Editing 2001 (section)

== Conflicts ==
{{Main category|Conflicts in 2001}}
There were 34 active armed conflicts in 28 countries in 2001, the total numbers remaining unchanged from 2000. The majority of these conflicts took place in Africa and Asia: 14 occurred in Africa and 13 occurred in Asia.<ref name=":1" /> 15 were classified as "major armed conflicts"{{Efn|SIPRI defines a major armed conflict as "the use of armed force between two or more organized armed groups, resulting in the battle-related deaths of at least 1000 people in any single calendar year and in which the incompatibility concerns control of government, territory or communal identity".}} by the [[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Seybolt |first=Taylor B. |title=SIPRI Yearbook 2002: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security |publisher=[[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]] |year=2002 |isbn=9780199251766 |pages=21–62 |language=en |chapter=Major armed conflicts |chapter-url=https://www.sipri.org/yearbook/2002/01 |access-date=September 6, 2023 |archive-date=September 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906013004/https://www.sipri.org/yearbook/2002/01 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Rp|page=21}} Four new armed conflicts emerged in 2001: the [[2001 insurgency in Macedonia|insurgency in Macedonia]], the [[2001 Central African Republic coup d'état attempt|attempted coup in the Central African Republic]], the [[United States invasion of Afghanistan]], and the entry of Sierra Leone's [[Revolutionary United Front]] into the [[RFDG Insurgency]] in Guinea.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Gleditsch |first1=Nils Petter |last2=Wallensteen |first2=Peter |last3=Eriksson |first3=Mikael |last4=Sollenberg |first4=Margareta |last5=Strand |first5=Håvard |date=2002 |title=Armed Conflict 1946-2001: A New Dataset |journal=Journal of Peace Research |language=en |volume=39 |issue=5 |pages=615–637 |doi=10.1177/0022343302039005007 |issn=0022-3433 |s2cid=109206821 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The [[Sierra Leone Civil War]] was the only conflict that ended in 2001.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=21}}

=== Internal conflicts ===
{{Image frame|content=[[File:Visit of Laurent Désiré Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to the EC (cropped2).jpg|179px]] [[File:Pierre Buyoya and Ange-Félix Patassé collage.png|100px]]|width=283|align=right|caption=DRC President [[Laurent-Désiré Kabila]] (left) was assassinated on January 16. Burundi President [[Pierre Buyoya]] (top) and CAR President [[Ange-Félix Patassé]] both faced coup attempts.}}The [[Second Congo War]] continued with the [[Assassination of Laurent-Désiré Kabila|assassination]] of President [[Laurent-Désiré Kabila]] on January 16.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=29}} The 1999 ceasefire was mostly respected by the government and the various rebel groups, and United Nations ceasefire monitors established a presence throughout the year.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=30}} The [[Algerian Civil War]], the [[Angolan Civil War]], and the [[Burundian Civil War]] all saw continued fighting between governments and rebels in Africa.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|pages=24–29}} The latter began the peace process through a provisional government on November 1.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=27}} The [[Second Sudanese Civil War]] between the ruling [[National Islamic Front]] and various other groups escalated in 2001.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=37}} This included a sub-conflict, the [[War of the Peters]], which continued into 2001 until a ceasefire was negotiated in August.<ref name="auto6">{{Cite report |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3WQkACoP3FkC |title=Sudan, Oil, and Human Rights |last=Rone |first=Jemera |date=2003 |publisher=Human Rights Watch |page=77 |access-date=March 21, 2023 |archive-date=October 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002193114/https://books.google.com/books?id=3WQkACoP3FkC |url-status=live }}</ref>

Two failed coup attempts took place in 2001: a group of junior officers sought to overthrow President [[Pierre Buyoya]] in Burundi while he was out of the country on April 18,<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Chin |first1=John J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WyScEAAAQBAJ |title=Historical Dictionary of Modern Coups D'état |last2=Wright |first2=Joseph |last3=Carter |first3=David B. |date=2022-12-13 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-2068-2 |language=en |access-date=September 6, 2023 |archive-date=September 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929025204/https://books.google.com/books?id=WyScEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Rp|page=218}} and [[André Kolingba]], a former president of the Central African Republic, led a military coup against his successor [[Ange-Félix Patassé]] on May 28, causing several days of violence.<ref name=":2" />{{Rp|page=249}}

Several conflicts continued in Indonesia, though the [[insurgency in Aceh]] between the Indonesian government and the [[Free Aceh Movement]] was the only one to see widespread violence in 2001, as the war significantly escalated after the end of a ceasefire and breakdown of peace talks.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|pages=46–47}} The [[New People's Army rebellion]] saw two ceasefires between the Philippine government and the [[New People's Army]], separated by a brief surge of heavy fighting after the assassination of a member of parliament. A ceasefire was also established with the nation's other insurgent group, the [[Moro Islamic Liberation Front]].<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=49}} In Myanmar, the [[Karen conflict]] continued, and the [[Internal conflict in Myanmar#Shan State|insurgency of the Shan State]] resumed hostilities after a temporary peace in 1999.<ref name=":1" /> The [[Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam|Tamil Tigers]] declared a ceasefire and requested peace talks during the [[Eelam War III]] in Sri Lanka,<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=50}} but hostilities resumed on April 25, and the Tamil Tigers launched several suicide attacks in July, including the [[Bandaranaike Airport attack]].<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=51}} The [[Nepalese Civil War]] also saw increased hostilities in 2001.<ref name=":1" />

