Exactly 12 years ago on Oct. 7, 2001, the U.S.-led military coalition forces invaded Afghanistan to topple the Taliban regime that harbored Osama Bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the deadly 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.
Branding the Taliban and al-Qaida network as terrorist groups, the U.S.-led military offensive, using massive air, land and sea assets, easily drove the Taliban from Kabul and other cities that they controlled.
Because of its brutal rule, most Afghans welcomed the collapse of the Taliban and the emergence of an American-backed regime.
With the ouster of the Taliban regime, the decades-long isolation of the country was over and there was a feeling of hope among Afghans for a brighter future.
But this feeling of exuberance was short-lived as the Taliban and other insurgents have resurfaced and threatened the peace and stability of the country with stepped-up suicide bombings and frontal attacks against government facilities killing security forces and civilians alike.
In a strange twist of events, the United States, instead of pressing for a military solution to the continued violence caused by the Taliban, is now urging the Kabul government to negotiate with the armed group.
On its own, the Karzai government created a 70-member peace body called the High Peace Council in 2010 to initiate contacts with the Taliban and other anti-government forces to convince them to give up fighting and give the peace process a chance to succeed.
But the Taliban has vowed not to talk with the Karzai government as long as there are foreign troops in the country.
