COMMON ANALYSIS
Last update: May 2024

In April 2021, after the US announced the withdrawal of its remaining troops by September 2021, the Taliban started an advance across rural and, later, urban Afghanistan, often encountering only minimal resistance from the ANDSF. This ultimately resulted in the capture of control of almost the whole Afghan territory, including Kabul, by 15 August 2021. On 6 September 2021, the Taliban also claimed the capture of the Panjshir Valley, ‘the last remaining enclave of resistance’. As of December 2023 it is reported that the Taliban is exercising firm and effective control in Afghanistan [COI Update 2024, 1., p. 2; Country Focus 2023, 1.1.1., pp.17-18; Security 2022, 1.1, p. 21].