Timeline: Afghanistan

A chronology of key events:

1919 - Afghanistan regains independence after third war against British forces trying to bring country under their sphere of influence.

LAST OF A DYNASTY Afghanistan's last monarch, Zahir Shah, came from a long line of Pashtun rulers 1933 - Ascends throne aged 19, introduces reforms 1973 - Deposed in coup 2001 - Endorses Afghan renewal plan 2007 - Dies, aged 92 Obituary 2002: Wind blows dynasty away

1926 - Amanullah proclaims himself king and attempts to introduce social reforms leading to opposition from conservative forces.

1929 - Amanullah flees after civil unrest over his reforms.

1933 - Zahir Shah becomes king and Afghanistan remains a monarchy for next four decades.

1953 - General Mohammed Daud becomes prime minister. Turns to Soviet Union for economic and military assistance. Introduces a number of social reforms, such as abolition of purdah (practice of secluding women from public view).

1963 - Mohammed Daud forced to resign as prime minister.

1964 - Constitutional monarchy introduced - but leads to political polarisation and power struggles.

1973 - Mohammed Daud seizes power in a coup and declares a republic. Tries to play off USSR against Western powers. His style alienates left-wing factions who join forces against him.

There has been no rush to unveil, even in Kabul 2005: Election hopes of Afghan women 2004: Silence over Afghan women's rights

1978 - General Daud is overthrown and killed in a coup by leftist People's Democratic Party. But party's Khalq and Parcham factions fall out, leading to purging or exile of most Parcham leaders. At the same time, conservative Islamic and ethnic leaders who objected to social changes begin armed revolt in countryside.

1979 - Power struggle between leftist leaders Hafizullah Amin and Nur Mohammed Taraki in Kabul won by Amin. Revolts in countryside continue and Afghan army faces collapse. Soviet Union finally sends in troops to help remove Amin, who is executed.

Soviet intervention

1980 - Babrak Karmal, leader of the People's Democratic Party Parcham faction, is installed as ruler, backed by Soviet troops. But anti-regime resistance intensifies with various mujahideen groups fighting Soviet forces. US, Pakistan, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia supply money and arms.

1985 - Mujahideen come together in Pakistan to form alliance against Soviet forces. Half of Afghan population now estimated to be displaced by war, with many fleeing to neighbouring Iran or Pakistan. New Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev says he will withdraw troops from Afghanistan.

Soviet pullout: Afghanistan was a Cold War battleground On This Day 1980: Afghan leader defends Soviet invasion Timeline: Moscow's Afghan war

1986 - US begins supplying mujahideen with Stinger missiles, enabling them to shoot down Soviet helicopter gunships. Babrak Karmal replaced by Najibullah as head of Soviet-backed regime.

1988 - Afghanistan, USSR, the US and Pakistan sign peace accords and Soviet Union begins pulling out troops.

1989 - Last Soviet troops leave, but civil war continues as mujahideen push to overthrow Najibullah.

1991 - US and USSR agree to end military aid to both sides.

Mujahideen triumph

1992 - Resistance closes in on Kabul and Najibullah falls from power. Rival militias vie for influence.

Mujahideen: Feuding warlords were targeted by the Taleban On This Day 1996: Afghan forces routed as Kabul falls Analysis: Moscow's doomed invasion

1993 - Mujahideen factions agree on formation of a government with ethnic Tajik, Burhanuddin Rabbani, proclaimed president.

1994 - Factional contests continue and the Pashtun-dominated Taleban emerge as major challenge to the Rabbani government.

1996 - Taleban seize control of Kabul and introduce hardline version of Islam, banning women from work, and introducing Islamic punishments, which include stoning to death and amputations. Rabbani flees to join anti-Taleban northern alliance.

Taleban under pressure

1997 - Taleban recognised as legitimate rulers by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Most other countries continue to regard Rabbani as head of state. Taleban now control about two-thirds of country.

1998 - Earthquakes kill thousands of people. US launches missile strikes at suspected bases of militant Osama bin Laden, accused of bombing US embassies in Africa.

1999 - UN imposes an air embargo and financial sanctions to force Afghanistan to hand over Osama bin Laden for trial.

