General information
Type of Incompatibility: Government
Comment on Type of Incompatibility: After the al-Qaida attacks in New York and Washington on [9 September 2011] (/#/conflict/608), US President George Bush issued an ultimatum to the Taleban government in Afghanistan. Bush ordered the Taleban to hand over al-Qaida leader Usama bin Laden, which they had been sheltering since 1996, and stop hosting any terrorists in Afghanistan. On 21 September, President Bush presented four specific demands and said “These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate." The demands included to “deliver to (the) United States all the leaders of al-Qaida”, to release all foreign nationals “unjustly imprisoned”, to "close immediately and permanently every terrorist training camp in Afghanistan and hand over every terrorist, and every person in their support structure, to appropriate authorities", and finally to "give the United States full access to terrorist training camps, so we can make sure they are no longer operating." In connection to these demands, however, the US denied that the goal was to oust the Taleban. One example is US Secretary of State Coling Powell stating, on 23 September, that “I'm not going to say that it has become one of the objectives of the United States government to either remove or put in place a different regime". During the following weeks, both USA and UK increased their contacts with opposition groups inside Afghanistan, and while still denying that their goal was to topple the Taleban regime, discussions on a post-Taleban government were taking place.
On 6 October 2001, USA and UK, stated that they sought to topple the Taleban regime and the following day, on 7 October, they launched military strikes against Afghanistan. Speaking from the White House, President Bush said that Operation Enduring Freedom aimed to "disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime."
Date of first stated goal of incompatibility: 2001-10-06
Comment on date of first stated goals of incompatibility: After the al-Qaida attacks in New York and Washington on [9 September 2011] (/#/conflict/608), US President George Bush issued an ultimatum to the Taleban government in Afghanistan. Bush ordered the Taleban to hand over al-Qaida leader Usama bin Laden, which they had been sheltering since 1996, and stop hosting any terrorists in Afghanistan. On 21 September, President Bush presented four specific demands and said “These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate." The demands included to “deliver to (the) United States all the leaders of al-Qaida”, to release all foreign nationals “unjustly imprisoned”, to "close immediately and permanently every terrorist training camp in Afghanistan and hand over every terrorist, and every person in their support structure, to appropriate authorities", and finally to "give the United States full access to terrorist training camps, so we can make sure they are no longer operating." In connection to these demands, however, the US denied that the goal was to oust the Taleban. One example is US Secretary of State Coling Powell stating, on 23 September, that “I'm not going to say that it has become one of the objectives of the United States government to either remove or put in place a different regime". During the following weeks, both USA and UK increased their contacts with opposition groups inside Afghanistan, and while still denying that their goal was to topple the Taleban regime, discussions on a post-Taleban government were taking place.
On 6 October 2001, the rhetoric shifted and USA and UK stated that they sought to topple the Taleban regime. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said “I assure you of a complete determination to be successful in this action against the terrorists and the Taliban regime, which we will continue until we are successful” and the following day, on 7 October, they launched military strikes against Afghanistan. Speaking from the White House, President Bush said that Operation Enduring Freedom aimed to "disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime."
Date of first use of armed force: 2001-10-07
Comment on first use of armed force: On 7 October 2001, USA and UK launched Operation Enduring Freedom. Air and missile strikes targeted bases, airports and training camps in Afghan cities Kabul, Herat, Kandahar, and Jalalabad.
Date of first battle related death: 2001-10-07
Comment on first battle related death: On 7 October 2001, USA and UK launched Operation Enduring Freedom. At least 37 people were killed and 81 injured due to airstrikes in Kabul, Herat, Kandahar, and Jalalabad.
Date of conflict reached 25 battle releated deaths: 2001-10-07
Comment on conflict reached 25 battle releated deaths: On 7 October 2001, USA and UK launched Operation Enduring Freedom. At least 37 people were killed and 81 injured due to airstrikes in Kabul, Herat, Kandahar, and Jalalabad.
Annual information
This section contains annual information systematically collected by the UCDP.
