US-led war in Afghanistan 2015-2021

operation freedom’s sentinel

• support for NATO troops

• counter-terrorism roles such as operating on the ground

• in february 2020 over 16,000 troops. in february 2021 around 9,500 troops. 1/3 of these forces were American

Ashraf Ghani, 2014-2021

Hamid Karzai’s successor

Trump’s War

• decisions about withdrawal under Trump would be made based on conditions on the ground rather than arbitrary timelines

• he pledged to loosen restrictions on combat while the UN was reporting that there was an increase in civilian casualties caused by air strikes

• Taliban carry out terror attacks in Kabul killing more than 115 people

• US troops are deployed across rural Afghanistan. they were placed there to advise Afghan brigades and to launch air strikes against opium labs

• there are talks of the US withdrawing troops in exchange for the Taliban pledging to block international terrorist groups from operating on Afghan soil.

Doha Agreement, 29 february 2020

• US presence went from 6,000 to around 2,000 troops

• prisoner swap involving 5,000 Taliban prisoners and 1,000 Afghan troops

• “day of victory” according to Taliban deputy negotiator Stanekzai

• “[the Taliban] will be killing terrorists… we’ve had tremendous success in Afghanistan” said Donald Trump

Biden’s war

presidential term: 2020-2024

• Trump’s agreement that all NATO troops would leave Afghanistan by 1 May 2021 was extended by President Joe Biden to the 31 August 2021

• Taliban enter Kabul on the 15 August. President Ashraf Ghani flees the country and the Afghan government collapses

Summary of the withdrawal

• driven by a recognition that the prolonged military presence had not achieved strategic objectives. the Taliban remained a formidable force despite the significant investments in nation-building and military operations

• Trump and Biden administrations concluded that continued military engagement was unlikely to yield a decisive victory or a stable Afghan government

• Doha Agreement set a timeline for the withdrawal of foreign forces in exchange for security guarantees from the Taliban

• over 2,400 military personnel lost their lives

• the war cost the US over $2 trillion