War on Terror
"There is no diplomacy with Bin Laden or the Taleban regime"
Prime Minister Tony Blair, 2001
New York under attack
At the start of the new Millennium, with Britain’s imperial past a fading memory, few would have believed that British soldiers would again be fighting and dying on Afghan soil.
9/11 changed all that.
Afghanistan, under the puritanical rule of the Taleban, was widely regarded as the main safe haven of the Al Qaeda terrorists responsible for the devastating attacks in New York and Washington in 2001.
Strength to Endure
Taleban fighters
In October 2001, following an ultimatum, a Coalition led by the United States and including UK forces attacked Al Qaeda’s sanctuaries and training bases in Afghanistan. The Taleban regime collapsed under a rain of Tomahawk missiles and laser-guided bombs. Taleban and Al Qaeda fighters, attacked in their compounds, caves and bunkers, withdrew to remote areas of the country and across the border into the tribal areas of Pakistan.
If Britain’s previous military experience in Afghanistan did not inform the Coalition forces engaged in Operation ENDURING FREEDOM that there would be no quick win, then the rusting wrecks of abandoned Soviet tanks were a telling reminder of the last foreign intervention in Afghan affairs.
