1978: NOAA announces gender-neutral hurricane naming system
Federal News Network presents a daily update of important moments in the history of the U.S. government.
On Oct. 7, 2001, a U.S.-led coalition began attacks on Taliban-controlled Afghanistan with an intense bombing campaign by American and British forces. Logistical support was provided by other nations including France, Germany, Australia and Canada and, later, troops were provided by the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance rebels. The invasion of Afghanistan was the opening salvo in the United States’ “war on terrorism” and a response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Dubbed “Operation Enduring Freedom,” the invasion of Afghanistan was intended to target terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida organization and the extreme fundamentalist Taliban government that had ruled most of the country since 1996, and supported and protected al-Qaida. Even as Afghanistan began to take the first steps toward democracy, however, with more than 10,000 U.S. troops in country, al-Qaida and Taliban forces began to regroup in the mountainous border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. They continue to engage U.S. and Afghan troops in guerilla-style warfare and have also been responsible for the deaths of elected government officials and aid workers and the kidnapping of foreigners. Hundreds of American and coalition soldiers and thousands of Afghans have been killed and wounded in the fighting.
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