War in Afghanistan (2001–2021): Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|War since 2001 following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan}} |
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</noinclude>{{Use American English|date=July 2021}} |
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{{Current related|date=August 2021}} |
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{{War in Afghanistan (2001–present) infobox|Other belligerents=Pakistan}}<!-- Do NOT change this template name until the template itself has been renamed --> |
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The '''War in Afghanistan''' is an ongoing [[war]] following the [[United States invasion of Afghanistan]]<ref>[http://www.diis.dk/files/media/documents/publications/rp2006-7web.pdf Peter Dahl Thruelsen, From Soldier to Civilian: DISARMAMENT DEMOBILISATION REINTEGRATION IN AFGHANISTAN, DIIS REPORT 2006:7] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402151515/http://www.diis.dk/files/media/documents/publications/rp2006-7web.pdf |date=2 April 2015 }}, 12, supported by Uppsala Conflict Database Project, Uppsala University.</ref> when the United States and its allies successfully drove the [[Taliban]] from [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan|power]] in order to deny [[al-Qaeda]] a safe base of operations in [[Afghanistan]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Enduring the Freedom: A Rogue Historian in Afghanistan|last=Maloney|first=S|publisher=Potomac Books Inc.|year=2005|location=Washington, D.C}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author1=Darlene Superville and Steven R. Hurst |title=Updated: Obama speech balances Afghanistan troop buildup with exit pledge |url=http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2009/12/obamas_speech_on_adding_30000.html |agency=Associated Press |publisher=cleveland.com |access-date=13 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715002711/http://www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2009/12/obamas_speech_on_adding_30000.html |archive-date=15 July 2014 |url-status=live }} and {{cite news |last1=Arkedis |first1=Jim |title=Why Al Qaeda Wants a Safe Haven |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/10/23/got_safe_haven |access-date=13 June 2014 |publisher=Foreign Policy |date=23 October 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714221054/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/10/23/got_safe_haven |archive-date=14 July 2014 }}</ref> After the initial objectives were completed, a [[coalition]] of over 40 countries (including all [[NATO]] members) formed a security mission in the country called [[International Security Assistance Force]] (ISAF, succeeded by the [[Resolute Support Mission]] (RS) in 2014) of which certain members were involved in military combat allied with Afghanistan's government.<ref name="books.google.com">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0nTbDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA75|title=Alliance Persistence within the Anglo-American Special Relationship: The Post-Cold War Era|isbn=9783319496191|last1=Xu|first1=Ruike|date=5 January 2017}}</ref> The war has mostly consisted of [[Taliban insurgency|Taliban insurgents]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cfr.org/timeline/us-war-afghanistan |title=A Timeline of the U.S. War in Afghanistan |access-date=5 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190227122228/https://www.cfr.org/timeline/us-war-afghanistan |archive-date=27 February 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> fighting against the [[Afghan Armed Forces]] and allied forces; the majority of ISAF/RS soldiers and personnel are [[United States Armed Forces|American]].<ref name="books.google.com" /> The war is code-named by the U.S. as [[Operation Enduring Freedom]] (2001–14) and [[Operation Freedom's Sentinel]] (2015–present).<ref>*{{cite web|url=http://www.cfr.org/afghanistan/us-war-afghanistan/p20018|title=US War in Afghanistan: 1999–Present|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=2014|publisher=Council on Foreign Relations|access-date=21 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302014738/http://www.cfr.org/afghanistan/us-war-afghanistan/p20018|archive-date=2 March 2015|url-status=dead}} |
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* {{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/33210358/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/t/us-war-afghanistan/#.VOj0EHzF-8A|title=US War in Afghanistan|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=2015|work=NBC News|access-date=21 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221233410/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/33210358/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/t/us-war-afghanistan/#.VOj0EHzF-8A|archive-date=21 February 2015|url-status=live}} |
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* {{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/01/06/this-new-graphic-shows-the-state-of-the-u-s-war-in-afghanistan/|title=This new graphic shows the state of the US war in Afghanistan|last=Lamothe|first=Dan|date=6 January 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=21 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110133525/http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/01/06/this-new-graphic-shows-the-state-of-the-u-s-war-in-afghanistan/|archive-date=10 January 2015|url-status=live}} |
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* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9nGmUJ9HwwgC&pg=PA140|title=US Foreign Policy|author1=Michael Cox|author2=Doug Stokes|date=9 February 2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-958581-6|page=140|access-date=31 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125144442/https://books.google.com/books?id=9nGmUJ9HwwgC&pg=PA140|archive-date=25 January 2016|url-status=live}} |
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* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wEvUeAAXjHQC&pg=PA243|title=Peacekeeping in the Abyss: British and American Peacekeeping Doctrine and Practice After the Cold War|author=Robert M. Cassidy ()|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2004|isbn=978-0-275-97696-5|page=243|access-date=31 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125144442/https://books.google.com/books?id=wEvUeAAXjHQC&pg=PA243|archive-date=25 January 2016|url-status=live}} |
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</ref><ref name="Auer & Said2">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XXtAAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA87|title=NATO in Afghanistan: Fighting Together, Fighting Alone|author1=David P. Auerswald|author2=Stephen M. Saideman|date=5 January 2014|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-4867-6|pages=87–88|access-date=31 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125144442/https://books.google.com/books?id=XXtAAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA87|archive-date=25 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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Following the [[September 11 attacks]] in 2001, [[George W. Bush]] demanded that the Taliban, then-''[[de facto]]'' ruler of Afghanistan, hand over [[Osama bin Laden]].<ref>[http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/binladen/usbinladen1.pdf "Indictment #S(9) 98 Cr. 1023"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324205702/http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/binladen/usbinladen1.pdf |date=24 March 2012}} (PDF). United States District Court, Southern District of New York.</ref> The Taliban's refusal to [[Extradition|extradite]] him<ref name="theguardian.com">{{cite news|title=Bush rejects Taliban offer to hand Bin Laden over|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/14/afghanistan.terrorism5|access-date=24 January 2015|newspaper=The Guardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825195435/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/14/afghanistan.terrorism5|archive-date=25 August 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> led to [[Operation Enduring Freedom]];<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/terrorism/operation-enduring-freedom.html|title=Operation Enduring Freedom|website=history.navy.mil|language=en-US|access-date=13 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115230322/https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/wars-conflicts-and-operations/terrorism/operation-enduring-freedom.html|archive-date=15 November 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> the Taliban and their Al-Qaeda allies were mostly defeated in the country by |
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US-led forces, and the [[Northern Alliance]] which had been fighting the Taliban [[Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)|since 1996]]. At the [[International Conference on Afghanistan, Bonn (2001)|Bonn Conference]], new Afghan interim authorities (mostly from the Northern Alliance) elected [[Hamid Karzai]] to head the [[Afghan Interim Administration]]. The [[United Nations Security Council]] established the ISAF to assist the new authority with securing [[Kabul]]. A nationwide [[State-building#Differentiating "nation-building", military intervention, regime change|rebuilding effort]] was also made following the end of the Taliban regime.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/12/21/gen.afghan.gov/index.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=12 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427155940/http://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/12/21/gen.afghan.gov/index.html |archive-date=27 April 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,184221,00.html |title=Can the Northern Alliance Control Kabul? |journal=Time |access-date=12 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427155616/http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,184221,00.html |archive-date=27 April 2019 |url-status=live |date=12 November 2001 |last1=Karon |first1=Tony }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.documentary.org/feature/saira-shah-pursuing-truth-behind-enemy-lines |title=Saira Shah: Pursuing Truth Behind Enemy Lines |access-date=12 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327091739/https://www.documentary.org/feature/saira-shah-pursuing-truth-behind-enemy-lines |archive-date=27 March 2019 |url-status=live |date=2 February 2002 }}</ref> Following defeat in the initial invasion, the Taliban was reorganized by [[Mullah Omar]] and launched [[Taliban insurgency|an insurgency]] against the Afghan government in 2003.<ref name="cfr.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/10551/|title=The Taliban Resurgence in Afghanistan|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927101915/http://www.cfr.org/publication/10551/|archive-date=27 September 2006}}</ref><ref name="rothstein">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w7fmg1cCjskC&q=Al+Qaeda |title=Afghanistan: and the troubled future of unconventional warfare By Hy S. Rothstein|isbn=978-81-7049-306-8|author1=Rothstein, Hy S|date=15 August 2006}}</ref> Insurgents from the Taliban and other groups waged [[asymmetric warfare]] with [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla raids]] and [[ambushes]] in the countryside, [[suicide attacks]] against urban targets, and [[turncoat]] killings against coalition forces. The Taliban exploited weaknesses in the Afghan government to reassert influence across rural areas of southern and eastern Afghanistan. From 2006 the Taliban made further gains and showed an increased willingness to commit atrocities against civilians; ISAF responded by increasing troops for [[counter-insurgency]] operations to "[[clear and hold]]" villages.<ref name="Tolonews">{{cite news|url=http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/1591-aihrc-calls-civilian-deaths-war-crime |work=Tolonews |title=AIHRC Calls Civilian Deaths War Crime |date=13 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624161358/http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/1591-aihrc-calls-civilian-deaths-war-crime |archive-date=24 June 2011 }}</ref><ref name="The Scotsman">{{cite news|url=http://news.scotsman.com/world/Karzai39s-Taleban-talks-raise-spectre.6557817.jp|work=The Scotsman|location=Edinburgh|title=Karzai's Taliban talks raise spectre of civil war warns former spy chief|first=Jerome|last=Starkey|date=30 September 2010|access-date=3 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203030945/http://news.scotsman.com/world/Karzai39s-Taleban-talks-raise-spectre.6557817.jp|archive-date=3 December 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> Violence escalated from 2007 to 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/events/tenstories/07/afghanistan.shtml|title=Ten Stories the world should know more about, 2007|website=un.org|access-date=28 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118165405/http://www.un.org/events/tenstories/07/afghanistan.shtml|archive-date=18 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Troop numbers began to surge in 2009 and continued to increase through 2011 when roughly 140,000 foreign troops operated under ISAF and U.S. command in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nato.int/isaf/placemats_archive/2011-03-04-ISAF-Placemat.pdf|title=International Security Assistance Force (ISAF): Key Facts and Figures|date=4 March 2011|website=nato.int|access-date=19 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012043359/http://www.nato.int/isaf/placemats_archive/2011-03-04-ISAF-Placemat.pdf|archive-date=12 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> NATO leaders in 2012 commenced an exit strategy for withdrawing their forces<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nato-summit1/nato-to-endorse-afghan-exit-plan-seeks-routes-out-idUSBRE84K05V20120521 |title=NATO to endorse Afghan exit plan, seeks routes out |access-date=12 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327092142/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nato-summit1/nato-to-endorse-afghan-exit-plan-seeks-routes-out-idUSBRE84K05V20120521 |archive-date=27 March 2019 |url-status=live |newspaper=Reuters |date=21 May 2012 }}</ref> and later the United States announced that its major combat operations would end in December 2014, leaving a residual force in the country.<ref name="WP20140527">{{cite news|last=DeYoung|first=Karen|title=Obama to leave 9,800 US troops in Afghanistan|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-to-leave-9800-us-troops-in-afghanistan-senior-official-says/2014/05/27/57f37e72-e5b2-11e3-a86b-362fd5443d19_story.html|access-date=29 May 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=27 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140528130848/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-to-leave-9800-us-troops-in-afghanistan-senior-official-says/2014/05/27/57f37e72-e5b2-11e3-a86b-362fd5443d19_story.html|archive-date=28 May 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> On 28 December 2014, NATO formally ended ISAF combat operations in Afghanistan and officially transferred full security responsibility to the Afghan government. The NATO-led [[Operation Resolute Support]] was formed the same day as a successor to ISAF.<ref name="2014APcessation">{{cite news|title=US formally ends the war in Afghanistan|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/america-formally-ends-the-war-in-afghanistan/|access-date=28 December 2014|agency=Associated Press|issue=online|publisher=CBA News|date=28 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228152651/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/america-formally-ends-the-war-in-afghanistan/|archive-date=28 December 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Guardian28">{{cite news|title=Nato ends combat operations in Afghanistan|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/28/nato-ends-afghanistan-combat-operations-after-13-years|access-date=11 January 2015|agency=The Guardian|work=The Guardian|date=28 December 2014|location=Kabul|author=Sune Engel Rasmussen in Kabul|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102134349/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/28/nato-ends-afghanistan-combat-operations-after-13-years|archive-date=2 January 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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On 29 February 2020, the United States and the Taliban signed a conditional [[Afghan peace process|peace deal]] in [[Doha]]<ref name="peace-deal-Feb29"/> which required that [[withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan (2021)|U.S. troops withdraw from Afghanistan]] within 14 months so long as the Taliban cooperated with the terms of the agreement not to "allow any of its members, other individuals or groups, including Al Qaeda, to use the soil of Afghanistan to threaten the security of the United States and its allies".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/taliban-sign-landmark-agreement-bid-end-america-s-longest-war-n1145166|title=U.S.-Taliban sign landmark agreement in bid to end America's longest war|date=29 February 2020|work=NBC News|access-date=15 August 2021}}</ref><ref name="proposedwithdrawal"/> Additionally, insurgents belonging to [[al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent]] and [[ISIL-K]] would continue to operate in parts of the country.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/isil-k-leaders-hope-to-attract-intransigent-taliban-other-militants-who-reject-us-taliban-peace-deal-un-report/articleshow/84701544.cms|title=ISIL-K leaders hope to attract intransigent Taliban, other militants who reject US-Taliban peace deal: UN report|via=The Economic Times}}</ref> The Afghan government was not a party to the deal and rejected its terms regarding release of prisoners.<ref name=nprreject/> After [[Joe Biden]] became president, he moved up the target withdrawal date from April 2022 to 11 September 2021 and then to 31 August 2021.<ref name=":9"/> |
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According to the Costs of War project at [[Brown University]], as of April 2021, the war has killed 171,000 to 174,000 people in Afghanistan; 47,245 Afghan civilians, 66,000 to 69,000 Afghan military and police and at least 51,000 opposition fighters. However, the death toll is possibly higher due to unaccounted deaths by "disease, loss of access to food, water, infrastructure, and/or other indirect consequences of the war."<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Human and Budgetary Costs to Date of the U.S. War in Afghanistan, 2001-2021 {{!}} Figures {{!}} Costs of War|url=https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/figures/2021/human-and-budgetary-costs-date-us-war-afghanistan-2001-2021|access-date=2021-05-15|website=The Costs of War|language=en}}</ref> According to the U.N, since the 2001 Invasion, more than 5.7 million former refugees have returned to Afghanistan,<ref>Afghan Refugees, Costs of War, {{cite web |url=http://costsofwar.org/article/afghan-refugees |title=Archived copy |access-date=30 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310001659/http://costsofwar.org/article/afghan-refugees |archive-date=10 March 2013 }}, 2012</ref> however, as of 2021, 2.6 million Afghans remain refugees or have fled,<ref name="bbc2021"/> mostly in Pakistan and Iran, and another 4 million Afghans remain [[internally displaced persons]] within the country. Since 2001, Afghanistan has experienced improvements in health, education and women's rights.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|title=Counting the costs of America's 20-year war in Afghanistan|url=https://apnews.com/article/asia-pacific-afghanistan-middle-east-business-5e850e5149ea0a3907cac2f282878dd5|access-date=2021-05-06|website=AP NEWS|date=30 April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Jazeera|first=Al|title=Afghanistan: Visualising the impact of 20 years of war|url=https://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2021/afghanistan-visualising-impact-of-war/index.html|access-date=2021-05-15|website=interactive.aljazeera.com|language=en}}</ref> |
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In August 2021, the president of Afghanistan relinquished power and the Taliban formed an interim government.<ref>{{Cite web|last=AGENCIES|first=DAILY SABAH WITH|date=2021-08-15|title=Afghan President Ghani relinquishes power, Taliban form interim gov't|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/world/asia-pacific/afghan-president-ghani-relinquishes-power-taliban-form-interim-govt|access-date=2021-08-15|website=Daily Sabah|language=en-US}}</ref> |
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{{TOC limit|3}} |
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==Before the start of war== |
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===Origins of Afghanistan's civil war=== |
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{{Main|Afghanistan conflict (1978–present)|Soviet–Afghan War}} |
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[[File:Reagan sitting with people from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region in February 1983.jpg|thumb|left|President [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] meeting with [[Afghan Mujahideen]] leaders in the [[Oval Office]] in 1983]] |
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[[File:RIAN archive 24609 Troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.jpg|thumb|left|Soviet troops in 1986, during the [[Soviet–Afghan War]]]] |
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Afghanistan's political order began to break down in the 1970s. First, [[Mohammed Daoud Khan]] seized power in the [[1973 Afghan coup d'état]]. Daoud Khan was then killed in the 1978 [[Saur Revolution]], a coup in which the [[People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan]] (PDPA) took control of the government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afghanland.com/history/biography/daoud.html|title=Mohammad Daud Khan|date=2000|website=Afghanland.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817040633/http://www.afghanland.com/history/biography/daoud.html|archive-date=17 August 2017|access-date=11 March 2018}}</ref> PDPA pushed for a socialist transformation by abolishing arranged marriages, promoting mass literacy and reforming land ownership. This undermined the traditional tribal order and provoked opposition across rural areas. PDPA's crackdown was met with open rebellion including the [[1979 Herat uprising]]. PDPA was beset by internal leadership differences and was affected by an internal coup on 11 September 1979 when [[Hafizullah Amin]] ousted [[Nur Muhammad Taraki]]. The [[Soviet Union]], sensing PDPA weakness, [[Soviet–Afghan War|intervened militarily three months later]], [[Operation Storm-333|to depose Amin]] and install [[Parcham|another PDPA faction]] led by [[Babrak Karmal]]. |
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The entry of Soviet forces in Afghanistan in December 1979 prompted its [[Cold War]] rivals, the United States, Pakistan, [[Saudi Arabia]] and China to support rebels fighting against the Soviet-backed [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan]]. In contrast to the secular and socialist government, which controlled the cities, religiously motivated [[mujahideen]] held sway in the majority of the countryside. The [[CIA]] worked with Pakistan's [[Inter-Service Intelligence]] to funnel foreign support for the mujahideen. The war also attracted Arab volunteers known as "[[Afghan Arabs]]", including [[Osama bin Laden]]. |
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After the [[Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan|withdrawal of the Soviet military from Afghanistan]] in May 1989, the PDPA regime under [[Mohammad Najibullah]] held on until 1992 when the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] deprived the regime of aid and the defection of Uzbek general [[Abdul Rashid Dostum]] cleared the approach to [[Kabul]]. With the political stage cleared of socialists, the warlords, some of them Islamist, vied for power. |
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===Warlord rule (1992–1996)=== |
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{{Main|Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)}} |
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In 1992, the mujahideen commander [[Burhanuddin Rabbani]] officially became president of the [[Islamic State of Afghanistan]] but he had to battle other warlords for control of Kabul. In late 1994, Rabbani's defense minister, [[Ahmad Shah Massoud]], defeated Hekmatyar in Kabul and ended the ongoing bombardment of the capital.<ref name="Afghanistan Justice Project">{{cite web|year=2005 |url=http://www.afghanistanjusticeproject.org/warcrimesandcrimesagainsthumanity19782001.pdf |title=Casting Shadows: War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity: 1978–2001 |publisher=Afghanistan Justice Project |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004221455/http://www.afghanistanjusticeproject.org/warcrimesandcrimesagainsthumanity19782001.pdf |archive-date=4 October 2013 }}</ref><ref name="amnesty.org">{{cite web|publisher=Amnesty International|title=Afghanistan: Further Information on Fear for Safety and New Concern: Deliberate and Arbitrary Killings: Civilians in Kabul|date=16 November 1995|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA11/015/1995/en|access-date=19 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018211431/http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA11/015/1995/en|archive-date=18 October 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="International Committee of the Red Cross">{{cite web|year=1995|url=http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/57jly2.htm|title=Afghanistan: escalation of indiscriminate shelling in Kabul|publisher=International Committee of the Red Cross|access-date=3 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510012006/http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/57jly2.htm|archive-date=10 May 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> Massoud tried to initiate a nationwide [[political process]] with the goal of national [[Democratic consolidation|consolidation]].{{cn|date=July 2021}} Other warlords including Ismail Khan in the west and Dostum in the north maintained their fiefdoms.{{cn|date=July 2021}} |
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In 1994, [[Mohammed Omar]], a mujahideen member who taught at a Pakistani [[madrassa]], returned to Kandahar and formed the Taliban movement. His followers were religious students known as the ''Talib'' and they sought to end [[warlord]]ism through stricter adherence to [[Sharia]]. By November 1994, the Taliban had captured all of Kandahar Province. They declined the government's offer to join in a coalition government and marched on Kabul in 1995.<ref name="Webster University Press Book">{{cite book |last=Marcela Grad |title=Massoud: An Intimate Portrait of the Legendary Afghan Leader|date=1 March 2009 |page=310 |publisher=Webster University Press}}</ref> |
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===Taliban Emirate vs Northern Alliance=== |
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{{Main|Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)}} |
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[[File:Massoud and Qadir 2.PNG|thumb|left|Afghan guerilla leader [[Ahmad Shah Massoud]] (right) with the Pashtun anti-Taliban leader and later Vice President of the [[Karzai administration]], [[Haji Abdul Qadir]]]] |
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The Taliban's early victories in 1994 were followed by a series of costly defeats.<ref name="Human Rights Watch (5)">{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports98/afghan/Afrepor0-01.htm#P81_13959 |title=II. BACKGROUND |publisher=Human Rights Watch |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081102042606/http://www.hrw.org/reports98/afghan/Afrepor0-01.htm |archive-date=2 November 2008}}</ref> Pakistan "provided strong support" to the Taliban.<ref name="Amin Saikal">{{cite book|last=Amin Saikal |author-link=Amin Saikal|title=Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival|edition=2006 1st |page=352|publisher=I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd., London New York |isbn=1-85043-437-9|date=13 November 2004}}</ref><ref name="George Washington University">{{cite web|year=2007|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB227/index.htm#17|title=Documents Detail Years of Pakistani Support for Taliban, Extremists|publisher=[[National Security Archive]]|access-date=19 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080708224453/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB227/index.htm#17|archive-date=8 July 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> Analysts such as [[Amin Saikal]] described the group as developing into a [[proxy war|proxy]] force for Pakistan's regional interests which the Taliban denied.<ref name="Amin Saikal" /> The Taliban started shelling Kabul in early 1995, but were driven back by Massoud.<ref name="amnesty.org" /><ref>{{youtube|id=zzPcMB9SQz0}}</ref> |
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On 27 September 1996, the Taliban, with military support by Pakistan and financial support from [[Saudi Arabia]], seized Kabul and founded the [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan]].{{sfn|Coll|2004|p=14}} They imposed their [[Islamic fundamentalism|fundamentalist]] interpretation of Islam in areas under their control, issuing edicts forbidding women to work outside the home, attend school or to leave their homes unless accompanied by a male relative.<ref name="Physicians for Human Rights">{{cite web |year=1998 |url=http://www.law.georgetown.edu/rossrights/docs/reports/taliban.pdf |title=The Taliban's War on Women: A Health and Human Rights Crisis in Afghanistan |publisher=[[Physicians for Human Rights]] |access-date=30 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103210524/http://www2.law.georgetown.edu/rossrights/docs/reports/taliban.pdf |archive-date=3 January 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the Pakistani expert [[Ahmed Rashid]], "between 1994 and 1999, an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 Pakistanis trained and fought in Afghanistan" on the side of the Taliban.<ref name=Maley>{{cite book |last=Maley|first=William|title=The Afghanistan wars|year=2009|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-230-21313-5|page=288}}</ref><ref name=Tomsen>[[Peter Tomsen]] said that up until 9/11, Pakistani military and [[Inter-Services Intelligence|ISI]] officers along with thousands of regular Pakistani armed forces personnel had been involved in the fighting in Afghanistan.{{cite book |last=Tomsen|first=Peter|title=Wars of Afghanistan|year=2011|publisher=PublicAffairs|isbn=978-1-58648-763-8|page=322}}</ref> |
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Massoud and Dostum, former arch-enemies, created a United Front against the Taliban, the [[Northern Alliance]].<ref>{{youtube|id=EvYglyjbHkI}}</ref> In addition to Massoud's [[Tajik people|Tajik]] force and Dostum's [[Uzbeks]], the United Front included [[Hazara people|Hazara]] factions and [[Pashtun people|Pashtun]] forces under the leadership of commanders such as [[Abdul Haq (Afghan leader)|Abdul Haq]] and Haji [[Abdul Qadir (Afghan leader)|Abdul Qadir]]. Abdul Haq also gathered a number of defecting Pashtun Taliban.<ref name=autogenerated5>{{cite book |last=Tomsen|first=Peter|title=Wars of Afghanistan|year=2011|publisher=PublicAffairs|isbn=978-1-58648-763-8|page=565}}</ref> Both agreed to work together with the exiled Afghan king [[Zahir Shah]].<ref name="Tomsen" /> The Northern Alliance received varying degrees of support from Russia, Iran, Tajikistan and India. The Taliban captured [[Mazar-i-Sharif]] in 1998 and drove Dostum into exile. |
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According to the United Nations (UN), the Taliban, while trying to consolidate control over northern and western Afghanistan, committed systematic massacres against civilians. UN officials stated that there had been "15 massacres" between 1996 and 2001. The Taliban especially targeted the [[Shia]] Hazaras.<ref name="Newsday 2001">{{cite news|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-10-12/news/0110120312_1_taliban-fighters-massacres-in-recent-years-mullah-mohammed-omar|title=Taliban massacres outlined for UN|author=Newsday|date=October 2001|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=3 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110916074935/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-10-12/news/0110120312_1_taliban-fighters-massacres-in-recent-years-mullah-mohammed-omar|archive-date=16 September 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="papillonsartpalace.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/massacre.htm |title=Confidential UN report details mass killings of civilian villagers |access-date=12 October 2001 |author=Newsday |year=2001 |publisher=newsday.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021118162327/http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/massacre.htm |archive-date=18 November 2002 }}</ref> In retaliation for the execution of 3,000 Taliban prisoners by Uzbek general [[Abdul Malik Pahlawan]] in 1997, the Taliban executed about 4,000 civilians after taking Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998.<ref name="UNHCR 1999">{{cite web|url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aab050.html|title=Afghanistan: Situation in, or around, Aqcha (Jawzjan province) including predominant tribal/ethnic group and who is currently in control|author=Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada|date=February 1999|access-date=29 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013062635/http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aab050.html|archive-date=13 October 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Human Rights Watch 1998">{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports98/afghan/Afrepor0-03.htm#P186_38364 |title=Incitement of Violence Against Hazaras by Governor Niazi |access-date=27 December 2007 |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |date=November 1998 |work=Afghanistan: the Massacre in Mazar-I Sharif |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215095339/http://www.hrw.org/reports98/afghan/Afrepor0-03.htm |archive-date=15 December 2007 }}</ref> |
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Bin Laden's [[055 Brigade]] was responsible for mass killings of Afghan civilians.<ref name="Ahmed Rashid/The Telegraph">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/1340244/Afghanistan-resistance-leader-feared-dead-in-blast.html|title=Afghanistan resistance leader feared dead in blast|author=Ahmed Rashid|work=The Telegraph|location=London|date=11 September 2001|access-date=6 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131108225950/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/1340244/Afghanistan-resistance-leader-feared-dead-in-blast.html|archive-date=8 November 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> The report by the United Nations quotes eyewitnesses in some villages describing "Arab fighters carrying long knives used for slitting throats and skinning people".<ref name="Newsday 2001" /><ref name="papillonsartpalace.com" /> |
