The US carried out an air strike Tuesday in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz, a day after its provincial capital was captured by the Taliban.
“US forces conducted an airstrike in Kunduz province… to eliminate a threat to Afghan and coalition forces,” a NATO statement said.
Meanwhile, the Afghan defence ministry told AFP, “Afghan army reinforcements began the operation to recapture Kunduz city at 8:00 am (0330 GMT) today,” adding, “The police headquarters and city prison have been retaken.”
Key dates in the rise of the Afghan Taliban
Here is a timeline of key events in the rise of the fundamentalist movement:
- 1979-1989: The Soviet Union sends troops into Afghanistan to prop up a communist regime but faces fierce resistance from Afghan mujahideen fighters backed by the West. Moscow withdraws in February 1989 after a decade of fighting.
- 1992-1996: The fall of Mohammad Najibullah’s government in 1992 unleashes a bloody power struggle that kills nearly 100,000 people in two years and sees fundamentalist Taliban movement begin to emerge in the south.
- 1996-2001: The Taliban, led by Mullah Mohammad Omar, take power in 1996 and install a regime based on a hardline interpretation of Islamic law. They become close to Al Qaeda and shelter its leader Osama bin Laden.
- September, 2001: Al Qaeda hijackers fly passenger planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the US, killing nearly 3,000 people.
- October, 2001: A US-led military campaign begins with air strikes against Afghanistan, followed by an invasion, to hunt down bin Laden and topple the Taliban.
- December 2001: The Taliban are forced from power and Nato-led forces are deployed to support the new interim government.
- October, 2004: Interim leader Hamid Karzai wins Afghanistan’s first presidential election.
- February 2007: US president George W Bush vows to further boost his country’s forces after an attack on a US base during a visit by vice president Dick Cheney.
- June, 2007: Dozens are killed in a string of suicide attacks, including one in a factory north of Kabul that claims 79 lives.
- November 2008: Democrat Barack Obama is elected US president, vowing to end the war in Iraq and focus on Afghanistan.
- November 2009: Karzai wins another term as president but is accused of massive fraud.
- December, 2009: Obama orders a “surge” of 30,000 troops but says withdrawals will begin in July 2011. Nato-led troops reach a peak of 150,000 in the summer of 2010.
- 2011: A string of suicide attacks claim hundreds of lives culminating in multiple blasts on the day of Ashura in December that kill at least 84 people.
- May, 2011: Osama bin Laden is killed by US special forces in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad, prompting calls for the war in Afghanistan to end.
- June 2011: Obama announces the withdrawal of 33,000 US troops by the middle of 2012 and Western powers start handing authority to Afghan forces and officials.
- June 2013: Afghan forces take control of security from Nato forces as US-led combat troops prepare their final withdrawal.
- September, 2014: New president Ashraf Ghani takes power.
- December, 2014: Nato ends its combat mission in Afghanistan.
- April, 2015: The Taliban vow nationwide attacks as part of its annual “spring offensive”, but face defections to the self-styled Islamic State.
- July, 2015: The first peace talks between Taliban representatives and the Afghan government are suspended indefinitely after news of the death of Mullah Omar.
- September, 2015: Taliban insurgents seize Kunduz.