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On September 11, 2001 two hijacked airliners crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. A third hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and a fourth plane crashed into the ground in Pennsylvania. Following the crashes, the damaged World Trade Center towers collapsed, killing thousands of people still trapped inside. Altogether, approximately 3000 people died or remain missing. Osama Bin Laden was immediately identified by the U.S. as a prime suspect behind the attack. U.S. leaders said that bin Laden had been planning terrorist attacks from bases in Afghanistan, and that the Islamic fundamentalist government of Afghanistan, the Taliban, had supported bin Laden. On September 12, President George W. Bush called for America's allies to join the "war on terrorism".

On September 19, 2001 the United States dispatched more than 100 combat and support aircraft and a large naval task force to bases in the Middle East as part of "Operation Enduring Freedom". On October 7, 2001 the first airstrikes were launched against Taliban targets in Afghanistan. This marked the beginning of numerous strikes focused on removing the Taliban from power and destroying Al-Qaeda, the organization led by Osama bin Laden. At the same time, Afghan opposition forces loosely organized as the Northern Alliance were fighting on the ground to wrest control of the country from the Taliban.

On October 16, 2001 the United States and Pakistan reached an agreement to work toward a post-Taliban government of Afghanistan which would be democratically elected and include multiple ethnic groups. By November 14, 2001, the Taliban had collapsed and the Northern Alliance troops controlled the majority of the country. The United Nations announced that it would send an emergency multi-national peacekeeping force to keep order in Kabul. The United States bombing continued in some areas of Afghanistan where members of the Taliban continued to fight, or where Al-Qaeda forces were suspected to be hiding.

United Nations peace talks began on November 27, 2001.The peace talks, which took place in Bonn, Germany involved many different Afghan factions and concerned the creation of a new government structure in Afghanistan. On December 5, 2001 an agreement was reached, in which Afghans from the four main ethnic groups would share power.

On December 13, 2001Hamid Karzai, the new head of the interim government in Afghanistan, entered the capital city of Kabul to assume power. On December 14, 2001 the European Union agreed to establish an international peacekeeping force of between 3,000 and 4,000 troops, led by the British Army. On December 22, 2001, the interim government of Hamid Karzai was inaugurated. On December 28, 2001, the new government called for the United State to cease bombing raids once the few remaining Taliban and al-Qaeda bases have been destroyed. On January 10, 2002, the British defense secretary announced that the British-led international security force would consist of about 5,000 soldiers from 18 countries.