[[File:JuniAracinovo2001.jpg|thumb|Macedonian soldiers during the [[Battle of Aračinovo]]]]
The only major conflict in Europe was the [[Second Chechen War]] between the Russian government and the separatist [[Chechen Republic of Ichkeria]]. Russian forces controlled the republic's population centers, but Chechen forces continued to use [[guerrilla warfare]].<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=53}} Macedonia saw a smaller scale conflict between the Macedonian government and the [[National Liberation Army (Macedonia)|National Liberation Army]] (NLA), which sought reform for the status of Albanian people in Macedonia.<ref name="Marusic-2021">{{Cite web |last=Marusic |first=Sinisa Jakov |date=2021-01-22 |title=20 Years On, Armed Conflict's Legacy Endures in North Macedonia |url=https://balkaninsight.com/2021/01/22/20-years-on-armed-conflicts-legacy-endures-in-north-macedonia/ |access-date=2022-11-29 |website=Balkan Insight |language=en-US |archive-date=November 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127025258/https://balkaninsight.com/2021/01/22/20-years-on-armed-conflicts-legacy-endures-in-north-macedonia/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Operation Essential Harvest|deployment of NATO peacekeeping forces]] to Macedonia was authorized on August 21.<ref name="NATO-2001" /> Yugoslavia similarly saw [[insurgency in the Preševo Valley|an insurgency]] by Albanian rebels, but the conflict did not escalate.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=53}} The only major conflict in South America was the [[Colombian conflict]] between the Colombian government and various far-left and far-right groups.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=58}} The [[United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia]] expanded into Ecuador in 2001 and carried out attacks on Ecuadorian citizens.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=60}}

=== International conflicts ===
The [[2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff]] was the only conflict between two national governments in 2001.<ref name=":1" /> The territorial dispute over the region of [[Kashmir]] consisted primarily of small scale attacks by militant groups until two attacks on Indian legislature buildings: one [[2001 Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly car bombing|in October]] and one [[2001 Indian Parliament attack|in December]]. The latter provoked a major escalation of troop deployments with preparations for a major war.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=46}}

The [[Second Intifada]] continued from the previous year between Israel and Palestine.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=55}} The conflict escalated into an undeclared war in which Palestinian militants targeted Israeli civilians with weapons and suicide bombers with the Israeli military responding with fighter jets and missile strikes against Palestinians.<ref name=":5" />{{Rp|page=279}} Every ceasefire ended within a day of its establishment.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=56}}

==== September 11 attacks and invasion of Afghanistan ====
{{Main|September 11 attacks|United States invasion of Afghanistan}}
[[File:Explosion following the plane impact into the South Tower (WTC 2) - B6019~11.jpg|thumb|The [[September 11 attacks]] were a defining event of the year 2001.]]
The September 11 attacks were carried out by [[Al-Qaeda]] when 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes and crashed two of them into the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]], one into [[the Pentagon]], and one near [[Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania|Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania]]. 2,977 people were killed;<ref name="Nadeem-2021">{{Cite web |last=Nadeem |first=Reem |date=2021-09-02 |title=Two Decades Later, the Enduring Legacy of 9/11 |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/09/02/two-decades-later-the-enduring-legacy-of-9-11/ |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=Pew Research Center - U.S. Politics & Policy |language=en-US |archive-date=November 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124003208/https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2021/09/02/two-decades-later-the-enduring-legacy-of-9-11/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="UN OCT-2021">{{Cite web |date=2021-09-20 |title=The United Nations pays tribute to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at the 9/11 Memorial in New York |url=https://www.un.org/counterterrorism/events/un-pays-tribute-to-victims-911-terrorist-attacks |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism |archive-date=January 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118013139/https://www.un.org/counterterrorism/events/un-pays-tribute-to-victims-911-terrorist-attacks |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="CNN-2013">{{Cite web |date=2013-07-27 |title=September 11 Terror Attacks Fast Facts |url=https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/27/us/september-11-anniversary-fast-facts/index.html |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=June 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190603190712/https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/27/us/september-11-anniversary-fast-facts/ |url-status=live }}</ref> the attacks and the subsequent [[global war on terror]] are widely recognized as events that defined 2001.<ref name=":10" />{{Rp|page=1}}<ref name=":5" />{{Rp|page=8}} This was internationally recognized as an armed attack against the United States under the [[Charter of the United Nations|UN charter]], and [[NATO]] invoked [[Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty]] for the first time in its history.<ref name=":10" />{{Rp|page=491}}

The [[Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)|Afghan Civil War]] between the ''de jure'' [[Northern Alliance]] government and the ''de facto'' [[Taliban]] government continued from previous years.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=39}} When the Taliban refused to extradite Al-Qaeda leader [[Osama bin Laden]], the United States led a [[Participants in Operation Enduring Freedom|multi-national coalition]] in an invasion of Afghanistan on 7 October.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=41}} The American-led coalition and the Northern Alliance captured Afghan cities until the Taliban [[Fall of Kandahar|surrendered]] to the Northern Alliance in [[Kandahar]] on December 6.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|page=42}} The American-led coalition [[Battle of Tora Bora|attacked]] the Al-Qaeda headquarters in [[Tora Bora]] in December, but Al-Qaeda's leadership had gone into hiding. An interim government of Afghanistan led by&nbsp;[[Hamid Karzai]] was formed on December 22.<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|pages=42–43}}