2001
Primary Parties: Government of Afghanistan - Government of United Kingdom, Government of United States of America
Dimension: Interstate
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 2075 |
| Best | 1397 |
| Low | 1388 |
Numbers include fatalities for all dyads both active and inactive for this year
2003
Primary Parties: -
Dimension: Interstate
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 0 |
| Best | 0 |
| Low | 0 |
Numbers include fatalities for all dyads both active and inactive for this year
2014
Primary Parties: -
Dimension: Interstate
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 0 |
| Best | 0 |
| Low | 0 |
Numbers include fatalities for all dyads both active and inactive for this year
2015
Primary Parties: -
Dimension: Interstate
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 0 |
| Best | 0 |
| Low | 0 |
Numbers include fatalities for all dyads both active and inactive for this year
2016
Primary Parties: -
Dimension: Interstate
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 0 |
| Best | 0 |
| Low | 0 |
Numbers include fatalities for all dyads both active and inactive for this year
2020
Primary Parties: -
Dimension: Interstate
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 0 |
| Best | 0 |
| Low | 0 |
Numbers include fatalities for all dyads both active and inactive for this year
2021
Primary Parties: -
Dimension: Interstate
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 0 |
| Best | 0 |
| Low | 0 |
Numbers include fatalities for all dyads both active and inactive for this year
Conflict Archive
This section contains annual information no longer systematically collected by the UCDP.
2001 Conflict Archive
Comment on Activity: After the Taleban seized Kabul on 28 September 1996 and proclaimed the Islamic State of Afghanistan, conflict against the ousted government UIFSA (United Islamic Front for Salvation of Afghanistan), also known as the Northern Alliance, continued. In 2001, the Taleban controlled over 95 percent of Afghanistan, and UIFSA, only controlling a small territory in northern Afghanistan, was almost defeated. However, the balance of forces changed drastically with the entrance of the US-led multinational coalition into the conflict.
USA’s, approach to the Afghan civil war had been somewhat ambiguous since the conflict did not directly threaten US national security interests. Its approach to the conflict and the Taleban regime drastically changed on 11 September 2001, when New York and Washington became targets for terrorist-actions blamed on the Afghanistan-based Usama bin Laden and his al-Qaida, organization. Following the refusal of the Taleban regime to surrender Usama bin Laden and his al-Qaida associates USA launched a major military buildup directed at Afghanistan. At the political level, USA, together with the United Kingdom, started to consolidate an anti-terrorist coalition. Under considerable pressure even Pakistan, the strongest backer of the Taleban regime, reversed its policy and agreed to cooperate with the USA-led coalition. Both Pakistan and Uzbekistan agreed to grant US forces access to their air bases. Inside Afghanistan, UIFSA engaged in talks with the US government on how they could participate in the offensive against the Taleban regime.
On 6 October 2001, the rhetoric shifted and USA and UK stated that they sought to topple the Taleban regime. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said “I assure you of a complete determination to be successful in this action against the terrorists and the Taliban regime, which we will continue until we are successful” and the following day, on 7 October, they launched military strikes against Afghanistan. Speaking from the White House, President Bush said that Operation Enduring Freedom aimed to "disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime." As the month progressed the US forces widened their attacks from fixed targets to mobile targets, and US Special Forces were deployed on the ground. Officially, the US government had held a certain distance from UIFSA. In November, the US airstrikes started to hit the Taleban front lines, indicating that the US after some initial hesitation was prepared to facilitate UIFSA’s capture of Kabul. During the first weeks of November, UIFSA achieved important territorial gains. It re-captured the important cities of Mazar-e-Sharif and Herat. Faced with the imminent collapse of the Taleban regime, the government and military withdrew from Kabul to its traditional stronghold in Kandahar. UIFSA entered Kabul on 12 November, meeting only sporadic resistance from foreign mercenaries.
Negotiations: NO
Third party involvement: NO
Victory: YES
Victory side: b
Comment on Victory: The conflict ended in victory on 12 November 2001, when UIFSA, in collaboration with the USA and UK, captured Kabul.
Terminated: YES
Type of termination: Victory
Date of termination: 2001-11-12
Comment on Termination: The conflict ended in victory on 12 November 2001, when UIFSA, in collaboration with the USA and UK, captured Kabul.
2003 Conflict Archive
Terminated: NO
2014 Conflict Archive
Terminated: NO
2015 Conflict Archive
Terminated: NO
2016 Conflict Archive
Terminated: NO
2020 Conflict Archive
Terminated: NO
2021 Conflict Archive
Terminated: NO
