The Secret War: Unveiling Afghanistan's Codename

The War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) was known as Operation Enduring Freedom from 2001-2014 and Operation Freedom's Sentinel from 2015-2021 by the US. The conflict was a response to the September 11 attacks, with the US-led coalition aiming to capture Osama bin Laden, destroy al-Qaeda, and remove the Taliban regime. The war was the longest in US military history, surpassing the Vietnam War.

Operation Enduring Freedom

On 7 October 2001, President George W. Bush announced airstrikes targeting Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, in response to the September 11 attacks. The initial military objectives of OEF, as articulated by Bush, included the destruction of terrorist training camps and infrastructure within Afghanistan, the capture of Al-Qaeda leaders, and the cessation of terrorist activities in Afghanistan.

Beyond Afghanistan, Operation Enduring Freedom was also affiliated with counterterrorism operations in other countries, such as OEF-Philippines and OEF-Trans Sahara. These operations primarily targeted Al-Qaeda and remnants of the Taliban.

Operation Crescent Wind

The initial strikes were launched from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, with two B-2 bombers of the 509th Bomb Wing taking off on the night of 7 October, followed by two on the nights of 8 October and 9 October as well. These bombers refuelled with the help of KC-10 and KC-135 tankers of the 60th and 349th Mobility Wings along with the 319th Reconnaissance Wing with coordination by the Eighteenth Air Force, first doing so off the coast of California, followed by Hawaii, Guam, and the Strait of Malacca, then a fifth refuelling near Diego Garcia before striking their targets in Afghanistan with GBU-31 JDAMs. After delivering their ordnance, the B-2s turned back to receive a final refuelling over the Indian Ocean before landing at Andersen Air Force Base. At this point, the crews were swapped with the replacement crews who flew the B-2s back to Whiteman in Missouri. It took 30 hours of flying just to reach targets in Afghanistan, with the original crews flying 44 hours and 20 minutes total at the longest, and the aircraft operating for 70 hours in total. The operation remains the longest combat bombing sortie in history.

The opening night's B-2 strike was followed by ten B-52s and either five or eight B1Bs of 28th Bomb Wing from Andersen Air Force Base striking with both JDAMs and Mk 82 unguided bombs, with F-14Ds of VF-213 from CVW-11 of the USS Carl Vinson participating in the strikes with GBU-16s and 12s, while also armed with AIM-54Cs, AIM-7Ms and AIM-9Ls to provide top cover in the low chance of Taliban interceptors. Assistance was also provided by E2Cs from VAW-117. While some of the aircrews on the first night reported encountering AAA and MANPAD SAM fire, Taliban aircraft never left the ground, and virtually the entirety of their air force was destroyed in the first night.

A few hours after the initial strikes, the USS Carl Vinson was joined by the USS Enterprise with more F-14As of VF-41 and EA-6Bs of VAQ-141 from CVW-8. and later by HMS Trafalgar and HMS Triumph, who launched cruise missiles along with the Vinson and Enterprise.

Operation Relentless Strike

Operation Crescent Wind was the codename for the American and British air campaign over Afghanistan in October and November 2001. The campaign was aided by British special forces troops on the ground to provide targeting information for airstrikes. The campaign significantly weakened the Taliban, paving the way for offensives by the Northern Alliance to take place in November which quickly overran Taliban-controlled regions of Afghanistan.

The initial strikes were launched from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri with two B-2 bombers of the 509th Bomb Wing taking off on the night of 7 October, followed by two on the nights of 8 October and 9 October as well. These bombers refueled with the help of KC-10 and KC-135 tankers of the 60th and 349th Mobility Wings along with the 319th Reconnaissance Wing with coordination by the Eighteenth Air Force, first doing so off the coast of California, followed by Hawaii, Guam, and the Strait of Malacca, then a fifth refueling near Diego Garcia before striking their targets in Afghanistan with GBU-31 JDAMs. After delivering their ordnance, the B-2s turned back to receive a final refueling over the Indian Ocean before landing at Andersen Air Force Base. At this point, the crews were swapped with the replacement crews who flew the B-2s back to Whiteman in Missouri. It took 30 hours of flying just to reach targets in Afghanistan, with the original crews flying 44 hours and 20 minutes total at the longest, and the aircraft operating for 70 hours in total. The operation remains the longest combat bombing sortie in history.

Initial targets included command and control nodes, Taliban Air Defenses, as well as the modest Taliban Air Force, with the airports of Kabul, Herat, Kandahar, Zaranj and Mazar-i-Sharif being targeted. The Taliban were believed to have had 40 pilots capable of getting some 50 MiG-21s and Su-22s airborne, though there was less concern about these as traditional interceptors as there was about them eventually being loaded with explosives and used to suicide bomb American encampments.

