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LAST UPDATE | 16 Aug 2021
(Note: This timeline was first published on 12 August but has now been updated to reflect the Taliban’s control of Kabul.)
20 YEARS AFTER an invasion by US-led forces in 2001, the Taliban has now taken effective control of Afghanistan once more.
Fighting in Afghanistan’s long-running conflict has escalated dramatically since May, when the US-led military coalition began the final stage of a withdrawal that was set to be completed before the end of this month.
This timeline has now been accelerated as the Taliban swiftly advanced across the south Asian nation following the withdrawal of US troops.
The return of the Taliban to likely means a return to its violent, ultra-austere brand of Islam which has banned music and severely restricted the rights of women and girls.
The US was continuing to provide air support and equipment to Afghan troops but President Joe Biden’s urging of Afghan leaders to “fight for themselves” has proved to be a fruitless plea.
“We spent over a trillion dollars over 20 years. We trained and equipped with modern equipment over 300,000 Afghan forces,” Biden said last Tuesday.
Afghan leaders have to come together. They’ve got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland this week UUP leader Doug Beattie, who had three tours in Afghanistan as a member of the British army, rejected the notion that the Afghan people should be left alone in their fight.
“People think they have not been fighting for themselves. They have been fighting for themselves, for dozens of years, hundreds of years and we have been supporting them,” he said.
The people of Afghanistan who thought that we would help will be feeling scared now. And some of them, the women in particular, will be downtrodden once more, will not be able to work, will not be able to be educated, and we’ll go back to a regime that we overthrew in 2001. I don’t know how anybody can support the Taliban for them to be able to do that and that’s why I believe we have made a terrible decision to leave these people.
Biden has also drawn much criticism in the US for the messaging and policy on Afghanistan and he is due to address US citizens later tonight.
So how did we get to the point that the US invaded Afghanistan but now left with the original rulers set to return?
The timeline goes back to the attacks on 11 September, 2001 that will have their 20th anniversary next month.
9/11
The United States descended on Afghanistan and its Taliban government in 2001 in the wake of the 9/11 attacks by Al-Qaeda, which had sought sanctuary in the country.
On 7 October, 2001 — less than a month after the 11 September attacks that killed around 3,000 people in the United States — President George W. Bush launched “Operation Enduring Freedom” in Afghanistan.
The ruling Islamist Taliban had been sheltering Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda movement, which carried out the 9/11 attacks.
The operation opened a military front in the US “war on terrorism” and within weeks, US-led forces overthrew the Taliban, who had been in power since 1996.
About 1,300 American soldiers were on the ground by November 2001, rising to almost 10,000 the next year.
Forgotten war
American attention was diverted from Afghanistan when US forces invaded Iraq in March 2003 to oust dictator Saddam Hussein.
The fragmented Taliban and other Islamist outfits regrouped in their strongholds in southern and eastern Afghanistan, from where they could easily travel between their bases in Pakistan’s tribal areas, and launched an insurgency.
In 2008, the US command in Afghanistan called for more manpower. President Bush sent additional soldiers, bringing the total to 48,500 US troops deployed.
Peak of 100,000 US troops
In 2009, Barack Obama – elected president after a campaign that promised to end the Iraq and Afghanistan wars – boosted the US presence to around 68,000. In December, he sent another 30,000 troops.
The objective was to stymie the growing Taliban insurgency and strengthen Afghan institutions.
By 2010, about 150,000 foreign soldiers were deployed in Afghanistan, of which 100,000 were American.
Bin Laden killed
Osama bin Laden was killed on 2 May, 2011 in a US special forces operation in Pakistan.
Combat operations end
The NATO alliance ended its combat mission in Afghanistan in December 2014.
But around 12,500 foreign soldiers – of which 9,800 were American – remained to train Afghan troops and conduct anti-terrorist operations.
Security in Afghanistan deteriorated as the Taliban’s insurgency spread, with a branch of the Islamic State (IS) group also becoming active in South Asia in 2015.
US reinforcements
President Donald Trump scrapped any timetables for a US pull-out and re-commited thousands more soldiers in August 2017.
However, deadly attacks multiplied, especially against Afghan forces. The United States dramatically stepped up air strikes.
Talks and deal
The following year, Washington and Taliban representatives discreetly opened talks in Doha, led by US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, focused on slashing the American military footprint in Afghanistan.
