Etymology
The word ''Taliban'' is Pashto, {{lang, ps, طَالِباَنْ ({{transliteration, ps, ṭālibān), meaning "students", the plural of {{transliteration, ps, Talibe, ṭālib. This is a loanword from Arabic {{lang, ar, طَالِبْ ({{transliteration, ar, ṭālib), using the Pashto plural ending ''-ān'' {{lang, ps, اَنْ. (In Arabic {{lang, ar, طَالِبَانْ ({{transliteration, ar, ṭālibān) means not "students" but rather "two students", as it is a Dual (grammatical number), dual form, the Arabic plural being {{lang, ar, طُلَّابْ ({{transliteration, ar, ṭullāb)—occasionally causing some confusion to Arabic speakers.) Since becoming a loanword in English, ''Taliban'', besides a plural noun referring to the group, has also been used as a singular noun referring to an individual. For example, John Walker Lindh has been referred to as "an American Taliban" rather than "an American Talib" in domestic media. This is different in Afghanistan, where a member or a supporter of the group is referred to as a ''Talib'' (طَالِبْ) or its plural ''Talib-ha'' (طَالِبْهَا). In other definitions, Taliban means 'seekers'. In English, the spelling ''Taliban'' has gained predominance over the spelling ''Taleban''.{{Cite web , date=28 December 2006 , title=English <-> Arabic Online Dictionary , url=http://online.ectaco.co.uk/main.jsp?do=e-services-dictionaries-word_translate1&status=translate&lang1=23&lang2=ar&source_id=2248807 , access-date=2 September 2012 , publisher=Online.ectaco.co.uk In American English, the definite article is used, the group is referred to as "the Taliban", rather than "Taliban". In English-language media in Pakistan, the definite article is always omitted. Both Pakistani English, Pakistani and Indian English-language media tend to name the group "Afghan Taliban", thus distinguishing it from the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Pakistani Taliban. Additionally, in Pakistan, the word ''Talibans'' is often used when referring to more than one Taliban member. In Afghanistan, the Taliban is frequently called the {{lang, fa, گرُوهْ طَالِبَانْ ({{transliteration, fa, Goroh-e Taleban), Dari term which means 'Taliban group'. As per Dari/Persian grammar, there is no "the" prefix. Meanwhile, in Pashto, a determiner (linguistics), determiner is normally used and as a result, the group is normally referred to as per Pashto grammar: {{lang, ps, دَ طَالِبَانْ ({{transliteration, pa, Da Taliban) or {{lang, ps, دَ طَالِبَانُو ({{transliteration, pa, Da Talibano).Background
{{Main, Afghan conflict {{further, History of Afghanistan (1978–1992), History of Afghanistan (1992–present)Soviet intervention in Afghanistan (1978–1992)
Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)
{{See also, Afghan Civil War (1992–1996), Battle of Kabul (1992–1996) In April 1992, after the fall of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, Soviet-backed régime of Mohammad Najibullah, many Afghan political parties agreed on a peace and power-sharing agreement, the Peshawar Accord, which created theHistory
{{Main, History of the Taliban {{Further, Afghan Civil War (1996–2001), Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001), War in Afghanistan (2001–2021), Taliban insurgency The Taliban movement originated in Pashtun nationalism, and its ideological underpinnings are with that of broader Afghan society. The Taliban's roots lie in the religious schools of2021 offensive and return to power
{{Main, 2021 Taliban offensive, Fall of Kabul (2021) {{Further, , Afghanistan#Taliban resurgenceIslamic Emirate of Afghanistan (2021–present)
The Taliban had "seized power from an established government backed by some of the world's best-equipped militaries"; and as an ideological insurgent movement dedicated to "bringing about a truly Islamic state" its victory has been compared to that of the Chinese Communist Revolution in 1949 or Iranian Revolution of 1979, with their "sweeping" remake of society. However, as of 2021–2022, senior Taliban leaders have emphasized the "softness" of their revolution and how they desired "good relations" with the United States, in discussions with American journalist Jon Lee Anderson. Anderson notes that the Taliban's war against any "Aniconism in Islam, graven images", so vigorous in their early rule, has been abandoned, perhaps made impossible by smartphones and Instagram. One local observer (Sayed Hamid Gailani) has argued the Taliban have not killed "a lot" of people after returning to power. Women are seen out on the street, Zabihullah Mujahid (acting Deputy Minister of Information and Culture) noted there are still women working in a number of government ministries, and claimed that girls will be allowed to attend secondary education when bank funds are unfrozen and the government can fund "separate" spaces and transportation for them. When asked about the slaughter of Hazara Shia by the first Taliban régime, Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban nominee for Ambassador to the U.N. told Anderson "The Hazara Shia for us are also Muslim. We believe we are one, like flowers in a garden." In late 2021, journalists from ''The New York Times'' Embedded journalism, embedded with a six-man Taliban unit tasked with protecting the Shi'ite Sakhi Shrine in Kabul from the Islamic State, noting "how seriously the men appeared to take their assignment." The unit's commander said that "We do not care which ethnic group we serve, our goal is to serve and provide security for Afghans." In response to "international criticism" over lack of diversity, an ethnic Hazara was appointed deputy health minister, and an ethnic Tajik appointed deputy trade minister. On the other hand, the Ministry of Women's Affairs (Afghanistan), Ministry of Women's Affairs has been closed and its building is the new home of Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Afghanistan), Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. According to Anderson, some women still employed by the government are "being forced to sign in at their jobs and then go home, to create the illusion of equity"; and the appointment of ethnic minorities has been dismissed by an "adviser to the Taliban" as tokenism. Reports have "circulated" of"Hazara farmers being forced from their land by ethnic Pashtuns, of raids of activists' homes, and of extrajudicial executions of former government soldiers and intelligence agents".According to a Human Rights Watch's report released in November 2021, the Taliban killed or forcibly disappeared more than 100 former members of the Afghan security forces in the three months since the takeover in just the four provinces of Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, and Kunduz. According to the report, the Taliban identified targets for arrest and execution through intelligence operations and access to employment records that were left behind. Former members of the security forces were also killed by the Taliban within days of registering with them to receive a letter guaranteeing their safety. Despite Taliban claims that the ISIS has been defeated, IS carried out suicide bombings in October 2021 at Shia mosques 2021 Kunduz mosque bombing, in Kunduz 2021 Kandahar bombing, and Kandahar, killing over 115 people. As of late 2021, there were still "sticky bomb" explosions "every few days" in the capital Kabul. Explanations for the relative moderation of the new Taliban government and statements from its officials such as – "We have started a new page. We do not want to be entangled with the past," –?include that it did not expect to take over the country so quickly and still had "problems to work out among" their factions"; that $7 billion in Afghan government funds in US banks has been frozen, and that the 80% of the previous government's budget that came from "the United States, its partners, or international lenders", has been shut off, creating serious economic crisis; according to the U.N. World Food Program country director, Mary Ellen McGroarty, as of late 2021, early 2022 "22.8 million Afghans are already severely food insecure, and seven million of them are one step away from famine"; and that the world community has "unanimously" asked the Taliban "to form an inclusive government, ensure the rights of women and minorities and guarantee that Afghanistan will no more serve as the launching pad for global terrorist operations", before it recognizes the Taliban government.