Chronology of War in Afghanistan
Key events in the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan:
2001:
--Oct. 7: U.S. and British forces begin airstrikes against Afghanistan, whose ruling Taliban government was sheltering Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida terrorist network, accused of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
--Oct. 8: Four Afghan workers for the United Nations are reported dead in bombing of Kabul, the Afghan capital; defense officials can't confirm that U.S. and British airstrikes are to blame. Thousands riot in Quetta, Pakistan, against the United States and in support of bin Laden.
-- Oct. 16: Pentagon says U.S. bombs hit warehouses in Kabul used by the International Committee of the Red Cross, setting two on fire.
-- Oct. 19: Two Army Rangers die in a helicopter accident in Pakistan.
-- Nov. 9, 2001: Northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif falls to rebel northern alliance in first major territorial advance.
-- Nov. 13: The Afghan capital, Kabul, falls without violence. After weeks of fierce air assaults by U.S. and coalition forces, Taliban fighters abandon the city without a fight, allowing U.S.-backed northern alliance fighters to take over the city.
-- Nov. 17: Taliban confirms death of bin Laden military chief Mohammed Atef in airstrike three days earlier.
-- Nov. 25: As war enters eighth week, CIA officer Johnny ``Mike'' Spann is killed during prison uprising in Mazar-e-Sharif, becoming America's first combat casualty.
-- Dec. 2: Pentagon says a man claiming to be an American and later identified as John Walker Lindh was among more than 80 Taliban fighters found days after their prison rebellion was crushed.
-- Dec. 5: Three U.S. soldiers are killed and 19 wounded when a U.S. bomb misses its target.
-- Dec. 7: Taliban stronghold in southern city of Kandahar falls as fleeing fighters clash with U.S. forces, backed by air power. Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and Osama bin Laden escape.
-- Dec. 16: Tora Bora, the complex of mountain caves sheltering al-Qaida and Taliban holdouts, falls.
-- Dec. 22: Hamid Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun who leads one of the largest tribes in southern Afghanistan, is sworn in as chairman of a six-month interim government. Karzai faces the task of trying to unite a country wracked by more than two decades of war and poverty.
2002:
--Jan. 4: First U.S. military member killed by hostile fire in Afghanistan. Army Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Ross Chapman, 31, ambushed along with CIA officer, who is wounded.
--March 2-March 18: U.S. military leads Operation Anaconda, the largest ground operation of the war, to eliminate Taliban and al-Qaida holdouts in a mountainous area of southeastern Afghanistan.
--March 2: Army Chief Warrant Officer Stanley L. Harriman, 34, killed on first day of Operation Anaconda.
--March 4: In the deadliest day for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, a Navy SEAL is killed during a mountaintop firefight and six other troops are killed trying to rescue him.
--March 28: Chief Petty Officer Matthew J. Bourgeois, 35, of Tallahassee, Fla., is killed by a land mine during a training mission near Kandahar. Another serviceman is wounded.
--May 19: Sgt. Gene Vance Jr., U.S. Special Forces soldier, is killed while on patrol in eastern Afghanistan after his unit comes under heavy fire.
--June 13: Karzai is elected as head of state of the new interim government of Afghanistan by the loya jirga, or grand council.
--Aug. 7: Sgt. 1st Class Christopher James Speer, 28, of Albuquerque, N.M., dies of wounds received July 27 in an ambush in eastern Afghanistan. Four other American soldiers were injured.
Facts of U.S.-Led War in Afghanistan
Facts and figures from the war in Afghanistan since bombing began Oct. 7, 2001:
--Americans killed: 39, including 16 during combat or hostile situations.
--U.S. military forces in Afghanistan: about 9,000.
--U.S. military forces in region supporting Afghanistan war: about 60,000.
--Cost of military action: about $2 billion per month.
--Countries in anti-terrorism military coalition: 70.
--Countries with forces in Afghanistan: 25.
--Military aircraft combat sorties over Afghanistan: more than 15,000.
--Number of munitions dropped on Afghanistan: more than 21,800.
--Percentage of munitions that were precision-guided: more than 60 percent.
--Countries participating in search for terrorist suspects at sea: 11.
--Number of ships queried since November: more than 16,000.
--Number of ships boarded since November: more than 200.