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By 2001, the Taliban controlled as much as 90% of Afghanistan with the Northern Alliance confined to the country's northeast corner. Fighting alongside Taliban forces were some 28,000–30,000 Pakistanis (usually also Pashtun) and 2,000–3,000 Al-Qaeda militants.<ref name="Webster University Press Book" /><ref name="Ahmed Rashid/The Telegraph" />{{sfn|Girardet|2011|p=416}}{{sfn|Rashid|2000|p=91}} Many of the Pakistanis were recruited from madrassas.<ref name="Ahmed Rashid/The Telegraph" /> A 1998 document by the [[United States Department of State|U.S. State Department]] confirmed that "20–40 percent of [regular] Taliban soldiers are Pakistani." The document said that a number of the parents of those Pakistani nationals "know nothing regarding their child's military involvement with the Taliban until their bodies are brought back to Pakistan". According to the U.S. State Department report and reports by Human Rights Watch, other Pakistani nationals fighting in Afghanistan were regular soldiers especially from the [[Frontier Corps]] but also from the [[Pakistani Army]] providing direct combat support.<ref name="George Washington University" /><ref name="Human Rights Watch">{{cite news |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/afghan2/Afghan0701-02.htm |title=Pakistan's support of the taliban |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |year=2000 |access-date=4 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615184800/http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/afghan2/Afghan0701-02.htm |archive-date=15 June 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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====Al-Qaeda==== |
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In August 1996, Bin Laden was forced to leave Sudan and arrived in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. He had founded his international [[Al-Qaeda]] network in the late 1980s to support the Mujahideen's war against the Soviets but became disillusioned by infighting among warlords. He grew close to Mullah Omar and moved Al-Qaeda's operations to eastern Afghanistan, a safe haven as he was under the protection of the Taliban there.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}} |
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The [[9/11 Commission]] in the U.S. found that under the Taliban, al-Qaeda was able to use Afghanistan as a place to train and indoctrinate fighters, import weapons, coordinate with other [[jihadist]]s, and plot terrorist actions.{{sfn|911 Commission|2004|p=66}} While al-Qaeda maintained its own [[Afghan training camp|camps in Afghanistan]], it also supported training camps of other organizations. An estimated 10,000 to 20,000 men passed through these facilities before 9/11, most of whom were sent to fight for the Taliban against the United Front. A smaller number were inducted into al-Qaeda.{{sfn|911 Commission|2004|p=67}} |
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After the August [[1998 United States embassy bombings]] were linked to bin Laden, President [[Bill Clinton]] ordered [[Operation Infinite Reach|missile strikes on militant training camps]] in Afghanistan. U.S. officials pressed the Taliban to surrender bin Laden. In 1999, the international community imposed sanctions on the Taliban, calling for bin Laden to be surrendered. The Taliban repeatedly rebuffed these demands. |
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[[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) [[Special Activities Division]] paramilitary teams were active in Afghanistan in the 1990s in clandestine operations to locate and kill or capture Osama bin Laden. These teams planned several operations but did not receive the order to proceed from President Clinton. Their efforts built relationships with Afghan leaders that proved essential in the 2001 invasion.{{sfn|Coll|2004}} |
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====Change in U.S. policy toward Afghanistan==== |
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During the [[Clinton administration]], the U.S. tended to favor Pakistan and until 1998–1999 had no clear policy toward Afghanistan. In 1997, for example, the U.S. State Department's [[Robin Raphel]] told Massoud to surrender to the Taliban. Massoud responded that, as long as he controlled an area the size of his hat, he would continue to defend it from the Taliban.<ref name="Webster University Press Book" /> Around the same time, top foreign policy officials in the Clinton administration flew to northern Afghanistan to try to persuade the United Front not to take advantage of a chance to make crucial gains against the Taliban. They insisted it was the time for a cease-fire and an [[arms embargo]]. At the time, Pakistan began a "[[Berlin Blockade|Berlin-like]] [[airlift]] to resupply and re-equip the Taliban", financed with Saudi money.<ref name="US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher">{{cite web|year=2004|url=http://rohrabacher.house.gov/911-represented-dramatic-failure-policy-and-people|title=9/11 Represented a Dramatic Failure of Policy and People|publisher=US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher|access-date=5 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130306015402/http://rohrabacher.house.gov/911-represented-dramatic-failure-policy-and-people|archive-date=6 March 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> |
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U.S. policy toward Afghanistan changed after the [[1998 United States embassy bombings|1998 U.S. embassy bombings]]. Subsequently, Osama bin Laden was [[Osama bin Laden#Criminal charges|indicted]] for his involvement in the embassy bombings. In 1999 both the U.S. and the United Nations enacted sanctions against the Taliban via [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267]], which demanded the Taliban surrender Osama bin Laden for trial in the U.S. and close all terrorist bases in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite press release|title=Security Council demands that Taliban turn over Osama bin Laden to appropriate authorities|url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/1999/19991015.sc6739.doc.html|publisher=United Nations|date=15 October 1999|access-date=29 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130816074745/http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/1999/19991015.sc6739.doc.html|archive-date=16 August 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> The only collaboration between Massoud and the U.S. at the time was an effort with the CIA to trace bin Laden following the 1998 bombings.{{sfn|Risen|2008}} The U.S. and the European Union provided no support to Massoud for the fight against the Taliban. |
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By 2001 the change of policy sought by CIA officers who knew Massoud was underway.{{sfn|Coll|2004|p=720}} CIA lawyers, working with officers in the Near East Division and Counter-terrorist Center, began to draft a formal finding for President [[George W. Bush]]'s signature, authorizing a [[covert operation|covert action]] program in Afghanistan. It would be the first in a decade to seek to influence the course of the Afghan war in favor of Massoud.{{sfn|Coll|2004|p=14}} [[Richard A. Clarke]], chair of the Counter-Terrorism Security Group under the Clinton administration, and later an official in the Bush Administration, allegedly presented a plan to incoming Bush [[National Security Advisor (United States)|National Security Adviser]] [[Condoleezza Rice]] in January 2001. |
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A change in U.S. policy was effected in August 2001.{{sfn|Coll|2004|p=14}} The Bush administration agreed on a plan to start supporting [[Ahmad Shah Massoud|Massoud]]. A meeting of top national security officials agreed that the Taliban would be presented with an ultimatum to hand over bin Laden and other al-Qaeda operatives. If the Taliban refused, the U.S. would provide [[covert]] military aid to anti-Taliban groups. If both those options failed, "the deputies agreed that the United States would seek to overthrow the Taliban regime through more direct action."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/24/september11.usa2 |author=Julian Borger |title=Bush team 'agreed plan to attack the Taliban the day before September 11' |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=24 March 2004 |access-date=18 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203065522/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/24/september11.usa2 |archive-date=3 December 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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====Massoud's assassination on the eve of 9/11==== |
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{{Further|Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)|Ahmad Shah Massoud}} |
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[[Ahmad Shah Massoud]] was the only leader of the United Front (Northern Alliance) in Afghanistan in 2001. In the areas under his control, Massoud set up democratic institutions and signed the [[Women's Rights]] Declaration.<ref name=autogenerated4>{{cite book|last=Marcela Grad|author-link=Marcela Grad|title=Massoud: An Intimate Portrait of the Legendary Afghan Leader|edition=1 March 2009 |page=310 |publisher=Webster University Press}}</ref> As a consequence, a number of civilians had fled to areas under his control.<ref name="National Geographic">{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpQI6HKV-ZY |title=Inside the Taliban 06 – N.G. |publisher=YouTube |date=11 November 2009 |access-date=10 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151216030829/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpQI6HKV-ZY |archive-date=16 December 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |year=2007 |url=http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/episodes/inside-the-taliban/ |title=Inside the Taliban |publisher=[[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705212814/http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/episodes/inside-the-taliban/ |archive-date=5 July 2014 }}</ref> In total, estimates range up to one million people fleeing the Taliban.<ref name="EU Parliament">{{cite web|year=2001|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t78N6Q5VD60|title=Massoud in the European Parliament 2001|publisher=EU media|access-date=15 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225002506/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t78N6Q5VD60|archive-date=25 February 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In late 2000, Massoud invited some other Afghan tribal leaders to a [[jirga]] in northern Afghanistan "to settle political turmoil in Afghanistan".<ref name="Corbis">{{cite web|year=2001|url=http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/AAEC001272/council-of-afghan-opposition|title=Council of Afghan opposition|publisher=Corbis|access-date=5 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026010417/http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/AAEC001272/council-of-afghan-opposition|archive-date=26 October 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> Among those in attendance were [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] nationalists, [[Abdul Haq (Afghan leader)|Abdul Haq]] and [[Hamid Karzai]].<ref name="Webster University Press Book 2">{{cite book |last=Marcela Grad|title=Massoud: An Intimate Portrait of the Legendary Afghan Leader|edition=1 March 2009 |page=65 |publisher=Webster University Press}}</ref><ref name=autogenerated3>Senior diplomat and Afghanistan expert [[Peter Tomsen]] wrote: "The 'Lion of Kabul' [Abdul Haq] and the 'Lion of Panjshir' [Ahmad Shah Massoud] … Haq, Massoud, and Karzai, Afghanistan's three leading moderates, could transcend the Pashtun—non-Pashtun, north-south divide."{{cite book|last=Tomsen|first=Peter|title=Wars of Afghanistan|year=2011|publisher=PublicAffairs|isbn=978-1-58648-763-8|page=566}}</ref> |
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In early 2001, Massoud and several other Afghan leaders addressed the [[European Parliament]] in Brussels, asking the [[international community]] to provide humanitarian help. The Afghan envoy asserted that the Taliban and al-Qaeda had introduced "a very wrong perception of Islam" and that without the support of Pakistan and Osama bin Laden, the Taliban would not be able to sustain their military campaign for another year. Massoud warned that his intelligence had gathered information about an imminent, large-scale attack on U.S. soil.<ref name="gwu.edu">{{cite web|title=Defense Intelligence Agency|year=2001|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB97/tal32.pdf|publisher=National Security Archive|access-date=19 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140617045854/http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB97/tal32.pdf|archive-date=17 June 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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On 9 September 2001, two French-speaking Algerians posing as journalists killed Massoud in a [[suicide attack]] in [[Takhar Province]] of Afghanistan. The two perpetrators were later alleged to be members of [[al-Qaeda]]. They were interviewing Massoud before detonating a bomb hidden in their video camera.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/10/world/taliban-foe-hurt-and-aide-killed-by-bomb.html |title=Taliban Foe Hurt and Aide Killed by Bomb |location=Afghanistan |work=The New York Times |date=10 September 2001 |access-date=27 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130205235141/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/10/world/taliban-foe-hurt-and-aide-killed-by-bomb.html |archive-date=5 February 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Burns |first=John F. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/09/world/threats-responses-assassination-afghans-too-mark-day-disaster-hero-was-lost.html |title=Threats and Responses: Assassination; Afghans, Too, Mark a Day of Disaster: A Hero Was Lost |location=Afghanistan |work=The New York Times |date=9 September 2002 |access-date=27 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110217015213/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/09/world/threats-responses-assassination-afghans-too-mark-day-disaster-hero-was-lost.html |archive-date=17 February 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> Both of the alleged al-Qaeda men were subsequently killed by Massoud's guards. Massoud lost his life en route in a helicopter to a hospital across the border in [[Tajikistan]].<ref name="timesofindia.indiatimes.com">{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-airlifts-military-hospital-to-Tajikistan-to-strengthen-geo-strategic-footprint-in-Central-Asia/articleshow/19606798.cms|title=India airlifts military hospital to Tajikistan to strengthen geo-strategic footprint in Central Asia|author=Rajat Pandit|date=April 18, 2013|work=The Times of India}}</ref> His funeral in his native [[Panjshir Valley]] was attended by thousands.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bearak |first=Barry |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/17/world/rebel-chief-who-fought-the-taliban-is-buried.html |title=Rebel Chief Who Fought The Taliban Is Buried |location=Pakistan; Afghanistan |work=The New York Times |date=September 17, 2001 |access-date=July 17, 2014}}</ref> |
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===September 11 attacks=== |
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{{Main|September 11 attacks}} |
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[[File:WTCgroundzero.jpg|thumb|Ground Zero in New York following the [[11 September attacks|attacks of 11 September 2001]]]] |
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On the morning of September 11, 2001, a total of 19 [[Arabs|Arab]] men—15 of whom were from Saudi Arabia—carried out four [[September 11 attacks|coordinated attacks]] in the United States. Four commercial passenger jet airliners were hijacked.<ref name="Holmes">{{cite book |last=Holmes|first=Stephen|title=Making sense of suicide missions|year=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-929797-9|editor=Diego Gambetta|chapter=Al Qaeda, 11 September 2001}}</ref><ref name="Keppel2008">{{cite book|last1=Keppel|first1=Gilles|title=Al Qaeda in its own words|year=2008|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-02804-3|last2=Milelli|first2=Jean-Pierre|last3=Ghazaleh|first3=Pascale|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780674028043}}</ref> The hijackers – members of al-Qaeda's [[Hamburg cell]]<ref>"[http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch5.htm Chapter of the 9/11 Commission Report detailing the history of the Hamburg Cell] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090816215318/http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch5.htm |date=16 August 2009 }}". [[9/11 Commission]].</ref> – intentionally crashed [[American Airlines Flight 11|two of]] [[United Airlines Flight 175|the airliners]] into the Twin Towers of the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] in New York City, killing everyone on board and more than 2,000 people in the buildings. Both buildings collapsed within two hours from damage related to the crashes, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others. The hijackers crashed a [[American Airlines Flight 77|third airliner]] into the [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]] in [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington]], [[Virginia]], just outside Washington, D.C. [[United Airlines Flight 93|The fourth plane]] crashed into a field near [[Shanksville, Pennsylvania|Shanksville]], in rural [[Pennsylvania]], after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C., to target the [[White House]], or the [[U.S. Capitol]]. No one aboard the flights survived. According to the New York State Health Department, the death toll among responders including firefighters and police was 836 as of June 2009.<ref name="FOX Responders" /> Total deaths were 2,996, including the 19 hijackers.<ref name="FOX Responders">{{cite news|publisher=FOX News|title=9 Years Later, Nearly 900 9/11 Responders Have Died, Survivors Fight for Compensation|date=11 September 2010|url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/09/report-responders-died-ground-zero-illnesses/|access-date=12 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911224043/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/09/09/report-responders-died-ground-zero-illnesses/|archive-date=11 September 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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=== U.S. ultimatum to the Taliban === |
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The Taliban publicly condemned the September 11 attacks.<ref name="ultimatum"/> U.S. President George W. Bush issued an ultimatum to the Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden, "close immediately every terrorist training camp, hand over every terrorist and their supporters, and give the United States full access to terrorist training camps for inspection."<ref name="ultimatum">{{cite news |title=The US refuses to negotiate with the Taliban |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/the_us_refuses_to_negotiate_with_the_taliban |publisher=BBC History |access-date=27 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181203142713/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/events/the_us_refuses_to_negotiate_with_the_taliban |archive-date=3 December 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Taliban refused, stating that Osama bin Laden was protected by the traditional [[Pashtunwali|Pashtun laws of hospitality]].<ref>{{cite news |title=In Afghanistan, US is fighting tribal insurgency, not jihad |url=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-03-02/news/bal-op.pashtun02mar02_1_pashtuns-taliban-afghanistan-jihad |work=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |date=2 March 2010 |access-date=27 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181028033819/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-03-02/news/bal-op.pashtun02mar02_1_pashtuns-taliban-afghanistan-jihad |archive-date=28 October 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20011014/aponline135016_000.htm?noredirect=on|title=Bush Rejects Taliban Bin Laden Offer|website=washingtonpost.com|access-date=23 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023120130/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20011014/aponline135016_000.htm?noredirect=on|archive-date=23 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/bush-rejects-taliban-offer-to-surrender-bin-laden-9143208.html|title=Bush rejects Taliban offer to surrender bin Laden|work=The Independent|access-date=23 October 2018|language=en-GB|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023121549/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/bush-rejects-taliban-offer-to-surrender-bin-laden-9143208.html|archive-date=23 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/10/07/ret.us.taliban/|title=CNN.com – US rejects Taliban offer to try bin Laden – October 7, 2001|website=edition.cnn.com|access-date=23 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040614003300/http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/10/07/ret.us.taliban/|archive-date=14 June 2004|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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After the U.S. invasion, the Taliban refused to hand over Bin Laden to the US, instead expressing willingness to hand him over to a third country that would "never come under the pressure of the United States" if further evidence of guilt were produced. The United States responded by continuing their bombardment of Kabul airport and other cities. For their part, Al Qaeda threatened further attacks against the UK and United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/14/afghanistan.terrorism6|title=US warplanes launch new wave of attacks|last=Staff and agencies|date=14 October 2001|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=23 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327091013/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/14/afghanistan.terrorism6|archive-date=27 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/14/afghanistan.terrorism5|title=Bush rejects Taliban offer to hand Bin Laden over|last=Staff and agencies|date=14 October 2001|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=23 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825195435/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/14/afghanistan.terrorism5|archive-date=25 August 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Haji Abdul Kabir, the third most powerful figure in the ruling Taliban regime, told reporters: "If the Taliban is given evidence that Osama bin Laden is involved, we would be ready to hand him over to a third country."<ref name=":5" /> |
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==History== |
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{{main|History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)}} |
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=== Summary === |
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[[File:ISAF.png|thumb|Leading nations of the ISAF reconstruction teams and regional commands under NATO command (not under U.S. command), as of 2006]] |
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[[File:Slovenian Humvee-ISAF.jpg|thumb|A [[Slovenia]]n ISAF Humvee in Afghanistan]] |
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[[File:Neotaliban insurgency 2002-2006 en.png|thumb|Map detailing the spread of the [[Taliban]]-insurgency in Afghanistan 2002–2006]] |
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[[File:Flickr - The U.S. Army - Black Hawk boarding (1).jpg|thumb|U.S. Army soldiers boarding a [[Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk|Black Hawk]], 2012]] |
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[[File:U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter pilots fly near Jalalabad, Afghanistan, April 5, 2017.jpg|thumb|USAF pilots fly a CH-47 Chinook near [[Jalalabad]], April 2017]] |
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{| class="wikitable" |
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|- |
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! Year(s) !! Main event(s) |
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|- |
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| 2001 || [[United States invasion of Afghanistan]] |
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|- |
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| 2002 || [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#Post-Anaconda operations|Post-Anaconda operations]] |
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|- |
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| 2003–2005 || [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#2003–2005 Taliban resurgence, war with U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces|Taliban resurgence, war with Afghan forces]] |
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|- |
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| 2006 || [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#2006: War between NATO forces and Taliban|War between NATO forces and Taliban]] |
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|- |
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| 2007 || [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#2007: US build-up, ISAF war against Taliban|US build-up, ISAF war against Taliban]] |
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|- |
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| 2008 || [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#Reassessment and renewed commitment 2008|Reassessment and renewed commitment]] and [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#Taliban attacks on supply lines 2008|Taliban attacks on supply lines]] |
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|- |
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| 2008–2009 || [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#US action into Pakistan 2008–2009|US action into Pakistan]] |
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|- |
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| 2009 || [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#2009 US reinforcements, Taliban progress|US reinforcements, Taliban progress]] |
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|- |
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| 2010 || [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#2010: American–British offensive and Afghan peace initiative|American–British offensive and Afghan peace initiative]] |
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|- |
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| 2011 || [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#2011: U.S. and NATO drawdown|US and NATO drawdown]] |
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|- |
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| 2012 || [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#2012: Strategic agreement|Strategic agreement]] |
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|- |
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| 2013 || [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#2013: Withdrawal|Withdrawal]] |
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|- |
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| 2014 || [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#2014: Withdrawal continues and the insurgency increases|2014: Withdrawal continues and the insurgency increases]] |
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|- |
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| 2015 || [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#2015 Taliban resurgence|Taliban resurgence]] |
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|- |
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| 2015–2016 || [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#Taliban negotiations, 2015–2016|Taliban negotiations]] and [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#Taliban infighting, 2015–2016|Taliban infighting]] |
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|- |
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| 2015–2018 || [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#Taliban offensive in Helmand Province, 2015–2018|Taliban offensive in Helmand Province]] |
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|- |
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| 2016 || [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#2016 peace deal|Peace deal with Hezb-i Islami]], [[Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan (2011–2016)]] |
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|- |
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| 2017 || [[History of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present)#2017|Events and Donald Trump's Afghan policy]] |
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|- |
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| 2018 || [[Kabul ambulance bombing]], battles of [[Battle of Farah|Farah]] and [[Battle of Darzab (2018)|Darzab]], [[Ghazni offensive]] |
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|- |
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| 2019 || [[Maidan Shar attack]], [[17 August 2019 Kabul bombing|Kabul wedding bombing]], [[Haska Meyna mosque bombing]] |
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|- |
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| 2020 || Attacks on Kabul's [[Kabul gurdwara attack|gurdwara]] and [[2020 Kabul University attack|university]] |
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|- |
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| 2021 || [[Withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan (2021)]] and [[2021 Taliban offensive]] |
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|} |
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===2018=== |
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{{further|2018 in Afghanistan}} |
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In January, the BBC reported that the Taliban are openly active in 70% of the country (being in full control of 14 districts and have an active and open physical presence in a further 263) and that Islamic State is more active in the country than ever before. Following attacks by the Taliban (including a suicide [[ambulance bombing]] in Kabul on 27 January that killed over 100 people) and Islamic State that killed scores of civilians, President Trump and Afghan officials decided to rule out any talks with the Taliban.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-42863116|title=Taliban threaten 70% of Afghanistan, BBC finds|publisher=BBC|date=31 January 2018|access-date=21 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814141430/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-42863116|archive-date=14 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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[[File:4162761 Curtis M. Scaparrotti, Kay Bailey Hutchison and Wolf-Jürgen Stahl 2018.jpg|thumb|[[Curtis Scaparrotti]], the [[Supreme Allied Commander Europe]], and [[Kay Bailey Hutchison]] with Brig. Gen. Wolf-Jürgen Stahl in Afghanistan in February 2018]] |
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On 15 February, ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported the rise of Afghan civilians being intentionally targeted by the Taliban, based on an annual [[United Nations]] report released a week earlier. This report offered a detailed assessment of the 16-year Afghan war, showing the rise of complex bombing attacks deliberately targeting civilians in 2017, having 10,453 Afghan civilians wounded or killed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://unama.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/afghanistan_protection_of_civilians_annual_report_2017_final_150218.pdf|title=Afghanistan Protection of Civilians Annual Report, United Nations|publisher=United Nations|date=8 February 2018|access-date=15 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216030054/https://unama.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/afghanistan_protection_of_civilians_annual_report_2017_final_150218.pdf|archive-date=16 February 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> As the US and Afghan government are publishing fewer statistics, the U.N. report is one of the most reliable indicators about the war's impact by 2018. The report emphasizes the rise of "complex attacks", a type of suicide assault that is becoming more deadly, described by the New York Times as the hallmark of the war in 2018. These attacks are referred to as the Taliban's ferocious response to US President Trump's new strategy of war (an increased pace of aerial bombardments targeting Taliban and Islamic State Militants), giving the message that the Taliban can strike at will, even in the capital city, Kabul. The U.N. report included a statement showing the Taliban's position, the Taliban blamed the U.S and its allies for fighting the war in Afghanistan, and it denied targeting civilians. The New York Times quoted Atiqullah Amarkhel, a retired general and military analyst based in Kabul, saying that the UN report proved the failure of peace talks, as the Taliban and the US government are both determined for victory rather than negotiating a settlement. He said "More airstrikes mean more suicide attacks," proving the intensification of the war by 2018.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/15/world/asia/afghanistan-civilian-casualties.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FAfghanistan&action=click&contentCollection=world®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection|title=More Afghan Civilians Being Deliberately Targeted, U.N. Says|work=The New York Times|date=15 February 2018|access-date=15 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216030502/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/15/world/asia/afghanistan-civilian-casualties.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FAfghanistan&action=click&contentCollection=world®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection|archive-date=16 February 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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From 12 July - 1 August, the Taliban carried out the [[Battle of Darzab (2018)|Darzab offensive]] and captured Darzab District following the surrender of [[Daesh|ISIL-K]] to the Afghan Government. |