{{cite news , last1=Haider , first1=Nasim , title=Why is the world not recognizing the Taliban government? , url=https://www.geo.tv/latest/386122-why-is-the-world-not-recognizing-the-taliban-government , access-date=4 March 2022 , agency=AFP , publisher=Geo News , date=6 December 2021 In conversation with journalist Anderson, senior Taliban leaders implied that the harsh application of sharia during their first era of rule in the 1990s was necessary because of the "depravity" and "chaos" that remained from the Soviet occupation, but that now "mercy and compassion" were the order of the day. This was contradicted by former senior members of the Ministry of Women's Affairs, one of which who told Anderson, "they will do anything to convince the international community to give them financing, but eventually I'll be forced to wear the burqa again. They are just waiting." After Taliban retook power in 2021, border clashes erupted between the Taliban with its neighbors includes 2021 Afghanistan–Iran clashes, Iran and Afghanistan–Pakistan border skirmishes, Pakistan, leading to casualties on both sides. In the early months of Taliban rule, international journalists have had some access to Afghanistan. In February 2022, several international journalists, including Andrew North (journalist), Andrew North were detained. The Committee to Protect Journalists described their detention as "a sad reflection of the overall decline of press freedom and increasing attacks on journalists under Taliban rule." The journalists were released after several days. Subsequently, watchdog organizations have continued to document a number of arrests of local journalists, as well as barring access to international journalists. The country's small community of Sikhs - who form Afghanistan's second largest religion - as well as Hindus, have reportedly been prevented from celebrating their holidays as of 2023 by the Taliban government. Despite this, the Taliban in a later statement praised the communities and assured that their private land and property will be secured.{{Cite news , last=Bhattacherjee , first=Kallol , date=2024-04-15 , title=Taliban is 'particularly committed' to protect rights of Hindus and Sikhs: Spokesperson of Taliban 'Justice Ministry' , url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/taliban-is-particularly-committed-to-protect-rights-of-hindus-and-sikhs-spokesperson-of-taliban-justice-ministry/article68068378.ece , access-date=2024-04-17 , work=The Hindu , issn=0971-751X In April 2024, the former sole Sikh member of parliament, Narendra Singh Khalsa, returned to Afghanistan for the first time since the collapse of the Republic.
=Current education policy
= In September 2021, the government ordered primary schools to reopen for both sexes and announced plans to reopen secondary education, secondary schools for male students, without committing to do the same for female students.{{cite news , url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/17/taliban-ban-girls-from-secondary-education-in-afghanistan , title=Taliban ban girls from secondary education in Afghanistan , last=Graham-Harrison , first=Emma , work=The Guardian , date=17 September 2021 , access-date=18 September 2021 While the Taliban stated that female college students will be able to resume Higher education in Afghanistan, higher education provided that they are segregated from male students (and professors, when possible),{{Cite web, date=2021-09-13, title=Taliban say women can study at university but classes must be segregated, url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/taliban-say-woman-can-study-university-classes-must-be-segregated-2021-09-12/, access-date=2021-09-21, website=Reuters ''The Guardian'' noted that "if the high schools do not reopen for girls, the commitments to allow university education would become meaningless once the current cohort of students graduated." Ministry of Higher Education (Afghanistan), Higher Education Minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani said that female university students will be required to observe proper hijab, but did not specify if this required covering the face. Kabul University reopened in February 2022, with female students attending in the morning and males in the afternoon. Other than the closure of the music department, few changes to the curriculum were reported.{{cite web, last=Kullab, first=Samya, url=https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-education-higher-education-kabul-taliban-e57683e739550cb4a14687a96d5191dc?utm, title=Afghan students return to Kabul U, but with restrictions, work=Associated Press, date=2022-02-26, access-date=2022-03-23 Female students were officially required to wear an abaya and a hijab to attend, although some wore a shawl instead. Attendance was reportedly low on the first day. In March 2022, the Taliban abruptly halted plans to allow girls to resume secondary school education even when separated from males. At the time, ''The Washington Post'' reported that apart from university students, "sixth is now the highest grade girls may attend". The Afghan Ministry of Education cited the lack of an acceptable design for female student uniforms. On December 20, 2022, in violation of their prior promises, the Taliban banned female students from attending higher education institutions with immediate effect. The following day, December 21, 2022, the Taliban instituted a ban on all education for all girls and women around the country alongside a ban on female staff in schools, including teaching professions. Teaching was one of the last few remaining professions open to women.Ideology and aims
{{Deobandi The Taliban's ideology has been described as an "innovative form of ''sharia'' combining Pashtun tribal codes",{{Cite book , last=Martin , first=Richard C. , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TTUOAQAAMAAJ , title=Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World , date=2004 , publisher=Macmillan Reference US , isbn=978-0-02-865605-2 orIdeological influences
The Taliban's religious/political philosophy, especially during its first régime from 1996 to 2001, was heavily advised and influenced by Grand Mufti Rashid Ahmed Ludhianvi and his works. Its operating political and religious principles since its founding, however, were modeled on those of Abul A'la Maududi and the Jamaat-e-Islami movement.Pashtun cultural influences
The Taliban, being largely Pashtun tribespeople, frequently follow a pre-Islamic cultural tribal code that is focused on preserving honor.Islamic rules under Deobandi philosophy
Prohibitions
The Taliban forbade the consumption of pork and alcohol, the use of many types of consumer technology such as music with instrumental accompaniments,{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, pages=35–36 television,{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, pages=35–36 filming,{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, pages=35–36 and the Internet, as well as most forms of art such as paintings or photography,{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, pages=35–36 participation in sports,{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, page=35 including association football, football and chess;{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, page=35 recreational activities such as kite-flying and the keeping of pigeons and other pets were also forbidden, and the birds were killed according to the Taliban's rules.{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, page=35 Movie theatres were closed and repurposed as mosques.{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, page=35 The celebration of the New Year's Day, Western and Nauroz, Iranian New Years was also forbidden.{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, page=36 Taking photographs and displaying pictures and portraits were also banned because the Taliban considered them forms of Idolatry#Islam, idolatry.{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, page=35 This extended even to "blacking out illustrations on packages of baby soap in shops and painting over road-crossing signs for livestock. Women were banned from working,{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, page=34 girls were forbidden to attend schools or universities,{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, page=34 were required to observe ''purdah'' (physical separation of the sexes) and ''awrah'' (concealing the body with clothing), and to be accompanied by male relatives outside their households; those who violated these restrictions were punished.{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, page=34 Men were forbidden to shave their beards, and they were also required to let them grow and keep them long according to the Taliban's rules, and they were also required to wear turbans outside their households.{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, page=37{{Cite web , date=4 March 2002 , title=US Country Report on Human Rights Practices – Afghanistan 2001 , url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/sa/8222.htm , access-date=4 March 2020 , publisher=State.gov Salah, Prayer was made compulsory. Those men who did not respect the religious obligation after the ''Adhan, azaan'' were arrested.{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, page=37 Gambling in Islam, Gambling was banned,{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, page=36 and the Taliban punished thieves by Islam and violence#Islam and crime, amputating their hands or feet.{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, page=35 In 2000, the Taliban's leader Mullah Omar officially banned Opium production in Afghanistan, opium cultivation and drug trafficking in Afghanistan;{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, page=39{{Cite journal , last1=Farrell , first1=Graham , last2=Thorne , first2=John , date=March 2005 , title=Where Have All the Flowers Gone?: Evaluation of the Taliban Crackdown Against Opium Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan , url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/28576871 , journal=International Journal of Drug Policy , publisher=Elsevier , volume=16 , issue=2 , pages=81–91 , doi=10.1016/j.drugpo.2004.07.007 , via=ResearchGate{{Cite book , last=Ghiabi , first=Maziyar , title=Drugs Politics: Managing Disorder in the Islamic Republic of Iran , publisher=Cambridge University Press , year=2019 , isbn=978-1-108-47545-7 , location=Cambridge , pages=101–102 , chapter=Crisis as an Idiom for Reforms , lccn=2019001098 , chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HoOWDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 the Taliban succeeded in nearly eradicating the majority of the opium production (99%) by 2001. During the Taliban's governance of Afghanistan, drug users and dealers were both severely persecuted.{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, page=39Views on the Bamyan Buddhas
