by tyler | Mar 19, 2024 | CNN, world
Here’s a look at the Taliban, a Sunni Islamist organization operating primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The group’s aim is to impose its interpretation of Islamic law on Afghanistan and remove foreign influence from the country.
Taliban, in Pashto, is the plural of Talib, which means student.
Most members are Pashtun, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.
Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada has been the Taliban’s supreme leader since 2016.
Reclusive leader Mullah Mohammed Omar led the Taliban from the mid-1990s until his death in 2013.
The exact number of Taliban forces is unknown.
1979-1989 – The Soviet Union invades and occupies Afghanistan. Afghan resistance fighters, known collectively as mujahedeen, fight back.
1989-1993 – After the Soviet Union withdraws, fighting among the mujahedeen erupts.
1994 – The Taliban forms, comprised mostly of students and led by Mullah Mohammed Omar.
November 1994 – The Taliban take control of the city of Kandahar.
September 1996 – The capital, Kabul, falls to the Taliban.
1996-2001 – The group imposes strict Islamic laws on the Afghan people. Women must wear head-to-toe coverings, are not allowed to attend school or work outside the home and are forbidden to travel alone. Television, music and non-Islamic holidays are banned.
1997 – The Taliban issue an edict renaming Afghanistan the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The country is only officially recognized by three countries: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
1997- Omar forges a relationship with Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, who then moves his base of operations to Kandahar.
August 1998 – The Taliban capture the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, gaining control of about 90% of Afghanistan.
October 7, 2001 – Less than a month after terrorists linked to al Qaeda carry out the 9/11 attacks, American and allied forces begin an invasion of Afghanistan called Operation Enduring Freedom.
December 2001 – The Taliban lose its last major stronghold as Kandahar falls. Hamid Karzai is chosen as interim leader of Afghanistan.
November 3, 2004 – Karzai is officially elected president of Afghanistan.
December 2006 – Senior Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani is killed in an airstrike by the United States.
December 11, 2007 – Allied commanders report that Afghan troops backed by NATO have recaptured the provincial town of Musa Qala from Taliban control.
October 21, 2008 – Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal confirms that Saudi Arabia hosted talks between Afghan officials and the Taliban in September. It is reported that no agreements were made.
April 25, 2011 – Hundreds of prisoners escape from a prison in Kandahar by crawling through a tunnel. The Taliban take responsibility for the escape and claim that 541 prisoners escaped, while the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force says the number is 470.
September 10, 2011 – Two Afghan civilians are killed, and 77 US troops are wounded in a truck bombing at the entrance of Combat Outpost Sayed Abad, an ISAF base in Afghanistan’s Wardak province. The Taliban claim responsibility.
September 13, 2011 – Taliban militants open fire on the US embassy and ISAF headquarters in central Kabul. Three police officers and one civilian are killed.
February 27, 2012 – The Taliban claim responsibility for a suicide bombing near the front gate of the ISAF base at the Jalalabad airport in Afghanistan. At least nine people are killed and 12 are wounded in the explosion. The Taliban say the bombing is in retaliation for the burning of Qurans by NATO troops.
June 18, 2013 – An official political office of the Taliban opens in Doha, Qatar’s capital city. The Taliban claim they hope to improve relations with other countries and head toward a peaceful solution in Afghanistan.
September 21, 2013 – A Pakistani official announces that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the founding members of the Taliban, has been released from prison. Baradar had been captured in Karachi, Pakistan, in 2010.
May 31, 2014 – The United States transfer five Guantánamo Bay detainees to Qatar in exchange for the release of US Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. It is believed Bergdahl was being held by the Taliban and the al Qaeda-aligned Haqqani network in Pakistan. The detainees released are Khair Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa, Mullah Mohammad Fazl, Mullah Norullah Nori, Abdul Haq Wasiq and Mohammad Nabi Omari.
July 29, 2015 – An Afghan government spokesman says in a news release that Taliban leader Omar died in April 2013 in Pakistan, citing “credible information.” A spokesman for Afghanistan’s intelligence service tells CNN that Omar died in a hospital in Karachi at that time.
September 28, 2015 – Taliban insurgents seize the main roundabout in the Afghan provincial capital of Kunduz, then free more than 500 inmates at the prison.
December 21, 2015 – A police official says Taliban forces have taken almost complete control over Sangin, a strategically important city in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.
May 21, 2016 – Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour is killed in an airstrike in Pakistan.
May 25, 2016 – The Taliban name Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada as their new leader. He is a senior religious cleric from the Taliban’s founding generation.
January 25, 2017 – The Taliban release an open letter to newly elected US President Donald Trump. The letter calls on Trump to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan.
April 21, 2017 – The Taliban attack a northern army base in Afghanistan, killing or wounding more than 100 people.
July 25, 2017 – CNN reports it has exclusive videos that suggest the Taliban have received improved weaponry in Afghanistan that appears to have been supplied by the Russian government. Moscow categorically denies arming the Taliban.
August 3, 2017 – Taliban and ISIS forces launch a joint attack on a village in northern Afghanistan, killing 50 people, including women and children, local officials say.
January 27, 2018 – An attacker driving an ambulance packed with explosives detonates them in Kabul, killing 95 people and injuring 191 others, Afghan officials say. The Taliban claim responsibility.
