The Taliban and the Qatari government announced yesterday - a day before the 19th anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001 - that the opening session of talks with the Afghan government would take place two days later in Doha.

In this report, we review the most prominent stations in Afghanistan, since the fall of the Taliban regime following the intervention of an international coalition led by the United States in 2001 until today:

2001 - War on Terror  

  • US President George W. Bush launched his "war on terror" in response to the September 11, 2001 incident that killed nearly 3 thousand people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, and his war included air strikes on Afghanistan on October 7, 2001.

  • The Taliban government fell, Hamid Karzai was appointed to lead an interim government, while NATO began deploying the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

2004 - The first presidential election

  • Afghanistan's first presidential elections took place on the basis of direct universal suffrage on October 9, 2004.

  • Karzai won with 55% of the vote, with a turnout of 70% of the electorate.

  • The Taliban have regrouped in the south and east, as well as across the border in Pakistan.

2008/2009 - US reinforcements

  • With the increase in Taliban attacks, in September 2008 the US leadership requested reinforcements of about 20,000 additional troops, to join the 33,000 troops as part of the deployment of the NATO force of 70,000.

  • President Bush decided to send 5,000 troops in view of the war in Iraq.

  • The number of foreign military personnel reached an all-time high of 150,000, including 100,000 Americans.

  • Karzai was re-elected in a vote marred by widespread fraud, while the turnout did not exceed 33% amid Taliban attacks.

  • President Barack Obama - who was elected on promises to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - announced the deployment of 30,000 additional US troops.

2011 - Bin Laden is killed

  • Bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011 in a US Special Forces operation in Pakistan.

2014 - NATO withdraws

  • On 14 June 2014, Ashraf Ghani was elected President of Afghanistan with 56% of the vote.

  • This marked the first democratic transfer of power in Afghanistan, as Karzai was constitutionally barred from seeking another mandate.

  • The votes were marred by violence and bitter dispute over accusations of fraud.

  • In December 2014, NATO ended its 13-year combat missions in Afghanistan.

2018/2019 - Talks between the Americans and the Taliban

  • In the summer of 2018, the Afghan government controlled only 55% of the country, according to a US report.

  • Washington and representatives of the Taliban began secret talks in Doha, where the movement has a political office.

2020 - a landmark deal

  • On February 29, 2020, the United States and the Taliban signed a landmark agreement in Doha that opened the door to a comprehensive withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and unprecedented peace negotiations between the Afghan parties.

  • At the end of March and early April, a Taliban delegation met in Kabul with government representatives for the first time in 18 years to discuss a prisoner exchange, a precondition for negotiations.

  • President Ashraf Ghani and his political rival Abdullah Abdullah signed a power-sharing deal.

  • The Taliban announced a ceasefire in May at the end of Ramadan, and another in July to coincide with Eid al-Adha.

  • It has taken the two parties 6 months since the signing of the Doha agreement to exchange 5,000 Taliban prisoners with about 1,000 Afghan forces as prisoners of the insurgent movement.

  • Yesterday, September 10, 2020, a day before the 19th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the Taliban and the Qatari government announced that the inaugural session of the talks would be held two days later in Doha.

  • Tomorrow, Saturday, the two camps will sit face to face in an effort to end the suffering that has continued for 19 years.