Views on ''bacha bazi''
{{Main, Bacha bazi {{further, LGBT in Islam The Afghan custom of ''bacha bazi'', a form of Pederasty, pederastic sexual slavery, child sexual abuse and pedophilia which is traditionally practiced in various provinces of Afghanistan between older men and young adolescent "dancing boys", was also forbidden under the six-year rule of the Taliban régime. Under the rule of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, it carried the Capital punishment in Islam, death penalty. The practice remained illegal during the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan's rule, but the laws were seldom enforced against powerful offenders, and Afghan police, police had reportedly been complicit in related crimes.Bannerman, MarAttitudes towards other Muslim communities
Unlike other Islamic fundamentalist organizations, the Taliban are not Salafi movement, Salafists. Although wealthy Arab nations had brought Salafist Madrasas to Afghanistan during the Soviet war in the 1980s, the Taliban's strict Deobandi leadership suppressed the Salafi movement in Afghanistan after it first came to power in the 1990s. Following the 2001 US invasion, the Taliban and Salafists joined forces to wage a common war against NATO forces. Still, Salafists were relegated to small groups which were under the Taliban's command. The Taliban are averse to debating doctrine with other Muslims and "did not allow even Muslim reporters to question [their] edicts or to discuss interpretations of the Qur'an."{{Harvnb, Rashid, 2000, p=107.Opposition to Salafism
Following the Taliban victory, a nationwide campaign was launched against influential Salafi factions suspected of past ties to the Islamic State – Khorasan Province, ISIS–K. The Taliban closed most Salafi mosques and seminaries in 16 provinces, including Nangarhar Province, Nangarhar, and detained Clergy, clerics it accused of supporting the Islamic State.Shia Islam
During the period of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001), first Taliban rule (1996 to 2001), the Taliban attempted to sway Shias, particularly Hazaras, to their side, making deals with a number of Shia political figures, as well as securing the support of some Shia religious scholars.{{Cite web , last=Moiz , first=Ibrahim , date=2021-06-14 , title=Niazi No More: The Life and Legacy of a Taliban Mutineer , url=https://afghaneye.org/2021/06/14/niazi-no-more-the-life-and-legacy-of-a-taliban-mutineer/ , access-date=3 June 2023 , website=The Afghan Eye , quote=Contrary to some understandable, but inflated, claims ..., the Taliban had not intended to either wipe out Hazaras or Shias from the land; in fact they canvassed the support of several Hazara commanders, seniormost a former enemy called Muhammad Akbari, and even obtained the approval of some Shia clerics. {{Dead link, date=June 2025 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes One of these was Ustad Muhammad Akbari, a Shia Hazara politician who separated from Abdul-Ali Mazari's Hezbe Wahdat, Islamic Unity Party to form the National Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan, National Islamic Unity Party, thereafter politically aligning himself and his group, which gained the support of the majority of Islamic Unity Party members in the Hazarajat, Hazara hinterland, with the Taliban. Another significant Shia political figure in the administration of the first Islamic Emirate was Sayed Gardizi, a Seyyed Hazara, Sayed Hazara from Gardez, Gardiz, who was appointed as the ''wuluswal'' (district governor) of Yakawlang District, Yakawlang district, being the only Shia to hold the position of district governor during the period of the first Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. At the same time, however, certain incidents caused distrust between the Taliban and Afghan Shias. The 1998 Mazar-i-Sharif massacre was the most significant, having taken place in response to ethnic Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, Abdur-Rashid Dustum's betrayal and subsequent massacre of Taliban fighters, as well as false rumors that Hazaras had beheaded senior Taliban leader Mawlawi Ihsanullah Ihsan at the grave of Abdul-Ali Mazari, which led to the massacre of a significant number of Hazaras. The commander responsible for the massacre, Abdul-Manan Niazi, later became notable for his opposition to the Taliban's leadership, having formed the rebellious High Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in 2015, before being killed, reportedly by the Taliban themselves.{{Cite news , last=Ali , date=26 May 2021 , title=Assassination of Taliban splinter group leader exposes internal divisions , website=Salaam Times , url=https://afghanistan.asia-news.com/en_GB/articles/cnmi_st/features/2021/05/26/feature-02 , access-date=2022-05-12 The desire of the Taliban leadership to expand the group's relations with Afghan Shias continued after the American invasion of Afghanistan and the group's return to insurgency. Some time following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, American Invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Taliban published "A Message to the Mujahid People of Iraq and Afghanistan" by Mullah Omar, in which he condemned sectarianism whilst jointly addressing the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, saying:"It's incumbent upon all Muslims to thwart all the cursed plots of the cunning enemy, and to not give him the opportunity to light the fires of disagreement amongst the Muslims. A major component of American policy is to categorize the Muslims in Iraq with the labels of Shī’ah and Sunnī, and in Afghanistan with the labels of Pashtun, Tājīk, Hazārah and Uzbek, in order to decrease the severity and strength of the popular uprisings and the accompanying armed resistance. […] As such, I request the brothers in Iraq to put behind them the differences that exist in the name of Shī’ah and Sunnī, and to fight in unity against the occupying enemy, for victory is not possible without unity."Multiple Hazara Shia Taliban commanders took part in the Taliban insurgency, primarily from Bamyan and Daykundi Province, Daikundi provinces. Among the Qara Baghi (Hazara tribe), Qarabaghi tribe of Shia Hazaras, a number of fighters voluntarily joined the Taliban due to their close relations with the nearby Taliban-supporting Sunni Pashtun population. Additionally, a pro-government Shia Hazara militia from Gizab District, Gizab district of Daikundi province, called Fedayi, defected and pledged allegiance to the Taliban a few years before 2016, with a reported size of 50 fighters. In reaction to the 2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings, which targeted Shia Afghans in Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif, the Taliban published "Sectarian Killings; A Dangerous Enemy Conspiracy" by Taliban official Abdul Qahar Balkhi, Abdul-Qahhar Balkhi, in which he stated:
"In Afghanistan, Sunnis and Shias have co-existed for centuries. They live communal lives and participate in their mutual festivities. And for centuries they have fought shoulder to shoulder against foreign invaders. [...] The majority of Shia populations in Bamyan, Daikundi and Hazarajat [have] actively aided and continue to support the Mujahideen against the foreigners and their puppets. The foreign occupiers seek to ignite the flames of communal hatred and violence between Sunnis and Shias in Afghanistan. [...] The followers of Islam will only ever reclaim their rightful place in this world if they forgo their petty differences and unite as a single egalitarian body."In recent years, the Taliban have once again attempted to court Shiites, appointing a Shia cleric as a regional governor and recruiting Hazaras to fight against ISIS–K, in order to distance themselves from their past reputation and improve their relations with the Shia-led Government of Iran. After the 2021 Taliban offensive, which led to the restoration of the Islamic Emirate, senior Taliban officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi and Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, have stressed the importance of unity between Shiites and Sunnis in Afghanistan and promised to protect the Shiite community. The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Afghanistan), Ministry of Virtue and Vice have also agreed to hire Shia Ulama in order to implement the ministry's religious edicts. In general, the Taliban has maintained peace with most Muslims in the Shiite community, although the 2022 Balkhab uprising resulted in the deaths of some Hazaras.