February 28, 2018 – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says the government is willing to recognize the Taliban as a legitimate political party as part of a potential ceasefire agreement.
April 12, 2018 – At least 14 people, including a district governor, are killed and at least five are injured in a Taliban attack in Afghanistan’s southeastern Ghazni province.
June 7, 2018 – In a video message, Ghani announces that Afghan forces have agreed to a ceasefire with the Taliban between June 12 and June 21. The proposed truce coincides with the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, the period during which Muslims celebrate the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.
June 15-17, 2018 – The three-day-old ceasefire between the Taliban, Afghan forces and the NATO-led coalition is marred by two deadly attacks. ISIS, which did not participate in the truce, claims responsibility for a suicide bombing in the Nangarhar province that kills at least 25 people, including Taliban members and civilians. A second suicide bombing is carried out near the Nangarhar governor’s compound, killing at least 18 people and injuring at least 49. There is no immediate claim of responsibility for the second attack.
August 10, 2018 – The Taliban launch an attack on the strategic Afghan city of Ghazni, south of the capital Kabul, seizing key buildings and trading fire with security forces. At least 16 people are killed and 40 are injured, most are Afghan security forces.
October 13, 2018 – The Taliban issues a statement announcing that the group met with the US envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, to discuss the conflict in Afghanistan. The United States does not confirm that the meeting occurred.
November 9, 2018 – In Moscow, Taliban representatives participate in talks with diplomats from Russia, Pakistan, India and other countries, as well as officials from the Afghan government. The United States sends a diplomat from its embassy in Moscow as an observer.
January 22, 2019 – Authorities say at least 12 members of the Afghan military were killed and another 28 injured when the Taliban carried out a suicide attack on a military base in the central province of Maidan Wardak.
January 28, 2019 – Officials from the United States and the Taliban announce they have agreed to a framework that could end the war in Afghanistan. The framework for peace would see the Taliban vow to prevent the country from being used as a hub for terrorism in return for a US military withdrawal. An Afghan source close to the negotiations tells CNN that while a ceasefire and US withdrawal were both discussed, neither side came to final conclusions.
January 30, 2019 – In its quarterly report to the US Congress, the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction declares the Taliban expanded its control of territory in 2018 while the Afghan government lost control of territory. In October 2018, the Afghan government controlled just 53.8% of districts in the country, according to the report. The insurgency made gains to control 12.3% of districts while 33.9% of districts were contested.
February 5-6, 2019 – Talks are held in Moscow between Taliban leaders and politicians from the government of Afghanistan.
March 12, 2019 – Peace talks between representatives from the United States and the Taliban end without a finalized agreement. Khalilzad, the main American negotiator, says that progress has been made and the talks yielded two draft proposals.
September 7-8, 2019 – Trump announces that Taliban leaders were to travel to the Unites States for secret peace talks over the weekend but that the meeting has been canceled and he has called off peace talks with the militant group entirely. Trump tweets that he scrapped the meeting after the Taliban took credit for an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed a dozen people, including an American soldier.
November 28, 2019 – On a surprise trip to Afghanistan for a Thanksgiving visit with US troops, Trump announces that peace talks with the Taliban have restarted.
February 29, 2020 – The United States and the Taliban sign a historic agreement which sets into motion the potential of a full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. The “Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan” outlines a series of commitments from the United States and the Taliban related to troop levels, counterterrorism and the intra-Afghan dialogue aimed at bringing about “a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire.”
August 9, 2020 – Afghanistan’s grand assembly of elders, the consultative Loya Jirga, passes a resolution calling for the release of the last group of some 5,000 Taliban prisoners, paving the way for direct peace talks with the insurgent group. The release of the 400 prisoners is part of the agreement signed by the US and the Taliban in February.
April 14, 2021 – US President Joe Biden formally announces his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan before September 11, 2021, deeming the prolonged and intractable conflict in Afghanistan no longer aligns with American priorities.
August 15, 2021 – After the Taliban seize control of every major city across Afghanistan, in just two weeks, they take control of the presidential palace in Kabul. A senior Afghan official and a senior diplomatic source tell CNN that Ghani has left the country.
August 30, 2021 – The last US military planes leave Afghanistan.
September 7, 2021 – The Taliban announce the formation of a hardline interim government for Afghanistan. Four men receiving senior positions in the government had previously been detained by the United States at Guantánamo Bay, and were released as part of a prisoner swap for Bergdahl in 2014.
November 30, 2021 – New research released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) details “the summary execution or enforced disappearance” of 47 former members of the Afghan National Security Forces who had surrendered or were apprehended by Taliban forces between August 15 and October 31. A Taliban deputy spokesman rejects the HRW report, saying that the Taliban established a general amnesty on their first day of power in Afghanistan.
December 27, 2021 – The Taliban says it has dissolved Afghanistan’s election commission as well as its ministries for peace and parliamentary affairs, further eroding state institutions set up by the country’s previous Western-backed governments.
February 11, 2022 – Biden signs an executive order allowing $7 billion in frozen assets from Afghanistan’s central bank to eventually be distributed inside the country and to potentially fund litigation brought by families of victims of the September 11 terror attacks. The Taliban has claimed rights to the funds, which include assets like currency and gold, but the United States has declined access to them after Afghanistan’s democratic government fell. The United States has not recognized the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan.
