A chronology of events since the end of the Soviet occupation. It does not include many of the attacks on civilians that have happened since 2001 and have been blamed on both the United States and Taliban.

1989 - Last Soviet soldier leaves under 1988 agreement. Moscow-installed Najibullah government remains in place in Kabul

1992 - Communist government collapses. Mujahideen groups set up a government which is riven by factionalism. Country disintegrates into civil war

1994 - Battles reduce much of Kabul to rubble. Mullah Mohammed Omar, a Muslim cleric, sets up Taliban movement of Islamic students, who take up arms, capture Kandahar and advance on Kabul

1996 - Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who fought with mujahideen groups against Soviet occupation, returns to Afghanistan. Taliban take Kabul, hang former President Mohammad Najibullah and set up Islamic state

1997 - Afghanistan renamed Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Taliban impose their version of Islam. But ethnic Uzbek factional chief Abdul Rashid Dostum retains control in five northern provinces

1998 - Taliban take northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, massacring at least 2,000 mainly ethnic Hazara civilians, according to Human Rights Watch. Bamiyan, a Hazara stronghold in the centre of the country, follows. Taliban later destroy colossal stone Buddhas of Bamiyan

Northern Alliance, made up of non-Pashtun mujahideen militias, fights back against Taliban

U.S. forces bomb suspected al Qaeda bases in southeast in reprisal for bombings of U.S. embassies in east Africa

1999 - United Nations imposes sanctions to force Taliban to turn over bin Laden

2001

Sep - Al Qaeda-linked suicide bombers assassinate military head of Northern Alliance, Ahmad Shah Masood

Sep 11 - Al Qaeda suicide plane hijackers attack New York and Washington, killing thousands

Oct - U.S. begins bombing Afghanistan to root out bin Laden and his Taliban protectors

Nov - Northern Alliance forces enter Kabul as Taliban leaders flee

Dec - Afghan groups sign deal in Bonn on an interim government headed by Hamid Karzai, a leader from the biggest ethnic group, the Pashtun

First members of multinational peacekeeping force arrive

Interim authority takes power. Bonn plan says an emergency Loya Jirga, or grand assembly, must be held in six months

2002

Jun - Emergency Loya Jirga agrees on a transitional authority. Karzai sworn in as its head

Jul - Afghan government says at least 48 people die and 117 are wounded when U.S. planes attack a wedding party in Deh Rawud, central Afghanistan. The U.S. military says a gunship had come under fire from the area

Sep - Car bomb explodes near Information Ministry killing at least 26 and injuring 150 in worst bombing since Western-supported government came to power. Karzai survives assassination attempt in Kandahar

2003

Feb - U.S. bombing raids on suspected rebel positions in Baghran Valley area of Helmand province. Villagers say at least 17 people are killed. U.S. military denies this. Locals say a later raid kills eight people

Apr - Eleven civilians killed when a bomb dropped by coalition aircraft hits a house near Pakistan border, the U.S. military says

Aug - Six Afghan soldiers and a driver for the U.S.-based aid agency Mercy Corps killed in Helmand

Sep - Four Afghans working for a Danish aid agency are shot dead by suspected Taliban rebels in Ghazni province

Nov - Turkish engineer Hassan Onal released by Taliban kidnappers after being snatched while working on a U.S.-funded highway project. French UNHCR worker Bettina Goislard shot dead by suspected Taliban militants in Ghazni town, leading to suspension of many aid missions in south and east

2004

Jan - Rival factions at the Loya Jirga agree on a constitution, paving way for first free elections

Mar - A Turkish man working on Kabul-Kandahar highway is shot. A second is kidnapped and later freed

Jun - Five Medecins Sans Frontieres workers killed in ambush in northwest Badghis province

Oct - Presidential elections. Karzai sworn in on Dec 7. Parliamentary vote is put off amid security concerns and logistical problems

Nov - Two foreign U.N. workers and a Filipino diplomat freed almost a month after being abducted in Kabul. A Taliban splinter faction, Jaish-e Muslimeen, claims responsibility

Dec - Turkish engineer working on a road project between Jalalabad and Kunar is kidnapped. It appears likely he was killed

2005

May - Italian CARE International aid worker Clementina Cantoni seized by gunmen in Kabul, but later released

Aug - A British engineer and his Afghan interpreter are kidnapped in western province of Farah. Engineer's body is later found and Taliban claims responsibility

Sep - Elections held for a lower house of parliament, the Wolesi Jirga, and provincial councils. Former commanders of military factions, three ex-Taliban officials and women activists win seats

Nov - Taliban guerrillas kidnap an Indian engineer in Nimroz province. He is killed after a deadline passes for his company to pull out of Afghanistan

Dec - Parliament sits for first time

2006

Jan - International conference in London promises Afghanistan economic and military support in return for pledges to fight corruption and drugs trade

Mar - Taliban insurgents say they've killed four hostages in the south. A cleaning contractor says four workers from Macedonia are missing

Apr - An Indian engineer is found beheaded in the south

May - Three local female ActionAid staff and their driver killed by Taliban in northern Jawzjan province

Aug - Suicide bomber rams his car into a NATO convoy in Kandahar killing 21 civilians in the worst suicide attack to date

Oct - NATO assumes responsibility for security across the whole of the country after taking command in the east from a U.S.-led coalition force

2007 - Taliban step up suicide attacks throughout the country

Jan - Karzai says he's open to talks with Taliban

Feb - Taliban threaten a spring offensive of thousands of suicide bombers as U.S. doubles its combat troops and takes over command of NATO force from Britain

Mar - NATO and Afghan forces launch Operation Achilles, targeting Taliban and allied drug lords in Helmand

Jul - Taliban kidnap a group of South Korean Christian charity workers. Two are killed, the rest are later freed

Nov - More than 70 people, mostly schoolboys are killed, in a suicide bombing in the northern town of Baghlan. The dead include six members of parliament

Dec - Afghanistan expels two senior EU and UN envoys after accusing them of making contact with the Taliban

2008

Jan - Taliban stage suicide bomb and gun attack on luxury hotel next to presidential palace in Kabul, killing seven people

Feb - A suspected suicide bombing kills more than 100 people in Kandahar in the most deadly attack since the ousting of Taliban.

Jun - Donors pledge around $20 bln in aid at Paris conference

Jul - Suicide car bomb at Indian embassy in Kabul kills 41 and wounds 139

Sep - Rare suicide bomb attack on U.N. convoy, killing driver and two doctors

Karzai offers peace talks and asks Saudi Arabia to help with negotiations. Taliban however refuse to negotiate

Dec - Afghanistan and Pakistan decide to form joint strategy to fight militants in their border regions

2009

Feb - U.N. says 2,100 civilians killed in 2008 - a 40 percent rise on 2007

U.S. President Barack Obama announces he plans to send another 17,000 U.S. troops. Karzai says Afghanistan turning a new page in relations with United States

May - U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates replaces commander of U.S. forces with Gen Stanley McChrystal, saying the battle against the Taliban needs "new thinking"

July - U.S. army launches major offensive against Taliban in Helmand province Taliban call on Afghans to boycott presidential and provincial elections

Aug - Elections marred by widespread Taliban attacks, low turnout and claims of serious fraud

Oct - Electoral Complaints Commission declares tens of thousands of votes invalid and calls for a run-off election

Nov - Run-off presidential vote cancelled after Karzai's remaining challenger Abdullah Abdullah pulls out saying the vote cannot be free and fair. Karzai declared president for a second term