2001 January - UN imposes further sanctions on Taleban to force them to hand over Osama bin Laden.

Taleban destroyed Bamiyan, blew up priceless Buddha statues 2001: Video released of destruction of statues 2003: Regenerating Afghanistan's Buddha region

2001 March - Taleban blow up giant Buddha statues in defiance of international efforts to save them.

2001 April - Mullah Mohammad Rabbani, the second most powerful Taleban leader after the supreme commander Mullah Mohammad Omar, dies of liver cancer.

2001 May - Taleban order religious minorities to wear tags identifying themselves as non-Muslims, and Hindu women to veil themselves like other Afghan women.

2001 September - Eight foreign aid workers on trial in the Supreme Court for promoting Christianity. This follows months of tension between Taleban and aid agencies.

2001 - Ahmad Shah Masood, legendary guerrilla and leader of the main opposition to the Taleban, is killed, apparently by assassins posing as journalists.

2001 October - US, Britain launch air strikes against Afghanistan after Taleban refuse to hand over Osama bin Laden, held responsible for the September 11 attacks on America.

2001 November - Opposition forces seize Mazar-e Sharif and within days march into Kabul and other key cities.

Taleban falls

A poster urges women to vote in the 2004 poll Winner Hamid Karzai was challenged by 15 other candidates More than 10.5 million registered voters Feared militant violence did not materialise In Depth: Afghanistan's future

2001 5 December - Afghan groups agree deal in Bonn for interim government.

2001 7 December - Taleban finally give up last stronghold of Kandahar, but Mullah Omar remains at large.

2001 22 December - Pashtun royalist Hamid Karzai is sworn in as head of a 30-member interim power-sharing government.

2002 January - First contingent of foreign peacekeepers in place.

2002 April - Former king Zahir Shah returns, but says he makes no claim to the throne.

2002 May - UN Security Council extends mandate of International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) until December 2002.

Allied forces continue their military campaign to find remnants of al-Qaeda and Taleban forces in the south-east.

Growers have resisted a drive to eradicate poppy crop 2005: Afghanistan to pursue opium war 2007: Inside an Afghan opium market

2002 June - Loya Jirga, or grand council, elects Hamid Karzai as interim head of state. Karzai picks members of his administration which is to serve until 2004.

2002 July - Vice-President Haji Abdul Qadir is assassinated by gunmen in Kabul.

2002 September - Karzai narrowly escapes an assassination attempt in Kandahar, his home town.

2002 December - President Karzai and Pakistani, Turkmen leaders sign deal to build gas pipeline through Afghanistan, carrying Turkmen gas to Pakistan.

2003 August - Nato takes control of security in Kabul, its first-ever operational commitment outside Europe.

New constitution

2004 January - Grand assembly - or Loya Jirga - adopts new constitution which provides for strong presidency.

The first parliament for more than 30 years convened in 2005 Afghan MPs hold landmark session

2004 March - Afghanistan secures $8.2bn (£4.5bn) in aid over three years.

2004 September - Rocket fired at helicopter carrying President Karzai misses its target; it is the most serious attempt on his life since September 2002.

2004 October-November - Presidential elections: Hamid Karzai is declared the winner, with 55% of the vote. He is sworn in, amid tight security, in December.

2005 February - Several hundred people are killed in the harshest winter weather in a decade.

2005 May - Details emerge of alleged prisoner abuse by US forces at detention centres.

New parliament

SUICIDE BOMBINGS Militants change tactics and follow the lead of Iraqi insurgents 64 suicide attacks January 2005 - August 2006 181 deaths (not including suicide bombers) August 3, 2006 - 21 killed when suicide car bomber rams a Nato convoy in Kandahar June 1, 2005 - Suicide bomber in police uniform kills 20 in a Kandahar mosque

2005

September - First parliamentary and provincial elections in more than 30 years.

2005 December - New parliament holds its inaugural session.

2006 February - International donors meeting in London pledge more than $10bn (£5.7bn) in reconstruction aid over five years.

2006 May - Violent anti-US protests in Kabul, the worst since the fall of the Taleban in 2001, erupt after a US military vehicle crashes and kills several people.

