagicon, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Marina Pendeš Marina Pendeš (born 20 August 1964) is a Bosnian Croat politician who the current member of the House of Peoples. She served as the Minister of Defence from 31 March 2015 until 23 December 2019. Pendeš is also a member of the Croatian Democrat ...

, {{flagicon, Belgium

Sophie Wilmès Sophie Wilmès (; born 15 January 1975) is a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 2019 to 2020. She later served as minister of Foreign Affairs from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Reformist Movement, she is the fir ...

, {{flagicon, Belgium

Charles Michel Charles Michel (; born 21 December 1975) is a Belgian politician serving as the president of the European Council since 2019. He previously served as the prime minister of Belgium between 2014 and 2019. Michel became the minister of Developm ...

, {{flagicon, Hungary

János Áder János Áder (; born 9 May 1959) is a Hungarian politician and lawyer who served as President of Hungary from 2012 to 2022. He is a long-time politician of the right-wing Fidesz. As a representative of his party, he took part in the Hungarian Ro ...

, {{flagicon, Albania Ilir Meta , {{flagicon, Albania

Bujar Nishani Bujar Nishani (; 29 September 1966 – 28 May 2022) was an Albanian politician. He served as President of Albania from 24 July 2012 to 24 July 2017. Nishani was the youngest person to have been chosen as president of Albania, taking office at ...

, {{flagicon, Croatia

Zoran Milanović Zoran Milanović (; born 30 October 1966) is a Croatian politician serving as President of Croatia since 19 February 2020. Prior to assuming the presidency, he was prime minister from 2011 to 2016 and president of the Social Democratic Party f ...

, {{flagicon, Croatia

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović (; born 29 April 1968) is a Croatian politician and diplomat who served as President of Croatia from 2015 to 2020. She was the first woman to be elected to the office since the first multi-party elections in 1990 and ...

, {{flagicon, Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev , {{flagicon, Armenia

Nikol Pashinyan Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan ( hy, Նիկոլ Վովայի Փաշինյան, ; born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician serving as the prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018. A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in ...

, {{flagicon, Armenia

Karen Karapetyan Karen Vilhelmi Karapetyan ( hy, Կարեն Վիլհելմի Կարապետյան; born 14 August 1963) is an Armenian politician who was Prime Minister of Armenia from September 2016 until April 2018. He was previously Mayor of Yerevan, the capi ...

, {{flagicon, Armenia

Hovik Abrahamyan Hovik Argami Abrahamyan (; born 24 January 1959), also known by the nickname Muk ( hy, Մուկ), is an Armenian politician, former member of the ruling Republican Party, he was the Prime Minister of Armenia from 13 April 2014 to 8 September 20 ...

, {{flagicon, Denmark

Mette Frederiksen Mette Frederiksen (; born 19 November 1977) is a Danish politician who has been Prime Minister of Denmark since June 2019, and Leader of the Social Democrats since June 2015. The second woman to hold either office, she is also the youngest prime ...

, {{flagicon, Denmark

Lars Løkke Rasmussen Lars Løkke Rasmussen (; born 15 May 1964) is a Danish politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2022. He previously served as the 25th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2009 to 2011 and again from 2015 to 2019. He was the le ...

, {{flagicon, Bulgaria Rumen Radev , {{flagicon, Bulgaria

Rosen Plevneliev Rosen Asenov Plevneliev ( bg, Росен Асенов Плевнелиев ; born 14 May 1964) is a Bulgarian politician who was the 4th President of Bulgaria, holding the position from January 2012 to January 2017. He was the Minister of Regio ...

, {{flagicon, Netherlands

Mark Rutte Mark Rutte (; born 14 February 1967) is a Dutch politician who has served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 2010 and Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) since 2006. After a business career working for Unileve ...

, {{flagicon, Portugal

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa (; born 12 December 1948) is a Portuguese politician and academic. He is the 20th and current president of Portugal, since 9 March 2016. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party, though he suspended hi ...

, {{flagicon, Portugal Aníbal Cavaco Silva , {{flagicon, Australia

Scott Morrison Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for th ...

, {{flagicon, Australia

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

, {{flagicon, Mongolia

Khaltmaagiin Battulga Khaltmaagiin Battulga (; mn, Халтмаагийн Баттулга, Haltmaagiin Battulga, , also referred to as Battulga Khaltmaa; born 3 March 1963) is a Mongolian politician and sambo wrestler who served as the 5th President of Mongolia fr ...

, {{flagicon, Mongolia

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj (, ''Cahiagín Elbegdorj'' ; also referred to as Mongolyin Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj and Tsakhia Elbegdorj; born 30 March 1963) is a Mongolian politician who served as President of Mongolia from 2009 to 2017. He previously ser ...

, {{flagicon, Czech Republic

Miloš Zeman Miloš Zeman (; born 28 September 1944) is a Czech politician serving as the third and current President of the Czech Republic since 2013. He previously served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2002. As leader of the Cze ...

, {{flagicon, Poland

Andrzej Duda Andrzej Sebastian Duda (; born 16 May 1972) is a Polish lawyer and politician who has served as president of Poland since 6 August 2015. Before becoming president, Andrzej Duda was a member of Polish Lower House (Sejm) from 2011 to 2014 and th ...

, {{flagicon, Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan , {{flagicon, Romania Klaus Iohannis , {{flagicon, Georgia

Salome Zourabichvili Salome Zourabichvili ( ka, სალომე ზურაბიშვილი, ; born 18 March 1952) is a Franco-Georgian political figure and former diplomat who currently serves as the fifth President of Georgia, in office since December 2018 ...

, {{flagicon, Georgia

Giorgi Margvelashvili Giorgi Margvelashvili ( ka, გიორგი მარგველაშვილი; born 4 September 1969) is a Georgian academic and politician who was the fourth President of Georgia, in office from 17 November 2013 to 16 December 2018. ...

, {{flagicon, Italy

Giuseppe Conte Giuseppe Conte (; born 8 August 1964) is an Italian jurist, academic, and politician who served as prime minister of Italy from June 2018 to February 2021. He has been the president of the Five Star Movement (M5S) since August 2021. Conte ...

, {{flagicon, Italy

Paolo Gentiloni Paolo Gentiloni Silveri (; born 22 November 1954) is an Italian politician who has served as European Commissioner for Economy in the von der Leyen Commission since 1 December 2019. He previously served as prime minister of Italy from December ...

, {{flagicon, Italy

Matteo Renzi Matteo Renzi (; born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician who served as prime minister of Italy from 2014 to 2016. He has been a senator for Florence since 2018. Renzi has served as the leader of Italia Viva (IV) since 2019, having bee ...

, {{flagicon, Germany

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...

, {{flagicon, USA Joe Biden , {{flagicon, USA

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

, {{flagicon, USA

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

, {{flagicon, UK

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

, {{flagicon, UK

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cabi ...

, {{flagicon, UK David Cameron , {{flagdeco, NATO, size=23px John F. Campbell {{reflist, group=fn ---- Formerly: {{collapsible list , bullets= yes , title= {{flagicon image, Flag of the International Security Assistance Force.svg

(2001–14) , {{flagicon, USA

Tommy Franks Tommy Ray Franks (born 17 June 1945) is a retired general in the United States Army. His last army post was as the Commander of the United States Central Command, overseeing United States military operations in a 25-country region, including t ...

, {{flagicon, USA Dan K. McNeill , {{flagicon, USA David Barno , {{flagicon, USA Karl Eikenberry , {{flagicon, USA David D. McKiernan , {{flagicon, USA

Stanley A. McChrystal Stanley Allen McChrystal (born August 14, 1954) is a retired United States Army general best known for his command of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) from 2003 to 2008 where his organization was credited with the death of Abu Musab al-Zarq ...

, {{flagicon, USA

David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus (; born November 7, 1952) is a retired United States Army general and public official. He served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 6, 2011, until his resignation on November 9, 2012. Prior to ...

, {{flagicon, USA John R. Allen , {{flagicon, GER

Egon Ramms Egon Ramms (born September 21, 1948 in Datteln, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a retired German general who held numerous international commands. Ramms is a father of two. His last assignment was commander of NATO's Joint Force Command in Brunssum ...

, {{flagicon, Canada

Guy Laroche Guy Laroche () (16 July 1921 – 17 February 1989) was a French fashion designer and founder of the eponymous company. Biography Laroche was born in La Rochelle, and began his career in millinery. From 1949, Laroche worked for Jean Dess� ...

{{reflist, group=fn , commander2 = {{flagicon, Taliban

Hibatullah Akhundzada Hibatullah Akhundzada, also spelled Haibatullah Akhunzada, is an Afghan Islamic scholar, cleric, and jurist who is the supreme leader of Afghanistan. He has led the Taliban since 2016, and came to power with its victory over Western-backe ...

(Supreme Commander)

{{flagicon, Taliban

Sirajuddin Haqqani Sirajuddin Haqqani ( ps, سراج الدين حقاني, Sirāj al-Dīn Ḥaqqānī, ; aliases ''Khalifa'', and, ''Siraj Haqqani''. born December 1979) is an Afghan Islamist militant who is the first deputy leader of Afghanistan and the acti ...

