From May 1996, Osama bin Laden had been living in Afghanistan along with other members of al-Qaeda, operating terrorist training camps in a loose alliance with the Taliban.[1] Following the 1998 US embassy bombings in Africa, the US military launched cruise missiles at these camps with limited effect on their overall operations. A follow-on plan, Operation Infinite Resolve, was planned but not implemented.[citation needed] The UN Security Council issued Resolutions 1267 and 1333 in 1999 and 2000, respectively, applying financial and military hardware sanctions to encourage the Taliban to turn over bin Laden to appropriate authorities for trial in the embassy bombings, as well as to close terrorist training camps.
After the September 11, 2001, attacks, investigators rapidly accumulated evidence implicating bin Laden. In a taped statement released in 2004, bin Laden publicly acknowledged his and al-Qaeda's direct involvement in the attacks. In an audiotape posted on a website that the US claims is "frequently used by al-Qaeda,"[citation needed] on May 21, 2006, bin Laden said that he had personally directed the 19 hijackers.
2001: War begins
The war in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as Operation Enduring Freedom, in response to the 9/11 attacks. This conflict marked the beginning of the US war on terror. The stated purpose of the invasion was to capture Osama bin Laden, destroy al-Qaeda, and remove the Taliban regime, which had provided them support and safe harbor. In December, the Taliban government fell and a transitional government was established.
In January 2006, NATO's focus in southern Afghanistan was to form Provincial Reconstruction Teams with the British leading in Helmand Province and the Netherlands and Canada leading similar deployments in Orūzgān Province and Kandahar Province, respectively. The Americans remained in control of Zabul Province. Local Taliban figures voiced opposition to the incoming force and pledged to resist it.
^Osama bin Laden Wealthy Saudi exile is a terrorist mastermind
^Briscoe, Charles H.; et al. (2003). Weapon of Choice: U.S. Army Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: Combat Studies Institute Press. pp. 141–143. ISBN 9781944961763.
^Wright et al. 2009, p. 173.
^Wright et al. 2009, p. 171.
^Wright et al. 2009, p. 177.
^Cawthorne, Nigel (2008). The Mammoth Book of Inside the Elite Forces. Running Press. ISBN 9780762433827.
^Ed Darack, Victory Point website
^Bishop 2009, p. 41.
^Bishop 2009, p. 63.
^Bishop 2009, p. 78.
^Bishop 2009, p. 103.
^"Grenade Wounds 3 U.S. Troops, Afghan Child". CBS News. 9 June 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
^ a bSouthby-Tailyour, Ewen (2010). 3 Commando Brigade: Helmand Assault. UK: Ebury Press. p. 10. ISBN 9780091937768.
^Hughes, Kim (2018). Painting The Sand. UK: Simon & Schuster UK. p. 9. ISBN 9781471156724.
^"Triumph for British forces in Boy's Own-style Kajaki mission". afghanistan-un.org. 4 August 2008. Archived from the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
^Gal Perl Finkel, Back to the ground?, Israel Hayom, November 8, 2015.
^"1st Recon launches new operation near Marjah". Marine Corps Times. 5 July 2010. Archived from the original on 12 September 2010. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
^"ANA, ISAF Complete First Task in Operation New Dawn". ISAF. 21 June 2010. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2010.
^Portaria nº399/2021,24 August (2021), Participação nacional na operação SOLACE — Afghan Staff Relocation — célula de coordenação local, Diário da República 2ª Série, 182, pp29-30, Lisboa: Ministério da Defesa Nacional
Further reading
Bishop, Patrick (2009). Ground Truth. UK: HarperPress. ISBN 9780007296651.
Wright, Donald P.; et al. (2009). A Different Kind of War: The United States Army in Operation Enduring Freedom, October 2001-September 2005. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: Combat Studies Institute Press. ISBN 9781070202754.
External links
10th Mountain passes torch to 82nd Airborne
Details of ISAF and PRT deployments in Afghanistan - 2006