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    US War in Afghanistan

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    waqar

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    US War in Afghanistan

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    waqar
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    20 views2 pages

    US War in Afghanistan

    Uploaded by

    waqar

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    US War in Afghanistan

    1. Introduction
    In response to the September 11, 2001, attacks in the US that killed approximately 3,000 people, then-
    President George W Bush ordered an invasion of Afghanistan. Soon after, the US-led forces toppled the
    Taliban which was in power since 1996. More than 1,000 US soldiers were on the ground at the time,
    with numbers growing and reaching up to more than 10,000 soldiers by December 2003.

    2. Number of US troops in Afghanistan rises


    By 2008, Bush had deployed about 50,000 more US troops to Afghanistan. Barack Obama succeeded
    Bush the following year, when about 68,000 US troops had been deployed in the country. By the end of
    2009, Obama sent another 30,000 to fight al-Qaeda and the Taliban. By 2010, the number of US soldiers
    had swollen to almost 100,000, while the overall number of foreign troops in Afghanistan stood at
    150,000.

    3. Combat mission ends


    In 2011, Obama announced the plan to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan. Three years later, some
    34,000 soldiers were left in the country. The same year, NATO announced it would end its combat
    mission in Afghanistan but would continue to train Afghan soldiers and conducting anti-terrorism
    operations. By 2017, the US troops' level had declined to about 8,400.

    4. Civilian casualties rise


    Civilian casualties meanwhile rose amid a worsening security situation as the Taliban expanded and
    strengthened their military campaign in different parts of the country. As deadly attacks multiplied, new
    President Donald Trump sent 3,000 US troops to Afghanistan. The US also stepped up air raids, resulting
    in a dramatic increase in civilian casualties.

    5. Peace talks initiated, suspended


    In October 2018, U.S. officials and Taliban representatives held their first meeting in Doha. The talks
    continued into the next year for eight rounds. Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special representative for
    Afghanistan, represented Washington in the talks, while co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and
    Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the head of the Taliban's political office in Doha, represented the
    group.

    6. Peace talks suspended


    In September 2019, Trump abruptly suspended the talks with the Taliban following the killing of a US
    soldier. The US president also cancelled planned secret meetings at Camp David with the Taliban and
    the Afghan president, presumably meant to finalize the agreement.

    7. Taliban intensified attacks


    Following the suspension of the talks, the Taliban intensified attacks, with the last quarter of 2019
    becoming one of the bloodiest since the US invasion in 2001.
    8. Peace Talks Resumed
    The US resumed talks with the Taliban in December last year, as Trump aims to end the US's
    involvement in the war before the 2020 presidential election. A weeklong "reduction in violence" (RIV)
    between the Taliban, the US and Afghan security forces took effect on February 22, raising hopes for a
    resolution to the long-running war. On February 29, the US officials and the Taliban representatives
    signed the agreement in Doha.

    9. What is in the peace agreement?


    The peace agreement signed on Saturday has four key elements: a Taliban guarantee that it will not
    allow foreign armed groups to use Afghanistan as a Launchpad to conduct attacks, the complete
    withdrawal of the US-led forces, an intra-Afghan dialogue and a ceasefire. The Taliban had set the
    complete withdrawal of foreign troops as their main demand during the talks while the US insisted on a
    nationwide ceasefire.

    10. Intra-Afghan dialogue


    The US initially tried to get Taliban to talk to the Afghan government but the armed group refused,
    saying the West-backed Kabul administration was a "puppet regime". In July 2019, however, dozens of
    high-profile Afghan politicians and civil society activists, including women, met the Taliban in Doha for a
    two-day intra-Afghan dialogue.

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