The US-led NATO forces attacked Afghanistan twenty years ago on October 7, 2001, following the announcement by then US President George W. Bush. Following the 9/11 attacks on the US, Western countries entered a 20-year long conflict in Afghanistan, the longest in America’s history.  

The Islamic Emirate, referring to the 20th anniversary, said that at that time it had brought out its forces from the cities to prevent civilian casualties, however, the “US attack over the past 20 years yielded nothing but death and financial loss.”  

Afghans shared memories of the attacks in 2001.

“We were fighting against the Americans. It has been seven years that my foot has been in this condition,” said Nasir, a Kabul resident, who lost his foot in a fight against US forces.  

Sarwar Niazai, a military analyst said: “This was an intelligence war. The US in this war faced failure in both the political and military sense.”  

The Islamic Emirate said in a statement on Thursday that after a 20-year military presence, the US exited based on the Doha agreement, which was signed between the two sides February 29, 2020, in the gulf state of Qatar.  

“With the US invasion led to the appointment of puppets as rulers of the people who caused the people problems over the past 20 years. The people suffered a lot,” said Qari Sayed Khosti, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior.  

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg defended the US and NATO presence in Afghanistan. 

“All NATO allies agreed to go into Afghanistan in support of the United States,” he said. “We had a clear goal to prevent Afghanistan from serving as a safe haven for terrorists that threatened our nations. We fulfilled that goal, our military mission was not in vain” 

The al-Qaeda network on September 11, 2001, attacked the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon compound, killing over 2,500 people and wounding hundreds of others.