2018 in Afghanistan

Events in the year 2018 in Afghanistan.

Incumbents

 * President: Ashraf Ghani
 * Chief Executive Officer: Abdullah Abdullah

Events
The war in Afghanistan (2001–present) continued.

January

 * January 1 - A US Army Special Forces soldier from 2nd Battalion, 10th SFG was killed by small arms fire during a combat engagement whilst on patrol in Achin District, Nangarhar Province, 4 other service members were wounded. Also that day, Afghan special forces attacked a Taliban “Red Unit” prison compound in Nahr-e Saraj district, Helmand Province.
 * January 16 - Taliban insurgents (whom Afghan officials and a Taliban spokesman said were a Taliban Red Unit) using night vision and laser targeting equipment briefly overran Afghan Army positions in the village of Gholam Sakhi, Kunduz Province, killing at least 6 soldiers and two police officers and wounding 5 more.
 * January 18 - Afghan commandos carried out a nighttime helicopter assault on a Taliban prison in Nawzad district, Helmand Province, "eliminating" 5 Taliban fighters guarding it and rescuing 13 prisoners.
 * January 20 - US and Afghan forces raided a Taliban prison in Baghran District, Helmand province, rescuing more than 60 Afghan security forces. Also that day, Militants of either the Taliban or the Haqqani network carried out the Inter-Continental Hotel attack in Kabul, killing 40 and injuring over 22.
 * January 24 - Islamic State militants carried out the Save The Children attack in Jalalabad, killing 3 and injuring at least 25 others. Air Force Times reported that A-10C Thunderbolt IIs carried out their first strikes since deploying to the country, conducting two sorties on Taliban fighters marked by a US Army drone in Helmand province, whom were engaging a Afghan National Defense and Security Forces patrol with small arms and a PK machine gun.
 * January 27 - A Taliban suicide attack at a checkpoint in a secure zone-home to government offices and foreign embassies-in Kabul killed at least 103 people and injured 235 others.
 * January 29 - IS militants attacked the Marshal Fahim National Defense University in Kabul, killing at least 11 soldiers and wounding 16 more, 4 militants were killed and 1 captured.
 * January 31 – an earthquake magnitude 6.1 around Afghanistan and Pakistan one report girl killed 10 other injures.

February

 * February 1 - An Afghan special operations unit, backed by US airstrikes launched an offensive against the Taliban in Maiwand and Panjwai districts, Kandahar Province, the National Directorate of Security said that 50 Taliban (including some key commanders) were killed.
 * February 4 - A US B-52 dropped 24 precision-guided munitions-the most ever launched by a B-52-on a Taliban training camp in Badakhshan Province, the air force said that the strikes “took out three defensive fighting positions around the camp, degrading the Taliban’s ability to conduct training and operations.”
 * February 8 - A US drone strike on a vehicle in Barmal District, Paktia province, killed 4 militants.
 * February 24 - Taliban militants carried out a pre-dawn assault on a military base in Balabluk district, Farah province, killing 18 soldiers.

July

 * July 7 – scheduled date for the Afghan parliamentary election, 2018