(Deputy of the Taliban)

{{flagicon, Taliban

Mohammad Yaqoob Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid (Pashto/, , ; born 1990) is an Afghan Islamic scholar, cleric, and Islamist militant who is the second deputy leader of Afghanistan and the acting defense minister. He has been a deputy leader of the Taliban si ...

(Deputy of the Taliban)

{{flagicon, Taliban

Jalaluddin Haqqani Jalaluddin Haqqani ( ps, جلال الدين حقاني, Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥaqqānī) (1939 – 3 September 2018) was an Afghan insurgent commander who founded the Haqqani network, an insurgent group fighting in guerilla warfare against US-led ...

#
(Leader of Haqqani Network)
{{Flagicon image, Flag of Hezbi Islami Gulbuddin.svg

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ( ps, ګلب الدين حكمتيار; born 1 August 1949) is an Afghan politician, former mujahideen leader and drug trafficker. He is the founder and current leader of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin political party, so calle ...

(2002–2016)
Flag of al-Qaeda

Ayman al-Zawahiri
(Emir of al-Qaeda)
{{flagicon, Taliban

Abdul Ghani Baradar Abdul Ghani Baradar, , (born 29 September 1963 or 1968; known by the honorific ''mullah'') is an Afghan political and religious leader who is currently the acting first deputy prime minister alongside Abdul Salam Hanafi and Abdul Kabir, of ...

(head of Taliban Diplomatic Office)
---- {{flagicon, Taliban

Mansoor Dadullah Mullah Mansoor Dadullah (died 2015) was Mullah Dadullah's younger half-brother who succeeded him as a senior military commander of the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. He came from the Arghandab district of Kandahar province, and belonged to the ...

{{KIA
(Commander of the Dadullah Front)
{{flagicon image, Flag of Jihad.svg Haji Najibullah
(Commander of Fidai Mahaz)
{{cite web , title=Mullah Najibullah: Too Radical for the Taliban , url=http://www.newsweek.com/2013/08/30/mullah-najibullah-too-radical-taliban-237894.html , website=Newsweek , date=30 August 2013 , access-date=22 August 2015 ---- Formerly:
{{flagicon, Taliban

Mullah Omar Mullah Muhammad Omar (; –April 2013) was an Afghan Islamic revolutionary who founded the Taliban and served as the supreme leader of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. Born into a religious family of Kandahar, Omar was educated at local '' ma ...

#
(Commander of the Faithful) {{flagicon, Taliban Akhtar Mansoor{{KIA
(Supreme Commander){{cite web, title =Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar is dead, url =http://tribune.com.pk/story/928571/afghan-taliban-leader-mullah-omar-is-dead/, website =The Express Tribune , date = 29 July 2015, access-date = 29 July 2015{{cite news , url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36375975, title=Afghan Taliban announce successor to Mullah Mansour, date=26 May 2015, newspaper=BBC News, access-date=26 May 2016
{{flagicon, Taliban Obaidullah Akhund{{KIA
(Former Taliban Minister of Defense)

{{flagicon, Taliban

Mohammad Fazl Mullah Mohammad Fazl ( ; born 1967) is the former acting Deputy Defense Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, serving from 7 September 2021 to 21 September 2021. He also served in the position during the previous Taliban government (19 ...

{{POW
(Former Deputy Defense Minister)

{{flagicon, Taliban

Abdul Qayyum Zakir Abdul Qayyum "Zakir" (born 1973), also known by the nom de guerre Abdullah Ghulam Rasoul, is the current acting Deputy Minister of Defense of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. He previously served as the acting Defense Minister, from 24 Augus ...

(Former Taliban military chief)
{{flagicon, Taliban Dadullah Akhund{{KIA
(Senior commander)
Flag of al-Qaeda

Osama bin Laden{{KIA
(Former Emir of al-Qaeda) , strength1 = {{flagicon, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Afghan Armed Forces ("The land belongs to Allah, the rule belongs to Allah") , founded = 1997 , current_form = , branches = * Afghan Army * Afghan Air Force , headquarters = Kabul , website = , commander-in-chi ...

: 352,000{{cite web , url=http://www.ssrresourcecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/eSeminar-Primer-No.-2.pdf , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726020958/http://www.ssrresourcecentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/eSeminar-Primer-No.-2.pdf , url-status=dead , archive-date=26 July 2014 , title=The Afghan National Security Forces Beyond 2014: Will They Be Ready? , publisher=Centre for Security Governance , date=February 2014
{{flagicon image, Flag of the Resolute Support Mission.svg RSM: 13,000+
{{flagicon image, Flag of Jihad.svg High Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan: 3,000–3,500 ---- Formerly:
{{flagicon image, Flag of the International Security Assistance Force.svg

: 18,000+{{cite web , url=http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/12/30/pers-d30.html , title=The continuing US war in Afghanistan , date=30 December 2014, publisher=World Socialist Web Site , access-date=30 December 2014
Military Contractors: 20,000+ , strength2 = {{flag, Taliban: 60,000
(tentative estimate){{cite web, last=Dawi , first=Akmal , url=https://www.voanews.com/east-asia/despite-massive-taliban-death-toll-no-drop-insurgency , title=Despite Massive Taliban Death Toll No Drop in Insurgency , quote="It’s unclear how many Taliban have been killed over the past 13 years but estimates vary from 20,000 to 35,000", publisher=Voanews.com , access-date=2021-05-28 *

: 4,000–15,000{{cite web, title=The Haqqani Nexus and the Evolution of al-Qaida, work=Harmony Program, date=14 July 2011, first=Don, last=Rassler, author2=Vahid Brown, publisher=

, url=http://www.ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/CTC-Haqqani-Report_Rassler-Brown-Final_Web.pdf, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725024028/http://www.ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/CTC-Haqqani-Report_Rassler-Brown-Final_Web.pdf , url-status=dead , archive-date=25 July 2011 , access-date=2 August 2011{{cite news , url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/world/asia/15haqqani.html , title=Rebuffing U.S., Pakistan Balks at Crackdown, newspaper=The New York Times , date=14 December 2009, first=Jane, last=Perlez {{Flagicon image, Flag of Hezbi Islami Gulbuddin.svg HIG: 1,500–2,000+
Flag of al-Qaeda

al-Qaeda: 100–800 ---- {{flagicon image, Flag of Jihad.svg

: 8,000 , casualties1 = Afghan Security Forces:
Dead: 65,596+ killed Wounded:''16,500+
Coalition:
Dead: 3,486 (all causes)
2,807 (hostile causes)
(United States: 2,356, United Kingdom: 454, Canada: 158, France: 88, Germany: 57, Italy: 53, Others: 321){{cite web, url=http://icasualties.org/OEF/ByYear.aspx, title=OEF: Afghanistan: Fatalities By Year, work=icasualties.org, date=9 September 2005, access-date=14 September 2013, archive-date=27 October 2018, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027172424/http://icasualties.org/OEF/ByYear.aspx, url-status=dead
Wounded: 22,773 (United States: 19,950, United Kingdom: 2,188, Canada: 635)

Contractors A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...

:
Dead: 3,937+ (United States: 1,822, Others: 2,115){{Cite web, url=https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/figures/2021/human-and-budgetary-costs-date-us-war-afghanistan-2001-2021, title=Us cost to date for the War in afghanistan{{cite web , url=http://www.dol.gov/owcp/dlhwc/dbaallnation.htm , title=U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) – Defense Base Act Case Summary by Nation , publisher=Dol.gov , access-date=2 August 2011{{cite web , author=T. Christian Miller , url=http://projects.propublica.org/tables/contractor_casualties , title=U.S. Government Private Contract Worker Deaths and Injuries , publisher=Projects.propublica.org , date=23 September 2009 , access-date=2 August 2011 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727185847/http://projects.propublica.org/tables/contractor_casualties , archive-date=27 July 2011
Wounded: 15,000+
Total killed: 70,664+ , casualties2 =

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...

:
Dead: 52,893+ killed (estimate, no official data).{{cite web, url=https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/figures/2021/Human%20and%20Budgetary%20Costs%20of%20Afghan%20War%2C%202001-2021.pdf, title=Human and Budgetary Costs of Afghan War, 2001-2021, access-date=2021-05-28{{cite web, url=https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/figures/2021/human-and-budgetary-costs-date-us-war-afghanistan-2001-2022 , title=Human and Budgetary Costs to Date of the U.S. War in Afghanistan, 2001-2022 , url-status=live , access-date=2021-11-13 , campaignbox = {{Campaignbox US war in Afghanistan {{Campaignbox Afghanistan , conflict = Taliban insurgency The Taliban insurgency was an insurgency that began after the group's fall from power during the 2001 War in Afghanistan. The

forces fought against the

Afghan government The government of Afghanistan, officially called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is the central government of Afghanistan, a unitary state. Under the leadership of the Taliban, the government is a theocracy and an emirate with political powe ...

, led by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...

