The area known today as Afghanistan has seen many invasions and rulers over the centuries, including Alexander the Great (circa 330 B.C.E.), Mahmud of Ghazna (11th century) and Genghis Khan (13th century). Here are some important points in more modern history.
1838-1921- Britain wages three wars in Afghanistan in an attempt to rule Central Asia.
1920s - Afghanistan gains its independence and forms a constitutional monarchy with a king and prime minister.
1947 - Neighboring Pakistan and India become independent countries.
1950s - Afghanistan’s prime minister befriends the Soviet Union and introduces more freedoms for women.
1973 - Pro-Soviet Gen. Mohammed Daoud Khan takes control in a coup, exiling his cousin, the king. The Republic of Afghanistan forms.
1978 - Khan is killed in a military coup by other communists. Islamic religious leaders opposed to modern reforms create a mujahedeen guerrilla group.
1979 - An American ambassador is killed. Afghanistan’s president is executed by supporters of the deputy prime minister.The USSR invades and kills the deputy prime minister and his supporters. The mujahedeen fight the Soviets.
1982 - More than 4 million Afghans flee to Pakistan and Iran.
1984 - Osama bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian, goes to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets.
1986 - Anti-Soviet fighters receive weapons from the U.S., Britain and China.
1988- Bin Laden forms al-Qaida.
1989 - The Soviets withdraw.
1992 - The mujahedeen take over in a coup and form an Islamic government.
1992-1996 - Afghan Civil War. The Taliban forms, restricting rights for women and girls.
1998 - Al-Qaida bombs two U.S. embassies in Africa, killing 224 people and injuring thousands. President Bill Clinton attacks bin Laden’s training camps in Afghanistan with missiles.
2000 - The U.S. demands bin Laden’s extradition to face trial for the bombings. The Taliban refuses. The U.N. sanctions Afghanistan.
Sept. 9, 2001 - Ahmad Shah Massoud, an anti-Taliban leader, is assassinated by al-Qaida.
Sept. 11, 2001 - Terrorists hijack four commercial planes, crashing them into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field in Pennsylvania (thanks to passengers who fought the hijackers). An estimated 2,600 people are killed in the twin towers, 125 are killed at the Pentagon, and 265 passengers and crew are killed. (Hundreds more have since died from dust/chemical exposure.)
Oct. 7, 2001 - The U.S. and Britain launch airstrikes on Afghanistan, starting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Nov. - Dec. 2001 - Afghans push the Taliban out, and Hamid Karzai becomes the leader of the interim government.
2003 - NATO provides security in Kabul, the capital.
Jan. 2004 - Afghanistan adopts a new constitution.
June 2004 - Trent Reedy is deployed to Afghanistan. He meets Jawad Arash.
Oct. 2004 - Karzai wins the presidential election.
2006-2010 - NATO and the U.S. expand their presence as the Taliban and al-Qaida continue fighting.
2011 - President Barack Obama orders U.S. SEAL Team Six to kill bin Laden in Pakistan.
March 11, 2012 - A U.S. soldier slaughters 16 civilians (including nine children) in the Kandahar massacre.
2013 - The Afghan army takes over military operations from NATO.
May 2014 - Obama announces plans to significantly reduce troops by 2016.
Dec. 2014 - NATO ends its mission in Afghanistan.
Feb. 2019 - U.S. and Taliban start peace negotiations.
Sept. 2019 - President Donald Trump calls off negotiations after a U.S. soldier is killed by the Taliban.
Nov. 2020 - U.S. says it will reduce troops, leaving 2,500 there by the time President Joe Biden takes office.
April 2021 - Biden announces the U.S. will completely withdraw before the 20th anniversary of 9/11.
May 2021 - Reedy and Arash release their book Enduring Freedom.
July 2021 - The U.S. leaves Bagram airfield.
Aug. 10, 2021 - The White House says a Taliban takeover “is not inevitable.” Arash messages Reedy that a large part of his city is controlled by the Taliban.
Aug. 15, 2021 - The Taliban take over Kabul and the Afghanistan government collapses as President Ashraf Ghani flees.
Aug. 26, 2021 - Two ISIS-affiliated suicide bombers at the Kabul airport kill 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops.
Aug. 30, 2021 - The final U.S. troops leave Kabul airport.
March 2022 - The Taliban demands that girls over sixth grade don’t show up to school.
May 2022 - The Taliban orders women to wear burqa-style coverings when they leave the house and advises them to stay home as much as possible.
June 2022 - Arash and his family make it to Pakistan. An earthquake in Afghanistan kills more than 1,100 people.
July 31, 2022 - The U.S. kills the new al-Qaida leader.
Nov. 10, 2022 - Women are banned from parks and gyms.
Dec. 21, 2022 - Women are banned from attending university.
Dec. 2022- Feb. 2023 - Reedy tries to get Arash’s family to Canada. A couple that’s never met Arash volunteers to put up $28,000 for the application. A woman who lives in Alberta agrees to be their sponsor.
Feb. 2023 - Arash receives news that his student visa to the U.S. has been approved. A day later he learns the program he got into was cut. He scrambles to apply for a different program.
March 9, 2023 - The U.N. says Afghanistan is the most repressive country in the world for women and girls.
July 19, 2023 - The Taliban uses Tasers against female protesters who are upset about a ban on beauty salons, one of the last meeting places they had.
July 25, 2023 - Arash and his family arrive safely in the U.S.
