Timeline of the War in Afghanistan (2001-present)

The following items form a partial timeline of the War in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...

. For events prior to October 7, 2001, see 2001 in Afghanistan

2001

October 7: (9 p.m. local time): the United States, supported by Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, begins its attack on Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

, launching bombs and cruise missiles against Taliban military and communications facilities and suspected terrorist training camps. Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

, Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...

, and Herat
Herat
Herāt is the capital of Herat province in Afghanistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of about 397,456 as of 2006. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan...

were hit.
October 9: A cruise missile kills four U.N. demining employees and injured four others in a building several miles east of Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

.
October 26: Abdul Haq
Abdul Haq (Afghan leader)
Abdul Haq was an Afghan Pashtun mujahideen commander who fought against the Soviets and Afghan communists during the Soviet-Afghan War...

killed.
November 6 - Zari, Keshendeh and Aq-Kupruk fall to the Northern Alliance
November 8 - Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, being the only nation that still had diplomatic ties to the Taliban, asked Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

's rulers to close their consulate in the city of Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...

.
November 9: Battle of Mazari Sharif
Battle of Mazari Sharif
The fall of Mazar-e-Sharif was the result of the first major offensive of the Afghanistan War. U.S. Army Special Forces and aerial bombardment accompanied a push into the city of Mazari Sharif in the Balkh Province by the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan , resulting in the...

.
November 10 - The Taliban and Northern Alliance fighters both claimed that the strategic northern Afghan city of Mazari Sharif was taken by Northern Alliance fighters.
November 11: Journalists Pierre Billaud
Pierre Billaud
Pierre Billaud was a French radio reporter and journalist. He started his career on Radio France then joined Radio Tele Luxembourg as international reporter. He covered the conflicts of Algeria, Israel, Palestine, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo...

, Johanne Sutton
Johanne Sutton
Johanne Sutton was a French radio reporter and journalist. Graduating from the École supérieure de journalisme de Lille in 1990, she began working for Radio France International in 1991...

, and Volker Handloik
Volker Handloik
Volker Handloik was a German freelance journalist and reporter. Born in Rostock, Germany, he worked for the Hamburg-based Stern for 10 years and also did some correspondence for newspapers, journals, and magazines such as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, taz, Berliner...

are ambushed and killed.
November 12 - Taliban forces abandon Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

ahead of advancing Northern Alliance troops.
- 2001 uprising in Herat.
November 14 - Northern Alliance fighters took over Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

, the Afghan capital, and then controlled virtually all the north of Afghanistan.
November 16: Mohammed Atef
Mohammed Atef
Mohammed Atef was the alleged military chief of al-Qaida, although his role in the organization was not well known by intelligence agencies for years...

, the military chief of al-Qaeda, killed in a US airstrike.
November 19: Four foreign journalists - Harry Burton
Harry Burton (journalist)
Harry Burton was an Australian journalist and cameraman who was kidnapped by the Taliban on the highway to Kabul, Afghanistan and then murdered. Three other journalists suffered the same fate....

, Maria Grazia Cutuli, Azizullah Haidari, and Julio Fuentes – were ambushed and killed.
November 25 – Northern Alliance gained control of Kunduz
Kunduz
Kunduz also known as Kundûz, Qonduz, Qondûz, Konduz, Kondûz, Kondoz, or Qhunduz is a city in northern Afghanistan, the capital of Kunduz Province. It is linked by highways with Mazari Sharif to the west, Kabul to the south and Tajikistan's border to the north...

, the last Taliban stronghold in Northern Afghanistan, but only after Pakistani aircraft rescue several thousand Taliban and Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...

fighters and their military advisers. The Taliban then controlled less than 25% of the country, mainly around Kandahar in the south.
- U.S. Marine
  United States Marine Corps
  The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
  
  s landed in force by helicopter
  Helicopter
  A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
  
  at Camp Rhino
  Camp Rhino
  Forward operating base Rhino, also known as Camp Rhino, was the first US land base established in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. It was located in the Registan Desert, southwest of Kandahar.-History:...
  
  south of Kandahar
  Kandahar
  Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
  
  and began preparing it for fixed wing aircraft. They also occupied the main road between Kandahar and Pakistan.
- Battle of Qala-i-Jangi
  Battle of Qala-i-Jangi
  The Battle of Qala-i-Jangi took place between November 25 and December 1, 2001, in Northern Afghanistan. It began with the uprising of foreign Taliban prisoners held at Qala-i-Jangi fortress, and escalated into one of the bloodiest engagements of the War in Afghanistan...
  
