Afghanistan — History
A timeline of significant events since August 2021 (stolen dreams)
Kabul Falls — Taliban Seize Power
On August 15, 2021, the Taliban march into Kabul unopposed. President Ashraf Ghani flees to the UAE. Thousands of desperate people storm the airport hoping to flee.
Statistics: Approximately 300,000 Afghans fled in the first two weeks. The airport processed over 120,000 evacuations between August 14–31.
Kabul Airport Suicide Bombing
An ISIS-K suicide bomber detonates at Abbey Gate outside the airport. At least 183 people are killed — including 13 US service members and 170 Afghan civilians.
Statistics: 183+ killed, 150+ wounded. The deadliest day for the US military in Afghanistan in a decade.
Last US Soldier Leaves Afghanistan
General Chris Donahue becomes the last American soldier to leave Afghan soil. 20 years of military presence comes to an end.
Statistics: 20 years of war. 2,461 US soldiers killed. An estimated 176,000 Afghans killed. The war cost the US approximately $2.3 trillion.
Taliban Ban Girls from Secondary School
All secondary schools for girls are closed indefinitely. Afghanistan becomes the only country in the world to ban girls' education.
Statistics: 1.1 million girls directly affected. 3.8 million girls total without access to education.
Mandatory Full Covering Decree for Women
The Taliban issue a decree requiring all women to wear full-body covering in public.
Impact: Women effectively disappear from public life. Women in public workforce drops to 5%.
One Year Under Taliban Rule
The economy has collapsed — GDP has fallen by 20–30%.
Statistics: 97% at risk of extreme poverty. 24.4 million need humanitarian aid.
Universities Closed to Women
The Taliban order all universities to close to female students with immediate effect.
Statistics: 100,000+ female university students affected.
Women Banned from Working in NGOs
The Taliban ban all Afghan women from working for aid organizations. Several major NGOs pause operations.
Impact: 3 million Afghans lose access to life-saving aid.
Taliban Restrict UN Operations
The Taliban order UNAMA to reduce staff. Afghan women who worked for the UN are barred from returning.
Context: 0 countries have officially recognized the Taliban government except Russia.
Pakistan Orders Mass Deportation of Afghan Refugees
Pakistan announces that 1.7 million Afghan refugees must leave the country.
Statistics: 500,000+ deported in three months. 8.2 million Afghan refugees total.
Devastating Earthquakes Strike Herat
ISIS i Afghanistan Seven people are killed in a bomb attack at a restaurant in Shahr-e Naw, Kabul. Islamic State claims responsibility
Statistik: at least 850 to over 1,000 people have been killed directly by the Islamic State–Khorasan Province (ISKP/ISIS-K) in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in August 2021.
Afghan Women's Resistance Continues
Underground schools operate in secret — 5,000+ girls in clandestine education.
Forms of resistance: Secret schools. Online education via VPN. Social media campaigns.
Taliban Morality Law — Women's Voices Banned
The new morality law's 35 articles ban women from singing, speaking loudly in public, showing faces, and traveling without male escort.
Taliban to be taken to international court
The Taliban are to be taken to the international court of justice for gender discrimination by Canada, Australia, Germany and the Netherlands in a groundbreaking move.
Humanitarian help stopped
The U.S. government completely terminated all foreign assistance awards carrying out activities in Afghanistan.
The Taliban issue a ban on romantic poetry
The “Poetry Regulation Law,” issued by the Taliban’s Ministry of Justice and published in the official gazette on Saturday, August 30, contains two chapters and 13 articles. It prohibits writing poems that praise romantic love, encourage relationships between men and women, or express “unrestrained desires and misplaced emotions.”
The Taliban ordered a nationwide shutdown of internet
The Taliban ordered a nationwide shutdown of fiber-optic internet and telecommunications across Afghanistan on September 29, 2025, cutting off connectivity and halting digital infrastructure.
Pakistani airstrike in Afghanistan
At least nine children and a woman have been killed after Pakistani forces bombed a house in the country’s southeastern Khost province.
Taliban carried out a public execution
Taliban authorities carried out a public execution at a stadium in the eastern city of Khost on Tuesday, putting to death a man who the country’s Supreme Court said had killed 13 members of a family, including several children, earlier this year.
Cinema torn down
Afghanistan’s historic Ariana Cinema torn down to make way for shopping center
ISIS killed seven people in a bomb attack
ISIS i Afghanistan: Seven people are killed in a bomb attack at a restaurant in Shahr-e Naw, Kabul. Islamic State claims responsibility
Statistik: at least 850 to over 1,000 people have been killed directly by the Islamic State–Khorasan Province (ISKP/ISIS-K) in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in August 2021.
UK halts study visas for Afghan students
The United Kingdom suspends the issuance of work and student visas to Afghan nationals eventhough there is only 355 afghans student in UK.
Protesters injured during demonstration against Taliban
A protest takes place in Herat against the detention of women who violate strict dress codes mandated by the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. Taliban police react by firing live rounds into the protest, reportedly killing at least two demonstrators.
Pakistan intensify airstrikes in Afghanistan
Afghanistan-Pakistan Pakistan started bombing Afghanistan since last year and it seems with every strikes more people get killed and thousands get displaced
Statistik: Hundereds dead and over 94,000 people have been displaced
Europe and the Taliban: From Isolation to Engagement?
