Taliban Take Afghanistan as Twenty-Year War Ends 

For the past 20 years, the United States has experienced an internal war in Afghanistan, with the Taliban in particular. Officially starting on 7 October 2001, the War in Afghanistan was initiated by the twin tower attacks in New York on 11 September 2001. United States forces immediately occupied Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, in order to hunt for Osama bin Laden and his multinational terrorist organization, Al-Qaeda, who were the ‘masterminds’ behind the attack.  Afghanistan, Kabul, and the Taliban have taken the news headlines once again and the main question is, “What recently happened in Afghanistan?” 

Just days before Joe Biden’s inauguration, U.S. Defense Secretary Christopher C. Miller disclosed plans of reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan. This motivated one of President Biden’s first operations in relation to Afghanistan and their situation with the war. He declared that “it was time to end America’s longest war” and decided on the complete withdrawal of U.S. personnel by 9/11. Just four months after this decision was made and the withdrawal of troops began, the Taliban returned and gave people a taste of their capabilities of wreaking havoc once again. On 15 August 2021, the former president of Afghanistan at the time, Ashraf Ghani, fled the country, which caused the weakening of the Afghan Government. Due to the lack of resistance, the Taliban were able to overrun the capital and take over the ‘empty’ presidential palace. 

Knowing the accelerated capabilities of the Taliban, Afghan civilians were frightened and immediately sought evacuation. Helpless and anxious citizens rushed to Kabul Airport just to encounter checkpoints with Taliban fighters. On 26 August 2021, two terror attacks were reported and were later revealed to be suicide bombers under the responsibility of ISIS. At least 90 Afghans were killed and 150 wounded not just from the attack, but also because of the ways of evacuation. Because the U.S. forces were mid-withdrawal, there was a lack of warfare and transportation. Pictures and videos of people hanging onto the wings of helicopters and small planes were spread online, but what majorly took the headlines were the deaths of 13 U.S. service members. The deaths of the 13 U.S. personnel were the first in Afghanistan since February 2020. The deaths, attacks, and now the gained control of the Taliban marks a new beginning and alteration to the future of Afghanistan.