On 30 July, the first group of 221 Afghan interpreters arrived at Fort Lee, Virginia, for SIV processing, with at least 20,000 SIV holders and applicants still to be moved from Afghanistan.[10][12][15][16]
On 12 August, following continued Taliban victories across Afghanistan, the Biden administration announced that it would deploy 3,000 U.S. troops to Hamid Karzai International Airport to help evacuate embassy personnel, U.S. nationals and SIV applicants.[17][18] On 13 August, Marines and Army National Guardsmen from 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, and 1st Battalion, 194th Armored Regiment arrived in Kabul. On 17 August, Army paratroopers from 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division moved from Fort Bragg, North Carolina to Kabul. Another 1,000 Air Force and Army personnel were to deploy in Qatar to process SIV applicants. Meanwhile, U.S. embassy staff in Kabul were destroying sensitive materials and items featuring embassy logos or U.S. flags, standard procedure during a drawdown. Helicopters shuttled people between the embassy compound and Kabul International Airport.[19][20]
A U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III evacuates 823 fleeing Afghan citizens from Hamid Karzai International Airport on 15 August 2021.U.S. soldiers and Marines assist with security at an evacuation control checkpoint at Kabul Airport, 19 August82nd Airborne Division paratroopers carrying supplies for Afghan families at Kabul Airport, 26 August 2021U.S. soldiers board a C-17 during final departures from Kabul Airport, 30 August 2021.
On 15 August, Kabul fell to the Taliban. Afghan security forces fled the capital and thousands of Afghan civilians hurried to the airport in hopes of boarding flights, resulting in chaotic scenes of Afghans attempting to force themselves aboard military planes. The Pentagon and the State Department said the military force at the airport would expand to nearly 6,000 troops.[22] U.S. military took control over the security and air traffic control of the airport later in the day.[23] At this point, Operation Allies Refuge became concurrent with a new effort to airlift all SIV applicants, embassy personnel, American nationals, and eligible Afghans seeking to flee the country.[citation needed]
On 16 August, a C-17 cargo plane, whose usual passenger load is fewer than 150 Army paratroopers, safely evacuated roughly 823 people to the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, setting a new record for the C-17. (The initial count was roughly 640,[24] but U.S. Air Force officials later said they had not initially counted children sitting in their parents' laps on the buses.[25]) The Pentagon confirmed that the head of U.S. Central Command, General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., met Taliban leaders based in Qatar's capital Doha. The Taliban officials agreed to terms set by McKenzie for refugees to flee using Kabul Airport.[26][27] U.S. Army Maj. General William Taylor said that nine C-17s arrived overnight, bringing equipment and 1,000 more troops. Separately, seven C-17s airlifted 700 to 800 passengers out of the airport, 165 of which were American citizens while the rest were SIV applicants and third-country nationals.[28]
On 17 August, about 1,100 people were evacuated on 13 flights. The White House said more than 3,200 U.S. citizens, permanent residents and refugees were evacuated from the country, and nearly 2,000 Afghan interpreters were flown to the U.S. for SIV processing.[29] On August 18, Deputy Secretary of StateWendy Sherman said U.S. military flights evacuated about 2,000 people, and said it has processed more than 4,840 people for evacuation. The State Department said the U.S. military has evacuated nearly 5,000 people from the country.[30] On August 19, more than 2,000 people were evacuated on 12 flights. The Pentagon said it has evacuated about 7,000 people from the country.[31][32]
It was reported on 19 August that U.S. forces had rescued Mohammad Khalid Wardak, a high-profile Afghan police chief that had worked extensively with U.S. special forces in its war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. According to Robert McCreary, a former congressional chief of staff and White House official under George W. Bush, Khalid and his family were rescued via helicopter by U.S. forces in a night-time operation named Operation Promises Kept. Khalid had lost contact with rescuers while evading Taliban forces for days in Kabul after he was unable to reach the airport following the government's collapse, and his supporters in the U.S. military had chosen to evacuate him as his vocal opposition to the Taliban made him at high-risk of reprisals. McCreary said that Khalid and his family were "safe in an undisclosed location" and added that multiple allies, including the British, had helped in the operation's success.[33]
