Air Force troops in the Afghan mountains
Credit: U.S. Air Force

President Joe Biden stuck to a deadline of Aug. 31, 2021, for the withdrawal of the remaining United States troops from Afghanistan. The withdrawal brought the 20-year Afghanistan War to a close and completed a rapid retaking of the country by the Taliban, a militant Sunni Islamic political group.

As U.S. and NATO troops began their withdrawal earlier in the year, Taliban attacks aimed at expanding the group’s control over additional territory increased. Hundreds of thousands of Afghans fled. The Afghan National Security Forces eventually collapsed before the advance, despite years of support and training by NATO and U.S. forces. In August, Taliban forces took over additional territory, including several major cities. On August 15, they entered and took control of the capital, Kabul. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.

The United States quickly sent additional troops to Kabul. They were to secure and oversee the operation of the city’s airport during the evacuation of U.S. and NATO personnel, along with Afghan allies and their families. On August 26, a suicide bombing and gunfire attack killed at least 170 people in the large crowd waiting to enter the airport. The victims also included 13 U.S. troops. The militant group ISIS-K (Islamic State Khorason—a branch of the Islamic State terrorist organization) claimed responsibility for the attack. Nevertheless, the evacuations continued. About 123,000 civilians were evacuated on U.S. and coalition flights before the United States completed the withdrawal of its last military troops on August 30.

The Afghanistan War began in 2001. It started as a short but intense war in which the United States and its allies battled the Taliban. International forces overthrew the Taliban regime and helped establish a new government in Afghanistan.

The conflict persisted in the years that followed, however, as the United States and its allies struggled to establish stability in the country. The war eventually became the longest deployment of American combat troops in U.S. history. Since the beginning of the Afghanistan War, more than 3,500 coalition soldiers, mostly Americans, have died in Afghanistan.

In 2013, international troops shifted into a supporting role. Nearly 10,000 U.S. troops remained in such noncombat roles as training Afghan soldiers, advising Afghan army units, and helping maintain equipment. In 2014, NATO and the United States formally ended their combat missions in Afghanistan. However, the Taliban increased their presence in the following years, and security forces continued to battle the insurgents. An additional 3,000 U.S. troops were sent in 2017 on combat duty.

In 2018, U.S. and Taliban representatives began negotiating the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. They signed an agreement in 2020. The Taliban agreed not to allow such terrorist organizations as al-Qa`ida and the Islamic State (ISIS) to operate from bases in Afghanistan, and the United States agreed to a gradual withdrawal of the approximately 13,000 troops it had in the country at that time. Several thousand NATO troops also remained in the country, providing noncombat assistance to Afghan security forces. Nevertheless, fighting between Afghan government forces and the Taliban continued, leading up to the U.S. withdrawal and the government’s collapse.

June 29, 2016

Passengers console one another outside Turkey’s Istanbul Atatürk Airport in the hours after a terror attack killed 41 people there on June 28, 2016.
Credit: © Emrah Gurel, AP Photo

Yesterday, June 28, a terrorist attack killed 43 people and injured more than 230 others at Istanbul Atatürk Airport in Turkey. The attack, blamed on Islamic State terrorists, occurred around 10 p.m. local time at the international terminal of the airport, which is Turkey’s busiest and one of the world’s major travel hubs. The attack began as three armed terrorists fired at airport guards and passengers near the terminal entrance. Guards returned fire, and the terrorists then detonated body explosives in succession—one—two—three. The explosions killed and wounded dozens of people in the ground floor arrivals area, the first floor departures area, and the nearby parking area. Quickly, security personnel swarmed to help as survivors gaped in shock at the carnage, the scattered luggage, and the shattered glass and gutted walls and ceilings of the terminal. The entire event took about two minutes.

As survivors grappled with the reality of the situation, the airport shut down and heavily armed security prowled the terminals. Would-be travelers were evacuated to safety, and incoming flights were diverted to other airports. The injured were taken to hospitals, and the dead were slowly identified. Hours later, flights resumed at the airport.

