Fall of Kabul

On 15 August 2021, Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul was captured by the Taliban after a major insurgent offensive that began in May 2021. It was the final action of the War in Afghanistan, and marked a total victory for the Taliban. This led to the overthrowing of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan under President Ashraf Ghani and the reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban. The US–Taliban deal, signed on 29 February 2020, is considered one of the most critical factors that caused the collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).
Following the deal, the US dramatically reduced the number of air attacks and deprived the ANSF of a critical edge in fighting the Taliban insurgency. 
Between 14 August and 31 August 2021, the US and its coalition partners evacuated more than 123,000 people from Afghanistan via airlifts from Kabul International Airport (known then as Hamid Karzai International Airport). During the evacuation, the airport remained under NATO and US military control despite the collapse of the central government. Evacuees included foreign diplomatic staff and military personnel, third-country civilians, Afghan allies and vulnerable Afghans such as journalists and human rights activists, in what was the largest non-combatant evacuation operation in US military history, with US military personnel transferring 79,000 civilians through the airport and out of Afghanistan over the 18-day mission.
After the United States' withdrawal on 31 August, a group of about 1,000 people, including US citizens and Afghans holding American visas, were still stranded in Kabul. Two weeks later, secretary of state Antony Blinken, said it was several thousand US residents and one hundred US citizens.
Category:Battles
Category:Events