Countries Participating In the War in Afghanistan

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 set into motion a response from the United States and eventually a range of coalition allies that coalesced nearly a month later when the UK under the leadership of Tony Blair supported the United States under the leadership of George W. Bush to begin airstrikes in Afghanistan.

50 countries would eventually participate in the War in Afghanistan with around 130,000 troops at its peak in 2010-2011. Throughout its history the War in Afghanistan has been divided into several missions that help to explain how troop participation by country is organized:

September 14, 2001 – Australian Prime Minister John Howard invokes the mutual protection clause of the the ANZUS Treaty
October 2, 2001 – NATO confirms invocation of the Article V mutual defense pact
October 7, 2001 – US and UK begin military operations in Afghanistan, known as Operation Enduring Freedom
December 20, 2001 – UN establishes ISAF, the International Security Assistance Force, to secure Kabul
August 11, 2003 – NATO takes command of ISAF
October 13, 2003 – The UN expands ISAF’s mission to cover all of Afghanistan
December 8, 2014 – NATO’s combat mission officially ends; just prior to this ISAF ceases operations and disbands
December 12, 2014 – The UN establishes a new NATO-led non-combat train, advise, and assist mission for Afghanistan, called Operation Resolute Support or Resolute Support Mission
December 28, 2014 – US announces the end of Operation Enduring Freedom
January 1, 2015 – Operation Resolute Support begins, a NATO-led UN mission to train, advise, and assist Afghan troops; this operations continues to the present day
January 1, 2015 – US continues operations in Afghanistan under the name Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, which includes participation in the NATO-led UN Resolute Support Mission; this operation continues to the present day

NATO, comprising 19 member states in 2001, plus the rest of the world with UN involvement meant troop deployments to Afghanistan were a truly global affair. Many countries contributed supplies or allowed coalition armed forces to use their bases or airspace.

The Different Missions in Afghanistan

The opening volley of the War in Afghanistan was launched by the US with support from the UK under the name Operation Enduring Freedom.

A month-and-a-half later the UN passed Security Council Resolution 1386 establishing the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). ISAF’s original mission only pertained to providing security and stability in the capital Kabul. In its inception it was comprised of troops and equipment from 19 countries and was commanded by the UK.

Under the original ISAF charter, leadership changed every six months. This was modified to full NATO control of ISAF in 2003. Shortly after the United Nations expanded ISAF’s role to include operations throughout all of Afghanistan with the passage of Security Council Resolution 1510.

NATO led the UN-backed ISAF mission until it was disbanded at the end of 2014. At this time the UN passed Security Council Resolution 2189 establishing a NATO-led non-combat mission in Afghanistan to train, advise, and assist Afghan troops. This new mission was launched on the first day of 2015 and continues to the present.

While the United States plays a leading role in the UN-authorized, NATO-led missions (including ISAF missions until then end of 2014), it also operates its own missions separately in its Operation Freedom’s Sentinel campaign. Even though combat missions officially ended in 2014, US troops still participate in counter-terrorism raids, force protection, and logistical support up to the present.

Map of Countries That Deployed Troops to Afghanistan

50 countries have contributed troops to the War in Afghanistan.

List of Countries By the Numbers of Troops Deployed in Afghanistan

While the War in Afghanistan started in 2001, searching through NATO’s ISAF and RSM Placemats Archive reveals troop level statistics beginning in 2007 through the present, peaking in 2011 and 2012. These numbers are for the ISAF and Operation Resolute Support missions; the US participates in these, however it also has additional troops for its own missions (Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Freedom’s Sentinel) listed in another section below.

	2007	2009	2011	2013	2015	2018	Killed
Albania	30	140	286	91	43	136	1
Armenia	0	0	126	131	121	121	0
Australia	500	1,090	1,550	1,045	229	300	41
Austria	5	1	3	3	10	17	0
Azerbaijan	20	45	94	94	94	120	0
Belgium	300	410	520	151	60	78	1
Bosnia and Herzegovina	0	0	55	79	55	63	0
Bulgaria	100	465	598	416	84	158	0
Canada	2,500	2,830	556	620	0	0	157
Croatia	130	280	312	186	106	105	0
Czech Republic	150	415	626	213	232	281	14
Denmark	400	700	750	253	90	155	43
El Salvador	0	0	0	24	0	0	0
Estonia	90	130	154	160	4	40	9
Finland	70	110	156	100	41	29	2
France	1,000	2,890	3,916	212	0	0	88
Georgia	0	1	935	1,560	870	870	32
Germany	3,000	3,405	4,818	3,084	850	1,300	57
Greece	170	140	154	8	4	6	0
Hungary	180	240	413	121	96	93	7
Iceland	5	8	4	3	2	2	0
Ireland	10	7	7	7	7	0	0
Italy	1,950	2,350	3,952	2,822	829	895	53
Jordan	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Latvia	35	70	175	131	23	37	4
Lithuania	130	200	237	95	14	50	1
Luxembourg	10	9	11	10	1	2	0
Macedonia	120	140	163	156	39	47	0
Malaysia	0	0	46	2	0	0	0
Mongolia	0	0	114	40	120	120	0
Montenegro	0	0	37	25	17	20	1
Netherlands	2,200	1,770	166	200	83	160	25
New Zealand	100	150	188	11	8	13	10
Norway	350	490	433	111	46	55	10
Poland	160	1,590	2,475	1,099	200	315	44
Portugal	150	40	140	78	10	193	2
Romania	750	770	1,876	1,018	650	693	26
Singapore	0	20	39	0	0	0	0
Slovakia	60	120	329	199	36	36	3
Slovenia	50	70	79	32	7	8	0
South Korea	0	0	350	50	0	0	2
Spain	550	780	1,488	260	9	40	35
Sweden	180	290	500	279	27	29	5
Switzerland	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tonga	0	0	55	55	0	0	0
Turkey	800	800	1,845	1,035	508	506	15
Ukraine	0	10	23	14	10	11	0
United Arab Emirates	0	0	35	35	0	0	0
United Kingdom	5,200	8,910	9,500	7,953	470	650	456
United States	14,000	23,220	90,000	60,000	6,800	8,475	2,313