On 20 August, about 5,700 people were evacuated on 16 flights. The Pentagon said it has evacuated about 12,700 people from the country.[34] On 21 August, United States ArmyMajor GeneralWilliam D. Taylor announced that 17,000 people have been evacuated in the past few weeks, including 2,500 Americans.[35] The Taliban has at times blocked evacuation efforts made by the United Kingdom.[36]
On 22 August, PresidentJoe Biden said that American troops may remain in Afghanistan past the August 31 deadline. He also announced that 28,000 people have been evacuated since 15 August, and that 33,000 people have been evacuated since July.[37]
Also on 22 August, the Department of Defense ordered the activation of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet to assist in the evacuation.[38] The current activation is for 18 planes: four from United Airlines; three each from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines and Omni Air; and two from Hawaiian Airlines. Commercial airline pilots and crews would help transport thousands of Afghans who are arriving at U.S. bases in Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. From the bases in the Middle East, the airliners would augment military flights carrying Afghans to Germany, Italy, Spain and other stops in Europe, and then ultimately to the United States.[39][40][41]
On 25 August, Blackwater founder Erik Prince offered to charge $6,500 for anyone who wanted to evacuate from Kabul.[43] That same day, the total amount of evacuations topped 82,300.[44]
Although the Taliban's conquest of the country led to the disintegration of the Afghan Armed Forces, an armed remnant of mostly 500 to 600 Afghan Commandos were at the airport helping U.S. troops provide perimeter security. The Pentagon said these Afghan troops would be evacuated if they desired.[45]
On 27 August, the Department of Defense announced that three more U.S. military bases will be used to house up to 50,000 Afghan nationals who are applying for SIVs or are deemed "at risk" from the Taliban: Fort Pickett, Holloman Air Force Base and Marine Corps Base Quantico.[46]
Operation Allies Welcome
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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
On 29 August 2021, President Joe Biden ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to lead Operation Allies Welcome, a civilian-led continuation of Allies Refuge with the task of managing the resettlement of refugees and providing "temporary housing, sustainment, and support inside the United States" for evacuees. DHS established the Unified Coordination Group allowing for collaboration with military, state and local governments, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector during Allies Welcome activities.[47][48]
On 5 September, White House Chief of StaffRon Klain said that around 100 Americans remained in Afghanistan. Klain said that the Biden administration would look for ways to rescue them.[49]
On 10 September, U.S. Secretary of StateAntony Blinken announced in a statement that 21 Americans and 11 legal citizens had evacuated from the country as the Taliban were allowing some departures.[50]
Casualties
By 26 August, at least 195 people had been killed at or near the Kabul International Airport as thousands of people tried to forcibly board planes. The majority were killed by a suicide bombing.[1][2][3]
Six people were killed after trying to escape as stowaways: two people were seen falling to their deaths from the sky after clinging to the landing gear of a departing C-17 cargo plane, while three people clinging to the side of an Air Force jet were killed after being run over.[51][52][53] Remains of another dead Afghan were found in the landing gear of the American C-17, after the pilots were forced to make an emergency landing in a nearby country because they were unable to retract the landing gear.[54][55][56] Eleven more civilians died during stampedes at the airport, seven of whom died in a single incident on August 21.[6][5] The Taliban occasionally fired shots at the airport as a form of crowd control; some people reportedly received gunshot wounds from the gunfire.[57] Three more people died during gun incidents, including two armed men who fired into a crowd and were killed by U.S. troops,[8][58] while the other was an Afghan guard killed during a gunfight between Afghan forces and unknown gunmen.[9]
At least 182 people were killed and more than 200 others were wounded during a suicide bombing attack at the airport on August 26.[59] The attack was carried out by Islamic State militants. At least 169 Afghan civilians and 13 US service members were among the killed. The dead Americans were identified as eleven marines, one soldier, and one Navy corpsman.[60] Several more foreign troops and Taliban members were among the injured.[61][62] Three of the dead Afghan civilians were also British citizens.[63]
Kabul International Airport is located in the northern part of Kabul, Afghanistan. It is one of the country's main international airports, capable of housing over a hundred military and civilian aircraft. It is currently operated by UAE-based GAAC Holding and Afghanistan's Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation.
