TIMELINE - International conference on Afganistan set to start

(Reuters) - Senior officials from nearly 90 countries are gathering in The Hague for a U.N.-backed conference on Afghanistan on Tuesday.

Here is a timeline of events in Afghanistan since 2001:

October 7, 2001 - U.S. bombing of Afghanistan begins, as Washington opens war on al Qaeda planners of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

November 13 - Anti-Taliban Northern Alliance forces enter Kabul.

December 5 - U.N.-sponsored Bonn conference creates a roadmap for political reform. Pashtun royalist Hamid Karzai emerges leader of interim government.

December 21 - British commandos, fly into the Afghan capital Kabul, the first members of the new U.N.-backed International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

December 22 - Hamid Karzai formally takes up the reins of power as head of a U.N.-backed interim government.

June 19, 2002 - Karzai is sworn in as president for the next 18 months after the Loya Jirga, or Grand Assembly, accepted his choice of a new cabinet.

July 6 - Haji Abdul Qadir, Afghan Vice-President and Public Works Minister is shot dead by two gunmen in Kabul.

September 5 - President Karzai narrowly escapes an assassination attempt in Kandahar.

December 18 - 23 donor nations promise Afghanistan $1.24 billion (873 million pounds) to help rebuild in 2003 after meeting in Oslo.

December 27 - Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan sign an agreement to build a multi-billion dollar 1,400-km (875-mile) natural gas pipeline connecting their states.

August 11, 2003 - NATO takes command of the 4,500 ISAF troops.

Jan 4, 2004 - Rival factions at Loya Jirga agree on a constitution.

October 9 - Presidential elections. Karzai is later declared winner with 55 percent of the vote. He is sworn in on December 7.

September 18, 2005 - Elections for lower house of parliament and provincial councils. Parliament sits for first time on December 19.

Jan 31, 2006 - Afghanistan receives pledges of $10.5 billion from nearly 70 countries and international bodies to help it fight poverty, improve security and tackle the drug trade.

May 12, 2007 - Mullah Dadullah, the Taliban's top operational commander in southern Afghanistan, is killed during a clash with Western and Afghan forces in Helmand province.

April 3, 2008 - NATO leaders confirm their "firm and shared long-term commitment" to Afghanistan but also pledge to aid a transition to Afghan forces by boosting their training.

December 5 - Karzai and new Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari pledge to boost cooperation in the fight against Islamic militants along their shared border.

March 27, 2009 - New U.S. President Barack Obama announces plans to send 4,000 more U.S. troops to train the army, along with civilian personnel to improve delivery of basic services.

-- The 4,000 will be in addition to the 17,000 combat troops Obama has already ordered ahead of Afghan elections in August. The 17,000 will reinforce 38,000 U.S. troops and 32,000 from some 40 NATO allies and other nations now in Afghanistan.

March 31 - International conference begins in The Hague.