2021 Taliban offensive

Overview

The Taliban insurgent group and allied militants conducted a military offensive in 2021 that led to the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the end of the nearly 20-year war in Afghanistan that had begun following the United States invasion of the country. The Taliban victory had widespread domestic and international ramifications regarding human rights and proliferation of terrorism. The offensive included a continuation of the bottom-up succession of negotiated or paid surrenders to the Taliban from the village level upwards that started following the February 2020 US–Taliban deal.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The 2021 Taliban offensive ended the nearly 20-year war in Afghanistan by bringing down the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and restoring Taliban control of the country. Despite a substantial numerical disadvantage in recorded force sizes, the Taliban achieved a decisive strategic outcome, in part through a continuation of negotiated and paid surrenders that had begun following the February 2020 US–Taliban deal. This bottom-up process of capitulation, proceeding from the village level upward, eroded the republic's territorial coherence before conventional resistance could consolidate. The Taliban victory carried widespread domestic and international consequences, including concerns over human rights and the potential proliferation of terrorism, marking a definitive conclusion to the U.S.-led intervention that had begun in 2001.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (24)