who had continued to fight the taliban, united as the northern alliance. it took just five weeks of fighting for the alliance to reach kabul. and on 12th november, 2001, they took the city. the taliban and al-qaeda fled to the mountains. today, after 20 years of western intervention in afghanistan, countless deaths, and trillions of dollars spent, history has turned full circle. the taliban are back in power. many afghans now fear a dark and uncertain future, while the us and western allies have left the field, humiliated byjust a few tens of thousands