Boots on the ground
Washington ordered troops into Afghanistan in October 2001, the month after the 9/11 attacks, as operation "Enduring Freedom" sought to overthrow the Taliban for refusing to hand over Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. Some 1,000 US soldiers were deployed in November. Their numbers reached 10,000 the following year and rose steadily through the decade, reaching almost 70,000 by 2009, alongside the forces of NATO allies. That year Obama launched the so-called "surge" in Afghanistan, ordering in another 30,000 troops to battle Al-Qaeda and a resurgent Taliban.
As US troop numbers peaked at 100,000, Obama announced his intention to pull out of the country starting in July 2011, in line with a key election pledge. Following through on that plan, the United States had planned to scale back to an embassy-only presence by the end of 2016. But Obama announced Thursday he would keep a 9,800-strong US force in place through much of next year, admitting Afghan forces are not ready to stand alone.
Cost of war
Washington has poured tens of billions of dollars into the Afghan conflict, split between pure military expenditure, reconstruction and development. No overall figure exists but partial numbers that are publicly available give an idea of scale. A Congressional report dated August 17 this year states that "through the end of FY2014, the United States provided about $100 billion to Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban." Around 60 percent was used to equip and train the Afghan army, it said.
For fiscal year 2015, which ended on September 30, the figure was $5.7 billion. As part of the process of handing over to Afghan forces, the Department of Defense "disposed of about $36 billion worth of US military equipment, including 28,000 vehicles and trailers," the report said.
Human toll
The war in Afghanistan has claimed 2,372 American lives, according to the specialist website iCasualties. The years 2010 and 2011 were by far the deadliest, with 499 and 418 deaths respectively. Afghans have suffered greatly from over a decade of war. No official toll exists but independent estimates suggest the conflict has claimed 26,000 civilian lives. The overall human toll in Afghanistan -- taking into account civilians, military and insurgent deaths -- is estimated at 91,000 since 2001.
Broken trust
As the conflict became bogged down, the United States failed to win the trust of the Afghan people, repelled by the continuing loss of civilian lives. Among the bloodiest single incidents, on August 22, 2008, 90 civilians were killed in a US bombing in the west of the country.
On March 11, 2012 an American soldier murdered 16 civilians in Kandahar province, sparking a surge in anger towards foreign forces. And on October 3 this year, an American bombing hit a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), claiming the lives of 24 patients and medics.
Double failure?
Recent Taliban offensives, most spectacularly in Kunduz in the north, made painfully obvious the inability of Afghan forces to enforce security. Just as obvious was the failure of US efforts to train up an independent Afghan army in time for the planned drawdown of American troops. Obama admitted Thursday that "Afghan forces are still not as strong as they need to be."
Security aside, Afghanistan remains wracked by endemic corruption, with crumbling state institutions. "We cannot separate the importance of governance with the issues of security," Obama said. "The more effectively these reforms happen, the better off the security situation's going to be."
Pakistan shadow
Many analysts consider the US war in Afghanistan to be indissociable from the situation in neighboring Pakistan. Pakistan has historically supported the Taliban insurgents and many Afghans accuse Islamabad of nurturing militant sanctuaries in the lawless tribal areas on the countries' shared border, in hope of maintaining influence in Afghanistan. "Sanctuaries for the Taliban and other terrorists must end," Obama said Thursday, announcing his intention to seek Pakistan's help in bringing the Taliban back to peace talks.
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The intervention: key developments
2001: The war on terror
On October 7, 2001, less than a month after the September 11 attacks, US president George W. Bush launches operation "Enduring Freedom" in Afghanistan, after the Taliban refuse to hand over Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. In a matter of weeks the US-led western coalition forces overthrow the Taliban, in power since 1996. Apart from air strikes, the US backs the Afghan Northern Alliance with paramilitary teams from the CIA and special forces.
Some 1,000 American soldiers are deployed on the ground in November, rising to 10,000 the year after.
2002-2007: The forgotten war
Attention is diverted from Afghanistan as US forces mount an invasion of Iraq, which becomes the main US concern. The Taliban and other Islamist groups regroup in their strongholds in the south and east of the country, from where they can easily travel to and from Pakistani tribal zones. In 2003, NATO takes control of the International Security Assistance Force ISAF. But most US forces remain under a separate command until 2006-2007 when they are folded into the NATO-led command headed by an American general. Some 24,000 American soldiers are based in Afghanistan by the end of 2007, according to US Defense Department figures.
2008: The wake-up call
The Taliban insurgency spreads and the Bush administration comes under growing criticism for having neglected the situation in Afghanistan. The American command on the ground calls for manpower to carry out an effective strategy against the insurgency. Bush agrees to send additional soldiers and by mid-2008 there were 48,500 US troops on the ground, according to Defense Department figures.
2009: Obama's "just war"
In the first months of the presidency of Barack Obama -- elected on campaign promises to end the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- surges the number of American soldiers in Afghanistan to around 68,000. In December, Obama, who has described the intervention as a "just war", raises the strength of US forces in Afghanistan to around 100,000, compared to nearly 50,000 allied soldiers. The objective is to put brakes on the Taliban, to strengthen Afghan institutions and train Afghan forces. The strategy goes hand in hand with a date for beginning the withdrawal in July 2011.
2011: The door to withdrawal in 2014 opens
Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, mastermind of the 9/11 attacks that started the war, is killed on May 2, during an operation by US special forces in Pakistan. On June 22, Obama announces the start of the military withdrawal with 33,000 soldiers due to leave by mid-2012. A first contingent leaves Afghanistan in July 2011. The complete transition to responsibility for security to the Afghan forces is planned for the end of 2014.
2012: A strategic partnership accord
In early May, Obama and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai sign a long-term strategic partnership enshrining relations between the two countries after the combat mission ends in 2014. Under the accord, the 130,000 troops of the international coalition, of which two thirds are Americans, must transfer whole responsibility for security to Kabul by the end of 2014.
2014: A bilateral security treaty
In late May, Obama says that the American military presence will be reduced by half by the end of 2015. On September 20, after more than a year of bargaining, Afghanistan signs a bilateral security accord with the US and a similar text with NATO: 12,500 foreign soldiers, of which 9,800 are Americans, will remain in the country in 2015, after the end of the NATO combat mission. From the beginning of 2015, American troops will be charged with two missions: anti-terrorist operations against Al-Qaeda and the training of Afghan forces.
2015: After the end of combat missions
In March, Obama announces that the rate of the withdrawal of US troops will be slowed down. On October 15, Obama announces thousands of US troops will remain in Afghanistan past 2016, admitting Afghan forces are not ready to stand alone.
