The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan and overthrew the Taliban regime in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Taliban was a fundamentalist, Islamic group that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. The group had allowed the Islamic terrorist group al Qaeda to established bases in the country. After the U.S.-led coalition took control of Afghanistan, the Taliban launched a long, bloody insurgency in an effort to regain power from a democratically elected, pro-Western government.