The Taliban

1. The Taliban By: Shanderra Garvin

2. Who are the Taliban? • Religious/political party in Afghanistan • Taliban: Students of Islamic Knowledge Movement • Ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 • The Taliban was ended by the U.S. military and Afghani opposition forces in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the U.S in December of 2001. • Kandahar, Afghanistan is considered the birthplace of the Taliban. • The Taliban was ruled by Mullah Mohammed Omar

3. Taliban’s rise to power • Started out as one of the “freedom fighters/holy warriors” groups formed against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (1979 – 89) • Soviet forces lost to the Taliban • Kabul was captured and a new gov’t was set up with the Taliban and Burhanuddin Rabbani as interim president • Unable to cooperate, they ended up fighting each other • Afghanistan was reduced to a collection of territories ran by competing warlords • Taliban emerged as a force in the Afghan politics in the middle of a civil war between northern and southern Afghanistan • The Taliban made their move in 1994 taking the city of Kandahar and Kabul in September of 1996 • Kabul is the capital of Afghanistan

4. Afghanistan under the Taliban Rule • Mullah Muhammad Omar, ruled the people very strictly under the Sharia, or Islamic law. • Public execution and punishment were common at the Afghan stadiums • Kite flying and activities similar to it were outlawed • TV, music, and the internet are banned because they were considered “non Islamic” • Men had to were beards and if they were caught without beards they were beaten • Banned all un-Islamic holidays • If your name wasn’t Islamic you were forced to change it • Ordered all people to attend prayer five times a day • You were executed if you converted from Islamic to any other religion and if your carried “objectionable literature” • All boys who went to school had to wear turbans…“ No turbans, No education” • Weren't able to end the civil war or improve the conditions of the city • Continuing drought and a very harsh winter from 2000–2001 brought famine and many refugees to Pakistan

5. The Taliban Restrictions on Women Girls couldn’t attend school Women couldn’t work outside of their homes Women couldn't leave the house without a close male relative Women couldn’t wear nail polish or her fingers would be cut off Women couldn’t deal with men outside of their families Women had to be covered in a Burga, long veil, from head to toe If any skin was showing the women were publicly punished Women shouldn’t be heard in public …at all Women couldn’t play sport Women couldn’t wear bright colored clothing Women couldn’t stand on their balcony of their houses Women couldn’t bath in public Women and men couldn’t travel in the same vehicle Names of place with the word “women” had to be changed Women couldn’t be filmed or have their pictures taken Public stoning to women who are accused of having sex outside of marriage

6. Cultural/Religious Basis for the Taliban • Afghanistan is about 90% of a Muslim Nation( Sunni Muslims) • Other Muslims are Shiites • Controlled schools, mosques, shrines, and various religious and social service • Most of the leader of the Taliban were educated in refugee camps in Pakistan where they learned welfare service, education, military training, and religious schools in the Deobandi tradition • The schools were often run by inexperienced and semi-literate mullahs, religious authority • The schools and the Taliban’s relationship was close: the Taliban were defeated in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif so they sent a thousand of the student from the largest religious group to Afghanistan for a month as reinforcements

7. The Taliban and Osama bin Laden • The Taliban and Al Qeada didn’t get along until Sept. 11 • The Taliban allowed terrorist to run training camp on their territory • Provided refuge for Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda organization from 1994 to 2001 • The Taliban and bin Laden were close • bin Laden gave money to the Taliban • One of his daughter were married to Mullah Muhammad Omar • In 1999 and 2000 the Taliban were told to stop supporting terrorist and hand over Bin Laden for trial by the UNSCR • The Taliban trained with Al Qaeda from 1997 to 2001 • They worked together to slaughter Mazar-e-Sharif

8. The Taliban and the USA • The USA supported the Taliban in 1994 to 1996 because we believed that they were anti-Iranian, anti-Shia and pro-Western • the US didn’t speak up about the actions that were taking place in Afghanistan until 1997 • Bin Laden bombed two US embassies in Africa the US responded by launching missiles on terrorist camps but failed to kill Bin Laden • Saudi Arabia removed the Taliban from their country in protest of the Taliban not handing him over so Mullah Omar insulted Saudi's royal family • In October 2009, the US paid Taliban fighter to switch side

9. Continuation • The Taliban refused to give up bin Laden so the US bombing their military camps and site • Months later the Taliban lost control of Kabul • Several years after the Taliban left Kabul, the city received foreign aid but they couldn’t improve the conditions of the city • 53% of the people live on less than one dollar a day

10. The Taliban Reemerge • a non-state terrorist entity • the Taliban has murdered NGO workers, Afghan civilians, government officials, and policemen • They invaded southern Afghanistan and harassed villagers and attacked US troops and Afghan • in Sept. on 2006 NATO launched the largest attack in it 57 years of history and killed 2000 of the Taliban's fighters

11. Work Cited • Bajoria, Jayshree. "Council on Foreign Relations." Council on Foreign Relations. N.p., 6 Oct. 2011. Web. 17 Oct. 2012. <http://www.cfr.org/afghanistan/taliban-afghanistan/p10551>. • Hayes, Laura, Beth Rowen, and Borgna Brunner. "Who Are The Taliban." Infoplease. Infoplease, 2007. Web. 17 Oct. 2012. <http://www.infoplease.com/spot/taliban.html>. • McNamara, Melissa. "The Taliban In Afghanistan." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 08 Aug. 2009. Web. 17 Oct. 2012. <http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500823_162-1957678.html>. • Obaid-Chinoy, Sharmeen. "Children Of The Taliban." PBS. PBS, 2011. Web. 17 Oct. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/pakistan802/video/vide o_index.html>. • "Some of the Restrictions Imposed by Taliban in Afghanistan." Some of the Restrictions Imposed by Taliban in Afghanistan. Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, 1997. Web. 17 Oct. 2012. <http://www.rawa.org/rules.htm>.