2018 in Afghanistan

←

 2018
in
Afghanistan

→

Decades:
  • 1990s
  • 2000s
  • 2010s
See also: Other events of 2018
List of years in Afghanistan

Events in the year 2018 in Afghanistan.

Incumbents

Events

The war in Afghanistan (2001–present) continued.

January

  • January 1 – A US Army Special Forces soldier from 2nd Battalion, 10th SFG was killed by small arms fire during a combat engagement whilst on patrol in Achin District, Nangarhar Province, 4 other service members were wounded.[1] Also that day, Afghan special forces attacked a Taliban "Red Unit" prison compound in Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand Province.[2]
  • January 16 – Taliban insurgents (whom Afghan officials and a Taliban spokesman said were a Taliban Red Unit) using night vision and laser targeting equipment briefly overran Afghan Army positions in the village of Gholam Sakhi, Kunduz Province, killing at least 6 soldiers and two police officers and wounding 5 more.[3]
  • January 18 – Afghan commandos carried out a nighttime helicopter assault on a Taliban prison in Nawzad district, Helmand Province, "eliminating" 5 Taliban fighters guarding it and rescuing 13 prisoners.[4]
  • January 20 – US and Afghan forces raided a Taliban prison in Baghran District, Helmand province, rescuing more than 60 Afghan security forces.[5] Also that day, Militants of either the Taliban or the Haqqani network carried out the Inter-Continental Hotel attack in Kabul, killing 40 and injuring over 22.
  • January 24 – Islamic State militants carried out the Save The Children attack in Jalalabad, killing 3 and injuring at least 25 others. Air Force Times reported that A-10C Thunderbolt IIs carried out their first strikes since deploying to the country, conducting two sorties on Taliban fighters marked by a US Army drone in Helmand province, whom were engaging an Afghan National Defense and Security Forces patrol with small arms and a PK machine gun.[6]
  • January 27 – A Taliban suicide attack at a checkpoint in a secure zone-home to government offices and foreign embassies-in Kabul killed at least 103 people and injured 235 others.
  • January 28 – Afghan forces captured Khitab Aka, the head facilitator of foreign fighters for ISIS-K, in Jowzjan province.[7]
  • January 29 – IS militants attacked the Marshal Fahim National Defense University in Kabul, killing at least 11 soldiers and wounding 16 more, 4 militants were killed and 1 captured.[8]
  • January 31 – An earthquake magnitude 6.1 around Afghanistan and Pakistan one report girl killed, 10 other injures.

February

  • February 1 – An Afghan special operations unit, backed by US airstrikes launched an offensive against the Taliban in Maiwand and Panjwai districts, Kandahar Province, the National Directorate of Security said that 50 Taliban (including some key commanders) were killed.[9]
  • February 4 – A US B-52 dropped 24 precision-guided munitions-the most ever launched by a B-52-on a Taliban training camp in Badakhshan Province, the air force said that the strikes "took out three defensive fighting positions around the camp, degrading the Taliban's ability to conduct training and operations."[10]
  • February 8 – A US drone strike on a vehicle in Barmal District, Paktia province, killed 4 militants.[11]
  • February 24 – Taliban militants carried out a pre-dawn assault on a military base in Balabluk district, Farah province, killing 18 soldiers.[12]

March

  • March 9 – An attack in Kabul claimed by ISIS left at least nine civilians dead and 18 civilians wounded. Most, if not all, of the victims were Shia Muslims.[13][14] Also on that day, 10 soldiers of the Afghan army and six members of the police force were killed by the Taliban in the Takhar province.
  • March 16 – A US airstrike killed two ISIL-K facilitators (whom were also the equivalent of platoon leaders in the group) whilst they met in Sar-e Pol Province. Also that day, an Afghan Special Security Forces carried out a nighttime raid on the ISIL-K's headquarters in Jowzjan Province, killing 13 fighters.[15]
  • March 26/27 – Afghan and US special operations forces conducting a nighttime raid in the village of Mughul in Jowzjan province, which resulted in the death of an ISIS-K commander and one other terrorist.[16]

April

  • April 5 – A US airstrike in Bal Chiragh district, Faryab province killed a senior ISIS-K commander in Afghanistan, along with his bodyguard.[17]
  • April 11 – US and Afghan special operations forces conducted a nighttime raid on in Darzab District, Jowzjan province killed 22 ISIL-K fighters.[18] Also that day, Taliban fighters attacked the district and police headquarters in Khwaja Omari district, Ghazni province, the Taliban used heavy weapons and fighting lasted for 3 hours, until Afghan reinforcements arrived and the Taliban escaped the area, 14 people were killed.[19]
  • April 30 – A US soldier from 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division died as a result of enemy small arms fire in the Tagab district, Kapisa Province.[20] Another US service member was wounded.[21]

