The Taliban’s reconquest of Kabul marks a turning point in the long war in which Afghanistan is immersed and it draws a picture similar to that recorded 25 years ago in the Afghan capital. the taliban, whose origin of the word means students (of the Qur’an), They took over Kabul for the first time in 1996 and imposed an Islamic fundamentalist regime that spanned 90% of the territory until they were ousted from power in 2001. by opposition forces with the assistance of the United States.
The insurgent force, which entered Kabul on Sunday after President Ashraf Ghani fled abroad, has racked up a string of victories en route to takeover since May, benefiting from the withdrawal of US and NATO forces. In its report “Protecting Civilians in Armed Conflict in Afghanistan”, the United Nations mission in the country identified 1,659 civilians killed and 3,254 injured in just the first six months of 2021.
nineteen ninety-six
- Sept. 27: Taliban take over Kabul and impose an Islamic fundamentalist regime.
- October: Former Mujahideen (holy warriors) leaders sign a pact to fight the Taliban.
1998
- September: The Taliban seizes the city of Bamiyan, which controls 90% of Afghan territory.
2001
- March: The Taliban destroys the giant statues of the Bamiyan Buddha, a world heritage site.
- October 7: One month after the attacks in New York and after the Taliban refused to hand over Bin Laden, the United States began Operation Enduring Freedom with UK support.
- November: Opposition forces seize major Afghan cities, marking the end of the Taliban regime.
- December: The Bonn Agreement (Agreement on Interim Arrangements in Afghanistan) appoints Hamid Karzai as interim president and provides for the creation of an international mission.
2003
- May 1: The United States announces the end of combat operations in Afghanistan.
- August: NATO takes command of the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) created by the UN to fight insurgent forces.
2004
- October 9: First free elections in Afghanistan. Karzai is elected president.
2008
- Feb 17: One hundred killed in a suicide bombing in Kandahar, the bloodiest since the invasion.
2009
- Aug 20: Under Taliban intimidation campaign and allegations of fraud, Karzai wins second democratic election.
- December 1: The President of the United States, Barack Obama, announces the deployment of 30,000 more soldiers and the beginning of the withdrawal of the international contingent for June 2011.
2011
- May 1: Obama announces Bin Laden’s death at the hands of a US commando in Pakistan.
- July: Coinciding with the gradual withdrawal of US forces, NATO begins handing over powers to Afghan authorities.
2014
- September 29: President Ashraf Ghani replaces Karzai. During the opening, a bomb exploded en route to Kabul airport, leaving four dead, and in Paktia province dozens of Taliban were killed in clashes with security forces.
2015
- Oct 15: Obama renounces full withdrawal and extends mission with 5,500 soldiers.
2017
- May 31: A truck loaded with explosives explodes in Kabul’s high security area. There are more than 150 deaths in the worst attack since the fall of the Taliban regime.
2019
- September 28: Ghani wins presidential election again.
2020
- February 29: Donald Trump’s government and the Taliban sign an agreement in Doha, Qatar, which calls for the complete withdrawal of troops within 14 months.
2021
- April 14: New US President Joe Biden announces that final troop withdrawal will begin on May 1st. Coinciding with the announcement, the Taliban advances and already controls 100 of the country’s 402 districts.
-
May 8: An attack on a girls’ school kills more than 50 people in Kabul. Authorities blame the Taliban for the attack, the deadliest in a year, but they deny it.
-
July 2: US and NATO troops return to the Afghan army at Bagram air base, the nerve center of coalition operations, located 50 kilometers north of Kabul.
- July 8: Biden claims withdrawal will complete on Aug. 31, despite acknowledging that “the Taliban are militarily stronger than ever.” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces the end of the British military mission in Afghanistan.
- July 15: The Taliban offers a three-month ceasefire in exchange for the release of their 7,000 prisoners.
- Aug. 7-11: The Taliban capture nine cities in five days, after defeating Nimroz, Jawzjan, Sar-e-Pol, Kunduz, Takhar, Samangan, Farah, Baghlan and Faizabad.
- Aug 12: The United States sends 3,000 soldiers to Kabul to evacuate almost the entire embassy.
- Aug 14: Ghani promises to remobilize army against Taliban. But in the next few hours the Taliban seized Mazar-i-Sharif (north) and Jalalabad (east), the last major city controlled by the government.
- August 15: The Taliban entered Kabul after the announcement of President Ashraf Ghani’s flight abroad.
.