Consistency of the Taliban's ideology
The Taliban's ideology is not static. Before its capture of Kabul, members of the Taliban talked about stepping aside once a government of "good Muslims" took power and once law and order were restored. The decision-making process of the Taliban in Kandahar was modelled on the Pashtun tribal council (''jirga''), together with what was believed to be the early Islamic model. Discussion was followed by the building of a consensus by the believers.{{Harvnb, Rashid, 2000, p=95. As the Taliban's power grew, Mullah Omar made decisions without consulting the ''jirga'' or visiting other parts of the country. He visited the capital, Kabul, only twice while in power. Taliban spokesman Mullah Wakil explained: {{blockquote, Decisions are based on the advice of the ''Amir-ul Momineen''. For us consultation is not necessary. We believe that this is in line with the ''Sharia''. We abide by the Amir's view even if he alone takes this view. There will not be a head of state. Instead there will be an Amir al-Mu'minin. Mullah Omar will be the highest authority and the government will not be able to implement any decision to which he does not agree. General elections are incompatible with ''Sharia'' and therefore we reject them.Interview with Taliban spokesman Mullah Wakil in Arabic magazine ''Al-Majallah'', 1996-10-23. Another sign that the Taliban's ideology was evolving was Mullah Omar's 1999 decree in which he called for the protection of the Buddha statues at Bamyan and the destruction of them in 2001.Evaluations and criticisms
The author Ahmed Rashid suggests that the devastation and hardship which resulted from the Soviet–Afghan War, Soviet invasion and the period which followed it influenced the Taliban's ideology.{{Harvnb, Rashid, 2000, p=32. It is said that the Taliban did not include scholars who were learned in Islamic law and history. The refugee students brought up in a totally male society had no education in mathematics, science, history, or geography, no traditional skills of farming, herding, or handicraft-making, or even knowledge of their tribal and clan lineages. In such an environment, war meant employment, peace meant unemployment. Dominating women affirmed manhood. For their leadership, rigid fundamentalism was a matter of principle and political survival. Taliban leaders "repeatedly told" Rashid that "if they gave women greater freedom or a chance to go to school, they would lose the support of their rank and file."Last year you rebelled against us and killed us. From all your homes you shot at us. Now we are here to deal with you. The Hazaras are not Muslims and now have to kill Hazaras. You either accept to be Muslims or leave Afghanistan. Wherever you go we will catch you. If you go up we will pull you down by your feet; if you hide below, we will pull you up by your hair.Carter Malkasian, in one of the first comprehensive historical works on the Afghan war, argues that the Taliban are oversimplified in most portrayals. While Malkasian thinks that "oppressive" remains the best word to describe them, he points out that the Taliban managed to do what multiple governments and political players failed to: bring order and unity to the "ungovernable land". The Taliban curbed the atrocities and excesses of the Warlord period of the civil war from 1992{{En dash1996. Malkasian further argues that the Taliban's imposing of Islamic ideals upon the Afghan tribal system was innovative and a key reason for their success and durability. Given that traditional sources of authority had been shown to be weak during the long period of civil war, only religion had proved decisive in Afghanistan. In a period of 40 years of constant conflict, the traditionalist Islam of the Taliban proved to be far more stable, even if the order they brought was "an impoverished peace".{{Cite book, last=Malkasian, first=Carter, url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1240264784, title=The American war in Afghanistan: a history, date=2021, publisher=Oxford University Press, isbn=978-0-19-755077-9, location=New York, oclc=1240264784{{Rp, 50–51
Condemned practices
{{See also, Human rights in Afghanistan, Persecution of Hazara people#Afghanistan, War crimes in Afghanistan#TalibanThe Taliban have been internationally condemned for their harsh enforcement of their interpretation of Islamic ''Sharia'' law, which has resulted in their brutal treatment of many Afghans. During their rule from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban enforced a strict interpretation of ''Sharia'', or Islamic law.{{sfn, Matinuddin, 1999, pages=37, 42–43 The Taliban and their allies committed massacres against Afghan civilians, denied UN food supplies to 160,000 starving civilians, and conducted a policy of scorched earth, burning vast areas of fertile land and destroying tens of thousands of homes. While the Taliban controlled Afghanistan, they banned activities and media including paintings, photography, and movies that depicted people or other living things. They also prohibited music with instrumental accompaniments, with the exception of the daf, a type of frame drum.{{Cite news , title=Ethnomusicologist Discusses Taliban Vs. Musicians , url=https://www.rferl.org/a/British_Ethnomusicologist_Discusses_Talibans_Campaign_Against_Musicians/1753865.html , access-date=13 August 2021 , newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, date=23 June 2009 The Taliban prevented girls and young women from attending school, banned women from working jobs outside of healthcare (male doctors were prohibited from treating women), and required that women be accompanied by a male relative and wear a burqa at all times when in public. If women broke certain rules, they were publicly Flagellation, whipped or Public execution, executed. The Taliban harshly discriminated against religious and ethnic minorities during their rule and they have also committed a cultural genocide against the people of Afghanistan by destroying numerous monuments, including the famous 1500-year-old Buddhas of Bamiyan. According to the United Nations, the Taliban and their allies were responsible for 76% of Afghan Civilian casualties in the war in Afghanistan (2001–2021), civilian casualties in 2010, and 80% in 2011 and 2012. The group is internally funded by its involvement in the illegal drug trade which it participates in by producing and trafficking in narcotics such as heroin,{{Cite web , last=O’Donnell , first=Lynne , title=The Taliban Are Breaking Bad , date=19 July 2021 , url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/07/19/taliban-expanding-drug-trade-meth-heroin/{{Cite web , author=Bureau of Public Affairs, Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information , title=The Taliban, Terrorism, and Drug Trade , url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/inl/rls/rm/sep_oct/5210.htm , website=2001-2009.state.gov extortion, and kidnapping for ransom.{{Cite web , title=Where Are the Taliban Getting Their Money? , url=https://www.voanews.com/a/us-afghanistan-troop-withdrawal_where-are-taliban-getting-their-money/6209559.html , website=Voice of America, date=13 August 2021 They also seized control of mining operations in the mid-2010s that were illegal under the previous government.{{Cite news , date=27 August 2021 , title=Afghanistan: How do the Taliban make money? , work=BBC News , url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-46554097Massacre campaigns
