After the end of U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan on 31 December 2014, some troops remained in the country to assist in the training and advising of the Afghan National defense and Security Forces.
During the first three years of this operation, there were 48 total deaths, with 21 of those killed in action. There were also a total of 271 wounded.
Operation Freedom's Sentinel was the second part of the War in Afghanistan. [The first part was previously noted as Operation Enduring Freedom, 2001-2015.]
Operation Freedom's Sentinel was also part of the Global War On Terrorism that had been initiated by the United States of America as a reaction to the September 11 attacks.
In 2021 the Taliban and allied militant groups launched a major attack throughout Afghanistan that was known as the 2021 Taliban Offensive. As the year 2021 began, there were an estimated 9,592 NATO and allied troops in Afghanistan. That was down from the 16,551 troops as 2020 began. The Afghan National Security Forces claimed to have over 300,000 troops in the field.
As the 2021 Taliban Offensive began, a majority of the Afghan National Security Force fled to neighboring countries or surrendered to the Taliban forces. The Taliban easily took control of towns and cities throughout the country that had taken the NATO and allied forces years to control.
On 29 February 2020, Zalmay Khalilzad, for the United States and Abdul Ghani Baradar signed the Doha Accord at Doha, Qatar, which was a peace treaty designed to amicably end the twenty year War in Afghanistan. The Afghan government was not part of the negotiations.
The Doha Accords called for both sides to end their fighting and for the withdrawal of all NATO forces from Afghanistan. The United States agreed to reduce its troop level from 13,000 to 8,600 within 135 days (i.e. by July 2020) and then follow with a full withdrawal by the first of May 2021. The United States would also close five military bases. Economic sanctions which had been imposed on the Taliban were to be lifted if the Taliban ended its occupation of the country. The UN Security Council, along with the countries of Russia, China, India and Pakistan endorsed the Accords.
Almost as soon as the treaty was signed, the Taliban began additional offensive actions. In a response that appeared to be full panic by then U.S. President Joe Biden. the U.S. forces abandoned more secure bases to make its withdrawl from the less secure Bagram airforce base and the Kabul Airport. Rather than undertaking an orderly removal of its $7.12 billion worth of military equipment, including tanks and helicopters, the withdrawal was a chaotic disaster. Thousands of Afghan civilians who had served as interpreters and assisted the NATO troops, were ignored and left behind as the U.S. planes took off.
Perhaps the most egregious part of the whole debacle was the killing of thirteen U.S. soldiers by a suicide bomber outside of the gate to the airport as they waited for orders to abandon their position.
The chaotic withdrawal took place on 30 August 2021, effectively ending the War in Afghanistan and allowing the Taliban to retake the region.
