After the attacks of September 11, 2001 on U.S. soil, which killed nearly 3,000 people, the U.S. and Britain launched an air assault on Afghanistan on 7 October 2001, which the Taliban referred to as an "attack on Islam". Ground troops of the United Front (Northern Alliance), supported by Iran, India, Tajikistan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkey and the United States' extensive bombing of Taliban forces and military infrastructure, in November and December 2001 ousted the Taliban from power in Kabul and gained control of much of the rest of the country.