# Canonical recap data for Fall of the Taliban Government (2001)
# Source: https://recap.at/2001/taliban-fall-2001
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: taliban-fall-2001
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/2001/taliban-fall-2001"
title: Fall of the Taliban Government
aliases:
- Operation Enduring Freedom
- Taliban collapse
- 2001 invasion of Afghanistan
- Toppling of the Islamic Emirate
subtitle: The U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban regime in weeks, reshaping Central Asian geopolitics and initiating two decades of Afghan conflict.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 2001-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 2001
decade: 2000
country:
name: Afghanistan
slug: afghanistan
summaryShort: The national flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was adopted on 15 August 2021, with the Taliban's victory in the 2001–2021 war. It features a white field with a black Shahada inscribed. Since the 20th century, Afghanistan has changed its national flag several times. During this period, the national flag had mos
summaryLong: The national flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was adopted on 15 August 2021, with the Taliban's victory in the 2001–2021 war. It features a white field with a black Shahada inscribed. Since the 20th century, Afghanistan has changed its national flag several times. During this period, the national flag had mostly black, red, and green colours.
lede: The Taliban, an Islamic militant movement that had ruled Afghanistan since 1996, was overthrown in October 2001 by a U.S.-led military campaign launched after the September 11 attacks. The group's collapse came within weeks of the American invasion, ending five years of strict Islamic rule and setting off two decades of conflict that would reshape the country.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Flag_of_the_Taliban.svg/1280px-Flag_of_the_Taliban.svg.png"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Flag of Afghanistan"
importance: 88
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Taliban rule duration
  value: 1996–2001 (5 years)
- label: Invasion launch date
  value: October 7, 2001
- label: Primary trigger
  value: September 11, 2001 attacks (19 attackers killed 2,977 people)
- label: Kabul fall date
  value: November 13, 2001
- label: Taliban harbored
  value: Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda leadership
- label: U.S.-led coalition partners
  value: UK, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, and others
- label: War death toll (20 years)
  value: Over 100,000 (combatants and civilians)
- label: U.S. military cost (2001–2021)
  value: $2.3 trillion
timeline:
- date: 1996-09-27
  title: Taliban captures Kabul
  description: The Taliban seize the Afghan capital after years of civil war, establishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. They enforce strict Sharia law and provide safe haven to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.
- date: 2001-09-11
  title: September 11 attacks
  description: Al-Qaeda operatives trained in Afghanistan hijack four planes, killing nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. The attacks trigger immediate U.S. military planning against Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
- date: 2001-10-07
  title: Operation Enduring Freedom begins
  description: The U.S. and UK launch airstrikes on Taliban military targets, airfields, and al-Qaeda training camps. The campaign marks the start of the war in Afghanistan.
- date: 2001-10-19
  title: Ground invasion commences
  description: U.S. special forces and CIA paramilitary teams arrive in northern Afghanistan, linking up with the Northern Alliance militia to fight Taliban forces.
- date: 2001-11-09
  title: Mazar-i-Sharif falls
  description: Northern Alliance forces, backed by U.S. airstrikes, capture Afghanistan's fourth-largest city. The Taliban's northern stronghold collapses in days.
- date: 2001-11-13
  title: Kabul captured
  description: Northern Alliance troops enter Kabul as Taliban forces retreat south. The fall of the capital effectively ends Taliban rule, though fighting continues for weeks.
- date: 2001-12-06
  title: Bonn Agreement signed
  description: Afghan factions and international representatives agree on a political framework for post-Taliban Afghanistan, establishing a transitional government led by Hamid Karzai.
- date: 2001-12-22
  title: Karzai sworn in
  description: Hamid Karzai becomes chairman of the Afghan Interim Authority, forming the first non-Taliban government in five years with international recognition.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Afghanistan"
  title: Flag of the Taliban
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The fall of the Taliban removed a government that had harbored Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, but it initiated a 20-year war and occupation that would kill over 100,000 people and cost the U.S. nearly $2 trillion. The Taliban's eventual return to power in August 2021 demonstrated the limits of military nation-building and reset geopolitical alignments across Central Asia.
categories:
- war
metaDescription: Taliban government overthrown by U.S. invasion in October 2001 after harboring al-Qaeda; ended five years of Islamic Emirate rule.
wikidataQid: Q79874
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- war
- occupation
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- collapse
- transformation
impactRadius: national
velocity: gradual
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: coordinated
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: transition
peoplesVoice:
- source: Donald Rumsfeld, US Secretary of Defense
  voiceType: official
  context: Days after the Taliban fell to the Northern Alliance and US airstrikes in early December 2001, Rumsfeld declared victory in Afghanistan's capital.
  excerpt: The Taliban is out of power. We have achieved a number of our objectives. The al-Qaeda network has been disrupted, their training camps have been closed down.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 88
  attribution: Press briefing, US Department of Defense, December 2001
  publishedAt: 2001-12-10
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Hamid Karzai, Afghan interim leader
  voiceType: official
  context: As the Taliban collapsed and international forces secured Kabul, Karzai addressed hopes for Afghanistan's reconstruction at a UN conference.
  excerpt: The Afghan people have been liberated from one of the most repressive regimes in the world. Now we must build a new Afghanistan based on democracy and the rule of law.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 85
  attribution: UN Donor Conference, Geneva, December 2001
  publishedAt: 2001-12-05
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Ahmed Rashid, journalist and Afghanistan expert
  voiceType: analyst
  context: The renowned foreign correspondent assessed the Taliban's rapid collapse and warned of the fragile state of post-Taliban Afghanistan.
  excerpt: Yes, the Taliban are gone, but Afghanistan remains deeply fractured. Power vacuums, warlordism, and the hunt for bin Laden will define the next phase far more than any flag.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 72
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Washington Post and BBC analysis, November-December 2001
  publishedAt: 2001-12-03
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Mullah Omar, Taliban supreme leader
  voiceType: official
  context: As the Taliban faced imminent defeat, Omar released a defiant statement refusing to surrender and vowing continued resistance from hiding.
  excerpt: We have not lost. Islam will triumph. The struggle will continue until every invader is driven from our land and the Islamic Emirate is restored.
  sentimentLabel: dismissive
  significance: 68
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Taliban radio broadcasts and intercepted statements, November 2001
  publishedAt: 2001-11-28
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Christiane Amanpour, CNN international correspondent
  voiceType: media
  context: Reporting from Kabul after Taliban forces fled the capital, Amanpour captured scenes of cautious celebration and fear of instability.
  excerpt: There is jubilation in the streets, but also profound uncertainty. Kabul is free of the Taliban, yet no one knows if this freedom will last or what comes next.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 79
  attribution: CNN World Report, December 2001
  publishedAt: 2001-11-14
  originalLanguage: en
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20031028094338/http://en.wikipedia.org:80/wiki/Flag_of_Afghanistan"
  capturedAt: 2003-10-28
  label: Flag of the Taliban
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Afghanistan"
