Taliban insurgency

This article is about the anti-government Taliban insurgency which lasted from 2001 to 2021. For the Taliban's successful 1994–1996 insurgency against the "Mujahideen" government, see History of the Taliban.
"Taliban offensive" redirects here. For other conflicts involving the Taliban, see Afghan conflict and 2021 Taliban offensive.

Taliban insurgency
Part of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), the Afghan conflict, and the War on terror

Map of the 2021 Taliban offensive.
Date17 December 2001 – 15 August 2021
(19 years, 7 months, 4 weeks and 1 day)[26]
Location
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
Result

Taliban victory

Belligerents

 Afghanistan

ISAF (2001–2014)
RS (2015 onwards)[1]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Major contributing nations with more than 200 troops as of May 2015

Allied militias

 Taliban

Supported by:

Allied groups

Taliban splinter groups (from 2015)

Commanders and leaders

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani
(President of Afghanistan)
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah
(CEO of Afghanistan)
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Abdul Rashid Dostum
(Vice-President of Afghanistan)
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Mohammad Mohaqiq
(Deputy CEO of Afghanistan)
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Atta Muhammad Nur
(Governor of Balkh Province)
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Bismillah Khan Mohammadi
(Defense Minister of Afghanistan)
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Sher Mohammad Karimi
(Chief of Army Staff)
Nangialai †[7]
Abdul Manan Niazi †[27]
Coalition:

ISAF (2001–14)
RS[1] (2015 onwards)

Taliban Hibatullah Akhundzada
(Supreme Commander)
[28]
Taliban Sirajuddin Haqqani
(Deputy of the Taliban)
[29]
Taliban Mohammad Yaqoob
(Deputy of the Taliban)
[28]
Taliban Jalaluddin Haqqani #
(Leader of Haqqani Network)
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
(2002–2016)
Ayman al-Zawahiri
(Emir of al-Qaeda)
Taliban Abdul Ghani Baradar
(head of Taliban Diplomatic Office)[30]

Taliban Mansoor Dadullah †
(Commander of the Dadullah Front)[31][32]
Haji Najibullah
(Commander of Fidai Mahaz)
[33]

Taliban Mullah Omar #
(Commander of the Faithful)

Taliban Akhtar Mansoor †
(Supreme Commander)[30][28]
Taliban Obaidullah Akhund †
(Former Taliban Minister of Defense)
[30]
Taliban Mohammad Fazl (POW)
(Former Deputy Defense Minister)
[30]
Taliban Abdul Qayyum Zakir
(Former Taliban military chief)
Taliban Dadullah Akhund †
(Senior commander)
[30]

Osama bin Laden †
(Former Emir of al-Qaeda)
Strength

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Afghan Armed Forces: 352,000[34]
RSM: 13,000+[35]
High Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan: 3,000–3,500[4] ISAF: 18,000+[36]

Military Contractors: 20,000+[36]

 Taliban: 60,000
(tentative estimate)[37]

HIG: 1,500–2,000+[41]
al-Qaeda: 100–800[42][43][44]

Fidai Mahaz: 8,000[33]
Casualties and losses

Afghan Security Forces:
Dead: 65,596+ killed Wounded: 16,500+[37]
Coalition:
Dead: 3,486 (all causes)
2,807 (hostile causes)
(United States: 2,356, United Kingdom: 454,[45] Canada: 158, France: 88, Germany: 57, Italy: 53, Others: 321)[46]
Wounded: 22,773 (United States: 19,950, United Kingdom: 2,188, Canada: 635)[47][48][49]
Contractors:
Dead: 3,937+ (United States: 1,822, Others: 2,115)[50][51][52]
Wounded: 15,000+[51][52]

Total killed: 70,664+		 Taliban:
Dead: 52,893+ killed (estimate, no official data).[37][53][54]

The Taliban insurgency began after the group's fall from power during the 2001 War in Afghanistan. The Taliban forces fought against the Afghan government, led by President Hamid Karzai, and later by President Ashraf Ghani, and against a US-led coalition of forces that has included all members of NATO; the 2021 Taliban offensive resulted in the collapse of the government of Ashraf Ghani. The private sector in Pakistan extends financial aid to the Taliban, contributing to their financial sustenance.[55]

The insurgency had spread to some degree over the border to neighboring Pakistan, in particular Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Taliban conducted warfare against Afghan National Security Forces and their NATO allies, as well as against civilian targets. Regional countries, particularly Pakistan, Iran, China and Russia, were often accused of funding and supporting the insurgent groups.[56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66]

The allied Haqqani Network, Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin (until 2016), and smaller al-Qaeda groups had also been part of the Taliban insurgency.[67][68]

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