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From 10 - 15 August, the Taliban launched a series of offensives, the largest being the [[Ghazni offensive]]. During the [[Ghazni]] offensive, the Taliban seized Ghazni, Afghanistan's sixth-largest city, for several days, but eventually retreated. The Taliban killed hundreds of Afghan soldiers and police and captured several government bases and districts. |
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Following the offensives [[Erik Prince]], the private military contractor and former head of [[Blackwater (company)|Blackwater]], advocated additional privatization of the war.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-45563044/ex-blackwater-ceo-s-plan-to-end-the-war-in-afghanistan|title=Ex-Blackwater CEO's plan to end the war in Afghanistan|access-date=18 September 2018|work=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918204054/https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-45563044/ex-blackwater-ceo-s-plan-to-end-the-war-in-afghanistan|archive-date=18 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/afghanistan-camp-david/537324/|title=Erik Prince's Plan to Privatize the War in Afghanistan|access-date=18 August 2018|publisher=The Atlantic|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818230112/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/afghanistan-camp-david/537324/|archive-date=18 August 2018|url-status=live|date=18 August 2017}}</ref> However, the then-US Defense Secretary [[James Mattis]] rebuked the idea, saying, “When Americans put their nation's credibility on the line, privatizing it is probably not a wise idea.”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tolonews.com/afghanistan/privatizing-afghanistan-war-not-wise-idea-mattis|title=Privatizing Afghanistan War Not A Wise Idea: Mattis|access-date=29 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180829141107/https://www.tolonews.com/afghanistan/privatizing-afghanistan-war-not-wise-idea-mattis|archive-date=29 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In September, the [[United Nations]] raised concerns over the increasing number of civilian casualties due to air strikes in Afghanistan. The US air force dropped around 3,000 bombs in the first six months of the year, to force Taliban militants for peace talks. In a statement issued by the [[United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan|UNAMA]], it reminded all the parties involved in the conflict "to uphold their obligations to protect civilians from harm.”<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-Afghanistan-casualties/u-n-concerned-over-spike-in-civilian-casualties-in-Afghan-air-strikes-idUSKCN1M51J0|title=U.N. concerned over spike in civilian casualties in Afghan air strikes|newspaper=Reuters|access-date=25 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925133956/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-casualties/u-n-concerned-over-spike-in-civilian-casualties-in-afghan-air-strikes-idUSKCN1M51J0|archive-date=25 September 2018|url-status=live|date=25 September 2018}}</ref> |
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On 17 October, days before [[2018 Afghan parliamentary election|parliamentary election]], Abdul Jabar Qahraman, an election candidate was killed in an attack by the Taliban. The Taliban issued a statement, warning teachers and students to not participate in the upcoming elections or use schools as polling centers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/10/afghan-election-candidate-killed-taliban-attack-181017055937948.html|title=Afghan election candidate killed in Taliban attack|access-date=17 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017081313/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/10/afghan-election-candidate-killed-taliban-attack-181017055937948.html|archive-date=17 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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On 17 December, US diplomats held talks with the Taliban, at the [[United Arab Emirates]] on possibly ending the war. The Taliban gave conditions of a pullout date for US-led troops before any talks with the Kabul government and has demanded that Washington not oppose the establishment of an Islamist government. However, the US officials have insisted on keeping some troops and at least a couple of bases in the country. The meeting was described by US officials as “part of efforts by the United States and other international partners to promote an intra-Afghan dialogue aimed at ending the conflict in Afghanistan.”<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/us-diplomats-hold-talks-with-taliban-on-ending-afghan-war/2018/12/17/c25be5d0-01f3-11e9-9122-82e98f91ee6f_story.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=17 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181217151335/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/us-diplomats-hold-talks-with-taliban-on-ending-afghan-war/2018/12/17/c25be5d0-01f3-11e9-9122-82e98f91ee6f_story.html |archive-date=17 December 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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=== 2019 === |
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[[File:Ongoing conflicts around the world.svg|thumb|250px|{{center|Ongoing armed conflicts in June 2019.}} |
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---- |
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{{legend|maroon|Major wars, 10,000 or more deaths in current or past year}} |
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]] |
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On 21 January 2019, the Taliban [[Maidan Shar attack|killed about 100 people]] at a [[National Directorate of Security]] base in [[Maidan Shar]], [[Maidan Wardak Province]]. On 25 January 2019, Afghanistan's president [[Ashraf Ghani]] said that more than 45,000 members of the Afghan security forces had been killed since he became president in 2014. He also said that there had been fewer than 72 international casualties during the same period.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47005558|title=Staggering Afghan death toll revealed|date=25 January 2019|access-date=25 January 2019|language=en-GB|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125190922/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47005558|archive-date=25 January 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> A January 2019 report by the US government estimated that 53.8% of Afghanistan's districts were controlled or influenced by the government, with 33.9% contested and 12.3% under insurgent control or influence.<ref>{{Cite news| issn = 0362-4331| last = Nordland| first = Rod| title = Afghan Government Control Over Country Falters, US Report Says| work = The New York Times| access-date = 24 May 2019| date = 1 February 2019| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/world/asia/afghanistan-taliban-territory-control.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190524223019/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/world/asia/afghanistan-taliban-territory-control.html| archive-date = 24 May 2019| url-status = live}}</ref> |
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On 4 February 2019, the Taliban attacked a checkpoint in northern [[Baghlan province]]. 21 people, including 11 policemen were killed. The same day, another attack took place in northern [[Samangan province]] that killed 10 people.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.trtworld.com/asia/at-least-21-people-killed-in-taliban-attacks-in-afghanistan-23881|title=At least 21 people killed in Taliban attacks in Afghanistan|access-date=5 February 2019}}</ref> |
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On 25 February 2019, [[Negotiations between the Taliban and the United States|peace talks]] began between the Taliban and the United States in [[Qatar]], with the Taliban co-founder [[Abdul Ghani Baradar|Abdul Ghani Barada]] notably present. US special envoy [[Zalmay Khalilzad]] reported that this round of negotiations was "more productive than they have been in the past" and that a draft version of a peace agreement had been agreed upon. The deal involved the withdrawal of US and international troops from Afghanistan and the Taliban not allowing other jihadist groups to operate within the country. The Taliban also reported that progress was being made in the negotiations.<ref name=BBC1>{{cite news |title=US peace envoy meets Taliban co-founder |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47351369 |access-date=25 February 2019 |date=25 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190224220641/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47351369 |archive-date=24 February 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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On 1 March 2019, the Taliban led an assault against [[Camp Shorabak|Shorab military base]], in Helmand, killing 23 security forces and wounding 20.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/23-afghan-security-forces-killed-taliban-attack-190301171933621.html|title=At least 23 Afghan security forces killed in Taliban attack|access-date=4 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190304020203/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/23-afghan-security-forces-killed-taliban-attack-190301171933621.html|archive-date=4 March 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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On 30 April 2019, Afghan government forces undertook clearing operations directed against both [[ISIS-K]] and the [[Taliban]] in eastern [[Nangarhar Province]], after the two groups fought for over a week over a group of villages in an area of illegal [[talc]] mining. The [[National Directorate of Security]] claimed 22 ISIS-K fighters were killed and two weapons caches destroyed, while the Taliban claimed US-backed Afghan forces killed seven civilians; a provincial official said over 9,000 families had been displaced by the fighting.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-attacks/afghan-forces-launch-attacks-to-clear-warring-militants-from-east-afghanistan-idUSKCN1S61BI|title=Afghan forces launch attacks to clear warring militants from east Afghanistan|last=Sediqi|first=Abdul Qadir|work=[[Reuters]]|access-date=1 May 2019|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511115943/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-attacks/afghan-forces-launch-attacks-to-clear-warring-militants-from-east-afghanistan-idUSKCN1S61BI|archive-date=11 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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On 28 July 2019, President [[Ashraf Ghani]]’s running mate [[Amrullah Saleh]]’s office was attacked by a suicide bomber and a few militants. At least 20 people were killed and 50 injured, with Saleh also amongst the injured ones. During the six-hour-long operation, more than 150 civilians were rescued and three militants were killed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-afghanistan-blast/at-least-20-killed-50-injured-in-attack-on-vp-candidates-office-in-kabul-government-idUKKCN1UO0BO?rpc=401&|title=At least 20 killed, 50 injured in attack on VP candidate's office in Kabul - government|access-date=28 July 2019|publisher=Reuters}}</ref> |
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By August, the Taliban controlled more territory than at any point since 2001.<ref>{{Cite news| issn = 0013-0613| title = America and the Taliban inch towards a peace deal in Afghanistan| work = The Economist| date = 7 August 2019| access-date = 10 August 2019| url = https://www.economist.com/asia/2019/08/07/america-and-the-taliban-inch-towards-a-peace-deal-in-afghanistan| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190808141537/https://www.economist.com/asia/2019/08/07/america-and-the-taliban-inch-towards-a-peace-deal-in-afghanistan| archive-date = 8 August 2019| url-status = live}}</ref> ''[[The Washington Post]]'' reported that the US was close to reaching a peace deal with the Taliban and was preparing to withdraw 5,000 troops from Afghanistan.<ref>{{Cite news| issn = 0190-8286| last1 = Lamothe| first1 = Dan| last2 = Hudson| first2 = John| last3 = Constable| first3 = Pamela| title = US preparing to withdraw thousands of troops from Afghanistan in initial deal with Taliban| work = Washington Post| access-date = 10 August 2019| date = 1 August 2019| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-preparing-to-withdraw-thousands-of-troops-from-afghanistan-in-initial-deal-with-taliban/2019/08/01/01e97126-b3ac-11e9-8f6c-7828e68cb15f_story.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190802020345/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-preparing-to-withdraw-thousands-of-troops-from-afghanistan-in-initial-deal-with-taliban/2019/08/01/01e97126-b3ac-11e9-8f6c-7828e68cb15f_story.html| archive-date = 2 August 2019| url-status = live}}</ref> The same month, however, it was later confirmed that some Taliban leaders, including Taliban emir Hibatullah Akhunzada's brother Hafiz Ahmadullah and some other relatives,<ref name=telegraphspeaks /> were killed in a bomb blast at the Khair Ul Madarais mosque, which was located in the Quetta suburb of Kuchlak and had long served as the main meeting place of members of the Taliban.<ref name="brotherkilled">{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/brother-afghan-taliban-leader-killed-pakistan-mosque-blast-190816143737376.html|title=Brother of Afghan Taliban leader killed in Pakistan mosque blast|website=aljazeera.com|access-date=28 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819220925/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/brother-afghan-taliban-leader-killed-pakistan-mosque-blast-190816143737376.html|archive-date=19 August 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="telegraphspeaks">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/16/family-taliban-leader-killed-assassination-attempt-eve-historic/|title=Family of Taliban leader killed in 'assassination attempt' on eve of historic US peace deal|last1=Farmer|first1=Ben|date=16 August 2019|work=The Telegraph|access-date=28 August 2019|last2=Mehsud|first2=Saleem|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817172250/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/16/family-taliban-leader-killed-assassination-attempt-eve-historic/|archive-date=17 August 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In September, the US canceled the negotiations.<ref name=":10">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/08/us/politics/pompeo-trump-afghan-peace-negotiations.html|title=After Trump Calls Off Talks, Afghanistan Braces for Violence|last1=Sanger|first1=David|date=8 September 2019|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=9 September 2019|last2=Mashal|first2=Mujib|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190909010759/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/08/us/politics/pompeo-trump-afghan-peace-negotiations.html|archive-date=9 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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On 3 September 2019, the Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide attack in Afghanistan's capital, targeting the Green Village Compound in [[Kabul]]. According to the reports, nearly 16 civilians died, while 119 were reported to be injured.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://truenewssource.com/2019/09/04/taliban-attack-in-kabul-raises-question-on-peace-agreement/|title=Taliban's Attack in Kabul Raises Question on the Peace Agreement|access-date=4 September 2019|website=True News Source}}</ref> |
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On 15 September 2019, 38 Taliban fighters, including two senior commanders, were killed in a joint US-Afghan military operation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/afghanistan-us-troops-kill-at-least-38-taliban-fighters-today-2019-09-15/|title=Afghanistan and U.S. troops claim to have killed at least 38 Taliban fighters|website=cbsnews.com}}</ref> |
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On 17 September 2019, a suicide bomber attacked the campaign rally of President Ashraf Ghani, killing 26 people and wounding 42. Less than an hour later, the Taliban carried out another suicide bomb attack near the US Embassy and the [[Ministry of Defense (Afghanistan)|Afghan Defense Ministry]], killing 22 people and wounded around 38.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/national/17908124.dozens-killed-Taliban-suicide-bombings-Afghanistan/?ref=rss|title=Dozens killed by Taliban suicide bombings in Afghanistan|access-date=17 September 2019|website=The Oxford Times}}</ref> |
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On 27 October 2019, 80 Taliban fighters were killed as a result of joint Afghan-US military operations in Kandahar and Faryab.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/afghan-forces-kill-80-taliban-fighters-officials-191027103220070.html|title=Afghan, US forces kill over 80 Taliban fighters, officials say|website=aljazeera.com}}</ref> |
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=== 2020 === |
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[[File:Secretary Pompeo Participates in a Signing Ceremony in Doha (49601220548).jpg|thumb|US representative [[Zalmay Khalilzad]] (left) and Taliban representative [[Abdul Ghani Baradar]] (right) sign the [[Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan]] in Doha, Qatar on 29 February 2020]] |
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Peace negotiations had resumed in December 2019.<ref>{{cite web| title = US-Taliban Afghan peace talks at 'important stage': Khalilzad| access-date = 22 February 2020| url = https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/taliban-afghan-peace-talks-important-stage-khalilzad-191219061940803.html|publisher=Al-Jazeera}}</ref> This round of talks resulted in a seven-day partial ceasefire which began on 22 February.<ref>{{cite web| title = US-Taliban truce begins, raising hopes for a peace deal| access-date = 22 February 2020| url = https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/pact-taliban-reducing-violence-start-saturday-200221094340829.html|publisher=Al-Jazeera}}</ref> On 29 February, the United States and the Taliban signed a conditional peace deal in Doha, Qatar<ref name="peace-deal-Feb29">{{cite web| title = Afghanistan's Taliban, US sign peace deal| access-date = 29 February 2020| url = https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/afghanistan-taliban-sign-deal-america-longest-war-200213063412531.html|publisher=Al-Jazeera}}</ref> that called for a prisoner exchange within ten days and was supposed to lead to U.S. troops withdrawal from Afghanistan within 14 months.<ref name="proposedwithdrawal">{{cite news |last1=Dadouch |first1=Sarah |last2=George |first2=Susannah |last3=Lamothe |first3=Dan |title=U.S. signs peace deal with Taliban agreeing to full withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/afghanistan-us-taliban-peace-deal-signing/2020/02/29/b952fb04-5a67-11ea-8efd-0f904bdd8057_story.html |access-date=1 March 2020 |work=[[The Washington Post]] |date=29 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301051555/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/afghanistan-us-taliban-peace-deal-signing/2020/02/29/b952fb04-5a67-11ea-8efd-0f904bdd8057_story.html |archive-date=1 March 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="stillproposedwithdrawal">{{cite news |title=U.S. to withdraw troops from Afghanistan in 14 months if Taliban conditions met |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-to-withdraw-troops-from-afghanistan-in-14-months-if-taliban-conditions-met/ar-BB10yxIL |access-date=29 February 2020 |agency=Reuters |via=MSN}}</ref> However, the Afghan government was not a party to the deal, and in a press conference the next day, President Ghani criticized the deal for being "signed behind closed doors." He said the Afghan government had "made no commitment to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners" and that such an action "is not the United States' authority, but it is the authority of the government of Afghanistan.”<ref>{{cite web| title = Ghani: No Commitment to Release Taliban Prisoners| work = TOLOnews| access-date = 1 March 2020| url = https://tolonews.com/afghanistan/ghani-no-commitment-release-taliban-prisoners}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/president-ghani-rejects-peace-deal-prisoner-swap-taliban-200301082216180.html|title=President Ghani rejects peace deal's prisoner swap with Taliban|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=1 March 2020|access-date=1 March 2020}}</ref><ref name=nprreject>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/03/01/810949474/afghan-president-rejects-timeline-for-prisoner-swap-proposed-in-us-taliban-peace|title=Afghan President Rejects Timeline For Prisoner Swap Proposed In US-Taliban Peace Deal|first=Cat|last=Schuknecht|publisher=NPR|date=1 March 2020|access-date=1 March 2020}}</ref><ref name=apreject>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/01/afghan-peace-deal-prisoner-release-118473|title=Afghan peace deal hits first snag over prisoner releases|author=[[Associated Press]]|publisher=Politico|access-date=1 March 2020}}</ref> Ghani also stated that any prisoner exchange |
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"cannot be a prerequisite for talks" but rather must be negotiated within the talks.<ref name=bbcreject>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51695370|title=Afghan conflict: President Ashraf Ghani rejects Taliban prisoner release|work=BBC News|date=1 March 2020|access-date=1 March 2020}}</ref> |
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The Taliban resumed offensive operations against the Afghan army and police on 3 March, conducting attacks in Kunduz and Helmand provinces.<ref>{{Cite news| issn = 0013-0613| title = A peace deal signed. Then America and the Taliban resume fighting| work = The Economist}}</ref> On 4 March, the United States retaliated by launching an air strike against Taliban fighters in Helmand.<ref>{{cite news| publisher= CNN| author1=Samantha Beech |author2=Devan Cole| title = US conducted airstrike on Taliban fighters following attack on Afghan checkpoint| work = CNN| access-date = 6 March 2020| url = https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/04/politics/taliban-airstrikes-afghanistan-us/index.html}}</ref> |
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On 6 March, ISIS-K killed 32 people in a [[6 March 2020 Kabul shooting|mass shooting]] in Kabul.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-51766602 |title=Kabul attack: Abdullah Abdullah escapes deadly attack - BBC News |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |access-date=2020-06-01}}</ref> Between 3 and 27 March, the Taliban claimed 405 attacks against Afghan security forces.<ref>{{cite web| title = Taliban attacks against Afghan security forces continue unabated {{!}} FDD's Long War Journal| access-date = 29 March 2020| url = https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2020/03/taliban-attacks-against-afghan-security-forces-continue-unabated.php}}</ref> |
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On 20 April, [[Taliban]] in another attack killed at least 23 [[Afghan]] troops and nine civilians.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.france24.com/en/20200420-dozens-dead-in-fresh-wave-of-taliban-violence-in-afghanistan|title=Dozens dead in fresh wave of Taliban violence in Afghanistan|access-date=20 April 2020|website=France 24}}</ref> |
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In April, ''[[The New York Times]]'' documented Afghan war casualties from 27 March until 23 April and informed that at least 262 pro-government forces, alongside 50 civilians have been killed in almost a month's time. Additionally, hundreds of civilians and [[Afghan forces]] also got injured.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/magazine/afghan-war-casualty-report-april-2020.html |title=Afghan War Casualty Report: April 2020|access-date=2 April 2020|website=The New York Times}}</ref> |
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On 2 May, Afghan authorities released at least 100 Taliban members from prison in [[Kabul]]. This came in response to the peace deal with the [[US]], which the [[Taliban]] argues assured them their 5,000 inmates being released. However, the Afghan government, which denied release and any authority by the US over decision, has now agreed to free 1,500 members of the [[militia]] organization.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} |
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On 12 May, A maternity hospital in Kabul [[May 2020 Afghanistan attacks|was attacked]] by gunmen, leading to the death of two newborn babies and their mothers, alongside 24 other people. The attackers posed as police officers while wearing police uniforms, which made it possible for them to enter the hospital and opened fire at the people inside.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/afghanistan-gunmen-storm-kabul-hospital-200512071439807.html|title=Babies among 24 killed as gunmen attack maternity ward in Kabul|website=www.aljazeera.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52631071|title=Babies killed as gunmen storm maternity ward|date=12 May 2020|via=www.bbc.com}}</ref> |
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[[File:200229-D-AP390-1306 (49603731471).jpg|thumb|NATO Secretary General [[Jens Stoltenberg]] and Afghan President [[Ashraf Ghani]] in Kabul, Afghanistan, 2020]] |
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On 19 May, Afghan forces bombed a clinic in the Northern province of [[Kunduz]]. The bombing is the result of Afghan force's decision to go on an offensive, a decision made by President [[Ashraf Ghani]] of Afghanistan.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Mashal|first1=Mujib|last2=Rahim|first2=Najim|last3=Abed|first3=Fahim|date=2020-05-19|title=Clinic Bombed as Afghan Forces Fend Off Taliban Attack on Kunduz|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/19/world/asia/afghanistan-taliban-kunduz.html|access-date=2020-05-20|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> |
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On 28 May, the first attack was carried out since the three-day ceasefire for Eid al-Fitr holiday ended at a checkpoint in Parwan province of Kabul, which led to the death of at least 14 members of the Afghan security forces.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/afghan-forces-killed-attack-blamed-taliban-200528084958150.html|title=Afghan forces killed in attack blamed on Taliban|website=www.aljazeera.com}}</ref> The Taliban was blamed for the attack, based on the statement issued by the spokeswoman to the provincial governor. She added that members of the Taliban were also killed during the attack, although the Taliban is yet to claim responsibility for the attack.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/20200528-afghan-security-forces-killed-in-first-taliban-attack-since-end-of-ceasefire|title=Afghan security forces killed in first 'Taliban attack' since end of ceasefire|date=28 May 2020|website=France 24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenational.ae/world/asia/afghanistan-first-deadly-attacks-since-ceasefire-kill-14-1.1025755|title=Afghanistan: First deadly attacks since ceasefire kill 14|website=The National}}</ref> According to the District police chief Hussain Shah, the checkpoint was set ablaze by Taliban fighters, killing five security forces in the process, with two others killed by gunshots.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/world/asia-pacific/7-afghan-security-personnel-killed-in-1st-attack-since-cease-fire-ended|title=7 Afghan security personnel killed in 1st attack since cease-fire ended|first=French Press Agency-|last=AFP|date=28 May 2020|website=Daily Sabah}}</ref> |
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[[File:Secretary Pompeo Meets With the Taliban Delegation (50333305012).jpg|thumb|U.S. Secretary of State [[Mike Pompeo]] meeting with Taliban delegation in [[Doha]], [[Qatar]], on 12 September 2020]] |
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On 29 May, following the attack that claimed the lives of 14 members of the Afghan forces, the government called on the Taliban to prolong the ceasefire deal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/05/afghan-forces-killed-gov-urges-taliban-extend-ceasefire-200529052525519.html|title=Afghan forces killed as gov't urges Taliban to extend ceasefire|website=www.aljazeera.com}}</ref> A Taliban delegation reportedly arrived in Kabul to negotiate on a prisoner swap by both parties.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.neweurope.eu/article/taliban-delegation-in-kabul-for-talks-as-officials-blame-militants-for-deadly-attacks/|title=Taliban delegation in Kabul for talks as officials blame militants for deadly attacks|date=29 May 2020}}</ref> |
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According to a report published by the UN Assistance Mission ([[United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan|UNAMA]]) on 21 June, fifteen attacks have been carried out on healthcare in Afghanistan, in the first two months of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. Of the fifteen attacks, twelve were targeted while the rest were incidental.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/06/1066772|title= Afghanistan: UN condemns attacks on healthcare amid COVID-19 pandemic|access-date=21 June 2020|website=UN News}}</ref> |
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In July, the U.S. Military reported that despite the lack of progress in the peace process, the Afghan government was still able to maintain control of Kabul, provincial capitals, major population centers, most district centers and most major ground lines of communications.<ref name=noreasontogo>{{cite news|url=https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-army/2020/07/01/pentagon-report-less-violence-but-lagging-afghan-progress/|title=Pentagon report: less violence but lagging Afghan progress|first=Todd|last=South|publisher=Military Times|date=July 1, 2020|access-date=July 7, 2020}}</ref> There was also a reduction in violence.<ref name=noreasontogo /> Also in July, President Ghani reported that since 29 February, 3,560 members of the Afghan security forces had been killed, and 6,781 wounded.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://tolonews.com/index.php/afghanistan/ghani-10708-andsf-killed-and-wounded-feb-29|title=Ghani: '10,708 ANDSF Killed and Wounded Since Feb. 29'|date=28 July 2020|access-date=29 July 2020|newspaper=TOLOnews}}</ref> On 30 July, a suicide car bomber killed 17 people in [[Puli Alam]], [[Logar Province]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/07/30/car-bomb-kills-at-least-17-in-afghanistan-ahead-of-ceasefire|title=Car bomb kills at least 17 in Afghanistan ahead of ceasefire}}</ref> |
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In August, ISIS-K conducted [[Jalalabad prison attack|an attack]] on a prison in Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province, killing 29, injuring at least 50, and freeing approximately 300 prisoners.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-53633450|title=Islamic State group claims deadly attack on Afghanistan prison|date=3 August 2020|access-date=6 August 2020|publisher=BBC}}</ref> |
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In August, [[United States Intelligence Community|U.S. intelligence]] officials assessed that [[Iran]] offered bounties to the Taliban-linked [[Haqqani network]] to kill foreign servicemembers, including Americans, in Afghanistan.<ref name="cnn-taliban">{{cite news |title=US intelligence indicates Iran paid bounties to Taliban for targeting American troops in Afghanistan |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/17/politics/iran-taliban-bounties-us-intelligence/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=17 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Iran paid bounties for targeting US troops, intelligence reportedly suggests |url=https://thehill.com/policy/defense/512273-iran-paid-bounties-for-targeting-us-troops-intelligence-reportedly-suggests |work=The Hill |date=17 August 2020}}</ref> U.S. intelligence determined that Iran paid bounties to Taliban insurgents for the 2019 [[2019 Bagram Airfield attack|attack on Bagram airport]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Iran reportedly paid bounties to Afghan group for attacks on Americans |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/17/iran-bounties-us-troops-afghanistan-taliban |work=The Guardian |date=17 August 2020}}</ref> According to CNN, Donald Trump's administration has "never mentioned Iran's connection to the bombing, an omission current and former officials said was connected to the broader prioritization of the peace agreement and [[Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan|withdrawal from Afghanistan]].{{disambiguation needed|date=June 2021}}"<ref name="cnn-taliban"/> |
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On 14 August, [[Fawzia Koofi]], an Afghan politician and [[human rights activist]], was shot in the arm in an attempted assassination near [[Kabul]]. Koofi had been a vocal [[Taliban]] critic, and was also a part of the 21-member team responsible for representing the [[Politics of Afghanistan|Afghan government]] in [[Afghan peace process|peace talks]] with the Taliban.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/16/female-afghan-peace-negotiator-wounded-in-assassination-bid|title=Female Afghan peace negotiator wounded in assassination bid|access-date=16 August 2020|website=The Guardian}}</ref> |
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On 12 October, Taliban forces launched a major offensive in Helmand Province, with the UN reporting 35,000 forced to flee their homes. During this fighting on the 14 October, two Afghan Army helicopters evacuating the wounded collided with each other killing all passengers and crew in both aircraft. The Taliban halted the offensive due to US airstrikes.<ref>{{Cite web| title = Guns and poses - As America pulls out of Afghanistan the Taliban fight on |publisher= The Economist| access-date = 2020-11-23| url = https://www.economist.com/asia/2020/11/18/as-america-pulls-out-of-afghanistan-the-taliban-fight-on}}</ref> |
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On 21 October, Taliban militants ambushed Afghanistan security forces in the province of Takhar killing at least 34.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Taliban ambush kills dozens of Afghan forces in northern province|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/21/taliban-ambush-kills-dozens-of-afghan-forces-in-northern-province|access-date=2021-04-18|website=www.aljazeera.com|language=en}}</ref> |