Afghan refugees are citizens of Afghanistan who were forced to flee from their country as a result the continuous wars that the country has suffered since the Afghan-Soviet war, the Afghan civil war, the Afghanistan war (2001–2021) or either political or religious persecution. The 1978 Saur Revolution, followed by the 1979 Soviet invasion, marked the first major wave of internal displacement and international migration to neighboring Iran and Pakistan; smaller numbers also went to India or to countries of the former Soviet Union. Between 1979 and 1992, more than 20% of Afghanistan's population fled the country as refugees. Following the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, many returned to Afghanistan, however many Afghans were again forced to flee during the civil war in the 90s. Over 6 million Afghan refugees were residing in Iran and Pakistan by 2000. Most refugees returned to Afghanistan following the 2001 United States invasion and overthrow of the Taliban regime. Between 2002 and 2012, 5.7 million refugees returned to Afghanistan, increasing the country's population by 25%.
An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft.
Relations between Afghanistan and the United States began in 1921 under the leaderships of King Amanullah Khan and President Warren G. Harding, respectively. The first contact between the two nations occurred further back in the 1830s when the first recorded person from the United States explored Afghanistan. The United States government foreign aid program provided about $500 million in aid for economic development; the aid ended before the 1978 Saur Revolution. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 was a turning point in the Cold War, when the United States started to financially support the Afghan resistance. The country, under both the Carter and Reagan administrations committed $3 billion dollars in financial and diplomatic support and along with Pakistan also rendering critical support to the anti-Soviet Mujahideen forces. Beginning in 1980, the United States began admitting thousands of Afghan refugees for resettlement, and provided money and weapons to the Mujahideen through Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The USSR withdrew its troops in 1989.
The Embassy of the United States of America in Kabul was the official diplomatic mission of the United States of America to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The embassy was housed in a chancery located on Great Massoud Road in the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood of the Afghan capital, Kabul, and was built at a cost of nearly $800 million. On August 15, 2021, in the face of a Taliban advance on Kabul, embassy staff relocated to makeshift but secure facilities at Hamid Karzai International Airport. Kabul fell and the chancery building officially closed late August 15.
The Basej-e Milli alternatively called Rawand-e Sabz-e Afghanistan was an Anti-Taliban Afghan nationalist Pro-Democracy political party in Afghanistan. It is currently active as an militant political movement actively engaged in the Republican insurgency in Afghanistan. It was founded by former Afghan intelligence chief Amrullah Saleh.
The following lists events that happened during 2015 in Afghanistan.
Events in the year 2017 in Afghanistan.
Operation Freedom's Sentinel (OFS) was the official name used by the U.S. government for the mission succeeding Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in continuation of the War in Afghanistan as part of the larger Global War on Terrorism. Operation Freedom's Sentinel is part of the NATO-led Resolute Support Mission, which began on January 1, 2015. OFS had two components: counterterrorism and working with allies as part of Resolute Support.
The year 2021 in Afghanistan was marked by a major offensive from the Taliban beginning in May and the Taliban capturing Kabul in August.
