The Gulf War, from August 28, 1990 to February 28, 1991, was fought between Iraq and a coalition force of about 30 nations led by the United States and mandated by the United Nations to liberate Kuwait, and it resulted in approximately 294 military fatalities. Its course included Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the movement of United States troops into Saudi Arabia, United Nations Resolution 678 demanding Iraqi withdrawal, the launch of Operation Desert Storm, attacks on Baghdad and other military targets, the destruction of Kuwaiti oilfields, a ground war after Iraq refused an ultimatum to leave Kuwait, Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait, and a coalition ceasefire. The War in Afghanistan began in 2001 after al Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001 while bin Laden was being sheltered in Afghanistan by the Taliban. After the Taliban refused a United States demand to hand over bin Laden, the war's public aims were to dismantle al Qaeda and deny it a safe base of operations in Afghanistan by removing the Taliban from power. Since those initial objectives were completed at the end of 2001, the war has mostly involved United States and allied Afghan government troops fighting Taliban insurgents, and it is identified as the longest war in United States history, resulting in over 2,200 United States military casualties. The Iraq War, from 2003 to 2011, had two phases: a conventionally fought invasion in March and April 2003 by forces primarily from the United States and Great Britain that defeated Iraqi military forces, and a second phase consisting of a United States occupation of Iraq. The war overthrew Saddam Hussein and led to his capture, trial, and execution, resulted in approximately 4,497 military fatalities, and suppression of militant factions including ISIS continued to the present. Key events included the invasion beginning on March 20, 2003, the fall of Baghdad on April 10, the Second Battle of Fallujah and the Battle of Mosul in 2004, the Battle of Ramadi in 2006, the end of American combat operations in Iraq on August 18, 2010 as the last combat brigade departed for Kuwait while 50,000 advise-and-consent troops remained, and the withdrawal of the last United States troops on December 18, 2011. In Afghanistan, United States and British airstrikes began on October 7, 2001 after the Taliban refused to hand over bin Laden, a Taliban stronghold fell on December 7 as bin Laden escaped to the mountains of Afghanistan, NATO deployed peacekeeping troops in August 2003, bin Laden was killed by U.S. Special Forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011, and by 2019 the war continued.