October 7, 2001

United States invasion of Afghanistan

U.S. and British forces open Operation Enduring Freedom with strikes in Afghanistan

Five U.S. warships, one U.S. submarine and two British submarines fired the opening day's 50 Tomahawks. Bombs and humanitarian food drops fell on the same day.

12:30 p.m. EDT, 7 October 2001

U.S. forces began combat operations against al-Qaeda and Taliban targets in Afghanistan at approximately 12:30 p.m. EDT on 7 October 2001, with British forces participating directly. The opening attack used about 15 land-based bombers, about 25 carrier strike aircraft and approximately 50 Tomahawk missiles launched from U.S. and British ships and submarines.

B-2 bombers flew to Afghanistan from the continental United States while carrier aircraft launched from USS Enterprise and USS Carl Vinson. More than 40 countries granted air-transit or landing rights.

What was hit

Targets included Taliban military and government facilities around Kabul, Herat, Shindand, Shibirghan, Mazar-e Sharif and Kandahar, along with al-Qaeda infrastructure, air defences, airfields, radar and communications facilities.

Humanitarian drops of food and medical supplies began alongside the attacks. At 1:00 p.m. EDT, Bush announced the strikes from the White House Treaty Room, describing their purpose as disrupting Afghanistan's use as a terrorist base and attacking the Taliban's military capability.

Not yet a ground invasion

The first day was an air-and-missile campaign rather than a mass coalition ground crossing. The initial deployment of U.S. special-operations ground troops followed on 19 October, and the Taliban government did not fall on 7 October.

Asked at the same-day briefing whether bin Laden had been personally targeted, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said no. Canada, Australia, Germany and France had pledged forces, but Bush distinguished those pledges from Britain's direct participation in the opening operation.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 6 sources 2 audit passes

How this was checked

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What the sources leave uncertain

October 7 is securely dated as the start of overt U.S.-British combat operations. Calling that day simply a ground “invasion,” however, obscures that its visible opening phase consisted principally of air and missile strikes; the initial special-forces ground deployment followed on October 19.