Impact of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)

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The 20-year-long War in Afghanistan had a number of significant impacts on Afghan society.

Contents

Casualties

Victims of the Narang night raid that killed at least 10 Afghan civilians, December 2009 Narang night raid.jpg
Victims of the Narang night raid that killed at least 10 Afghan civilians, December 2009
Gathering outside Afghan embassy in Tehran to condemn the 2021 Kabul school bombing 14000221001032637563654097188712 tjm` dnshjwyn dr mHkhwmyt Hmlh trwrysty khbl.jpg
Gathering outside Afghan embassy in Tehran to condemn the 2021 Kabul school bombing

According to the Costs of War Project at Brown University, the war killed 46,319 Afghan civilians in Afghanistan. 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". [1] A report titled Body Count put together by Physicians for Social Responsibility, Physicians for Global Survival and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) concluded that 106,000–170,000 civilians have been killed as a result of the fighting in Afghanistan at the hands of all parties to the conflict. [2]

The majority of civilian casualties were attributed to anti-government elements each year, though the figure varied from 61% to 80%, with the average hovering around 75% due to the Taliban and other anti-government elements. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) started publishing civilian casualty figures in 2008. These figures attribute approximately 41% of civilian casualties to government aligned forces in 2008; this percentage lowers to approximately 18% in 2015. [8]

Civilian deaths caused by non-Afghan Coalition forces were low later in the war after most foreign troops were withdrawn and the coalition shifted to airstrikes. For example, in 2015 pro-government forces caused 17% of civilian deaths and injuries – including United States and NATO troops, which were responsible for only 2% of the casualties. [9] 2016 had a similar 2% figure. Civilian deaths were higher as well in the latter part of the war, with 2015 and 2016 both consecutively breaking the record of annual civilian deaths according to the UN. [10]

Following the overthrow of the Taliban government in 2001, many Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters fled to Pakistan. In 2004, an armed conflict began in North-West Pakistan between the Pakistan Armed Forces and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, al-Qaeda, and other allied groups. The conflict killed 67,000 people in total from 2001 to 2021, according to the Costs of War Project. [1] [8]

Costs

The Pentagon's near-final estimate of the cost of the war in Afghanistan, including reconstruction, was $825 billion. This was provided in its 2020 year-end "Cost of War Report." [11] Another estimate that was recognized by US President Joe Biden put the costs at over $2 trillion. [12] As of 2013, the UK's contribution to the war in Afghanistan came to £37 billion ($56.46 billion). [13] For years, US officials had considered the cost of the war while discussing when to draw down troops. [14] In 2011, for example, the average cost of deploying a US soldier in Afghanistan exceeded US$1 million a year. [15] In March 2013, Linda Bilmes at Harvard Kennedy School estimated that the long-term costs of the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq would come to total at least US$4 to $6 trillion, with a significant portion of the cost due to disability for veterans and interest payments on debt through to 2050. [16] [17] As of 2021, Brown University estimates that the war in Afghanistan has already cost $2.261 trillion, out of which $530 billion has been spent on interest payments and $296 billion has been spent on veterans' care. [1]

Inefficient aid

Corruption and inefficiency resulted in significant amounts of international aid not reaching their intended targets. In the first decade of the war, the United States lost between $31 and $60 billion to waste and fraud. [18] In the summer of 2013, preparing for withdrawal the following year, the US military destroyed over 77,000 metric tons of equipment and vehicles worth over $7 billion that could not be shipped back to the United States. Some was sold to Afghans as scrap metal. [19] In 2013, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, a US government oversight body, criticized the misuse or waste of hundreds of millions of dollars in US aid, including the $772 million purchase of aircraft for the Afghan military especially since "the Afghans lack the capacity to operate and maintain them". [20]

In interviews conducted for the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction's Lessons Learned Program, one interviewee estimated that 40 percent of US aid to Afghanistan since 2001 ended up in the pockets of corrupt officials, warlords, criminals and insurgents. [21] Ryan Crocker, former ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq, told the investigators in a 2016 interview, "You just cannot put those amounts of money into a very fragile state and society, and not have it fuel corruption." [22]

Refugees

Foreign donated clothing being handed out by an Afghan civil officer to children at a refugee camp, 2011 An Afghan National Civil Order Police officer hands out clothing donated by a charity in New Jersey to children living at a refugee camp in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 28, 2011 110728-F-AK669-291.jpg
Foreign donated clothing being handed out by an Afghan civil officer to children at a refugee camp, 2011

Since 2001, more than 5.7 million former refugees have returned to Afghanistan, [23] [24] [25] but 2.6 million others remained refugees in 2021 and few refugees were returning. [26] [27] After many years of returning refugees, the tide started to turn both due to a poor economic situation [28] and a significant increase of violence, leading to increasing numbers fleeing as of 2009. [29]

In January 2013 the UN estimated that 547,550 were internally displaced persons, a 25% increase over the 447,547 IDPs estimated for January 2012 [25] [27] [30] 400,000 people were displaced in 2020 and 200,000 were displaced in the first half of 2021. [26]

Afghan refugees resettled per 100K residents after the 2021 Afghan withdrawal and evacuation in each U.S. state and the District of Columbia, according to CBS News. Afghan refugees resettled after 2021 Afghan withdrawal by state.svg
Afghan refugees resettled per 100K residents after the 2021 Afghan withdrawal and evacuation in each U.S. state and the District of Columbia, according to CBS News.

