Over the last week, you may have heard about the Taliban a lot. But why? Well, it’s because, over the last week, the Taliban has recently taken over Afghanistan at a pace that hasn’t been seen before. But who are the Taliban? Why did they take Afghanistan so quickly? This article is going to answer your questions about the past and the present of the Tabilan.

 

The Origins of the Taliban and the Islamic Emirate (1994-2001)  

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The Taliban is a Deobandi Islamist religious-political movement and a military organization. The Taliban is Pashtun translates to the word “Students” as the group was a movement of religious students from the Pashtun areas who were educated in the Madrassas (traditional Islamic schools). It was founded by Mullah Mohammad Omar in September 1994 in Kandahar with 50 students. Mohammed Omar was unhappy with the fact that Sharia law wasn’t being implemented in Afghanistan. The group pledged to cleanse Afghanistan of its warlords and criminals. Within only a few months of its formation, the 15000 students from Pakistan (most of which were Afghan refugees) joined the group.

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They received a lot of help from the Pakistani ISI (Inter-services intelligence) and started to take over certain districts, and in 1995, the Taliban had taken the city of Kandahar. They became one of the major factions in the Afghan Civil War. By 1996 they had consolidated full power over Afghanistan and were backed by many Islamic groups and countries. After victory in the Civil War, the Taliban declared Afghanistan as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Ethnic minorities such as Tajiks, Uzbeks, Balochis resisted the Taliban rule as they re-established a state with Pashtun dominance. They forcefully converted Afghan Buddhists, Hindus, and Sikhs; however, this isn’t something only the Taliban did, Afghan monarchs throughout history have forced the conversions of religious minorities, which caused their population to dwindle.

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When the Taliban consolidated their rule, they banned several things such as cinema, tv, music, photography, kite flying, foreigners, clean shaves, and education for girls aged above 10. The empire was unstable where local warlords still rebelled and their resistance was heavy but the Taliban remained dominant in the major areas of Afghanistan. The Taliban also engaged in cultural genocide, destroying many monuments including the famous Buddhas of Bamiyan.

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In 2001, Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Ladin organized a terrorist attack in the United States. Members of the Al-Qaeda hijacked planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center. The Taliban provided a haven for Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. This built up to an American invasion of the Islamic Emirate along with the Northern Alliance after a rejected US ultimatum. Through the war, the Taliban would fund themselves through the Opium trade. The Taliban was beaten, and a republic was established, but the Taliban remained and continued to fight. This happened for 20 years and ended only recently.

 

The US Withdrawal and Taliban Takeover

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In early 2021, President Donald Trump had planned a slow and steady withdrawal from Afghanistan. However, his term came to an end and Joe Biden took the presidency. Joe Biden decided to get all American troops in Afghanistan to leave the country immediately. Biden thought this would be a sensible decision as they had been fighting the Taliban and training Afghan troops. As this was happening, the Taliban made massive gains at a rapid pace. This was because the Afghan soldiers were poorly trained and were very mismanaged. In certain districts, the Taliban would take districts with little to no resistance; simultaneously the Taliban was able to seize American weapons, giving them a huge advantage in taking control. Afghan soldiers feared the Taliban and therefore surrender to them very quickly so that citizens in the districts would be safe. This is how the Taliban was able to reach Kabul within a week.

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As the Taliban entered Kabul, citizens and foreigners rushed to the airport to get out of the country.  The President of Afghanistan fled the country, and the US embassy was evacuated via a helicopter; the scene looked like the evacuation of the US embassy in Vietnam in the Vietnam War.  The Taliban entered the parliament, and this marked the beginning of a new regime over Afghanistan. The Taliban now controls more of Afghanistan than they did from 1996-2001.

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As of now, there is some resistance forming against the Taliban in the form of a new Northern Alliance formed by Ahmed Massoud: they have taken 3 districts in Afghanistan so far. There are many foreigners stuck in Afghanistan who are being attacked by the Taliban and Anti-Taliban protests are taking place in Afghan cities.

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The Taliban that has taken power now claims to be different than the Taliban that ruled from 1996-2001. They have said that they will protect religious minorities, give positions of power to women and respect their rights within the limits of Islam. All as the Taliban justify their actions as a way to be recognized and gain support from the international community. 

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Written by: Sumer Gupta

Edited by: Aarushi Bansal

Designed by: Khusshi Arora