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.
Operation Mountain Fury was a NATO-led operation begun on September 16, 2006 as a follow-up operation to Operation Medusa, to clear Taliban insurgents from the eastern provinces of Afghanistan. Another focus of the operation was to enable reconstruction projects such as schools, health-care facilities, and courthouses to take place in the targeted provinces.
The Battle of Maravar Pass was an operation by the 334th Detached Spetsnaz group in the Afghan villages of Sangam and Daridam on April 21, 1985, during the Soviet–Afghan War. Mujahideen forces ambushed the Soviet force in Maravar Gorge, cutting off its 1st company and inflicting heavy casualties. As Soviet reinforcements arrived, the mujahideen covered the civilian evacuation of the gorge and successfully carried out a fighting withdrawal.
Chapa Dara District is situated in the western part of Kunar Province, Afghanistan and borders Nuristan Province. The population is 27,500 (2006). The district consists of a mountainous terrain. The capital of the district is Chapa Dara.
Korangal Valley, also nicknamed "The Valley of Death" is a valley in the Dara-I-Pech District of Kunar Province, eastern Afghanistan.
The Gora Prai airstrike was an airstrike by the United States that resulted in the deaths of 11 paramilitary troops of the Pakistan Army Frontier Corps and 8 Taliban fighters in Pakistan's tribal areas. The attack took place late on June 10, 2008, during clashes between US coalition forces and militants from the Pakistani Taliban.
The Battle of Wanat took place on July 13, 2008, when around 200 Taliban insurgents attacked American troops stationed near Quam, in the Waygal district of Afghanistan's far eastern Nuristan province. The distant position was primarily defended by United States Army soldiers with 2nd Platoon, Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.
Between 7 October 2001 and 30 August 2021, the United States lost a total of 2,459 military personnel in Afghanistan. Of this figure, 1,922 had been killed in action. An additional 20,769 were wounded in action. 18 operatives of the Central Intelligence Agency were also killed during the conflict. Further, there were 1,822 civilian contractor fatalities.
The following addresses the events in Northern Afghanistan between April 2009 and 2014. While this part of the country had long been relatively peaceful compared to the all-out war zones of the south and east, tensions would flare up again in 2008 when the German soldiers deployed to the area came under attack more often, leading to the deaths of the several soldiers. Previously hindered by national caveats, the deteroriating security situation prompted the German-led Regional Command North to launch a series of operations to take on the rising insurgency. Concerted operations began after an insurgent attack on PRT Kunduz within minutes of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's departure from a visit. Within two years, the German presence would be doubled and additional reinforcements from the American ISAF contingent were called in, including heavy German armoured vehicles and US aviation assets, allowing for a more aggressive approach towards the insurgency.
The Battle of Kamdesh took place during the war in Afghanistan. It occurred on October 3, 2009, when a force of 300 Taliban assaulted the American Combat Outpost ("COP") Keating near the town of Kamdesh in Nuristan Province in eastern Afghanistan. The attack was the bloodiest battle for US forces since the Battle of Wanat in July 2008, which occurred 20 miles (32 km) away from Kamdesh. The attack on COP Keating resulted in 8 Americans killed and 27 wounded while the Taliban suffered 150–200 wounded or killed.
Operation Bulldog Bite was a joint US and Afghan counter-insurgent mission in Kunar province, Afghanistan, against Taliban forces that was conducted in November 2010. The operation targeted Taliban havens in the villages of the Watapur District, which lies in the eastern region of the Pech River Valley. The region served as a transit area for Taliban and al Qaeda fighters entering from Pakistan, and is just five miles from the Korangal Valley, an area where US forces had previously shut down combat operations. In 2009, US commanders stated that the valley was strategically insignificant due to its remote location, but the Taliban and al Qaeda would later use the region to launch attacks into neighboring Afghan provinces.
Events from the year 2011 in Afghanistan.
2003 in Afghanistan. A list of notable incidents in Afghanistan during 2003
Observation Post (OP) Bari Alai was a joint Afghan and U.S. observation post located in Eastern Afghanistan in Kunar Province. OP Bari Alai was established in the spring of 2009 by TF Raider and built by members of Marine Embedded Training Team 7–4, following increased attacks against U.S. and Afghan National Army (ANA) forces and civilians transiting north and south along the Konar river valley. OP Bari Alai was named after an ANA soldier who was killed in an IED strike just months before the creation of the OP. The OP was also aimed at providing security to the local district center just below the observation outpost.
The following lists events that happened in 2013 in Afghanistan.
The following lists events that happened during 2016 in Afghanistan.
Events in the year 2017 in Afghanistan.
The town of Sangin, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, was captured by the Taliban on 23 March 2017. For two months, the Taliban had launched fresh attacks in trying to recapture the town.
The Ghazni offensive began on 10 August 2018, when Taliban fighters launched an assault on the city of Ghazni, Afghanistan's sixth largest city and one which has been culturally and strategically important for much of the country's history. The attack resulted in the deaths of hundreds of insurgents, soldiers, police, and civilians. The city also sustained large-scale property damage. The battle, occurring only weeks before Afghanistan's 2018 parliamentary election, was the largest since a three-day truce in June had raised hopes of peace talks.
In May 2020, a series of insurgent attacks took place in Afghanistan, starting with the Taliban killing 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 death 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 maternity ward shooting.
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan 
Taliban