According to a 55-page report by the United Nations, the Taliban, while trying to consolidate control over northern and western Afghanistan, committed systematic massacres against civilians. UN officials stated that there had been "15 massacres" between 1996 and 2001. They also said, that "[t]hese have been highly systematic and they all lead back to the [Taliban] Ministry of Defense or to Mullah Omar himself." "These are the same type of war crimes as were committed in Bosnia and should be prosecuted in international courts", one UN official was quoted as saying. The documents also reveal the role of Arab and Pakistani support troops in these killings. Bin Laden's so-called 055 Brigade was responsible for mass-killings of Afghan civilians. The report by the United Nations quotes "eyewitnesses in many villages describing Arab fighters carrying long knives used for slitting throats and skinning people". The Taliban's former ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, in late 2011 stated that cruel behaviour under and by the Taliban had been "necessary".{{Cite news , last=Gargan , first=Edward A , date=October 2001 , title=Taliban massacres outlined for UN , work=Chicago Tribune , url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2001/10/12/taliban-massacres-outlined-for-un/{{Cite web , year=2001 , title=Confidential UN report details mass killings of civilian villagers , url=http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/massacre.htm , url-status=usurped , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021118162327/http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/massacre.htm , archive-date=18 November 2002 , access-date=12 October 2001 , website=Newsday , publisher=newsday.org{{Cite news , date=11 September 2001 , title=Afghanistan resistance leader feared dead in blast , publisher=Ahmed Rashid in the Telegraph , location=London , url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/1340244/Afghanistan-resistance-leader-feared-dead-in-blast.html , archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/1340244/Afghanistan-resistance-leader-feared-dead-in-blast.html , archive-date=10 January 2022 , url-access=subscription , url-status=live{{cbignore In 1998, the United Nations accused the Taliban of denying emergency food by the UN's World Food Programme to 160,000 hungry and starving people "for political and military reasons". The UN said the Taliban were starving people for their military agenda and using humanitarian assistance as a weapon of war.{{Cite book , last=Skaine , first=Rosemarie , title=Women of Afghanistan in the Post-Taliban Era: How Lives Have Changed and Where They Stand Today , publisher=McFarland , year=2009 , isbn=978-0-7864-3792-4 , page=41{{Cite book , last=Shanty , first=Frank , title=The Nexus: International Terrorism and Drug Trafficking from Afghanistan , publisher=Praeger , year=2011 , isbn=978-0-313-38521-6 , pages=86–88{{Cite news , date=9 March 2011 , title=Citing rising death toll, UN urges better protection of Afghan civilians , work=United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan , url=http://unama.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1783&ctl=Details&mid=1882&ItemID=12602 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726085402/http://unama.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1783&ctl=Details&mid=1882&ItemID=12602 , archive-date=26 July 2011{{Cite news , last=Haddon , first=Katherine , date=6 October 2011 , title=Afghanistan marks 10 years since war started , agency=Agence France-Presse , url=https://news.yahoo.com/afghanistan-marks-10-years-since-war-started-211711851.html , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010055026/http://news.yahoo.com/afghanistan-marks-10-years-since-war-started-211711851.html , archive-date=10 October 2011{{Cite news , date=10 August 2010 , title=UN: Taliban Responsible for 76% of Deaths in Afghanistan , work=The Weekly Standard , url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/taliban-responsible-76-deaths-afghanistan-un , url-status=dead , access-date=30 December 2010 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110102054938/http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/taliban-responsible-76-deaths-afghanistan-un , archive-date=2 January 2011 On 8 August 1998, the Taliban launched an attack on Mazar-i-Sharif. Of 1500 defenders only 100 survived the engagement. Once in control the Taliban began to kill people indiscriminately. At first shooting people in the street, they soon began to target Hazaras. Women were raped, and thousands of people were locked in containers and left to suffocate. This ethnic cleansing left an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 people dead. At this time 1998 killing of Iranian diplomats in Afghanistan, ten Iranian diplomats and a journalist were killed. Iran assumed the Taliban had murdered them, and mobilised its army, deploying men along the border with Afghanistan. By the middle of September there were 250,000 Iranian personnel stationed on the border. Pakistan mediated and the bodies were returned to Tehran towards the end of the month. The killings of the diplomats had been carried out by Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, Sipah-e-Sahaba, a Pakistani Sunni group with close ties to the ISI. They burned orchards, crops and destroyed irrigation systems, and forced more than 100,000 people from their homes with hundreds of men, women and children still unaccounted for.{{Cite book , last=Armajani , first=Jon , title=Modern Islamist Movements: History, Religion, and Politics , publisher=Wiley-Blackwell , year=2012 , isbn=978-1-4051-1742-5 , page=207{{Cite book , last=Riedel , first=Bruce , title=The Search for Al Qaeda: Its Leadership, Ideology, and Future , publisher=Brookings Institution , year=2010 , isbn=978-0-8157-0451-5 , edition=2nd Revised , pages=66–67{{Cite book , last=Clements , first=Frank , title=Conflict in Afghanistan: a historical encyclopedia , publisher=ABC-CLIO , year=2003 , isbn=978-1-85109-402-8 , page=106{{Cite book , last=Gutman , first=Roy , url=https://archive.org/details/howwemissedstory00gutm/page/142 , title=How We Missed the Story: Osama Bin Laden, the Taliban, and the Hijacking of Afghanistan , publisher=Institute of Peace Press , year=2008 , isbn=978-1-60127-024-5 , pagHuman trafficking
Several Taliban and al-Qaeda commanders ran a network of human trafficking, abducting ethnic minority women and selling them into sex slavery in Afghanistan and Pakistan.{{Cite magazine , date=10 February 2002 , title=Lifting The Veil On Taliban Sex Slavery , magazine=Time (magazine), Time , url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,201892,00.html , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602140825/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,201892,00.html , archive-date=2 June 2011 , access-date=16 July 2021 ''Time'' magazine writes: "The Taliban often argued that the restrictions they placed on women were actually a way of revering and protecting the opposite sex. The behavior of the Taliban during the six years they expanded their rule in Afghanistan made a mockery of that claim." The targets for human trafficking were especially women from the Tajiks, Tajik, Uzbeks, Uzbek, Hazara and other non-Pashtun ethnic groups in Afghanistan. Some women preferred to commit suicide over slavery, killing themselves. During one Taliban and al-Qaeda offensive in 1999 in the Shomali Plains alone, more than 600 women were kidnapped. Arab and Pakistani al-Qaeda militants, with local Taliban forces, forced them into trucks and buses. ''Time'' magazine writes: "The trail of the missing Shomali women leads to Jalalabad, not far from the Pakistan border. There, according to eyewitnesses, the women were penned up inside Sar Shahi camp in the desert. The more desirable among them were selected and taken away. Some were trucked to Peshawar with the apparent complicity of Pakistani border guards. Others were taken to Khost, where bin Laden had several training camps." Officials from relief agencies say, the trail of many of the vanished women leads to Pakistan where they were sold to brothels or into private households to be kept as slaves.Oppression of women
{{Main, Treatment of women by the Taliban {{further, Women in AfghanistanBan on women's participation in the healthcare sector