, and later by President

, and against a US-led coalition of forces that has included all members of NATO; the

resulted in the collapse of the government of Ashraf Ghani. The

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irr ...

had spread to some degree over the border to neighboring Pakistan, in particular

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

. The Taliban conducted warfare against Afghan National Security Forces and their

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

allies, as well as against

civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant ...

targets. Regional countries, particularly Pakistan, Iran, China and Russia, were often accused of funding and supporting the insurgent groups.{{cite news, url=https://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-isi-urged-attacks-u-targets-officials-002201562.html , title=U.S. blames Pakistan agency in Kabul attack , publisher=Reuters , date=22 September 2011 , access-date=4 March 2012 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925075845/http://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-isi-urged-attacks-u-targets-officials-002201562.html , archive-date=25 September 2011{{cite web, url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41842285, title=Is Russia arming the Afghan Taliban?, date=2 April 2018, work=BBC News The allied

Haqqani Network The Haqqani network is an Afghan Islamist group, built around the family of the same name, that has used asymmetric warfare in Afghanistan to fight against Soviet forces in the 1980s, and US-led NATO forces and the Islamic Republic of Afghanist ...

Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin The Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin ( fa, حزب اسلامی گلبدین; abbreviated HIG), also referred to as Hezb-e-Islami or Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA), is an Afghan political party and former militia, originally founded in 1976 as Hezb-e-Is ...

(until 2016), and smaller al-Qaeda groups had also been part of the Taliban insurgency.

Background

Following the

United States invasion of Afghanistan In late 2001, the United States and its close allies invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government. The invasion's aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had executed the September 11 attacks, and to deny it a safe base of operatio ...

in 2001, the Taliban was defeated and many Taliban fighters left the movement or retreated to sanctuaries in the country of Pakistan. In May and June 2003, high-ranking Taliban officials proclaimed that the Taliban regrouped and were ready to wage a

guerrilla war Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics ...

in order to expel US forces from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

.{{cite web , title=Taliban regroups – on the road, author=Tohid, Owias, work=

Christian Science Monitor Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...

, date=27 June 2003, url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0627/p06s01-wosc.html?related , access-date=28 February 2007 Omar assigned five operational zones to Taliban commanders such as Dadullah. Dadullah took charge in Zabul province.{{cite news , title=Taliban appears to be regrouped and well-funded, author1=Tohid, Owias , author2=Baldauf, Scott , name-list-style=amp , work=

, date=8 May 2003, url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0508/p01s02-wosc.html , access-date=28 February 2007 In late 2004, the then hidden Taliban leader Mohammed Omar announced that the Taliban were launching an insurgency against "America and its puppets" (i.e. transitional Afghan government forces) in order to "regain the sovereignty of our country".{{cite news , title=Asia: Afghanistan: Taliban Leader Vows Return , last=Gall , first=Carlotta , work=The New York Times , date=13 November 2004 , url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F05E5DB173FF930A25752C1A9629C8B63 , access-date=8 September 2017 The Taliban spent several years regrouping, and launched a re-escalation of the insurgency campaign in 2006.

Organization

{{See also, List of Taliban insurgency leaders, Quetta Shura As of 2018, the Taliban was composed of four different

shura Shura ( ar, شُورَىٰ, translit=shūrā, lit=consultation) can for example take the form of a council or a referendum. The Quran encourages Muslims to decide their affairs in consultation with each other. Shura is mentioned as a praisewort ...

s, or representative councils. The first is the Quetta Shura. Two smaller shuras are subordinated to it, the

(also known as the Miran Shah Shura) and the

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

Shura.{{cite web, title=Afghanistan: Taliban's organization and structure, last=Giustozzi, first=Antonio, access-date=29 March 2020, date=August 2017, url=https://landinfo.no/asset/3589/1/3589_1.pdf, page=6 The Peshawar Shura was established in March 2005, and is based in eastern Afghanistan.{{cite book, author=Antonio Giustozzi, title=The Taliban at War: 2001 – 2018, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CB6sDwAAQBAJ, date=November 2019, publisher=Oxford University Press, isbn=978-0-19-009239-9, pages=87, 89 The majority of its fighters are former members of the

. The Haqqani network declared its autonomy from the

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of ...

Shura in 2007, and rejoined in August 2015. The Peshawar Shura was autonomous from 2009 until 2016. The second autonomous shura is the Shura of the North, based in

Badakhshan Province Badakhshan Province (Persian/ Uzbek: , ''Badaxšān'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan in the north and the Pakistani regions of Lower ...

. The third is the Mashhad Shura, sponsored by Iran, and the fourth is the Rasool Shura, led by Muhammad Rasul and also known as the High Council of the Islamic Emirate.

Finances

While the pre-2001 Taliban suppressed opium production, the current insurgency "relies on opium revenues to purchase weapons, train its members, and buy support." In 2001, Afghanistan produced only 11% of the world's opium. Today it produces over 80% of the global crop, and the drug trade accounts for half of Afghanistan's GDP. However, later estimates show that drugs might not be the major source of income of the Taliban. Taxation and mineral sales under the group's shadow governments since 2001 have also been major sources. On 28 July 2009,

Richard Holbrooke Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke (April 24, 1941 – December 13, 2010) was an American diplomat and author. He was the only person to have held the position of Assistant Secretary of State for two different regions of the world (Asia from 1977 ...

, the United States special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said that money transfers from Western Europe and the Gulf States exceeded the drug trade earnings and that a new task force had been formed to shut down this source of funds. The

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 b ...

is investigating the possibility that kickbacks from its contracts are being funneled to the Taliban. A report by the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

(LSE) claimed to provide the most concrete evidence yet that the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI is providing funding, training and sanctuary to the Taliban on a scale much larger than previously thought. The report's author Matt Waldman spoke to nine Taliban field commanders in Afghanistan and concluded that Pakistan's relationship with the insurgents ran far deeper than previously realized. Some of those interviewed suggested that the organization even attended meetings of the Taliban's supreme council, the Quetta Shura. A spokesman for the Pakistani military dismissed the report, describing it as "malicious".

Foreign support for the Taliban

Pakistan

The Taliban's victory was facilitated in support from Pakistan. Although Pakistan was a major US ally before and after the

2001 invasion of Afghanistan In late 2001, the United States and its close allies invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government. The invasion's aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had executed the September 11 attacks, and to deny it a safe base of operati ...

, elements of the Pakistan government (including the military and intelligence services) have for decades maintained strong logistical and tactical ties with Taliban militants, and this support helped support the insurgency in Afghanistan.{{cite news , author= , title=Pakistan's hand in the Taliban's victory , url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/18/pakistan-hand-taliban-victory/ , newspaper=Washington Post , location=Washington, D.C. , date=18 August 2021 , access-date=27 August 2021{{cite news , author= , title=The Real Winner of the Afghan War? It's Not Who You Think , url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/26/world/asia/afghanistan-pakistan-taliban.html , work=The New York Times , location=New York , date=26 August 2021 , access-date=27 August 2021 For example, the

, a Taliban affiliate based on Pakistan, had strong support from

Inter-Services Intelligence The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; ur, , bayn khadamatiy mukhabarati) is the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant ...

(ISI), the Pakistan intelligence agency. Taliban leaders found a safe haven in Pakistan, lived in the country, transacted business and earned funds there, and receiving medical treatment there. Some elements of the Pakistani establishment sympathized with Taliban ideology, and many Pakistan officials considered the Taliban as an asset against India.

Bruce Riedel Bruce O. Riedel (born 1953) is an American expert on U.S. security, South Asia, and counter-terrorism. He is currently a senior fellow in the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, and a professor at Johns Hopkins School ...

noted that "The Pakistani army believes Afghanistan provides strategic depth against India, which is their obsession." In 2007, Pakistan's President

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...

admitted Taliban getting cross-border aid and said that "There is no doubt Afghan militants are supported from Pakistan soil. The problem that you have in your region is because support is provided from our side."{{cite web , title=Musharraf admits Taliban getting cross-border aid , website=The New York Times , date=2007-08-12 , url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/world/asia/12iht-pakistan.5.7091113.html , access-date=2022-06-13 Pakistan's Interior minister

Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad ( ur, ; born 6 November 1950) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 38th Interior Minister of Pakistan from 2020 to 2022. He is famous because of his smoking cigars and Laal Haveli. He is the founder and leader of A ...

on 1 September 2021, said in an interview with ''Hum News'' that "All top Taliban leaders were born and brought up in Pakistan. This has been our 'service' that we trained them and many more might be studying."

Russia and Iran

Dr. Antonio Giustozzi, a senior research fellow at

Royal United Services Institute The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI, Rusi), registered as Royal United Service Institute for Defence and Security Studies and formerly the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies, is a British defence and security think tank. ...

on terrorism and conflict, wrote, "Both the Russians and the Iranians helped the Taliban advance at a breakneck pace in May–August 2021. They contributed to funding and equipping them, but perhaps even more importantly they helped them by brokering deals with parties, groups and personalities close to either country, or even both. ..The Revolutionary Guards helped the Taliban's advance in western Afghanistan, including by lobbying various strongmen and militia commanders linked to Iran not to resist the Taliban."

