Afghanistan War: Map of the Middle East
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Afghanistan War
George W Bush was
the 43rd American President who served in office from January 20, 2001 to January 20, 2009. One of the important events during his presidency was the
start of the Afghanistan War. The 13 year conflict in
Afghanistan was the longest war ever fought by the
United States and continued during the presidency of
Barack Obama.
Afghanistan War Facts: Fast Fact Sheet
Fast, fun facts and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
about the
Afghanistan War.
What started the Afghanistan War? The
Afghanistan War started on October 7,
2001 in response to the 9/11 terror attacks.
What was the reason the Afghanistan War?
The goal was to oust the Taliban regime in
Afghanistan for harboring Al-Qaeda
terrorists, including Osama bin Laden.
Who was involved in the Afghanistan War?
The United States and Great Britain Afghanistan War
began the air attacks and were joined by
NATO forces.
When did the Afghanistan War end?
The Afghanistan War officially ended NATO
ended combat operations on December 28,
2014.
Continuation of the
Afghanistan War:
The War in Afghanistan (2015 - Present)
continues due to
the resilience of the Taliban and its
support from terrorist organizations such as
the Islamic State (IS).
Afghanistan War
Facts for kids
The history of the was
is detailed in two sections. The Background History fact sheets
provides information about the lead up to the conflict which helps
to understand the events of the war. The following fact
sheet contains interesting facts and information on
the Background history of the Afghanistan War
for kids.
Afghanistan
War
Facts for kids: Background History
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 1: Background
History: The Soviet-Afghan War (December 25, 1979 –
February 15, 1989) began when the Soviets invaded
Afghanistan in 1979. The Soviets installed an Afghan
Communist government which led to the emergence of
different factions of anti-communist Muslim Afghan
fighters who opposed the Soviet occupation of
Afghanistan.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
2: In 1979 the
Taliban, a group of Sunni Muslims and one of the Mujahideen
factions meaning "those engaged in jihad", was formed
during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Members of
the Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist political
movement, practice Wahhabism, which is considered to be
the most extreme form of Islam, the religion of Muslims.
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 3: After the
Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989 Mujahideen forces, led by
Ahmed Shah Massoud ousted the Soviet-backed government of Mohammad
Najibullah, starting the Afghan Civil War as different factions
fought to gain power in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 4: The
Taliban were supported by many Afghan refugees from Pakistan and
attracted the support of Osama bin Laden and his
Al-Qaeda organization. Al-Qaeda
subsequently established bases and terrorist training camps in
Afghanistan.
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 5: In
September 1996 the Taliban, under the leadership of Mullah Muhammad
Omar, assumed power in Southern and Central Afghanistan and
implemented an extreme version of Islamic law (Sharia) and targeted
several ethnic groups including the Uzbek, Tajik, and Hazara
minorities. .
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 6: The Northern Alliance (formally known as the
National Islamic United Front for the Salvation of
Afghanistan), led by Ahmad Shah Massoud, fought to
oppose the Taliban's use of indiscriminate violence and
the repression of minority Afghan groups.
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 7: The Taliban gained increasing recognition,
power, and support and by 1997, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia
and the United Arab Emirates recognized the Taliban as
the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 8: In 1998 Osama Bin Laden published a Fatwah
(death sentence)
against American civilians and the bombing at U.S. embassies in Kenya
and Tanzania followed. The terrorist attacks killed more than 200
people and were perpetrated by Al-Qaeda.
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 9: In 1998
multi-millionaire Osama Bin Laden also made the chilling
declaration that it was his Islamic duty to acquire
weapons of mass destruction (WDM's) - nuclear,
biological and chemical weapons - to overthrow apostate
regimes throughout the Islamic world and to launch
attacks on the United States and its allies in the
western world.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
10: The FBI subsequently placed Osama bin Laden on
its ten most-wanted fugitives list and in President
Clinton ordered cruise missile attacks against Osama Bin Laden’s
training camps in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 11: In 2000 the US demanded that Osama bin Laden to be extradited from
Afghanistan to stand trial for the US embassy bombings.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
12: The Taliban
refused the extradition request and the
United Nations
(UN) punished Afghanistan with sanctions that restricted
economic development and trade.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
13: The Taliban
continued to pressure the Northern Alliance, often with
the aid of Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda
organization who were making coordinated plans to strike
at the heart of the Northern Alliance and wreak havoc,
terror and devastation in the United States.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
14: Their plans began
to unfold when, on September 9, 2001, Ahmad Shah Massoud,
the Northern Alliance leader, was killed - it was just
two days the
9/11 terror attacks on the United States.