In December 2024, the Taliban's health ministry banned women from being trained in nursing and midwifery, according to media reports confirmed by ''The Guardian''.{{cite web, last1=Kumar, first1=Ruchi, last2=Joya, first2=Zahra, url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/dec/06/taliban-afghanistan-ban-women-training-nurses-midwives-outrageous-act-ignorance-human-rights-healthcare, title=Taliban move to ban women training as nurses and midwives 'an outrageous act of ignorance', work=The Guardian, date=2024-12-06, accessdate=2024-12-08 This was a reversal of an earlier February 2024 decision to permit basic medical training for women.{{cite web, last=Kumar, first=Ruchi, url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2024/12/04/g-s1-36765/afghanistan-taliban-women-nurses-midwives, title=Rights Group: Afghan women barred from studying nursing and midwifery, work=NPR, date=2024-12-04, accessdate=2024-12-08 According to ''NPR'', the health ministry had lobbied for an exemption from the general ban on women's education in the healthcare sector because "in some provinces, the Taliban does not allow women to seek treatment from male medical professionals." The Taliban's ban on basic medical training for women was widely condemned by human rights organizations as a danger to the health and well-being of Afghan women and children, with Afghanistan already having among the List of countries by maternal mortality ratio, highest maternal mortality ratios in the world according to 2020 data, before the Taliban's 2021 seizure of power. For example, Heather Barr of Human Right Watch stated: "If you ban women from being treated by male healthcare professionals, and then you ban women from training to become healthcare professionals, the consequences are clear: women will not have access to healthcare and will die as a result." The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) stated that the ban "is profoundly discriminatory, short-sighted and puts the lives of women and girls at risk in multiple ways."Violence against civilians
According to the United Nations, the Taliban and its allies were responsible for 76% of civilian casualties in Afghanistan in 2009, 75% in 2010 and 80% in 2011.{{Cite book , last1=Kegley , first1=Charles W. , title=World Politics: Trend and Transformation , first2=Shannon L. , last2=Blanton , publisher=Cengage , year=2011 , isbn=978-0-495-90655-1 , page=230 According to Human Rights Watch, the Taliban's bombings and other attacks which have led to civilian casualties "sharply escalated in 2006" when "at least 669 Afghan civilians were killed in at least 350 armed attacks, most of which appear to have been intentionally launched at non-combatants."{{Cite web , date=17 April 2007 , title=Human Rights News, Afghanistan: Civilians Bear Cost of Escalating Insurgent Attacks , url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/04/16/afghan15688.htm , access-date=2 September 2012 , publisher=Human Rights Watch The United Nations reported that the number of civilians killed by both the Taliban and pro-government forces in the war rose nearly 50% between 2007 and 2009. The high number of civilians killed by the Taliban is blamed in part on their increasing use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), "for instance, 16 IEDs have been planted in girls' schools" by the Taliban.{{Cite journal , last=Arnoldy , first=Ben , date=31 July 2009 , title=In Afghanistan, Taliban kills more civilians than US , url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0731/p06s15-wosc.html , journal=The Christian Science Monitor In 2009, Colonel Richard Kemp, formerly Commander of British forces in Afghanistan and the intelligence coordinator for the British government, drew parallels between the tactics and strategy of Hamas in Gaza Strip, Gaza to those of the Taliban. Kemp wrote: {{blockquote, Like Hamas in Gaza, the Taliban in southern Afghanistan are masters at shielding themselves behind the civilian population and then melting in among them for protection. Women and children are trained and equipped to fight, collect intelligence, and ferry arms and ammunition between battles. Female suicide bombers are increasingly common. The use of women to shield gunmen as they engage NATO forces is now so normal it is deemed barely worthy of comment. Schools and houses are routinely booby-trapped. Snipers shelter in houses deliberately filled with women and children.Israel and the New Way of WarDiscrimination against Hindus and Sikhs
Hinduism in Afghanistan, Hindus and Sikhism in Afghanistan, Sikhs have lived in Afghanistan since History of Afghanistan, historic times and they were prominent minorities in Afghanistan, well-established in terms of academics and businesses. After the Afghan Civil War they started to migrate to India and other nations. After the Taliban established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, they imposed strict ''Sharia'' laws which discriminated against Hindus and Sikhs and caused the size of Afghanistan's Hindu and Sikh populations to fall at a very rapid rate because they emigrated from Afghanistan and established diasporas in the Western world. The Taliban issued decrees that forbade non-Muslims from building places of worship but allowed them to worship at existing holy sites, forbade non-Muslims from criticizing Muslims, ordered non-Muslims to identify their houses by placing a yellow cloth on their rooftops, forbade non-Muslims from living in the same residence as Muslims, and required that non-Muslim women wear a yellow dress with a special mark so that Muslims could keep their distance from them (Hindus and Sikhs were mainly targeted).{{Sfn, Rashid, 2000, pp=231–234 The Taliban announced in May 2001 that it would force Afghanistan's Hindu population to wear special badges, which has been compared to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany.Associated Press (22 May 2001)Relationship with other religious groups
{{further, Attacks on humanitarian workers, Christianity in Afghanistan Along with Hindus, the small Christianity in Afghanistan, Christian community was also persecuted by the Taliban. Violence against Western aid workers and Christians was common during the Afghan conflict. On several occasions between 2008 and 2012, the Taliban claimed that they assassinated Western and Afghani medical or aid workers in Afghanistan, because they Vaccine misinformation, feared that the polio vaccine would make Muslim children sterile, because they suspected that the 'medical workers' were really spies, or because they suspected that the medical workers were Proselytism, proselytizing Christianity. In August 2008, three Western women (British, Canadian, US) who were working for the Humanitarian aid, aid group 'International Rescue Committee' were murdered in Kabul. The Taliban claimed that they killed them because they were foreign spies.{{Cite news , date=20 October 2008 , title=UK charity worker killed in Kabul , work=BBC News , url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7679212.stm , access-date=7 October 2017 In October 2008, the British woman Gayle Williams working for Christian UK charity 'SERVE Afghanistan' – focusing on training and education for disabled persons – was murdered near Kabul. Taliban claimed they killed her because her organisation "was preaching Christianity in Afghanistan". In all 2008 until October, 29 aid workers, 5 of whom non-Afghanis, were killed in Afghanistan. In August 2010, the Taliban claimed that they murdered 10 medical aid workers while they were passing through Badakhshan Province on their way from Kabul to Nuristan Province – but the Afghan Islamic party/militiaRestrictions on modern education
Before the Taliban came to power, education was highly regarded in Afghanistan and Kabul University attracted students from Asia and the Middle East. However, the Taliban imposed restrictions on modern education, banned the education of females, only allowed Islamic religious schools to stay open and only encouraged the teaching of the Qur'an. Around half of all of the schools in Afghanistan were destroyed. The Taliban have carried out brutal attacks on teachers and students and they have also threatened parents and teachers.{{Cite web , date=11 July 2006 , title=Lessons in Terror Attacks on Education in Afghanistan , url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2006/07/10/lessons-terror/attacks-education-afghanistan , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022001101/https://www.hrw.org/report/2006/07/10/lessons-terror/attacks-education-afghanistan , archive-date=22 October 2022 , access-date=5 January 2021 , publisher=Human Rights Watch As per a 1998 UNICEF report, 9 out of 10 girls and 2 out of 3 boys did not enroll in schools. By 2000, fewer than 4–5% of all Afghan children were being educated at the primary school level and even fewer of them were being educated at higher secondary and university levels.{{Cite news , title=Case Study: Education in Afghanistan , publisher=BBC , url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/ihavearightto/four_b/casestudy_art26.shtml Attacks on educational institutions, students and teachers and the forced enforcement of Islamic teachings have even continued after the Taliban were deposed from power. In December 2017, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that over 1,000 schools had been destroyed, damaged or occupied and 100 teachers and students had been killed by the Taliban.{{Cite web , date=11 May 2018 , title=Education Under Attack 2018 – Afghanistan , url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/5be94317a.html , access-date=5 January 2021 , publisher=Global Coalition to Protect Education from AttackCultural genocide
