ISAF, Afghanistan 2001-2014: the context

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a NATO mission, authorized by the UN, to support the Afghan government in the war against the Taliban and al-Qaida after the overthrow of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

It was composed of an international force employing about 58,300 military personnel from around forty nations. It was established under the mandate of the United Nations Security Council on December 20, 2001 with the task of monitoring the capital Kabul and the nearby Bagram airbase from the Taliban, al-Qaida elements, and mercenary armies, and particularly to protect the transitional government led by Hamid Karzai.

During the first two years, ISAF did not operate beyond the borders of the city of Kabul. The responsibility for security in the rest of the national territory was entrusted to the newly formed Afghan National Army. However, on October 13, 2003, the Security Council voted to extend ISAF's mandate to the rest of Afghanistan. Subsequently, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien said that Canadian troops (almost half of the entire force) would not be deployed outside Kabul. On October 24, the Bundestag approved the deployment of German troops in the Kunduz region. About 230 soldiers were sent to the region, the first ISAF troops to be deployed outside Kabul.

On December 28, 2014, after 13 years of activity, the ISAF mission ended and the Resolute Support Mission began within NATO.

The Triggering Causes

Starting in May 1996, Osama bin Laden and other members of al-Qaida settled in Afghanistan and established dialogue and collaboration with the country's Taliban regime, within which several terrorist training camps were created.

Following the 1998 attacks on US embassies in Africa, the USA launched a missile attack from submarines directed at these training camps, but the effects of this retaliation were limited.

Between 1999 and 2000, the United Nations Security Council approved two resolutions establishing economic and arms sanctions on Afghanistan to encourage the Taliban to close the training camps and hand over Bin Laden to international authorities to answer for the 1998 attacks. The September 11, 2001 attacks marked a deterioration in relations between the United States and the Taliban government. Although initially Osama Bin Laden denied any involvement, the "fundamentalist thesis" was never questioned, was adopted by the press, and supported by subsequent reports in congressional committee sessions.

On September 20, 2001, United States President George W. Bush issued an ultimatum to the Taliban, making the following demands:

• hand over all al-Qaida leaders present in Afghanistan to the United States;
• release all foreign prisoners, including US citizens;
• protect foreign journalists, diplomats, and volunteers present in Afghanistan;
• close terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and hand over each terrorist to the competent authorities;
• guarantee the United States free access to the training camps to verify their closure.

The Taliban did not respond directly to Bush, believing that starting a dialogue with a non-Muslim political leader would be an insult to Islam. Therefore, through their embassy in Pakistan, they declared they rejected the ultimatum as there was no evidence linking Bin Laden to the September 11 attacks. On September 22, 2001, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia decided not to recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Only Pakistan continued to maintain diplomatic contacts with the country. On October 4, 2001, they secretly proposed to Pakistan the handover of Bin Laden and proposed his trial in an international court, but subject to Shari'a law. It is assumed that Pakistan refused the offer. By mid-October 2001, moderate members of the Taliban regime met with US ambassadors in Afghanistan to find a way to convince Mullah Omar to hand over Bin Laden to the United States. Bush labeled the Taliban's offers as "false" and rejected them. On October 7, shortly before the invasion began, the Taliban publicly declared their willingness to try Bin Laden in Afghanistan, but through an "Islamic" court. The USA also rejected this offer, deeming it insufficient.

Only on October 14, 2001, a week after the outbreak of the war, were the Taliban willing to hand over Bin Laden to a third country for trial, but only if evidence of his involvement in September 11, 2001, was provided.

The attitude of the U.S. leadership towards the prospect of a war, decidedly more "interventionist" compared to other situations, as well as the speed of military deployment and the immediate agreement reached with the Northern Alliance rebels suggested that the U.S. had planned the invasion of Afghanistan well before September 11. However, it is also true that no enemy nation of the United States had ever managed to carry out an aerial attack of such proportions on U.S. soil since the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the American public, symbolically struck by an attack in the heart of their country, demanded a military response.

On September 18, 2001, Niaz Naik, former Pakistani Foreign Minister, stated that in mid-July of the same year, he was informed by some senior U.S. officials that a military action against Afghanistan would begin the following October. Naik also stated that, based on what the officials said, the United States would not abandon their plan even in the event of an immediate handover of Bin Laden by the Taliban. Naik also claimed that both Uzbekistan and Russia would participate in the attack, although this did not happen later.

The United Nations Security Council approved two resolutions regarding the terrorist attack. Resolution no. 1368/2001, approved in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, qualified terrorism as a "threat to international peace and security" (ex art. 39). A few days later, in a new session, the Security Council approved resolution no. 1374/2001, which renewed the condemnation of terrorism and established a UN Committee (the so-called CAT committee) aimed at imposing measures on states to counter any form of terrorism financing.

Command

The command of ISAF was initially on a six-month rotation among the different participating nations, but due to serious problems encountered with this management mode, on August 11, 2003, it was indefinitely entrusted to NATO forces. This was the first assignment outside Europe and North America. NATO also participated in the "Provincial Reconstruction Teams," small groups of about 100 military and humanitarian operators involved in reconstruction operations in various Afghan provinces; the Italian Army was stationed in the province of Herat.

