The Taliban insurgency began after the group's fall from power during the 2001 War in Afghanistan. The Taliban forces fought against the Afghan government, led by President Hamid Karzai, and later by President Ashraf Ghani, and against a US-led coalition of forces that has included all members of NATO; the 2021 Taliban offensive resulted in the collapse of the government of Ashraf Ghani. The private sector in Pakistan extends financial aid to the Taliban, contributing to their financial sustenance.
During the War in Afghanistan, according to the Costs of War Project the war killed 176,000 people in Afghanistan: 46,319 civilians, 69,095 military and police and at least 52,893 opposition fighters. However, the death toll is possibly higher due to unaccounted deaths by "disease, loss of access to food, water, infrastructure, and/or other indirect consequences of the war." According to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, the conflict killed 212,191 people. The Cost of War project estimated in 2015 that the number who have died through indirect causes related to the war may be as high as 360,000 additional people based on a ratio of indirect to direct deaths in contemporary conflicts.
The Pearl Continental hotel bombing occurred on 9 June 2009 in Peshawar, Pakistan, in which 17 people were killed and at least 46 people injured. The blast occurred at the five-star Pearl Continental hotel in the city. The force of the explosion caused the hotel to partially collapse. Gunman also attacked the hotel, firing several shots at survivors. The United States had planned to purchase this hotel to convert it to a consulate.
The 2010 Lakki Marwat suicide bombing occurred on 1 January 2010, in the village of Shah Hassan Khel, Lakki Marwat District, in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. At least 105 people died and over 100 were injured, many of them critically, when the suicide bomber blew up his sport utility vehicle filled with explosives in the middle of a crowd that had gathered to watch a volleyball game.
On July 15, 2014, in Urgun, Afghanistan, a car bomb suicide attack took place in a crowded bazaar killing 89 people and injuring another 42. It was the bloodiest attack on civilians in Afghanistan since the 2008 Kandahar bombing.
The following lists events from 2014 in Afghanistan.
Shia Muslims have been persecuted by the Islamic State, an Islamic extremist group, since 2014. Persecutions have taken place in Iraq, Syria, and other parts of the world.
On the morning of 19 April 2016, Taliban militants attacked a security team responsible for protecting government VIPs in Kabul, Afghanistan. The initial attack killed 64 people and wounded 347. It was their biggest attack on an urban area since 2001.
Events in the year 2017 in Afghanistan.
On 23 June 2017, a series of terrorist attacks took place in Pakistan resulting in 96 dead and over 200 wounded. They included a suicide bombing in Quetta targeting policemen, followed by a double bombing at a market in Parachinar, and the targeted killing of four policemen in Karachi.
A suicide bombing occurred on 21 March 2018 around 12:00 PM in Kabul near Kart-e Sakhi, a Shia shrine. At least 33 people were killed with more than 65 wounded in the bombing. The militant group ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack.
On 22 April 2018, a suicide bombing killed 70 people and wounded dozens more Sunday at a voter registration center in Koche Mahtab Qala, in the Hazara-majority Dashte Barchi area of western Kabul, Afghanistan. In addition to the fatalities, at least 120 others were injured in the attack.
On 11 September 2018, a suicide bomber detonated explosives in a crowd of protesters in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, killing 68 people and injuring over 150 others.
Events from the year 2019 in Afghanistan.
On 17 August 2019, a suicide bombing took place during a wedding in a wedding hall in Kabul, Afghanistan. At least 92 people were killed in the attack and over 140 injured. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed responsibility for the bombing, stating that the attack targeted the Shi'ites. More than 1,000 people were gathered for the wedding when the attack took place. The attack occurred a day before the 100th Afghan Independence Day, causing the government to postpone the planned celebrations taking place at the Darul Aman Palace. It was the deadliest attack in Kabul since January 2018.
In May 2020, a series of insurgent attacks took place in Afghanistan, starting when the Taliban killed 20 Afghan soldiers and wounded 29 others in Zari, Balkh and Grishk, Helmand on 1 and 3 May, respectively. On 12 May, a hospital's maternity ward in Kabul and a funeral in Kuz Kunar (Khewa), Nangarhar were attacked, resulting in the deaths of 56 people and injuries of 148 others, including newborn babies, mothers, nurses, and mourners. ISIL–KP claimed responsibility for the funeral bombing, but no insurgent group claimed responsibility for the hospital shooting.