The Taliban have committed a cultural genocide against the Afghan people by destroying their historical and cultural texts, artifacts and sculptures.{{Cite web, title=Afghan Taliban leader orders destruction of ancient statues, url=http://www.rawa.org/statues.htm, access-date=10 January 2022, website=www.rawa.org In the early 1990s, the National Museum of Afghanistan was attacked and looted numerous times, resulting in the loss of 70% of the 100,000 artifacts of Culture of Afghanistan, Afghan culture and History of Afghanistan, history which were then on display.{{Cite news , last=Burns , first=John F. , date=30 November 1996 , title=Kabul's Museum: The Past Ruined by the Present , work=The New York Times , url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/30/world/kabul-s-museum-the-past-ruined-by-the-present.html On 11 August 1998, the Taliban destroyed the Puli Khumri Public Library. The library contained a collection of over 55,000 books and old manuscripts, one of the most valuable and beautiful collections of Afghanistan's cultural works according to the Afghan people.{{Cite web , last=Civallero , first=Edgardo , year=2007 , title=When memory is turn into ashes , url=https://www.aacademica.org/edgardo.civallero/113.pdf , access-date=2 January 2021 , publisher=Acta AcademiaBan on entertainment and recreational activities
During their first rule of Afghanistan which lasted from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban banned many recreational activities and games, such as association football, Kite-Flying, kite flying, and chess. Mediums of entertainment such as televisions, cinemas, music with instrumental accompaniments, Videocassette recorder, VCRs and satellite dishes were also banned. Also included on the list of banned items were "musical instruments and accessories" and all visual representation of living creatures.{{Cite news , last=Wroe , first=Nicholas , date=13 October 2001 , title=A culture muted , work=The Guardian , url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/13/afghanistan.books However, the daf, a type of frame drum, wasn't banned. It was reported that when Afghan children were caught kiting, a highly popular activity, they were beaten.{{Cite news , title=Artistry In The Air – Kite Flying Is Taken To New Heights In Afghanistan , url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1101400.html , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203180908/https://www.rferl.org/a/1101400.html , archive-date=3 February 2017 , access-date=21 February 2021 , website=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, last1=Podelco , first1=Grant When Khaled Hosseini learned through a 1999 news report that the Taliban had banned kite flying, a restriction he found particularly cruel, the news "struck a personal chord" for him, as he had grown up with the sport while living in Afghanistan. Hosseini was motivated to write a 25-page short story about two boys who fly kites in Kabul that he later developed into his first novel, ''The Kite Runner''.Forced conscription and conscription of children
{{Main, Taliban conscription According to the testimony of Guantanamo captives before their Combatant Status Review Tribunals, the Taliban, in addition to conscripting men to serve as soldiers, also conscripted men to staff its civil service – both done at gunpoint.{{Cite news, last=Dixon, first=Robyn, author-link=Robyn Dixon (journalist), date=13 October 2001, title=Afghans in Kabul Flee Taliban, Not U.S. Raids, work=Los Angeles Times, location=Shirkat, url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-oct-13-mn-56835-story.html, access-date=11 December 2012[{{DoD detainees ARB, Set 33 2302-2425 Revised.pdf Summarized transcripts (.pdf)], from Nasrullah's ''Combatant Status Review Tribunal'', p. 40Summarized transcripts (.pdf)Leadership and organization
{{Main, Government of Afghanistan, List of Taliban insurgency leaders ;Kandahar faction and Haqqani network According to Jon Lee Anderson the Taliban government is "said to be profoundly divided" between the Kandahar faction and theCurrent leadership
The top members of the Taliban as an insurgency, as of August 2021, are: *Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban's Supreme Leader since 2016, a religious scholar from Kandahar province. *Overview
Until his death in 2013, Mullah Omar was the supreme commander of the Taliban. Akhtar Mansour, Mullah Akhtar Mansour was elected as his replacement in 2015,* {{cite news, url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/144382.stm , title=Analysis: Who are the Taleban? , date=20 December 2000 , work=BBC News * {{Cite web , title=From the article on the Taliban in Oxford Islamic Studies Online , url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2325?_hi=34&_pos=4 , access-date=27 August 2010 , publisher=Oxford Islamic StudiesOrganization and governance
Consistent with the governance of the early Muslims was the absence of state institutions and the absence of "a methodology for command and control", both of which are standard today, even in non-Westernized states. The Taliban did not issue press releases or policy statements, nor did they hold regular press conferences. The basis for this structure was Grand Mufti Rashid Ahmed Ludhianvi's ''Obedience to the Amir,'' as he served as a mentor to the Taliban's leadership. The outside world and most Afghans did not even know what their leaders looked like, because photography was banned. The "regular army" resembled a lashkar or traditional tribal militia force with only 25,000 men (of whom 11,000 were non-Afghans). Cabinet ministers and deputies were mullahs with a "madrasah education". Several of them, such as the Minister of Health and the Governor of the State bank, were primarily military commanders who left their administrative posts and fought whenever they were needed. Military reverses that trapped them behind enemy lines or led to their deaths increased the chaos in the national administration. At the national level, "all senior Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara bureaucrats" were replaced "with Pashtuns, whether qualified or not". Consequently, the ministries "by and large ceased to function".{{Harvnb, Rashid, 2000, pp=101–102. The Ministry of Finance did not have a budget nor did it have a "qualified economist or banker". Mullah Omar collected and dispersed cash without bookkeeping.Economic activities
{{See also, Economy of Afghanistan The Kabul money markets responded positively during the first weeks of the Taliban occupation (1996). But the Afghan afghani, Afghani soon fell in value. They imposed a 50% tax on any company operating in the country, and those who failed to pay were attacked. They also imposed a 6% import tax on anything brought into the country, and by 1998 had control of the major airports and border crossings which allowed them to establish a monopoly on all trade. By 2001, the per capita income of the 25 million population was under $200, and the country was close to total economic collapse. As of 2007 the economy had begun to recover, with estimated foreign reserves of three billion dollars and a 13% increase in economic growth.{{Cite book , last=Lansford , first=Tom , title=9/11 and the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq: A Chronology and Reference Guide , publisher=ABC-CLIO , year=2011 , isbn=978-1-59884-419-1 , page=147{{Cite book , last=Marsden , first=Peter , url=https://archive.org/details/talibanwarreligi0000mars/page/51 , title=The Taliban: war, religion and the new order in Afghanistan , publisher=Zed Books , year=1998 , isbn=978-1-85649-522-6 , pagInternational relations
