International Security Assistance Force

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), often called the Coalition Forces, is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan that was established by the United Nations Security Council in December 2001 by Resolution 1386, as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement. Its main purpose is to train the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and assist Afghanistan in rebuilding key government institutions but is also engaged in the 2001-present war with insurgent groups.

ISAF was initially charged with securing Kabul and surrounding areas from the Taliban, al Qaeda and factional warlords, so as to allow for the establishment of the Afghan Transitional Administration headed by Hamid Karzai. In October 2003, the UN Security Council authorized the expansion of the ISAF mission throughout Afghanistan, and ISAF subsequently expanded the mission in four main stages over the whole of the country. From 2006 to 2011, ISAF had been involved in increasingly more intensive combat operations in southern and eastern Afghanistan.

Troop contributors include from the United States, United Kingdom, NATO member states and a number of other countries. The intensity of the combat faced by contributing nations varies greatly, with the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada sustaining the majority of casualties in intensive combat operations, with other contributors sustaining significantly less. As of early 2010, there were at least 700 military bases inside Afghanistan but more were expected to be built in the coming years. About 400 of these were used by U.S.‑led NATO forces and 300 by ANSF.