In return, Washington demanded that the Taliban prevent the country from being used as a haven for jihadist groups including Al-Qaeda.
On 29 February, 2020, the United States and the Taliban signed a historic deal.
It paveed the way for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan by May 2021 — in return for the insurgents offering some security guarantees and agreeing to hold peace talks with the Afghan government.
The peace talks begin on 12 September but violence surged in Afghanistan and negotiations between the Taliban and Afghan government stalled.
The Taliban were blamed for a wave of targeted killings against high-profile activists, politicians, journalists and working women.
End date and Taliban attack
Troop numbers by the end of Trump’s presidency in January 2021 fell to 2,500 as support for military action waned.
As of February, NATO has around 10,000 service members in the country, the largest contingent of which is from the United States.
President Joe Biden announced he would stick to the agreement with the Taliban, but delayed the drawdown deadline until 11 September.
Violence surged after the missed 1 May deadline and the Taliban launched a blistering offensive, capturing a number of rural districts close to major cities, stirring fears that Afghan security forces will buckle once US and international troops leave.
Fierce fighting
In early May, NATO began a final withdrawal of its mission in Afghanistan involving 9,600 soldiers – 2,500 of them American.
Intense fighting broke out between the Taliban and government forces in southern Helmand province and the insurgents captured Burka in northern Baghlan province.
A bomb blast outside a girls’ school on 8 May in Kabul killed 85 people, mostly pupils.
The deadliest attack in a year was blamed on the Taliban, though they did not claim it.
Mid-May, US forces withdrew from the air base in Kandahar, one of the largest in the country.
Bagram handed over to Afghan troops
Officials on 2 June announced the imminent departure of all US and NATO troops from Bagram, Afghanistan’s biggest air base, signalling that the complete withdrawal of foreign forces was imminent.
Bagram served as the linchpin for US-led operations in Afghanistan, and the ability of Afghan forces to hold the base is likely to prove pivotal to maintaining security in nearby Kabul and keeping up pressure on the militants.
Taliban advances
The insurgents seized districts in Wardak province, 40km from Kabul, and restive Ghazni, a key province straddling roads connecting Kabul to Kandahar, the second-largest city.
In mid-June, the Taliban captured several districts in the northern provinces of Faryab, Takhar and Badakhshan, forcing the military to retreat from a number of areas.
Key borders
The Taliban took control of the main Shir Khan Bandar border crossing with Tajikistan, prompting the Central Asian country to check the combat readiness of its armed forces on 22 June.
The insurgents seized other routes to Tajikistan, as well as the districts leading to Kunduz, capital of the northern province of the same name, about 50km from the Tajik border.
On 9 July, the Taliban announced the capture of Afghanistan’s biggest border crossing with Iran, Islam Qala.
Airport
Two days later Afghan authorities installed an anti-missile system at Kabul airport to counter incoming rockets.
On 14 July, the insurgents took control of the Spin Boldak border crossing with Pakistan, a key trade route between the two countries.
The Taliban claimed on 22 July that they controlled 90% of Afghanistan’s borders, a figure disputed by the government and impossible to verify.
Capitals fall
In a sharp escalation over the first weekend of August, the Taliban offensive focused on urban centres, with the insurgents attacking at least three provincial capitals – Lashkar Gah, Kandahar and Herat.
The US and Britain said the Taliban may have committed “war crimes”, accusing the insurgents of “massacring civilians” in the town of Spin Boldak.
Eight people were killed on 3 August in a coordinated Taliban-claimed bomb and gun attack targeting the Afghan defence minister and several lawmakers in Kabul.
On 6 August, the Taliban shot dead the head of the Afghan government’s media information centre at a mosque in the capital.
The Taliban captured their first Afghan provincial capital, the city of Zaranj in southwestern Nimroz, taking it “without a fight”.
In the following days, several other northern cities fell: Sheberghan, Kunduz, Sar-e-Pul, Taloqan, Aibak, Farah and Pul-e-Khumri.
Despite the bloodshed and sweeping advances, US President Joe Biden gave no suggestion he may delay the withdrawal deadline.
On Wednesday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani flew to the besieged northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif to rally his forces.
But his visit was overshadowed by the surrender of hundreds of Afghan soldiers in nearby Kunduz, the biggest city to fall to that point.
