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Afghan Taliban rose quickly, but fell even faster
The Islamic warriors of the Taliban seemed unstoppable as they swept across Afghanistan in the 1990s. They have collapsed even faster.
The Islamic warriors of the Taliban seemed unstoppable as they swept across Afghanistan in the 1990s. They have collapsed even faster.
The hardline Islamic movement relinquished Kandahar on Friday, the ancient southern city they seized in 1994.
There was no immediate word on the fate of their reclusive founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, but Hamid Karzai, designated head of a new interim Afghan government, said that the one-eyed Taliban leader must face trial for his crimes if found.
Whatever happens to him, it seems clear that the once-mighty group, which ruled 90 per cent of Afghanistan only a month ago is now only a blip in the war-battered country's long history.
The Taliban were a product of the chaotic environment of the early 1990s, when Afghans were revolted by the bloody feuds and rapacious behaviour of warlords who carved out fiefdoms after a decade of war to drive out Soviet invaders.
Mullah Omar formed the Taliban from students in religious schools over the Pakistan border to battle the ex-Mujahideen guerilla commanders who were preying on traders, many of them Pakistani, on roads in the southern province of Kandahar.
Their ranks grew rapidly and they proved more united and disciplined than the faction-ridden government and rival groups.
In 1995 they swept up the western flanks of Afghanistan to take Herat, the main transport route to Iran and Turkmenistan. The next year they were zeroing in on Kabul.
The capture of the capital in 1996 from the forces that now form the victorious Northern Alliance prompted them to claim to be considered the national government -- something only Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates ever recognised.
But they also revealed a ruthless streak, hanging the former Soviet-era president, Najibullah, and his brother Shahpur Ahmadzai from a Kabul traffic post to display their power.
Kabul residents swiftly learned that the Taliban would brook no interference in the project to implement their harsh vision of Islamic Sharia law and install the world's most austere regime.
The Taliban were a product of the chaotic environment of the early 1990s, when Afghans were revolted by the bloody feuds and rapacious behaviour of warlords who carved out fiefdoms after a decade of war to drive out Soviet invaders.
Mullah Omar formed the Taliban from students in religious schools over the Pakistan border to battle the ex-Mujahideen guerilla commanders who were preying on traders, many of them Pakistani, on roads in the southern province of Kandahar.
Their ranks grew rapidly and they proved more united and disciplined than the faction-ridden government and rival groups.
In 1995 they swept up the western flanks of Afghanistan to take Herat, the main transport route to Iran and Turkmenistan. The next year they were zeroing in on Kabul.
The capture of the capital in 1996 from the forces that now form the victorious Northern Alliance prompted them to claim to be considered the national government -- something only Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates ever recognised.
But they also revealed a ruthless streak, hanging the former Soviet-era president, Najibullah, and his brother Shahpur Ahmadzai from a Kabul traffic post to display their power.
Kabul residents swiftly learned that the Taliban would brook no interference in the project to implement their harsh vision of Islamic Sharia law and install the world's most austere regime.
They banned cinema, television, games, music and any form of entertainment. They closed girls' schools, barred women from jobs and forced them to wear the all-enveloping burqa veil when out of their homes. Men were jailed if they trimmed their beards.
Bureau Report