One year after the Taliban takeover
 
Feb 29, 2020: After more than 18 years of war, U.S. President Donald Trump (left) announces
a peace deal with the Taliban. The U.S. will pull out of Afghanistan by May 2021

Taliban’s top political leader Abdul Ghani Baradar (right) agrees to cut ties with Al Qaeda, stop harbouring terrorists and end attacks on U.S. troops

Operation Enduring Freedom (Deaths to Dec 2021, est.) 
Afghan security forces	69,125
Number could be as high as 92,000 – Afghan former army chief of staff Gen. Yasin Zia
Civilians 		45,900
Opposition fighters	42,000
7,413 U.S. contractors 3,820, U.S. troops 2,448, other allied troops 1,145
	

Apr 14, 2021: American President Joe Biden (below) delays withdrawal of troops from May to September – 20th anniversary of Al Qaeda attacks on U.S.

May 2: Handover from U.S. to Afghan security forces. Cracks in peace deal emerge as intense fighting breaks out between insurgents and security forces

May 8: Attack by Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) at girl’s high school in Kabul kills 85 people,
including 70 women and girls. IS-K will stage multiple suicide attacks in coming months

Jun: Taliban captures several districts in northern provinces. UN reports that Taliban and rival IS-K are responsible for 47 percent rise in civilian deaths and injuries

Jul: U.S. announces departure of all American and NATO troops from strategic Bagram airbase. Taliban offensive escalates sharply – taking control of key Spin Boldak border crossing with Pakistan

Aug 8: Taliban now controls 229 of Afghanistan’s 399 districts

Aug 14: U.S. and Britain send airborne troops to secure Kabul’s airport as foreign nations scramble to get tens of thousands of their citizens and Afghans to safety


Aug 6-15: Taliban’s 10-day blitz across Afghanistan’s provincial capitals

Aug 7: Sheberghan
Aug 8: Sar-e-Pul Aug 
13: Qala-e-Naw 
Aug 12: Herat
Aug 10: Farah
Aug 6: Zaranj
Aug 14: Mazar-i-Sharif
Aug 13: Feruz Koh
Aug 13: Lashkar Gah
Aug 12: Kandahar
Aug 9: Aybak 
Aug 8: Kunduz 
Aug 8: Taluqan 
Aug 11: Faizabad
Aug 10: Pul-e-Khumri 
Aug 15: KABUL 
Aug 15: Jalalabad 
Aug 13: Pul-e-Alam 
Aug 12: Ghazni 
Aug 13: Terenkot 
Aug 13: Qalat

Panjshir 
Bagram
AFGHANISTAN
Spin Boldak
200km 125 miles


Aug 15, Kabul: Afghan government collapses. President Ashraf Ghani (left) flees country – within hours, Taliban seizes presidential palace (above)

Aug 18: Washington blocks access to about $9 billion of Afghan foreign currency reserves in U.S. banks as IMF blocks $460 million in pandemic funding

Aug 26: IS-K suicide bomber kills 13 U.S. service members and at least 170 Afghans at Kabul airport – Biden vows retaliation 

Aug 29: U.S. Hellfire missile strike in aftermath of attack kills ten civilians, including seven children.
All are members of same extended family

Aug 30: U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue (left) is last U.S. service member to leave Afghanistan

Sep 7: Taliban announces “caretaker government,” but excludes women

Sep 17: Edict bans girls from secondary education

Oct: UN warns more than half population face acute food insecurity

Jan 14, 2022: Afghan currency plummets, sending food prices skyrocketing

Apr: Panjshir-based National Resistance Front steps up attacks on Taliban

Jul 31: U.S. drone strike in Kabul kills Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri

August 15: Anniversary of fall of Kabul


Sources: Council on Foreign Relations, Brown University, UN, Washington Post 
Pictures: CNN, Getty Images, U.S. State Department 
© GRAPHIC NEWS