July

  • July 1 – A suicide bomber kills nineteen people, including 10 Sikhs, at the PD1 market in Jalalabad.[22][23]
  • July 12 – Taliban fighters start to attack ISIL-K in Darzab District of northern Afghanistan in retaliation for the execution of a Taliban commander by the Islamic State. These skirmishes soon escalate, resulting in the Battle of Darzab (2018).[24]

August

  • August 1 – Following heavy fighting with the Taliban, more than 200 ISIL-K fighters in the Darzab District surrendered to the Afghan government, while 128 ISIL-K fighters were captured by the Taliban. Following the mass surrenders, the Taliban took full control of ISIL's former territory in the Darzab Disrict. This event marks the end of the Battle of Darzab (2018).[25][26]
  • August 10 – The Taliban launched a large-scale offensive on the southeastern afghan city of Ghazni.
  • August 15 – A suicide attack targeting an education center in Kabul killed 48 people. The attack took place in a Shia neighbourhood and the responsibility was claimed by ISIS[27]
  • August 26 – Unidentified gunmen kill 2 Tajik border guards, unidentified aircraft respond with airstrike in Darqad District, killing at least 6 suspected drug smugglers.[28]

Deaths

  • April 30 – Shah Marai, journalist and photographer

References

  1. ↑ CNN, Barbara Starr,. "US soldier killed in Afghanistan". CNN. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  2. ↑ "US and Afghan forces free Taliban prisoners in Helmand". Military Times. January 23, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Taliban Fighters Using High-Tech Gear Kill Afghan Forces". The New York Times. January 16, 2018.
  4. ↑ "US and Afghan forces free Taliban prisoners in Helmand". Military Times. January 23, 2018.
  5. ↑ "US and Afghan forces free Taliban prisoners in Helmand". Military Times. January 23, 2018.
  6. ↑ "With first A-10 strikes in Afghanistan, Marines call in the heat on the Taliban". Air Force Times. January 27, 2018.
  7. ↑ "US, Afghan special operations target ISIS foreign fighters in northwest Afghanistan". Stars and Stripes. March 22, 2018.
  8. ↑ "Afghanistan conflict: Deadly attack on Kabul military post". BBC. January 29, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Rights group calls for probe of alleged executions by Afghan forces". Stars and Stripes. February 21, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Watch as a B-52 takes out a Taliban training camp in Afghanistan". Army Times. February 7, 2018.
  11. ↑ "US drone strikes kill 11militants in Pakistan, Afghanistan". The Washington Post. February 9, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Afghan soldiers killed in Taliban raid on military base". CNN. February 24, 2018.
  13. ↑ Neuman, Scott. "ISIS Claims Responsibility For Deadly Attack Aimed at Afghan Hazaras". NPR.
  14. ↑ "Afghanistan: Blast in Kabul's Shia area kills at least seven". Al Jazeera.
  15. ↑ "US, Afghan special operations target ISIS foreign fighters in northwest Afghanistan". Stars and Stripes. March 22, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Video shows nighttime raid by Afghan and US special forces that killed ISIS commander". ABC News. March 29, 2018.
  17. ↑ "US airstrike kills top Islamic State commander in Afghanistan". Military Times. April 9, 2018.
  18. ↑ "US and Afghan SOF kill more than 20 ISIS militants in northern Afghanistan". Stars and Stripes. April 16, 2018.
  19. ↑ "14 killed in Taliban attack in Afghanistan's Ghazni province". CNN. April 12, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Army IDs Soldier Killed by Small Arms Fire in Afghanistan". Military.com. May 1, 2018.
  21. ↑ "US Service Member Killed, Another Wounded in Afghanistan". Military.com. April 30, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Suicide Attack Targets Sikhs in Jalalabad, 19 Killed". TOLO. July 1, 2018. At least 19 people, ten of them from Afghanistan’s Sikh community, were killed and around 20 others wounded in a suicide bombing in Jalalabad city on Sunday, public health officials confirm.
  23. ↑ "Deadly blast hits Afghanistan's Jalalabad". Al Jazeera English. July 1, 2018. Ghulam Sanayi Stanekzai, Nangarhar's police chief, said the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber who targeted a vehicle carrying members of the Sikh minority who were travelling to meet the president.
  24. ↑ Bill Roggio; Caleb Weiss (18 July 2018). "Taliban, Islamic State continue battle in northern Afghanistan". Long War Journal. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  25. ↑ Najim Rahim; Rod Nordland (2 August 2018). "Taliban surge sees 200 ISIL fighters and top commanders captured in northern Afghanistan". National Post. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
  26. ↑ Bill Roggio (1 August 2018). "Taliban says Islamic State has been 'completely defeated' in Jawzjan". Long War Journal. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  27. ↑ "Afghanistan: ISIL Suicide bomber targets school in Kabul". Al Jazeera. 16 August 2018.
  28. ↑ Editorial, Reuters. "Tajik or Russian plane bombs Afghan border area, six dead: Afghan..." U.S. Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  29. ↑ Death of Afghan group's founder unlikely to weaken militants
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.