  . Forces loyal to bin Laden smuggled weapons into their prison near Mazar i Sharif after surrendering at Kunduz. They attacked the Northern Alliance guards and storm an armory. U.S. Special Forces call in air attacks. Hundreds of prisoners are killed as well as 40 Alliance fighters and one U.S. CIA operative, Johnny Michael Spann. Spann becomes the first U.S. and Coalition combat casualty. A young American named John Walker Lindh
  John Walker Lindh
  John Phillip Walker Lindh is a United States citizen who was captured as an enemy combatant during the United States' 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. He is now serving a 20-year prison sentence in connection with his participation in Afghanistan's Taliban army...
  
  is found in the midst of the rebellion and extradited to the US on terrorism charges.
December: The Battle of Tora Bora
Battle of Tora Bora
The Battle of Tora Bora was a military engagement that took place in Afghanistan in December 2001, during the opening stages of the war in that country launched following the 9/11 attacks on the United States. The U.S...

against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters; Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...

reportedly escapes during this battle.
December: The Dasht-i-Leili massacre
Dasht-i-Leili massacre
The Dasht-i-Leili massacre occurred in December 2001 during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan where between 250 and 3,000 Taliban prisoners were shot and/or suffocated to death in metal truck containers, while being transferred by U.S...

, where hundreds of Taliban were allegedly suffocated to death while being transported in metal containers.
December: The Bonn Agreement
Bonn Agreement (Afghanistan)
Officially the Agreement on Provisional Arrangements in Afghanistan Pending the Re-Establishment of Permanent Government Institutions, the Bonn Agreement was the initial series of agreements intended to re-create the State of Afghanistan following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in response to the...

establishes the postwar system of government for Afghanistan, and establishes the International Security Assistance Force
International Security Assistance Force
The International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution 1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement...

.
December 6: Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...

falls.
December 21: The interim Afghan government is sworn in.

2002

January 4: First US soldier dies due to hostile fire.
February 14: Abdul Rahman
Abdul Rahman (Afghan minister)
Abdul Rahman was the aviation and tourism minister of Afghanistan until February 14, 2002.He was murdered in what appeared to be a mob attack on his plane at Kabul International Airport by pilgrims angry that they had been unable to travel to Mecca, Saudi Arabia.Witnesses and officials said...

, Afghan Aviation and Tourism Minister, killed by angry Hajj pilgrims.
March 1: Operation Anaconda
Operation Anaconda
Operation Anaconda took place in early March 2002 in which the United States military and CIA Paramilitary Officers, working with allied Afghan military forces, and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization and non NATO forces attempted to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in the Shahi-Kot...

against al-Qaeda fighters launched.
April 17: The 87 year-old exiled king of Afghanistan, Mohammed Zahir Shah
Mohammed Zahir Shah
Mohammed Zahir Shah was the last King of Afghanistan, reigning for four decades, from 1933 until he was ousted by a coup in 1973...

, returns.
April 18: Tarnak Farm incident
Tarnak Farm incident
The Tarnak Farm incident refers to the killing of four Canadian soldiers and the injury of eight others from the Third Battalion of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry on the night of April 17, 2002, by an American F-16 fighter jet. The aircraft, piloted by U.S...

leaves four Canadians dead from friendly fire
Friendly fire
Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...

