12th September 2001
Britain placed extensive military resources at the disposal of the USA for a retaliatory strike against the terrorists behind the 11th September attacks.

13th September 2001
Britain offered a Military Planning Team to the US to begin preparations for a strike against the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks of September 11th.

2nd October 2001
NATO invoked article 5 of the NATO treaty in response to the September 11th atrocities. Article five states, "An attack on any member of the Alliance is regarded as an attack on all countries of the Alliance." It is the first time the article has been invoked in NATO's history.

7th October 2001
The Coalition against terror launches its attacks on Afghanistan.

9th October 2001
NATO AEW aircraft are deployed to the USA to allow USAF assets to be deployed to theatre stations in preparation for a response to the 11th September attacks.

18-19 December 2001
Yemeni troops take action against a suspected al-Qaeda base in Yemen.

21 December 2001
SBS troops board MV Nisha, a cargo ship with a suspected cargo of anthrax or explosives. The SBS are backed up by HMS Sutherland, and the ship is moored in Sandown bay on the Isle of Wight while a search is conducted.

22 December 2001
A lone bomber is foiled in an attempt to blow up an American airlines 767. The bomber was trying to detonate a bomb in his shoe but was prevented by passengers and crew of the airliner. The airliner was then escorted By F-15s back to Boston's Logan Airport.

4th January 2002
Tony Blair arrives in India to try and prevent war between India and Pakistan, increased tensions having arisen since the suicide attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001.

6th January 2002
A teenage pilot flying a Cessna 172 aircraft crashes into a skyscraper in Tampa.

16th January 2001
NATO sends extra AWACs to guard America.

18th January 2002
The alleged shoe bomber, Richard Reid pleads not guilty in court in Boston, Massachusetts to trying to blow up a jet with explosives in his trainers on 22nd December 2001.
The Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, says Osama bin Laden is probably already dead from kidney failure after being denied regular dialysis treatment.

31st January 2002
President Bush threatens countries which support terrorism and names Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an 'axis of evil'.

1st February 2002
North Korea rejects the tag of 'Axis of Evil'.

4th February 2002
Italian Defence Minister Antonio Martino says, "Italy is hopeful that the U.S. will not spread its war against terrorism beyond Afghanistan" at a NATO conference.

4th February 2002
A US Predator unmanned aircraft vehicle attacks a compound in the Zawar Kili region of southeastern Afghanistan apparently killing several white-robed men, one of whom is suspected of being an al-Qaeda leader. On 9th February US Troops are ferried in to investigate the site after bad weather.

7th February 2002
President Bush applies the Geneva convention to Taliban detainees in Camp X-Ray but refuses them the rights of prisoners of war. Al-Qaeda fighters are classified as unlawful combatants because they do not represent any country which was a signee to the Geneva Convention of 1949.

9th February 2002
A top Iranian military officer threatens to destroy the Persian Gulf oil fields if the US threatens Iran in the war on terror.

25th March 2002
HMS Illustrious returns from her seven-month deployment which included Exercise Saif Saiera II and supporting the War on Terrorism in Afghanistan.