At the gates
As recently as 13 August, Pentagon says Kabul does not appear to face an “imminent threat” but two days later Taliban fighters appear on the edge of the city.
The insurgents fully encircle the capital on 15 August with the capture of Jalalabad in the east, leaving Kabul as the only city under government control.
On Sunday evening, former vice president Abdullah Abdullah announces that president Ghani has left the country.
“The Islamic Emirate instructs all its forces to stand at the gates of Kabul, not to try to enter the city,” a spokesman for the Taliban tweets as residents report insurgents on the outskirts of the city.
The Taliban then say that their militants have entered multiple districts of the capital.
Diplomatic missions scramble to evacuate officials and local staff who fear reprisals from the Taliban.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken rejects parallels between chaotic scenes unfolding in Kabul and the Vietnam war, declaring “this is manifestly not Saigon”.
Ghani flees the country, reportedly to Tajikistan, and the Taliban enter Kabul, eventually taking position in the presidential palace.
Television images show the Taliban have entered the capital and have seized the presidential palace.
In a message on Facebook, Ghani says he has fled to avoid a “flood of bloodshed” and says the “Taliban have won”.
Chaos at the airport
People besiege Kabul’s airport on 16 August, the only exit route from the country.
Videos show scenes of chaos as people try to board the few flights available.
US troops fire shots into the air and all commercial flights are cancelled as chaos breaks out on the tarmac.
At least seven people are killed with some falling to their deaths after attempting to cling to US military planes taking off from the airport.
About 6,000 US troops are in the area in an effort to ensure the airport is secure but military flights are paused due to the uncertain and dangerous situation,
With reporting by © – AFP 2021
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Amazing how the official narrative does not mention the real reason for going into Afghanistan. Namely the desire for Bush et al to build a pipeline to bring the gas from the “Stans” which were newly independent of Russia. In fact it no secret that America was in negotiations with the Taliban to build same but discussions broke down. 6 months later you have 9/11 carried out by Saudis. It gave a great excuse to invade. All smoke and mirrors. Meanwhile the dependants of 9/11 victims are still trying to get access to the Saudi files which show 9/11 was a Saudi op. Question is was there collusion in same by Cheney, Rumsfeld and Bush.
@Gregory Pym: am I correct in saying this was addressed in Michael Moores film about the afghan invasion?
@Gregory Pym: Wow. You would swear you were there or something.
@Gregory Pym: I bet youre antivaxxer also and think the moon landings are fake. Conspiracy theorists like you are whats wrong with society today.
@Gregory Pym: Only flaw with Moores conspiracy theory is that A) America never built this pipeline and B), there was never going to be a pipleline from the the Stans all the way to America.
@Mjhint: no. Lot of sources over the years all freely available in the normal press if you care to look.
@Pauline Gallagher: the labelling of people as conspiracy theorists is what’s wrong in the world today. You’ve engaged in ad hominem and well poisoning there. He’s wrong about Saudi Arabia being directly involved, however the fact is that 9/11 was used as a pretext for invading both Afghanistan and Iraq – the latter had nothing at all to do with it.
@Pauline Gallagher: actually I’ve been jabbed twice. And no I do believe that neil Armstrong walked on the moon. I am not a conspiracy nutter. You should do some independent research. The Bush family were business partners with the Bin Laden clan for many years before the Iraq war. The CIA choose bin laden jr to lead their guerilla war as the mujahadeen against the Russians who had invaded Afghanistan. The mujahadeen morphed into ISIS eventually. The Americans also gave Saddam the technology to manufacture binary chemical weapons to use against Iran in the ten year war between them. Unfortunately Saddam blotted his copy book by invading Kuwait which historically had been part of Iraq .
@Pauline Gallagher: you can always do a bit of reading and come to your own conclusion. So what do you think as a troll
@Gregory Pym: America exports oil and gas bla leftie
@john smith iv: 9/11 was NOT an inside job by the Americans! its a disgusting accusation.
@David Saunders: What, read the theories of some sad loser cra ckpots on the internet? theres more truth in a waterford whispers article.
@Gregory Pym: And who wrote all that? john grisham?
@Pauline Gallagher:
If you’re going to brush away historic facts (such as the Unacol project in Afghanistan, or the US’s cozy relationship with Saudi military intelligence who worked directly with Osama Bin Laden) as “conspiracy theories”, then you have nothing valuable to add.
