User:Grant bud/War in Afghanistan (2006-Present)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Following the attack against the United States on September 11th, 2001, the United States and its allies launched an attack against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The initial attack removed the Taliban from power, and killed thousands of Taliban soldiers and the country underwent a period of relative calm when compared with the fighting of the past 30 years. Hundreds of thousands of refugees returned to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan and large number of development funds went in, although not nearly enough to stabalize the situation according to some. Around 2003 it appears as if the Taliban had begun to regroup and infiltrate the provinces, and by 2006 a large scale insurgency broke out, escalting further in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The war has been less successful in achieving the goal of restricting al-Qaeda's movement than anticipated.[1] Since 2006, Afghanistan has seen threats to its stability from increased Taliban-led insurgent activity, record-high levels of illegal drug production,[2][3] and a fragile government with limited control outside of Kabul.[4] By the end of 2008, the Taliban had severed any remaining ties with al-Qaeda.[5] According to senior U.S. military intelligence officials, there are fewer than 100 members of Al-Qaeda remaining in Afghanistan.[6]