.
June 11: King Zahir Shah opens the first post-Taliban loya jirga.
July 1: In Uruzgan province, a US AC-130 gunship struck a wedding party, killing 48 civilians and injuring 117. The United States claimed their plane had come under attack from anti-aircraft fire before the strike.
July 6: Vice President Abdul Qadir
Abdul Qadir (Afghan leader)
Hajji Abdul Qadir Arsala was a former anti-Taliban leader in the United Islamic Front in Afghanistan...

assassinated in Kabul.
September 5: 2002 Kabul bombing
2002 Kabul bombing
The 2002 Kabul bombing was a car bomb explosion that killed 30 people and wounded 167 on September 5, 2002, in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan....

kills 30 people.
- Assailants try to kill Hamid Karzai.

2003

August 11 – NATO officially takes command of peacekeeping in Afghanistan.
December 14 – 2003 loya jirga
2003 Loya jirga
A 502-delegate loya jirga convened in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 14, 2003, to consider the proposed Afghan Constitution. Originally planned to last ten days, the assembly did not endorse the charter until January 4, 2004. As has been generally the case with these assemblies, the endorsement...

convened to consider the proposed Afghan Constitution
Constitution of Afghanistan
The Constitution of Afghanistan is the supreme law of the state Afghanistan, which serves as the legal framework between the Afghan government and the Afghan citizens...

.

2004

January 4 – Constitution approved by loya jirga.
January 26 – Constitution signed by President Hamid Karzai.
October 9 – Afghan presidential election, 2004. In the country’s first direct election, Hamid Karzai wins the presidency with 55.4% of the vote.

2005

June 28: Operation Red Wing
Operation Red Wing
Operation Red Wings was a failed counter-insurgent mission in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, involving four members of the United States Navy SEALs, which took place on June 28, 2005....

results in the death of 19 Americans and many Taliban fighters.
September 18: Afghan parliamentary election, 2005
Afghan parliamentary election, 2005
Afghanistan held parliamentary and provincial council elections on 18 September 2005. The first results were declared on 9 October, with final results being delayed by accusations of fraud, and were finally announced on 12 November.-Results:...

.

2006

January 13: Damadola airstrike
Damadola airstrike
On 13 January 2006 the Central Intelligence Agency fired missiles into the Pakistani village of Damadola in the Bajaur tribal area, about seven kilometres from the Afghan border, killing at least 18 people. Originally the Bajaur tribal area government claimed that at least four foreign members...

by US in Pakistan.
February 1: The Afghanistan Compact
Afghanistan Compact
The Afghanistan Compact was the outcome of the London Conference on Afghanistan in 2006. It was the result of consultations of the government of Afghanistan with the United Nations and the international community and established the framework for international cooperation with Afghanistan for the...

is developed, establishing a framework of international cooperation with Afghanistan.
March 29: Battle of Lashkagar
Battle of Lashkagar
The Friendly Fire incident at Sangin was a military incident that took place on March 29, 2006. Afghan militants mounted an assault on a forward operating base in Helmand province near the town of Lashkagar, which had been opened only six weeks earlier and was staffed by 100 ANA soldiers and...

. Taliban fighters attack a NATO base.
May 15: Operation Mountain Thrust
Operation Mountain Thrust
Operation Mountain Thrust was a Canadian and Afghan-led operation in the war in Afghanistan, with more than 2,300 U.S., 3,300 British troops, 2,200 Canadian troops, about 3,500 Afghan soldiers and large air support...

is launched, the largest offensive since the fall of the Taliban.
July: Battle of Panjwaii
Battle of Panjwaii
The Battle of Panjwaii was a battle fought during two periods in the summer of 2006, primarily involving Canadian and Afghan soldiers being supported with some small elements of the Dutch, American, and British forces. There were two separate times in which the forces were involved in heavy...

between Canadian NATO forces and the Taliban.
September 2: Canadians launch Operation Medusa
Operation Medusa
Operation Medusa was a Canadian-led offensive by major elements of the International Security Assistance Force, Afghan National Army and an A-Team from the 3rd Special Forces Group, as part of the ongoing war in Afghanistan. It aimed to establish government control over an area of Kandahar...