March 23, 2022 – The Taliban prevents girls above the 6th grade in Afghanistan from making their much-anticipated return to school. They are told to stay at home until a school uniform appropriate to Sharia and Afghan customs and culture can be designed, the Taliban-run Bakhtar News Agency reported. The Taliban originally said that schools would open for all students – including girls – after the Afghan new year, which is celebrated on March 21, on the condition that boys and girls were separated either in different schools or by different learning hours.
November 13, 2022 – The Taliban orders judges in Afghanistan to fully impose their interpretation of Sharia Law, including potential public executions, amputations and flogging, a move experts fear will lead to a further deterioration of human rights in the impoverished country.
December 20, 2022 – The Taliban government suspends university education for all female students in Afghanistan.
December 24, 2022 – The Taliban administration orders all local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to stop their female employees from coming to work, according to a letter by the Ministry of Economy sent to all licensed NGOs.
June 15, 2023 – The United Nations releases a report saying that since re-taking control of the country,the Taliban has committed “egregious systematic violations of women’s rights,” by restricting their access to education and employment and their ability to move freely in society.
by tyler | Mar 18, 2024 | CNN, world
Here’s a look at the life of world-renowned primatologist, activist and conservationist Jane Goodall.
Birth date: April 3, 1934
Birth place: London, England
Birth name: Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall
Father: Mortimer Morris-Goodall, businessman
Mother: Margaret Myfanwe (Joseph) Morris-Goodall, a novelist
Marriages: Derek Bryceson (1975-1980, his death); Hugo van Lawick (March 28, 1964-1974, divorced)
Children: with van Lawick: Hugo
Education: Cambridge University, Ph.D. in ethology, 1965
Obtained a doctorate without receiving a bachelor’s or master’s first.
Was the first scientist to give names to her research subjects instead of the conventional practice of assigning them numbers.
Found that chimpanzees engage in warfare with neighboring communities and that chimps are capable of altruism, which they display by adopting unrelated orphaned infants.
First to observe chimps eating meat and making and using tools.
1956 – While working as an assistant in a London film studio, she receives an invitation from a friend to visit her farm in Kenya.
1957 – Arrives in Africa and meets famous archeologist and paleontologist Louis Leakey. He hires her as an assistant and then asks her to study a group of chimpanzees living in Tanzania.
July 1960 – Arrives at the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve in Tanzania to begin her study of chimpanzees.
October 1960 – Goodall observes chimpanzees eating meat; they were thought to be vegetarians.
November 1960 – Observes the first recorded instance of chimpanzees making and using tools.
1977 – Founds the Jane Goodall Institute.
1991 – Begins the Roots & Shoots environmental program for young people.
2002 – Designated a United Nations Messenger of Peace.
February 20, 2004 – Is invested as a Dame of the British Empire at Buckingham Palace.
2010 – A documentary film about her life, “Jane’s Journey,” premieres.
March 2013 – Apologizes for plagiarized passages in her book, “Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants,” scheduled to be released in April. The Washington Post first reported on the borrowed passages, saying they came from Wikipedia and other websites.
September 30, 2014 – A new species of orchid is named after Goodall. The Dendrobium goodallianum orchid was collected in Papua New Guinea in 2003.
October 20, 2017 – “Jane,” a documentary about Goodall’s early work with chimps, directed by Brett Morgan, opens.
January 2019 – Announces launch of the Jane Goodall Legacy Foundation, “in the hope that we can create an endowment that will enable the programmes I have developed to continue, new ones to be initiated, and so that the fight for the good of the natural world will continue beyond my lifetime.” It is registered in Switzerland.
April 17, 2019 – Is named to the Time 100, the magazine’s annual list of the most influential people in the world.
May 8, 2020 – In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Goodall says that humanity’s disrespect for nature led to the coronavirus pandemic, saying “we brought this on ourselves.”
May 20, 2021 – Is announced as the winner of the Templeton Prize, an award worth over $1.5 million, that honors “outstanding individuals who have devoted their talents to expanding our vision of human purpose and ultimate reality.”
July 12, 2022 – Mattel Inc announces the release of a new Barbie doll of Goodall, made from recycled plastic, as part of its Inspiring Women Barbie collection.
by tyler | Mar 18, 2024 | CNN, world
Here’s a look at the life of Sir John Major, former prime minister of the United Kingdom.
Birth date: March 29, 1943
Birth place: Carshalton, Surrey
Birth name: John Major
Father: Abraham Thomas Ball, stage name – Tom Major, performer
Mother: Gwen (Coates) Major, dancer
Marriage: Norma (Johnson) Major (1970-present)
Children: James and Elizabeth
Left school at age 16.
Worked at a bank prior to entering politics.
Was appointed financial guardian of Prince William and Prince Harry after Princess Diana’s death.
1968-1971 – Member of the Lambeth Borough Council.
1974 – Unsuccessfully runs for a seat in Parliament.
1979 – Wins a seat in Parliament, representing Huntingdonshire.
1983 – Becomes assistant government whip.
1984 – Becomes treasury whip.
1985-1986 – Serves as undersecretary state for social security.
1986 – Is appointed minister of state for social security.
1987-1989 – Serves as chief secretary to the Treasury.
July 1989 – Is appointed foreign secretary.