Tuesday’s airport attack was the most recent in a flurry of terror attacks in Istanbul and the rest of Turkey. Some of the blame has fallen on Kurdish separatists who have been fighting Turkey’s government forces on-and-off for years. A more recent, random, and deadly foe has been the Islamic State (also called ISIS, ISIL, or DAESH), the terrorist band based in neighboring Iraq and Syria. Turkey’s participation in an international military coalition against the Islamic State has brought repercussions from the ruthless terror group. Since July 2015, Islamic State attacks have now killed some 200 people within Turkey’s borders.

November 19, 2015

French authorities announced today that the suspected mastermind of last Friday’s deadly Paris attacks was killed in a police raid in a Paris suburb early yesterday. Authorities said a fingerprint analysis confirmed the death of Islamic State, or ISIS, terrorist suspect Abdelhamid Abaaoud. It was not immediately determined whether Abaaoud died from police gunfire or blew himself up during the raid on an apartment in Saint-Denis, north of Paris.

The Eiffel Tower is lit up in the red, white, and blue of the French flag, in tribute to the victims of the Paris terrorist attacks. Credit: © Rex Features/AP Images

Authorities say a woman who was with Abaaoud also died in the operation, by detonating a suicide belt when elite police forces stormed the apartment. Eight people were arrested. Authorities have linked Abaaoud, a Belgian national, to several foiled attacks earlier this year that involved a church near Paris and a high-speed train bound for the French capital.

On Friday, November 13, Paris was rocked by a series of coordinated terrorist attacks that left 129 civilians and 7 terrorists dead. Hundreds of civilians were wounded, some critically. French President François Hollande called the attacks an “act of war.” The Islamic State took responsibility for the massacre. President Hollande closed the borders to France and issued a curfew for Paris and a state of emergency for the entire nation.

The attacks began when a bomb was detonated outside the Stade de France, the national sports stadium, just north of the city limits of Paris. A soccer game was in progress between Germany and France, with 80,000 people at the stadium at the time, including President Hollande. The president and other fans were safely evacuated. About 5 minutes after the first attack, gunmen opened fire on patrons at a bar and two restaurants. Soon after, the deadliest attack of the night took place at the Bataclan theater, where a sold-out concert by the American rock band the Eagles of Death Metal was being held. Terrorists entered the theater and began shooting AK-47 assault rifles into the crowd of some 1,500 people. The terrorists then gathered up some 100 people to hold as hostages. French security forces stormed the Bataclan soon after, but the terrorists blew themselves up, killing 8 hostages. Eighty-nine people died at the Bataclan.

On Saturday, November 14, police in Belgium stopped a car that had been used in the Paris attacks. The stop led to raids and arrests in Belgium as police searched for accomplices. A manhunt for more attackers was also underway in France. On Sunday, French warplanes launched air strikes in retaliation on the Syrian city of Ar Raqqah, the Islamic State’s de facto capital. The French strikes were reported to have hit the terrorist group’s command center, a training facility, and an arms depot. France has been active in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria.

The Paris attacks came after two earlier attacks by the Islamic State in as many weeks. On October 31, a Russian airliner crashed in Egypt, killing all 224 people aboard. ISIS claimed responsibility. On November 16, Russia confirmed that the plane was brought down by a homemade bomb planted in the plane’s cargo hold. Russia had recently entered the fight in the Syrian civil war. On November 12, Islamic State bombings in Beirut, Lebanon, killed more than 40 people. The bombs were set off in a Hezbollah stronghold; the group has been fighting in the Syrian civil war on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and against the Islamic State.

Paris had been on high alert since January 2015, when Islamist gunmen attacked the Paris offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Eleven people in the building were killed. The attacks took place over three days and resulted in the deaths of 20 people in total.

November 17, 2015

On Friday, November 13, everyone in the world learned quickly of the Islamic State terrorist attacks in Paris, France, that killed 129 people. There was scant coverage, however, of the Islamic State bombings earlier that day that killed 26 people in Baghdad, Iraq; or the Islamic State bombings the day before that killed 43 people in Beirut, Lebanon. Obviously, these horrible events were overshadowed by the severity and shock of the Paris attacks. But these “other attacks” were just as important, and highlighted the animosity that has existed between the Sunni and Shī`ah divisions of Islam for many centuries. Most of the victims of the Baghdad attack were Shī`ites gathered for the funeral of a comrade killed fighting against the Islamic State, a radical Sunni Muslim group. In Beirut, the bomb victims were mainly members of Hezbollah, a Shī`ite group fighting the Islamic State in neighboring Syria. In all three attacks—Baghdad, Beirut, and Paris—the Islamic State was retaliating against its enemies and people who oppose its strict and vicious rule. But only the attack in Paris sparked global outrage and condemnation as well as support for the people of France.

