Fall of Kandahar

Fall of Kandahar
Part of the Afghan Civil War and the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
Aerial view of a section of Kandahar
Date 22 November – 9 December 2001 (2 weeks and 3 days) Location Kandahar, Afghanistan Result Coalition victory Overthrow of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Mullah Omar goes into hiding[1] Deputy Leader Obaidullah Akhund given operational control of the Taliban[1]
Belligerents
Gul Sharzai-led militia  Islamic State of Afghanistan  United States  Australia	Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan  al-Qaeda
Commanders and leaders
Gul Agha Sherzai Hamid Karzai Tommy Franks	Mullah Omar Akhtar Mansour Obaidullah Akhund Abdul Ghani Baradar Abdul Razzaq Naqibullah Saif al-Adel[2]  Tayyib Agha  Hafiz Abdul-Majeed
Strength
800 Sharzai's militia 800 Eastern Alliance 750 Americans 150 Australians	Unknown number of Taliban fighters A few hundred al-Qaeda fighters[2]
Casualties and losses
Unknown Afghan losses 3 Americans killed	Unknown

The Fall of Kandahar took place in 2001 during the War in Afghanistan. After the fall of Mazar-i-Sharif, Kabul and Herat, Kandahar was the last major city under Taliban control. Kandahar was where the Taliban movement had originated and where its power base was located, so it was assumed that capturing Kandahar would be difficult. The city fell after several weeks of fighting to a force of local militia under Pashtun military commanders and their American advisers. The fall of Kandahar signaled the end of organized Taliban control of Afghanistan.^[3]