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In late October, about 25 Afghan and Australian human rights organizations wrote a letter to the Australian government demanding the release of an inquiry by the Inspector-General of the [[Australian Defence Force]], into the war crimes committed by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thediplomat.com/2020/10/rights-groups-urge-australia-to-release-inquiry-into-war-crimes-in-afghanistan/|title=Rights Groups Urge Australia to Release Inquiry Into War Crimes in Afghanistan|access-date=30 October 2020|website=The Diplomat}}</ref> |
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In November, the [[White House]] told the Pentagon to begin planning to bring the troop levels in Afghanistan and Iraq down to 2,500 each by 15 January, just days before President [[Donald Trump]] would leave office. This came one week after Trump fired Defense Secretary [[Mark Esper]] for pushing back on Trump's efforts to accelerate the Afghanistan drawdown against the advice of military commanders, including the U.S. and coalition commander [[Austin S. Miller]], setting off a purge of top Pentagon officials.<ref name="news.yahoo.com">{{Cite web|title=White House tells Pentagon to begin planning Afghanistan, Iraq drawdowns|url=https://news.yahoo.com/trump-order-troop-reductions-afghanistan-195927768.html|access-date=2020-12-17|website=news.yahoo.com|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Trump's new Pentagon sets up clash over Afghanistan pullout|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/11/trump-new-pentagon-clash-afghanistan-436120|access-date=2020-12-17|website=POLITICO|language=en}}</ref> |
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In December, the Afghan government abandoned 193 checkpoints in [[Kandahar Province]].<ref>{{Cite web| title = Afghan troops and police abandon nearly 200 checkpoints to the Taliban| work = AFP| access-date = 2021-02-14| date = 2020-12-30| url = https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2020/12/30/Afghan-troops-and-police-abandon-nearly-200-checkpoints-to-the-Taliban}}</ref> |
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===2021=== |
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==== United States and allies withdraw ==== |
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In January 2021, the U.S. reached its target troop level of 2,500 personnel in Afghanistan. This was the lowest force level since 2001.<ref name="Ali">{{Cite news|last=Ali|first=Idrees|date=2021-01-15|title=U.S. troops in Afghanistan now down to 2,500, lowest since 2001: Pentagon|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-afghanistan-military-idUSKBN29K229|access-date=2021-02-06}}</ref> |
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On 15 February, IS-KP operatives exchanged fire with fighters of an elite unit of the Afghan government in Jalalabad. About 20 fighters of the elite unit were killed or wounded in the exchange of fire, which lasted about six hours.<ref>{{cite web|date=25 February 2021|title=Spotlight on Global Jihad (February 18-24, 2021)|url=https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/spotlight-on-global-jihad-february-18-24-2021/|website=terrorism-info.org}}</ref> |
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In March, President [[Ashraf Ghani]] confirmed that his government was prepared to take forward peaceful talks with the [[Taliban]]. Addressing the lawmakers, he said to hold discussions around new elections and forming a government through a democratic process.<ref>{{cite web|title=Afghan president says ready to discuss elections to advance talks with Taliban|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-politics-ghani/afghan-president-says-ready-to-discuss-elections-to-advance-talks-with-taliban-idUSKBN2AY0BI?il=0|access-date=6 March 2021|website=Reuters}}</ref> During the same month, Germany has decided to send more troops into the country, boosting their forces to 1,300.<ref>{{Cite web|title=German and NATO forces number increasing in Afghanistan|url=https://english.iswnews.com/17688/german-and-nato-forces-number-increasing-in-afghanistan/|access-date=2021-03-12|website=IWN|language=en-US}}</ref> |
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On 29 March, the [[New Zealand Defence Force]] withdrew their forces from Afghanistan, ending New Zealand's involvement in the war.<ref>{{cite web|date=29 March 2021|title=New Zealand Defence Force's final troops return from Afghanistan|url=https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/03/new-zealand-defence-force-s-final-troops-return-from-afghanistan.html|website=newshub.co.nz}}</ref> |
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[[File:210321-D-BN624-1081 (51058752833).jpg|thumb|[[NATO]]'s [[Resolute Support Mission]] commander [[Austin S. Miller]] alongside U.S. Secretary of Defense [[Lloyd Austin]] in Afghanistan, March 2021]] |
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On 13 April, US President [[Joe Biden]] announced [[Withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan (2021)|the withdrawal of all remaining troops in Afghanistan]] by September 11, 2021.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ryan|first1=Missy|last2=DeYoung|first2=Karen|date=April 13, 2021|title=Biden will withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, 2021|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/biden-us-troop-withdrawal-afghanistan/2021/04/13/918c3cae-9beb-11eb-8a83-3bc1fa69c2e8_story.html|access-date=April 13, 2021|work=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Cooper|first1=Helene|last2=Barnes|first2=Julian E.|last3=Gibbons-Neff|first3=Thomas|date=2021-04-13|title=Live Updates: Biden to Announce Full U.S. Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan by Sept. 11|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/13/us/biden-news-today|access-date=2021-04-13|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> (The date was later set for August 31.)<ref name=":9">{{Cite web|last1=Miller|first1=Zeke|last2=Madhani|first2=Aamer|date=2021-07-08|title='Overdue': Biden sets Aug. 31 for US exit from Afghanistan|url=https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-afghanistan-government-and-politics-86f939c746c7bc56bb9f11f095a95366|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-09|website=AP NEWS|language=en}}</ref> On the same day, Turkish authorities said that Turkey would host a summit from April 24 to May 4 in an effort to end the war in [[Afghanistan]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Turkey to host 10-day Afghanistan peace talks from April 24|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/13/turkey-to-host-10-day-afghan-taliban-peace-talks-from-april-24|access-date=2021-04-14|website=Aljazeera|language=en}}</ref> The summit was later postponed until after Ramadan.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-04-21|title=Afghanistan peace talks in Turkey postponed|url=https://www.dw.com/en/afghanistan-peace-talks-in-turkey-postponed/a-57271509|access-date=2021-05-04|website=dw.com|language=en}}</ref> |
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On 15 April, Australian Prime Minister [[Scott Morrison]] announced that the remaining 80 troops deployed to Afghanistan would leave by September 2021 in line with the US withdrawal.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-04-15|title=PM holds back tears announcing withdrawal of Australian troops from Afghanistan|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-15/scott-morrison-announces-withdraw-australian-troops-afghanistan/100071606|access-date=2021-04-15|website=www.abc.net.au|language=en-AU}}</ref> |
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By 30 June, both Germany (which, two months earlier, had announced plans to withdraw)<ref>{{Cite news|title=Germany plans to pull troops out of Afghanistan from July 4|work=The Economic Times|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/germany-plans-to-pull-troops-out-of-afghanistan-from-july-4/articleshow/82178509.cms|access-date=2021-04-22}}</ref> and Italy had completely withdrawn their forces and equipment from Afghanistan, ending their involvement in the war.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/world/asia-pacific/germany-italy-complete-troop-pull-out-from-afghanistan|title=Germany, Italy complete troop pull-out from Afghanistan|date=30 June 2021|website=Daily Sabah}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20210630-germany-complete-troop-pull-out-from-afghanistan-ending-nearly-20-year-mission|title=Germany completes troop pull-out from Afghanistan, ending nearly 20-year mission|date=30 June 2021|website=France 24}}</ref> On the same day, the last Polish troops left Afghanistan, thereby ending Poland's involvement in the war. Around 33,000 Polish troops had served in Afghanistan during the war, with 44 being killed in action.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/europe-afghanistan-health-coronavirus-pandemic-9c1c4f5732c032ba85865aab0338a7a3|title=Most European troops exit Afghanistan quietly after 20 years|date=30 June 2021|website=AP NEWS}}</ref> On 2 July, officials announced that Western forces had left the [[Bagram Airfield|Bagram Air Base]] without notice and turned over control of that base to the Afghan government.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Gibbons-Neff|first=Thomas|date=2021-07-02|title=U.S. Leaves Largest Afghan Base as Full Withdrawal Nears|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/02/world/asia/afghanistan-bagram-us-withdrawal.html|access-date=2021-07-02|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> |
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As of 5 July, the Taliban controlled roughly two-thirds of Afghanistan as the NATO forces were completing their withdrawal; and there were reports of Afghan Army soldiers fleeing from the nation in droves.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-07-05|title=Afghanistan: Soldiers flee to Tajikistan after militant clashes|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57720103|access-date=2021-07-05}}</ref> In advance of the U.S. withdrawal, Biden had reportedly concluded that it was an “unwinnable war” and a situation without “a military solution.”<ref name=":9" /> |
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On 11 July, Australian Defence Minister [[Peter Dutton]] said that his country had ended their involvement in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.voanews.com/south-central-asia/australia-says-last-troops-withdrawn-afghanistan?amp |title=Australia Says Last Troops Withdrawn From Afghanistan |website=VOA |date=11 July 2021 }}</ref> |
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==== Taliban advances ==== |
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{{main|2021 Taliban offensive}} |
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[[File:2021 Taliban Offensive.png|thumb|A map of Afghanistan showing the Taliban offensive]] |
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In early March, [[Almar District]] fell to Taliban forces,<ref>{{cite tweet |user=bsarwary |title=Update on the Fall of Almar district in Faryab to Taliban. Several members of ANDSF including a member of the elite special forces taken captive. At least 3 members of national police killed. At least 5 members of ANDSF missing |number=1369981207610527746 |date=11 March 2021 }}</ref> and government forces withdrew from a base in [[Bala Murghab District]], [[Badghis Province]].<ref name="LWJMar2021">{{Cite web| title = Afghan security forces withdrawing from checkpoints, bases |publisher=Long War Journal| access-date = 2021-03-12| date = 2021-03-03| url = https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2021/03/afghan-security-forces-withdrawing-from-checkpoints-bases.php}}</ref> The Ministry of Interior announced that they had withdrawn from 40% of their police checkpoints, and the Taliban established checkpoints on the Kunduz–Takhar and Pul-i-Khumri–Mazar-i-Sharif highways.<ref name="LWJMar2021"/> |
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On March 22, [[Charkh District]] in [[Logar Province]] fell to Taliban forces after several ANDSF and policemen were killed by the attacking Taliban militants. The remaining ANDSF forces apparently fled their positions.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.urdupoint.com/en/world/taliban-gain-control-over-charkh-district-in-1201135.html |title=Taliban Gain Control Over Charkh District In Afghanistan's Logar Province - Resident |website=urdupoint.com |date=22 March 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite tweet |user=Natsecjeff |title=Local reports indicate Taliban launched assault on Charkh district center in Logar province, resulting in heavy fighting taking place in the area whole day today, and as per reports fighting is still ongoing. Reportedly multiple ANDSF posts overrun by TB. #Afghanistan |number=1373923675049721856 |date=21 March 2021 }}</ref> |
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On April 14, Taliban forces attacked an Afghan military base in Zabul, killing at least 10 Afghan soldiers, including a commander.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-171469|title=Taliban Attack Army Base in Zabul, Clashes Ongoing|website=TOLOnews}}</ref> |
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A UN report dated May 20, 2021, stated that "the Taliban now contest or control an estimated 50 to 70 per cent of Afghan territory outside of urban centres, while also exerting direct control over 57 per cent of district administrative centres."<ref>{{Cite news|title=Letter dated 20 May 2021 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1988 (2011) addressed to the President of the Security Council |work=United Nations Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team|url=https://www.undocs.org/en/S/2021/486|access-date=2021-06-04}}</ref> |
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Between June 4 and June 5, 2021, [[Du Ab District]] fell to the Taliban forces after 20 days of fighting. This marked the 7th district to fall to the Taliban since May 1, 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.freepressjournal.in/world/taliban-seizes-another-district-in-afghanistan|title=Taliban seizes another district in Afghanistan|website=Free Press Journal}}</ref> |
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According to the New York Times, between June 1 and June 11, 327 Afghan security forces and 82 civilians were killed. Also, at least 11 districts had fallen to the Taliban in the same period of time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/03/world/asia/afghan-war-casualty-report-june-2021.html|title=Afghan War Casualty Report: June 2021|first1=Fatima|last1=Faizi|first2=Najim|last2=Rahim|date=3 June 2021|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> |
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On June 16, at least 24 elite Afghan commandos and 5 police officers were killed after being surrounded by Taliban forces whilst defending the key district of Dawlat Aban in Fayrab province. The Taliban took control of the district.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/17/world/asia/afghanistan-military-casualties.html|title=Elite Afghan Forces Suffer Horrific Casualties as Taliban Advance|first1=Thomas|last1=Gibbons-Neff|first2=Najim|last2=Rahim|date=17 June 2021|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> |
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On June 18, Taliban forces entered the city of Kunduz, beginning a new battle for the city.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2021/06/taliban-enters-kunduz-city-seizes-control-of-17-districts.php|title=Taliban enters Kunduz City, seizes control of more than 20 districts | FDD's Long War Journal|date=20 June 2021|website=www.longwarjournal.org}}</ref> Fighting was reportedly still ongoing by June 22.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2021/06/kunduz-province-in-danger-of-falling-to-the-taliban.php|title=Kunduz province in danger of falling to the Taliban | FDD's Long War Journal|date=22 June 2021|website=www.longwarjournal.org}}</ref> |
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On June 22, the Taliban captured [[Shir Khan Bandar]], Afghanistan's main Tajikistan border crossing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210622-taliban-capture-afghanistan-s-main-tajikistan-border-crossing|title=Taliban capture Afghanistan's main Tajikistan border crossing|date=22 June 2021|website=France 24}}</ref> 13 districts fell to the Taliban within 24 hours.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-173011|title=ANDSF Recaptures Three Districts in North as War Intensifies|website=TOLOnews}}</ref> On the same day heavy fighting was also occurring in Baghlan province after Afghan forces launched a military operation on the outskirts of Pul-e-Khumri, the provincial capital, killing 17 Taliban militants including Qari Khalid, a Taliban divisional commander.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-06/22/c_1310021867.htm|title=17 Taliban militants killed in fresh army operation in northern Afghanistan: gov't - Xinhua | English.news.cn|website=www.xinhuanet.com}}</ref> Simultaneously, Taliban forces took control of [[Balkh]] and encircled Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province.<ref>{{Cite web| title = Hundreds of Public Forces Deployed to Guard Mazar-e-Sharif| work = TOLOnews| access-date = 2021-06-24| url = https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-173013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| last = Editor| first = Analysis by Nic Robertson, International Diplomatic| title = Afghanistan is disintegrating fast as Biden's troop withdrawal continues| work = CNN| access-date = 2021-06-24| url = https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/24/asia/afghanistan-taliban-offensive-intl-cmd/index.html}}</ref> |
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On June 23, the Taliban and Afghan forces clashed inside Pul-e Khumri.<ref>{{Cite web| title = Baghlan: Clashes Ongoing in Capital Pul-e-Khumri| work = TOLOnews| access-date = 2021-06-24| url = https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-173033}}</ref> |
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On June 25, the Taliban took control of the [[Shinwari District]] and the [[Ghorband District]] in Parwan province north of Kabul.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pajhwok.com/2021/06/26/parwans-shinwari-district-overrun-by-taliban/|title=Parwan’s Shinwari district overrun by Taliban}}</ref> That same day NBC News reported that the Taliban "were surprised at the speed of their advance and had avoided capturing some targets so as not to run afoul of the U.S.,"<ref>{{Cite web| title = Taliban forces rapidly gaining ground in Afghanistan as U.S. leaves| work = NBC News| access-date = 2021-06-27| url = https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/even-taliban-are-surprised-how-fast-they-re-advancing-afghanistan-n1272236}}</ref> and the Afghan government launched a program called National Mobilization that aimed to arm militia groups to fight the Taliban.<ref>{{Cite web| title = Taliban gains drive Afghanistan gov't to arm local volunteers| access-date = 2021-06-27| url = https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/25/taliban-gains-drive-afghan-government-to-recruit-militias|website=Al-Jazeera}}</ref> |
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On June 27, [[Chaki Wardak District]] and [[Saydabad District]] fell to the Taliban after at least 50 Afghan troops surrendered and were captured by the Taliban. On the same day [[Rustaq District, Afghanistan|Rustaq District]], [[Shortepa District]] and the [[Arghistan District]] fell to the Taliban. ToloNews reported that 108 districts fell to the Taliban in the last two months and the Afghan army had only managed to re-take 10.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tolonews.com/index.php/afghanistan-173124|title=Five Districts Fall to Taliban in 24 Hours|website=TOLOnews}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gandhara.rferl.org/a/afghanitan-50-afghan-officers-captured-taliban/31328474.html|title=Police Commander Says More Than 50 Afghan Officers Captured By The Taliban|website=RFE/RL}}</ref> |
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On June 29, the Taliban launched an offensive on [[Ghazni]] city, causing violent clashes within the city.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wtvbam.com/2021/06/29/taliban-fighters-launch-attack-on-ghazni-clash-with-afghan-troops/|title=Taliban fighters launch attack on Ghazni, clash with Afghan troops|first=Syndicated|last=Content}}</ref> |
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On July 5, 11 more districts fell to the Taliban, following heavy Afghan Army losses in the northern part of the country in the week prior.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-173310|title=11 Districts Fall to Taliban in 24 Hours: Sources|website=TOLOnews}}</ref> On July 7, the Taliban attacked [[Qala e Naw]], the capital of [[Badghis Province]]. Taliban forces captured the city's police headquarters and [[National Directorate of Security]] office, in what the AFP described as "the first time the Taliban have attempted to overrun a provincial capital."<ref>{{Cite web| title = Taliban launch assault on Afghan provincial capital Qala-i-Naw| work = France 24| accessdate = 2021-07-07| date = 2021-07-07| url = https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210707-taliban-launch-assault-on-afghan-provincial-capital-qala-i-naw}}</ref> |
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On July 9, during the early morning, the Taliban captured Afghanistan's main border crossings with Iran and Turkmenistan, [[Islam Qala]] and [[Torghundi]] respectively, rendering the city of [[Herat]] surrounded by Taliban forces.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-173390|title=Two Border Towns in Western Afghanistan Fall to Taliban|website=TOLOnews}}</ref> |
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On 22 July, about 100 people [[2021 Spin Boldak shooting|were killed]] in a mass shooting in [[Spin Boldak District]], Kandahar Province. |
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On 3 August, 13 people [[August 2021 Kabul attack|were killed]] in a Taliban suicide car bombing and shootout in Kabul. |
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By 6 August, the Taliban had captured their first provincial capital [[Zaranj]], in [[Nimroz Province]]. A UN envoy warned that Afghanistan was entering a 'deadlier phase' of the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/6/war-in-afghanistan-entered-deadlier-phase-un-envoy-warns|title=War in Afghanistan enters ‘deadlier’ phase, UN envoy warns|publisher= Al Jazeera}}</ref> As of 12 August, the Taliban controlled 10 out of 34 provincial capitals of Afghanistan.<ref name="pc10">{{cite news |title=Taliban move closer to capital after taking Ghazni city |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210812-taliban-move-closer-to-capital-after-taking-ghazni-city |access-date=12 August 2021 |publisher=France24 |date=12 August 2021}}</ref> |
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On August 14, skirmishes were reported in Paghman district, location of Kabul. The Taliban attacked the outskirts of Kabul and seized security posts in Paghman District. <ref>{{Cite web|title=https://twitter.com/omidsobhni/status/1426636694435024900|url=https://twitter.com/omidsobhni/status/1426636694435024900|access-date=2021-08-14|website=Twitter|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=https://twitter.com/omidsobhni/status/1426638159895465985|url=https://twitter.com/omidsobhni/status/1426638159895465985|access-date=2021-08-14|website=Twitter|language=en}}</ref> |
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The [[Battle of Kabul (2021)|Battle of Kabul]] commenced with a citywide blackout and heavy assaults from its outskirts on August 15.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/513486/afghanistan-heavy-fighting-ongoing-on-the-outskirts-of-kabul-as-of-early-aug-15-a-total-blackout-reported-in-the-city|title=Afghanistan: Heavy fighting ongoing on the outskirts of Kabul as of early Aug. 15; a total blackout reported in the city|website=GardaWorld}}</ref> Negotiations for the [[Surrender of Kabul]] were reported the same day.<ref name="reuters">{{cite news |title=Taliban enter Afghan capital as US diplomats evacuate by chopper |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/talibans-rapid-advance-across-afghanistan-2021-08-10/ |access-date=August 15, 2021 |work=[[Reuters]] |date=August 15, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Tavenner |first1=Emily |title=5 Things to Know about the Taliban’s Advance in Afghanistan |url=https://www.american.edu/sis/news/20210813-5-things-to-know-about-the-talibans-advance-in-afghanistan.cfm |website=american.edu |publisher=[[American University]] |access-date=August 15, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Ghosh |first1=Poulomi |title=No forceful takeover of Kabul, people are safe, say Taliban; demand peaceful surrender of capital |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/no-one-killed-in-kabul-taliban-say-they-won-t-take-afghan-capital-by-force-101629016806538.html |access-date=August 15, 2021 |work=[[Hindustan Times]] |date=August 15, 2021}}</ref> |
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==Impact on Afghan society== |
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===Civilian casualties=== |
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{{Main|Civilian casualties in the war in Afghanistan (2001–present)}} |
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According to the Costs of War project at [[Brown University]], as of April 2021, the war has killed 47,245 Afghan civilians in Afghanistan.<ref name=":2" /> A report titled ''Body Count'' put together by [[Physicians for Social Responsibility]], [[Physicians for Global Survival]] and the [[Nobel Peace Prize]]-winning [[International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War]] (IPPNW) concluded that 106,000–170,000 civilians have been killed as a result of the fighting in Afghanistan at the hands of all parties to the conflict.<ref name="IPPNW"> |
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* [http://www.ippnw.de/commonFiles/pdfs/Frieden/Body_Count_first_international_edition_2015_final.pdf "Body Count – Casualty Figures after 10 Years of the 'War on Terror' – Iraq Afghanistan Pakistan"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430175027/http://www.ippnw.de/commonFiles/pdfs/Frieden/Body_Count_first_international_edition_2015_final.pdf |date=30 April 2015 }} (PDF), by [[International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War|IPPNW]], [[Physicians for Global Survival|PGS]] and [[Physicians for Social Responsibility|PSR]], First international edition (March 2015) |
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* {{cite news |author=Gabriela Motroc |url=http://www.australiannationalreview.com/war-terror-reportedly-killed-13-million-people-decade/ |title=US War on Terror has reportedly killed 1.3 million people in a decade |work=Australian National Review |date=7 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505004045/http://www.australiannationalreview.com/war-terror-reportedly-killed-13-million-people-decade/ |archive-date=5 May 2015 }} |
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* {{cite news |url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/national/30-Mar-2015/220-000-killed-in-us-war-in-afghanistan-80-000-in-pakistan-report |title=220,000 killed in US war in Afghanistan 80,000 in Pakistan: report |work=[[Daily Times (Pakistan)|Daily Times]] |date=30 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505055409/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/national/30-Mar-2015/220-000-killed-in-us-war-in-afghanistan-80-000-in-pakistan-report |archive-date=5 May 2015 }} |
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</ref> |
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[[File: Narang night raid.jpg|thumb|Victims of the [[Narang night raid]] that killed at least 10 Afghan civilians, December 2009]] |
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A U.N. report over the year 2009 stated that, of the 1,500 civilians having died from January until the end of August 2009, 70% were blamed on "anti-government elements".<ref name="August2009, UN">{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/09/26/afghanistan.deaths/| title=August deadliest month of 2009 for Afghan civilians, UN says| publisher=CNN| date=26 September 2009| access-date=14 October 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619211147/http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/09/26/afghanistan.deaths/| archive-date=19 June 2017| url-status=live| df=dmy-all}}</ref> |
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The US website of ''[[The Weekly Standard]]'' stated in 2010, referring to a UN Report, that 76% of civilian deaths in Afghanistan over the past year had been "caused by the [[Taliban]]".<ref name="The Weekly Standard">{{cite news |url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/taliban-responsible-76-deaths-afghanistan-un |work=The Weekly Standard |title=UN: Taliban Responsible for 76% of Deaths in Afghanistan |access-date=12 October 2017 |date=10 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110102054938/http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/taliban-responsible-76-deaths-afghanistan-un |archive-date=2 January 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> That is a misquotation of the UNAMA Report, which does not attribute numbers of deaths directly to the Taliban, but to "anti-government elements" (AGE) and to "pro-government forces" (PGF). Over the period January until June 2010, indeed the report published in August 2010 stated that, of all 3,268 civilian casualties (dead or wounded), 2,477 casualties (76%) were caused by AGE, 386 caused by PGF (11%).<ref name=UNAMA10Aug10>[https://unama.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/aug102010_unama_press_release_human_rights_mid-year_report_eng_final.pdf 'Afghan civilian casualties rise thirty-one per cent in first six months of 2010'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326045821/https://unama.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/aug102010_unama_press_release_human_rights_mid-year_report_eng_final.pdf |date=26 March 2017 }}. Press Release [[United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan|UNAMA]], 10 August 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2017.</ref> |
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Over the whole of 2010, with a total of 2,777 civilians killed, the UN reported 2,080 civilian deaths caused by "anti-government elements" (75%), "pro-government forces" caused 440 deaths, and 257 deaths "could not be attributed to any party".<ref name="UNAMA">{{cite news| url=http://unama.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1783&ctl=Details&mid=1882&ItemID=12602| work=United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan|title=Citing rising death toll, UN urges better protection of Afghan civilians|date=9 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726085402/http://unama.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1783&ctl=Details&mid=1882&ItemID=12602 |archive-date=26 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Afghanistan: Attack on Logar hospital kills dozens|date=25 June 2011|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13914252|access-date=25 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110625112022/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13914252|archive-date=25 June 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In July 2011, a UN report said "1,462 non-combatants died" in the first six months of 2011 (insurgents 80%).<ref>{{cite news|title=Afghan civilian deaths rise, insurgents responsible for most casualties – UN|date=14 July 2011|work=U.N. News Centre|url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=39036&Cr=Afghan&Cr1|access-date=6 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119095545/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=39036&Cr=Afghan&Cr1|archive-date=19 January 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2011 a record 3,021 civilians were killed, the fifth successive annual rise.<ref>{{cite news |author=Damien Pearse and agencies |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/04/afghan-civilian-death-toll-record |title=Afghan civilian death toll reaches record high |work=Guardian |date=4 February 2012 |access-date=4 February 2012 |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131108102109/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/04/afghan-civilian-death-toll-record |archive-date=8 November 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to a UN report, in 2013 there were 2,959 civilian deaths with 74% being blamed on anti-government forces, 8% on Afghan security forces, 3% on ISAF forces, 10% to ground engagements between anti-Government forces and pro-Government forces and 5% of the deaths were unattributed.<ref>[https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp/story.asp?NewsID=47107&Cr=Afghan&Cr1=#.U00X71erPZc Civilian casualties in Afghanistan up 14 per cent last year, says new UN report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323091855/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp/story.asp?NewsID=47107&Cr=Afghan&Cr1=#.U00X71erPZc |date=23 March 2014 }} UN.org.</ref> 60% of Afghans have direct personal experience and most others report suffering a range of hardships. 96% have been affected either personally or from the wider consequences.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120924055359/http://www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/views-from-field-report-240609/$File/Our-World-Views-from-Afghanistan-I-ICRC.pdf Afghanistan, Opinion survey 2009], by ICRC and Ipsos</ref> |