Yes, sometimes people grasp at straws to come up with mad theories. But if you don’t want to read about the history of US involvement in the middle east, you shouldn’t go around accusing people of being conspiracy theorists just because they know the history. The Taliban was formed from Mujaheddin factions, who the US had been supplying arms to up until the mid 90s.
It’s pretty odd that this force couldn’t have been neutralised by the world’s greatest army and its alliance. I don’t mean defeat Islamist ideology, that’s impossible. I mean specifically the Taliban. So that when the US left the Afghan government would have little to do.
I wonder as well about who is supporting the Taliban financially.
@john smith iv: the Americans financed them when they were fighting the Russians. So I’d hazard a guess
@john smith iv:The US cant defeat the cartels in Mexico either for the same reasons, people are afraid of their brutality. Also the problem fighting mujaheddin is that by fighting them you are actually strengthening their cause, it is a paradox. Afghanistan is the biggest producer of opium in the world, i am sure the Taliban were getting a cut if you were wondering where funding was coming from, plus i am sure the Taliban have allies in certain countries, the Russians have not pulled their embassy from Kabul I have read.
It’s been an absolute mess for a long long time. There’s a reason the Taliban are strong and that’s because they have huge support from people who have been trod all over by foreign invaders for decades. Leaving them to it might actually be for the best in the long run but I feel very sorry for the Afghan forces who have been sold out once again.
It’s a civil war caused by foreign forces meddling in their affairs. Maybe it just has to play out
Have a thought for the masses of young women who are going to have a hellish future under taliban rule, One only needs to search the darker side of the web to see that they are in for a seriously bad time.
@Frank Jasper: its depressing. Taking girls from families as sex slaves for their soldiers. From bloomberg “Now the Taliban are going door-to-door in some areas, compiling lists of women and girls aged between 12 and 45 years for their fighters to forcibly marry. Women are again being told they cannot leave the house without a male escort, they cannot work, study or dress as they please. Schools and colleges are being shut and businesses destroyed. The exodus of those who can afford to flee the country is growing by the day.”
@Chewey Bacca: And yet people complain here about their civil liberties and freedoms taken away. We are a first world society who are unbelievably privileged compared to other parts of the world
@Chewey Bacca: The Taliban are backward religious extremists but thats the religion most of their country men and women follow. Lets have facts, not more fantasy made up by people who never left the house.
This was always going to happen. The Taliban have been biding their time to this point and have struck now as all foreign forces and in particular the USA pull out from the country
@Sinead Merrigan: you should have let them know Sinead.
I heard they’re going to build a light rail system that will be totally free of charge!
@Thomas Harrington: I héard they are bringing in new sugar tax a new plastic bag tax and then the coffee cup levy followed by carbon tax – it’s to a help with the environment ya see because the environment is very important and it seems bombing the place to oblivion for 20 years hasn’t helped – some say its even made it worse – the and so can’t allow rape and pillage and war distract from the climate issue
The fall of Saigon – but a bit more organised this time.
With the American terrorists leaving, the Afghans can finally retake their own country.
The US embassy is moving to Kabul airport. Soon we’ll have pics of US soldiers cramming onto the last helicopters. When will they ever learn?
A lot of settling scores on the way not good
@Mary Paget: but they are are deferring the new carbon taxes for a while so not all bad
Let’s go all the way back to the socialist government supported by the Russians. The good old USA couldn’t stand for that and armed anyone and everyone. The Americans can’t seem to get the message “ we’ll take your arms and money “ but you’re still the great satan and they could be right.
Michael Higgins would have no problem beating talibans. Let him take over. Hail Higgins
@Nicholas O’Halloran: Do you think they would understand his brand of champagne socialism? Would he not be too busy stocking his library with public money?
@Bennett blaster: according to the Washington post the taliban are committed to low taxes on business. And they have reduced import taxes. Micky D is no fan of that carry on.
@Bennett blaster: the best President we have ever had. A true gentleman.
Played the long game. And won. We learn nothing. They have fought off 4 invasions over the past 250 years. Was it worth it? No. Cost over a trillion dollars for the USA alone. Could have rebuilt America with that loot. Kabul will fall in days and Afghanistan will be back in the hands of the Taliban. God help all the poor women and any man who gave assistance to the invaders. A wretched hole.
Horrible situation and terrible scenes .. “Vietstan”
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