10 years of the Afghanistan war

Oct. 7, 2011, marks a decade of fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, an effort initially led by the United States and now overseen by NATO.

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July 18, 2006

On Oct. 7, 2001, the war in Afghanistan began with allied air attacks on Taliban and al-Qaeda targets.

Michael Hanschke / AFP/Getty Images

Sept. 9, 2001

Ahmed Shah Massoud, an anti-Taliban leader who had earlier fought against the Soviets, was killed by two men posing as Arab journalists and thought to be al-Qaeda agents two days before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

John Moore / Getty Images

Sept. 14, 2001

President George W. Bush speaks to volunteers and firefighters after surveying the damage at the World Trade Center site in New York City.

Paul J. Richards / AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 31, 2001

The United States deployed B-52 bombers and other warplanes to assist anti-Taliban Northern Alliance forces on the ground.

Anonymous / AP

Dec. 15, 2001

An anti-Taliban fighter watches a U.S. bomber drop ordnance on al-Qaeda positions in the Tora Bora area of Afghanistan.

Chris Hondros / Getty Images

Nov. 10, 2001

A Northern Alliance fighter fires an artillery shell on Taliban positions in northern Afghanistan.

Gergei Grits / AP

Dec. 10, 2001

Hamid Karzai, then the head of the interim Afghan government, meets with tribal leaders from the five southern Afghan states. Karzai won the presidency after the Taliban was driven from power.

Jerome Delay / AP

Dec. 5, 2001

A mujaheddin fighter takes two Taliban fighters to prison in Herat. U.S.-led forces helped the Northern Alliance topple the Taliban regime.

Kamran Jebreili / AP

Dec. 17, 2001

Afghan militia leaders declared victory in the battle of Tora Bora, claiming to have captured al-Qaeda's last base. Despite that victory, Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, remained at large.

David Guttenfelder / AP

March 13, 2002

U.S. Col. Frank Wiercinski speaks to troops after a three-week-long offensive against al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in the eastern Shahikot Valley.

Mikhail Metzel / AP

June 16, 2002

An Afghan delegate from the southern province of Paktia applauds during a speech at a tribal assembly in Kabul. Delegates to the Loya Jirga assembly insisted they had the right to approve members of a broad-based government, but supporters of newly elected President Hamid Karzai said he must have the final decision.

Natalie Behring / Getty Images

May 1, 2003

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld meets with U.S. Special Forces troops in Kabul after declaring an end to "major combat" operations 18 months after U.S.-led forces helped topple the Taliban regime.

Luke Frazza / AFP/Getty Images

Jan. 4, 2004

Loya Jirga delegates discuss the amended draft constitution before adopting the first post-Taliban charter. Afghanistan's grand assembly later adopted the document, with delegates approving a presidential system for the Islamic republic.

Shah Marai / AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 16, 2004

Afghans went to the polls on Oct. 9, 2004, their first time voting in a direct election to choose a president. The election was seen as a crucial step toward democracy and peace in the war-torn country after the fall of the Taliban.

Paula Bronstein

Oct. 29, 2004

Osama bin Laden, addressing the American public in a video four days before the 2004 U.S. presidential election, said the United States could avoid another Sept. 11 attack if it stopped threatening the security of Muslims.

/ AP

May 23, 2005

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, at the Pentagon, inspect troops who served in Afghanistan. Karzai and President George W. Bush signed a "strategic partnership" enabling long-term U.S. involvement in Afghanistan's security and reconstruction.

Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images

Sept. 18, 2005

Afghan women vote in Kabul in their nation's first parliamentary elections. The elections representend a major step toward restoring democracy and stability in Afghanistan almost four years after the Taliban's ouster.

Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

July 4, 2006

A woman looks out a destroyed window after a bomb exploded in Kabul in front of a cinema near the presidential palace. Although Taliban and al-Qaeda forces no longer dominated, the violence continued.

Rodrigo Abd / AP

Nov. 22, 2006

Canadian soldiers use part of the wall of a grape-drying silo to fill defensive sandbags at a base in Kandahar province. Around this time, differences within the coalition emerged during a NATO meeting in Latvia.

David Guttenfelder / AP

May 13, 2007

Mullah Dadullah, a prominent Taliban military commander, was killed in fighting with Afghan and Western troops in southern Afghanistan. His death represented a major victory for the Afghan government and the international coalition.

Allauddin Khan / AP

Aug. 15, 2009

Hamid Agha receives medical attention at Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital after he was injured in a car bombing in front of the NATO headquarters in Kabul. The blast occurred five days before the scheduled Aug. 20 elections.

Nikki Kahn / The Washington Post

Feb. 24, 2009

As the security situation continued to challenge coalition forces, President Obama planned to send an additional 17,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan the following spring and summer, adding to the 36,000 already there.

Spencer Platt / Getty Images

July 13, 2009

A U.S. Marine runs to safety moments after a roadside bomb blows up in Helmand province. Improvised explosive devices continue to be among insurgents' favored weapons.

Manpreet Romana / AFP/Getty Images

May 11, 2009

Soldiers, including one who was rushed from his sleeping quarters, stand at ready after receiving fire from Taliban positions in the Korengal Valley.

David Guttenfelder / AP

July 30, 2009

Abdullah Abdullah, seen in the poster on the column, stood as Hamid Karzai's top challenger in the 2009 presidential election.

Nikki Kahn / The Washington Post

May 28, 2010

A boy runs past a burning oil tanker carrying fuel supplies for NATO forces after it was attacked by Taliban fighters on a Jalalabad highway, east of Kabul. Taliban strength remained unchanged at the time from the previous year, despite a surge in the number of U.S. and NATO troops and military offensives in the insurgent heartland.

Rahmat Gul / AP

July 21, 2009

U.S. Marines drop three 1,000-pound bombs on more than 1,600 bags of poppy seeds discovered at Safar Bazaar after a raid in Helmand province.

Nikki Kahn / The Washington Post

June 23, 2010

President Obama announces the resignation of Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and the appointment of his successor, Gen. David H. Petraeus, shown standing with Obama in the Rose Garden of the White House.

Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images

Oct. 6, 2011

Soldiers en route to the Middle East on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Afghanistan war wait to check in for their flights at Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport.

Bill O'Leary / WASHINGTON POST

Sept. 23, 2010

Newly trained female officers of the Afghan National Army attend their graduation ceremony at the army's training center in Kabul.

Gemunu Amarasinghe / AP

May 4, 2011

Residents gather outside a burned compound at the hideout of slain al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Pakistan said the world must share the blame for failing to unearth bin Laden as a furor swelled over how he had managed to live undisturbed near Islamabad, the capital.

Aamir Qureshi / AFP/Getty Images

July 2, 2009

More than 4,000 U.S. Marines embark in an expeditionary move into towns and villages along the Helmand River valley in Operation Khanjar.

Nikki Kahn / The Washington Post

Sept. 24, 2011

Supporters of slain former president Burhanuddin Rabbani chant slogans during a protest against the Taliban and Pakistan in Faizabad. Thousands of mourners had buried Rabbani, a peace negotiator, a day earlier amid chaotic scenes that undercut calls from President Hamid Karzai to pursue reconciliation with the Taliban.

Qais Usyan / AFP/Getty Images

June 11, 2009

At first light, Sgt. James Weser, left, and Capt. Serg Glushenko pack up as they prepare to meet their helicopter after a mission along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Nikki Kahn / The Washington Post

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