The U.S. War in Afghanistan 1999-2021
1999 – 2021
The Taliban insurgency remains resilient nearly two decades after U.S.-led forces toppled its regime in what led to the United States’ longest war. CFR
1999
October 15, 1999An Al-Qaeda and Taliban Nexus
The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 1267, creating the so-called al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee, which links the two groups as terrorist entities and imposes sanctions on their funding, travel, and arms shipments.
September 9, 2001
Ahmad Shah Massoud, commander of the Northern Alliance, an anti-Taliban coalition, is assassinated by al-Qaeda operatives. The killing of Massoud, a master of guerilla warfare known as the Lion of the Panjshir, deals a serious blow to the anti-Taliban resistance. CFR
September 11, 2001
Al-Qaeda operatives hijack four commercial airliners, crashing them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC. A fourth plane crashes in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
September 18, 2001A War Footing
President George W. Bush signs into law a joint resolution authorizing the use of force against those responsible for attacking the United States on 9/11.
The bombing campaign against Taliban forces, officially launching Operation Enduring Freedom..
November 2001The Taliban in Retreat
The Taliban regime unravels rapidly after its loss at Mazar-e-Sharif on November 9, 2001, to forces loyal to Abdul Rashid Dostum, an ethnic Uzbek military leader. CFR
December 9, 2001 The Taliban Collapses
Taliban surrender Kandahar [PDF] and Taliban leader Mullah Omar flees the city, leaving it under tribal law administered by Pashtun leaders. CFR
March 2002 Mixed Signals
Operation Anaconda, the first major ground assault and the largest operation since Tora Bora, is launched against an estimated eight hundred al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the Shah-i-Kot Valley south of the city of Gardez (Paktia Province).
April 17, 2002 Reconstructing Afghanistan
President George W. Bush calls for the reconstruction of Afghanistan in a speech at the Virginia Military Institute. “By helping to build an Afghanistan that is free from this evil and is a better place in which to live, we are working in the best traditions of George Marshall,” CFR
May 1, 2003‘ Major Combat’ Over
August 8, 2003
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) takes over leadership Of international security forces (ISAF) in Afghanistan, expanding NATO/ISAF’s role across the country.
January 2004A Constitution for Afghanistan
October 9, 2004A New President for Afghanistan
Karzai becomes the first democratically elected head of Afghanistan.
Afghan president Hamid Karzai and U.S. president George W. Bush issue a joint declaration that pronounces their respective countries strategic partners. The declaration gives U.S. forces access to Afghan military facilities to prosecute “the war against international terror and the struggle against violent extremism.” CFR
More than six million Afghans turn out to vote in monitored elections and elect Karzai.
July 2006 Bloody Resurgence
Violence increases across the country during the summer months, with intense fighting erupting in the south in July.
Fast Forward