.
September 16: Operation Mountain Fury
Operation Mountain Fury
Operation Mountain Fury was a NATO-led operation begun on September 16, 2006 as a follow up operation to Operation Medusa, to clear Taliban rebels from the eastern provinces of Afghanistan...

.

2007

February 27: 2007 Bagram Air Base bombing
2007 Bagram Air Base bombing
The 2007 Bagram Airfield bombing was a suicide attack that killed up to 23 people and injured 20 more at the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, while Dick Cheney, the Vice President of the United States, was visiting...

during US Vice President Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....

’s visit.
March 4: Afghan civilians killed by U.S. troops in Shinwar.
March 6: Operation Achilles
Operation Achilles
Operation Achilles was a NATO operation, part of the war in Afghanistan. Its objective was to clear the Helmand province of the Taliban. The operation began on March 6 of 2007 and the offensive was the largest NATO based operation ever held in Afghanistan to date...

against the Taliban in Helmand Province
Helmand Province
Helmand is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the southwest of the country. Its capital is Lashkar Gah. The Helmand River flows through the mainly desert region, providing water for irrigation....

.
May 12: Mullah Dadullah
Mullah Dadullah
Maulavi or Mullah Dadullah or Dadullah Akhund was the Taliban's senior military commander until his death by U.S and U.K special ops in 2007. He was an ethnic Pashtun from the Kakar tribe of Kalai-Kakaran village in Uruzgan province of Afghanistan...

killed.
May 13: Afghanistan–Pakistan Skirmishes.
June 15: Battle of Chora
Battle of Chora
The Battle of Chora took place in and around the town of Chora , in Afghanistan's Orūzgān Province, during June 15–19, 2007. The fighting was between ISAF and Afghan forces on one side and Taliban forces on the other for the control of the Chora District center, regarded by the Taliban as a...

begins.
June 28: The Hyderabad airstrike
Hyderabad airstrike
Hyderabad airstrike refers to the killing of a large number of Afghan civilians including women and children in the village of Hyderabad, Gerishk District, Helmand province, Afghanistan on June 28, 2007....

kills a large number of civilians including women and children.
July 19: 2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan
2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan
The 2007 South Korean hostage crisis in Afghanistan began on July 19, 2007, when 23 South Korean missionaries were captured and held hostage by members of the Taliban while passing through Ghazni Province of Afghanistan. Two male hostages were executed before the deal was reached between the...

begins.
August 16: Nangar Khel massacre - Eight civilians including a pregnant women and a baby died when Polish soldiers shelled the village of Nangar Khel. Seven soldiers have been charged with war crimes.
November 6: 2007 Baghlan sugar factory bombing
2007 Baghlan sugar factory bombing
The 2007 Baghlan sugar factory bombing occurred on November 6, 2007 when a bomb exploded in the centre of Baghlan, Afghanistan, while a delegation of parliamentarians was visiting, killing dozens including several lawmakers.- The event :...

kills 75, including six Afghan MPs.
December 7: Battle of Musa Qala
Battle of Musa Qala
The Battle of Musa Qala was a military action in Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, launched by the Afghan National Army and the International Security Assistance Force against the Taliban on 7 December 2007. After three days of intense fighting, the Taliban retreated into the mountains on...

, a major clash in Helmand Province.

2008

January 14: The 2008 Kabul Serena Hotel attack
2008 Kabul Serena Hotel attack
The 2008 Kabul Serena Hotel attack was an attack on the gym of the Kabul Serena Hotel, in Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, January 14, 2008 for which the Taliban claimed responsibility....

leaves six people dead.
February 17: 2008 Kandahar bombing
2008 Kandahar bombing
The 2008 Kandahar bombing of February 17, 2008 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, was an attack targeting a crowd of people watching a dog-fighting competition. With more than 100 killed, it was the deadliest attack on Afghan soil since 2001....

kills 100 people, the deadliest suicide bombing of the war.
June 10: Gora Prai airstrike
Gora Prai airstrike
The Gora Prai airstrike was an airstrike by the United States that resulted in the deaths of 11 paramilitary troops of the Pakistan Army Frontier Corps and 8 Taliban fighters in Pakistan's tribal areas...

in Pakistan kills 11 Pakistani paramilitary troops.
June 13: Sarposa Prison attack
Sarposa Prison attack
The Sarposa Prison attack was a raid on the Sarposa Prison in Kandahar, Afghanistan by Taliban insurgents on June 13, 2008. One of the largest attacks by Afghan insurgents, the raid freed 400-1000 prisoners...

