The first bomb struck the Taliban’s air defense facility at Kabul International Airport at 16:38 local time. Within minutes, explosions lit up the night sky over Kabul, Kandahar, and Jalalabad. Fifteen land-based B-1 Lancer and B-52 Stratofortress bombers, ten carrier-based strike aircraft, and fifty Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from U.S. and British ships in the Arabian Sea hit thirty-one pre-selected targets. The immediate objective was to achieve air superiority and degrade the command structure of the Taliban, which harbored al-Qaeda. On the ground, twelve-person teams from the CIA’s Special Activities Division and U.S. Army Special Forces were already infiltrating the country to link up with the Northern Alliance.
The operation followed an ultimatum from President George W. Bush demanding the Taliban hand over al-Qaeda leaders responsible for the September 11 attacks. The Taliban had refused. The military action enjoyed broad international support, with contributions from allies including the UK, Germany, France, Australia, and Canada. The initial phase focused on tactical airstrikes and unconventional warfare, leveraging local Afghan militias to avoid a large-scale American ground invasion. This approach toppled the Taliban regime in two months.
Public statements framed the campaign as a precise effort against terrorists and their enablers. Internal planning documents reveal a more ambiguous understanding of the mission’s endpoint. The initial directive from the Secretary of Defense, dated September 30, ordered the military to destroy al-Qaeda and “end states’ sponsorship of terrorism.” It contained no plan for nation-building or defining victory. The swift military success created a vacuum of governance and security, which the fledgling Afghan government and its international backers proved ill-equipped to fill.
The war that began that night would last 7,305 days. It resulted in the deaths of 2,461 U.S. service members, 3,846 U.S. contractors, and an estimated 176,000 Afghan combatants and civilians. The initial tactical success established a template of light-footprint warfare and remote counterterrorism strikes that defined U.S. foreign policy for two decades. It also created a protracted state-building endeavor that ultimately collapsed with the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, twenty years almost to the day after the first bombs fell.