As of 2020, Pakistan has taken in the largest number of Afghan refugees, followed by Iran. Smaller numbers have taken refuge in India, Indonesia and Tajikistan. Outside Asia, Germany took in by far the largest number of refugees as well as the largest amount of asylum seekers. [31]

Following the Taliban takeover, over 122,000 people were airlifted abroad from Kabul airport, during the evacuation from Afghanistan, including Afghans, American citizens, and other foreign citizens. [32]

A year after the Taliban takeover, the United States had accepted over 85,000 Afghan refugees, many of whom had been processed in Europe and the Middle East. The United Arab Emirates agreed to temporarily host Afghan refugees in Abu Dhabi on behalf of other nations. Over 10,000 have been resettled to the United States from Abu Dhabi, but 12,000 remained there as of August 2022, leading to protests by refugees over the resettlement process and living conditions. [33]

Drug trade

Afghanistan opium poppy cultivation, 1994-2016 (hectares) Afghanistan opium poppy cultivation 1994-2007b.PNG
Afghanistan opium poppy cultivation, 1994–2016 (hectares)

From 1996 to 1999, the Taliban controlled 96% of Afghanistan's poppy fields and made opium its largest source of revenue though taxes on opium exports. According to Rashid, "drug money funded the weapons, ammunition and fuel for the war". [34] By 2000 Afghanistan accounted for an estimated 75% of the world's opium supply with an estimated 3,276 tonnes produced. [35] Omar then banned opium cultivation and production dropped to an estimated 74 metric tonnes. [36] Some observers say the ban – which came in a bid for international recognition at the United Nations – was issued only to raise opium prices and increase profit from the sale of large existing stockpiles. In September 2001 – before the 11 September attacks against the US – the Taliban allegedly authorized Afghan peasants to sow opium again. [34]

Soon after the invasion opium production increased markedly. [37] By 2005, Afghanistan was producing 90% of the world's opium, most of which was processed into heroin and sold in Europe and Russia. [38]

According to a 2018 report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), the US spent $8.6 billion since 2002 to stop Afghanistan's drug trade and deny the Taliban a revenue source. A May 2021 SIGAR report estimated that the Taliban earn 60% of their annual revenue from the trade, while UN officials estimated more than $400 million was earned by the Taliban from the trade between 2018 and 2019, however other experts have disputed this and estimated that the Taliban earns at most $40 million annually from the drug trade. [39]

Health and well-being

Between 2001 and 2021, Afghanistan experienced improvements in health, education and women's rights. [40] [41] Life expectancy increased from 56 to 64 years and the maternal mortality rate was reduced by half. 89% of residents living in cities have access to clean water, up from 16% in 2001. The rate of child marriage has been reduced by 17%. [40] [42] The population of Afghanistan increased by more than 50% between 2001 and 2014, while its GDP grew eightfold. [43]

A September 2019 Taliban attack destroyed most buildings of the main hospital in southern Afghanistan and killed almost 40 people, due to which the country is now reportedly struggling to efficiently fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. [44] [ needs update? ]

Public education

As of 2013, 8.2 million Afghans attended school, up from 1.2 million in 2001. [45] The literacy rate has risen from 8% to 43% since 2001. [40]

All Afghan children are legally required to complete class nine. In 2017, Human Rights Watch reported that the Afghan government was unable to provide a system to ensure all children received this level of education and, in practice, many children missed out. [46] In 2018, UNICEF reported that 3.7 million children between the ages of 7 and 17, or 44 percent, were not attending school. [47]

As of 2017, the Afghan government cooperated with Taliban forces to provide education services: in Khogyani District, the government is given "nominal control" by local Taliban fighters in return for paying the wages of teachers whom the Taliban appoint in local schools. [48]

Women's rights

A young Afghan girl in Qalat pictured by the 116th Infantry Battalion before receiving school supplies in 2011 Afghans receive school supplies 111208-A-RX742-037.jpg
A young Afghan girl in Qalat pictured by the 116th Infantry Battalion before receiving school supplies in 2011