The opening night's B-2 strike was followed by ten B-52s and either five or eight B1Bs of 28th Bomb Wing from Andersen Air Force Base striking with both JDAMs and Mk 82 unguided bombs, with F-14Ds of VF-213 from CVW-11 of the USS Carl Vinson participating in the strikes with GBU-16s and 12s, while also armed with AIM-54Cs, AIM-7Ms and AIM-9Ls to provide top cover in the low chance of Taliban interceptors. Assistance was also provided by E2Cs from VAW-117. While some of the aircrews on the first night reported encountering AAA and MANPAD SAM fire, Taliban aircraft never left the ground, and virtually the entirety of their air force was destroyed in the first night.

Fall of Mazar-i-Sharif

The fall of Mazar-i-Sharif (also known as Mazar-e-Sharif) in November 2001 was the first major victory for the Northern Alliance forces and the United States in the Afghanistan War. The city, located in Balkh Province, had been under Taliban control since 1998.

On October 17, 2001, the CIA's eight-member Team Alpha landed in the Dari-a-Suf Valley, about 80 miles south of Mazar-i-Sharif, to join forces with General Abdul Rashid Dostum. They were soon joined by Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) 595 of the US Army's 5th Special Forces Group. In the lead-up to the battle, Northern Alliance troops advanced on population centres near the city, such as Shol Ghar, located just 25 kilometres away. Propaganda leaflets were dropped from airplanes, asking Afghans if they wanted to continue living under the Taliban regime and listing radio frequencies broadcasting the American version of events.

On November 4, Dostum led an attack on the village of Keshendeh, southwest of Mazar-i-Sharif, seizing it with his horse-mounted troops. Meanwhile, General Noor led 2,000 men of the ethnic-Tajik-dominated Jamiat-e Islami forces against the village of Ag Kupruk, located directly south of the city, along with US Special Forces soldiers who directed bombing from behind Taliban lines.

On November 7 and 8, as the Taliban were moving 4,000 fighters towards Mazar-i-Sharif, American B-52 bombers targeted Taliban defenders in the Cheshmeh-ye Shafa gorge, marking the southern entrance to the city, and the Haji Gak pass, the only Taliban-controlled entrance. This was one of the heaviest bombing campaigns up to that point, with former Taliban commander Maulvi Abdul Akhundzada describing the horrors witnessed during the bombing:

> "When the bombing started, I was commanding some 400 fighters on the front lines near Mazar-e Sharif. The bombs cut down our men like a reaper harvesting wheat. Bodies were dismembered. Dazed fighters were bleeding from the ears and nose from the bombs' concussions. We couldn't bury the dead."

On November 9, members of the two ODAs and the CIA teams began calling in airstrikes against the Taliban at Tangi Pass, the gateway from the Balkh Valley to Mazar-i-Sharif. The Northern Alliance forces, under the command of Dostum and Ustad Atta Mohammed Noor, then swept across the Pul-i-Imam Bukhri bridge, seizing the city's main military base and airport. The Taliban forces, along with al-Qaeda and other foreign fighters, began to withdraw towards Kunduz. The capture of Mazar-i-Sharif resulted in the first major defeat for the Taliban and triggered the collapse of their positions throughout the north.

The fall of Mazar-i-Sharif occurred again in 2021, this time to the Taliban. The city, the country's fourth-largest, was heavily defended and served as the last major city in northern Afghanistan under government control. The fall of the city marked the complete collapse of northern Afghanistan to the Taliban, leaving the Western-backed government with only a smattering of provinces in the centre and east, along with the capital, Kabul. The Taliban's seizure of Mazar-i-Sharif was described as a huge shock due to its swiftness, as the city had been seen as a fortress in defiance of the Taliban.

Fall of Kabul

The Fall of Kabul in 2021 marked the end of the War in Afghanistan, which was the longest war in US military history.

On 15 August 2021, the Afghan capital city of Kabul was captured by the Taliban, leading to the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban.

The Fall of Kabul occurred during the final stage of the US and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan, which was initially set to be completed by 1 May 2021, but was later delayed to 31 August 2021. The Fall of Kabul came sooner than expected, shocking the world as the Taliban took the city in a matter of hours.

The US-Taliban deal, signed on 29 February 2020, is considered a critical factor in the collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). The deal included the withdrawal of all NATO forces from Afghanistan in return for counter-terrorism commitments from the Taliban. The deal also reduced US air support for the ANSF, giving the Taliban a strategic advantage.

In the weeks leading up to the Fall of Kabul, the Taliban had rapidly captured most of Afghanistan's provinces during a major offensive. On the day of the Fall, the Taliban entered the city facing little to no resistance. President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, and the Taliban declared victory.

The Fall of Kabul sparked an urgent evacuation effort as thousands of US citizens, Afghans who had worked with coalition forces, and other vulnerable Afghans sought to escape. Between 14 and 31 August 2021, the US and its coalition partners evacuated more than 123,000 people from Kabul International Airport.

The Fall of Kabul had far-reaching consequences, including a surge in refugees, a deterioration in living conditions for Afghan women, and a rise in jihadist and extremist groups' morale worldwide.

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