2021 Kabul airlift
Large-scale evacuations of foreign citizens and some vulnerable Afghan citizens took place amid the withdrawal of US and NATO forces at the end of the 2001–2021 war in Afghanistan. The Taliban took control of Kabul and declared victory on 15 August 2021, and the NATO-backed Islamic Republic of Afghanistan collapsed. With the Taliban controlling the whole city except Hamid Karzai International Airport, hostilities ceased and the Taliban assisted in the evacuation effort by providing security and screening evacuees. Although some countries had previously begun small-scale evacuation efforts in the months leading up to August 2021, such as the American Operation Allies Refuge and the British Operation Pitting, the collapse of the Afghan government occurred sooner than intelligence projections had estimated, and evacuation efforts became more urgent. Several countries launched new evacuation operations, such Canada's Operation AEGIS, India's Operation Devi Shakti, and South Korea's Operation Miracle. The evacuation operations were one of the largest airlifts in history. Between 14 and 25 August, the US alone evacuated about 82,300 people from Hamid Karzai International Airport, including US citizens, Special Immigrant Visa applicants, and other vulnerable Afghans. In total, over 122,000 people were airlifted abroad. The evacuation was completed on August 30, one day before a deadline agreed upon with the Taliban. Background Following the Afghan peace process, the Trump administration and Taliban signed the Doha Agreement in February 2020. Accordingly, the US agreed to withdraw all US forces from Afghanistan by 1 May 2021. The Taliban failed to honor most of its pledges in the agreement. Nonetheless, the Biden administration decided to continue with the planned withdrawal, although it pushed back the completion date first to 11 September 2021 and then to 31 August 2021. As the US withdrawal proceeded, the Taliban and allied militant groups began a widespread offensive on 1 May 2021. In the ensuing months, the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan through a combination of negotiating wholesale surrenders of Afghan National Army units and their military offensive, capturing provincial capitals, and expanding their control from 77 districts on 13 April to 104 districts on 16 June to 223 districts on 3 August. In July 2021, the US Intelligence Community estimated that the government of Afghanistan could collapse between six and 12 months after the departure of American troops. Intelligence agencies later reduced the estimation to one month. However, the government collapsed within days, much more rapidly than many anticipated. The Afghan National Army, poorly led and impaired by widespread corruption, was left in chaos, having only two units remained operational by mid-August: the 201st Corps and 111th Division, both based in Kabul. Intelligence projections quickly worsened. By 14 August, the Taliban had encircled Kabul. On 15 August, Kabul fell and the Taliban declared victory in the War in Afghanistan. As the Taliban seized control, the urgency to evacuate populations vulnerable to the Taliban, including those interpreters and assistants who had worked with the Operation Enduring Freedom; the International Security Assistance Force, Operation Freedom's Sentinel and the Resolute Support Mission;