. Taliban attack the Sarposa Prison, freeing up to 1,000 prisoners.
July 6: Deh Bala wedding party bombing
Deh Bala wedding party bombing
- Investigation :An investigation ordered by President Karzai and led by a nine-man commission of the senate found that 47 civilians including the bride had been killed, this was also confirmed by human rights officials....

. 47 civilians mostly women and children killed in Nangarhar province.
July 7: The 2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul
2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul
The 2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul was a suicide bomb terror attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on 7 July 2008 at 8:30 AM local time. The bombing killed 58 people and wounded 141. The suicide car bombing took place near the gates of the embassy during morning hours when...

kills 58, including four Indians. India blames Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...

for the attack.
July 13: Battle of Wanat
Battle of Wanat
The Battle of Wanat occurred on July 13, 2008, when about 200 Taliban guerrillas attacked NATO troops near the village of Wanat in the Waygal district in Afghanistan's far eastern province of Nuristan. The position was defended primarily by U.S...

. Taliban fighters attack a NATO base, killing nine American soldiers.
August 19: The Taliban kill 10 French soldiers in the Uzbin valley ambush
Uzbin Valley ambush
The Uzbin Valley ambush occurred when ISAF troops were ambushed by Afghan militants in eastern Afghanistan on 18 August 2008. It took place outside the village of Spēṟ Kunday, of the Surobi District of Kabul province and resulted in heavy casualties to the French ISAF contingent.A NATO report of...

.
August 22: Azizabad airstrike
Azizabad airstrike
The Azizabad airstrike took place on Friday 22 August 2008 in the village of Azizabad which is located in Shindand district, Herat Province, Afghanistan...

kills up to 90 Afghan civilians.
August 27: Operation Eagle's Summit
Operation Eagle's Summit
Operation Eagle's Summit was a military operation conducted by ISAF and Afghan National Army troops, with the objective of transporting a 220-tonne turbine to the Kajaki dam in Helmand province through territory controlled by Taliban insurgents...

begins in Helmand Province.
September: United States-Pakistan skirmishes
United States-Pakistan skirmishes
The United States and Pakistan have been engaged in several cross-border military confrontations and skirmishes along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. These incidents have involved the U.S. military and NATO-led ISAF forces, who have been present in Afghanistan fighting the War on Terror since...

.
September 3: Angoor Ada raid
Angoor Ada raid
The Angoor Ada raid was a covert raid conducted by U.S. Army Special Forces against Taliban fighters on September 3, 2008, within the border town of Angoor Ada in South Waziristan. It was the first time U.S. troops fought a ground-based battle against the Taliban within Pakistani borders...

by US special forces into Pakistan.
November 3: Wech Baghtu wedding party attack
Wech Baghtu wedding party attack
Wech Baghtu wedding party attack refers to the killing of a large number of Afghan civilians mostly women and children who had gathered to celebrate a wedding when coming under attack by US warplanes dropping bombs on a housing complex in the village of Wech Baghtu, Shah Wali Kot District of...

kills 37 civilians mostly women and children.
December 19: US vows to send 3,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

2009

February 11: February 2009 Kabul raids
February 2009 Kabul raids
The February 2009 Kabul raids were a series of strikes by the Taliban against Afghan government targets in Kabul, Afghanistan on February 11, 2009. The attacks killed 21 and injured 57...
May 4: The Granai airstrike
Granai airstrike
The Granai airstrike, sometimes called the Granai massacre, refers to the killing of a large number of Afghan civilians, mostly children, and including women, by American aircraft on May 4, 2009, in the village of Granai in Farah Province, south of Herat, Afghanistan...

resulted in one of the highest civilian death tolls from Western military action since foreign forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001.
July 2: Operation Khanjar begins
September 4: NATO planes attacks two fuel tankers
Kunduz airstrike
The Kunduz airstrike took place on Friday 4 September 2009 at roughly 2:30 am local time, southwest of Kunduz City, Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan, near the hamlets of Omar Kheil by the border of the Chahar Dara and Ali Abad districts...