List of ISAF commanders (COMISAF):

• December 22, 2001: General John McColl, United Kingdom.
• June 18, 2002: General Hilmi Akin Zorlu, Turkey.
• February 10, 2003: General Norbert Van Heyst, for Germany and the Netherlands. His deputy was Dutch Brigadier General Bertholee.
• August 11, 2003: ISAF is placed under NATO command, with German General Götz Gliemeroth as commander, and Canadian General Andrew Leslie as deputy.
• February 9, 2004: General Rick Hillier, Canada, with German General Werner Korte as his deputy.
• August 7, 2004: General Jean-Louis Py, commander of the Eurocorps, a multinational force composed of units from France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
• February 13, 2005: General Ethem Erdagi, Turkey.
• August 5, 2005: General Mauro Del Vecchio, Italy. In 2005, Italy commanded 5 multinational missions: in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania, and the Gaza Strip (EUBAM).
• May 4, 2006: Lieutenant General David Richards, United Kingdom
• February 4, 2007: General Dan K. McNeill assumes command of both U.S. and NATO forces.
• June 2, 2008: U.S. General David D. McKiernan assumes command of NATO forces.
• May 20, 2009: U.S. General Stanley A. McChrystal assumes command of NATO forces.
• June 23, 2010: U.S. General David Petraeus assumes command of NATO forces.
• July 18, 2011: Marine General, U.S. John R. Allen, assumes command of NATO forces.
• February 10, 2013: Marine General, U.S. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., assumes command of NATO forces.
• August 24, 2015 - December 28, 2016: NATO Lieutenant Colonel M. Stancato assumes command of NATO forces. He was the last commander of the mission.

Italy

Since August 11, 2003, Italy has contributed to the ISAF Mission, also holding the Command between 2005 and 2006.

On two occasions (2006 and 2008), Italians were the Commanders of the Kabul Region, and Italy contributes to the ISAF Mission with about 4,200 units on the ground, making it the fifth-largest troop contributor. The Italian contribution is divided between Kabul and the western region (RC-West), especially in the Provinces of Herat and Farah (province).

The Panavia Tornado bombers of the Italian Air Force, deployed from the German base of Mazar-i Sharif in northern Afghanistan, were later replaced in November 2009 by the AMX International AMX ground attack aircraft, which began operating from the Forward Support Base (FSB) in Herat, where runway adaptation work was carried out at the airport.

Italy also deployed, since 2006, an important component of special forces as part of operation "Sarissa", the Task Force 45.

ISAF ended on December 26, 2014. In its place, Resolute Support until June 29, 2021.

Italian Army ISAF Assets of RC-West

Thousands of Italian soldiers were deployed in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan.

In general, over the 11 years of operations, the structure had the following assets:

• Maneuver forces constituted in rotation by the various infantry and mechanized infantry regiments of the Italian Army deployed in the provinces of Herat and Farah.
• Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) until March 25, 2014. From March 26, PRT-CIMIC Detachment
• ITALFOR, national joint component responsible for management and logistical aspects
  • IMC (Infrastructure Management Center)
  • JMOU (Joint Multimodal Operation Unit)
  • RSOM (Reception Staging Onward Movement) joint forces
• Task Force Fenice based on (Army Aviation) with CH 47 "Chinook" and NH90 helicopters for personnel and supply transport, and A129 C "Mangusta" with exploration and escort tasks in fire support of ground forces
• Military Advisory Team (MAT) responsible for training and assisting Afghan Army officers
• Task Force Genio specialized in managing the threat of explosive devices
• Joint Task Force C4 (JTFC4) responsible for communications to all Italian units operating in the western region of Afghanistan
• Two medical assets, ROLE 1 led by Italy (emergency room and infirmary) and ROLE 2 led by Spain (multi-specialty hospital)

Joint Air Task Force (JATF)

Within the Regional Command-West (RC-W) and from the Air Component Element of ISAF in Kabul, the Joint Air Task Force (JATF) was established on June 1, 2007, as the national air component of the Italian presence in Herat. The Task Force is involved in coordinating those assets that are under the direct Operational Control of NATO. Other assets, such as the C-27J and C-130 Hercules-J transport aircraft, the AMX tactical bombers (previously the Tornado IDS were used), and the UAVs (or remotely piloted aircraft) themselves, receive "operational orders" for deployment directly from the NATO Air Component Commander, as they operate on a large scale throughout Afghan territory.

The aircraft of the A.M. are present in the Task Groups:

• "Devil": with the Tornado of the 6th Wing (until the end of 2009) equipped with aerial reconnaissance capabilities, to increase aerial surveillance of Afghan territory and thus ensure greater security and protection for the NATO contingent and the civilian population;
• "Black Cats": with the AMX of the 51st Wing that replaced the Tornado and returned to Italy in June 2014;
• "Albatros": with C-130J transport and EC-27J JEDI electronic warfare aircraft of the 46th Air Brigade, returned home respectively in the early months of 2015 and December 2014;
• "Tigre": with the AB-212 ICO (Implementation of Operational Capabilities) helicopters of the 9th Wing, deployed from June 2009 to April 2010;
• "Astore": with the RQ-1 Predator of the 32nd Wing, whose last operational flight in Afghan territory took place on December 1, 2014.

Losses

In total, 53 Italian soldiers died in Afghanistan: 31 killed in hostile actions (including one who died a week after being wounded during the raid in which he was rescued after his capture), ten in road accidents, two from heart attacks, one from an accidental discharge while loading his weapon, one from illness. There were 651 wounded. Overall, the conflict killed about 176,000 people, including 46,319 civilians.