2001–2006 Taliban insurgency re-grouping period

{{Jihadism sidebar Following the

Battle of Tora Bora The Battle of Tora Bora was a military engagement that took place in the cave complex of Tora Bora, eastern Afghanistan, from December 6–17, 2001, during the opening stages of the United States invasion of Afghanistan. It was launched by the ...

and

Operation Anaconda Operation Anaconda was a military operation that took place in early March 2002 as part of the War in Afghanistan. CIA paramilitary officers, working with their allies, attempted to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces. The operation took plac ...

, the Taliban was defeated and many Taliban fighters left the movement or retreated to sanctuaries in Pakistan, where they began the initial stages of re-grouping. Pamphlets by

and other groups turned up strewn in towns and the countryside in early 2003, urging Islamic faithful to rise up against US forces and other foreign soldiers in holy war. On 27 January 2003, during

Operation Mongoose (War in Afghanistan) Operation Mongoose was an American-led two week cave clearing operation in the Adi Ghar Mountains near the town of Spin Boldak in Kandahar Province. Launched on the 28 January 2003, over 350 US and coalition soldiers along with Afghan militia fig ...

, a band of fighters were assaulted by US forces at the Adi Ghar cave complex {{convert, 15, mi, km, abbr=on, order=flip, round=5 north of Spin Boldak.{{cite web , url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2003/02/mil-030211-afps01.htm, title=globalsecurity.org , access-date=27 September 2007 Eighteen rebels were reported killed with no US casualties. The site was suspected to be a base for supplies and fighters coming from Pakistan. The first isolated attacks by relatively large Taliban bands on Afghan targets also appeared around that time. In May 2003, the Taliban Supreme Court's chief justice, Abdul Salam, proclaimed that the Taliban were back, regrouped, rearmed, and ready for guerrilla war to expel US forces from Afghanistan. Omar assigned five operational zones to Taliban commanders such as Dadullah, who took charge in Zabul province. Small mobile Taliban training camps were established along the border to train recruits in guerrilla warfare, according to senior Taliban warrior Mullah Malang in June 2003. Most were drawn from tribal area madrassas in Pakistan. Bases, a few with as many as 200 fighters, emerged in the tribal areas by the summer of 2003. Pakistani will to prevent infiltration was uncertain, while Pakistani military operations proved of little use. As the summer of 2003 continued, Taliban attacks gradually increased in frequency. Dozens of Afghan government soldiers, NGO humanitarian workers, and several US soldiers died in the raids, ambushes and rocket attacks. Besides guerrilla attacks, Taliban fighters began building up forces in the district of Dai Chopan in Zabul Province. The Taliban decided to make a stand there. Over the course of the summer, up to 1,000 guerrillas moved there. Over 220 people, including several dozen Afghan police, were killed in August 2003.{{cite web , url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1320&dat=20030321&id=t-lWAAAAIBAJ&pg=6360,4863738 , title=Troops Rush Afghanistan in Taliban hunt , author= The Associated Press , publisher=The Gainesville Sun , access-date=12 April 2014 Operation Valiant Strike was a major United States military ground operation in

announced on 19 March 2003 that involved 2nd and 3rd battalions of

504th Parachute Infantry Regiment The 504th Infantry Regiment, originally the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (504th PIR), is an airborne forces regiment of the United States Army, part of the 82nd Airborne Division, with a long and distinguished history. The regiment was f ...

, Romanian and Afghan troops. The combined forces moved through

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...

and parts of Southern Afghanistan with the objective of eliminating Taliban enemy forces and weapons caches while also attempting to gather intelligence on

activity in the area. At the conclusion of the operation on 24 March 2003, coalition forces had detained 13 suspected

fighters and confiscated more than 170 rocket-propelled grenades, 180

land mine A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

s, 20

automatic rifle An automatic rifle is a type of autoloading rifle that is capable of fully automatic fire. Automatic rifles are generally select-fire weapons capable of firing in semi-automatic and automatic firing modes (some automatic rifles are capable of ...

s and

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

s, as well as many rockets, rifles, and launchers. United States led-coalition forces carried out

Operation Asbury Park Operation Asbury Park was a deployment, on June 2, 2004, and June 17, 2004, of taskforce 1/6 BLT of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit engaged Taliban and other anti-coalition forces in both Oruzgan Province and Zabul Province culminating in the ...

on 2 June 2004, and 17 June 2004, of taskforce 1/6 BLT of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit engaged in fighting with

and other anti- coalition forces in both Oruzgan Province and Zabul Province culminating in the Dai Chopan region of

. This operation was characterized by atypical fighting on the side of the tactics of the Taliban and the other guerillas encountered.{{cite web , url=https://search.usa.gov/search?affiliate=mdm&query=Operation%20Asbury%20Park, title=Asbury Park culminating in a large battle on 8 June. During ''Asbury Park'', the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit was faced with an opponent that frequently would dig in and engage the Marine forces, rather than the traditional

hit and run In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions. Additional obligation In many jurisdictions, there may be a ...

(or "

asymmetric attack Asymmetric warfare (or asymmetric engagement) is the term given to describe a type of war between belligerents whose relative military power, strategy or tactics differ significantly. This is typically a war between a standing, professional ar ...

") methods. As such, Marines, with the aid of

B-1B Lancer The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force. It is commonly called the "Bone" (from "B-One"). It is one of three strategic bombers serving in the U.S. Air Force fleet along with ...

A-10 Warthog The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republic ...

, and

AH-64 Apache The Boeing AH-64 Apache () is an American twin- turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night v ...

aircraft, engaged in "pitched battles each day," culminating in a large battle on 8 June. The last of the fighting which took place near Dai Chopan on 8 June was decisive in that enemy forces were depleted to such an extent that no further contact was made with the enemy for the duration of the operation. What was meant by the enemy to be a three pronged attack 8 June 2004 resulted in over eighty-five confirmed kills, with estimates well in excess of 100 enemy dead, an estimated 200–300 wounded, with dozens captured. While throughout the entire operation a "handful" of US forces and Afghan Militia were injured. In late 2004, the then hidden Taliban leader Mohammed Omar announced an insurgency against "America and its puppets" (i.e. transitional Afghan government forces) to "regain the sovereignty of our country". In late June through mid-July 2005, United States

Navy Seals The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting sm ...

carried out

Operation Red Wings Operation Red Wings (often incorrectly referred to as ''Operation Redwing'' or ''Operation Red Wing''), informally referred to as the Battle of Abbas Ghar, was a joint military operation conducted by the United States in the Pech District ...

as a combined / joint military operation in the Pech District of

Kunar Province Kunar (Pashto: ; Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. Its capital is Asadabad. Its population is estimated to be 508,224. Kunar's major political groups include Wahhabis or Ahl-e- Ha ...

, on the slopes of a mountain named Sawtalo Sar,{{citation, url=http://www.darack.com/sawtalosar/nai-map.php, title=Topographic Map by Ed Darack used in Victory Point of Named Areas of Interest on Sawtalo Sar for Operation Red Wings, last=Darack, Ed, publisher=Darack.com, access-date=2012-02-06{{citation, url=http://www.darack.com/sawtalosar, title=Operation Red Wings, Operation Whalers, and the book ''VICTORY POINT'' in which they are comprehensively documented, last=Darack, Ed, publisher=Darack.com, access-date=2011-06-13 approximately {{convert, 20, mi west of Kunar's

provincial capital A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the g ...

of Asadabad, .{{citation, url=http://www.marinecorpsgazette-digital.com/marinecorpsgazette/200612/?pg=16#pg16, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028212916/http://www.marinecorpsgazette-digital.com/marinecorpsgazette/200612/?pg=16#pg16, url-status=dead, archive-date=2007-10-28, title=Operation Red Wings: A Joint Failure in Unity of Command, Pages 14–20, last=MacMannis, Colonel Andrew (USMC) and Scott, Major Robert (USMC), publisher=Marine Corps Association / Marine Corps Gazette, access-date=2012-02-05 Operation Red Wings was intended to disrupt local

anti-coalition militia (ACM) activity, thus contributing to regional stability and thereby facilitating the

Afghan Parliament The Leadership Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also translated as the Supreme Council, () (also referred to as the Inner Shura) is the central governing body of the Taliban and Afghanistan. The Taliban uses a consensus decision-maki ...

elections scheduled for September 2005. At the time,

anti-coalition militia activity in the region was carried out most notably by a small group, led by a local man from Nangarhar Province, Ahmad Shah, who had aspirations of regional

Islamic fundamentalist Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a puritanical, revivalist, and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. Islamic fundamentalists are of the view that Muslim-majority countries should return t ...

prominence. He and his small group were among the primary targets of the operation. In between 13 and 18 August 2005,

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

carried out a military operation, called Operation Whalers that took place in Afghanistan's

, just weeks after the disastrous

. Like

, the objective of Operation Whalers was the disruption of

Anti-Coalition Militia (ACM) activity in the region in support of further stabilizing the region for unencumbered voter turnout for the September 18, 2005 Afghan National Parliamentary Elections. Operation Whalers was planned and executed by the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment (2/3). The emphasis of the operation was an Anti-Coalition Militia cell led by Ahmad Shah, which was one of 22 identified ACM groups operating in the region at that time, and was the most active. Ahmad Shah's cell was responsible for the

Navy SEAL The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting s ...

ambush and subsequent MH-47 shootdown that killed, in total, 19 US special operations personnel during

. Operation Whalers, named after the Hartford / New England Whalers professional hockey team, was the "sequel" to

in that it was aimed at furthering stabilization of the security situation in the restive Kunar Province of Eastern Afghanistan, a long-term goal of American and coalition forces operating in the area at that time. Operation Whalers, conducted by a number of Marine infantry companies of 2/3 with attached Afghan National Army soldiers and supported by conventional Army aviation, intelligence, and combat arms forces units and US Air Force aviation assets, proved a success.