Islamic State bombings in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, killed 26 people on Nov. 13, 2015.

Baghdad has seen violence rather steadily since the Iraq War, and it is almost understandable—if rather callous—that people react little to “yet another” terrorist bombing in the Iraqi capital. But it is the Iraqi people who have fought the Islamic State the hardest and longest. And more Iraqis have died at the hands of Islamic State terrorists—not to mention their paternal group, al-Qa`ida—than anyone else.

Islamic State bombings killed 43 people in Beirut, the Lebanese capital, on Nov. 12, 2015. Beirut lies only about 30 miles (48 kilometers) from the Syrian border.
Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Lebanon has seen comparatively little violence, despite its proximity to war-plagued Syria and Iraq—and the Lebanese have taken in over 1 million refugees. Minor terrorist attacks have hit Beirut as recently as 2014, but the 43 people killed on November 12 were the most in that city since Lebanon’s civil war ended in 1990. Beirut is not a war zone, just as Paris is not, and deaths in Lebanon matter just as much as deaths in Paris, or Baghdad, or anywhere else.

Other Behind the Headlines article

      Terror Returns to Paris

November 16, 2015

Mourners pay their respects at one of the attack sites in Paris, November 15, 2015. Credit: © Benoit Tessier, Reuters/Landov

Last Friday night, November 13, Paris was rocked by a series of coordinated terrorist attacks that left more than 129 civilians and 7 terrorists dead. Hundreds of civilians were wounded, some very seriously. French President François Hollande called the attacks an “act of war.” The Islamic State, or ISIS, took responsibility for the massacre. President Hollande closed the borders to France and issued a curfew for Paris and a state of emergency for the entire nation. 

The attacks began when one bomb was detonated outside the Stade de France, the national sports stadium, just north of the city limits of Paris. A soccer game was in progress between Germany and France, with 80,000 people at the stadium at the time, including President Hollande. The president and other fans were safely evacuated. About 5 minutes after the first attack, gunmen opened fire on patrons at a bar and a restaurant, both near the Place de la Republique. Soon after, the deadliest attack of the night took place at the Bataclan theater—a beautiful building dating to 1865 with a Chinese-style facade (front). The theater, just east of the Bastille, was holding a sold-out concert by an American rock band, the Eagles of Death Metal. Terrorists entered the theater and began shooting AK-47 assault rifles into the crowd of some 1,500 people. The terrorists then gathered up some 100 people to hold as hostages. French security forces stormed the Bataclan soon after, but the terrorists detonated explosive vests, killing themselves and 8 hostages. Eighty-nine people died at the Bataclan.

The Paris attacks came after two earlier attacks by the Islamic State in as many weeks, causing experts to fear that the group’s coordinated influence is spreading. On October 31, a Russian airliner crashed in Egypt, killing all 224 people aboard. (On November 16, Russia confirmed that the plane was brought down by a bomb planted in the plane’s cargo hold.) Russia had recently entered the fight in the Syrian civil war against both rebel groups and the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the crash. On November 12, Islamic State bombings in Beirut, Lebanon, killed more than 40 people. The bombs were set off in a Hezbollah stronghold; the group has been fighting in the Syrian civil war on the side of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and against the Islamic State. France has been active in the fight against the Islamic State as well.

Paris had been on high alert since January 2015, when Islamist gunmen attacked the Paris offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. Eleven people in the building were killed. The attacks took place over three days and resulted in the deaths of 20 people in total. Millions of people in France demonstrated to show solidarity for free speech. France then deployed thousands of soldiers around the nation to safeguard against further attacks. In August, an attack on a high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris was thwarted by tourists who stopped a would-be terrorist with an AK-47 rifle. 

