Thewar in Afghanistan ended with the Taliban victorious when theUnited States withdrew its troops from Afghanistan. The aftermath has been characterized by marked change in the social and political order of Afghanistan asTaliban took over the country once again after thefall of Kabul in 2021.[1]
The aftermath has included the disintegration of the US-trained and fundedAfghan Army, and a humanitarian and economic crisis due to theeffects of the war, suspension offoreign aid,frozen monetary assets, and drought.[2] Conflict has continued in Afghanistan, with thecontinuing conflict with the Islamic State, and aRepublican insurgency against the Taliban in multiple provinces.[3]
The United States has been involved in the war, in one way or another, for forty-two years.[4] They funded and armed theAfghan mujahideen fighting against Soviet-backed communist government.[4] In 2001, The U.S. took control of Afghanistan after theinvasion. During U.S. Army's stay in Afghanistan, they trained theAfghan Army. It is estimated that the United States spent more than $80 billion to train the Afghan Army so they could defend their government after the withdrawal.[5]
Some events during the same period, such asU.S. Marines urinating on Taliban fighters,Maywand District murders, and theKandahar massacre, undermined public support for the government.[6]
Following thewithdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, in addition to arapid offensive conducted by the Taliban, the Afghan National Army largely disintegrated,[7] with large numbers of ANA soldiers abandoning their posts or surrendering en masse to the Taliban,[8] allowing the Taliban to capture large quantities of US-provided military equipment, vehicles and aircraft.[9] Soon, all the regional forces of the ANA had dissolved, with the exception of the201st Corps and the111th Capital Division, both of which were headquartered in Kabul, which was now surrounded by the Taliban. On 15 August 2021, the Taliban entered the outskirts of Kabul from multiple directions, beginning thefall of Kabul. On the same day, PresidentAshraf Ghani fled the country toDubai.[10] It was reported that ANA soldiers were fleeing to neighbouring countries in droves, some on foot and others onboardAfghan Air Force aircraft. At 8:55 pm local time, Taliban forces seized theArg and raised their flag, soon afterwards declaring the restoration of theIslamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
As many as 150,000 Afghans who assisted the United States remained in Afghanistan, including individuals who worked closely with US military forces.[11] Hundreds of former members of the Afghan Special Forces have been refused resettlement to the UK.[12][13] One former UK Special Forces officer told theBBC that "At a time when certain actions by UK Special Forces are under investigation by apublic inquiry, their headquarters also had the power to prevent former Afghan Special Forces colleagues and potential witnesses to these actions from getting safely to the UK."[14]
On 7 September 2021, an interim government headed byMohammad Hassan Akhund as Prime Minister was declared by the Taliban.[15][16][17] The Taliban also requested to send a new envoy to the UN to represent Afghanistan in the future. If accepted, it would be a milestone towards international recognition. This, however, appears unlikely due to the economic collapse and political infighting that soon engulfed the recently reestablished emirate.[18]
According to aHuman Rights Watch report released in November 2021, the Taliban killed or forcibly disappeared more than 100 former members of the Afghan security forces in the three months since the takeover in just the four provinces of Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, and Kunduz. According to the report, the Taliban identified targets for arrest and execution through intelligence operations and access to employment records that were left behind. Former members of the security forces were also killed by the Taliban within days of registering with them to receive a letter guaranteeing their safety.[19]
On 17 August 2021, Vice PresidentAmrullah Saleh, citing provisions of theConstitution of Afghanistan, declared himself President of Afghanistan from a base of operations in thePanjshir Valley, which had not been taken by Taliban forces, and vowed to continue military operations against the Taliban from there.[20] His claim to the presidency was endorsed byAhmad Massoud and Islamic Republic of AfghanistanMinister of DefenceBismillah Khan Mohammadi.[20] ThePanjshir-based resistance recaptured the provincial capital ofCharikar on 17 August 2021.[21] By 6 September the Taliban had regained control over most of the valley, but armed resistance continued in the upper valleys. Clashes in the valley mostly ceased by mid-September.[22] The leaders of the resistance, Saleh and Massoud reportedly fled to neighboringTajikistan in late September.[23]
At least 14 armed anti-Taliban resistance groups, including theNational Resistance Front,Afghanistan Freedom Front,Supreme Resistance Council,Freedom Uprising[24] are active in Afghanistan.
