The Invasion of Afghanistan (2001) — Modern History Summarized
Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, the United States, along with a multi-nation coalition consisting of the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Iran, and the Afghanistan Northern Alliance, launched a full-scale invasion of Afghanistan, codenamed Operation Enduring Freedom, with the goal to dismantle and eliminate Al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks, and to prevent Islamic militants from using Afghanistan as a base of operations by toppling and destroying the Afghanistan government, which was controlled by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also known as the Taliban.
The invasion began on 7 October, when the United States and United Kingdom militaries launched Operation Crescent Wind; a bombing campaign across the Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan.
On 9 November, the first major offensive of the invasion took place: the fall of Mazar-i-Sharif. Between 9–10 November, 2,000 soldiers of the Northern Alliance and the United States military entered and captured the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, which was guarded by up to 4,000 Taliban soldiers. During the battle, more than 500 Taliban soldiers were killed, about 500 others were captured, and about 1,000 defected. The fall of the city was globally a “major shock”, with even the United States military planning the battle would be slow and take months.
Just days later, on 12 November, the next major offensive of the invasion took place; the fall of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. The United States military and the Northern Alliance quickly captured the city of Kabul, resulting the capture of at least 3,000 Taliban soldiers. With the fall of the city, the Northern Alliance, which would later be renamed to the Islamic State of Afghanistan, reclaimed control as the dominant power in Afghanistan.
On 22 November, the United States, along with the Northern Alliance and Australia, launched a large-scale offensive with at least 2,500 men to capture Kandahar, Afghanistan, the final major city that was controlled by the Taliban and to capture Mullah Omar, the founder of the Taliban. After a battle lasting until 7 December, the coalition was successful in capturing the city, with Kandahar being fully secured by 9 December. During the battle, however, Mullah Omar fled the city and avoided capture.
The invasion continued with other battles occurring across Afghanistan, until 17 December, when most of the Taliban forces were gone or in hiding. On 12 December, amid the battle of Tora Bora, Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, fled from Afghanistan into Pakistan. The War in Afghanistan would continue for the next 20 years, but the American-led coalition invasion effectively concluded on 17 December 2001 as a major victory, with the complete collapse of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s government. The invasion ultimately resulted in between 8,000–12,000 Taliban soldier deaths along with thousands of civilian deaths.
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