, which had been hijacked by Taliban insurgents. Up to 142 people died in the attack, including over 100 Afghan civilian victims.
December 1: U.S. President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

announces Afghanistan War troop surge of 2009.
December 29: 10 Afghan civilians mostly school children killed by special operation forces in the botched Narang night raid
Narang night raid
The Narang night raid was a raid on a household in the village of Ghazi Khan in the early morning hours of December 27, 2009. The operation was authorized by NATO and resulted in the death of ten Afghan civilians, most of whom were underage...

.

2010

February 12: Five innocent civilians including two pregnant women and a teenage girl killed in the botched Khataba raid
Khataba raid
The Khataba raid was an incident in the War in Afghanistan in which five civilians, including two pregnant women and a teenage girl, were killed by U.S. forces on February 12, 2010. All were shot when U.S. Special Forces raided a house in Khataba village, outside the city of Gardez, where dozens of...

.
February 21: Uruzgan helicopter attack
Uruzgan helicopter attack
Uruzgan helicopter attack refers to the killing of a large number of Afghan civilians including four women and one child, another 12 were wounded...

kills 27-33 civilians including four women a child in Uruzgan province.
Spring: Operation Moshtarak Phase I is led by US Marines to retake Marjah, in Helmand Province, from the Taliban.
Spring-Summer: U.S. Surge to Afghanistan sees its peak, as 20,000 soldiers are deployed to the south
June 23: General Stanley A. McChrystal
Stanley A. McChrystal
Stanley Allen McChrystal is a retired four-star general in the United States Army. His last assignment was as Commander, International Security Assistance Force and Commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan...

, commander of the ISAF, resigns after controversial comments critical of the Obama administration were published in a magazine.
July 23: The Sangin airstrike
Sangin airstrike
Sangin airstrike refers to the killing of a large number of Afghan civilians many of whom were women and children, in the village of Sangin in Helmand province Afghanistan on July 23, 2010....

kills a large number of Afghan civilians mostly women and children in Nangarhar province.
July 25: Wikileaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...

releases 90,000 leaked documents pertaining to the war in Afghanistan.
September 18: Afghan Parliamentary Elections are held, widely criticized as fraudulent, although with notable instances of electoral institution impartiality.
Fall: Operation Moshtarak Phases II and III are held in Kandahar, driving the Taliban out of traditional safe-havens
Fall: Command of Regional Command South rotates from British to American command.

2011

January 26: The Afghan National Assembly is inaugurated.
May 1: The number one Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is killed by U.S. Navy SEALs
United States Navy SEALs
The United States Navy's Sea, Air and Land Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's principal special operations force and a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command as well as the maritime component of the United States Special Operations Command.The acronym is derived from their...

in Abbottabad, Pakistan, just miles from Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...

.
August 6: A CH-47 Chinook helicopter transporting 30 U.S soldiers (including 17 Navy SEALs), 1 civilian interpreter and 7 Afghan troops is shot down in Wardak Province
Wardak Province
Maidan Wardak Province is one of thirty four provinces of Afghanistan located in the central east region of Afghanistan. It has a population of approximately 540,100. The capital of the province is Maidan Shar...

by RPG-wielding Taliban insurgents. There were no survivors of the crash. This incident marks the deadliest day for U.S. Forces in Afghanistan since the invasion in 2001.
August 11: Vengeance is exacted on the 11 Taliban militants involved in downing the CH-47 Chinook, who are killed in an F-16 airstrike. Meanwhile, five ISAF service members die following an improvised explosive device attack in the southern provinces.