<P> Following the September 11 attacks in 2001 , U.S. President George W. Bush demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden and expel al - Qaeda ; bin Laden had already been wanted by the U.S. since 1998 . The Taliban declined to extradite him unless given evidence of his involvement in the September 11 attacks and also declined demands to extradite others on the same grounds . The U.S. dismissed the request for evidence as a delaying tactic , and on 7 October 2001 launched Operation Enduring Freedom with the United Kingdom . The two were later joined by other forces , including the Northern Alliance which had been fighting the Taliban in the ongoing civil war since 1996 . In December 2001 , the United Nations Security Council established the International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF ) , to assist the Afghan interim authorities with securing Kabul . At the Bonn Conference the same month , Hamid Karzai was selected to head the Afghan Interim Administration , which after a 2002 loya jirga ( grand assembly ) in Kabul became the Afghan Transitional Administration . In the popular elections of 2004 , Karzai was elected president of the country , now named the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan . </P>
<P> Following the September 11 attacks in 2001 , U.S. President George W. Bush demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden and expel al - Qaeda ; bin Laden had already been wanted by the U.S. since 1998 . The Taliban declined to extradite him unless given evidence of his involvement in the September 11 attacks and also declined demands to extradite others on the same grounds . The U.S. dismissed the request for evidence as a delaying tactic , and on 7 October 2001 launched Operation Enduring Freedom with the United Kingdom . The two were later joined by other forces , including the Northern Alliance which had been fighting the Taliban in the ongoing civil war since 1996 . In December 2001 , the United Nations Security Council established the International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF ) , to assist the Afghan interim authorities with securing Kabul . At the Bonn Conference the same month , Hamid Karzai was selected to head the Afghan Interim Administration , which after a 2002 loya jirga ( grand assembly ) in Kabul became the Afghan Transitional Administration . In the popular elections of 2004 , Karzai was elected president of the country , now named the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan . </P>
when did us first send troops to afghanistan
when did us first send troops to afghanistan
7 October 2001
7 October 2001