-
Period: to
Afghan War
-
Soviet Invasion
Soviet Union invades Afghanistian to back the new communist government in the country. This leads to the creation of the mujahideen who fight the Soviets with covert financial aid and arms given by the United States -
Soviet Union withdraws
The Soviet Union withdraws all troops from Afghanistian. Leaving the country to be engulfed by a civil war. -
Taliban takes power
Taliban takes over the country except for a pocket of resistance known as the Northern Alliance. -
9/11
United States attacked by the terrorist organization known as , al-Qaeda and led by Osama bin Laden. President Bush orders U.S. troops to Afghanistian to bring down the Taliban and capture bin Laden. -
Invaision begins
American invasion begins. Specials forces and American air assets are inserted into Afghanistian to fight along side the Northern Alliance. -
Kabul falls
The capital city of Kabul is taken by the Northern Alliance. -
Taliban rule ended
City of Kandahar falls marking the end of the rule by the Taliban in Afghanistian. Hamid Karzai named interm president. -
U.S. invades Iraq
The United States invades Iraq, making the war in Afghanistian a secondary front. -
Major Combat over
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced an end to “major combat” in Afghanistan. -
First Elections Held
Karzai gets elected and is in office for a full five-year term as president. -
Taliban resuregence
Taliban starts to make a come back and increase violence. Massive anti-war sentiment takes hold in Afghanistain, the United States, and Pakistian. Use of drone strikes in Pakistain to kill Taliban officials starts and is decried as wrongful by the public. -
Surge annouced
President Obama annouces new U.S. strategy knowns as surege. Commits a further 17,000 troops on top of the 36,000 stationed in Afghanistian already for America. -
Karzai Reelected
Karzai is relected as president of Afghanistian amid rumors of election fraud. -
Obama elected
Barack Obama elected president of the United States. Promises to turn war around. -
30,000 more troops
President Obama announces the additon of 30,000 more American troops to Afghanistian. -
bin Laden Killed
U.S. intelligence located him living in a secure compound in Abbottabad, Pak. The operation, a raid carried out by a small team that reached the compound by helicopter, led to a firefight in which bin Laden died. The next month U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates confirmed for the first time that the U.S. government was holding reconciliation talks with the Taliban, although he stressed that efforts to negotiate an end to the conflict were still in the preliminary stages. -
Major Agreement reached
U.S. and Afghan negotiators reached agreements regarding two issues that had been sources of friction between the Obama and Karzai administrations. The first agreement, signed in March, set a six-month timetable for the transfer of Afghan detainees held by the U.S. military to Afghan custody. The second agreement, signed in April, established that Afghan forces would oversee and lead night raids to apprehend or kill Taliban leaders -
Withdraw timetable announced
President Obama announces that all U.S. forces will be out the country by the end of 2014.