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In 2015, according to the [[United Nations]] (UN) annual report there were 3,545 civilian deaths and 7,457 people wounded.<ref>{{cite news|title=Afghan civilian casualties hit a record 11,000 in 2015|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/02/afghan-civilian-casualties-hit-record-11000-2015-160214071436972.html|access-date=6 February 2017|publisher=[[Al Jazeera English]]|date=15 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170206073052/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/02/afghan-civilian-casualties-hit-record-11000-2015-160214071436972.html|archive-date=6 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The anti-government elements were responsible for 62% of the civilians killed or wounded. The pro-government forces caused 17% of civilian deaths and injuries – including United States and NATO troops, which were responsible for about 2% of the casualties.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Jolly|first1=David|title=Afghanistan Had Record Civilian Casualties in 2015, U.N. Says|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/15/world/asia/afghanistan-record-civilian-casualties-2015-united-nations.html?_r=0|access-date=6 February 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=14 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160218131516/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/15/world/asia/afghanistan-record-civilian-casualties-2015-united-nations.html?_r=0|archive-date=18 February 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In 2016, a total of 3,498 civilians deaths and 7,920 injuries were recorded by the United Nations. The UN attributed 61% of casualties to anti-government forces.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sharp rise in children killed and maimed in Afghan war, UN report reveals|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/06/afghanistan-civilian-casualties-children-killed-maimed-un-report|access-date=6 February 2017|work=The Guardian|date=6 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170206065518/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/06/afghanistan-civilian-casualties-children-killed-maimed-un-report|archive-date=6 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Afghan security forces caused about 20% of the overall casualties, while pro-government militias and [[Resolute Support Mission]] caused 2% each. Air strikes by US and NATO warplanes resulted in at least 127 civilian deaths and 108 injuries. While, the Afghan air force accounted for at least 85 deaths and 167 injuries. The UN was not able to attribute responsibility for the remaining 38 deaths and 65 injuries resulting from air strikes.<ref>{{cite news|title=Afghan civilian casualties at record high in 2016: UN|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/02/afghan-civilian-casualties-2016-170206062807210.html|access-date=6 February 2017|publisher=[[Al Jazeera English]]|date=6 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170206100518/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/02/afghan-civilian-casualties-2016-170206062807210.html|archive-date=6 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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[[File:14000221001032637563654097188712 تجمع دانشجویان در محکومیت حمله تروریستی کابل.jpg|thumb|Gathering outside Afghan embassy in Tehran to condemn the [[2021 Kabul school bombing]]]] |
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During the parliamentary elections on 20 October 2018, several explosions targeting the polling stations took place. At least 36 people were killed and 130 were injured. Previously, ten election candidates were killed during the campaigning by the Taliban and the Islamic State group.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45919057?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c8nq32jw5r5t/afghanistan&link_location=live-reporting-story|title=Afghanistan election: Voters defy violence to cast ballots|work=BBC News|access-date=21 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181026125100/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-45919057?intlink_from_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Ftopics%2Fc8nq32jw5r5t%2Fafghanistan&link_location=live-reporting-story|archive-date=26 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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On 28 December 2018 a report issued by [[UNICEF]] revealed that during the first nine months of 2018, five thousand children were killed or injured in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/world-has-failed-protect-children-conflict-2018-unicef |title=World has failed to protect children in conflict in 2018: UNICEF |access-date=4 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190104175918/https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/world-has-failed-protect-children-conflict-2018-unicef |archive-date=4 January 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Manuel Fontaine UNICEF Director of Emergency Programs said the world has forgotten children living in conflict zones.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/12/1029461 |title=Children suffering 'atrocities' as number of countries in conflict hits new peak: UNICEF |access-date=4 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190104175910/https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/12/1029461 |archive-date=4 January 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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According to the [[Human Rights Watch]], more than 10,000 civilians were killed or wounded during 2018, out of which one third were children. Reportedly, countless deadly attacks were carried out in urban areas by insurgents. Airstrikes and night raids by the US and Afghan forces also caused heavy civilian casualties.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/01/17/afghanistan-rights-precipice|title=Afghanistan: Rights on the Precipice|access-date=17 January 2019|publisher=Human Rights Watch|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190222232634/https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/01/17/afghanistan-rights-precipice|archive-date=22 February 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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===Healthcare=== |
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Since 2001, life expectancy has increased from 56 to 64 years and the maternal mortality rate has reduced by half. 89% of residents living in cities have access to clean water, up from 16% in 2001. The rate of child marriage has been reduced by 17%.<ref name="auto"/><ref>cf. Kristof, Nicholas D., [https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/01/opinion/a-merciful-war.html "A Merciful War"], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628193448/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/01/opinion/a-merciful-war.html |date=28 June 2017 }} ''[[The New York Times]]'', 1 February 2002. "By my calculations, our invasion of Afghanistan may end up saving one million lives over the next decade. ... But now aid is pouring in and lives are being saved on an enormous scale. UNICEF, for example, has vaccinated 734,000 children against measles over the last two months, in a country where virtually no one had been vaccinated against the disease in the previous 10 years. Because measles often led to death in Afghanistan, the vaccination campaign will save at least 35,000 children's lives each year. ... Heidi J. Larson of UNICEF says that if all goes well, child and maternal mortality rates will drop in half in Afghanistan over the next five years. That would mean 112,000 fewer children and 7,500 fewer pregnant women dying each year."</ref> |
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A September 2019 [[Taliban]] attack destroyed most buildings of the main hospital in southern [[Afghanistan]] and killed almost 40 people, due to which the country is now reportedly struggling to efficiently fight against the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/02/afghanistan-in-new-battle-against-ravages-of-covid-19|title=Civil war, poverty and now the virus: Afghanistan stands on the brink|access-date=2 May 2020|website=The Guardian}}</ref> |
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===Refugees=== |
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{{main|Afghan refugees}} |
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Since 2001, more than 5.7 million former refugees have returned to Afghanistan,<ref name="unhcr1">[http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e486eb6 UNHCR country operations profile – Afghanistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604063834/http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e486eb6 |date=4 June 2012 }} unhcr.org</ref><ref>Afghan Refugees, Costs of War, {{cite web |url=http://costsofwar.org/article/afghan-refugees |title=Archived copy |access-date=5 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310001659/http://costsofwar.org/article/afghan-refugees |archive-date=10 March 2013 }}, 2012</ref><ref name="unhcr.org">{{cite web|url=https://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e486eb6|title=UNHCR - The UN Refugee Agency|website=unhcr.org|access-date=30 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190715132054/https://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e486eb6|archive-date=15 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> but 2.6 million others remained refugees in 2021 and few refugees were returning.<ref name="bbc2021">{{Cite web|title=In numbers: Life in Afghanistan after America leaves|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-57767067|access-date=2021-07-15|website=BBC News|date=13 July 2021}}</ref><ref name="unhcr">{{cite web|url=https://www.unhcr.org/afghanistan.html|title=Afghanistan|last=Refugees|first=United Nations High Commissioner for|website=UNHCR|language=en|access-date=30 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730080411/https://www.unhcr.org/afghanistan.html|archive-date=30 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In January 2013 the UN estimated that 547,550 were [[internally displaced person]]s, a 25% increase over the 447,547 IDPs estimated for January 2012<ref name="unhcr.org" /><ref name="unhcr"/><ref>[https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/afghans-fleeing-war-find-misery-urban-slums-2012-02-23 Afghans fleeing war find misery in urban slums] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217070825/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/afghans-fleeing-war-find-misery-urban-slums-2012-02-23 |date=17 February 2015 }} Feb. 2012, Amnesty International <br />[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/23/afghan-refugees-amnesty-report "Afghan refugees abandoned by their own government, report finds: About half a million Afghans who fled homes because of violence are living in desperate conditions, says Amnesty"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205001806/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/23/afghan-refugees-amnesty-report |date=5 February 2017 }}, ''The Guardian'', 23 February 2012</ref> 400,000 people were displaced in 2020 and 200,000 were displaced in the first half of 2021.<ref name="bbc2021"/> |
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===Interpreters=== |
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Afghans who interpreted for the British army have been tortured and killed in Afghanistan, including their families. As of May 2018 the UK government has now resettled 3000 interpreters and family members in the UK.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-44251343 Afghan interpreters' scheme utter failure, say MPs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529192409/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-44251343 |date=29 May 2018 }} ''[[BBC]]''</ref> |
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===Drug trade=== |
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{{Main|Opium production in Afghanistan}} |
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[[File:Afghanistan opium poppy cultivation 1994-2007b.PNG|thumb|Afghanistan opium poppy cultivation, 1994–2016 (hectares)]] |
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From 1996 to 1999, the Taliban controlled 96% of Afghanistan's [[Poppy (flower)|poppy]] fields and made [[opium]] its largest source of revenue. Taxes on opium exports became one of the mainstays of Taliban income. According to Rashid, "drug money funded the weapons, ammunition and fuel for the war." In ''[[The New York Times]]'', the Finance Minister of the United Front, Wahidullah Sabawoon, declared the Taliban had no annual budget but that they "appeared to spend US$300 million a year, nearly all of it on war". He added that the Taliban had come to increasingly rely on three sources of money: "poppy, the Pakistanis and bin Laden".<ref name="Chouvy1">{{cite book|last=Chouvy|first=Pierre-Arnaud|title=Opium: uncovering the politics of the poppy|year=2010|publisher=Harvard University Press|pages=52ff}}</ref> |
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By 2000 Afghanistan accounted for an estimated 75% of the world's opium supply and in 2000 produced an estimated 3276 tonnes from {{convert|82171|ha}}.<ref name="Thourni">{{cite book|last=Thourni|first=Francisco E.|title=The Organized Crime Community: Essays in Honor of Alan A. Block|year=2006|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-387-39019-2|page=130|editor=Frank Bovenkerk}}</ref> Omar then banned opium cultivation and production dropped to an estimated 74 metric tonnes from {{convert|1685|ha}}.<ref name="Lyman">{{cite book|last=Lyman|first=Michael D.|title=Drugs in Society: Causes, Concepts and Control|year=2010|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=978-1-4377-4450-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_2901437744506/page/309 309]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_2901437744506/page/309}}</ref> Some observers say the ban – which came in a bid for [[international recognition]] at the United Nations – was issued only to raise opium prices and increase profit from the sale of large existing stockpiles. 1999 had yielded a record crop and had been followed by a lower but still large 2000 harvest. The trafficking of accumulated stocks continued in 2000 and 2001. In 2002, the UN mentioned the "existence of significant stocks of opiates accumulated during previous years of bumper harvests". In September 2001 – before 11 September attacks against the US – the Taliban allegedly authorized Afghan peasants to sow opium again.<ref name="Chouvy1" /> |
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Soon after the invasion opium production increased markedly.<ref name="abcnews_go_com22">{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=79842&page=1|title=Is Afghanistan's Drug Trade Paying Al Qaeda?|access-date=27 September 2007|work=ABC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430025512/http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=79842&page=1|archive-date=30 April 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> By 2005, Afghanistan was producing 90% of the world's opium, most of which was processed into heroin and sold in Europe and Russia.<ref name="www_csmonitor_com23">{{cite news|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0513/p01s04-wosc.html|title=Afghanistan riddled with drug ties|access-date=27 September 2007|publisher=Christian Science Monitor|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930081143/http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0513/p01s04-wosc.html|archive-date=30 September 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2009, the BBC reported that "UN findings say an opium market worth $65bn (£39bn) funds global terrorism, caters to 15 million addicts, and kills 100,000 people every year".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8319249.stm |title=Afghan opium fuels 'global chaos' |date=21 October 2009 |work=BBC News |access-date=1 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028075811/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8319249.stm |archive-date=28 October 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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United States officials have stated that winning the [[War on drugs]] in Afghanistan is integral for winning the [[War on Terror]] in Afghanistan, asking for international assistance in drug eradication efforts.<ref name="warondrugs">{{cite journal|last1=Coyne|first1=Christopher|last2=Hall Blanco|first2=Abigail|last3=Burns|first3=Scott|date=2016|title=The War on Drugs in Afghanistan: Another Failed Experiment with Interdiction|journal=The Independent Review |volume=21 |issue=1|pages=95–119|jstor=43999678}}</ref> |
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===Public education=== |
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As of 2013, 8.2 million Afghans attended school, up from 1.2 million in 2001.<ref>[http://www.aco.nato.int/page424205131.aspx ISAF Spokesman Discusses Progress in Afghanistan] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303013854/http://www.aco.nato.int/page424205131.aspx |date=3 March 2013 }}. [[International Security Assistance Force]]/[[NATO]]. 25 July 2011.</ref> The literacy rate has risen from 8% to 43% since 2001.<ref name="auto"/> |
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All Afghan children are legally required to complete class nine. In 2017, [[Human Rights Watch]] reported that the Afghan government was unable to provide a system to ensure all children received this level of education and, in practice, many children missed out.<ref>{{cite web |title="I Won't Be a Doctor, and One Day You'll Be Sick" |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/10/17/i-wont-be-doctor-and-one-day-youll-be-sick/girls-access-education-afghanistan |website=Human Rights Watch |access-date=11 April 2021 |language=en |date=17 October 2017}}</ref> In 2018, [[UNICEF]] reported that 3.7 million children between the ages of seven and 17, or 44 percent, were not attending school.<ref name="aj030618">{{cite news |title=Up to 60 percent of Afghan girls out of school: report |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/6/3/up-to-60-percent-of-afghan-girls-out-of-school-report |access-date=11 April 2021 |work=www.aljazeera.com |date=3 June 2018 |language=en}}</ref> |
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As of 2017, the Afghan government has cooperated with Taliban forces to provide education services: in [[Khogyani District]], the government is given "nominal control" by local Taliban fighters in return for paying the wages of teachers whom the Taliban appoint in local schools.<ref name="Mujib Mashal">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/25/world/asia/eastern-afghanistan-isis.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fworld&action=click&contentCollection=world®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0|title=In Tangled Afghan War, a Thin Line of Defense Against ISIS|author=Mujib Mashal|work=The New York Times|date=25 December 2017|access-date=26 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226130540/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/25/world/asia/eastern-afghanistan-isis.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fworld&action=click&contentCollection=world®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0|archive-date=26 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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====Girls' education==== |
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[[File:Afghans receive school supplies 111208-A-RX742-037.jpg|thumb|A young Afghan girl in [[Qalat, Zabul|Qalat]] pictured by the [[116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (United States)|116th Infantry Battalion]] before receiving school supplies in 2011]] |
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As of 2013, 3.2 million girls attended school, up fewer than 50,000 in 2001.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19911341 Successes and challenges in Afghan girls' education] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123022955/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19911341 |date=23 November 2018 }}. BBC News. 11 October 2012.</ref> 39% of girls were attending school in 2017 compared to 6% in 2003.<ref name="bbc2021"/> |
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While the Taliban typically opposed girls' education, in 2017 in [[Khogyani District]] it has allowed girls to receive education in order to improve its standing among local residents.<ref name="Mujib Mashal"/> |
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In 2018, [[UNICEF]] reported that sixty percent of girls did not attend school. In some provinces such as Kandahar, Helmand, Wardak, Paktika, Zabul and Uruzgan, 85 percent of girls were not going to school.<ref name="aj030618"/> |
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==War crimes== |
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{{Further|List of war crimes#Civil war in Afghanistan 1978–present}} |
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[[War crimes]] (a serious violation of the [[laws and customs of war]] giving rise to individual criminal responsibility)<ref name="Solis2010">{{cite book|author=Gary D. Solis|title=The Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6FKf0ocxEPAC&pg=PA301|date=15 February 2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-48711-5|pages=301–303|access-date=31 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016051735/https://books.google.com/books?id=6FKf0ocxEPAC&pg=PA301|archive-date=16 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> have been committed by both sides including civilian massacres, bombings of civilian targets, terrorism, use of [[torture]] and the murder of [[prisoners of war]]. Additional common crimes include theft, arson, and destruction of property not warranted by [[military necessity]]. |
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===Taliban=== |
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The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIGRC) called the Taliban's terrorism against the Afghan civilian population a war crime.<ref name="Tolonews"/> According to Amnesty International, the Taliban commit war crimes by targeting civilians, including killing teachers, abducting aid workers and burning school buildings. Amnesty International said that up to 756 civilians were killed in 2006 by bombs, mostly on roads or carried by suicide attackers belonging to the Taliban.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070419/wl_nm/afghan_rights_dc_2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070514111954/http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070419/wl_nm/afghan_rights_dc_2 |archive-date=14 May 2007 |title=Taliban attack civilians to spread fear: Amnesty|publisher=Reuters|date=24 April 2007|access-date=9 December 2007}}</ref> |
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NATO has alleged that the Taliban have used civilians as [[human shield]]s. As an example, NATO pointed to the victims of NATO air strikes in Farah province in May 2009, during which the Afghan government claims up to 150 civilians were killed. NATO stated it had evidence the Taliban forced civilians into buildings likely to be targeted by NATO aircraft involved in the battle. A spokesman for the ISAF commander said: "This was a deliberate plan by the Taliban to create a civilian casualty crisis. These were not human shields; these were human sacrifices. We have intelligence that points to this."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Carter|first1=Sara A.|first2=Bill|last2=Gertz|url=http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/12/ousted-commanders-aide-blames-deaths-on-taliban/|access-date=2 December 2009|title=Afghan commander's aide blames deaths on Taliban|newspaper=[[The Washington Times]]|date=12 May 2009|page=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517232146/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/12/ousted-commanders-aide-blames-deaths-on-taliban/|archive-date=17 May 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> According to the US State Department, the Taliban committed human rights violations against women in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/27943.htm|title=Country Reports on Human Rights Practices|year=2003|access-date=11 July 2016}}</ref> |
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On 7 August 2010, Taliban gunmen killed medical aid workers in Afghanistan. After returning from an on foot trip to provide medical aid and care, the group of six Americans, a Briton, a German and four Afghans was accosted and shot by gunmen in a nearby forest in the Hindu Kush mountains.<ref name=":11">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/world/asia/08afghan.html|title=Gunmen Kill Medical Aid Workers in Afghanistan|last=Nordland|first=Rod|date=7 August 2010|work=The New York Times|access-date=12 September 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> This attack was the largest massacre on aid workers in Afghanistan and the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.<ref name=":11" /> The Taliban claimed the Christian aid group which had been active in Afghanistan was responsible for spying, and that they were not providing any actual aid. This attack on aid workers constitutes one of the many war crimes committed by the Taliban.<ref name=":11" /> |
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In 2011, ''The New York Times'' reported that the Taliban was responsible for {{fraction|3|4}} of all civilian deaths in the war in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite news |title=Afghan Rights Groups Shift Focus to Taliban |author=Rod Nordland |date=10 February 2011 |page=A6 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/world/asia/10afghanistan.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=29 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614213613/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/world/asia/10afghanistan.html |archive-date=14 June 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Kegley">{{cite book |last=Kegley |first=Charles W. |title=World Politics: Trend and Transformation |year=2011 |publisher=Cengage |isbn=978-0-495-90655-1 |page=230 |author2=Shannon L Blanton}}</ref> In 2013 the UN stated that the Taliban had been placing bombs along transit routes.<ref>{{cite news |quote="This is a war crime and people will be held responsible in the future for this war crime," said Ján Kubiš, the U.N.'s man in Afghanistan. |work=Wired |title=Afghanistan Gets Safer for Civilians as U.N. Warns Taliban of 'War Crimes' |author=Spencer Ackerman |date=19 February 2013 |url=https://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/02/afghanistan-civilians/ |access-date=29 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929152438/http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/02/afghanistan-civilians/ |archive-date=29 September 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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In 2015, Amnesty International reported that the Taliban committed mass murder and gang rape of Afghan civilians in Kunduz.<ref name=":3">{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/10/afghanistan-harrowing-accounts-emerge-of-the-talibans-reign-of-terror-in-kunduz/|title=Afghanistan: Harrowing accounts emerge of the Taliban's reign of terror in Kunduz|date=1 October 2015|website=Amnesty International|access-date=4 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209230457/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/10/afghanistan-harrowing-accounts-emerge-of-the-talibans-reign-of-terror-in-kunduz/|archive-date=9 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Taliban fighters killed and raped female relatives of police commanders and soldiers as well as midwives.<ref name=":3" /> One female human rights activist described the situation in the following manner:<ref name=":3" /> |
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<blockquote>"When the Taliban asserted their control over Kunduz, they claimed to be bringing law and order and Shari'a to the city. But everything they've done has violated both. I don't know who can rescue us from this situation."</blockquote>On 25 July 2019, there were three explosions in the capital of Kabul that killed at least fifteen people, leaving dozens wounded.<ref name=":12">{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/07/bombings-rock-afghanistan-kabul-killing-dozen-people-190725053610737.html|title=Three blasts rock Afghanistan's Kabul, killing more than a dozen|website=aljazeera.com|access-date=12 September 2019}}</ref> The attack was targeting a bus carrying government officials from the ministry of mines and petroleum.<ref name=":12" /> The attacks left five women and children dead. Minutes later, a suicide bomber blew himself up nearby and this resulted in another seven dead.<ref name=":12" /> A spokesman for the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks.<ref name=":12" /> |
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On 12 July 2021, Taliban fighters executed 22 unarmed Afghan commandos after the commandos surrendered due to running out of ammunition. One of the commandos was the son of a retired Afghan general.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Coren |first1=Anna |last2=Sidhu |first2=Sandi |last3=Lister |first3=Tim |last4=Bina |first4=Abdul |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 |access-date=28 July 2021 |work=CNN |date=14 July 2021}}</ref> |
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===Northern Alliance=== |
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In December 2001, the [[Dasht-i-Leili massacre]] took place, where between 250 and 3,000 Taliban fighters who had surrendered, were shot and/or suffocated to death in metal truck containers during transportation by Northern Alliance forces. Reports place US ground troops at the scene.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/sep/14/afghanistan.lukeharding |title=Afghan Massacre Haunts Pentagon |work=The Guardian |date=14 September 2002 |location=London |first=Luke |last=Harding |access-date=12 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826161631/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/sep/14/afghanistan.lukeharding |archive-date=26 August 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Iol2002-05-02">{{cite news|url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=qw1020329461747B212|title=Starved, hurt and buried alive in Afghanistan|date=2 May 2002|work=[[Independent Online]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060613223632/http://iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=qw1020329461747B212|archive-date=13 June 2006|access-date=7 August 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=phr01>[http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/issues/mass-atrocities/afghanistan-war-crime/dasht-e-leili-photos.html Dasht-e-Leili Photos; Sheberghan Prison and Pit Locations at Dasht-e-Leili] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303010753/http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/issues/mass-atrocities/afghanistan-war-crime/dasht-e-leili-photos.html |date=3 March 2012 }}, Physicians for Human Rights, Retrieved 19 February 2012.</ref> The Irish documentary ''[[Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death]]'' investigated these allegations and claimed that [[mass grave]]s of thousands of victims were found by UN investigators<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/336/story/57649.html |title=As possible Afghan war-crimes evidence removed, US silent |publisher=McClatchy Newspapers |date=12 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216164141/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/336/story/57649.html |archive-date=16 December 2008}}</ref> and that the US blocked investigations into the incident.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g2bWSZ_qHnwdWmM9oXsbYHuDVbRg |title=US blocked probes into Afghan prisoner killings |publisher=AFP |date=10 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140120165912/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g2bWSZ_qHnwdWmM9oXsbYHuDVbRg |archive-date=20 January 2014}}</ref> |
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===NATO and allies=== |
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[[File:Gul Mudin.jpg|thumb|Afghan teenage farmer murdered on 15 January 2010 by a group of US Army soldiers called the ''[[Maywand District murders|Kill Team]]'']] |
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On 21 June 2003, [[David Passaro]], a [[CIA]] contractor and former [[United States Army Ranger]], killed Abdul Wali, a prisoner at a US base {{convert|10|mi|km|abbr=on|order=flip}} south of [[Asadabad, Afghanistan|Asadabad]], in [[Kunar Province]]. Passaro was found guilty of one count of felony assault with a dangerous weapon and three counts of misdemeanor assault. On 10 August 2009, he was sentenced to 8 years and 4 months in prison.<ref name="Weigl">{{cite news|url=http://www.newsobserver.com/497/story/543038.html|title=Passaro will serve 8 years for beating|first=Andrea|last=Weigl|work=[[The News and Observer]]|date=14 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707010419/http://www.newsobserver.com/497/story/543038.html|archive-date=7 July 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="starnews">{{cite news|last=Dunbar|first=Elizabeth|title=Passaro Sentenced To 8-plus Years|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9wtPAAAAIBAJ&dq=passaro%208%20years&pg=6945%2C3814390|access-date=26 March 2013|newspaper=Star News|date=14 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125144442/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9wtPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ESAEAAAAIBAJ&dq=passaro%208%20years&pg=6945%2C3814390|archive-date=25 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In 2002, two unarmed civilian Afghan prisoners were tortured and later killed by [[Military of the United States|US armed forces]] personnel at the [[Bagram Theater Internment Facility]] (also ''Bagram Collection Point'' or ''B.C.P.'') in [[Bagram]], Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/20/international/asia/20abuse.html?ei=5088&en=4579c146cb14cfd6&ex=1274241600&pagewanted=all |title=In US Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |author-link=Tim Golden (journalist) |author=Tim Golden |date=20 May 2005 |archive-date=25 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080125012206/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/20/international/asia/20abuse.html?ei=5088&en=4579c146cb14cfd6&ex=1274241600&pagewanted=all |url-status=live }}</ref> The prisoners, [[Habibullah (Afghan detainee)|Habibullah]] and [[Dilawar (torture victim)|Dilawar]], were [[Bagram torture and prisoner abuse|chained to the ceiling and beaten, which caused their deaths]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28737-2005Mar12.html |title=2 Died After '02 Beatings by US Soldiers |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=12 March 2005 |access-date=14 September 2007 |first=Josh |last=White |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829012602/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28737-2005Mar12.html |archive-date=29 August 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> Military [[coroner]]s ruled that both the prisoners' deaths were homicides.<ref>{{cite news |first=Tim |last=Golden |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/international/asia/22abuse.html |title=Army Faltered in Investigating Detainee Abuse |newspaper=The New York Times |date=22 May 2005 |access-date=21 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120514131631/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/international/asia/22abuse.html |archive-date=14 May 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Autopsy|Autopsies]] revealed severe trauma to both prisoners' legs, describing the trauma as comparable to being run over by a bus. Fifteen soldiers were charged. |