October 1989 – Is appointed chancellor of the exchequer.
November 28, 1990-1997 – Serves as prime minister of the United Kingdom.
June 1995 – Resigns as the head of the Conservative Party and calls for a parliamentary election to establish leadership of the party. He wins the election.
May 1, 1997 – Loses the election to the Labor Party and Tony Blair.
1999 – “John Major: The Autobiography” is published.
2001 – Retires from Parliament.
2002 – Admits to having a four-year affair with Edwina Currie, a fellow member of Parliament, during the 1980s.
2005 – Is made a Knight of the Garter by Queen Elizabeth II.
2007 – Major’s book, “More Than A Game: The Story of Cricket’s Early Years,” is published.
2012 – Major’s book, “My Old Man: A Personal History of Music Hall,” is published.
August 30, 2019 – Announces that he intends to join the legal action brought by anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller, who wants to stop Boris Johnson from closing down Parliament for five weeks. The following month Major submits written testimony outlining his opposition, In October, the Supreme Court unanimously rules that Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament for five weeks was unlawful.
October 17, 2022 – In a statement to CNN, Major slams the fifth season of Netflix’s “The Crown” for its depictions of his time in office as “damaging and malicious fiction” and “a barrel-load of nonsense peddled for no other reason than to provide maximum – and entirely false – dramatic impact.” Netflix defends the show as a “fictional dramatisation.”
by tyler | Mar 18, 2024 | CNN, world
Here’s a look at the 2008 military conflict between Russia and Georgia.
The conflict centered on South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two “breakaway provinces” in Georgia. They are officially part of Georgia, but have separate governments unrecognized by most countries.
Abkhazia and South Ossetia are supported by Russia.
During the five-day conflict, 170 servicemen, 14 policemen, and 228 civilians from Georgia were killed and 1,747 wounded. Sixty-seven Russian servicemen were killed and 283 were wounded, and 365 South Ossetian servicemen and civilians (combined) were killed, according to an official EU fact-finding report about the conflict.
1918-1921- Georgia is briefly an independent state after separating from the Russian Empire.
1921 – After the Red Army invasion, Georgia and Abkhazia are declared Soviet Socialist republics.
1922 – The South Ossetia Autonomous Oblast is created within Georgia.
1931 – Abkhazia’s status is reduced to an autonomous republic within Georgia.
1990 – South Ossetia declares its independence from Georgia.
April 9, 1991 – Georgia declares independence.
1991-1992 – Civil war breaks out in Georgia. Zviad Gamsakhurdia is deposed as president.
1992 – Abkhazia declares its independence from Georgia, leading to armed conflict.
October 1992 – Eduard Shevardnadze is elected to lead Georgia. He is reelected in 1995 and 2000.
September 1993 – Abkhazian separatist forces defeat the Georgian military.
October 1993 – Georgia joins the Commonwealth of Independent States.
May 1994 – A ceasefire is agreed upon and signed between the Georgian government and Abkhaz separatists. Russian peacekeeping forces are deployed to the area.
October 2001 – Fighting resumes between Abkhaz troops and Georgian paramilitaries. Russia states that it believes Georgia is harboring Chechen rebels, a claim denied by Georgia.
September 2002 – Russian President Vladimir Putin sends a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, UN Security Council members, and members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe stating that Georgia must respond to accusations they are harboring Chechen militants or face military action from Russia.
October 2002 – Tensions with Russia are defused after Shevardnadze promises to work with Russia to fight Chechen rebels.
November 2003 – Shevardnadze is forced to leave office in the “Rose Revolution.”
July 2005 – Under terms of a deal reached in May, Russia starts to withdraw its troops from two Soviet-era military bases.
May-June 2006 – Tensions between Georgia and Russia rise again when Georgia demands that Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia have visas.
November 12, 2006 – A referendum is voted upon in which South Ossetians overwhelmingly demand independence.
November 2007 – Russia announces that it has withdrawn its Georgia-based troops. It retains a peacekeeping presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
April 3, 2008 – NATO members at a summit in Bucharest, Romania, defer the decision on Georgia and Ukraine’s admittance until December 2008.
April 21, 2008 – Georgia accuses Russia of shooting down an unmanned drone over Abkhazia on April 20. Russia denies the claim.
April 29, 2008 – Russia sends more troops to Abkhazia to counter what it says are Georgia’s plans for an attack.
May 26, 2008 – A UN investigation concludes that the drone shot down on April 21 was struck by a missile from a Russian fighter jet.
May 30-31, 2008 – Russia sends several hundred unarmed troops to Abkhazia, saying they are needed for railway repairs. Georgia accuses Russia of planning a military intervention.
August 7-8, 2008 – Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili sends troops into South Ossetia. Russia responds by moving its troops to the border, flying aircraft over Georgia, and beginning air strikes in South Ossetia.
August 8, 2008 – The United States, United Kingdom and NATO call for a cease fire of military hostilities by both Russia and Georgia.
August 9, 2008 – A delegation of EU and US diplomats head to Georgia to resolve escalating tensions.
August 10, 2008 – Russia moves tanks and soldiers through South Ossetia and into Georgia proper, advancing towards the city of Gori.
