2018 in Afghanistan


Events in the year 2018 in Afghanistan.

Incumbents

January

February

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. 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 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.
  • 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.

April

July

  • July 1 – A suicide bomber kills nineteen people, including 10 Sikhs, at the PD1 market in Jalalabad.
  • 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).

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 District. This event marks the end of the Battle of Darzab (2018).
  • 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
  • August 26 – Unidentified gunmen kill two Tajik border guards, unidentified aircraft respond with airstrike in Darqad District, killing at least six suspected drug smugglers.

October

November

  • Three U.S. troops are killed and three others are wounded in an IED blast near Ghazni, Afghanistan.
  • The U.S. considered asking Afghanistan to suspend its April 2019 presidential elections while pursuing peace talks with the Taliban. Later, former Afghan National Security Adviser Mohammad Hanif Atmar announced his candidacy, indicating he firmly believes a peace deal with the Taliban is possible.
  • A bombing in an Afghan army mosque killed at least 27 troops in southeastern Khost Province, while dozens more were wounded. Days earlier, 55 young Islamic scholars and clerics were killed by a suicide bomber in a hotel in Kabul while marking the prophet Muhammad's birth. This was the first recorded incident of attacking a mosque on an army base, and ISIS later claimed responsibility.
  • November 27 – A U.S. airstrike on a compound in Garmsir District, Helmand Province during a joint operation between Afghan and U.S. forces killed as many as 23 civilians, with most victims women and children, the UN says.
  • November 28– Afghan President Ashraf Ghani formed a 12-member team to hold peace talks with the Taliban while attending a two-day international peace conference in Geneva.
  • The U.S. dropped more bombs and other munitions over ten months than in any other full year since documentation began, new Air Force data shows.

December

  • Afghanistan overtook Iraq to become the world's deadliest country for terrorism—one-quarter of all worldwide terrorism-related deaths during 2017 occurred there.
  • December 1 – A U.S. airstrike in Nawzad District, Helmand Province killed Mullah Abdul Mannan Akhoond, the Taliban's "governor" and military chief for southern Helmand.
  • December 3 – Zalmay Khalilzad, in charge of U.S. peace efforts in Afghanistan, left for an eight-country tour to discuss negotiating with the Taliban—he will travel to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, and has already spoken multiple times with senior Taliban officials by their account.
  • December 6 – The Taliban staged a coordinated attack overnight on two Afghan army outposts in western Herat Province, killing 14 Afghan soldiers.
  • December 18 – Despite objections from his military advisors, Donald Trump ordered the U.S. military to withdraw about half the troops in Afghanistan. It could take months to withdraw the nearly 7,000 troops.
  • December 24 – More than 40 people died in a bombing and attack at a government building in Kabul; most were government employees. No group claimed responsibility.
  • December 28 – A report issued by UNICEF revealed that during the first nine months of 2018, five thousand children were killed or injured in Afghanistan. Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF Director of Emergency Programs, said the world has forgotten children living in conflict zones.
  • December 30 – Officials announced the presidential elections scheduled for April 2019 will be delayed three months, to ensure better organized polls but also due to ongoing efforts at peace negotiations with the Taliban.
  • December 31 – Three simultaneous nighttime assaults on oil wells by Taliban near the capital of Sar-e Pol Province killed at least 21 Afghan police officers; the Afghan army responded by firing artillery into the capital's outskirts, which caused civilians to flee.

Deaths