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During the summer of 2010, ISAF charged five United States Army soldiers with the murder of three Afghan civilians in Kandahar province and collecting their body parts as trophies in what came to be known as the [[Maywand District murders]]. In addition, seven soldiers were charged with crimes such as [[hashish]] use, impeding an investigation and attacking the [[whistleblower]], [[Specialist (rank)|Specialist]] Justin Stoner.<ref name=Cnn-2010-09-10>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/09/afghan.coverup/|title=Army: 12 soldiers killed Afghans, mutilated corpses|publisher=CNN|author=Barbara Starr|date=10 September 2010|access-date=15 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108171519/http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/09/afghan.coverup/|archive-date=8 November 2012|url-status=live|author-link=Barbara Starr}}</ref><ref name=SeattleTimes2010-08-24>{{cite news|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012712933_additionalcharges25m.html |title=Additional charges filed in Afghan civilians' deaths |work=[[Seattle Times]] |date=24 August 2010 |access-date=15 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100829195759/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012712933_additionalcharges25m.html |archive-date=29 August 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012845630_stryker9m.html |title=Stryker soldiers allegedly took corpses' fingers |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |author=Hal Bernton |date=8 September 2010 |access-date=17 September 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100912152240/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012845630_stryker9m.html |archive-date=12 September 2010 }}</ref> Eleven of the twelve soldiers were convicted on various counts.<ref name="GuardianWagnon">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/04/us-military-drops-kill-team-charges|location=London|work=[[The Guardian]]|title=US military drops 'kill team' charges against soldier|date=4 February 2012|access-date=18 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821040326/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/04/us-military-drops-kill-team-charges|archive-date=21 August 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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A British Royal Marine Sergeant, identified as Sergeant [[Alexander Blackman]] from Taunton, Somerset,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25232808|title=Marine convicted of Afghan murder named|work=BBC News|date=5 December 2013|access-date=5 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205184825/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25232808|archive-date=5 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> was convicted at court martial in [[Wiltshire]] of the murder of an unarmed, reportedly wounded, Afghan fighter in [[Helmand Province]] in September 2011.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24888089|title=Marine guilty of Afghanistan murder|work=BBC News|date=8 November 2013|access-date=9 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111010404/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24888089|archive-date=11 November 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2013, he received a life sentence from the court martial in Bulford, Wiltshire, and was [[Dishonourable discharge#Naval Service|dismissed with disgrace]] from the Royal Marines. In 2017, after appeal to the Court Martial Appeal Court (CMAC), his conviction was lessened to manslaughter on the grounds of [[Diminished responsibility in English law|diminished responsibility]] and the sentence was reduced to seven years effectively releasing Blackman due to time served.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39417239|title=Royal Marine Alexander Blackman to be free in weeks after new sentence|work=BBC|date=28 March 2017|access-date=18 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170527220524/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39417239|archive-date=27 May 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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On 11 March 2012, the [[Kandahar massacre]] occurred when sixteen civilians were killed and six wounded in the [[Panjwayi District]] of [[Kandahar Province]], Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite news |title=Army drops one charge against soldier accused in Afghan massacre |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-crime-afghanistan-idUSBRE8501D520120601 |publisher=Reuters |date=1 June 2012 |access-date=17 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606162320/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/01/us-usa-crime-afghanistan-idUSBRE8501D520120601 |archive-date=6 June 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Al Jazeera Names">{{cite news |title=No one asked their names |url=http://blogs.aljazeera.com/blog/asia/no-one-asked-their-names |publisher=[[Al Jazeera]] |date=19 March 2012 |access-date=17 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615142736/http://blogs.aljazeera.com/blog/asia/no-one-asked-their-names |archive-date=15 June 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> Nine of the victims were children,<ref name="Al Jazeera Names" /> and eleven of the dead were from the same family.<ref>{{cite news |author=Taimoor Shah |author2=Graham Bowley |title=An Afghan Comes Home to a Massacre |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/world/asia/us-army-sergeant-suspected-in-afghanistan-shooting.html?_r=1 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=12 March 2012 |access-date=17 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208022518/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/world/asia/us-army-sergeant-suspected-in-afghanistan-shooting.html?_r=1 |archive-date=8 February 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[United States Army]] [[Staff Sergeant]] [[Robert Bales]] was taken into custody and charged with sixteen counts of [[premeditated murder]]. Bales pleaded guilty to sixteen counts of premeditated murder as part of a plea deal to avoid a death sentence, and was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without parole and dishonorably discharged from the United States Army.<ref>{{cite news |author=Jack Healy |title=Soldier Sentenced to Life Without Parole in Deaths of Afghan Civilians |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/us/soldier-gets-life-without-parole-in-deaths-of-afghan-civilians.html?emc=edit_na_20130823&_r=0 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=23 August 2013 |access-date=23 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027204910/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/us/soldier-gets-life-without-parole-in-deaths-of-afghan-civilians.html?emc=edit_na_20130823&_r=0 |archive-date=27 October 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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On 3 October 2015, a [[USAF]] airstrike hit a [[Kunduz hospital airstrike|hospital]] operated by [[Doctors Without Borders]] in Kunduz during the [[Battle of Kunduz (2015)|Battle of Kunduz]]. 42 people were killed and over 30 were injured in the airstrike.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.msf.org/kunduz-updated-death-toll-42-people-killed-us-airstrikes-kunduz-hospital|title=Updated death toll – 42 people killed in the US airstrikes on Kunduz hospital|access-date=12 December 2015|publisher=Medecins Sans Frontieres|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925113558/https://www.msf.org/kunduz-updated-death-toll-42-people-killed-us-airstrikes-kunduz-hospital|archive-date=25 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein]], the [[United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]] said that it may have been a war crime.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/doctors-without-borders-airstrike-hits-afghan-hospital-killing-3-staffers/2015/10/03/2ed13104-b50a-48ec-9eb9-92db8ee3a876_story.html?noredirect=on|title=Doctors Without Borders says US airstrike hit hospital in Afghanistan; at least 19 dead|access-date=3 October 2015|work=The Washington Post|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215224745/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/doctors-without-borders-airstrike-hits-afghan-hospital-killing-3-staffers/2015/10/03/2ed13104-b50a-48ec-9eb9-92db8ee3a876_story.html?noredirect=on|archive-date=15 December 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Eleven days after the attack, a US tank made its way into the hospital compound. Doctors Without Borders officials said: "Their unannounced and forced entry damaged property, destroyed potential evidence and caused stress and fear for the MSF team."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-us-tank-entered-compound-of-bombed-afghan-hospital-without-permission-msf-2135621|title=US tank entered compound of bombed Afghan hospital without permission: MSF|access-date=15 October 2015|publisher=Daily News and Analysis India|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017103553/http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-us-tank-entered-compound-of-bombed-afghan-hospital-without-permission-msf-2135621|archive-date=17 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> An investigation by the [[United States Central Command]] was approved by General [[John F. Campbell (general)|John F Campbell]] on 21 November 2015. The report concluded that certain personnel failed to comply with the rules of engagement and the law of armed conflict. However, the investigation concluded that the airstrike was not a war crime, stating that the label "war crimes" is typically reserved for intentional acts—intentionally targeting civilians or intentionally targeting protected objects (like hospitals). The investigation found that the incident resulted from a mixture of human errors and equipment failures, and that none of the personnel knew they were striking a medical facility,<ref name=CENTCOM-KunduzHospitalAttack>{{cite web |url=https://info.publicintelligence.net/CENTCOM-KunduzHospitalAttack.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=31 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331041350/https://info.publicintelligence.net/CENTCOM-KunduzHospitalAttack.pdf |archive-date=31 March 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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In November 2014, [[Amnesty International]] accused [[the Pentagon]] of covering up evidence related to [[war crimes]], [[torture]] and unlawful killings in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/obamas-pentagon-covered-up-war-crimes-in-afghanistan-says-amnesty-international|title=Obama's Pentagon Covered Up War Crimes in Afghanistan, Says Amnesty International|access-date=8 November 2014|publisher=The Daily Beast|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826191612/http://www.thedailybeast.com/obamas-pentagon-covered-up-war-crimes-in-afghanistan-says-amnesty-international|archive-date=26 August 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In September 2018, the United States threatened to arrest and impose sanctions on [[International Criminal Court]] judges and other officials if they tried to charge any US soldier who served in Afghanistan with war crimes.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://m.france24.com/en/20180910-usa-trump-threatens-arrest-icc-judges-american-soldiers-afghan-war-crimes|title= US threatens to arrest ICC judges if they pursue Americans for Afghan war crimes|access-date= 11 September 2018|publisher= France 24|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180910215133/https://m.france24.com/en/20180910-usa-trump-threatens-arrest-icc-judges-american-soldiers-afghan-war-crimes|archive-date= 10 September 2018|url-status= live|df= dmy-all}}</ref> The US further claimed that they would not cooperate in any way with the International Criminal Court in the Hague if it carries out a prospective investigation into allegations of war crimes by US military and intelligence personnel in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.voanews.com/a/us-afghan-investigation/4564590.html|title= US: No Cooperation with ICC Probe of Alleged Afghan War Crimes|access-date= 11 September 2018|publisher= Voice of America|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180911120404/https://www.voanews.com/a/us-afghan-investigation/4564590.html|archive-date= 11 September 2018|url-status= live|df= dmy-all}}</ref> On 12 April 2019 a panel of ICC judges decided that they would not open an investigation in Afghanistan. The Court's chief prosecutor [[Fatou Bensouda]] provided a report that established "a reasonable basis" that crimes had been committed, but they decided against continuing because the US and other parties would not cooperate.<ref>Gazis, Olivia (12 April 2019). [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bolton-claims-victory-as-international-criminal-court-rejects-investigation-into-alleged-u-s-war-crimes/ Bolton claims victory as International Criminal Court rejects investigation into alleged US war crimes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415040506/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bolton-claims-victory-as-international-criminal-court-rejects-investigation-into-alleged-u-s-war-crimes/ |date=15 April 2019 }}. CBS News. Retrieved 14 April 2019.</ref><ref>Kennedy, Merrit (12 April 2019). [https://www.npr.org/2019/04/12/712721556/world-criminal-court-rejects-probe-into-u-s-actions-in-afghanistan ICC Rejects Probe Into US Actions in Afghanistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414052848/https://www.npr.org/2019/04/12/712721556/world-criminal-court-rejects-probe-into-u-s-actions-in-afghanistan |date=14 April 2019 }}. NPR. Retrieved 14 April 2019.</ref> |
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Australian whistleblower [[David McBride (whistleblower)|David McBride]] leaked classified documents to [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]] journalists in 2017, who went on to produce a series called [[Afghan Files (Australia)|The Afghan Files]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/afghan-files-military-whistleblower-david-mcbride-back-before-act-court|title=Afghan Files military whistleblower David McBride back before ACT court|website=SBS News|language=en|date=22 August 2019}}</ref> The documents covered a wide range of topics, however most notably it detailed multiple cases of unlawful killings of unarmed civilians.<ref>{{cite news |title=Petition to 'free' Afghan war crimes whistleblower David McBride reaches 36,000 signatures |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/petition-to-free-afghan-war-crimes-whistleblower-david-mcbride-reaches-36-000-signatures |work=SBS News |date=3 December 2020}}</ref> In response to the leak, the [[Australian Federal Police]] raided the ABC's offices in June 2019.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-05/abc-raided-by-australian-federal-police-afghan-files-stories/11181162|title=Police leave ABC headquarters with files after hours-long raid over special forces stories|last1=Knowles|first1=Lorna|last2=Worthington|first2=Elise|date=2019-06-05|website=ABC News|language=en-AU|last3=Blumer|first3=Clare}}</ref> |
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In March 2020, senior judges at the [[international criminal court]] called for the investigation into war crimes by the [[US]], Afghan and [[Taliban]] troops in [[Afghanistan]]. The ruling overturned the previous rejection of probe into US’ role in committing [[war crimes]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/mar/05/senior-icc-judges-authorise-afghanistan-war-crimes-inquiry|title=Senior ICC judges authorise Afghanistan war crimes inquiry|access-date=5 March 2020|website=The Guardian}}</ref> |
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The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force publibly released a redacted version of the [[Brereton Report|Afghanistan Inquiry, otherwise known as the Brereton Report]],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Australian Government Department of Defence|date=16 November 2020|title=IGADF AFGHANISTAN INQUIRY REPORT|url=https://afghanistaninquiry.defence.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-11/IGADF-Afghanistan-Inquiry-Public-Release-Version.pdf|access-date=1 December 2020|website=The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Afghanistan Inquiry}}</ref> in November 2020, detailing misconduct by Australian troops in Afghanistan, predominantly the [[Special Air Service Regiment|SAS.]]<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-11-19|title=SAS soldiers made to shoot prisoners to get their first kill, 39 Afghans 'murdered', inquiry finds|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-19/afghanistan-war-crimes-report-igadf-paul-brereton-released/12896234|access-date=2020-12-01|website=www.abc.net.au|language=en-AU}}</ref> It found evidence of 39 unlawful killings by Australian forces, including murdering non-combatants and the execution of prisoners, resulting in the disbandment of an SAS squadron and a police investigation.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2020-11-19|title=Australian 'war crimes': Elite troops killed Afghan civilians, report finds|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-54996581|access-date=2020-12-01}}</ref> |
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====White phosphorus use==== |
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[[White phosphorus munitions|White phosphorus]] has been condemned by human rights organizations as cruel and inhumane because it causes severe burns. White phosphorus burns on the bodies of civilians wounded in clashes near [[Bagram]] were confirmed. The US claims at least 44 instances in which militants have used white phosphorus in weapons or attacks.<ref>{{cite news|last=Straziuso|first=Jason|agency=[[Associated Press]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/may/11/taliban-phosphorus-attacks-afghanistan|access-date=2 December 2009|title=US: Afghan Militants Use White Phosphorus|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=11 May 2009|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906140908/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/may/11/taliban-phosphorus-attacks-afghanistan|archive-date=6 September 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> In May 2009, the US confirmed that Western military forces in Afghanistan use white phosphorus to illuminate targets or as an incendiary to destroy bunkers and enemy equipment.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-39498520090508?sp=true|access-date=2 December 2009|title=EXCLUSIVE – Afghan girl's burns show horror of chemical strike|date=8 May 2009|newspaper=[[Reuters India]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100520123007/http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-39498520090508?sp=true|archive-date=20 May 2010|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/world/asia/20ambush.html?_r=1&ref=world&pagewanted=all|access-date=2 December 2009|title=Pinned Down, a Sprint to Escape Taliban Zone|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=19 April 2009|first=C. J.|last=Chivers|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415095041/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/world/asia/20ambush.html?_r=1&ref=world&pagewanted=all|archive-date=15 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> US forces used white phosphorus to screen a retreat in the [[Battle of Ganjgal]] when regular smoke munitions were not available.<ref name="pinned">{{cite web |title='We're pinned down:' 4 US Marines die in Afghan ambush |author=Jonathan S. Landay |publisher=McClatchy |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/09/08/75036/were-pinned-down-4-us-marines.html |access-date=19 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110509162203/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2009/09/08/75036/were-pinned-down-4-us-marines.html |archive-date=9 May 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> |
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==Costs== |
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The cost of the war reportedly was a major factor as US officials considered drawing down troops in 2011.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/us/politics/22costs.html |title=Cost of Wars a Rising Issue as Obama Weighs Troop Levels |work=The New York Times |first=Helene |last=Cooper |date=21 June 2011 |access-date=20 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170418164728/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/us/politics/22costs.html |archive-date=18 April 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> The estimated average cost of deploying just one US soldier in Afghanistan is over US$1 million a year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.csbaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/2010.06.29-Analysis-of-the-FY2011-Defense-Budget.pdf |title=Analysis of the FY2011 Defense Budget |access-date=10 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120014722/http://www.csbaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/2010.06.29-Analysis-of-the-FY2011-Defense-Budget.pdf |archive-date=20 January 2013 }}</ref> |
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In March 2019, the [[United States Department of Defense]] estimated fiscal obligations of $737.592 billion have incurred expended during FY2001 to FY2018 in Afghanistan, at a cost of $3,714 per taxpayer.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/documents/Section1090Reports/Section_1090_FY17_NDAA_Cost_of_Wars_to_Per_Taxpayer-March_2019.pdf|title=Estimated Cost to Each US Taxpayer of Each of the Wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531094952/https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/documents/Section1090Reports/Section_1090_FY17_NDAA_Cost_of_Wars_to_Per_Taxpayer-March_2019.pdf|archive-date=31 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> However [[Brown University]] research came up with a higher figure of $975 billion for FY2001 to FY2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thebalance.com/cost-of-afghanistan-war-timeline-economic-impact-4122493|title=Afghanistan War Cost, Timeline, and Economic Impact|work=The Balance|date=15 June 2019|access-date=21 October 2019}}</ref> |
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For FY2019, the United States Department of Defense requested approximately $46.3 billion for Operation FREEDOM'S SENTINEL (US codename for War in Afghanistan) and Related Missions<ref>{{cite web|url=https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/fy2019/FY2019_Budget_Request.pdf|title=U.S.Department of Defense FISCAL YEAR 2019 BUDGET REQUEST|date=February 2018|access-date=21 October 2019}}</ref> |
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According to ''Investment in Blood'', a book by Frank Ledwidge, summations for the UK contribution to the war in Afghanistan came to £37bn ($56.46 billion).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/30/afghanistan-war-cost-britain-37bn-book |location=London |work=The Guardian |first=Richard |last=Norton-Taylor |title=Afghanistan war has cost Britain more than £37bn, new book claims |date=30 May 2013 |access-date=18 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221064005/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/30/afghanistan-war-cost-britain-37bn-book |archive-date=21 February 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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=== Long-term costs === |
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In March 2013, Linda Bilmes, a Senior Lecturer of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, estimated that the total costs of the US wars in Afghanistan [[Iraq War|and Iraq]] would come to total at least US$4 to $6 trillion. The two wars were counted as one cost due to their occurring simultaneously and using many of the same US troops. Collectively, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are expected become the most expensive wars in US history. |
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The $4 to $6 trillion cost includes long-term medical and disability costs for service members, military replenishment, and social and economic costs. The costs of benefits for veterans were expected to continue increasing over the following 40 years. A significant part of the expected final cost was due to "the budgetary impact of a war that is funded largely by borrowing", and the resulting additional interest costs— Out of the $9 trillion of US debt accrued since 2001, around $2 trillion had been borrowed to finance the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-07-12|title=The cost of the Afghanistan war, in lives and dollars|url=https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-government-and-politics-afghanistan-fa042223d4943191910963026f2c2123|access-date=2021-08-13|website=AP NEWS|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Linda|first=Bilmes|date=March 2013|title=The Financial Legacy of Iraq and Afghanistan: How Wartime Spending Decisions Will Constrain Future National Security Budgets|url=https://www.hks.harvard.edu/publications/financial-legacy-iraq-and-afghanistan-how-wartime-spending-decisions-will-constrain|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-13|website=HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series|language=en}}</ref> |
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As of 2021, Brown University estimates that the war in Afghanistan has already cost $2.261 trillion, out of which $530 billion has been spent on interest payments and $296 billion has been spent on veterans' care.<ref name=":2" /> |
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{| class="wikitable" |
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|+UNITED STATES COSTS TO DATE OF THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN, 2001-2021<ref name=":2" /> |
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! colspan="2" |Estimated Congressional Appropriations and Spending in Current Billions of U.S. Dollars, Excluding Future Interest Payments and Future Costs for Veterans Care |
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(Rounded to nearest billion) |
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|- |
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|Defense Department Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) (War) Budget |
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|$933 |
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|- |
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|State Department OCO (War) Budget |
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|$59 |
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|- |
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|Defense Department Base Budget War-Related Increases |
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|$443 |
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|- |
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|Veterans Care for Afghan War Vets |
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|$296 |
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|- |
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|Estimated Interest on War Borrowing |
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|$530 |
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|- |
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|'''TOTAL in Billions of Current Dollars''' |
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|'''$2,261''' |
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|} |
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===Criticism of costs=== |
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{{See also|Afghanistan Papers|Phantom aid in Afghanistan}} |
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In 2011, the independent Commission on Wartime Contracting reported to Congress that, during the previous decade in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States had lost between $31 and $60 billion to waste and fraud and that this amount may continue to increase.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lardner|first1=Richard|title=Military Spending Waste: Up To $60 Billion In Iraq, Afghanistan War Funds Lost To Poor Planning, Oversight, Fraud|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/30/military-spending-waste_n_942723.html|access-date=30 August 2011|publisher=Huffington Post|date=30 August 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111024173424/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/30/military-spending-waste_n_942723.html|archive-date=24 October 2011}}</ref> |
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In the summer of 2013, preparing for withdrawal the following year, the US military destroyed over 77,000 metric tons of equipment and vehicles worth over $7 billion that could not be shipped back to the United States. Some was sold to Afghans as scrap metal.<ref>{{cite news|title=US scraps tons of gear as it leaves Afghanistan: Report|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/us-scraps-tons-of-gear-as-it-leaves-afghanistan-report-49217|access-date=6 December 2017|agency=Agence France-Presse|publisher=Hurryiet Daily News|date=21 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171207085146/http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/us-scraps-tons-of-gear-as-it-leaves-afghanistan-report-49217|archive-date=7 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2013, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, a US government oversight body, criticized the misuse or waste of hundreds of millions of dollars in US aid, including the $772 million purchase of aircraft for the Afghan military especially since "the Afghans lack the capacity to operate and maintain them."<ref>{{cite news|title=Kabul: US money wasted|publisher=The Week (page 7)|date=9 August 2013}}</ref> |
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The "Lessons Learned," a confidential report from the [[Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction]] (SIGAR), estimates that 40% of U.S. aid to Afghanistan since 2001 ended up in the pockets of corrupt officials, warlords, criminals and insurgents.<ref>{{cite news |title=US spending in Afghanistan fueled rampant corruption, reports say |url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-12-11/us-spending-afghanistan-fueled-rampant-corruption-reports-says |work=[[The World (radio program)|The World]] |date=December 11, 2019}}</ref> [[Ryan Crocker]], former ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq, told the investigators in a 2016 interview, "You just cannot put those amounts of money into a very fragile state and society, and not have it fuel corruption."<ref>{{cite news |title=The War in Afghanistan Was Doomed From the Start |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/12/afghanistan-papers-washington-post-corruption.html |work=Slate |date=December 9, 2019}}</ref> |
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Even as the Taliban threatened stability in Kabul in 2021, President Biden justified his decision to withdraw U.S. troops by saying: "We spent over a trillion dollars over 20 years."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lamothe|first=Dan|last2=Hudson|first2=John|last3=Harris|first3=Shane|last4=Gearan|first4=Anne|date=10 August 2021|title=U.S. officials warn collapse of Afghan capital could come sooner than expected|work=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/08/10/afghanistan-intelligence-assessment/|access-date=10 August 2021}}</ref> |
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==Stability problems== |
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In a 2008 interview, the then-head [[US Central Command]] General [[David H. Petraeus]], insisted that the Taliban were gaining strength. He cited a recent increase in attacks in Afghanistan and in neighboring Pakistan. Petraeus insisted that the problems in Afghanistan were more complicated than the ones he had faced in Iraq during his tour and required removing widespread sanctuaries and strongholds.<ref>{{cite news |author=Carlotta Gall |date=1 October 2008 |newspaper=The New York Times |title=Insurgents in Afghanistan Are Gaining, Petraeus Says |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/world/asia/01petraeus.html |access-date=1 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210071012/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/world/asia/01petraeus.html |archive-date=10 December 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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Observers have argued that the mission in Afghanistan is hampered by a lack of agreement on objectives, a lack of resources, lack of coordination, too much focus on the central government at the expense of local and provincial governments, and too much focus on the country instead of the region.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/18911/afghanistan.html |title=Afghanistan: Changing the Frame, Changing the Game. Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center |publisher=Belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu |access-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110804021830/http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/18911/afghanistan.html |archive-date=4 August 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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[[File:Barack Obama, Hamid Karzai & Asif Ali Zardari after trilateral meeting 5-6-09 2.jpg|thumb|left|[[Hamid Karzai]] and [[Barack Obama]] in 2009]] |