August 12, 2008 – Russia calls a halt to its military incursion into Georgia and agrees to a six-point diplomatic push for peace. The plan is announced by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
August 13, 2008 – US President George W. Bush announces humanitarian aid is to be sent to Georgia. It is also announced that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be sent to France and Georgia for a diplomatic mission.
August 15, 2008 – Saakashvili signs a cease fire agreement with Russia. The deal is brokered by Sarkozy.
August 16, 2008 – Medvedev signs the cease fire agreement.
August 22, 2008 – Russia partially withdraws its troops from Georgia, as part of the cease fire agreement. Russia maintains soldiers at checkpoints near the disputed territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
August 26, 2008 – Medvedev signs an order recognizing the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. In response, President Bush releases a statement saying, in part, “The United States condemns the decision by the Russian president to recognize as independent states the Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia…The territorial integrity and borders of Georgia must be respected, just as those of Russia or any other country.”
July 2009 – UN observers leave Georgia after nearly 16 years. The mission was not extended due to a Russian veto.
September 2009 – A report from an EU fact-finding mission determines that historical tensions and overreaction on the part of both Russia and Georgia contributed to the five-day conflict. Georgia’s attack on the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali on the night of August 7 is seen as the start of the armed conflict, however the report notes that the attack was the culmination of years of increasing tensions, provocations and incidents.
January 27, 2016 – The Hague-based International Criminal Court authorizes a probe into possible war crimes committed by Russian, Georgian and South Ossetian forces during the conflict.
by tyler | Mar 18, 2024 | CNN, world
Here’s a look at the Taliban, a Sunni Islamist organization operating primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The group’s aim is to impose its interpretation of Islamic law on Afghanistan and remove foreign influence from the country.
Taliban, in Pashto, is the plural of Talib, which means student.
Most members are Pashtun, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.
Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada has been the Taliban’s supreme leader since 2016.
Reclusive leader Mullah Mohammed Omar led the Taliban from the mid-1990s until his death in 2013.
The exact number of Taliban forces is unknown.
1979-1989 – The Soviet Union invades and occupies Afghanistan. Afghan resistance fighters, known collectively as mujahedeen, fight back.
1989-1993 – After the Soviet Union withdraws, fighting among the mujahedeen erupts.
1994 – The Taliban forms, comprised mostly of students and led by Mullah Mohammed Omar.
November 1994 – The Taliban take control of the city of Kandahar.
September 1996 – The capital, Kabul, falls to the Taliban.
1996-2001 – The group imposes strict Islamic laws on the Afghan people. Women must wear head-to-toe coverings, are not allowed to attend school or work outside the home and are forbidden to travel alone. Television, music and non-Islamic holidays are banned.
1997 – The Taliban issue an edict renaming Afghanistan the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The country is only officially recognized by three countries: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
1997- Omar forges a relationship with Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, who then moves his base of operations to Kandahar.
August 1998 – The Taliban capture the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, gaining control of about 90% of Afghanistan.
October 7, 2001 – Less than a month after terrorists linked to al Qaeda carry out the 9/11 attacks, American and allied forces begin an invasion of Afghanistan called Operation Enduring Freedom.
December 2001 – The Taliban lose its last major stronghold as Kandahar falls. Hamid Karzai is chosen as interim leader of Afghanistan.
November 3, 2004 – Karzai is officially elected president of Afghanistan.
December 2006 – Senior Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani is killed in an airstrike by the United States.
December 11, 2007 – Allied commanders report that Afghan troops backed by NATO have recaptured the provincial town of Musa Qala from Taliban control.
October 21, 2008 – Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal confirms that Saudi Arabia hosted talks between Afghan officials and the Taliban in September. It is reported that no agreements were made.
April 25, 2011 – Hundreds of prisoners escape from a prison in Kandahar by crawling through a tunnel. The Taliban take responsibility for the escape and claim that 541 prisoners escaped, while the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force says the number is 470.
September 10, 2011 – Two Afghan civilians are killed, and 77 US troops are wounded in a truck bombing at the entrance of Combat Outpost Sayed Abad, an ISAF base in Afghanistan’s Wardak province. The Taliban claim responsibility.
September 13, 2011 – Taliban militants open fire on the US embassy and ISAF headquarters in central Kabul. Three police officers and one civilian are killed.
February 27, 2012 – The Taliban claim responsibility for a suicide bombing near the front gate of the ISAF base at the Jalalabad airport in Afghanistan. At least nine people are killed and 12 are wounded in the explosion. The Taliban say the bombing is in retaliation for the burning of Qurans by NATO troops.
June 18, 2013 – An official political office of the Taliban opens in Doha, Qatar’s capital city. The Taliban claim they hope to improve relations with other countries and head toward a peaceful solution in Afghanistan.
September 21, 2013 – A Pakistani official announces that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the founding members of the Taliban, has been released from prison. Baradar had been captured in Karachi, Pakistan, in 2010.
May 31, 2014 – The United States transfer five Guantánamo Bay detainees to Qatar in exchange for the release of US Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. It is believed Bergdahl was being held by the Taliban and the al Qaeda-aligned Haqqani network in Pakistan. The detainees released are Khair Ulla Said Wali Khairkhwa, Mullah Mohammad Fazl, Mullah Norullah Nori, Abdul Haq Wasiq and Mohammad Nabi Omari.
