The two were later joined by other forces, including the Northern Alliance troops on the ground. The request was dismissed by the US as a meaningless delaying tactic, and it launched Operation Enduring Freedom on October 7, 2001, with the United Kingdom. The Taliban declined to extradite him unless given what they deemed convincing evidence of his involvement in the 9/11 attacks, and ignored demands to shut down terrorist bases and hand over other terrorist suspects apart from bin Laden. Bush demanded that the Taliban hand over Osama bin Laden and expel al-Qaeda bin Laden had already been wanted by the FBI since 1998. The invasion became the first phase of a 20-year long war in the country, and marked the beginning of the U.S. It followed the Afghan Civil War's 1996–2001 phase between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance groups, which resulted in the Taliban controlling 90% of the country by 2001. The United Kingdom was a key ally of the United States, offering support for military action from the start of preparations for the invasion. The invasion's public aims were to dismantle al-Qaeda, which had executed the September 11 attacks, and to deny it a safe base of operations in Afghanistan by removing the Taliban government from power.
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In late 2001, the United States, supported by its close allies, invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban government.