International Security Assistance Force
The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 pursuant to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined the establishment of a permanent Afghan government following the U.S. invasion in October 2001. ISAF's primary goal was to train the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and assist Afghanistan in rebuilding key government institutions; it gradually took part in the broader war in Afghanistan against the Taliban insurgency.
ISAF's military terminal at Kabul International Airport in September 2010
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard B. Myers and joined by military representatives from 29 countries of the worldwide coalition on the war against terrorism, at The Pentagon on 11 March 2002
Geographic depiction of the four ISAF stages (January 2009)
Anaconda Strategy vs the insurgents as of 20 October 2010
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
The War in Afghanistan was an armed conflict from 2001 to 2021. It was the direct response to the September 11 attacks. It began when an international military coalition led by the United States launched an invasion of Afghanistan, declaring Operation Enduring Freedom as part of the earlier-declared war on terror; toppling the Taliban-ruled Islamic Emirate and establishing the Islamic Republic three years later. The Taliban and its allies were expelled from major population centers by the US-led forces, supporting the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance; however Bin Laden relocated to neighboring Pakistan. The conflict officially ended with the 2021 Taliban offensive, which overthrew the Islamic Republic, and re-established the Islamic Emirate. It was the longest war in the military history of the United States, surpassing the length of the Vietnam War (1955–1975) by approximately six months.
Image: U.S. Army firefight in Kunar
Image: F 15E drops 2,000 pound munitions Afghanistan 2009
Image: An Afghan National Army soldier surveys a valley for suspicious activity during an operation in Ghorband district, Parwan province, Afghanistan, Jan. 15, 2014 140115 A CL980 187 (cropped)
Image: Soldiers of Somme Company, 1st Lancs Board a Chinook in Afghanistan During Op Tor Shezada MOD 45151695