Back in time: How events unfolded in Afghanistan

2012

11 March

An American soldier opened fire on villagers in southern Afghanistan, killing 16 civilians.

28 February

A suicide car bomber killed nine people in an attack on a military airport in eastern Afghanistan.

22 February

Several people are killed in protests against the burning of copies of the Holy Quran at the US Bagram airbase.

20 January

France suspends training operations in Afghanistan and threatens to withdraw entire force from the country, after an Afghan wearing an army uniform shot and killed four French troops and wounded others in Kapisa province.

2011

6 December

Suicide bomber kills at least 54 people in an assault on a Shiite shrine, where hundreds had gathered for Ashura.

29 October

Taliban suicide bomber rams car filled with 1,500 pounds of explosives into an armoured Nato bus in Kabul, killing 17.

20 September

Former Afghan president and chief negotiator for peace talks with the Taliban, Burhanuddin Rabbani, is assassinated in a suicide attack in Kabul.

13 September

A coordinated attack by the Taliban on the US Embassy in Kabul and several other sites killed 14 people during a nearly 20-hour siege.

28 June

Twenty-one people killed when Taliban militants lay siege to Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel.

18 June

Nine people killed when suicide bombers target police station in central Kabul.

21 May

Suicide bomber kills six students and wounds almost two dozen people at a heavily guarded national military hospital in Kabul.

27 April

Eight troops from Nato-led International Security Assistance Force and one international contractor killed when an Afghan Air Force pilot, dressed in uniform, opens fire in Kabul.

28 January

Suicide bomber attacks supermarket, killing 14 people, including an Afghan human rights activist and her husband, a prominent doctor, and their children.

2010

19 December

Two militants wearing suicide vests attack a bus carrying Afghan army officers, killing five and wounding nine.

29 November

Afghan policeman kills six US soldiers during a training exercise in Nangahar, before being killed himself.

10 June

At least 40 people are killed and 77 injured by a suicide bomb attack on a packed wedding party north of Kandahar. The attack is in retaliation against the presence of US troops for more than nine years.

2009

15 December

A suicide car bomber kills eight people outside a former vice president's home and wounds dozens.

30 November

Eight Americans killed in a suicide bombing attack in eastern Afghanistan.

28 October

Five foreign UN staff killed when militants attack a guest house used by foreigners. A rocket aimed at the presidential palace hits the Serena Hotel.

2008

7 November

A suicide attack on a convoy of foreign forces near the US Embassy kills four.

30 October

Five people are killed when a suicide bomber blows himself up inside the Information Ministry following a clash between insurgents and ministry guards.

7 November

Suicide attack on parliamentary envoys kills at least 59 people in Baghlan.

2006

2 September

Fourteen British personnel die when their Nimrod surveillance aircraft crashes near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.

2005

28 June

Sixteen US special forces troops killed when militants shoot down their Chinook during a mission to rescue a four-man Navy Seal team trapped in a battle in the north-eastern province of Kunar. Three members of the team are killed and one rescued.

6 April

A Chinook helicopter crashes during a dust storm in Ghazni province, killing 15 US servicemen and three American civilian contractors.

2002

2 July

US aircraft bombs house in Afghanistan's southern Uruzgan province overnight while a wedding was under way, killing over 150 people, many of whom were women and children, and injuring scores of others