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In 2009, Afghanistan moved three places in [[Transparency International]]'s annual index of corruption, becoming the world's second most-corrupt country just ahead of Somalia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009/cpi_2009_table |title=Research – CPI – Overview |publisher=Transparency.org |access-date=17 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130506125221/http://www.transparency.org/research/cpi/overview |archive-date=6 May 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the same month, [[Malalai Joya]], a former member of the [[Afghan Parliament]] and the author of "Raising My Voice", expressed opposition to an expansion of the US military presence and her concerns about the future. "Eight years ago, the US and NATO—under the banner of women's rights, human rights, and democracy—occupied my country and pushed us from the frying pan into the fire. Eight years is enough to know better about the corrupt, mafia system of President [[Hamid Karzai]]. My people are crushed between two powerful enemies. From the sky, occupation forces bomb and kill civilians … and on the ground, the Taliban and [[warlord]]s continue their crimes. It is better that they leave my country; my people are that fed up. Occupation will never bring liberation, and it is impossible to bring democracy by war."<ref>{{cite web |last=Lupick |first=Travis |url=https://www.straight.com/article-270310/vancouver/afghan-activist-wants-natos-mission-end |title=Suspended Afghan MP Malalai Joya wants NATO's mission to end |publisher=Straight.com |date=12 November 2009 |access-date=9 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100123233417/http://www.straight.com/article-270310/vancouver/afghan-activist-wants-natos-mission-end |archive-date=23 January 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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Pakistan plays a central role in the conflict. A 2010 report published by the [[London School of Economics]] says that Pakistan's [[Inter-Services Intelligence|ISI]] has an "official policy" of support to the Taliban.<ref name="Discussion Papers">{{cite news |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Documents/2010/6/13/20106138531279734lse-isi-taliban.pdf |title=Discussion Papers |access-date=12 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226000552/http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Documents/2010/6/13/20106138531279734lse-isi-taliban.pdf |archive-date=26 December 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> "Pakistan appears to be playing a double-game of astonishing magnitude," the report states.<ref name="Discussion Papers" /> [[Amrullah Saleh]], former director of Afghanistan's intelligence service, stated, "We talk about all these proxies [Taliban, Haqqanis] but not the master of proxies, which is the Pakistan army. The question is what does Pakistan's army want to achieve …? They want to gain influence in the region"<ref name="Jamestown Foundation Terrorism Conference 2010">{{cite news|url=http://vimeo.com/18018836|title=Jamestown Foundation Terrorism Conference 2010, Amrullah Saleh speech|year=2010|access-date=3 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511171043/http://vimeo.com/18018836|archive-date=11 May 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> About the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan he stated: "[T]hey fight for the US national interest but … without them we will face massacre and disaster and God knows what type of a future Afghanistan will have."<ref name="Jamestown Foundation Terrorism Conference 2010" /><ref>{{cite av media|url=http://vimeo.com/18018836|title=2010 Terrorism Conference|publisher=Vimeo|access-date=17 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721145110/https://vimeo.com/18018836|archive-date=21 July 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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''[[The New York Times]]'' reports that the US created a 'void' that allowed other countries to step in. For example, Iran is making efforts to expand influence into Afghanistan and fill the vacuum. In the past two decades, the US took out two of Iran's regional enemies: [[Saddam Hussein]] through the [[Iraq War]] as well as the Taliban. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are other 'dominant players'. Once enemies, Iran and the Taliban have strengthened ties, with Russian assistance as well, to 'bleed' the American force. Lately, the Taliban has been 'diversifying' its sources by calling for economic support from Dubai, [[United Arab Emirates|UAE]] and [[Bahrain]]. Pakistan has also given economic support and encouraged increased Iran-Taliban ties.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/05/world/asia/iran-afghanistan-taliban.html|title=In Afghanistan, US Exits, and Iran Comes In|last=Gall|first=Carlotta|date=5 August 2017|work=The New York Times|access-date=9 June 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204075417/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/05/world/asia/iran-afghanistan-taliban.html|archive-date=4 December 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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Iran and Russia, emboldened by their alliance in the [[Syrian Civil War]], have also initiated a 'proxy war' in Afghanistan against the US.<ref name=":0" /> |
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The article says that Afghans yearn for the days when they were at the center of the thriving [[Silk Road]] connecting China to Europe. Iran plans to build roads from Afghanistan to the [[Persian Gulf]] so that Afghanistan would not be landlocked anymore. [[Herat]] is sometimes referred to as 'Little Iran' and during the [[Soviet–Afghan War]] many Afghans fled to Iran for refuge.<ref name=":0" /> |
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China has also been quietly expanding its influence. Since 2010 China has signed mining contracts with Kabul<ref name=":7">{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-says-u-s-losing-afghan-war-tense-meeting-generals-n789006|title=Trump says US losing war, compares Afghanistan to NYC restaurant consultant|website=NBC News|language=en|access-date=10 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608044917/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-says-u-s-losing-afghan-war-tense-meeting-generals-n789006|archive-date=8 June 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and is even building a military base in [[Badakhshan|Badakshan]] to counter regional terrorism (from the [[East turkestan independence movement|ETIM]]).<ref name=":8">{{cite web|url=https://thediplomat.com/2018/06/is-china-bringing-peace-to-afghanistan/|title=Is China Bringing Peace to Afghanistan?|last=Diplomat|first=Sudha Ramachandran, The|website=The Diplomat|language=en-US|access-date=10 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704114518/https://thediplomat.com/2018/06/is-china-bringing-peace-to-afghanistan/|archive-date=4 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> China has donated billions of dollars in aid over the years to Afghanistan, which plays a strategic role in the [[Belt and Road Initiative]]. [[The Diplomat]] says that China has the potential to play an important role in bringing peace and stability to the region.<ref name=":8" /> |
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According to senior administration officials, Donald Trump said during a meeting at the White House in July 2017 that the US was losing the war and had considered firing the US generals in charge.<ref name=":7" /> An article in NBC said that what set Trump apart during that meeting relative to his predecessors was his open questioning of the quality of the advice that he was receiving.<ref name=":7" /> |
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In December 2019 ''[[The Washington Post]]'' published 2,000 pages of government documents, mostly transcripts of interviews with more than 400 key figures involved in prosecuting the Afghanistan war. According to the Post and the Guardian, the documents (dubbed the [[Afghanistan Papers]]) showed that US officials consistently and deliberately misled the American public about the unwinnable nature of the conflict,<ref name=guardianafghanpapers>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/09/afghan-papers-reveal-us-public-were-misled-about-unwinnable-war|title=Afghanistan papers reveal US public were misled about unwinnable war|last=Beaumont|first=Peter|date=9 December 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=9 December 2019}}</ref> and some commentators and foreign policy experts subsequently drew comparisons to the release of the Pentagon Papers.<ref name=guardianafghanpapers/> The ''Post'' obtained the documents from the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, via [[FISA]] requests, after a three-year legal battle.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/investigations/afghanistan-papers/afghanistan-war-confidential-documents/|title=The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War|last=Whitlock|first=Craig|date=9 December 2019|work=The Washington Post|access-date=9 December 2019}}</ref><ref name=guardianafghanpapers/> |
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==Afghan security forces== |
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{{Further|Afghan National Army#Current status}} |
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===Afghan National Army=== |
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[[File:Afghan Commandos and Afghan National Army Air Corps 2010.jpg|thumb|[[ANA Commando Brigade|Afghan Commandos]] practice infiltration techniques, 1 April 2010 at Camp Morehead in the outer regions of Kabul.]] |
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[[File:Flickr - The U.S. Army - Afghanistan mountain.jpg|thumb|Soldiers from the Afghan army patrolling a village in [[Khost Province]] in 2010]] |
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US policy called for boosting the [[Afghan National Army]] to 134,000 soldiers by October 2010. By May 2010 the Afghan Army had accomplished this interim goal and was on track to reach its ultimate number of 171,000 by 2011.<ref name="O'Hanlon">O'Hanlon, Michael E. [http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2010/0519_afghan_army_ohanlon.aspx "A Bright Spot Among Afghan Woes"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615185552/http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2010/0519_afghan_army_ohanlon.aspx |date=15 June 2010 }}, The Brookings Institution, 19 May 2010.</ref> This increase in Afghan troops allowed the US to begin withdrawing its forces in July 2011.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/02/AR2009120203472.html What Mr. Obama changed.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020031547/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/02/AR2009120203472.html |date=20 October 2017 }} ''[[The Washington Post]]''. 3 December 2009.</ref><ref name="gates">{{cite web |author=Al Pessin |url=http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Gates-Visits-Troops-in-Afghanistan-78851682.html |title=Afghan Forces Could Start to Lead Soon, Big Challenges Remain |work=Voice of America |date=9 December 2009 |access-date=17 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091210011633/http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Gates-Visits-Troops-in-Afghanistan-78851682.html |archive-date=10 December 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> |
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In 2010, the Afghan National Army had limited fighting capacity.<ref name="stripes.com" /> Even the best Afghan units lacked training, discipline and adequate reinforcements. In one new unit in [[Baghlan Province]], soldiers had been found cowering in ditches rather than fighting.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2009/12/09/US-trainers-bemoan-Afghan-corruption/UPI-51821260383357/ |title=US trainers bemoan Afghan corruption |publisher=UPI.com |date=9 December 2009 |access-date=9 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091220033840/http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2009/12/09/US-trainers-bemoan-Afghan-corruption/UPI-51821260383357/ |archive-date=20 December 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> Some were suspected of collaborating with the Taliban.<ref name="stripes.com" /> "They don't have the basics, so they lay down," said Capt. Michael Bell, who was one of a team of US and Hungarian mentors tasked with training Afghan soldiers. "I ran around for an hour trying to get them to shoot, getting fired on. I couldn't get them to shoot their weapons."<ref name="stripes.com" /> In addition, 9 out of 10 soldiers in the Afghan National Army were illiterate.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/09/ap_afghan_army_illiteracy_091409/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120721223757/http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/09/ap_afghan_army_illiteracy_091409/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 July 2012 |title=Illiteracy undermines Afghan army |work=Air Force Times |date=14 September 2009 |access-date=9 February 2010 }}</ref> |
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The Afghan Army was plagued by inefficiency and endemic corruption.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34290420 |title=US surge is big, Afghan army is crucial |agency=Associated Press |publisher=MSNBC |date=5 December 2009 |access-date=9 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212151323/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34290420/ |archive-date=12 December 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> US training efforts were drastically slowed by the problems.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_training_afghans_100809/ |title=Corruption, indiscipline slow Afghan training |work=Army Times |date=11 October 2009 |access-date=9 February 2010}}</ref> US trainers reported missing vehicles, weapons and other military equipment, and outright theft of fuel.<ref name="stripes.com">{{cite web |last=Cahn |first=Dianna |url=http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=66544 |title=Troops fear corruption outweighs progress of Afghan forces |publisher=Stripes.com |date=9 December 2009 |access-date=9 February 2010}}</ref> Death threats were leveled against US officers who tried to stop Afghan soldiers from stealing. Afghan soldiers often snipped the command wires of IEDs instead of marking them and waiting for US forces to come to detonate them. This allowed insurgents to return and reconnect them.<ref name="stripes.com" /> US trainers frequently removed the cell phones of Afghan soldiers hours before a mission for fear that the operation would be compromised.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2009/12/13/2009-12-13_afghan_training_a_tough_cell_trust_is_most_difficult_issue_for_us_troops.html |title=Training Afghanistan troops gets tough for US troops as trust issues worsen |work=Daily News |location=New York |date=13 December 2009 |access-date=9 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821223713/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2009/12/13/2009-12-13_afghan_training_a_tough_cell_trust_is_most_difficult_issue_for_us_troops.html |archive-date=21 August 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> American trainers often spent large amounts of time verifying that Afghan rosters were accurate—that they are not padded with "ghosts" being "paid" by Afghan commanders who stole the wages.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/world/asia/02afghan.html |work=The New York Times |title=With Troop Pledge, New Demands on Afghans |first=Dexter |last=Filkins |date=2 December 2009 |access-date=9 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110202084805/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/world/asia/02afghan.html |archive-date=2 February 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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[[File:1st Battalion 6th Marine Regiment take cover outside Marjah.jpg|thumb|left|US Marines and [[Afghan National Army|ANA]] soldiers take cover in Marja on 13 February 2010 during their offensive to secure the city from the Taliban.]] |
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[[Desertion]] was a significant problem. One in every four combat soldiers quit the Afghan Army during the 12-month period ending in September 2009, according to data from the US Defense Department and the Inspector General for Reconstruction in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/11/politics-afghan-army-turnover-rate-threatens-us-war-plans/ |title=POLITICS: Afghan Army Turnover Rate Threatens US War Plans |date=24 November 2009 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20171011103934/http://www.ipsnews.net/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 October 2017 |access-date=28 December 2009 }}</ref> |
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In early 2015, Philip Munch of the Afghanistan Analysts' Network wrote that '..the available evidence suggests that many senior ANSF members, in particular, use their positions to enrich themselves. Within the ANSF there are also strong external loyalties to factions who themselves compete for influence and access to resources. All this means that the ANSF may not work as they officially should. Rather it appears that the [[political economy]] of the ANSF prevents them from working like modern organisations – the very prerequisite' of the [[Resolute Support Mission]].<ref>{{Cite report |author=Philip Munch |date=20 January 2015 |title=Resolute Support Lite: NATO's New Mission versus the Political Economy of the Afghan National Security Forces |url=https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/20150112-PMuench-Resolute_Support_Light.pdf |publisher=Afghanistan Analysts' Network |page=5 |access-date=1 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220005559/https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/20150112-PMuench-Resolute_Support_Light.pdf |archive-date=20 February 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> Formal and informal income, Munch said, which can be generated through state positions, is [[rent-seeking]] – income without a corresponding investment of labour or capital. 'Reportedly, ANA appointees also often maintain clients, so that patron-client networks, structured into competing factions, can be traced within the ANA down to the lowest levels. ... There is evidence that Afghan officers and officials, especially in the higher echelons, appropriate large parts of the vast resource flows which are directed by international donors into the ANA.<ref>Munch 2015, p.6, and Giustozzi, A. & Quentin, P., [http://www.areu.org.af/Uploads/EditionPdfs/ANA%20Issues%20Paper.pdf "The Afghan National Army: sustainability challenges beyond financial aspects."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220023920/http://www.areu.org.af/Uploads/EditionPdfs/ANA%20Issues%20Paper.pdf |date=20 February 2015}} Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, Kabul, February 2014, 2014, p.30–37</ref> |
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[[File:Operation Nowruz Jhala DVIDS54117.jpg|thumb|An Afghan soldier surveying a valley during an anti-Taliban operation]] |
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Most Afghan fighters being trained by the U.S. habitually use opium, and it is a constant struggle to field them in a sober state.<ref>Annie Jacobsen, "Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins," (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2019), p. 409</ref> Rape in U.S.-run military facilities by other Afghan soldiers also plagues Afghan recruits and undermines combat readiness.<ref>Annie Jacobsen, "Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins," (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2019), p. 410</ref> A report by a U.S. inspector general revealed 5,753 cases of "gross human rights abuses by Afghan forces," including "routine enslavement and rape of underage boys by Afghan commanders."<ref>Annie Jacobsen, "Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins," (New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2019), p. 411</ref> |
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[[Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction]] has reported that roughly half of Afghan soldiers brought to the United States for training go absent without leave which may inhibit the operational readiness of their units back in Afghanistan, negatively impact the morale of other trainees and home units and pose security risks to the United States.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-usa-military/unacceptably-high-number-of-afghans-flee-military-training-in-u-s-report-idUSKBN1CP24C|title='Unacceptably high' number of Afghans flee military training in US: report|date=20 October 2017|work=Reuters|access-date=20 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020194845/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-usa-military/unacceptably-high-number-of-afghans-flee-military-training-in-u-s-report-idUSKBN1CP24C|archive-date=20 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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===Afghan National Police=== |
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The [[Afghan National Police]] provides support to the Afghan army. Police officers in Afghanistan are also largely illiterate. Approximately 17% of them tested positive for illegal drugs in 2010. They were widely accused of demanding bribes.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121559123&ps=cprs |title=For US, Vast Challenge To Expand Afghan Forces |publisher=NPR |access-date=9 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421200508/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121559123&ps=cprs |archive-date=21 April 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> Attempts to build a credible Afghan police force were faltering badly, according to NATO officials.<ref name="nytimes1">{{cite news |last=Nordland |first=Rod |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/world/asia/03afghan.html?pagewanted=1 |title=With Raw Recruits, Afghan Police Buildup Falters |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=2 February 2010 |access-date=29 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100204061209/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/world/asia/03afghan.html?pagewanted=all |archive-date=4 February 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> A quarter of the officers quit every year, making the Afghan government's goals of substantially building up the police force even harder to achieve.<ref name="nytimes1" /> |
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==Tactics/strategy of anti-government elements== |
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The armed opposition or anti-government elements – some Western news media tend to address them all simply as "Taliban"<ref name="Arnoldy"/> – have from 2008 into 2009 shifted their tactics from frontal attacks on pro-government forces to guerrilla type activities, including suicide, car and road side bombs ([[improvised explosive device|IEDs]]), and targeted assassinations, said a UNAMA report in July 2009.<ref name=UNAMAJul09>[https://unama.unmissions.org/civilian-casualties-keep-rising-says-un-report 'Civilian casualties keep on rising, says UN report'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014234410/https://unama.unmissions.org/civilian-casualties-keep-rising-says-un-report |date=14 October 2017 }}. UNAMA, 31 July 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2017.</ref> Mr. Maley, an Afghanistan expert at the Australian National University, stated in 2009 that IEDs had become [[Taliban]]'s weapon of choice.<ref name="Arnoldy"/> |
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In 2008–2009, according to the ''Christian Science Monitor'', 16 [[improvised explosive device]]s (IEDs) were planted in girls' schools in Afghanistan, but there is no certainty who did it.<ref name="Arnoldy">{{cite web |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0731/p06s15-wosc.html |title=In Afghanistan, Taliban kills more civilians than US |work=Christian Science Monitor |date=31 July 2009 |access-date=8 October 2017 |author=Ben Arnoldy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090803190403/http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0731/p06s15-wosc.html |archive-date=3 August 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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===Insider attacks=== |
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Beginning in 2011, insurgent forces in Afghanistan began using a tactic of insider attacks on ISAF and Afghan military forces. In the attacks, Taliban personnel or sympathizers belonging to, or pretending to belong to, the Afghan military or police forces attack ISAF personnel, often within the security of ISAF military bases and Afghan government facilities. In 2011, for example, 21 insider attacks killed 35 coalition personnel. Forty-six insider attacks killed 63 and wounded 85 coalition troops, mostly American, in the first 11 months of 2012.<ref>Burns, Robert, ([[Associated Press]]), "[https://news.yahoo.com/ap-impact-insider-attack-trust-cost-2-lives-073706461.html AP IMPACT: An insider attack: Trust cost 2 lives] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305042747/http://news.yahoo.com/ap-impact-insider-attack-trust-cost-2-lives-073706461.html |date=5 March 2016 }}", [[Yahoo! News]], 5 December 2012</ref> The attacks continued but began diminishing towards the planned 31 December 2014 ending of combat operations in Afghanistan by ISAF. However, on 5 August 2014, a gunman in an Afghan military uniform opened fire on a number of international military personnel, killing [[Harold J. Greene|a US general]] and wounding about 15 officers and soldiers, including a German brigadier general and 8 US troops, at a training base west of Kabul.<ref name="ShootingAfghanistan">{{cite news|title=American army officer killed, many wounded in Afghan insider attack|url=http://www.afghanistansun.com/index.php/sid/224460361|access-date=7 August 2014|work=Afghanistan Sun|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006084513/http://www.afghanistansun.com/index.php/sid/224460361|archive-date=6 October 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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==Reactions== |
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===Domestic reactions=== |
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In November 2001, the CNN reported widespread relief amongst Kabul's residents after the Taliban fled the city, with young men shaving off their beards and women taking off their burqas.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www-cgi.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/11/14/ret.afghan.kabul/index.html|title=Kabul residents relish new freedoms|date=14 November 2001|publisher=CNN|quote=Barbers too were doing brisk business as young men with trimmed beards and bare faces walked the streets listening to music from roadside stalls, no longer fearing imprisonment. Yet relief at the fall of the Taliban in Kabul does not mean residents are now completely relaxed. Scenes of joy mask concerns that the alliance's capture of the city will again result in the ethnic infighting that ravaged Kabul before the Taliban capture in 1996.|access-date=2 January 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123132015/http://www-cgi.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/11/14/ret.afghan.kabul/index.html|archive-date=23 January 2015}}</ref> Later that month the BBC's longtime Kabul correspondent Kate Clark reported that "almost all women in Kabul are still choosing to veil" but that many felt hopeful that the ousting of the Taliban would improve their safety and access to food.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1674146.stm|title=BBC News {{!}} MIDDLE EAST {{!}} Kabul women keep the veil|last=Clark|first=Kate|website=news.bbc.co.uk|date=24 November 2001|access-date=26 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226134652/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1674146.stm|archive-date=26 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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[[File:Defense.gov News Photo 111120-M-KG816-186 - U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Todd Collins interacts with Afghan children near Patrol Base Atull in Helmand province Afghanistan on Nov. 20 2011.jpg|thumb|A U.S. marine interacting with Afghan children in Helmand Province]] |
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A 2006 WPO opinion poll found that the majority of Afghans endorsed America's military presence, with 83% of Afghans stating that they had a favorable view of the US military forces in their country. Only 17% gave an unfavorable view.<ref name="wpo poll">{{cite web|url=http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/handle/1903/10127/Afghanistan_Jan06_art2.pdf;jsessionid=51A568EB80A658471A265A1D06EF8ADB?sequence=3|title=WPO Poll: Afghan Public Overwhelmingly Rejects al-Qaeda, Taliban|date=30 January 2006|access-date=2 January 2017|quote=Equally large percentages endorse the US military presence in Afghanistan. Eighty-three percent said they have a favorable view of "the US military forces in our country" (39% very favorable). Just 17% have an unfavorable view.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102172723/http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/handle/1903/10127/Afghanistan_Jan06_art2.pdf;jsessionid=51A568EB80A658471A265A1D06EF8ADB?sequence=3|archive-date=2 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The majority of Afghans, among all ethnic groups including Pashtuns, stated that the overthrowing of the Taliban was a good thing. 82% of Afghans as a whole and 71% of those living in the war zone held this anti-Taliban view.<ref name="wpo poll quote">{{cite web|url=http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/handle/1903/10127/Afghanistan_Jan06_art2.pdf;jsessionid=51A568EB80A658471A265A1D06EF8ADB?sequence=3|title=WPO Poll: Afghan Public Overwhelmingly Rejects al Qaeda, Taliban|date=30 January 2006|access-date=2 January 2017|quote=Perhaps most telling, 82% said that overthrowing the Taliban government was a good thing for Afghanistan, with just 11% saying it was a bad thing. In the war zone, 71% endorsed the Taliban's overthrow while 16% saw it as a bad thing; in the north, 18% saw it as a bad thing. These views were held by large majorities of all ethnic groups, including the large Pashtun and Tajik groups and the smaller Uzbek and Hazara groups.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102172723/http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/handle/1903/10127/Afghanistan_Jan06_art2.pdf;jsessionid=51A568EB80A658471A265A1D06EF8ADB?sequence=3|archive-date=2 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The Afghan population gave the USA one of its most favorable ratings in the world. A solid majority (81%) of Afghans stated that they held a favorable view of the USA.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/handle/1903/10127/Afghanistan_Jan06_art2.pdf;jsessionid=51A568EB80A658471A265A1D06EF8ADB?sequence=3|title=WPO Poll: Afghan Public Overwhelmingly Rejects al-Qaeda, Taliban|date=30 January 2006|access-date=2 January 2017|quote=This general support for US military presence and for the overthrow of the Taliban government is also reflected in some of the most positive ratings of the United States found in the world. Eighty-one percent said that they have a favorable view of the US (40% very favorable), with just 16% giving an unfavorable rating. In the war zone, one in four (26%) had an unfavorable view of the US, but 73% were favorable.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102172723/http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/handle/1903/10127/Afghanistan_Jan06_art2.pdf;jsessionid=51A568EB80A658471A265A1D06EF8ADB?sequence=3|archive-date=2 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> However, the majority of Afghans (especially those in the war zone) held negative views on Pakistan and most Afghans also stated that they believe that the Pakistani government was allowing the Taliban to operate from its soil.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/handle/1903/10127/Afghanistan_Jan06_art2.pdf;jsessionid=51A568EB80A658471A265A1D06EF8ADB?sequence=3|title=WPO Poll: Afghan Public Overwhelmingly Rejects al-Qaeda, Taliban|date=30 January 2006|access-date=2 January 2017|quote=Afghans do not, however, feel positively about Pakistan in general and specifically believe that, contrary to its claims, it is not pursuing the Taliban. Asked, "Do you think the Pakistan government is allowing the Taliban to operate in Pakistan, or is seriously trying to stop the Taliban from operating in Pakistan?" only 21% said they thought that Pakistan is seriously trying to stop the Taliban from operating in Pakistan, while two out of three (66%) said they believe the government is allowing the Taliban to operate in Pakistan...Asked their general opinion of Pakistan, 63% of Afghans said they have an unfavorable view (70% in the war zone). Just 13% said they have a favorable view.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102172723/http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/handle/1903/10127/Afghanistan_Jan06_art2.pdf;jsessionid=51A568EB80A658471A265A1D06EF8ADB?sequence=3|archive-date=2 January 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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Polls of Afghans displayed strong opposition to the Taliban and significant support of the US military presence. However, the idea of permanent US military bases was not popular in 2005.<ref name="Permanent US bases? Afghans see an election issue">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/27/world/africa/permanent-us-bases-afghans-see-an-election-issue.html |title=Permanent US bases? Afghans see an election issue |work=International Herald Tribune |date=27 April 2005 |access-date=3 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009182851/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/27/world/africa/permanent-us-bases-afghans-see-an-election-issue.html |archive-date=9 October 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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[[File:Group of Women Wearing Burkas.jpg|thumb|right|Afghan women wait outside a USAID-supported health care clinic.]] |
