Afghan conflict facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Afghan conflict |
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| Part of the Cold War (1978–1991) and the War on Terror (2001–2021) | |||||
.png) Development of the Afghan Civil War from the Peshawar Accord in April 1992 to the Battle of Tora Bora in December 2001 |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||
| 1,405,111–2,584,468 | |||||
The Afghan conflict, also called the Afghan crisis or Instability in Afghanistan is a series of events and wars that have kept Afghanistan in a near-continuous state of armed conflict since the 1970's. The country's instability began after the collapse of the Kingdom of Afghanistan in the 1973 coup d'état; with the overthrow of Afghan monarch Mohammed Zahir Shah, who reigned for almost forty years, Afghanistan’s relatively peaceful period in modern history came to an end. The triggering event for the first major war in Afghanistan during this period was the Saur Revolution of 1978, which overthrew the Republic of Afghanistan and established the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Rampant post-revolution fighting across the country ultimately led to a pro-government military intervention by the Soviet Union, sparking the Soviet–Afghan War in the 1980s.
Following the Soviet withdrawal at the end of the Cold War, mujahideen forces continued fighting against the government, which collapsed in 1992. Unable to come to agreement on a governing coalition, a multifactional war broke out between various mujahideen groups, with grave atrocities committed by many of the factions. By 1996, the Taliban, a militia group supported by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), captured Kabul and took control over most of the country, declaring an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan that received little international recognition. However, much of northern Afghanistan remained in the hands of the Northern Alliance, with war continuing between the two sides.
Following the September 11 attacks in the United States, an American-led invasion deposed the Taliban government and reinstated a transitional government. Afterwards, a Taliban insurgency was waged against the government and a NATO-led coalition for almost twenty years. The Taliban recaptured most of Afghanistan following the withdrawal of NATO forces. Though the state of war in the country has ended as of 2021, armed conflict persists in some regions amid fighting between the Taliban and the local branch of the Islamic State, as well as an anti-Taliban Republican insurgency.
Major events list
- Saur Revolution (1978): Overthrow of the Republic of Afghanistan and President Mohammed Daoud Khan by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Establishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, a socialist state aligned with the Soviet Union.
- Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989): Military intervention by the Soviet Armed Forces in support of the PDPA against large-scale rebellions. Fighting primarily occurred between the Soviet–Afghan alliance and the Afghan mujahideen, who were backed by the United States, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, China, and Iran, among others. Ended with the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989.
- Afghan Civil War (1989–1992): Continuation of the conflict between the Afghan government and the Afghan mujahideen but without the involvement of Soviet forces. The Soviet Union continued to financially support the Afghan government in its fight, and likewise, mujahideen factions continued to receive support from the United States and Pakistan. The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan survived until the Battle of Kabul, during which the mujahideen established the Islamic State of Afghanistan (ISA).
- Afghan Civil War (1992–1996): Began when various mujahideen groups withdrew support from and began fighting against the ISA, including Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin, later largely replaced by the Taliban and al-Qaeda (all of whom were supported by Pakistan), Hezb-e Wahdat (who were supported by Iran), and Junbish-i Milli Islami (who were supported by Uzbekistan). Mujahideen loyal to the Islamic State of Afghanistan received support from Saudi Arabia. Ended with the Taliban seizing control of Kabul and most of the country in 1996, establishing the first Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA).
- Afghan Civil War (1996–2001): Continuation of the previous phase of the war between militias loyal to either the ISA or the Taliban-ruled IEA. ISA loyalists reorganized into the Northern Alliance, including Hezb-e Wahdat and Junbish-i Milli Islami, who previously opposed the ISA. During the war, al-Qaeda stepped up its terrorist attacks against the United States, culminating in the September 11 attacks, after which the IEA lost almost all international support and diplomatic recognition from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
- War in Afghanistan (2001–2021): Began with the United States' invasion of Afghanistan on 7 October 2001. Overthrow of the Taliban and eventual establishment of the internationally recognized Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The war turned into a protracted Taliban insurgency, with Afghan government and NATO-led coalition troops fighting the reorganized Taliban and sporadically other Islamist militant groups such as al-Qaeda, the Haqqani network, Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin, and the Islamic State – Khorasan Province. Bilateral negotiations between the Taliban and the United States led to an agreement whereby American and NATO troops withdrew amidst the 2021 Taliban offensive, in which the Islamic Republic fell and the Taliban established the second Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
- Islamic State–Taliban conflict (2015–present): Began in 2015, during the post-9/11 war, as Taliban dissident groups organized into the local branch of the Islamic State (not to be confused with the former Islamic State of Afghanistan). The group attacked the Taliban as well as NATO troops, but primarily targeted civilians. The insurgency is ongoing.
- Republican insurgency in Afghanistan (2021–present): Began in 2021 when the remaining forces loyal to the fallen Islamic Republic reorganized into the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan in the Panjshir Valley. Despite having international recognition as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, the National Resistance Front has received no foreign support. Taliban forces captured the Panjshir Valley in September 2021, and leaders of the National Resistance Front fled to Tajikistan. Fighting is ongoing between the newly organized military of the Taliban and the small, scattered holdouts of the National Resistance Front in Panjshir Province and Baghlan Province.
By 2014, adding different estimates of casualties for some of these individual conflicts together, 1,405,111 to 2,084,468 people had been killed over the duration of the Afghanistan conflict.
See also
In Spanish: Conflicto en Afganistán para niños