{{main, International relations with the Taliban{{More sources, section, date=March 2025 During the war, the Taliban were supported by several militant outfits which include theDesignation as a terrorist organization
{{further, Islamic terrorism, List of designated terrorist groups, Religious terrorism The Taliban movement is officially illegal in the following countries to date: *{{CAN{{Cite web , title=Currently listed entities , url=http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/cntr-trrrsm/lstd-ntts/crrnt-lstd-ntts-eng.aspx , access-date=23 October 2014 , publisher=Public Safety Canada *{{flag, New Zealand *{{flag, Tajikistan *{{flag, Turkey *{{flag, United Arab Emirates *{{flag, United States,{{cite web , title=928 I Office of Foreign Assets Control , url=https://ofac.treasury.gov/faqs/928 , publisher=United States Department of the Treasury , access-date=October 15, 2024 , date=December 22, 2021 though not on the United States Department of State list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Former: *{{KAZ (2005–2023) *{{flag, Kyrgyzstan (2006–2024){{cite web, url=https://24.kg/english/48835_List_of_terrorist_and_extremist_organizations_banned_in_Kyrgyzstan_/, title=List of terrorist and extremist organizations banned in Kyrgyzstan, website=24.kg, access-date=3 March 2020, date=5 April 2017 *{{flag, Russia (2003–2025){{cite web, url=http://nac.gov.ru/page/4570.html, script-title=ru:Единый федеральный список организаций, признанных террористическими Верховным Судом Российской Федерации, trans-title=Single federal list of organizations recognized as terrorist by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, work=Russian Federation National Anti-Terrorism Committee, access-date=20 April 2014, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502021516/http://nac.gov.ru/page/4570.html, archive-date=2 May 2014United Nations and NGOs
Despite the aid of United Nations (UN) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) given (see #Afghanistan during Taliban rule, § Afghanistan during Taliban rule), the Taliban's attitude in 1996–2001 toward the UN and NGOs was often one of suspicion. The UN did not recognise the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, most foreign donors and aid workers were non-Muslims, and the Taliban vented fundamental objections to the sort of 'help' the UN offered. As the Taliban's Attorney General Maulvi Jalil-ullah Maulvizada put it in 1997: {{blockquote, Let us state what sort of education the UN wants. This is a big infidel policy which gives such obscene freedom to women which would lead to adultery and herald the destruction of Islam. In any Islamic country where adultery becomes common, that country is destroyed and enters the domination of the infidels because their men become like women and women cannot defend themselves. Anyone who talks to us should do so within Islam's framework. The Holy Koran cannot adjust itself to other people's requirements, people should adjust themselves to the requirements of the Holy Koran. In July 1998, the Taliban closed "all NGO offices" by force after those organisations refused to move to a bombed-out former Institute of technology, Polytechnic College as ordered.Aid agencies pull out of KabulDesignated terrorist organisations
Many designated terror groups have pledged their allegiance to the new Taliban government, these groups include: Al Qaeda, al-Shabaab (militant group), al Shabaab, Boko Haram, Jemaah Islamiyah, Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin and Ansar al-Sharia (Libya), Ansar al-Sharia in Libya, Tehreek-e-Taliban, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen According to some reports Jaish-e-Mohammad andIn popular media
The Taliban were portrayed in Khaled Hosseini's popular 2003 novel ''The Kite Runner'' and its 2007 The Kite Runner (film), film adaption. The Taliban have also been portrayed in American film, most notably in ''Lone Survivor'' (2013) which is based on a real-life story.{{citation needed, date=September 2024 Hindi cinema have also portrayed the Taliban in ''Kabul Express'' (2006), and ''Escape from Taliban'' (2003) which is based on a real-life novel ''A Kabuliwala's Bengali Wife'', whose author Sushmita Banerjee was shot dead by the Taliban in 2013.{{Cite web , date=2021-08-17 , title=Real-Life Story Of Sushmita Banerjee Who Inspired Manisha Koirala's Film 'Escape From Taliban' , url=https://www.indiatimes.com/entertainment/celebs/real-life-story-of-sushmita-banerjee-who-inspired-manisha-koiralas-film-escape-from-taliban-547398.html , access-date=2023-01-09 , website=IndiaTimesNotes
{{NotelistReferences
{{ReflistSources
{{refbegin * {{cite book, last=Matinuddin , first=Kamal , title=The Taliban Phenomenon: Afghanistan 1994–1997 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BIyVMkjat2MC , year=1999 , place=Karachi , publisher=Oxford University Press , isbn=0-19-579274-2 , author-link=Kamal Matinuddin * {{cite book, last=Rashid , first=Ahmed , author-link=Ahmed Rashid , title=Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia , title-link=Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia , date=2000 , publisher=Yale University Press , isbn=0-300-08902-3 {{refendFurther reading
{{refbegin, 30em * {{cite book, last=Griffiths , first=John C. , title=Afghanistan: A History of Conflict , year=2001 , place=London , publisher=Carlton Books , isbn=978-1-84222-597-4 * {{cite book, last=Hillenbrand , first=Carole , title=Islam: A New Historical Introduction , year=2015 , place=London , publisher=Thames & Hudson , isbn=978-0-500-11027-0 , author-link=Carole Hillenbrand * {{Citation , last1=Jackson , first1=Ashley , title=Insurgent Bureaucracy: How the Taliban Makes Policy , date=November 2019 , url=https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/2019-11/pw_153-insurgent_bureaucracy_how_the_taliban_makes_policy.pdf , work=Peaceworks , volume=153 , pages=C1-44 , place=Washington, D.C. , publisher=United States Institute of Peace , isbn=978-1-60127-789-3 , access-date=26 March 2020 , last2=Amiri , first2=Rahmatullah , archive-date=17 August 2021 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817172337/https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/2019-11/pw_153-insurgent_bureaucracy_how_the_taliban_makes_policy.pdf , url-status=dead * {{Citation , last=Moj , first=Muhammad , title=The Deoband Madrassah Movement: Countercultural Trends and Tendencies , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mbm2BgAAQBAJ , year=2015 , publisher=Anthem Press , isbn=978-1-78308-389-3External links
{{Sister project links, auto=1, d=1 *{{URL, http://alemarahenglish.af/, Official website *{{Aljazeera topic, organisation/taliban *{{Guardian topic *{{New York Times topic, organizations/t/taliban {{Taliban {{Islamism {{Pashtun {{US War on Terror {{Authority control Taliban, Anti-anarchism Anti-Buddhism Anti-Christian sentiment in Afghanistan Anti-Hindu sentiment Anti-Zoroastrianism Anti-ISIL factions Anti-Israeli sentiment in Afghanistan Antisemitism in Asia Anti-Zionism in Asia Deobandi organisations Government of Afghanistan Al-Qaeda allied groups Anti-intellectualism Islam-related controversies 1994 establishments in Afghanistan Jihadist groups in Afghanistan Jihadist groups in Pakistan Violence against LGBTQ people in Asia Organizations designated as terrorist by Canada Organisations designated as terrorist by New Zealand Organizations designated as terrorist by Tajikistan Organizations designated as terrorist by Turkey Organizations designated as terrorist by the United Arab Emirates Organizations that oppose LGBTQ rights in Asia Sexism in Afghanistan Sunni Islamist groups Deobandi jihadist organizations Supraorganizations Totalitarianism Theocracies Pashtun nationalism Islamic nationalism Far-right politics in Afghanistan Far-right politics and Islam