July 29, 2015 – An Afghan government spokesman says in a news release that Taliban leader Omar died in April 2013 in Pakistan, citing “credible information.” A spokesman for Afghanistan’s intelligence service tells CNN that Omar died in a hospital in Karachi at that time.
September 28, 2015 – Taliban insurgents seize the main roundabout in the Afghan provincial capital of Kunduz, then free more than 500 inmates at the prison.
December 21, 2015 – A police official says Taliban forces have taken almost complete control over Sangin, a strategically important city in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.
May 21, 2016 – Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour is killed in an airstrike in Pakistan.
May 25, 2016 – The Taliban name Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada as their new leader. He is a senior religious cleric from the Taliban’s founding generation.
January 25, 2017 – The Taliban release an open letter to newly elected US President Donald Trump. The letter calls on Trump to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan.
April 21, 2017 – The Taliban attack a northern army base in Afghanistan, killing or wounding more than 100 people.
July 25, 2017 – CNN reports it has exclusive videos that suggest the Taliban have received improved weaponry in Afghanistan that appears to have been supplied by the Russian government. Moscow categorically denies arming the Taliban.
August 3, 2017 – Taliban and ISIS forces launch a joint attack on a village in northern Afghanistan, killing 50 people, including women and children, local officials say.
January 27, 2018 – An attacker driving an ambulance packed with explosives detonates them in Kabul, killing 95 people and injuring 191 others, Afghan officials say. The Taliban claim responsibility.
February 28, 2018 – Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says the government is willing to recognize the Taliban as a legitimate political party as part of a potential ceasefire agreement.
April 12, 2018 – At least 14 people, including a district governor, are killed and at least five are injured in a Taliban attack in Afghanistan’s southeastern Ghazni province.
June 7, 2018 – In a video message, Ghani announces that Afghan forces have agreed to a ceasefire with the Taliban between June 12 and June 21. The proposed truce coincides with the holiday of Eid al-Fitr, the period during which Muslims celebrate the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.
June 15-17, 2018 – The three-day-old ceasefire between the Taliban, Afghan forces and the NATO-led coalition is marred by two deadly attacks. ISIS, which did not participate in the truce, claims responsibility for a suicide bombing in the Nangarhar province that kills at least 25 people, including Taliban members and civilians. A second suicide bombing is carried out near the Nangarhar governor’s compound, killing at least 18 people and injuring at least 49. There is no immediate claim of responsibility for the second attack.
August 10, 2018 – The Taliban launch an attack on the strategic Afghan city of Ghazni, south of the capital Kabul, seizing key buildings and trading fire with security forces. At least 16 people are killed and 40 are injured, most are Afghan security forces.
October 13, 2018 – The Taliban issues a statement announcing that the group met with the US envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, to discuss the conflict in Afghanistan. The United States does not confirm that the meeting occurred.
November 9, 2018 – In Moscow, Taliban representatives participate in talks with diplomats from Russia, Pakistan, India and other countries, as well as officials from the Afghan government. The United States sends a diplomat from its embassy in Moscow as an observer.
January 22, 2019 – Authorities say at least 12 members of the Afghan military were killed and another 28 injured when the Taliban carried out a suicide attack on a military base in the central province of Maidan Wardak.
January 28, 2019 – Officials from the United States and the Taliban announce they have agreed to a framework that could end the war in Afghanistan. The framework for peace would see the Taliban vow to prevent the country from being used as a hub for terrorism in return for a US military withdrawal. An Afghan source close to the negotiations tells CNN that while a ceasefire and US withdrawal were both discussed, neither side came to final conclusions.
January 30, 2019 – In its quarterly report to the US Congress, the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction declares the Taliban expanded its control of territory in 2018 while the Afghan government lost control of territory. In October 2018, the Afghan government controlled just 53.8% of districts in the country, according to the report. The insurgency made gains to control 12.3% of districts while 33.9% of districts were contested.
February 5-6, 2019 – Talks are held in Moscow between Taliban leaders and politicians from the government of Afghanistan.
March 12, 2019 – Peace talks between representatives from the United States and the Taliban end without a finalized agreement. Khalilzad, the main American negotiator, says that progress has been made and the talks yielded two draft proposals.
September 7-8, 2019 – Trump announces that Taliban leaders were to travel to the Unites States for secret peace talks over the weekend but that the meeting has been canceled and he has called off peace talks with the militant group entirely. Trump tweets that he scrapped the meeting after the Taliban took credit for an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed a dozen people, including an American soldier.
November 28, 2019 – On a surprise trip to Afghanistan for a Thanksgiving visit with US troops, Trump announces that peace talks with the Taliban have restarted.
February 29, 2020 – The United States and the Taliban sign a historic agreement which sets into motion the potential of a full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. The “Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan” outlines a series of commitments from the United States and the Taliban related to troop levels, counterterrorism and the intra-Afghan dialogue aimed at bringing about “a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire.”
August 9, 2020 – Afghanistan’s grand assembly of elders, the consultative Loya Jirga, passes a resolution calling for the release of the last group of some 5,000 Taliban prisoners, paving the way for direct peace talks with the insurgent group. The release of the 400 prisoners is part of the agreement signed by the US and the Taliban in February.
April 14, 2021 – US President Joe Biden formally announces his decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan before September 11, 2021, deeming the prolonged and intractable conflict in Afghanistan no longer aligns with American priorities.
