How US Troops ended up in Afghanistan
On the night of 31st Aug, 2021 at 2359hrs, the last evacuation Evacuation plane tore into air at Kubal Airport. For thousand of Afghan citizen who hoped to be evacuated, the flight was a death sentence and the walls of hope they had ever had of leaving the war torn country caved in. Hundreds of American citizens could not be evacuated since the clock was already ticking and any further delay would have been a compromise.
Steven Mwaluko 
How did we end up here?
On September 11, 2001, four passenger aircraft were hijacked by al-Qaeda terrorists and a series of dreadful events followed there after. The terrorists targeted to crush the planes on various buildings within the US, the targets were the Twin Towers and the pentagon. Passengers onboard on on of the planes revolted and the plane crashed on rural Pennsylvania. The incidence saw a death toll of 2977 people and scored were injured.
The US government dedicated its efforts into avenging the death of its citizens. The US government launched war against one of the most organized terror group- al-Qaeda and successfully neutralized it, but the war was not over until Osama bin Laden was captured and executed in 2011.
Meanwhile, the US government in collaboration with humanitarian organizations, foreign aids and donors decided to re-establish the government. Infrastructural and development projects were initiated. The Taliban which had also been neutralized in 2001 ceased its operations in an attempt to regroup and therefore, the US troops had to remain in the country for a little longer to ensure a smooth transition. The Taliban was a sign of relief for the Afghan nationalities late 1990s as they managed to instill a semblance of order, law, security, transparency and accountability in the country. The group upheld strict observation of Sharia law. Various human and cultural rights were abused under the Taliban and diplomatic relations were strained. Despite their displacement by the US troops, the group kept its operations below the radar with few incidences which it claimed responsibility.
Earlier peace talks seem bore no fruits and at the time the US president Joe Biden announced in April that the US troops will be withdrawn, the Taliban re-organized itself. Evidently, within 10 days, Taliban toppled the government and their determination to see the Americans gone was evident as for the first time, they collaborated in securing the airport while the US facilitated the evacuation.
Taliban might have won the battle against the US but their position is still precarious considering ISIS is on the rise and has already executed its first attack even before the US troops had already departed. Millions of Afghan citizens are still trying to seek asylum in other countries as the future under Taliban is quite unpredictable and so is livelihood.