Prior to the beginning of conflict in 1978, there had been some strides in women's rights in cities, but Afghanistan remained much more conservative than even its neighboring countries. Pashtun areas emphasized tribal honor, which meant that women generally wore full cover light blue burqas. In the most rural areas however, women generally did not wear burqas due to the hard labor of farming. [49] : 24–25 

As of 2013, 3.2 million girls attended school, up fewer than 50,000 in 2001. [50] 39% of girls were attending school in 2017 compared to 6% in 2003. In 2021, a third of students at university were women and 27% of members of parliament were women. [26] While the Taliban typically opposed girls' education, in 2017 in Khogyani District it allowed girls to receive education in order to improve its standing among local residents. [48] In 2018, UNICEF reported that in some provinces such as Kandahar, Helmand, Wardak, Paktika, Zabul and Uruzgan, 85 percent of girls were not going to school. [47]

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Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan to the northeast, and China to the northeast and east. Occupying 652,864 square kilometers (252,072 sq mi) of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. Kabul is the country's capital and largest city. According to the World Population review, as of 2023, Afghanistan's population is 43 million. The National Statistics Information Authority of Afghanistan estimated the population to be 32.9 million as of 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taliban</span> Militant organization in control of Afghanistan

The Taliban, which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is an Afghan political and militant movement with an ideology comprising elements of Pashtun nationalism and the Deobandi movement of Islamic fundamentalism. It ruled approximately 75% of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, before it was overthrown by an American invasion after the September 11th attacks carried out by the Taliban's ally al-Qaeda. The Taliban recaptured Kabul in August 2021 following the departure of coalition forces, after 20 years of Taliban insurgency, and now controls the entire country. The Taliban government is not recognized by any country and has been internationally condemned for restricting human rights, including women's rights to work and have an education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001)</span> Taliban-led partially recognized government of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also referred to as the First Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, was a totalitarian Islamic state led by the Taliban that ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. At its peak, the Taliban government controlled approximately 90% of the country, while remaining regions in the northeast were held by the Northern Alliance, which maintained broad international recognition as a continuation of the Islamic State of Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorism in Pakistan</span>

Terrorism in Pakistan, according to the Ministry of Interior, poses a significant threat to the people of Pakistan. The wave of terrorism in Pakistan is believed to have started in 2000. Attacks and fatalities in Pakistan were on a "declining trend" between 2015 and 2019, but has gone back up from 2020-2022, with 971 fatalities in 2022.

Opposition to the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) stems from numerous factors, including the view that the United States invasion of Afghanistan was illegal under international law and constituted an unjustified aggression, the view that the continued military presence constitutes a foreign military occupation, the view that the war does little to prevent terrorism but increases its likelihood, and views on the involvement of geo-political and corporate interests. Also giving rise to opposition to the war are civilian casualties, the cost to taxpayers, and the length of the war to date.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afghan refugees</span> Nationals of Afghanistan who left their country as a result of major wars or persecution

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The following lists events that happened during 2000 in Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taliban insurgency</span> Insurgency during the War in Afghanistan

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opium production in Afghanistan</span> Overview of illicit drug production in Afghanistan

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)</span> Armed conflict between NATO countries and Afghanistan

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afghan conflict</span> Near-continuous series of wars in Afghanistan

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Afghan diaspora refers to the Afghan people that reside and work outside of Afghanistan. They include natives and citizens of Afghanistan who have immigrated to other countries. The majority of the diaspora has been formed by Afghan refugees since the start of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979; the largest numbers temporarily reside in Iran. As stateless refugees or asylum seekers, they are protected by the well-established non-refoulement principle and the U.N. Convention Against Torture. The ones having at least one American parent are further protected by United States laws.

Events from the year 2011 in Afghanistan.

2003 in Afghanistan. A list of notable incidents in Afghanistan during 2003

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The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was a presidential republic in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2021. The state was established to replace the Afghan interim (2001–2002) and transitional (2002–2004) administrations, which were formed after the 2001 United States invasion of Afghanistan that had toppled the partially recognized Taliban-ruled Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. However, on 15 August 2021, the country was recaptured by the Taliban, which marked the end of the 2001–2021 war, the longest war in US history. This led to the overthrow of the Islamic Republic, led by President Ashraf Ghani, and the reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate under the control of the Taliban. While the United Nations still recognizes the Islamic Republic as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, this toppled regime controls no portion of the country today, nor does it operate in exile; it effectively no longer exists. The Islamic Emirate is the de facto ruling government. The US–Taliban deal, signed on 29 February 2020 in Qatar, was one of the critical events that caused the collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). Following the deal, the US dramatically reduced the number of air attacks and deprived the ANSF of a critical edge in fighting the Taliban insurgency, leading to the Taliban takeover of Kabul.

References

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