War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
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War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
Date
October 7, 2001–Present
(8 years, 339 days)
Status
Conflict ongoing
Belligerents
Coalition:
-
-
United States – 78,430
-
United Kingdom – 9,500
-
Germany – 4,590
-
France – 3,750
-
Italy – 3,400
-
Canada – 2,830
-
Poland – 2,630
-
Romania – 1,750
-
Turkey – 1,740
-
Spain – 1,555
-
Australia – 1,455
-
-
-
2001 Invasion:
Insurgent groups:
2001 Invasion:
Commanders and leaders
Strength
Casualties and losses
5,500+ killed (Oct 2009)
[14]
Afghan Northern Alliance:
200 killed
[15][16][17][18]
Coalition:
Killed: 1,989
(US: 1,200, UK: 331, Others: 458)[19]
Wounded: 12,523+
(US: 7,819,[20] UK: 4,091,[21][22]Canada: 400+[23], Australia: 126,[24]Romania: 44,[25] Estonia: 43[26])
Contractors:
338 killed,
[27]
2,428 wounded
(March 2007)[28]War in Afghanistan
(2001–present)
The first phase of the war was the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001, when the United States launched Operation Enduring Freedom, to remove the safe haven to Al-Qaeda and its use of the Afghan territory as a base of operations for
terrorist activities. In that first phase, U.S. and coalition forces, working with the Afghan opposition forces of the
Northern Alliance, quickly ousted the
Taliban regime. During the following
Karzai administration, the character of the war shifted to an effort aimed at smothering an insurgency hostile to the US-backed Karzai government, in which the insurgents preferred not to directly confront the
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops, but blended into the local population and mainly used
improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and
suicide bombings.
The stated aim of the invasion was to find
Osama bin Laden and other high-ranking
Al-Qaeda members to be put on trial, to destroy the organization of Al-Qaeda, and to remove the Taliban regime which supported and gave safe harbor to it. The
Bush administrationstated that,
as policy, it would not distinguish between
terrorist organizations and nations or governments that harbored them. The
United Nations did not authorize the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.
[30]Another ongoing operation is the
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which was established by the
UN Security Council at the end of December 2001 to secure
Kabul and the surrounding areas.
NATO assumed control of ISAF in 2003. By July 23, 2009, ISAF had around 64,500 troops from 42 countries, with NATO members providing the core of the force. The NATO commitment is particularly important to the United States because it gives international legitimacy to the war.
[31] The United States has approximately 29,950 troops in ISAF.
The US and UK led the aerial bombing, in support of ground forces supplied primarily by the
Afghan Northern Alliance. In 2002,
American,
British and
Canadian infantry were committed, along with special forces from several allied nations, including
Australia. Later, NATO troops were added.
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