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Updated August 17th, 2021 at 01:22 IST

What is the Taliban? How did Taliban emerge? What was Afghanistan before 9/11, 2001?

The Taliban has returned to power in Afghanistan, sweeping aside the US-nurtured Afghan military and democratic government in a blistering coup

Reported by: Srishti Jha
Taliban
AP | Image:self
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Following weeks of rapid insurgency and territorial gains from retreating government forces battling to keep off the Islamist militant group, the Taliban declared the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on August 15 from Kabul after forcing the Ashraf Ghani-led government to surrender. 

Here are some key contributory facts about the history of Aghanistan and Taliban's emergence in the country that once was more progressive than most in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 1973, Afghan Monarch overthrown, PM appoints himself ruler

Prime Minister in the monarchy Dawood Khan declared himself as the President after he overthrew the monarchy with the backing of Afghan Army officers and declared himself as the first President of the Republic of Afghanistan in 1973.

People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) comes to power after April Revolution, Dawood Ousted

In 1978, the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) came to power by unseating Afghan President Mohammed Dawood Khan in a coup, popularly known as the Sowr Revolution or April Revolution or April Coup. Dawood Khan was known for his autocratic rule, educational and progressive social reforms, pro-Soviet policy.

Democratic Republic of Afghanistan comes into being

Then, as is now, what became the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was once the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, existing from 1978 to 1992. The first government was led by the socialist PDPA and Nur Taraki, while Dawood was assassinated.

Taraki's assassination soured relations with the Soviet

In April 1979, large parts of the country were in open rebellion as social and progressive reforms were deeply unpopular among the more traditional rural population. Nur Taraki was assassinated by Amin, which soured relations with the Soviet Union. The Soviets sought to prop up a communist government in Afghanistan and battled with Muslim guerrillas.

In Cold war between US and USSR, Afghanistan party to Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) 

NAM was signed to keep away the newly independent countries of Asia and Africa from the superpower rivalry and to protect and preserve their newly acquired independence. The world was then demarcated then into two or three dominance. Pro- USA which was via North Atlantic Alliance or the Warsaw Pact was a collective defence treaty established by the Soviet Union. The Cold War between two superpowers- the US and USSR existed from 1947 to 1991.

Soviet Union stages a coup 'Operation Storm-333' in Afghanistan

Following Taraki's assassination, with fears rising that Amin was planning to switch sides to the United States, the Soviets, under the pretext of upholding the Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaty, organized a massive military airlift into Kabul, involving an estimated 280 transport aircraft and three divisions of almost 8,500 men each. The Soviets dealt harshly with both rebels and civilians.

USSR enters bloody war in Afghanistan that lasts nine years

In 1987, Soviet leader & communist General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, announced his country would start withdrawing its forces after meetings with the Afghan government. The last USSR troops exited in 1989, leaving Afghan government forces alone in the battle against hardline insurgents.

Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)

President Mohammad Najibullah agreed to step aside and make way for a mujahideen coalition government after the mujahideen groups with the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) attacked Jalalabad. 3 Mujahideen groups invaded Kabul. This kicked off a civil war. 

Inception of Taliban in 1994

Taliban have arisen from factions of 3 Mujahideen groups which by the end of the Afghan Civil War became 8-9 groups. Taliban as a religious group was started by Pakistani religious students in the mid-1990s. The brutal and extremist Islamist terror outfit Taliban was essentially a fundamentalist religious group that held power in Afghanistan during the late 1990s. 

Pakistan's constant stir and support to Taliban through 1994/1995 

In 1995, the Taliban attacked and conquered Kandahar City. By January 1995, the Taliban controlled 12 Afghan provinces. Taliban emerged popular against other traditional hardline Mujahideen groups. They were known for stamping out corruption, curbing lawlessness, and made the roads and area safe.

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan declared (1996–2001)

The country was in a bad shape as food, employment, reconstruction, and other services were badly damaged. Taliban decision-makers, particularly Mullah Omar, seldom if ever talked directly to non-Muslim foreigners, so aid providers had to deal with intermediaries whose approvals and agreements were often reversed. Taliban did not let the UN meddle too. Female UN officers were expelled from the country. 

In 1998, Pakistan was responsible for the "military expansion" of the Taliban

By 1998, the Taliban allowed Afghanistan to be a haven for Islamic militants including an exiled Saudi Arabian, Osama bin Laden, who, as leader of al-Qaeda, stood accused of terror activities against the West. 

Taliban's Oppression at its peak 

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. Once in control, the Taliban began to kill people indiscriminately. 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.

September 11, 2001: WTC & Pentagon Attacks

In a series of attacks by al-Qaeda, four California-bound aircraft were hijacked mid-flight by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists. They deliberately crashed into the towers of WTC. The attacks resulted in 2,977 fatalities, over 25,000 injuries, and substantial long-term health consequences, in addition to at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage, in what is considered one of the deadliest terror attacks in human history.

Taliban defends al-Qaeda

Taliban’s refusal to extradite bin Laden to the United States following the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and on the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001, prompted a military confrontation with the United States. 

After 20 years in exile, Taliban conquers Afghanistan again

 

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Published August 17th, 2021 at 01:22 IST

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