1919: Afghanistan gains independence from the British, although it was never officially part of the British Empire, after their third war against the British.

1926: Amanullah is crowned king and introduces social reforms, such as increasing the number of rights for women. However, there is strong criticism from conservative and religious groups and Amanullah flees the country.

1953: Mohammed Daud is declared Prime Minister, he also introduces a number of social reforms but there continues to be strong opposition from other political groups in the struggle for power and he is forced to resign in 1963.

1964: A constitutional monarchy is put into place.

image by Isafmedia, published under the Creative Commons License.

1973: Mohammed Daud organises a coup and overthrows the monarchy. He installs a Socialist government and he wins support from USSR.

1978: Left-wing factions who disagree with Daud join forces against him. Conservative Islamic leaders and other ethnic leaders of mainly Pashtuns create the Mujahedeen and begin an armed revolt.

1979: Soviet Union sends in troops to help remove other leftist leaders, support the failing Afghan army and fight the Mujahedeen.

1980: The Mujahedeen, supported in different ways by Pakistan, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the US intensify their fighting against the Soviets and the Soviet-backed ruling party, led by Babrak Karmal.

1985: After seven years of war nearly half of the Afghan population have been internally displaced or have become refugees in Iran, Pakistan, or further afield in Europe and the US.

1989: After negotiations between the USSR, US, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the last Soviet troops are forced to leave, however the war continues as the Mujahadeen attempt to overthrow the Communist government.

1992: The Communist government falls and the Peshawar Accord is signed. However, rival militia groups clash in a fight to fill up the power vacuum. The country descends into civil war, as many areas remain outside of control and different groups vie for influence.

1994: The Taliban, led by Mohammed Omar, become a strong political and religious force in the South, recruiting members through its religious schools and installing law and order through force and violence.

1996: The Taliban take control of Kabul and introduce the strictest interpretation of Sharia law ever seen in the modern Islamic world.

1997: Most countries refuse to recognise the Taliban as legitimate rulers, aside from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The Taliban are able to control two thirds of the country, who are forced to live under an increasingly totalitarian and oppressive regime.

1998: The US use air strikes to attack targets suspected as belonging to bin Laden after a number of attacks on a number of US embassies internationally suspected of being carried out by al-Qaida.

2001 (March): The Taliban blow up the Buddhas of Bamyam, which were seen as idols, despite the Taliban having ordered their protection in 1996.

2001 (October): The US and Britain launch air strikes against Afghanistan in retaliation to the September 11^th attacks in New York, after bin Laden and al-Qaida are held responsible, the US accuses the Taliban of protecting bin Laden.

2001 (December): Opposition forces led by the US and UK take over control of Kabul and bring down the Taliban in the areas surrounding Kabul, while the Taliban retreat to the South and the border with Pakistan.

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

2002: Allied forces and the Northern Alliance continue their military campaign to quash the Taliban and supposed al-Qaeda targets in the South.

2003 (August): Security of Kabul is handed over to NATO.

2004 (March): £4.5bn in aid is pledged by governments in Europe and the US to be given over three years.

2004 (October): Hamid Karzai is declared President with 55 per cent of the vote, but with low voter turnout amid fears of violence.

2005 (June): The Taliban shoot down a US Chinook, killing 16 US troops during a mission to rescue a Navy Seal team in Kunar, three out of four members of the team are killed.

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

image by US Embassy Kabul, published under the Creative Commons License.

2006 (July): NATO takes control of military operations in the South of Afghanistan, however the Taliban have a lot of power in this area and there is strong resistance as troops attempt to increase government control in the area.

2007 (June 17): A suicide bomb attack on a police bus in Kabul kills at least 35 people.

2007: The UN reports that opium production has soared to a record high.

2007 (November): Another suicide bomb attack hits a parliamentary delegation on Baghlan killing 45 people and injuring many more.

2008 (June): The Taliban secures the release of hundreds of insurgents from a Kandahar prison, after engineering a jail-break.

2008 (July): Suicide bomb attack on Indian embassy in Kabul kills more than 50.

2008 (September): President Bush sends an extra 4,500 US troops to Afghanistan.

2009 (February): 17,000 extra troops are to be dispatched after 20 NATO countries pledge to increase military support.

2009 (November): Hamid Karzai is sworn in for a second term as President.

2009 (December): US President Obama increases the numbers of US troops by 30,000, bringing total to 100,000, he says he will begin withdrawing troops by July 2011.

2010 (July): Wikileaks publishes 90,000 US military files on Afghanistan, which highlight the problems of the war and reveal how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents.

2011 (February): Ten people are killed and many more are injured in bomb blasts at an illegal dogfight in the South. This attack is the latest in the increase of insurgent attacks aimed at crowded public places, since the beginning of the year more than 100 people have been killed in similar attacks across the country.

2011 (April): Wide protests in which foreign UN workers and several Afghans are killed following burning of Koran by a US pastor.

2011 (April): Around 500 mostly Taliban prisoners break out of prison in Kandahar.

2011 (July): President’s half-brother and Kandahar governor Ahmad Wali Karzai is killed by Taliban.

2011 (September): Ex-president Burhanuddin Rabbani – a go-between in talks with the Taliban – is assassinated.

2011 (October): A strategic partnership signed with India to expand co-operation in security and development.

2011 (December): At least 58 people are killed in twin attacks at a Shia shrine in Kabul and a Shia mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif.

image by US Army, published under the Creative Commons License