August 16, 2021, Afghanistan-Taliban news

The Taliban has swiftly regained control of Afghanistan 20 years after US forces began Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).

The United States linked the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to al Qaeda, a group that operated under the Taliban regime’s protection in Afghanistan. The operation was launched to stop the Taliban from providing a safe haven to al Qaeda and to stop al Qaeda’s use of Afghanistan as a base of operations for terrorist activities.

Operation Enduring Freedom began on October 7, 2001, under President George W. Bush's administration, with allied air strikes on Taliban and al Qaeda targets.

On Oct. 14, 2001, the Taliban offered to discuss giving Osama bin Laden, then the lead of al Qaeda, to a third country for trial if the United States provided evidence of bin Laden’s involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks. The White House rejected the offer.

On Nov. 13, 2001, US airstrikes and ground attacks by the anti-Taliban Afghan Northern Alliance led to the fall of Kabul.

That same month many European countries offered troops to support OEF including, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Italy. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also announced that the US doubled the number of its troops based in the country.

Over the next 20 years, the US along with allied nations and coalitions worked to create a stable Afghan led nation and also create and train an Afghan national army. Here's a timeline:

Dec. 2-5, 2001 - The United Nations hosts the Bonn Conference in Germany, results from the Bonn Agreement creates an Afghan Interim Authority and outlines a process for creating a new constitution and choosing a new government.

Dec. 20, 2001 - The United Nations authorized the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to provide security support to the Afghans. The United Kingdom agrees to lead the force initially.

Dec. 22, 2001 - Hamid Karzai is sworn in as head of an interim power-sharing government.

March 25, 2002 - Rumsfeld announces that there are plans under way for US and coalition forces to help train and create an Afghan national army.

January 2004 - Afghanistan passes a new constitution by consensus.

Oct. 9, 2004 - Afghanistan’s first direct democratic election is held.

Dec. 7, 2004 - Karzai is sworn in as the first democratically elected president of Afghanistan.

Dec. 1, 2009 - Obama announces the deployment of 30,000 additional US troops. This new deployment, set for 2010, brought US troop totals to almost 100,000, in addition to 40,000 NATO troops.

January 2010 - Representatives from more than 60 nations meet in London for the International Conference on Afghanistan, pledging to support the development of the Afghan National Security Forces.

May 2, 2011 - In the early morning hours, a small group of US Forces, including Navy Seals, raid a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan and kill Osama bin Laden.

June 22, 2011 -  Obama announces a plan to reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan and that US combat operations in the country will end by 2014.

Feb. 1, 2012 - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announces that the US hopes to end its combat mission in Afghanistan in 2013, transitioning primarily to a training role.

May 27, 2014 - President Obama announces that the United States combat mission in Afghanistan will end in December 2014.

Sept. 30, 2014 - The US and Afghanistan sign a joint security agreement that will allow US troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond the previous December deadline to withdraw.

Jan. 1, 2015 - After more than 13 years of combat operations in Afghanistan, the US begins Operation Freedom’s Sentinel (OFS). The new mission conducts counterterrorism operations targeting terrorist groups like al Qaeda and the local ISIS affiliate and also focuses on building up local Afghan security forces to help fight the Taliban.

Dec. 9, 2019 - Confidential documents obtained by The Washington Post reveal that top US officials misled the American public about the war in Afghanistan in order to conceal doubts about the likelihood that the United States could be successful in the nearly 20-year effort since its earliest days, the paper reports.

April 14, 2021 - US President Joe Biden formally announces his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan before September 11, 2021, deeming the prolonged and intractable conflict in Afghanistan no longer aligns with American priorities. “It’s time to end America’s longest war,” he says.

August 2021 - The Taliban take control of Afghanistan's capital city, Kabul, almost two decades after they were driven out by US troops. President Biden sends an additional 5,000 troops to Kabul to evacuate US personnel.

Read more about the key events here.

Tom Tugendhat, the chair of the UK Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said the reference of the war in Afghanistan as the "forever war" is a nod to how serious the situation has been in the country for decades.

"For some reason nobody describes the defense of Germany until 1991 as a forever war or the US military contribution to South Korea as a forever war," he said. "They are not because we recognize that these are essential elements to defending ourselves by extending the perimeter of our security and making sure that allies stand with us when we ask for them."

Tugendhat said he thinks one of the mistakes countries made is to "confuse sum cost with the future cost." The sum cost is the trillions of dollars spent in Afghanistan.

In contrast, an enduring cost is different. That is something that needs to be affordable and sustainable, Tugendhat said, adding that he thinks it could have gotten to that point in Afghanistan, but politics got in the way.

"We chose not to. That is a political choice," he said.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has expressed his intention to host a virtual meeting of G7 leaders in the coming days to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, a Downing Street spokesperson said Monday. 

According to Downing Street, Johnson stressed the need for the international community to “come together and take a unified approach on Afghanistan, both in terms of recognizing any future government and in working to prevent a humanitarian and refugee crisis.”

Downing Street’s remarks come after talks between the prime minister and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron. 

The prime minister’s spokesperson confirmed that the two leaders emphasized the ongoing importance of working together on the long-term future of Afghanistan and the immediate need to help British and French nationals, as well as others, to be evacuated to safety. 

“They agreed that the UK and France should work together at the UN Security Council, including on a possible joint-resolution,” the spokesman added.  

