Photos: When US troops entered Afghanistan in 2001

File photo taken on October 07, 2001, shows crew members pulling missiles past F14 Tomcat jetfighters aboard the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier at an undisclosed location in the Indian Ocean as retaliatory strikes against Afghanistan began with US and British forces bombing terrorist camps, airbases and air defence installations in the first stage of its campaign against the Taliban. - US President George W. Bush, on October 7, 2001, launched his "war on terror" in response to the September 11 attacks, with airstrikes on Afghanistan after the Taliban government had sheltered Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda movement, which masterminded 9/11.

Two US F-18 fighters preparing to take off from the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier at an undisclosed location in the Indian Ocean as retaliatory strikes against Afghanistan began with US and British forces bombing terrorist camps, airbases and air defence installations in the first stage of its campaign against the Taliban in 2001.

Former US President George W. Bush speaking to Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chretien from the White House in Washington, DC, before telling the nation of military strikes against the Taliban government in Afghanistan on October 7, 2001. The United States invasion of Afghanistan occurred after the September 11 attacks in late 2001 and was supported by close US allies which had officially begun the War on Terror.

Afghans looking at a destroyed house in Prodza-e-Jadeed village in the Khair Khana area, northeast of the capital Kabul, after a bomb was dropped by a US plane on October 21, 2001.

A Taliban militant at Langar near Kandahar, where a US jet had reportedly bombed the area, killing five people on October 31, 2001.

Thousands of refugees from Kabul and troops waiting for permission to enter the northern outskirts of Kabul after Northern Alliance soldiers captured the capital on November 13, 2001.

Smoke billowing from a bomb dropped by US forces on Taliban positions near the Sindejarat front line, some 45 kms north of Kabul on October 27, 2001.

Residents of the northeastern Afghan village of Kalaqata in Takhar province fleeing the frontline area as US fighter planes bomb Taliban positions nearby on November 4, 2001.

Taliban fighters posing on a hilltop near Jalalabad.

A civilian running away from a BM21 Northern Alliance multiple rocket launching system, not far from the town of Bagram, some 25 kilometers north of Kabul, as they shell Taliban positions.

Afghan anti-Taliban fighters sitting around a Russian T-55 tank while two bombs explode following an attack by US B-52 bombers on Al-Qaeda positions in Tora Bora.

Afghan anti-Taliban fighters flashing the victory sign as they leave the Tora Bora mountain area to make their way to their base.

US flag flying after it was raised at the opening ceremony of the US embassy in the Afghan capital of Kabul.

Photo taken on December 16, 2001 shows US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld throwing up his arms as he concludes his town hall meeting with troops of the 1st Battalion 87 10th Mountain Division at Bagram Airfield after he met Afghanistan's new leaders to discuss the country's future.

This undated handout photo obtained on December 27, 2001 from the US Air Force shows US Air Force troops strip-searching and securing for transport an English- speaking Taliban detainee in Mazar-i-Sharif.

This US Navy handout image taken on December 14, 2001 and obtained on December 19, 2001 shows US Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) deployed off USS Bataan's (LHD 5) Amphibious Ready Group arriving at an undisclosed location with field gear and weapons.

A light armoured vehicle from the 15th US Marine Expeditionary Unit sharing a narrow road with Afghans on bikes as the company patrolled the area around Kandahar International Airport in Dec 2001.