Afghanistan war: 20 years of US presence ends with urgent evacuations

After 9/11, United States President George W. Bush launched a ‘global war on terror.’
Within weeks, the Taliban was toppled for providing safe haven for Al al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden.
In May 2011, US Special forces killed Osama bin Laden in neighbouring Pakistan.
As the war continued, diplomatic efforts to reach a settlement intensified.
In 2013, the Taliban opened an office in Qatar at the US’s request, but it wasn’t until 2020 that a peace deal was reached under the Trump Administration.
President Joe Biden stuck to the agreement and ordered a full withdrawal of troops.
More than 2,300 US troops and at least 35,000 Afghan civilians have died during the war.
For many, the events in Kabul are an unexpected outcome of the US’s longest war and what appears to be its chaotic end.

Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane reports from Washington, DC, the US.

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