Timeline of the War on Terror

The War on Terror is the campaign launched by the United States of America in response to the September 11 attacks against organizations designated with terrorism. The campaign, whose stated objective was eliminating international terrorism, began in 2001. The following is a timeline of events linked to the War on Terror.

2001

 * September 11 – the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City, Washington D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, United States, killed 2,993 people.
 * September 18 and October 9 – 2001 anthrax attacks kill 5 and infect 17 others by anthrax spores in New York City, New York, Boca Raton, Florida, and Washington D.C. in the United States.
 * October 7 – the War in Afghanistan begins.
 * October 16 – Operation Active Endeavour officially begins.

2002

 * January 15 – Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines begins as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in the Southern Philippines.
 * February 27 – the Georgia Train and Equip Program begins.
 * October 7 – Operation Enduring Freedom - Horn of Africa begins.

2003

 * January 3 to April 12 – anti-war groups across the world organized public protests against war with Iraq. About 36 million people across the globe took part in almost 3,000 protests.
 * February 5 – Colin Powell addressed a plenary session of the United Nations Security Council, stating categorically that Saddam Hussein was working to obtain key components to produce nuclear weapons.
 * March 20 – the Iraq War begins. President George W. Bush refers to it as "the central front in the War on Terror".
 * December 13 – Saddam Hussein is found and captured by U.S. forces.

2004

 * April 24 – The Georgia Train and Equip Program ends, but military assistance to Georgia continued through the Georgia Sustainment and Stability Operations Program.
 * June 18 – The United States government, led by the Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division, begins a series of ongoing attacks on targets in northwest Pakistan using drones (unmanned aerial vehicles). These attacks sought to defeat the Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants who were thought to have found a safe haven in Pakistan.

2005

 * July 7 – the 1st London bombings kill 52 people and injure 700 more.

2007

 * February 6 – the Operation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara begins.

2009

 * August 6 - Newly elected Obama administration has stopped using the phrase "war on terror"; John Brennan announces that the U.S. is "at war with al Qaeda", not involved in a "global war on terror"

2011

 * May 2 – Osama bin Laden is killed in a raid by United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group on his residence in Pakistan.