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The Afghanistan crisis: Key dates and events that led to the fall of Kabul

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Taliban forces patrol a street in Herat, Afghanistan August 14, 2021. Reuters" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/reuters/08/15/20210815-taliban.jpg"/><figcaption>Taliban forces patrol a street in Herat, Afghanistan August 14, 2021. <em>Reuters</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>With the Taliban back in control of Afghanistan, here is a recap of landmark events in the war-torn country since the group&#x27;s first regime was toppled in the 2001 US-led invasion:</p><div><strong>- 2001: 9/11 and &#x27;War on Terror&#x27; -</strong></div><p>President George W. Bush launches his &quot;war on terror&quot; in response to the September 11 attacks that killed around 3,000 people, with air strikes on Afghanistan on October 7, 2001.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The Tribute in Light installation is illuminated over lower Manhattan as seen from The National September 11 Memorial &amp; Museum marking the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York City, USA. Andrew Kelly, Reuters" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/news/09/12/20180911-new-york-911-memorial-rtr.jpg"/><figcaption>The Tribute in Light installation is illuminated over lower Manhattan as seen from The National September 11 Memorial &amp; Museum marking the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York City, USA. <em>Andrew Kelly, Reuters</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>The Taliban government had sheltered Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda movement, which masterminded 9/11.</p><p>In power since 1996, the Taliban are soon defeated and flee the Afghan capital Kabul on December 6.</p><p>Hamid Karzai is appointed to lead an interim government and NATO begins to deploy its International Security Assistance Force.</p><div><strong>- 2004: First presidential election - </strong></div><p>Afghanistan&#x27;s first election under a new system is held on October 9, 2004 with an enthusiastic turnout of 70 percent. Karzai wins 55 percent of the vote.</p><p>The Taliban regroup in the south and east, as well as across the border in Pakistan, and launch an insurgency.</p><div><strong>- 2008-2011: US reinforcements -</strong></div><p>As attacks multiply, the US command in 2008 asks for more troops and the first reinforcements are sent.</p><p>Karzai is re-elected on August 20, 2009 in elections that are marred by massive fraud, low turnout and Taliban attacks.</p><p>In 2009, President Barack Obama, who had campaigned on a pledge to end the Afghanistan war, doubles the number of US troops to 68,000. In 2010, it reaches around 100,000.</p><p>Osama bin Laden is killed on May 2, 2011 in a US special forces operation in Pakistan.</p><p>On June 22, Obama announces the beginning of a troop withdrawal, with the departure by mid-2012 of 33,000 soldiers.</p><div><strong>- 2014: NATO exit -</strong></div><p>In June 2014, Ashraf Ghani is elected president but voting is marred by violence and a bitter dispute over claims of fraud.</p><p>In December, NATO ends its 13-year combat mission but a number of troops remain to train the Afghan military.</p><p>The following year, the Taliban make their greatest military advances since being ousted.</p><p>The Islamic State jihadist group also becomes active in the region. Bloody attacks multiply, notably in Kabul.</p><div><strong>- 2020: US-Taliban deal, disputed election - </strong></div><p>Ghani is declared victorious for a second term on February 18, 2020, an announcement rejected by his rival and former minister Abdullah Abdullah, who vows to form his own parallel government.</p><p>On February 29, the United States and the Taliban sign a historic deal in Doha under which all foreign forces would leave Afghanistan by May 2021, provided the insurgents start talks with Kabul and adhere to other security guarantees.</p><p>A power-sharing deal ends the bitter Ghani-Abdullah feud in May. Abdullah takes the role of leading the peace negotiations.</p><p>Talks begin in September but violence surges and the Taliban are blamed for a wave of targeted killings.</p><div><strong>- May 2021: Foreign troops withdrawal - </strong></div><p>On May 1, 2021 the United States and NATO start withdrawing their 9,500 soldiers, of which 2,500 are American.</p><p>In May, the Americans withdraw from the Kandahar air base.</p><p>On July 2, Bagram air base -- Afghanistan&#x27;s biggest, and the nerve centre of the US-led coalition&#x27;s operations -- is handed over to Afghan forces.</p><p>President Joe Biden says that the US troop withdrawal will be completed by August 31, before the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.</p><div><strong>- May-August 2021: Taliban blitz -</strong></div><p>The insurgents launch lightning attacks across Afghanistan, capturing vast stretches of the hinterland as the final foreign troops begin their withdrawal.</p><p>The Taliban capture their first provincial capital, Zaranj in the southwest, on August 6.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Internally displaced families from northern provinces, who fled from their homes due to the fighting between Taliban and Afghan security forces, take shelter in a public park in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 10, 2021. Reuters/Stringer" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/reuters/08/16/afghanistan.jpg"/><figcaption>Internally displaced families from northern provinces, who fled from their homes due to the fighting between Taliban and Afghan security forces, take shelter in a public park in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 10, 2021. <em>Reuters/Stringer</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Other major cities fall within days, including Kandahar and Herat -- Afghanistan&#x27;s second- and third-biggest cities respectively.</p><p>Most of the north, west and south is under Taliban control by August 13.</p><p>The Pentagon says Kabul does not appear to face an &quot;imminent threat&quot;.</p><div><strong>- August 2021: Fall of Kabul -</strong></div><p>The insurgents fully encircle the capital on August 15 with the capture of Jalalabad in the east.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Taliban fighters and local people sit on an Afghan National Army (ANA) Humvee vehicle on a street in Jalalabad province on Sunday. AFP" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/reuters/08/16/20210815-afghanistan-taliban-takeover-afp-s.jpg"/><figcaption>Taliban fighters and local people sit on an Afghan National Army (ANA) Humvee vehicle on a street in Jalalabad province on Sunday. <em>AFP</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>It leaves Kabul as the only city under government control.</p><p>Diplomatic missions scramble to evacuate officials and local staff who fear reprisals from the Taliban.</p><p><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/08/16/21/the-rise-and-fall-of-afghan-president-ashraf-ghani">Ghani</a> flees the country, reportedly to Tajikistan, and the Taliban enter Kabul, eventually taking position in the presidential palace.</p><p>In a statement, Ghani admits the insurgents have &quot;won.&quot;</p><p>The ease of the Taliban&#x27;s advance, despite billions of dollars spent by the United States and others to build up local Afghan government forces, has stunned the world.</p><p>Just last week, a US intelligence estimate said Kabul could hold out for at least three months.</p><p>Before news that Ghani had left Kabul, a palace official said he was in emergency talks with US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and officials from the NATO transatlantic alliance.</p><p>Power would be handed over to a transitional administration, the government&#x27;s acting interior minister, Abdul Sattar Mirzakawal, tweeted on the Tolo news channel. &quot;There won&#x27;t be an attack on the city, it is agreed that there will be a peaceful handover,&quot; he said without elaborating.</p><p>A tweet from the Afghan presidential palace account said firing had been heard at a number of points around Kabul but that security forces, in coordination with international partners, had control of the city.</p><p>Many of Kabul&#x27;s streets were choked by cars and people either trying to rush home or reach the airport, residents said.</p><div><strong>- With reports from Reuters</strong></div>

With the Taliban back in control of Afghanistan, here is a recap of landmark events in the war-torn country since the group's first regime was toppled in the 2001 US-led invasion.