NATO announces expansion of ISAF into western Afghanistan

The Security Council adopted Resolution 1386, authorizing the International Security Assistance Force to support the Afghan Interim Authority in Kabul and surrounding areas. The initial mandate was...

Delegates to the Emergency Loya Jirga chose Hamid Karzai to lead the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan. The assembly was an Afghan political institution, but was formed in a post-invasion...

NATO took command of the UN-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), initially operating in and around Kabul. The alliance’s first mission beyond the Euro-Atlantic area later...

The Constitutional Loya Jirga approved a new constitution establishing an elected presidency, a legislature and a formally Islamic republic. The process created institutions for the post-Taliban...

Hamid Karzai won Afghanistan’s first direct presidential election under the new constitution. The vote marked a major institutional change, while insecurity, unequal access to power and dependence...

Afghans voted in parliamentary and provincial council elections, the first fully representative legislature in three decades. The UN reported about 6.4 million voters and a 25 percent women’s seat...

NATO-led ISAF took command of the southern region from the U.S.-led coalition, adding six provinces including Helmand and Kandahar. The change expanded NATO’s direct role in areas where the Taliban...

NATO-led ISAF took command of international forces in eastern Afghanistan, completing its expansion across the country. The result was a nationwide NATO-led military mission, while Afghan institutions...

U.S.-led airstrikes in Gerani, Bala Baluk district, killed civilians during fighting with Taliban forces. UNAMA attributed 63 deaths; the Afghan human rights commission reported a higher toll. The...

President Barack Obama announced that the United States would send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan and set a timetable to begin transferring forces out in July 2011. The surge aimed to reverse...