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 15:
The 9/11 terrorist attacks: On 11 September, 2001
members of Al Qaeda attacked the United States hijacking four planes
that were smashed into the World
Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, and a field in
Pennsylvania. The 9/11 terrorist attacks shocked the world and were
worst ever attacks on the US homeland, killing over 3000 people.
Continued...
Afghanistan
War
Facts for kids: Background History
Facts
about the Afghanistan War for kids (2001 - 2014)
The following fact
sheet continues with facts about the Events of the Afghanistan War for kids.
Afghanistan
War
Facts for kids (2001 - 2014)
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 16:
President George H Bush
began the 'War on Terror'
demanding the extradition of Osama bin Laden. The
Taliban refused. The Afghanistan War
and Operation Enduring Freedom started on October 7, 2001 in response to the 9/11 terrorist
attacks by Al-Qaeda, with US and British bombing campaign on the
Taliban's military forces and the Al-Qaeda training camps.
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 17: Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden
began releasing a series of audio and video tapes to the Al-Jazeera
TV station, a Doha-based Arabic news and current affairs satellite
TV channel in Qatar. Copies of the tapes were acquired by other TV
networks and shown across the world.
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 18: On December 5, 2001 Afghan
groups agreed a deal in the Bonn Agreement laid the foundation for
U.S. and NATO-backed state-building efforts in Afghanistan the
Afghan Constitution Commission was established to draft a new
constitution
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 19: The Afghan Northern Alliance
then launched a massive ground attack on the Taliban. The U.S. and
its allies believed that Osama bin Laden was hiding in the mountains
at Tora Bora and fought the Battle of Tora Bora from December 6,
2001 to December 17, 2001.
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 20: After tracking Osama bin Laden
to the well-equipped, multi-storied, Tora Bora cave complex the
Al-Qaeda leader managed to escape into Pakistan on December 16, 2001
and disappeared for the next nine and a half years.
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 21: By the end of December
2001 the Taliban regime collapsed when the Taliban surrender
Kandahar and their leader, Mullah Omar, fled from the city
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 22: The United States and its allies
supported the Northern Alliance with financial help and
aided them with forming a new government following the
assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud.
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 23: Thousands of US
and allied troops arrived in Afghanistan to act as
peacemakers and to search for Osama Bin Laden and his
Al-Qaeda terrorists.
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 24: By March 2002 the
Northern Alliance forces had fought their way south and
the Taliban and Al-Qaida retreated towards the
mountainous border region between Afghanistan and
Pakistan and the US launched Operation Anaconda as
Operation Enduring Freedom came to an end.
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 25: Operation Anaconda
(March 1–18, 2002) took place high in the Arma
Mountains and in the Shahi-Kot Valley as US forces
attempted to destroy Al-Qaeda and Taliban forces.
Operation Anaconda was beset with problems from the
outset as US Forces mistakenly landed in the middle of
the valley, instead of the outside and were immediately
caught in ambushes in the Taliban's killing zone.
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 26: On April 15, 2002
Osama bin Laden appears on a video tape to take credit
for the September 11 attacks saying "Our terrorism
against the United States is worthy of praise to deter
the oppressor..."
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 27: In March 2003 the
Iraq War
(20 March 2003 – 18 December 2011) erupted as the US
launched a "shock and awe" bombing campaign the
government of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. It was also
believed that Saddam Hussein was harboring and
supporting Al-Qaeda in Iraq, raising further fears of
Al-Qaeda's intent on-going intent to acquire weapons of
mass destruction (WMDs).