On Saturday, November 14, police in Belgium stopped a car that had been used in the most recent attacks in Paris, leading to raids and arrests in Belgium as police searched for accomplices. A manhunt for more attackers was also underway in France. On Sunday, French warplanes launched air strikes in retaliation on the Syrian city of Ar Raqqah, the Islamic State’s de facto capital. The French strikes were reported to have hit a command center, a training facility, and an arms depot all belonging to the terrorist group. 

October 5, 2015

The ruins of Palmyra in central Syria are being systematically destroyed by the terrorist group Islamic State. © Styve Reineck, Shutterstock

In 2015, the news from Palmyra, an ancient city in Syria, is often dark. Yesterday, October 4, the Syrian minister of antiquities, Maamoun Abdulkarim, confirmed that the Arch of Triumph, a monumental icon of Palmyra’s  2,000-year-old Roman ruins, had been destroyed by the terrorist group Islamic State (also known as ISIS). Islamic State captured Palmyra in May 2015, and preservationists at that time worried that the ruins of the once-great caravan city would be harmed. Before Palmyra fell, archaeologists (scientists who study of the remains of past human cultures) moved as many statues and other portable objects as possible to a safe location to prevent ISIS from selling them on the black market to fund its operations. Largely for shock value,  ISIS has destroyed many of the immovable large objects left behind. The fear of destruction also drives up prices for smaller objects they have found and hope to sell.

Since ISIS took Palmyra, they have wasted no time destroying priceless ruins. In August, the group used explosives to destroy the Temple of Baal Shamin. Dedicated to a Canaanite god, the stone temple was built around 100 B.C. The Temple of Bel, dedicated to a Mesopotamian god and dating to A.D. 32, was also destroyed in August. Most shockingly, an 83-year-old Syrian archaeologist, Khaled al-Assad, was murdered by ISIS on August 18 for refusing to reveal the location of art treasures removed from the city and hidden. In September, the group destroyed funerary towers (tombs), that were built between A.D. 44 and 103.

Palmyra was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980. The organization called Palmyra “one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world.” Sadly, the ancient city’s importance fades with every cruel obliteration of its storied past.

Other World Book articles

• ISIS Gains Control of Ancient City of Palmyra (A Behind the headlines article)
• World Heritage Site

August 20, 2015

Ruins of Palmyra stand in central Syria. This ancient city thrived more than 2,000 years ago as a major stop for caravans and is rich in archaeological treasure. This week, Islamic State (ISIS) murdered the city’s chief archaeologist when he refused to lead them to art works hidden in the city. © Styve Reineck, Shutterstock

The Islamic State (also called ISIS or ISIL) is a terrorist band, guilty of such crimes as blowing up innocent people at markets and mosques. The group also slaughters people by the thousands, people who resist, people they consider to be “infidels” (religious nonbelievers).

Like so many other terrorists, the Islamic State needs headlines, and they need money to continue their activities. Typically, plundering Syrian and Iraqi oil gets ISIS enough money to fund their campaign of terror. But oil wells are merely stacks of cash. Stealing and selling oil doesn’t make the news and it does little to infuriate or inspire. The Islamic State touches a nerve, however, with their next most profitable way to finance their war: Antiquities. Antiquities as in ancient structures, priceless historical objects, the very record of human history. The destruction of priceless antiquities gains ISIS huge amounts of news coverage. It serves as a tool for recruitment, appealing to angry and desperate young people eager to “make a difference” in the world.

So the terrorists—like bulls in civilization’s china shop—destroy ancient ruins and show their actions on on social media. But they are clever. Behind the scenes, the Islamic State protects the true gems of the ancient world, and they sell them on the black market (illegally). It may be that by destroying large antiquities that are not very portable—such as buildings and statues—they increase the value of the more portable items they want to sell. Of course, those gems aren’t always easy to find.

Enter 83-year old Syrian archaeologist, Khaled al-Asaad. Asaad’s hometown of Palmyra is an ancient caravan stop and home to some of the world’s greatest archaeological treasures. The Islamic State captured Palmyra—and its caretaker, Asaad—in May 2015. Since then, the terrorists had attempted to force Asaad to reveal the locations of his city’s truly priceless items that had been hidden before the city fell to the terrorists. Tired of his obstinate refusals, the Islamic State murdered Asaad on Tuesday, August 18. They cut off his head in a public square. They hung his decapitated corpse by the wrists from a traffic light. Asaad died a true martyr. Not a martyr to Islam, for his killing had nothing to do with Islam or religion. But, a martyr to greed fueled by the tragically misguided intentions of the Islamic State.