The United States Armed Forces completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan on August 30th, 2021, marking the end of the 2001–2021 war. In February 2020, the Trump administration and the Taliban signed the United States–Taliban deal in Doha, Qatar, which stipulated fighting restrictions for both the US and the Taliban, and in return for the Taliban's counter-terrorism commitments, provided for the withdrawal of all NATO forces from Afghanistan by May 1, 2021. Following the deal, the US dramatically reduced the number of air attacks on the Taliban at the detriment of the ANSF fighting the Taliban insurgency. The Biden administration's final decision in April 2021 to begin the withdrawal as planned on May 1, 2021, but delay the final pull-out of all US troops until September 2021, triggered the start of the collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). This collapse led to the Taliban takeover of Kabul on 15 August 2021.
The Embassy of the United Kingdom in Kabul was the United Kingdom's diplomatic mission to Afghanistan. The British first established a diplomatic mission, a legation, in 1922 after the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919. The Viceroy of India George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston ordered that a large and opulent compound be constructed and this was completed in 1927. The legation was withdrawn in the Kabul Airlift as a result of the 1928-29 civil war but was re-established in 1930. The legation became an embassy in 1948 but this was withdrawn in 1989 following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. The embassy compound was handed over to Pakistan in 1994. Following the 2001 United States invasion of Afghanistan an embassy was re-established at a new site in the Wazir Akbar Khan District. The embassy, on the edge of Kabul's secure zone, was considered vulnerable to attack in 2018 and consideration was given to a new site, but did not proceed. Following the start of the 2021 withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan there has been speculation that the embassy might close.
The 2021 Taliban offensive was a military offensive by the Taliban insurgent group and allied militants that led to the fall of the Kabul-based Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the end of the nearly 20-year War in Afghanistan that had begun following the United States invasion of the country. The Taliban victory had widespread domestic and international ramifications regarding human rights and proliferation of terrorism. The offensive included a continuation of the bottom-up succession of negotiated or paid surrenders to the Taliban from the village level upwards that started following the February 2020 US–Taliban deal.
Operation Pitting was a British military operation to evacuate British nationals and eligible Afghans from Afghanistan following the 2021 Taliban offensive. The operation consisted of more than 1,000 military personnel, including soldiers from 16 Air Assault Brigade. It ran concurrently with the evacuation efforts of numerous other countries.
On 15 August 2021, Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul was captured by the Taliban after a major insurgent offensive that began in May 2021. It was the final action of the War in Afghanistan, and marked a total victory for the Taliban. This led to the overthrowing of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan under President Ashraf Ghani and the reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban.
Protests in Afghanistan against the Taliban started on 17 August 2021 following the Fall of Kabul to the Taliban. These protests are held by Islamic democrats and feminists. Both groups are against the treatment of women by the Taliban government, considering it as discriminatory and misogynistic. Supported by the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, the protesters also demand decentralization, multiculturalism, social justice, work, education, and food. There have been pro-Taliban counterprotests.
On 15 August 2021, the city of Kabul, the capital of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, was captured by Taliban forces during the 2021 Taliban offensive, concluding the War in Afghanistan that began in 2001. The fall of Kabul provoked a range of reactions across the globe, including debates on whether to recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan, on the humanitarian situation in the country, on the outcome of the War, and the role of military interventionism in world affairs.
Operation Devi Shakti was an operation of the Indian Armed Forces to evacuate Indian citizens and foreign nationals from Afghanistan after the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul, the capital city, to the Taliban.
Large-scale evacuations of foreign citizens and some vulnerable Afghan citizens took place amid the withdrawal of US and NATO forces at the end of the 2001–2021 war in Afghanistan. The Taliban took control of Kabul and declared victory on 15 August 2021, and the NATO-backed Islamic Republic of Afghanistan collapsed. With the Taliban controlling the whole city except Hamid Karzai International Airport, hostilities ceased and the Taliban assisted in the evacuation effort by providing security and screening evacuees.
A suicide bombing took place at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on 26 August 2021, at 17:50 local time, during the evacuation from Afghanistan. At least 183 people were killed, including 170 Afghan civilians and 13 members of the United States military, the first American military casualties in the War in Afghanistan since February 2020. The Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISIS–K) claimed responsibility for the attack.
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