The Afghan National Army (ANA) is the main branch of the military of Afghanistan and is responsible for land-based military operations or ground warfare to defend the nation against foreign military incursions. It is under the Ministry of Defense in Kabul and is assembled by NATO states. The Kabul Military Training Center and the National Military Academy of Afghanistan serve as the main compounds for training the new army. The Afghan Defense University (ADF), after completion, will serve as the primary educational institution for the army as well as the Afghan Air Force. The ANA is divided into six regional Corps, with about 300,000 active troops as of December 2011. The current Chief of Staff of the Afghan National Army is Lt. Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi.

Afghanistan's army traces its roots to the early 18th-century when the Hotaki dynasty was established in Kandahar followed by Ahmad Shah Durrani's rise to power. It was reorganized in 1880 during Emir Abdur Rahman Khan's reign. During World War I and World War II, Afghanistan remained a neutral state. From the 1960s to the early 1990s, the army of Afghanistan was equipped by the Soviet Union. By 1992, the national army fragmented into regional militias under various local warlords. This was followed by the Taliban government in the mid 1990s, which was minimally supported by the armed forces of Pakistan.