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According to a May 2009 [[BBC]] poll, 69% of Afghans surveyed thought it was at least mostly good that the US military came in to remove the Taliban—a decrease from 87% of Afghans surveyed in 2005. 24% thought it was mostly or very bad—up from 9% in 2005. The poll indicated that 63% of Afghans were at least somewhat supportive of a US military presence in the country—down from 78% in 2005. Just 18% supported increasing the US military's presence, while 44% favored reducing it. 90% of Afghans surveyed opposed the Taliban, including 70% who were strongly opposed. By an 82%–4% margin, people said they preferred the current government to Taliban rule.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/05_02_09afghan_poll_2009.pdf |title=Afghan Poll 2009 |access-date=3 August 2011 |work=BBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110907125857/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/05_02_09afghan_poll_2009.pdf |archive-date=7 September 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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In a June 2009 [[The Gallup Organization|Gallup]] survey, about half of Afghan respondents felt that additional US forces would help stabilize the security situation in the southern provinces. But opinions varied widely; residents in the troubled South were mostly mixed or uncertain, while those in the West largely disagreed that more US troops would help the situation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/123335/Nearly-Half-Afghans-Think-Troops-Help.aspx |title=Gallup poll |publisher=Gallup.com |date=30 September 2009 |access-date=3 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708035819/http://www.gallup.com/poll/123335/Nearly-Half-Afghans-Think-Troops-Help.aspx |archive-date=8 July 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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In December 2009, many Afghan tribal heads and local leaders from the south and east called for US troop withdrawals. "I don't think we will be able to solve our problems with military force," said Muhammad Qasim, a Kandahar tribal elder. "We can solve them by providing jobs and development and by using local leaders to negotiate with the Taliban."<ref name="wsj">{{cite news |last=Gopal |first=Anand |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125960550353170023?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop |title=Karzai Aides, Tribal Leaders Say Surge Is Wrong Strategy |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=1 December 2009 |access-date=9 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012043610/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125960550353170023?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop |archive-date=12 October 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> "If new troops come and are stationed in civilian areas, when they draw Taliban attacks civilians will end up being killed," said Gulbadshah Majidi, a lawmaker and close associate of Mr. Karzai. "This will only increase the distance between Afghans and their government."<ref name="online.wsj.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703720004575476913015061570|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=11 September 2010|title=Karzai Divides Afghanistan in Reaching Out to Taliban|first=Yaroslav|last=Trofimov|date=11 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100912162856/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703720004575476913015061570.html|archive-date=12 September 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In late January 2010, Afghan protesters took to the streets for three straight days and blocked traffic on a highway that links Kabul and Kandahar. The Afghans were demonstrating in response to the deaths of four men in a NATO-Afghan raid in the village of [[Ghazni]]. Ghazni residents insisted that the dead were civilians.<ref>[http://epaper.orlandosentinel.com/OS/OS/2010/01/24/ArticleHtmls/24_01_2010_004_010.shtml epaper.orlandosentinel.com] {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> |
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A 2015 survey by Langer Research Associates found that 77% of Afghans support the presence of US forces; 67% also support the presence of [[NATO]] forces. Despite the problems in the country, 80% of Afghans still held the view that it was a good thing for the United States to overthrow the Taliban in 2001. More Afghans blame the Taliban or al-Qaeda for the country's violence (53%) than those who blame the USA (12%).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://acsor-surveys.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Afghan-Futures-Wave-6-Analysis_FINAL-v2.pdf|title=Afghan Futures: A National Public Opinion Survey|date=29 January 2015|page=4|access-date=2 January 2017|quote=Seventy-seven percent support the presence of US forces; 67 percent say the same of NATO/ISAF forces more generally. Despite the country's travails, eight in 10 say it was a good thing for the United States to oust the Taliban in 2001. And many more blame either the Taliban or al Qaeda for the country's violence, 53 percent, than blame the United States, 12 percent. The latter is about half what it was in 2012, coinciding with a sharp reduction in the US deployment.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329093740/http://acsor-surveys.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Afghan-Futures-Wave-6-Analysis_FINAL-v2.pdf|archive-date=29 March 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cpj.org/2002/03/attacks-on-the-press-2001-afghanistan/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226131952/https://cpj.org/2002/03/attacks-on-the-press-2001-afghanistan.php|url-status=dead|title=Attacks on the Press 2001: Afghanistan|date=26 March 2002|archive-date=26 February 2017}}</ref> |
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===International reactions=== |
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{{Main|International public opinion on the war in Afghanistan}} |
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[[File:082 Coffin March (37021972481).jpg|thumb|22 December 2009 protest against the war, New York City]] |
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A 47-nation global survey of public opinion conducted in June 2007 by the [[Pew Global Attitudes Project]] found considerable opposition to the NATO military operations in Afghanistan. Only Israel and Kenya citizens were in favor of the war.<ref name="47-Nation Pew Global Attitudes Survey p.24, p.116"/> On the other hand, in 41 of the 47 countries pluralities wanted NATO troops out of Afghanistan as soon as possible. The authors of the survey mentioned a "global unease with major world powers" and in America that "Afghan War not worth it".<ref name="47-Nation Pew Global Attitudes Survey p.24, p.116"/> In 32 out of 47 countries majorities wanted NATO troops out of Afghanistan as soon as possible. Majorities in 7 out of 12 NATO member countries wanted troops withdrawn as soon as possible.<ref name="47-Nation Pew Global Attitudes Survey p.24, p.116"/><ref name="Global Unease With Major World Powers">{{cite web|url=http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=256|title=Global Unease With Major World Powers|date=27 June 2007|work=Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project|access-date=6 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100508192429/http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=256|archive-date=8 May 2010|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Afghan war not worth it, say most Americans">{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/afghan-war-not-worth-it-say-most-americans-20101217-190pq.html|title=Afghanistan war not worth it, say most Americans|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=6 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107114117/http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/afghan-war-not-worth-it-say-most-americans-20101217-190pq.html|archive-date=7 November 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In 2008 there was a strong opposition to war in Afghanistan in 21 of 24 countries surveyed. Only in the US and Great Britain did half the people support the war, with a larger percentage (60%) in Australia.<ref name="24-Nation Pew Global Attitudes Project Survey">{{cite web|url=http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=260|title=Global Economic Gloom – China and India Notable Exceptions|date=12 June 2008|work=Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project|access-date=6 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100112083826/http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=260|archive-date=12 January 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> Since then, public opinion in Australia and Britain has shifted, and the majority of Australians and British now also want their troops to be brought home from Afghanistan. Authors of articles on the issue mentioned that "Australians lose faith in Afghan War effort" and "cruel human toll of fight to win Afghan peace".<ref name="Britons call for troop withdrawal">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7725228.stm|title=BBC NEWS – UK – Britons call for troop withdrawal|access-date=6 February 2015|work=BBC News|date=13 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140711094748/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7725228.stm|archive-date=11 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Australians lose faith in Afghan war effort">{{cite web |title=Australians lose faith in Afghan war effort|url=http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/australians-lose-faith-in-afghan-war-effort/1320931.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081003032403/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/australians-lose-faith-in-afghan-war-effort/1320931.aspx |archive-date=3 October 2008 }}</ref><ref name="Cruel human toll of fight to win Afghan peace">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jul/12/afghanistan-taliban-troops-roadside-bombs|title=This page has been removed – News – The Guardian|work=the Guardian|access-date=6 February 2015|location=London|first=Jason|last=Burke|date=11 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207032607/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jul/12/afghanistan-taliban-troops-roadside-bombs|archive-date=7 February 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Poll finds 51% oppose role in Afghanistan">{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/world/poll-finds-51-oppose-role-in-afghanistan-20090329-9fk5.html|title=Poll finds 51% oppose role in Afghanistan|work=The Age|access-date=6 February 2015|location=Melbourne|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216214002/http://www.theage.com.au/world/poll-finds-51-oppose-role-in-afghanistan-20090329-9fk5.html|archive-date=16 December 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Of the seven NATO countries in the survey, not one showed a majority in favor of keeping NATO troops in Afghanistan – one, the US, came close to a majority (50%). Of the other six NATO countries, five had majorities of their population wanting NATO troops removed from Afghanistan as soon as possible.<ref name="24-Nation Pew Global Attitudes Project Survey"/> |
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The 2009 global survey reported that majorities or pluralities in 18 out of 25 countries wanted NATO to remove their troops from Afghanistan as soon as possible.<ref name="25-Nation Pew Global Attitudes Survey, 2009"/>{{rp|22}} Despite American calls for NATO allies to send more troops to Afghanistan, there was majority or plurality opposition to such action in every one of the NATO countries surveyed.<ref name="25-Nation Pew Global Attitudes Survey, 2009">{{cite web|url=http://www.pewglobal.org/reports/pdf/264.pdf|title=25-Nation Pew Global Attitudes Survey, 2009, p.39 (PDF p.43)|access-date=29 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091211115104/http://pewglobal.org/reports/pdf/264.pdf|archive-date=11 December 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{rp|39}} |
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===Public opinion in 2001=== |
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[[File:Welcome Home Troops sign, Devine, TX IMG 4928.JPG|right|thumb|Home-made sign (2015) in [[Devine, Texas|Devine]], Texas, south of [[San Antonio]], welcomes returning troops from the war in Afghanistan.]] |
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When the invasion began in October 2001, polls indicated that about 88% of Americans and about 65% of Britons backed military action.{{sfn|AEI|2008}} |
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A large-scale 37-nation poll of world opinion carried out by [[The Gallup Organization|Gallup]] International in late September 2001 found that large majorities in most countries favored a legal response, in the form of extradition and trial, over a military response to 9/11: only three countries out of the 37 surveyed—the US, Israel and India—did majorities favor military action. In the other 34 countries surveyed, the poll found many clear majorities that favored extradition and trial instead of military action: in the United Kingdom (75%), France (67%), Switzerland (87%), Czech Republic (64%), Lithuania (83%), Panama (80%) and Mexico (94%).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.globalpolicy.org/empire/media/2001/1121opinion.htm |title=World Opinion Opposes the Attack on Afghanistan |publisher=Globalpolicy.org |access-date=17 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090421005642/http://www.globalpolicy.org///empire/media/2001/1121opinion.htm |archive-date=21 April 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.comw.org/pda/0201strangevic.html|title=Strange Victory: A critical appraisal of Operation Enduring Freedom and the Afghanistan war|access-date=6 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100505064107/http://www.comw.org/pda/0201strangevic.html|archive-date=5 May 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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An [[Ipsos-Reid]] poll conducted between November and December 2001 showed that majorities in Canada (66%), France (60%), Germany (60%), Italy (58%), and the UK (65%) approved of US airstrikes while majorities in Argentina (77%), China (52%), South Korea (50%), Spain (52%), and Turkey (70%) opposed them.{{sfn|AEI|2008|p=157}} |
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===Development of public opinion=== |
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{{See also|International public opinion on the war in Afghanistan}} |
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[[File:June 22, 2007 protest in Quebec City against Canada's involvement in the Afghan war.jpg|thumb|left|22 June 2007 demonstration in Québec City against the Canadian military involvement in Afghanistan]] |
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In a 47-nation June 2007 survey of global public opinion, the [[Pew Global Attitudes Project]] found international opposition to the war. Out of the 47 countries surveyed, 4 had a majority that favored keeping foreign troops: the US (50%), Israel (59%), Ghana (50%), and Kenya (60%). In 41, [[plurality (voting)|pluralities]] wanted NATO troops out as soon as possible.<ref name="47-Nation Pew Global Attitudes Survey p.24, p.116">{{cite web |url=http://pewglobal.org/reports/pdf/256.pdf |title=47-Nation Pew Global Attitudes Survey p.24, p.116 |access-date=3 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100112094725/http://pewglobal.org/reports/pdf/256.pdf |archive-date=12 January 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 32 out of 47, clear majorities wanted war over as soon as possible. Majorities in 7 out of 12 NATO member countries said troops should be withdrawn as soon as possible.<ref name="47-Nation Pew Global Attitudes Survey p.24, p.116" /><ref>{{cite web |author=Survey Reports |url=http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=256 |title=Global Unease With Major World Powers |publisher=Pewglobal.org |date=27 June 2007 |access-date=3 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100508192429/http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=256 |archive-date=8 May 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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A 24-nation Pew Global Attitudes survey in June 2008 similarly found that majorities or pluralities in 21 of 24 countries want the US and NATO to remove their troops from Afghanistan as soon as possible. Only in three out of the 24 countries—the US (50%), Australia (60%), and Britain (48%)—did public opinion lean more toward keeping troops there until the situation has stabilized.<ref>{{cite web |author=Survey Reports |url=http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=260 |title=June 2008 Pew Global Attitudes Project Survey |publisher=Pewglobal.org |date=12 June 2008 |access-date=3 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100112083826/http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=260 |archive-date=12 January 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="24-Nation Pew Global Attitudes Project Survey 2">{{cite web |author=Survey Reports |url=http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=260 |title=24-Nation Pew Global Attitudes Project Survey p.8, p.29 |publisher=Pewglobal.org |date=12 June 2008 |access-date=3 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100112083826/http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=260 |archive-date=12 January 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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[[File:Afghanistan War Fatalities.svg|thumb|Number of fatalities among Western coalition soldiers involved in the execution of Operation Enduring Freedom from 2001 to 2019.<ref>{{cite web |title=Statista |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/262894/western-coalition-soldiers-killed-in-afghanistan/ |access-date=4 November 2020}}</ref>]] |
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[[File:Sundown ceremony at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, July 17, 2009.jpg|thumb|[[Canadian Forces]] personnel carry the casket of a fallen comrade onto an aircraft at Kandahar Air Field, 17 July 2009]] |
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Following that June 2008 global survey, however, public opinion in Australia and Britain diverged from that in the US. A majority of Australians and Britons now want their troops home. A September 2008 poll found that 56% of Australians opposed continuation of their country's military involvement.<ref name="Australians lose faith in Afghan war effort"/><ref name="Opposition mounts against Afghan war">{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/29/2377129.htm?section=world|title=Government losing support for Afghanistan campaign|access-date=30 September 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081002011700/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/29/2377129.htm?section=world|archive-date=2 October 2008|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/national/opposition-mounts-against-afghan-war-20080929-4qew.html |title=Opposition mounts against Afghan war |location=Australia |work=The Age |date=30 September 2008 |first=Daniel |last=Flitton |access-date=30 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080930204517/http://www.theage.com.au/national/opposition-mounts-against-afghan-war-20080929-4qew.html |archive-date=30 September 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> A November 2008 poll found that 68% of Britons wanted their troops withdrawn within the next 12 months.<ref name="Britons call for troop withdrawal"/><ref name="Most Britons want troops out of Afghanistan: poll">{{cite news |url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iDAlDVoYEb9h6trv1wYV55GKVVSA |title=Most Britons wanted troops out of Afghanistan: poll |date=12 November 2008 |access-date=3 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521011740/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iDAlDVoYEb9h6trv1wYV55GKVVSA |archive-date=21 May 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/32241/britons_would_leave_afghanistan_in_2009 |title=Britons Would Leave Afghanistan in 2009 |publisher=Angus-reid.com |date=22 November 2008 |access-date=3 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090110015704/http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/32241/britons_would_leave_afghanistan_in_2009 |archive-date=10 January 2009 }}</ref> |
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In the US, a September 2008 Pew survey found that 61% of Americans wanted US troops to stay until the situation has stabilized, while 33% wanted them removed as soon as possible.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://people-press.org/report/?pageid=1384|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081109204725/http://people-press.org/report/?pageid=1384|url-status=dead|title=Views on Iraq and Afghanistan|archive-date=9 November 2008}}</ref> Public opinion was divided over Afghan troop requests: a majority of Americans continued to see a rationale for the use of military force in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web|title=Public Divided Over Afghan Troop Requests, But Still Sees Rationale for War|url=http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1400/public-divided-over-afghanistan-troop-requests-still-sees-rationale-for-war|publisher=Pew Research Center Publications|date=5 November 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110509203317/http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1400/public-divided-over-afghanistan-troop-requests-still-sees-rationale-for-war|archive-date=9 May 2011}}</ref> A slight plurality of Americans favored troop increases, with 42%–47% favoring some troop increases, 39%–44% wanting reduction, and 7–9% wanting no changes. Just 29% of [[US Democratic Party|Democrats]] favored troop increases while 57% wanted to begin reducing troops. Only 36% of Americans approved of Obama's handling of Afghanistan, including 19% of [[US Republican Party|Republicans]], 31% of [[political independent|independents]], and 54% of Democrats.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/124490/In-US-More-Support-Increasing-Troops-Afghanistan.aspx |title=In US, More Support for Increasing Troops in Afghanistan |publisher=Gallup.com |date=25 November 2009 |access-date=3 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110803234146/http://www.gallup.com/poll/124490/In-US-More-Support-Increasing-Troops-Afghanistan.aspx |archive-date=3 August 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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In a December 2009 [[Pew Research Center]] poll, only 32% of Americans favored increasing US troops in Afghanistan, while 40% favored decreasing them. Almost half of Americans, 49%, believed that the US should "mind its own business" internationally and let other countries get along the best they can. That figure was an increase from 30% who said that in December 2002.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://people-press.org/report/569/americas-place-in-the-world |title=US Seen as Less Important, China as More Powerful: Overview – Pew Research Center for the People & the Press |publisher=People-press.org |date=3 December 2009 |access-date=9 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209083317/http://people-press.org/report/569/americas-place-in-the-world |archive-date=9 February 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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An April 2011 Pew Research Center poll showed little change in American views, with about 50% saying that the effort was going very well or fairly well and only 44% supporting NATO troop presence in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web|title=Goal of Libyan Operation Less Clear to Public|url=http://people-press.org/2011/04/05/goal-of-libyan-operation-less-clear-to-public/|newspaper=Pew Research Center|date=5 April 2011|access-date=3 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505060223/http://people-press.org/2011/04/05/goal-of-libyan-operation-less-clear-to-public/|archive-date=5 May 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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===Protests, demonstrations and rallies=== |
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{{Further|Opposition to the war in Afghanistan (2001–2014)|Protests against the war in Afghanistan}} |
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The war has been the subject of [[Protests against the invasion of Afghanistan|large protests around the world]] starting with the large-scale demonstrations in the days leading up to the invasion and every year since. Many protesters consider the bombing and invasion of Afghanistan to be unjustified aggression.<ref>Adams, Harold J. [http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latest-news/protesters-oppose-sending-more-troops-afghanistan Protesters oppose sending more troops to Afghanistan.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114141128/http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latest-news/protesters-oppose-sending-more-troops-afghanistan |date=14 January 2010}} ''Louisville Courier-Journal''. 6 December 2009.</ref> The [[Civilian casualties in the war in Afghanistan (2001–2014)|deaths of Afghan civilians]] caused directly and indirectly by the US and NATO bombing campaigns is a major underlying focus of the protests.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20091202/NEWS01/91201047/1006 |title=Anti-war protesters arrested outside West Point |date=2 December 2009 |work=Poughkeepsie Journal |access-date=17 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125144442/http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20091202/NEWS01/91201047/1006 |archive-date=25 January 2016 }}</ref> In January 2009, Brave New Foundation launched [[Rethink Afghanistan]], a national campaign for non-violent solutions in Afghanistan built around a documentary film by director and political activist [[Robert Greenwald]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/23/movies/23gree.html|work=The New York Times|title=Released on Web, a Film Stays Fresh|first=Brian|last=Stelter|date=23 March 2009|access-date=9 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401225929/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/23/movies/23gree.html|archive-date=1 April 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> Dozens of organizations planned (and eventually held) a national march for peace in Washington, D.C. on 20 March 2010.<ref name="Pephost.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=M20_homepage |title=20 March – Anti-War March on Washington |publisher=Pephost.org |access-date=9 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100125021334/http://www.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=M20_homepage |archive-date=25 January 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Janie Lorber |date=20 March 2010 |title=Saturday Word: Health Care (and Finance) |url=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/20/saturday-word-health-care-and-finance/ |work=The New York Times |access-date=29 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140105164156/http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/20/saturday-word-health-care-and-finance/ |archive-date=5 January 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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==See also== |
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{{Portal|Afghanistan|War|United Nations |
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}} |
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{{div col}} |
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* [[2012 Afghanistan Quran burning protests]] |
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* [[Afghanistan Papers]] |
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* [[Afghan War documents leak]] |
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* [[Afghanistan–United States relations]] |
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* [[Criticism of the war on terror]] |
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* [[Ethnic conflict]] |
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* [[List of Afghanistan War (2001–present) documentaries]] |
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* [[List of aviation accidents and incidents in the war in Afghanistan]] |
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* [[List of military operations in the war in Afghanistan (2001–present)]] |
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* [[List of modern conflicts in the Middle East]] |
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* [[NATO logistics in the Afghan War]] |
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* [[Opposition to the war in Afghanistan (2001–2014)]] |
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* [[U.S. government response to the September 11 attacks]] |
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* [[U.S.–Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement]] |
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* [[Withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan (2011–2016)]] |
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* [[Withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan (2020–2021)]] |
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{{Div col end}} |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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==Sources== |
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* {{cite book|first=Steve |last=Coll|title=Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001|url=https://archive.org/details/ghostwarssecreth00coll|url-access=registration |year=2004|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-1-59420-007-6 |author-link=Steve Coll }} |
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* {{cite book |first=Edward |last=Girardet |title=Killing the Cranes: A Reporter's Journey Through Three Decades of War in Afghanistan |year=2011|edition=3 August 2011 |page=416 |publisher=Chelsea Green Publishing}} |
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* {{cite web |url=http://www.9-11commission.gov/ |title=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States |access-date=17 February 2010 |date=20 September 2004 |last=911 Commission|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211154714/http://www.9-11commission.gov/|archive-date=11 February 2010 }} |
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* {{cite book|first=James |last=Risen|title=State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xBFbzzGg71cC|date=4 September 2008 |publisher=Simon & Schuster UK|isbn=978-1-84737-511-7 }} |
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* Auerswald, David P. & Stephen M. Saideman, eds. ''NATO in Afghanistan: Fighting Together, Fighting Alone'' (Princeton U.P. 2014) This book breaks down the history of the US effort in Afghanistan down by deployed commander. Also useful in this fashion are Kaplan, "The Insurgents", and "A Different Kind of War." |
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* Mikulaschek, Christoph and Jacob Shapiro. (2018). [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022002716669808 Lessons on Political Violence from America's Post-9/11 Wars]. ''Journal of Conflict Resolution'' 62(1): 174–202. |
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* Münch, Philipp. "Creating common sense: getting NATO to Afghanistan." ''Journal of Transatlantic Studies'' (2021): 1-29 [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s42738-021-00067-0 online]. |
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* {{cite book |others=BG [[John S. Brown]] |first=Richard W. |last=Stewart |title=Operation Enduring Freedom |url=http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/Afghanistan/Operation%20Enduring%20Freedom.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214152935/http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/Afghanistan/Operation%20Enduring%20Freedom.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 December 2007 |year=2004 |publisher=United States Army |page=46}} |
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* {{cite web|url=https://www.aei.org/publication/america-and-the-war-on-terror/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404000410/http://www.aei.org/publication/america-and-the-war-on-terror/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 April 2015 |title=America and the War on Terror |last=AEI |publisher=AEI Public Opinion Study |date=24 July 2008 }} |
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* {{cite book|first=Steve |last=Call|title=Danger Close|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ObYsOXiEtxgC|date=15 January 2010|publisher=Texas A&M University Press|isbn=978-1-60344-304-3 }} |
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* {{cite book|first=Bob |last=Woodward|title=Obama's Wars|url=https://archive.org/details/obamasw_woo_2010_00_4700|url-access=registration |date=27 September 2010|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-1-4391-7251-3 }} |
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==Further reading== |
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* Bose, Srinjoy, ed. ''Afghanistan – Challenges and Prospects'' (Routledge, 2018). |
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* Malkasian, Carter. ''The American War in Afghanistan: A History'' (2021) |
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* {{cite web |url=http://www.cfr.org/afghanistan/us-war-afghanistan/p20018 |title=US War in Afghanistan |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2014 |publisher=[[Council on Foreign Relations]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302014738/http://www.cfr.org/afghanistan/us-war-afghanistan/p20018 |archive-date=2 March 2015 }} |
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* [[Robert Gates]], ''[[Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War]]'', New York, [[Alfred A. Knopf]], 2014. |
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* [[Thomas Powers]], "The War without End" (review of [[Steve Coll]], ''Directorate S: The CIA and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan'', Penguin, 2018, 757 pp.), ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', vol. LXV, no. 7 (19 April 2018), pp. 42–43. "Forty-plus years after our failure in Vietnam, the United States is again fighting an endless war in a faraway place against a culture and a people we don't understand for political reasons that make sense in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]], but nowhere else." (p. 43.) |
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==External links== |
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* {{Commons category-inline}} |
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* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12024253 Afghanistan profile – A chronology of key events] as provided by [[BBC]] |
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* [http://wardiary.wikileaks.org/ 75,000 documents on Wikileaks] |
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{{War in Afghanistan}} |
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{{War on Terrorism}} |
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{{September 11 attacks}} |
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{{Afghanistan–United States relations}} |
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{{Afghanistan–Pakistan relations}} |
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{{Pakistan–United States relations}} |
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{{Post-Cold War Asian conflicts}} |
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{{American conflicts}} |
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{{Wars and battles involving Croatia}} |
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{{Polish wars and conflicts}} |
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{{George W. Bush}} |
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{{Barack Obama}} |
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{{Donald Trump}} |
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{{Presidency of Donald Trump}} |
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{{Joe Biden}} |
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{{Taliban}} |
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{{Al-Qaeda}} |
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{{Authority control}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:War in Afghanistan (2001-Present)}} |
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Revision as of 01:34, 16 August 2021
you lose