Following the2021 Kabul airport attack conducted by the terrorist groupIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province (a branch of theISIL), the US and the Taliban have mutually agreed together to fight against the ISIS terrorists in theInternational military intervention against ISIL.[25][26][27][28]
Since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Islamic State's affiliate's attacks in Afghanistan have surged, particularly on minorities such asHazaras.[29][30] In 2021, Afghanistan suffered large number of casualties and top the list issued after a global survey of Islamic State casualties.[31] As of September 2022, about thirteen attacks against Hazaras have been attributed to Islamic State.[30]
As of October 2024, IS-KP is the largest and strongest of all the terror groups active in Afghanistan,[32] with the Taliban appearing to view IS-KP as the primary threat to their rule.[33]
In October 2021, the chief prosecutor of theInternational Criminal Court,Karim Ahmad Khan, indicated that they will open cases related to war crimes in Afghanistan.[34][35] The court will not investigate alleged crimes by the U.S. and its allies,[34] due to a law enacted by the U.S. calledAmerican Service-Members' Protection Act and bilateral treaties with friendly countries,[36] which protects U.S. military personnel from international prosecution.[36]
Following the Taliban takeover, western nations suspended humanitarian aid and theWorld Bank andInternational Monetary Fund also halted payments to Afghanistan.[37][38] The Biden administration froze about $9 billion in assets belonging to theAfghan central banks, blocking the Taliban from accessing billions of dollars held in US bank accounts.[2]
In October, the UN stated that more than half of Afghanistan's 39 million people faced an acute food shortage.[39][40][41] According toThe New York Times, "the crisis is, in large part, American-made, imposed by deliberate policy choices with results that were predicted months in advance." They also cited factors such as drought, which has damaged food production, and the fighting during the Taliban takeover, which has disrupted basic services and displaced many to cities.[42] On October 20, Taliban's chief spokesmanZabihullah Mujahid told CBS News that "On the one hand they say a million children will die, but on the other, the US are holding our money. The US should release our money so we can save more children."[2]
On 11 November 2021, theHuman Rights Watch reported that Afghanistan is facing widespreadfamine due to collapsed economy and broken banking system. TheUN World Food Program has also issued multiple warnings of worsening food insecurity.[38] World leaders pledged $1.2 billion in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.[2]
On 22 December 2021, TheUnited Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a US-proposed resolution to help humanitarian aid reach desperate Afghans, while seeking to keep funds out of Taliban hands. The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs,Martin Griffiths, described the council's passage of resolution 2615 (2021) as “evidence of how seriously Member States take the shocking levels of need and suffering in the country.”[43]
Support in form of wheat has been provided by various countries, includingIndia.[44]
In December 2023, speaking about the situation in Afghanistan,WHO Director-GeneralTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that 30% of theAfghan population was facing acute food insecurity, adding that "Close to 1 million children are severely malnourished and 2.3 million are suffering from moderate acute malnutrition. WHO needs $ 185 million to continue providing medicine and supporting hospitals to prevent more Afghan children and women from dying of malnutrition and the consequences of food insecurity."[45]
in 2025, health facilities providing medical care to over a million ceased operations or where closed as part of the Trump administrations cuts to theUnited States Agency for International Development.[46]
An already fragile economy worsened further in the aftermath.[47][48] Due to sanctions and high energy prices, poverty level has increased in the country.[47] Aneconomic crisis brewed in the country when the United States decided to freezeDa Afghanistan Bank's, the central bank of Afghanistan, assets of $9.5bn.[49] This increased selling pressure on its currency,Afghan afghani, and it extended a significant drop in value.[50] An already broken banking system has collapsed further and has given rise to thehawala and relatedcrimes in the country.[51] About 80 percent Afghans are facing debt due to this economic crisis.[52] Many Afghans withdrew and closed their bank accounts because of losing trust in the banking system and overeconomic and financial sanctions against Afghanistan and the country is cut-off from theSWIFT financial network.[53]
On 3 October 2023, Pakistan's Interior MinisterSarfraz Bugti ordered that all undocumented immigrants, particularly the nearly 1.73 million Afghan nationals, voluntarily leave the country by 1 November 2023 or facedeportation in a crackdown.[54][55] Iran also decided to deportAfghan refugees back to Afghanistan.[56] Taliban authorities condemned the deportations of Afghans as an "inhuman act."[57] As of March 2025 Iran began the2025 Afghan deportation from Iran aiming to expel over four million Afghan refugees suffering from inhuman conditions.[58][59]
Despite the Taliban's promise in the2020 Doha Agreement to cut ties withAl-Qaeda and to not become a terrorist safe haven once again, several designated armed terrorist groups seem to be active in Afghanistan[33][60] some of them include:
Additionally between 10 and 14 Pakistani extremists groups, including:Lashkar-e-Taiba,Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group,Tariq Gidar Group,Jaish-e-Mohammed,Al-Badr,Islamic State – Pakistan Province andLashkar-e-Islam.[24]
Although they have launched sweeping efforts at disarmament, including unprecedented house-to-house searches to hunt for weapons and confiscate materiel, the Taliban's way of handling of these groups aims at containing them without provoking them to turn against their government.[32]
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