Anti-Coalition Militia activity dropped substantially and subsequent

human intelligence Human intelligence is the intellectual capability of humans, which is marked by complex cognitive feats and high levels of motivation and self-awareness. High intelligence is associated with better outcomes in life. Through intelligence, humans ...

and signals intelligence revealed that Ahmad Shah had been seriously wounded. Shah, who sought to disrupt the September 18, 2005 Afghan National Parliamentary Elections, was not able to undertake any significant

Anti-Coalition operations subsequent to Operation Whalers in Kunar or neighboring provinces.{{citation, author=BBC, url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4172732.stm, title=Afghan Raids 'kill 100 militants', publisher=news.bbc.co.uk, date=22 August 2005, access-date=2012-02-08

2006 escalation

In 2006, Afghanistan began facing a wave of attacks by improvised explosives and suicide bombers, particularly after NATO took command of the fight against insurgents in spring 2006. Afghan President

publicly condemned the methods used by the western powers. In June 2006 he said: {{blockquote, And for two years I have systematically, consistently and on a daily basis warned the international community of what was developing in Afghanistan and of the need for a change of approach in this regard… The international community

ust UST or Ust may refer to: Organizations * UST (company), American digital technology company * Equatorial Guinea Workers' Union * Union of Trade Unions of Chad (Union des Syndicats du Tchad) * United States Television Manufacturing Corp. * UST Gr ...

reassess the manner in which this war against terror is conducted Insurgents were also criticized for their conduct. According to

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

, bombing and other attacks on Afghan civilians by the Taliban (and to a lesser extent Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin), are reported to have "sharply escalated in 2006" with "at least 669 Afghan civilians were killed in at least 350 armed attacks, most of which appear to have been intentionally launched at civilians or civilian objects." 131 of insurgent attacks were suicide attacks which killed 212 civilians (732 wounded), 46 Afghan army and police members (101 wounded), and 12 foreign soldiers (63 wounded). The United Nations estimated that for the first half of 2011, the civilian deaths rose by 15% and reached 1462, which is the worst death toll since the beginning of the war and despite the surge of foreign troops.

Timeline

* June: ** 6 June: A roadside bombing leaves 2 American soldiers killed, the attack took place in the province of Nangarhar. Also a separate suicide bombing in Khost leaves three US soldiers wounded. ** 15 June: A bus carrying workers to an American base explodes killing 10 and wounding 15. The explosives were placed on the bus. * July: ** 1 July: 2 British soldiers are killed when their base came under small arms fire including rocket propelled grenades. * August: ** 8 August: 4 Canadian NATO soldiers are killed in two separate attacks. And a suicide bomber targeting a NATO convoy detonated, killing 21 people. ** 20 August: 3 American soldiers are killed and another 3 are wounded in a battle with Taliban militants after a roadside bomb hit an American patrol. * September: ** 8 September: A major suicide car bombing near the US embassy in Kabul kills 18 including 2 US soldiers. ** 10 September: The governor of Afghanistan's southeastern Paktia province is killed alongside his bodyguard and nephew when a suicide bomber detonates himself beside the governor's car. * October: ** 14 October: A suicide attack in Kandahar city leaves 8 dead including one NATO soldier.{{Cite news, url=http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/10/14/afghan.kidnap.nato/index.html , publisher=CNN , title=Two Canadians die in Afghan clash , access-date=24 May 2010 ** 15 October: 2 Canadian soldiers were killed when Taliban militants attacked

troops using small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades. * December: ** 6 December: A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a security contractor's office killing 7 including 2 Americans, the attack took place south of Afghanistan in

. ** 19 December: Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Osmani, reportedly number 4 in the Taliban shura, is killed by an American airstrike in southern Afghanistan.A setback for the Neo Taliban by B Raman
{{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303191028/http://in.rediff.com/news/2007/may/15braman.htm , date=3 March 2016 .

2007

* The Taliban continued to favor suicide bombing as a tactic. ** In 2007 Afghanistan saw 140 more suicide bombings – more than in the past five years combined – that killed more than 300 people, many of whom were civilians. ** A UN report said the perpetrators were poorly educated, disaffected young men who were recruited by Taliban leaders in Pakistani madrassas. * Western analysts estimated that the Taliban can field about 10,000 fighters at any given time, according to a 30 October report in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. Of that number, "only 2,000 to 3,000 are highly motivated, full-time insurgents", the ''Times'' reported. The rest are part-timers, made up of alienated, young Afghan men angry at bombing raids or fighting in order to get money. In 2007, more foreign fighters were showing up in Afghanistan than ever before, according to Afghan and United States officials. An estimated 100 to 300 full-time combatants are foreigners, usually from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Chechnya, various Arab countries and perhaps even Turkey and western China. They tend to be more fanatical and violent, and they often bring skills such as the ability to post more sophisticated videos on the Internet or bombmaking expertise. It has also been reported that the Taliban now control up to 54% of Afghanistan. * On 15 April, the Afghan Government promised to end all hostage deals with the Taliban after two Afghan kidnapped victims were executed in an agreement to free an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

journalist.

Timeline

* January: ** 23 January: A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a US base in eastern Afghanistan, killing 10 people who were waiting outside the base. * February: ** 2 February: Taliban forces raided a southern Afghan town, destroying the government center and briefly holding some elders captive. ** 19 February: The Taliban briefly seized a small town in western Afghanistan after police fled the town, the Taliban forces moved in for 30 minutes and seized three vehicles. ** 20 February: A suicide bomber blew himself up during an opening hospital ceremony injuring 2 NATO soldiers and a hospital worker. ** 27 February: 23 people were killed when a suicide bomber attacked an American military base,

Bagram Airfield Bagram Airfield-BAF, also known as Bagram Air Base , is located southeast of Charikar in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. It is under the Afghan Ministry of Defense. Sitting on the site of the ancient Bagram at an elevation of above sea lev ...

(BAF), in

Bagram District Bagram District ( prs, ولسوالی بگرام) is a Districts of Afghanistan, district of Parwan Province, Afghanistan. Its seat lies at Bagram, which lies about 60 kilometers north of the capital of Kabul. It borders Kabul District to the so ...

Parwan Province Parwan (Dari: ), also spelled Parvan, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 751,000. The province is multi-ethnic and mostly rural society. The province is divided into ten districts. The town of Imam Abu Hani ...

. The attack took place while

US vice president The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The vice pr ...

Dick Cheney was in the compound. Cheney was unhurt and was the intended target of the attack as claimed by the Taliban. The dead included an American soldier, a Korean soldier, and an American contractor. * March: ** 4 March: A suicide bomber attacked an American convoy which left 16 civilians dead in the aftermath as the American convey begins to sporadically fire at civilian cars around them. In a separate incident, two British soldiers were killed when a Taliban rocket was fired on them during clashes in Southern Helmand Province. ** 17 March: A suicide bomber targeting a

Canadian military } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force ...

convoy left one dead and three injured, including one NATO soldier. The attack took place in Kandahar. ** 19 March: A car bomb blew up near a three-vehicle US embassy convoy injuring many in the convoy. ** 27 March: Four police officers were killed in the southern

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...

after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a police station. ** 29 March: A suicide bomber near

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

detonated explosives close to a high-ranking Afghan intelligence official's car, killing 4 civilians.{{cite news , url=https://archive.nytimes.com/query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage-9A0DE1DD1030F93AA15750C0A9619C8B63.html , title=World Briefing | Asia: Afghanistan: Kabul Suicide Attack Kills 4 , work=The New York Times , date=29 March 2007 , access-date=27 August 2012 , author=Wafa, Abdul Waheed * April: ** 6 April: Karzai said that he spoke to the Taliban to bring about peace in Afghanistan. He noted that the Afghan Taliban are "always welcome" in Afghanistan, although foreign militants are not. ** 9 April: Six Canadian soldiers were killed in southern Afghanistan when they struck a roadside bomb. A separate roadside bombing, also in south Afghanistan, left another NATO soldier dead and one wounded. In another incident, a statement from the Taliban's spokesperson claimed that they had beheaded a translator for a kidnapped Italian journalist. ** 15 April: A suicide bomber struck a US-private security firm, killing four Afghans working for the company.{{cite web , url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070416/ap_on_re_as/afghan_violence;_ylt=AoHdBffP5i77l9lwZ6Cq_RgUewgF, title=None , access-date=15 October 2008 {{dead link, date=June 2016, bot=medic, fix-attempted=yes{{cbignore, bot=medic ** 16 April: A suicide bomber ran onto a police training field and detonated his explosive device, killed 10 police officers and wounded dozens of others. The attack took place in the relatively quiet city of

Kunduz , native_name_lang = prs , other_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Kunduz River valley.jpg , imagesize = 300 , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_ ...

. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. ** 20 April: Separate explosions in Southern Afghanistan leave two NATO soldiers dead. ** 22 April: A suicide bomber blew himself up in an eastern city of Afghanistan, killing six. A roadside bomb also hit an Afghan intelligence service vehicle, killing all four who were inside. ** 30 April: Hundreds of Afghans took to the streets in western Afghanistan, accusing US soldiers of killing scores of civilians in fighting which the coalition said killed 136 Taliban in a three-week operation. * May: ** 13 May: Mullah Dadullah, the Taliban's top military commander in Afghanistan, was killed in fighting in the south. ** 23 May: The Taliban's newly named top field commander, Mullah Bakht Mohammed, brother and replacement of deceased field commander Mullah Dadullah, made his first public statement, saying the Taliban will "pursue holy war until the occupying countries leave." * July: ** 19 July: The South Korean hostage crisis involved the

hostage taking A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or ref ...

by the Taliban of twenty-three

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

n Christian

aid workers Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and v ...

Ghazni Province Ghazni (Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in southeastern Afghanistan. The province contains 19 districts, encompassing over a thousand villages and roughly 1.3 million people, making it the 5th most populous province. Th ...

. The Taliban killed two hostages later that month. The crisis ended on 30 August with the release of the remaining hostages as part of a deal with South Korean government diplomats. * August: ** 31 August: A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle after ramming three military vehicles at the military gate of

Kabul International Airport , nativename-r = , image = Flightline at Kabul International Airport.jpeg , caption = The flightline at Kabul International Airport in January 2012 , IATA = KBL , ICAO = OAKB , ...

. Two Afghan soldiers were killed and ten people were injured. * September: ** 29 September: In an effort to reach a compromise with the Taliban leaders, Karzai suggested quid quo pro by allowing militants to have a place in government if they stopped fighting. Taliban leaders replied by saying there would be no compromise unless intervening forces such as NATO and the US left. * November: ** 2 November: Mawlawi Abdul Manan, an important Taliban figure, was killed by Afghan Security forces. His death was confirmed by the Taliban.

2008

The US warned that in 2008 the Taliban has "coalesced into a resilient insurgency", and would "maintain or even increase the scope and pace of its terrorist attacks".{{cite news, work=BBC News , url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7478513.stm, title=Taleban 'to boost Afghan attacks', date=27 June 2008 Attacks by Taliban insurgents in eastern Afghanistan increased by 40% when compared to the same period in 2007.

Timeline

* February ** 24 February: Poor

military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

leads to conflicted reports of a possible Taliban spring offensive. * August ** 19 August: Taliban forces kill 9 French troops (with a 10th death in an accident) near Kabul. * October ** 6 October: CNN reported that, via Saudi intermediaries, the Taliban is negotiating to end the conflict in Afghanistan, and that the Taliban has split from Al Qaeda. * December: ** 7 December: 200 Taliban armed with RPGs and automatic weapons attack two NATO supply depots outside of Peshawar destroying 100 vehicles packed with supplies intended to support the NATO effort in Afghanistan.{{cite news , url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/08/world/asia/08pstan.html?ref=world , work=The New York Times , title=Militants in Pakistan Destroy NATO Trucks , first=Jane , last=Perlez , date=8 December 2008 , access-date=24 May 2010{{cite news , url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5310006.ece , work=The Times , location=London , title=Scores of Nato supply trucks destroyed in second attack in Peshawar , first=Jeremy , last=Page , date=9 December 2008 , access-date=24 May 2010 ** 8 December: 200 Taliban armed with RPGs and automatic weapons attack a NATO supply depot outside of Peshawar destroying 53 container trucks packed with supplies intended to support the NATO effort in Afghanistan.

2009

During 2009 the Taliban regained control over the countryside of several Afghan provinces. In August 2009, Taliban commanders in the province of Helmand started issuing ''"visa"'' from the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" in order to allow travel to and from the provincial capital of

Lashkar Gah Lashkargāh ( ps, لښکرګاه; fa, لشکرگاه), historically called Bost or Boost (), is a city in southwestern Afghanistan and the capital of Helmand Province. It is located in Lashkargah District, where the Arghandab River merges into ...

Timeline

* June: ** 30 June: US Army Private First Class soldier Bowe R. Bergdahl is captured by the Taliban in Southern Afghanistan. * July: ** 18 July: The Taliban release a video showing Bergdahl being interviewed by one of his captors. * August: ** 12 August: Taliban spokesmen threaten the public not to vote in the upcoming presidential elections.{{Cite news, last=Gall , first=Carlotta , url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/world/asia/13kandahar.html , title=As Afghan Vote Nears, Taliban Intimidation Rises, NYT, August 12, 2009 , location=Afghanistan , work=The New York Times , date=12 August 2009 , access-date=24 April 2011 ** 15 August:

2009 NATO Afghanistan headquarters bombing The 2009 NATO Afghanistan headquarters bombing occurred on August 15, 2009, when a Taliban suicide bomber detonated himself outside the NATO headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan. The bomber killed at least seven people and injured 91. Attack The bo ...

: *** A suicide car bomb explodes outside NATO headquarters in

, killing at least seven and wounding almost 100. ISAF troops were reported among the wounded. ** 25 August: A massive car bomb shakes Kandahar, killing at least 30 and wounding dozens as buildings collapse in the city's center. The attack comes after the first results of the presidential elections were announced. Four US soldiers die in an IED explosion in southern Afghanistan bringing ISAF losses to 295, eclipsing 2008's coalition death toll of 294. * September: ** 4 September: US airstrike on two fuel tankers kill at least 70 people in Farah Province after it was hijacked by Taliban militants. Angry relatives of those killed claim civilians were collecting fuel from the tankers when the airstrike came. * December: ** On 1 December, US President Barack Obama announced that he would send an additional 30,000 troops to help battle the Taliban insurgency. The Taliban reacted to the President's speech by saying they will step up their fight in Afghanistan. A Taliban commander told the BBC that if more US troops came, more would die. ** After his disputed

re-election The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...

, President Hamid Karzai announced to move ahead with a plan for a

Loya Jirga A jirga ( ps, جرګه, ''jərga'') is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethnic ...

to discuss the Taliban insurgency. The Taliban would be invited to take part in this Jirga.

2010

Insurgent Regions in Afghanistan and Pakistan

During 2010, the Taliban were ousted from parts of Helmand Province by the ISAF

Operation Moshtarak Operation Moshtarak (Dari for ''Together'' or ''Joint''), also known as the Battle of Marjah, was an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) pacification offensive in the town of Marjah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. It involved a comb ...

that started in February 2010. In the meantime the Taliban insurgency spread to the northern provinces of the country. The new policy of the Taliban was to shift militants from the south to the north, to show they exist ''"everywhere"'', according to

Faryab Province Faryab (Dari: ) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, which is located in the north of the country bordering neighboring Turkmenistan. It has a population of about 1,109,223, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a tribal society. The pr ...

Governor Abdul Haq Shafaq. With most Afghan and NATO troops stationed in the southern and eastern provinces, villagers in the once-peaceful north found themselves confronted with a rapid deterioration of security, as insurgents seized new territory in provinces such as

Kunduz , native_name_lang = prs , other_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Kunduz River valley.jpg , imagesize = 300 , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_ ...

and

Baghlan Baghlan (Dari: بغلان ''Baġlān'') is a city in northern Afghanistan, in the eponymous province, Baghlan Province. It is located three miles east of the Kunduz River, 35 miles south of Khanabad, and about 500 metres above sea level in the ...

, and even infiltrated the mountains of

in the northeast.

Timeline

* January: ** 17 January: ''"Kabul's day of terror"'': *** On this day, gunbattles near the presidential palace and other government buildings paralyzed the Afghan capital for hours. *** As President Karzai was swearing in his new cabinet ministers inside the presidential palace, militants performed attacks on multiple locations in Kabul, including shopping malls, a cinema and the central bank. A team of gunmen launched a spectacular assault in "commando style" with two men detonating suicide bombs and the rest fighting to the death near the gates of the presidential palace, an operation by insurgents to terrorize the Afghan capital, further demoralizing the population and lending to the impression that virtually no part of the country could be safe. The Taliban said it had deployed 20 suicide bombers in explosive vests who were also armed with heavy and light weaponry *** A western security official estimated there is a security incident in Kabul, on average, every seven to 10 days. * February: ** 26 February: Militants target hotels and guest houses in Kabul. Up to nine Indians, an Italian diplomat and a French film maker were among the dead in the worst assault on the Afghan capital for several months. A four-hour battle began with a car bombing and included suicide bombers and Taliban fighters throwing grenades. The attacks appeared to be aimed at Indian government officials and medical workers. Three Afghan police were killed, and six more officers were among the 38 people wounded in what was described as a well-planned and co-ordinated attack. * June: ** 2–4 June: {{Main, Afghan Peace Jirga 2010 ** The

Karzai administration Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repu ...

organized the Afghan Peace Jirga in Kabul that was announced after the 2009 presidential elections. The Taliban were not invited. * July: ** 20–29 July: International Conference on Afghanistan in Kabul * August: ** 6 August: killing of 10 members of a Christian charity's medical team in the mountains of Badakhshan.{{Main, 2010 Badakhshan massacre ** 10 August: Amnesty International states that the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals f ...

should open a formal investigation into crimes committed by the Taliban and other insurgent groups in Afghanistan.

