2006 Taliban offensive

The 2006 Taliban offensive was a major military offensive launched by the Taliban in southern Afghanistan in the spring of 2006. The offensive was planned to unfold on three main fronts concentrated in the provinces of Helmand and Kandahar: the first front was to target northern Helmand, focusing on the districts of Sangin, Nowzad, and Kajaki. The second front aimed at southern Helmand, with a focus on the districts of Garmser and Nawa. The third, and most important, would be western Kandahar, targeting the districts of Maiwand, Zharey, and Panjwayi.

The offensive sparked a resurgence of the Taliban insurgency and marked the most significant escalation of the war in Afghanistan since the Taliban regime was overthrown in 2001. It led to the Taliban gaining control over a considerable amount of territory in the provinces of Helmand, Kandahar, Zabul, Uruzgan, Farah, and Ghazni by the year's end, in which the Taliban established their own administration based on Islamic law, operating independently from the Afghan government.