Earlier on Monday, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab confirmed that hundreds of British and Afghan nationals are in the process of being evacuated from Afghanistan. 

“We’re concentrated on the evacuation effort for British nationals and those Afghan nationals who have served the United Kingdom so loyally,” Raab told members of the press.

Raab acknowledged that the government had been surprised by the “scale and pace” at which the Taliban managed to seize control in Afghanistan, but affirmed that the British government will continue to hold the group to account through various means, including potential sanctions.

After holding a Monday morning meeting and subsequent closed-door consultations on Afghanistan, the United Nations Security Council collectively issued a statement calling for an “immediate cessation of all hostilities” and for “a new government that is united, inclusive and representative – including with the full, equal and meaningful participation of women.”

The Security Council also “expressed deep concern” about reported international humanitarian law and human rights abuses and “stressed the urgent and imperative need to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

Additionally, the council called on strengthened international efforts to provide humanitarian aid to Afghanistan and called on all parties to allow unhindered access for UN agencies to provide humanitarian assistance. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the Canadian military remains on the ground at Kabul airport alongside US troops to establish an "airbridge" for evacuations.

“We have evacuated the Canadian diplomatic staff, there remain a number of special forces and Canadian armed forces on the ground to help secure the airport alongside the Americans,” he said at a news conference in Quebec. 

Trudeau says they continue to work closely with the US to evacuate Canadian citizens still in Afghanistan. 

“We have military still in Afghanistan right now, we are staging out of Kuwait, including with military aircraft. We are looking at, very closely with our allies, at what those next steps could be," Trudeau added.

Trudeau says many around the world are "dismayed" and "surprised" by the speed at which things have happened on the ground. He says they are trying to establish an "airbridge" to evacuate all other citizens and those Afghans seeking safe passage to Canada and other allied countries.

Last week, Canada pledged to resettle at least 20,000 Afghans. 

President Biden was wheels down at Fort McNair at 1:11 p.m. ET – from there, Biden will motorcade to the White House. 

On background, from the White House, provided to the pool: This morning, the President was briefed by his national security team, including the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman Milley, on the security situation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, and ongoing efforts to safely evacuate American citizens, US Embassy personnel and local staff, SIV applicants and their families, and other vulnerable Afghans.

Preparations are underway now at the White House for Biden to deliver remarks to the nation at 3:45 p.m. ET from the East Room.

In an interview on Monday, CNN's Christiane Amanpour asked Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen what he would say to Afghans who are "terrified" and "desperate to be airlifted out of Afghanistan" for fear that they will be targeted by the Taliban for having worked with international forces in the past. He said those individuals "should not be terrified." 

Asked about checkpoints that are being set up and fears among those who may be known for having helped international forces that the Taliban is going to come to their homes and harm them, Shaheen said that the checkpoints are a security measure.

"About the checkpoints, they are to prevent any insecurity that the teams, the burglars, and the kidnappers do not carry out what they want to do," he said. "Checkpoints are for the security of the people. These checkpoints have not been set up to harass people." 

Amanpour pressed Shaheen on the Taliban's treatment of women, asking what they can guarantee for women in terms of letting them keep the rights and freedoms they've gained over the past 20 years. Shaheen said that women and girls "will be going to schools, as teachers, as students. So you will see it. In a few days. That is my expectation," he said. 

Amid chaotic scenes at Kabul international airport, video has emerged of several people clinging to the fuselage of a US military C-17 aircraft as it taxied Monday.

There are scores more people watching or following the plane, some of them underneath its engines. Other video shows a US military Apache helicopter swooping low over the tarmac in what appears to be an effort to disperse the crowds.

Separate video circulated on social media shows a US C-17 soon after take-off.

At least two objects, or people, can be seen falling to the ground as the plane gains altitude.

CNN has not been able to independently confirm the images.

People who say they witnessed the event have posted on social media and spoken to other media outlets, saying that people who were clinging to the outside of the aircraft had fallen to the ground as the plane took off.

Another video shows a C-17 ascending over a Kabul neighborhood. At least one person or object appears to fall from the fuselage. Seconds later another person or object appears to fall.

Local people posted video and images of at least one body that they said had fallen from the sky and landed on the roof of a building, according to social media posts.

CNN cannot independently verify that anyone was still clinging to the aircraft when it took off— and it's not known if it was the same plane, or whether the crew was aware that people were clinging to the plane at all.

Multiple US Defense Officials told CNN they could not confirm the incident.

CNN's Tim Lister, Vasco Cotovio, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Anna Coren, Jonny Hallam and Barbara Starr contributed reporting to this post.

The homes of two female journalists were visited by Taliban fighters on Sunday, a contact of the women told CNN, adding that both women were severely shaken psychologically.

According to the source, one of the female journalists whose home was visited by the Taliban on Sunday said: “I am very worried about my safety and that of my family.”

Several female journalists are said to have received threatening calls from the Taliban, with the calls increasing over recent days, the source added. One prominent female journalist in Kabul said she had received a threatening call from the Taliban, telling her they “will come soon.”

On Monday, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, said in a statement: “what we are witnessing in Afghanistan is a tragedy that should have been foreseen and averted. It will only be compounded further without swift and decisive action from the international community."

“Thousands of Afghans are at serious risk of Taliban reprisals – from academics and journalists to activists and women human rights defenders – and are in danger of being abandoned to a deeply uncertain future,” she added.