2011

The insurgency continued strongly in 2011.

Timeline

The Taliban continued attacking and ambushing NATO and Afghan troops as well as the targeted assassination of government officials. * January: ** 29 January: The deputy governor of Kandahar was killed in a suicide attack. Three months later, on 15 April the Kandahar chief police, General Khan Mohammed Mujahid was killed. * April: ** It was reported that in 2011, the United States was spending 2 billion dollars per week fighting in Afghanistan against the Taliban. In a 2011 forecast the war in Afghanistan was estimated at 108 billion dollars for the year, while the Iraqi War was estimated at 50 billion. * May: ** 28 May: The Taliban assassinated one of their main opponents, Mohammed Daud Daud, in a bomb attack. Six others were also killed. He was the chief of the police for the northern of Afghanistan. * July: ** 18 July: President Karzai's advisor, Jan Mohammad Khan, was assassinated in Kabul by the Taliban in an attack that also killed an Afghan deputy. ** As of 18 July, coalition forces started their plan of transition by handing power of several areas to the Afghan authority following their plan of future pull out of the country. A Taliban militant who had infiltrated the Afghan police force killed seven other policemen in Lashkar Gah. The same day the police chief of Registaan district and three other policemen were killed in bomb attacks. ** As of 22 July 325 coalition fighters were killed, more than 55% of the deaths caused by IED's. ** 19 July: ISAF General Chief David Petraeus left his position with mixed results.{{cite magazine, url=https://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/07/commando-killed-taliban-so/ , magazine=Wired , first=Spencer , last=Ackerman , title=Petraeus' Commando Raids Killed Lots of Taliban. So? , date=19 July 2011 During his time as the head of ISAF, 3775 insurgents were killed or captured in 2832 raids while 713 NATO soldiers were killed. Overall the level of violence in the country increased. He was replaced by General John Allen. ** Between 20 and 22 July, NATO troops killed 50 Haqquani fighters in an attack on their camp. ** 24 July: A US military investigation discovered that a portion of the 2 billion dollars in funds given by the United States in contracts had fallen in the hands of the insurgency. ** 27 July: The mayor of Kandahar, Ghulam Haidar Hameedi, was killed in a suicide attack. ** 28 July: Suicide bombers and snipers attacked the police headquarters of Tarin Kowt in a large-scale attack which killed more than 21 people including Afghan reporter Ahmed Omed Khpulwak. According to the Afghan interior minister, for the 2-year period between 19 March 2009 and 19 March 2011, 2770 Afghan policemen were killed and 4785 wounded while 1052 Afghan soldiers were killed and 2413 wounded. * 31 July: 10 Afghan policemen were killed in a suicide attack in Lashkar Gah where Afghan security forces had taken over from NATO a week before. The same day, 10 Afghan guards who were protecting a NATO supplies convoy were killed in the attack. One day before, 5 Afghans soldiers and 2 NATO soldiers were killed in a bomb attack on their patrol. * August: ** 6 August: 31 American Special Forces soldiers were killed in the crash of their helicopter probably shot down during a fight with the Taliban. Seven Afghan soldiers were also killed. This was the biggest death toll for NATO troops in the whole war. Most of the American soldiers killed were Navy SEALs. ** 7 August: 4 NATO soldiers were killed, including two French Foreign Legion members, and 5 others were wounded.

2012

The Taliban insurgency continued into 2012.

Timeline

* August: ** 27 August: *** Taliban insurgents in the Taliban-controlled southern

Helmand Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...

area killed 17 civilians – fifteen men and two women{{cite news , url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19388869 , title=Taliban kill Afghan 'party-goers' in Helmand , publisher=BBC , date=27 August 2012 , access-date=27 August 2012 – who were attending a party. A government official said that the victims were beheaded for celebrating with music and mixgender dancing{{cite news , url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/another-afghan-soldier-attacks-kills-2-nato-troops/2012/08/27/02576fce-f026-11e1-892d-bc92fee603a7_story.html , title=Taliban beheads 17 Afghan partygoers; 2 NATO troops killed , newspaper=The Washington Post , date=27 August 2012 , access-date=27 August 2012 , author=Salahuddin, Sayed in the

Musa Qala ; "Fortress of Moses") is a town and the district centre of Musa Qala District in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. It is located at and at an altitude of 1,043 m in the valley of Musa Qala River in the central western part of the district. Its pop ...

district of Helmand, which ran contrary to the Taliban's extreme brand of Islam. Later, however, a provincial government official said that the 17 people killed were due to a fight between two Taliban commanders over two women (who were also killed). The civilians were either beheaded or had their throats cut, but some showed signs of gunshot wounds or beatings. **** The attacks were condemned by Afghanistan President

, who ordered an investigation into the attack, the leader of the

coalition led by the United States, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

, and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. However, the Taliban has denied responsibility for the attack, saying that no Taliban members have ever killed civilians. **** The attack occurred on the same day when two United States troops were killed by an Afghan soldier.{{cite news , url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57500654/taliban-beheads-17-afghan-civilians-govt-says/ , title=Taliban beheads 17 Afghan civilians, gov't. says , publisher=CBS News , date=27 August 2012 , access-date=27 August 2012 *** 10 Afghan soldiers were killed by the Taliban, also in the Helmand province.

2013

{{expand section, date=July 2021 On 3 April, Taliban gunmen and bombers attacked Farah, killing 34 civilians and 10 members of the security forces. Nine attackers were killed. In Kabul in June, a Taliban suicide car bomber killed 16 people on the 11th. Gunmen and bombers killed three security guards on the 25th; eight attackers were killed. On 13 September, Taliban gunmen and bombers killed eight security guards and a policeman in

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safē ...

. All seven attackers were killed.

2014

{{expand section, date=July 2021 As the American troops began to depart, and the number of Taliban attacks increased, there was speculation that the Taliban were waiting for an American withdrawal before launching a major offensive.

Timeline

* 25 July - Afghan insurgents killed 17 Shia civilians travelling from Kabul. * 13 December - Assassination of

Atiqullah Raufi Atiqullah Raufi was the chief of the secretariat of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan. He was assassinated as he was heading to work on December 13, 2014, around 9:00 a.m., in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Taliban The Taliban (; ps, ط� ...

.{{cite news, title=Afghan attack: Deadly gun battle in Mazar-e-Sharif, url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32230399, access-date=23 May 2016, publisher=BBC, date=9 April 2015

2015

2015 saw the Taliban make various gains in Afghanistan in an attempt to fracture the fledgling Afghan government with successes not seen since NATO intervened in 2001. The Taliban has increased suicide attacks and has made multiple territorial gains across the country.

Kunduz offensive

Beginning in April, the Taliban fought for the city of

Kunduz , native_name_lang = prs , other_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Kunduz River valley.jpg , imagesize = 300 , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_ ...

in the northern Kunduz Province with them capturing the city by September.

recaptured the city in October but local sources dispute this claim. The quick fall of the city resulted in calls by some government officials for President Ashraf Ghani and CEO Abdullah Abdullah to resign.

Helmand offensive

In December, the Taliban made more territorial gains by besieging Afghan forces in the cities of

Sangin Sangin ( ps, سنگين) is a town in Helmand province of Afghanistan, with a population of approximately 20,000 people. It is located on in the valley of the Helmand River at altitude, to the north-east of Lashkargah. Sangin is notorious as o ...

and outlying towns in the

in Southern Afghanistan. By late December, most of Sangin was captured by the Taliban with local Afghan forces surrounded and forced to rely on airlifts for ammunition and food.

Effects

The gains made by the Taliban have hampered peace talks between them and the government and made rifts appear in the Taliban over negotiations. In response to the new offensives, it was reported that the United States would slow down their withdrawal of troops to help in counter-insurgency operations.

2016

{{expand section, date=July 2021 * 14 April: Taliban attacking Kunduz; * 31 May: kidnapping a bus with 220 people, killing 10; * 1 June storming a court in Ghazni, 5 dead Taliban and 5 dead others; * June: Taliban have 25,000 fighters in Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan, according to US sources; * 18 July attacking Qalai Zal, unsuccessfully; * July: 20% of Afghanistan is in Taliban hands, said ''Time'' magazine; * December: Taliban controls 10% of Afghanistan, said the US military.

2017

{{expand section, date=August 2021 On 10 January, the Taliban killed dozens of people in bombings in Kabul and Lashkargah, Helmand Province. On 21 April, a least 10 Taliban members attacked Camp Shaheen in

Mazar-i-Sharif , official_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , pushpin_map = Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_label = Mazar-i-Sharif , pushpin ...

Balkh Province Balkh (Dari: , ''Balx'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north of the country. It is divided into 15 districts and has a population of about 1,509,183, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a Persian-speaking society. The c ...