August 15, 2021 – After the Taliban seize control of every major city across Afghanistan, in just two weeks, they take control of the presidential palace in Kabul. A senior Afghan official and a senior diplomatic source tell CNN that Ghani has left the country.
August 30, 2021 – The last US military planes leave Afghanistan.
September 7, 2021 – The Taliban announce the formation of a hardline interim government for Afghanistan. Four men receiving senior positions in the government had previously been detained by the United States at Guantánamo Bay, and were released as part of a prisoner swap for Bergdahl in 2014.
November 30, 2021 – New research released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) details “the summary execution or enforced disappearance” of 47 former members of the Afghan National Security Forces who had surrendered or were apprehended by Taliban forces between August 15 and October 31. A Taliban deputy spokesman rejects the HRW report, saying that the Taliban established a general amnesty on their first day of power in Afghanistan.
December 27, 2021 – The Taliban says it has dissolved Afghanistan’s election commission as well as its ministries for peace and parliamentary affairs, further eroding state institutions set up by the country’s previous Western-backed governments.
February 11, 2022 – Biden signs an executive order allowing $7 billion in frozen assets from Afghanistan’s central bank to eventually be distributed inside the country and to potentially fund litigation brought by families of victims of the September 11 terror attacks. The Taliban has claimed rights to the funds, which include assets like currency and gold, but the United States has declined access to them after Afghanistan’s democratic government fell. The United States has not recognized the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan.
March 23, 2022 – The Taliban prevents girls above the 6th grade in Afghanistan from making their much-anticipated return to school. They are told to stay at home until a school uniform appropriate to Sharia and Afghan customs and culture can be designed, the Taliban-run Bakhtar News Agency reported. The Taliban originally said that schools would open for all students – including girls – after the Afghan new year, which is celebrated on March 21, on the condition that boys and girls were separated either in different schools or by different learning hours.
November 13, 2022 – The Taliban orders judges in Afghanistan to fully impose their interpretation of Sharia Law, including potential public executions, amputations and flogging, a move experts fear will lead to a further deterioration of human rights in the impoverished country.
December 20, 2022 – The Taliban government suspends university education for all female students in Afghanistan.
December 24, 2022 – The Taliban administration orders all local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to stop their female employees from coming to work, according to a letter by the Ministry of Economy sent to all licensed NGOs.
June 15, 2023 – The United Nations releases a report saying that since re-taking control of the country,the Taliban has committed “egregious systematic violations of women’s rights,” by restricting their access to education and employment and their ability to move freely in society.
by tyler | Mar 12, 2024 | CNN, world
Here’s a look at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.
The organization’s charter states that the signing parties will “seek to promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area,” and will “unite their efforts for collective defense and for the preservation of peace and security.”
April 4, 1949 – NATO is established.
2014-present – The current secretary general is Jens Stoltenberg, former prime minister of Norway. On March 24, 2022, Stoltenberg’s tenure was extended by one year due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
March 21, 2023 – The secretary general’s annual report is released.
Albania (2009)
Belgium (1949)
Bulgaria (2004)
Canada (1949)
Croatia (2009)
Czech Republic (1999)
Denmark (1949)
Estonia (2004)
Finland (2023)
France (1949)
Germany (1955, as West Germany)
Greece (1952)
Hungary (1999)
Iceland (1949)
Italy (1949)
Latvia (2004)
Lithuania (2004)
Luxembourg (1949)
Montenegro (2017)
Netherlands (1949)
North Macedonia (2020)
Norway (1949)
Poland (1999)
Portugal (1949)
Romania (2004)
Slovakia (2004)
Slovenia (2004)
Spain (1982)
Sweden (2024)
Turkey (1952)
United Kingdom (1949)
United States (1949)
April 4, 1949 – The 12 nations of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States sign the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, DC.
July 25, 1950 – First meeting of NATO Council Deputies in London. US Ambassador Charles M. Spofford is elected permanent chairman.
December 19, 1950 – US General Dwight Eisenhower is appointed the first supreme allied commander. The position leads NATO’s military operations.
March 12, 1952 – Lord Ismay is named the first secretary general of NATO and appointed vice chairman of the North Atlantic Council, which oversees NATO’s political decisions.
April 16, 1952 – NATO establishes its provisional headquarters in Paris at the Palais de Chaillot.
April 28, 1952 – First meeting of the North Atlantic Council in permanent session in Paris.
May 6, 1952 – West Germany joins NATO.
May 14, 1955 – The Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries form the Warsaw Pact in response to West Germany joining NATO.
July 26, 1956 – Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal. France and Great Britain use troops to intervene, against the wishes of the United States, causing a rift in NATO.
October 22-23, 1963 – NATO and the United States demonstrate the size and speed of emergency forces when flying 14,500 US troops into West Germany for maneuvers.
March 10, 1966 – France formally announces intentions to withdraw from the military structure of NATO, accusing the United States of having too much influence in the organization.
March 31, 1967 – Opening ceremony of new NATO headquarters in Casteau, near Mons, Belgium.
August 14, 1974 – Greece, angered at NATO’s response to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, withdraws from the military arm of NATO.
October 20, 1980 – Greece rejoins the NATO military structure.
May 30, 1982 – Spain joins NATO.
