Taliban

The Taliban (Pashto: طالبان‎ ṭālibān "students"), alternative spelling Taleban,[6] is an Islamic fundamentalist political movement in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The movement originates to Afghan refugees living in northern Pakistan.[7] It spread into Afghanistan and formed into a government, ruling as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from September 1996 until October 2001. However, it gained diplomatic recognition from only three states: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The main leader of the Taliban movement was at one time considered Mullah Mohammed Omar,[8] and Kandahar is considered the capital of the Taliban government.[9] However, the true co-founders of the Taliban are Sami ul Haq and Fazal-ur-Rehman [1][5][10]



While in power, it enforced its strict interpretation of Sharia law,[11] and leading Muslims have been highly critical of the Taliban's interpretations of Islamic law.[12] The Taliban were condemned internationally for their brutal treatment of women.[13][14] The majority of their leaders were influenced by Deobandi fundamentalism,[15] and many also strictly follow the social and cultural norm called Pashtunwali.[16]



From 1995-2001, the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence[17] and military[18] are widely alleged by the international community to have provided support to the Taliban. Their connections are possibly through Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, a terrorist group founded by Sami ul Haq.[19] Pakistan has been accused by many international officials of continuing to support the Taliban today, but Pakistan claims to have dropped all support for the group since 9/11.[20][21][22] Al Qaeda also supported the Taliban with regiments of imported fighters from Arab countries and Central Asia.[23][24][25] Saudi Arabia provided financial support.[26] The Taliban and their allies committed massacres against Afghan civilians,[27][28][29] denied UN food supplies to 160,000 starving civilians[30] and conducted a policy of scorched earth burning vast areas of fertile land and destroying tens of thousands of homes during their rule from 1996-2001.[31][32] Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee to United Front-controlled territory, Pakistan and Iran.[32]



After the attacks of September 11, 2001 the Taliban were overthrown by the American-led invasion of Afghanistan. Later it regrouped as an insurgency movement to fight the American-backed Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (established in late 2001) and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).[33] The Taliban have been accused of using terrorism as a specific tactic to further their ideological and political goals.[34][35] According to the United Nations, the Taliban and their allies were responsible for 75% of Afghan civilian casualties in 2010 and 80% in 2011.[36][37][38] Today the Taliban operate in Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan. It is believed one of their current major headquarters is near Quetta in Pakistan.