![]() On August 6, 2021, the Taliban captured the capital of southern Nimruz Province, the first provincial capital to fall. In early August, the Taliban began direct assaults on multiple urban areas, including Kandahar in the south and Herat in the west. In the summer of 2021, the Taliban continued its offensive, threatening government-controlled urban areas and seizing several border crossings. By the end of July 2021, the United States had completed nearly 95 percent of its withdrawal, leaving just 650 troops to protect the U.S. ![]() military accelerated the pace of its troop withdrawal. The Taliban, which had continued to capture and contest territory across the country despite ongoing peace talks with the Afghan government, ramped up attacks on ANDSF bases and outposts and began to rapidly seize more territory. military forces would leave Afghanistan by September 2021. In addition to the Taliban’s offensive, Afghanistan faces a threat from the Islamic State in Khorasan (ISIS-K), which has also expanded its presence to several eastern provinces, increased its activity in Kabul, and targeted civilians with suicide attacks. Despite another slight decline that year, the first half of 2021 saw a record-high number of civilian casualties as the Taliban ramped up their military offensive amid the withdrawal of international troops. Although 2019 saw a slight decline, civilian deaths and injuries exceeded ten thousand for the sixth year in a row, bringing the total UN-documented civilian casualties from 2009 to 2020 to more than one hundred thousand. The United Nations documented a then–record high of 10,993 civilian casualties in 2018. The Taliban, in turn, attacked Afghan government and ANDSF targets and made significant territorial gains.Ĭivilian casualties across Afghanistan have remained high over the past several years. Violence across Afghanistan continued in 20 as the United States increased air strikes and raids targeting the Taliban. Direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban began months after the agreed-upon start of March 2020 however, the negotiations faced multiple delays and ultimately made little progress. After a brief reduction in violence, the Taliban quickly resumed attacks on Afghan security forces and civilians. However, no official ceasefire was put in place. In return, the Taliban pledged to prevent territory under its control from being used by terrorist groups and to enter into negotiations with the Afghan government. troops to approximately 8,500 within 135 days and complete a full withdrawal within fourteen months. Under the agreement, the United States pledged to draw down U.S. government and the Taliban signed a peace deal, the so-called Doha Agreement, that set a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. In February 2020, after more than a year of direct negotiations, the U.S. The Taliban briefly seized the capital of Farah Province in May 2018, and, in August 2018, it captured the capital of Ghazni Province, holding the city for nearly a week before U.S. ![]() military strategy to target Taliban revenue sources, which involved air strikes against drug labs and opium production sites. troop increase in 2017, continuing combat missions, and a shift in U.S. ![]() The war largely remained a stalemate for nearly six years, despite a small U.S. The Taliban continued to attack rural districts and carry out suicide attacks in major cities, with the ANDSF suffering heavy casualties in recent years. When the U.S.-led coalition formally ended its combat mission in 2014, the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) was put in charge of Afghanistan’s security however, the forces faced significant challenges in holding territory and defending population centers. Following the U.S.-led invasion, Taliban leadership relocated to southern Afghanistan and across the border to Pakistan, from where they waged an insurgency against the Western-backed government in Kabul, Afghan national security forces, and international coalition troops. and allied forces invaded the country and quickly ousted the Taliban regime following its refusal to hand over terrorist leader Osama bin Laden in the wake of al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attacks. The Taliban, a Sunni Islamic fundamentalist and predominantly Pashtun movement, controlled most of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
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