, killing at least 140 soldiers. All attackers were killed. On 22 June, a Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 34 people at a bank in Lashkargah.

2018

{{expand section, date=July 2021 On 27 January, a Taliban suicide bomber killed over 100 people in Kabul using a bomb in an ambulance.

2019

{{expand section, date=July 2021 Throughout most of the year, the US government maintained high-level talks with the Taliban, in an effort to secure a peace deal with the insurgency. However, a suicide bombing in

on 7 September 2019 which killed 11 people and one American soldier prompted the US president to break-off peace talks with the Taliban. In mid September, US Secretary of State

Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served under President Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2017 to 2018 and as the 70th United State ...

alleged that the Taliban had suffered more than 1,000 war casualties in the space of only one week since the US broke off peace negotiations with the Taliban.

2020

{{update section, date=July 2021 On 29 February, the

US–Taliban deal The Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan, commonly known as the US–Taliban deal or the Doha Agreement, was a peace agreement signed by the United States and the Taliban on February 29, 2020 in Doha, Qatar, to bring an end to the 2001� ...

was signed in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

. The agreement called for the withdrawal of all 13,000 US and allied troops over the next 14 months, on the condition that the Taliban continues with the peace process. The first withdrawal, of around 5,000 personnel, would occur within the next 135 days.{{cite news , last=Nazaryan , first=Alexander , title=Trump hails Taliban deal: 'Everybody's tired of war' , publisher=National Correspondent, Yahoo News , date=29 February 2020 , url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-afghanistan-taliban-212148338.html , access-date=1 March 2020 The peace deal stipulated that the Taliban not allow terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda "to use the soil of Afghanistan to threaten the security of the United States and its allies." If successful, the peace deal will bring an end to 18-years of conflict. Only days after signing the historic deal, US forces conducted airstrikes on Taliban soldiers as a "defensive" measure, as Taliban fighters were "actively attacking" an Afghan government checkpoint. On 2 May, the US revealed that the agreement included an informal commitment for both sides to cut violence by 80%. Since the agreement was signed, attacks on cities and coalition forces had decreased, but overall attacks had increased 70% compared with the same period in 2019, according to ''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

''. The Taliban claim that attacks have fallen since the agreement was signed. On 14 May, a Taliban suicide truck bomber killed five civilians in

Gardez , settlement_type =City , image_skyline =gardez_paktya.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption =The Bala Hesar fortress in the center of Gardez City , image_flag = , flag_size = , image_sea ...

Paktia Province Paktia (Pashto/Dari: – ''Paktyā'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the east of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktia Province is divided into 15 districts and has a population of roughly ...

. On 18 May, the Taliban killed nine people in a similar attack in

. On 29 May, it was revealed that numerous Taliban and Taliban-aligned Haqqani Network leaders were infected with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

. This resulted in the late founder Mullah Mohammad Omar's son Mullah

being made the entire organization's acting leader.

2021

{{further, 2021 Taliban offensive

In 2021, the United States forces and allies started to withdraw from Afghanistan which allowed the Taliban to intensify their insurgency. On 16 June, the Taliban executed 22 soldiers from the Afghan National Army as they tried to surrender; local eyewitnesses stated that the language the militants used among themselves was foreign, indicating that the fighters were not from the area.{{cite web , last1=Coren , first1=Anna , last2=Sidhu , first2=Sandi , last3=Lister , first3=Tim , last4=Bina , first4=Abdul Basir , title=Taliban fighters execute 22 Afghan commandos as they try to surrender , url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/13/asia/afghanistan-taliban-commandos-killed-intl-hnk/index.html , website=

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

, date=13 July 2021 On 29 June, intense fighting between Taliban insurgents and government forces killed 28 civilians and injured another 290 during the past week, according to the head of a hospital in Kunduz, with the majority of the dead being children, women and elderly people. The Taliban had moved beyond its southern strongholds and had intensified the fighting in the north, according to military experts. On 2 July, US troops fully left

, handing it to the Afghan Armed Forces as the coalition, including the US, prepared to leave Afghanistan after 20 years. Meanwhile, fighting continued between the Taliban and government forces, with analysts said that the Taliban would be "at the door of Kabul". Afterwards, Bagram Airfield was looted by locals following the sudden American withdrawal from the airbase, which was conducted without any coordination with local officials. Afghan troops later cleared the airbase of looters and secured control of it. However, it was reported that, during June, the Taliban captured 700

Humvees The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of light, four-wheel drive, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It has largely supplanted the roles previously performed by the or ...

as well as dozens of armored vehicles and artillery systems from the Afghan National Army as more districts fall under the group's control during their offensive in the north. On 4 July, the Taliban took control of several further districts overnight as Afghan troops abandoned their posts and fled into neighboring

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

via

. The State Committee for National Security of Tajikistan reported that more than 300 Afghan troops crossed the Tajik border as Taliban spokesperson

Zabiullah Mujahid Zabihullah Mujahid ( ps, ; ''Ẕabīḥullāh Mujāhid'' ; also spelled Dhabih Allah Mujahid) is an Afghan official Central spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan since 25 October 2021 and Deputy Ministry of Information and Culture ...

confirmed that most of the territory gaining occurred without a fight. On 5 July, Afghan presidential advisor

Hamdullah Mohib Hamdullah Mohib (Pashto/ prs, حمدالله محب; born 1983) is an Afghan politician and former diplomat. Educated in England, Mohib was deputy chief of staff to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and simultaneously Ambassador of Afghanistan to t ...

said that there would be a counter-offensive against the Taliban in the north after the group captured six districts in Badakhshan Province. A day earlier, at least 1,037 Afghan troops abandoned their positions and fled into Tajikistan. On 7 July, Taliban insurgents entered

Qala e Naw Qala-e-Naw ( prs, قلعه نو) is a town in Qala e Naw District and the capital of Badghis Province, in north-west Afghanistan. Its population was estimated at 9,000 in 2006, of which 80% are Tajiks, Hazaras, and Aimaq Hazara. Other significan ...

, the provincial capital of Badghis Province, with heavy fighting reported as the militants moved "towards the centre of the city". All government officials in the city had been moved to a nearby army base, while the Taliban had freed about 400 prisoners from the city's prison. On 9 July, the Taliban captured the border town of

Islam Qala Islām Qala ( Persian/Pashto: اسلام قلعه, also ''Eslām Qalʿeh''), known historically as Kafir Qala, is a border town in the western Herat province of Afghanistan, near the Afghanistan–Iran border. It is the official entry by land fro ...

, Afghanistan's biggest border crossing with Iran. On the same day, Taliban insurgents captured the border town of

Torghundi Torghundi, also spelled Turghundi or Towrgondi ( ps, تورغونډۍ, translit=Tōrghūnḍəi, tk, Torghundi), is a border town in northern Herat Province of Afghanistan. The town's main attraction is the Torghundi custom house and border che ...

on the border with Turkmenistan as the Afghan National Security Forces collapsed in Herat. The Interior Ministry said that troops had been "temporarily relocated" and that efforts were underway to recapture the border crossing. In addition, a spokesperson for Kandahar Province Governor Rohullah Khanzada mentioned that the Taliban had started fighting to capture the city of Kandahar. On 22 July 100 people were killed in a mass shooting in

Spin Boldak District Spin Boldak is a district in the eastern part of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. It borders Daman District to the west, Arghistan District to the north, Qila Abdullah District of Pakistan to the east and Shorabak District to the south. The popula ...

. On 3 August, a suicide car bomber and gunmen attacked Kabul. Eight people were killed, not including the attackers. On 9 August, #SanctionPakistan became one of the top

Twitter trends On Twitter, a word, phrase, or topic that is mentioned at a greater rate than others is said to be a "trending topic" or simply a "trend". Trending topics become popular either through a concerted effort by users or because of an event that promp ...

in Afghanistan and worldwide, with Afghans holding Pakistan responsible for its support of the Taliban. On 12 August, about two-thirds of the country was in Taliban hands, with only four cities outside of Taliban control. Sectors of the United States government (CIA) estimated that Kabul would fall within 90 days, and American diplomats were reportedly requesting that the Taliban not deface the American embassy there.{{Cite news , last1=Goldbaum , first1=Christina , last2=Hassan , first2=Sharif , last3=Abed , first3=Fahim , date=2021-08-12 , title=Afghanistan Collapse Accelerates as 2 Vital Cities Near Fall to Taliban , language=en-US , work=The New York Times , url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/12/world/asia/kandahar-afghanistan-taliban.html , access-date=2021-08-12 , issn=0362-4331

Aftermath

{{further, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Republican insurgency in Afghanistan, National Resistance Front of Afghanistan The end of the Taliban insurgency resulted in the beginning of a new insurgency against the restored Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan by the National Resistance Front and allied groups which fight under the banner of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

References

{{reflist

External links

Who Are the Taliban?
by Anand Gopal {{Taliban {{War in Afghanistan {{War on Terrorism 2000s conflicts 2010s conflicts Afghanistan conflict (1978–present) Conflicts in 2020 Conflicts in 2021 Guerrilla wars

* Wars involving the Taliban Insurgencies in Asia