2006 May-June - Scores of people are killed in battles between Taleban fighters and Afghan and coalition forces in the south during an offensive known as Operation Mountain Thrust.

Nato takes over

2006 July onwards - Nato troops take over the leadership of military operations in the south. Fierce fighting ensues as the forces try to extend government control in areas where Taleban influence is strong.

2006 October - Nato assumes responsibility for security across the whole of Afghanistan, taking command in the east from a US-led coalition force.

2007 March - Pakistan says it has arrested Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, the third most senior member of the Taleban's leadership council.

Nato and Afghan forces launch Operation Achilles, said to be their largest offensive to date against the Taleban in the south. There is heavy fighting in Helmand province.

Controversy over Italian deal with Taleban, which secures the release of five rebels in exchange for kidnapped reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo. His Afghan driver and translator are beheaded.

2007 May - Taleban's most senior military commander, Mullah Dadullah, is killed during fighting with US, Afghan forces.

Afghan and Pakistani troops clash on the border in the worst violence in decades in a simmering border dispute.

2007 July - Former king Zahir Shah dies.

A group of South Korean Christian charity workers is kidnapped by the Taleban. Two are killed, the rest are freed over the next six weeks.

Opium production soars

FOREIGN FORCES US coalition and Nato ISAF troops face an expanding insurgency Q&A: Isaf troops in Afghanistan 2008: Countering 20-year war US: 33,000 soldiers (18,000 in ISAF) UK: 8,300 soldiers Germany: 3,200 soldiers France: 2,700 soldiers Canada: 2,500 soldiers Italy: 2,300 soldiers Source: ISAF, Sept 2008

2007

August - Opium production has soared to a record high, the UN reports.

2007 October - Fifteen are put to death in the second confirmed set of executions since the fall of the Taleban in 2001.

2007 November - A suicide attack on a parliamentary delegation kills at least 41 in northern town of Baghlan, in the country's worst such attack.

2007 December - Two senior EU and UN envoys are accused by Afghan officials of making contact with the Taleban and expelled from the country.

2008 February - Prince Harry, third in line to the British throne, is pulled out of Afghanistan after serving 10 weeks in action in Helmand province.

2008 April - Nato leaders meeting in Bucharest say peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan is their top priority. They pledge a "firm and shared long-term commitment" there.

Relations with Pakistan

2008 June - Taleban engineers massive jail-break from Kandahar prison, freeing at least 350 insurgents.

British Defence Secretary Des Browne announces British troop numbers in Afghanistan to increase by 230 to new high of more than 8,000 by spring 2009.

President Karzai warns that Afghanistan will send troops into Pakistan to fight militants if Islamabad fails to take action against them.

2008 July - Suicide bomb attack on Indian embassy in Kabul kills more than 50. Afghan government accuses Pakistani intelligence of being behind this and other recent miltant attacks. Pakistan denies any involvement.

2008 August - Ten French soldiers killed in an ambush by Taleban fighters.

President Karzai accuses Afghan and US-led coalition forces of killing at least 89 civilians in an air strike in the western province of Herat. He later sacks two senior military commanders over the strike.

Troop numbers boosted

2008 September - President Bush sends an extra 4,500 US troops to Afghanistan, in a move he described as a "quiet surge".

2008 October - Germany extends Afghanistan mission to 2009 and boosts troop numbers in Afghanistan by 1,000, to 4,500.

2008 November - Taleban militants reject an offer of peace talks from President Karzai, saying there can be no negotiations until foreign troops leave Afghanistan.

2008 December - President Karzai and new Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari agree to form joint strategy to fight militants operating in their border regions.

2009 January - Kyrgyzstan decides to close US air base at Manas that supplies troops and materiel to Afghanistan.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates tells Congress that Afghanistan is new US administration's "greatest test".

2009 February - Up to 20 Nato countries pledge to increase military and other commitments in Afghanistan after USA announces dispatch of 17,000 extra troops.

2009 March - Afghanistan's Election Commission rejects President Karzai's call for an April presidential vote, saying it will take place on 20 August.

President Barack Obama unveils a new US strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan to combat what he calls an increasingly perilous situation. An extra 4,000 US personnel will train and bolster the Afghan army and police, and there will also be support for civilian development.