September 11 attacks Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Effects in Afghanistan === {{further|War in Afghanistan (2001β2021)|Aftermath of the War in Afghanistan (2001β2021)|Killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri}} {{Quote box | width = 23em | align = right | quote = If Americans are clamouring to bomb Afghanistan back to the [[Stone Age]], they ought to know that this nation does not have so far to go. This is a post-apocalyptic place of felled cities, parched land and downtrodden people. | source = β [[Barry Bearak]], ''[[The New York Times]]'', September 13, 2001<ref name="TalibanPlead" /> }} Most of the [[Afghans|Afghan population]] was already going hungry at the time of the September 11 attacks.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/unknown/2001/09/26/horror-in-afghanistan|title=Horror in Afghanistan|date=September 26, 2001|newspaper=The Economist}}</ref> In the aftermath of the attacks, tens of thousands of people attempted to flee Afghanistan due to the possibility of military retaliation by the United States. Pakistan, already [[Afghans in Pakistan|home to many Afghan refugees]] from previous conflicts, closed its border with Afghanistan on September 17, 2001.<ref name="speechto" /> Thousands of Afghans also fled to the frontier with [[Tajikistan]], although were denied entry.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/tajikistan-holed-border|title=Tajikistan: Holed up at the border β Afghanistan|website=ReliefWeb|date=September 28, 2001 }}</ref> The [[Taliban]] leaders in Afghanistan themselves pleaded against military action, saying "We appeal to the United States not to put Afghanistan into more misery because our people have suffered so much", referring to [[Afghanistan conflict (1978-present)|two decades of conflict]] and the humanitarian crisis attached to it.<ref name="TalibanPlead">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/13/us/after-attacks-afghans-taliban-plead-for-mercy-miserable-land-nothing.html|title=After The Attacks: The Afghans; Taliban Plead for Mercy to the Miserable in a Land of Nothing|first=Barry|last=Bearak|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 13, 2001}}</ref> All United Nations expatriates had left Afghanistan after the attacks and no national or international aid workers were at their post. Workers were instead preparing in bordering countries like Pakistan, China and Uzbekistan to prevent a potential "humanitarian catastrophe", amid a critically low food stock for the Afghan population.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/09/20/ret.afghan.refugees/|title=CNN β Afghan refugee crisis spreads β September 20, 2001|publisher=CNN}}</ref> The [[World Food Programme]] stopped importing wheat to Afghanistan on September 12 due to security risks.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1556117.stm|title=Aid shortage adds to Afghan woes|date=September 22, 2001|via=BBC News}}</ref> ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' suggested the creation of a [[buffer zone]] in an inevitable war, similarly as in the [[Bosnian War]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1001278471167134840|title=A Buffer Zone for Afghans|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=September 24, 2001}}</ref> {{multiple image | perrow = 4 | total_width = 350 | image1 = US Army Afghanistan 2006.jpg | image2 = Last American Soldier leaves Afghanistan.jpg | image3 = | image4 = | footer = ''From left to right'': U.S. soldiers engaged in the War on Terror in Afghanistan in May 2006 β’ Army Major General [[Chris Donahue (general)|Chris Donahue]] left Afghanistan as the final American soldier on August 30, 2021 | caption1 = }} Approximately one month after the attacks, the United States led a broad [[Participants in Operation Enduring Freedom|coalition of international forces]] to overthrow the Taliban regime from Afghanistan for their harboring of Al-Qaeda.<ref name="speechto">{{cite news|title=U.S. President Bush's speech to United Nations |publisher=CNN|date=November 10, 2001 |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/11/10/ret.bush.un.transcript/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615023853/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/11/10/ret.bush.un.transcript/index.html |archive-date=June 15, 2006 |access-date=May 29, 2014}}</ref> Though Pakistani authorities were initially reluctant to align themselves with the United States against the Taliban, they permitted the coalition access to their military bases, and arrested and handed over to the U.S. over 600 suspected Al-Qaeda members.