Thousands of servicemen and women, along with civilians from numerous countries, deployed to Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021 following the United States' call for assistance after the 9/11 attacks. This international response was triggered by the invocation of NATO's Article 5, marking the only time in the organization's history that the principle of collective defense, where an attack on one member is considered an attack on all, was enacted.
According to BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner, the deployments involved significant risks, including threats from surface-to-air missiles during flights into locations like Kandahar, Kabul, and Camp Bastion, as well as the dangers posed by rocket attacks and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) at Forward Operating Bases (FOBs). Gardner noted that anyone who served in Afghanistan during that period would have vivid memories of the experience.
The U.S. invoked Article 5 after al-Qaeda, harbored by the Taliban in Afghanistan, perpetrated the 9/11 attacks, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. This led to a multinational effort to combat terrorism and stabilize the country.
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