Afghanistan
War
Facts - 28:
On August 9, 2003 NATO assumed responsibility for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
mission. One part of U.S. forces operated under NATO
command and the remainder under direct U.S. command.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
29: The Taliban and
Al-Qaeda focused on rebuilding its forces and the
Taliban insurgency began, funded, trained and
organized from Pakistan.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
30: In October 2004
Hamid Karzai won the country’s landmark election and
declared the Afghan president, with 55.4% of the vote.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
31: The number of ISAF
troops grows from an initial 5000 to about 65,000
troops from forty-two countries, including all
twenty-eight NATO member states.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
32: In 2005, just days
before George W. Bush wins reelection, Osama bin Laden
resurfaced, via a video tape recording, taunting
the Bush administration about the war and taking
responsibility for the 9/11 terror attacks. Violence and
suicide terror attacks increased across the country as
the resurgence continues.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
33: In 2006 fierce
fighting erupts as the allied forces try to extend
government control in areas where Taliban influence is
strong.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
34: The 2006 Riga NATO
summit took place in Latvia on December 1, 2006 was
marked by bitter divisions among member states on troop
commitments to the War in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
35: On February 27,
2007 a suicide bomber killed 23 people outside Bagram
Airfield in Afghanistan during a visit by US Vice
President Dick Cheney. The Taliban claimed
responsibility for the attack, that Cheney was its
intended target, and that Osama Bin Laden supervised the
operation.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
36: On May 15, 2007
Mullah Dadullah, the Taliban’s most senior military
leader, was killed during fighting in the south in a
joint operation in the war by Afghan, US, and NATO
forces in the south of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
37: In September 2008
President Bush sent extra US troops to fight in the War
in Afghanistan, in a move he described as a "quiet
surge".
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
38: When President
Barack Obama entered office in January, 2009 there were
34,400 U.S. military forces in Afghanistan. US military
commanders requested more US forces to end the war in
Iraq and re-focus the fight in the Afghanistan War.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
39: In February 2010
Nato-led forces launched a major offensive in the war
called Operation Moshtarak, in bid to secure government
control of southern Helmand province.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
40: 2011 witnessed the
Death of Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden who
was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011 by United States Navy SEALs
when they overtook a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
41: U.S. troop levels
in the Afghanistan War eventually peaked at 100,000 in
August 2010 but President Obama had placed a deadline of
July, 2011 as the beginning of the draw-down of US
forces in the war. By the end of 2012 the number of US
troop levels had returned to pre-surge levels of 68,000.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
42: In February, 2013
President Obama announced in his State of the Union
address that the size of the U.S. forces engaged in the
war would be reduced by half in 2014.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
43:
After 13 years of war the United States and Britain
officially ended their combat operation in Afghanistan
on October 26, 2014 and NATO ended combat operations on
December 28, 2014.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
44: Over the course of
the War in Afghanistan 831,576 US service members served
at least one tour of duty in Afghanistan. 2,184 American
service members were killed in the war and 19,600 were
wounded. The Afghanistan war cost the United States
$537.8 billion.
Continuation
of the War in Afghanistan
War
(2015 - Present)
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
45: The unexpected
resilience of the Taliban and the emergence of the
Islamic
State (IS) left insurgents in control of much of
the territory.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
46: In January 2015
the NATO-led follow-on Resolute Support Mission (RSM)
began with some 12,000 personnel to provide further
training and support for Afghan security forces.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
47: In March 2015, in
a significant change in direction,
President Barack Obama announced that the United States
would delay its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan,
following a request from Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. The
2015 War
in Afghanistan had begun.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
48: In May 2015
Taliban representatives and Afghan officials hold
informal peace talks in Qatar but the Taliban insisted
they will not stop fighting until all foreign troops
leave the country and implementation of Sharia, or
Islamic law.
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
49: Clandestine U.S.
"counterterrorism units" operating in Afghanistan have
been brought in under the new command umbrella. The new
group is known as the Special Operations Joint Task
Force-Afghanistan (SOJTF-A) consisting of elements of
American, NATO and Afghan special operations under a
single organization
Afghanistan
War
Facts -
50: American raids
against Islamist militants increased and thousands of
U.S. soldiers continue to patrol Afghanistan
against the new Taliban offensive. The Taliban controls
more territory in 2016 than when it was ousted from
power in 2001.
Continuation
of the War in Afghanistan
War
(2015 - Present)
Afghanistan War - President George W Bush Video
The article on the
Afghanistan War provides detailed facts and a summary of one of the important events during his presidential term in office. The following
George W Bush video will
give you additional important facts and dates about his presidency.
Afghanistan War for kids
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Interesting Facts about Afghanistan War for kids and schools
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Summary of the Afghanistan War in US history
●
Afghanistan War of important, key
events
● The War in Afghanistan
●
Fast, fun facts about the Afghanistan War
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Foreign war policies of President George W Bush and Barack Obama
● The
Afghanistan War for schools,
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