Other World Book articles:

• Islam (2014-a Back in time article)
• Syria (2014-a Back in time article)

July 29, 2015

A map showing the traditional homeland of the Kurds, extending mainly over parts of Armenia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. This area is historically called Kurdistan, a Persian word meaning the Land of the Kurds. World Book map

May 21, 2015

For the second time this week, the terrorist group Islamic State (ISIS) has captured a city of importance. Earlier this week, the Iraqi city of Ramadi fell to ISIS militants. On May 20, ISIS gained the Syrian city of Palmyra; this latter gain gave the militants control of more than half of the territory in Syria. This setback for the U.S.-led coalition forces fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria caused Republican legislators to question the Obama administration’s strategy of only providing air strikes in support of coalition ground troops supplied by local Middle Eastern countries. Some Republicans called for the United States to send ground troops to aid in the fight against ISIS.

Islamic State (ISIS) fighters during a military parade in Raqqa province in Syria. Credit: © Alamy Images

Palmyra’s fall was sudden. The Syrian army was unable to put forth an orderly retreat, and many lower level troops and civilians were trapped. ISIS is conducting door-to-door searches for Syrian soldiers and people thought to be loyal to the government of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. The militants then execute such people in the town square.

In addition to the human tragedy, the fall of Palmyra gives ISIS control of important bases belonging to the Syrian army and highways linking various regions of Syria. Also, Palmyra is an ancient oasis city that was an important cultural center long ago. The ruins of the ancient city are designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Because ISIS has a history of destroying pre-Islamic art and architecture, preservationists fear the ruins may be lost.

Ruins of Palmyra stand in central Syria. This ancient city thrived more than 2,000 years ago as a major stop for caravans. In mid-May 2015, the ruins came under the control of Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists. © Styve Reineck, Shutterstock

Other World Book articles:

• Syria: The Roots of a Rebellion (A Special report)
• World Heritage List

April 9, 2015

The terrorist organization Islamic State (ISIS or IS) hacked into France’s television network TV5Monde, beginning last night at about 10 pm (all times given are Paris time). The hackers (people who “break into” computers or systems by defeating electronic security measures) were able to black out all 11 of the broadcaster’s television channels, its websites, and its Facebook page.  TV5Monde is a public-service network founded by the French government in 1984. The French government called the hacking an act of terrorism.

This screenshot, provided by TV5Monde on Thursday, April 9, 2015, shows it’s Facebook page after hackers claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group accessed the site. (Credit: TV5Monde)

Once the illegal access to the network began, viewers saw a black screen with the phrases “Cybercaliphate” and  “Je suis IS” (the latter meaning I am IS). To explain these phrases, in 2014, the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, after gaining control of land in Syria and Iraq, proclaimed himself caliph over those lands. A caliph is a leader with political and religious authority whom Muslims recognize as a successor of the Prophet Muhammad, and his government is a caliphate. “Je suis ISIS” refers to the phrase “Je suis Charlie,” which was used worldwide as a reaction of solidarity with the staff of the magazine Charlie Hebdo. Eleven people were killed when the magazine’s staff was attacked by Islamic terrorists in January 2015. The hackers also posted messages warning French soldiers to “stay away from the Islamic State.” France is part of a United States-led coalition carrying out air strikes against Islamic State targets.

By 10 am today, TV5Monde had regained control over its networks, although initially, only to broadcast pre-recorded material. The network was able to broadcast live programming by around 6 pm today. The hacking represents a much more sophisticated cyber crime than ISIS has been capable of in the past. The French minister of culture, Fleur Pellerin, called a meeting of all major newspapers, television networks, and the news service Agence France-Presse to discuss security measures.

Other World Book articles:

• Islam (a Back in time article-2014)
• Middle East (a Back in time article-2014)
• Paris terrorist attacks of 2015