Who are the Taliban?
Afghanistan is now under the control of the Taliban. Just like it was 20 years ago. When the U.S. military invaded in 2001; The Taliban was in power then. The country's president at the time was Taliban leader Mullah Omar. The Taliban was reportedly forcibly removed from power in Afghanistan in a US-led war.
But 20 years later, the Taliban have regrouped Afghanistan through reorganization. U.S. troops are due to return to the United States next month. But before that, the Taliban took power without bloodshed. On 15 August, the Taliban captured the capital, Kabul. President Ashraf Ghani also resigned that day.
Who are the Taliban?
In Pashto, Taliban means student. The Taliban movement was born in the early 1990s in northern Pakistan. This movement is mainly dominated by Pashtuns. It is believed that the Taliban were the first to organize in madrassas.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have vast Pashtun populations on both sides of the border. The Taliban quickly became influential in these areas. The Taliban's promise is that if they come to power, they will restore peace and stability and impose strict Sharia rule.
Taliban leadership structure
The Taliban quickly expanded their influence from southwestern Afghanistan. In September 1995, the Taliban seized the Afghan province of Herat, which borders Iran. Exactly one year later, they captured Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.
They overthrew the government of President Burhanuddin Rabbani and established their own government. Burhanuddin Rabbani was one of the founders of the Afghan Mujahideen. The Afghan Mujahideen organized resistance against Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
In 1996, the Taliban captured Kabul and Kandahar. They then overthrew the government of President Burhanuddin Rabbani and established their own government. From 1996-2001, the Taliban ruled Afghanistan as a radical Islamic force.
How was the Taliban regime?
The Taliban imposed strict Islamic rule on Afghanistan soon after it took control of the country. Men are required to wear beards and women are required to wear burqas. At the same time, girls are not allowed to go to school. They also ban television, music, movies.
In this context, the Taliban have been accused of human rights abuses. The Taliban's multiple moves sparked a storm of condemnation in the international arena. However, the Taliban said that this time women will be allowed to work with the opportunity of education.
In this context, women employees have been urged to return to work from August 16. Abdus Salam Hanafi, deputy head of the Taliban's political office in Doha, Qatar, said no one would be treated unfairly and that women would be able to protect their hijabs and carry out all work normally, including in the workplace.
They sheltered Osama bin Laden, the most wanted man in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. The United States invaded Afghanistan to capture bin Laden. America has its roots in Afghanistan for 20 years. Yet Afghanistan has not been free of the Taliban.
The Taliban signed a landmark agreement with the United States in February last year.
Pakistan's role: Allegations against Pakistan that they are behind the Taliban. Because there is no doubt that in the beginning the Afghans joined the Taliban movement; They all studied in different madrasas in Pakistan.
Although Pakistan has always denied it. However, Pakistan was one of the three countries recognized by the Taliban government. The other two countries that recognized the Taliban after the seizure of power in Afghanistan; They were Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. And Pakistan also severed ties with the Taliban government after all.
The way the Taliban came to power again
Negotiations in Afghanistan in 2013 raised hopes for peace. The Taliban then announced the opening of an office in Qatar. Even then, mistrust between the two sides remained. Violence continues. Two years later, in August, the Taliban admitted that they had kept the news secret until two years after the death of their leader, Mullah Omar.
Mullah Omar died at a hospital in Pakistan due to physical illness. Then came the Taliban-led infighting. Shortly afterwards, in August 2015, the Taliban announced that they had united under the leadership of a new leader, Mullah Mansoor.
Mollah Mansur was the deputy of Mollah Omar. In May 2016, Mullah Mansoor was killed in a US drone strike. In his place, Maulvi Hibatullah Akhundzada became the new leader of the Taliban. He is by far the most important leader of the Taliban.
In February 2020, five years after the incident, a peace agreement was signed between the United States and the Taliban. The Taliban then changed their tactics. Instead of launching complex attacks on large cities and military bases, they were targeting and killing. This created panic among the civilian Afghans.
The Taliban targeted journalists, judges, peace activists and women in key positions. From these actions everyone assumes, the Taliban have not changed their extremist ideology; Rather the strategy has just changed.
New US President Joe Biden announced in April 2021 that all US troops would leave Afghanistan by September 11. On the same day, the World Trade Center in New York collapsed in an Al Qaeda attack.
After being ousted from power in 2001, the Taliban are now in the strongest position in terms of numbers. According to a recent report by NATO, the Taliban has 65,000 regular fighters.
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