<ref>{{cite news|title=Musharraf 'bullied' into supporting US war on terror|url=http://zeenews.india.com/news/south-asia/musharraf-bullied-into-supporting-us-war-on-terror-ex-general_586640.html|access-date=September 4, 2011|publisher=Zee News|date=December 11, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Khan |first=Aamer Ahmed |title=Pakistan and the 'key al-Qaeda' man |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4513281.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=May 4, 2005 |access-date=September 4, 2011}}</ref> In a speech by the [[Nizari Isma'ilism|Nizari Ismaili]] [[Imam]] at the Nobel Institute in 2005, [[Aga Khan IV]] stated that the "9/11 attack on the United States was a direct consequence of the international community ignoring the human tragedy that was Afghanistan at that time".<ref>{{cite web |last=Aga Khan |first=Karim |title=Speech by His Highness the Aga Khan at the Nobel Institute on Democratic Development, Pluralism and Civil Society |url=http://ismaili.net/heritage/node/30810 |website=Ismaili |date=April 7, 2005 |access-date=January 6, 2018}}</ref> In 2011, the U.S. and NATO under [[Presidency of Barack Obama|President Obama]] initiated a [[Withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan (2011β2016)|drawdown of troops]] in Afghanistan finalized in 2016. During the presidencies of [[Donald Trump]] and [[Joe Biden]] [[Presidency of Donald Trump|in 2020]] and [[Presidency of Joe Biden|2021]], the United States alongside its NATO allies [[Withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan (2020β2021)|withdrew all troops from Afghanistan]] completing the withdrawal of all regular U.S. troops on August 30, 2021, 12 days before the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks,<ref name="DOD Cronk Biden Announces">{{Cite web |last=Cronk |first=Terri Moon |date=14 April 2021 |title=Biden Announces Full U.S. Troop Withdrawal From Afghanistan by Sept. 11 |url=https://www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/Article/2573268/biden-announces-full-us-troop-withdrawal-from-afghanistan-by-sept-11/ |access-date=2021-08-16 |publisher=U.S. Department of Defense |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="White House 2021-04-14">{{Cite web |date=2021-04-14 |title=Remarks by President Biden on the Way Forward in Afghanistan |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/04/14/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-way-forward-in-afghanistan/ |access-date=2021-08-16 |website=The White House |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Time 2021">{{cite magazine |last=Satia |first=Priya |date=27 April 2021 |editor-last=Felsenthal |editor-first=Edward |editor-link=Edward Felsenthal |title=History's Warning for the U.S. Withdrawal From Afghanistan |url=https://time.com/5959073/afghanistan-withdrawal-empire-history/ |url-status=live |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |location=[[New York City]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427194916/https://time.com/5959073/afghanistan-withdrawal-empire-history/ |archive-date=27 April 2021 |access-date=27 April 2021}}</ref> The withdrawal marked the end of the [[War in Afghanistan (2001β2021)|2001β2021 War in Afghanistan]]. Biden said that after nearly 20 years of war, it was clear that the U.S. military could not transform Afghanistan into a modern [[democracy]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Zucchino |first1=David |date=7 October 2021 |title=The U.S. War in Afghanistan: How It Started, and How It Ended |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/article/afghanistan-war-us.html}}</ref> The second [[emir]] of Al-Qaeda, [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]], a close associate of bin Laden, was [[Killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri|killed in a U.S. drone strike]] at his home in [[Kabul]], Afghanistan on July 31, 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Baker |first1=Peter |last2=Cooper |first2=Helene |last3=Barnes |first3=Julian |last4=Schmitt |first4=Eric |date=1 August 2022 |title=U.S. Drone Strike Kills Ayman al-Zawahri, Top Qaeda Leader |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/01/us/politics/al-qaeda-strike-afghanistan.html |url-status=live |access-date=1 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801215209/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/01/us/politics/al-qaeda-strike-afghanistan.html |archive-date=1 August 2022}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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