October 3, 1990 – Germany is reunified after 45 years. East Germany leaves the Warsaw Pact and is incorporated into NATO. In 1991, the Warsaw Pact is dissolved.
December 13, 1991 – For the first time, the Soviet Union takes part in meetings at NATO as part of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council.
December 21, 1991 – Eleven of the republics of the former Soviet Union create a new Commonwealth of Independent States. On December 25, the Soviet Union is officially disbanded with the resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev as president and supreme commander-in-chief of Soviet Forces.
February 28, 1994 – NATO forces shoot down four Bosnian Serb planes violating the UN-imposed no-fly zone. It is the first time NATO has used force.
November 21, 1995 – After the Dayton Peace Accords, the war in Bosnia Herzegovina ends. In December, NATO deploys Implementation Force (IFOR) to support the agreement.
January 13, 1996 – Russian troops are deployed to support IFOR in Bosnia.
May 22, 1997 – NATO and the Russian Federation sign a security and cooperation pact, the “Founding Act” which establishes a NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council (PJC).
March 24, 1999 – NATO launches air strikes against Yugoslavia to end Serbian aggression in the Kosovo region.
September 12, 2001 – For the first time, NATO invokes Article V, the Washington Treaty, its mutual defense clause, in support of the United States after the September 11 terror attacks.
May 28, 2002 – NATO and Russia form the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), which makes Russia an associate member of the organization. The NRC replaces the PJC.
November 21-22, 2002 – During the Prague Summit, NATO invites seven former Eastern Bloc countries, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, to discuss entry into the organization.
December 4, 2002 – US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz speaks before NATO in Brussels and requests that member nations contribute forces to a potential campaign in Iraq.
January 22, 2003 – France and Germany block discussion on war preparations submitted by the United States. The US proposal included provisions for Turkey’s defense, the use of NATO equipment, and NATO’s postwar role in Iraq.
February 10, 2003 – France, Germany and Belgium block a US request that NATO provide Patriot missiles, Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, and other equipment to Turkey. The United States had made the request anticipating that Iraq will retaliate against Turkey in the event of war. Turkey invokes article IV of the NATO charter, which requires the organization as a whole to discuss security threats to any member nation.
February 16, 2003 – NATO produces three defensive plans for Turkey, in the event of a US war with Iraq:
– Deployment of NATO AWACS aircraft;
– NATO support for the deployment of theatre missile defenses for Turkey;
– NATO support for possible deployment of Allied chemical and biological defenses.
March 29, 2004 – NATO is expanded from 19 to 26 members when seven nations, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, join in an accession ceremony in Washington, DC. All are former communist states in Eastern Europe.
August 10, 2004 – NATO AWACS begin patrolling Greek airspace prior to the Olympic and Paralympic games. NATO’s presence at the Olympics is nicknamed Distinguished Games and includes AWACS and the Multinational Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Task Force.
September 14, 2006 – Ukraine announces that it is shelving its aspirations to join NATO, due to opposition by the Ukrainian public and Russia.
April 2-4, 2008 – NATO leaders hold a summit in Bucharest, Romania. Croatia and Albania are invited to join the alliance.
June 17, 2008 – French President Nicolas Sarkozy announces France will soon rejoin NATO’s military command, 40 years after it left.
April 3-4, 2009 – The 23rd NATO summit also marks NATO’s 60th anniversary. During the summit, France rejoins NATO’s military command.
November 19, 2010 – NATO adopts the Strategic Concept “Active Engagement, Modern Defence” for the next 10 years.
March 24, 2011 – NATO takes command of enforcing a no-fly zone imposed on Libya by the United Nations.
March 29, 2011 – The Council of Europe rules NATO, among others, responsible for the 63 deaths of African immigrants left adrift for two weeks while attempting to reach European shores from Libya.
May 19, 2012 – Demonstrators take to the streets of Chicago prior to the start of the NATO summit. Anti-NATO protests near Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s home focus on the cost of the summit to the city and city budget cuts to mental healthcare.
May 20-21, 2012 – The 25th Summit is held in Chicago. During the summit, NATO accepts US President Barack Obama’s timetable to end the war in Afghanistan by 2014.
March 5, 2014 – In regard to the crisis in Ukraine, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen announces that NATO has decided to “put the entire range of NATO-Russia cooperation under review” to send “a clear message Russia’s actions have consequences.”
December 2, 2015 – NATO extends an official invitation to Montenegro to join the alliance.
February 11, 2016 – Secretary General Stoltenberg announces that NATO is deploying ships to the Aegean Sea to try to deter smugglers from trafficking migrants from Turkey to Greece.
June 5, 2017 – Montenegro officially becomes a member of NATO.
March 27, 2020 – North Macedonia officially joins NATO.
March 24, 2022 – NATO leaders issue a joint statement in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Leaders call on President Vladimir Putin to withdraw Russian military forces, and call on Belarus to end its complicity.
May 15, 2022 – Finland’s government says it intends to join NATO, ditching decades of neutrality and ignoring Russian threats of possible retaliation as the Nordic country attempts to strengthen its security following the onset of the war in Ukraine. Sweden’s ruling party later said it will also support joining the alliance.
April 4, 2023 – Finland becomes the 31st member of NATO.
March 7, 2024 – Sweden officially joins NATO, becoming the 32nd member.
