Airstrikes in Bala Baluk cause mass civilian casualties

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...

NATO announced that ISAF would expand into western Afghanistan, extending the international force beyond Kabul and the northern provinces. The expansion joined reconstruction and security operations...

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...

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...

UNAMA reported 2,412 conflict-related civilian deaths in 2009, a 14 percent rise from 2008. It attributed most deaths to armed opposition groups, while documenting civilian harm by all parties. The...

Afghan and international forces launched Operation Moshtarak to retake Marjah and assert state authority. UN agencies later estimated about 27,700 people displaced from Marjah and Nad Ali since 8...

Afghan delegates gathered for a three-day Consultative Peace Jirga to discuss a path toward ending the conflict. The process showed Afghan efforts to shape negotiations, though women and other...

U.S. special forces killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The operation occurred outside Afghanistan, but it became a major marker in the U.S. counterterrorism campaign...