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.