Five years ago, the United States signed a historic peace deal with the Taliban, outlining a timeline for the withdrawal of all US and NATO troops from Afghanistan. The Taliban guaranteed to prevent militant groups, including al-Qaeda, from using Afghan soil to threaten the security of the United States and its allies.
Former US President Joe Biden said on April 14, 2021 that US troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan, starting May 1, to end America’s longest war, rejecting calls for them to stay to ensure a peaceful resolution to that nation’s grinding internal conflict.
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After a lightning offensive as US-led foreign forces were withdrawing after 20 years of inconclusive war, the Taliban entered Kabul on August 15, 2021, as the Afghan security forces, set up with years of Western support, disintegrated and US-backed President Ashraf Ghani fled.
Thousands of civilians desperate to flee Afghanistan thronged Kabul airport seeking to escape, including some clinging to a US military transport plane as it taxied on the runway.
Since Afghanistan’s Islamist Taliban returned to power in 2021 it has clamped down on women’s rights, including limits to schooling, work and general independence in daily life.