The US, Afghanistan & Taliban
To understand our story, first, we need to go a little in the past. Afghanistan had been in a state of almost constant war for 20 years even before the US invaded.
In 1979, a year after a coup, the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan to support its communist government. It fought a resistance movement — known as the mujahideen — that was supported by its surrounding countries & also the US. After almost 10 years, the Soviet troops withdrew. But the civil war in Afghanistan continued. This chaos gave rise to a group called the Taliban(literally meaning students in Pashto).
Taliban continue to rise over the next few years. At the start of the 1990s, they started becoming very prominent near Pakistan borders. They promised to fight corruption and provide security. At this point, local people were tired of the civil war that had been going on for so long. As the Taliban got more control over the territories they started enforcing their version of Islamic Law. Any crime would get brutal punishments, the women had to wear the all-covering burka and so on. They even banned television, cinema, and girls' education.
Now let’s jump on to the US to September 2001. This year on 11 September the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda carried out attacks in the US, famously known as 9/11. George Bush, the US president then, immediately declared war on terrorism intending to bring the Al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden to justice.
At this point, the Taliban was controlling almost 90% of the entire country and also Al-Qaeda was given refuge on their soil. A lot of members of Al-Qaeda including Osama were in Afghanistan. Therefore, the Taliban now became a US target. President Bush demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama Bin Laden and expel Al-Qaeda. But the Taliban refused. In October 2001, the US invaded Afghanistan. Their main aim was to dismantle Al-Qaeda and deny it a safe base of operations in Afghanistan by removing the Taliban from power. With the help of the United Kingdom (US ally), they set up military bases in the major cities across the country.
Before the military could capture bin Laden, he already crossed the border along with key members of the group and fled to Pakistan. But the US troops still remained in Afghanistan to clear the Taliban and set up proper governance in the country. Even though the Taliban has lost a lot of control over their territory, they have remained strong till now.
The current US president Trump started negotiations with the Taliban. But none of those negotiations have brought anything fruitful. The conditions in Afghanistan are worse than ever. The US continues to put in almost a billion-dollar each year but the war still continues.
[1]Why is there a war in Afghanistan? — https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49192495
[2]United States invasion of Afghanistan — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_invasion_of_Afghanistan
[3]Photos From America’s Longest War — https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/29/world/asia/afghanistan-war-photos-pictures.html
