Two-year timeline of events in Afghanistan since 2021 Taliban takeover
The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan on Aug. 15, 2021, as U
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Your support makes all the difference.Here is a look at key dates since the Taliban came back to power two years ago, as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew from the country:
Aug. 15, 2021 — The Taliban march into Kabul as internationally backed President Ashraf Ghani flees the country.
Aug. 26, 2021 — Islamic State group suicide bombers and gunmen kill over 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops in an attack on the crowds trying to be evacuated at Kabul’s airport.
March 23, 2022 — On the day high schools are opening, the Taliban suddenly reverse a promise to allow girls above the sixth grade to attend schools. Girls who showed up for the first day of classes are told to go home.
May 7, 2022 — The Taliban Virtue and Vice Ministry issues orders that women in public must wear all-encompassing robes and cover their faces except for their eyes. It advises them to stay home unless they have important work outside the house.
June 22, 2022 — A powerful earthquake hits a remote region of eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 1,100 people. The Taliban struggle with rescue efforts, underscoring a lack of resources and a reliance on aid groups.
July 31, 2022 — The U.S. kills al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri in a drone strike on a safehouse in Kabul where he has been staying for months. U.S. officials accuse the Taliban of sheltering him in violation of the Doha Agreement.
Sept. 5, 2022 - An IS suicide bombing kills two diplomats at the Russian Embassy in Kabul, a rare assault on a foreign diplomatic mission. Russia is among the handful of countries with a working embassy in Afghanistan, and the only European one.
Sept. 30, 2022 - A suicide bomber strikes an education center in a Shiite area of the capital, killing dozens of people, including teenagers taking university entrance exams.
Nov. 10, 2022 - A nationwide ban on women using gyms and parks comes into force. The Taliban they they imposed the ban because women allegedly disobeyed gender segregation rules or didn't wear hijabs, or Islamic headscarves, properly.
Nov. 20, 2022 - The Taliban lash 19 people, including alleged adulterers, in the first public flogging since the return to Taliban rule.
Dec. 8, 2022 - The Taliban execute a convicted killer before hundreds of spectators in the first public execution since the takeover.
Dec. 21, 2022 - The Taliban bar female students from attending university, having already banned girls from middle school and high school.
Dec. 24, 2022 - The Taliban bar Afghan women from working with national and international nongovernmental groups, after already excluding them from most jobs.
March 9, 2023 - The U.N. says Afghanistan has become the most repressive country in the world for women and girls, depriving them of virtually all their basic rights.
April 6, 2023 - The Taliban’s chief spokesman relocates his office from Kabul to Kandahar, the spiritual birthplace of the movement and the base of the supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada. It’s the clearest sign yet of a power shift to the south.
April 10, 2023 - The U.N. warns that its Afghan operations remain severely under-funded. It previously said that Afghanistan is its lowest-funded operation globally, despite being the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis.
July 4, 2023 - The Taliban order beauty salons to shut down for offering un-Islamic services like eyebrow shaping. The decision affects as many as 60,000 female entrepreneurs and further restricts meeting places for women outside the home.
July 19, 2023 - The Taliban use stun guns on women protesting a ban on beauty salons, spraying the demonstrators with water and firing into the air to break up the crowd.