TALIBAN IN AFGHANISTAN:

Fe, 2014
Introduction
The Taliban is a Sunni Islamic fundamentalist group that ruled Afghanistan from
1996 until 2001, when a US!led in"asion toppled the regime for pro"iding refuge
to al-Qaeda and #sama bin $aden The Taliban regrouped across the border in
%a&istan, where its central leadership, headed b' (ullah (ohammed #mar,
operates an insurgenc' and shadow go"ernment aimed at undermining the
go"ernment in )abul Since 2010, both the United States and Afghanistan ha"e
pursued a negotiated settlement with the Taliban, but with the planned
withdrawal of international forces at the end of 201*, man' anal'sts sa' the
prospects for such an agreement are dim
Rise of the Taliban
The Taliban was formed in the earl' 1990s b' a %ashtun faction of mu+ahideen,
Islamic fighters who resisted the So"iet occupation of Afghanistan ,19-9./90
with the co"ert bac&ing of the US 1entral Intelligence Agenc' and its %a&istani
counterpart, the Inter!Ser"ices Intelligence directorate ,ISI0 The' were +oined b'
other %ashtun tribesmen who, li&e the mu+ahideen, studied in %a&istani
madrassas ,seminaries02 taliban is %ashto for 3students3 %ashtuns comprise a
pluralit' in Afghanistan and are the predominant ethnic group in much of the
countr'4s south and east
The So"iet Union withdrew from Afghanistan in 19/9 (ohammad 5a+ibullah, a
So"iet client, was president from 19/- until 1992 6e stepped down amid
increasingl' fractious politics, ushering in a period of ci"il war 7urhanuddin
8abbani, a Ta+i& mu+ahideen leader, held tenuous control as president as
mu+ahideen parties competed for control of )abul
The Taliban coalesced during this period, promising to impose stabilit' and with
it, rule of law in place of endemic corruption, a charge it le"eled at 8abbani4s
go"ernment Taliban +urisprudence was drawn from both 9eobandi
interpretations of sharia, which were colored b' the austere :ahabbi traditions
of the madrassas4 Saudi benefactors, and %ashtunwali, the %ashtuns4 pre!Islamic
tribal code As the Taliban consolidated its control o"er Afghanistan, it began
imposing nationwide this s'ncretic legal s'stem, which, with punishments such
as flagellation, amputation, and e;ecution, 3deepened the ethnic divide,3
wrote +ournalist Ahmed 8ashid
The Taliban too& the southern cit' of )andahar in 5o"ember 199*, and in
September 1996 sei<ed )abul, ousted the 8abbani go"ernment, and stormed the
U5 compound where 5a+ibullah had sought refuge, torturing and e;ecuting him
The Taliban controlled some 90 percent of the countr' before its 2001 o"erthrow
b' US!led forces, anal'sts sa'
In power for fi"e 'ears, the Taliban regime was an 3oxymoron of an Islamist
state,3 wrote =illes )epel, a scholar of political Islam The Taliban4s e;clusi"e
interests, he wrote, were imposing 9eobandi norms in Afghanistan while waging
+ihad on the countr'4s peripher', and so it neglected basic state functions The
Taliban4s (inistr' for the %romotion of >irtue and %re"ention of >ice, for
e;ample, was responsible for moralit' It enforced prohibitions on beha"ior
deemed un!Islamic, re?uiring women to wear the head!to!toe burqa, or chadri2
banned music and tele"ision2 and +ailed men whose beards it deemed too short
6umanitarian aid agencies, mostl' drawn from the Islamic world, mo"ed to fill
the "oid of social ser"ices
The Taliban regime was an "oxymoron of an Islamist state." Gilles
Kepel, Institut d'tudes oliti!ues de aris "#$ien$es o%
The Taliban regime was internationall' isolated and censured from its inception2
onl' %a&istan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab @mirates recogni<ed the
go"ernment Two U5 Securit' 1ouncil resolutions passed in 199/ urged the
Taliban to end its abusi"e treatment of women The following 'ear the
council imposed sanctions on the regime for harboring al!Aaeda The Taliban
garnered international outcr' in 2001 after destro'ing the colossal, ancient
7uddha statues at Bamiyan, an iconic piece of the countr'4s cultural heritage
re"ered b' local Shiites
%a&istan supported the Taliban as a force that could unif' and stabili<e
Afghanistan while sta"ing off Indian, Iranian, and 8ussian influence, and saw its
%ashtun roots, shared with much of the %a&istani arm'4s officer corps, as a source
of le"erage, )epel wrote
Courtesy Congressional Research Service
In the late 1990s, factions in northern Afghanistan opposed to Taliban rule
formed the Northern Alliance, which was composed of ethnic minorit' Ta+i&s,
U<be&s, and 6a<aras ,who are Shiites0 The alliance assisted US!led forces in
routing the Taliban after 9B11
Leadership and Support Structure
(ullah #mar, a cleric and "eteran of the anti!So"iet resistance, led Taliban-
ruled Afhanistan from 1996 to 2001 as emir al-mu'minin, or 3commander of
the faithful3 6e granted al!Aaeda sanctuar' on the condition that it not
antagoni<e the United States, but bin $aden reneged on this agreement in 199/
when he orchestrated bombings of US embassies in @ast Africa The episode was
indicati"e of tensions that emered bet!een the t!o roups, anal'sts sa'2
the Taliban was fundamentall' parochial while al!Aaeda had its sights set on
global +ihad Cet after 9B11, #mar did not ac?uiesce to the US demand that he
gi"e up bin $aden
The regime was dismantled during the subse?uent US occupation, but #mar
and man' of his top aides escaped to the frontier territories of %a&istan, where
the' reconstituted the Taliban4s central leadership 9ubbed the 3Auetta Shura3
for the capital of 7alochistan pro"ince, where the' are belie"ed to ha"e ta&en
refuge, the' maintain a degree of operational authorit' o"er Afghan Taliban
fighters 7ut the' ha"e de"ol"ed significant authorit' to local commanders and
appear 3unwilling or unable to monopoli<e anti!state "iolence,3 a U5 Securit'
1ouncil monitoring team found in September 201D The team noted the presence
of other insurgent groups in Afghanistan, as well as Taliban commanders who
ha"e conducted attac&s that "iolate the shura4s directi"es
1hief among those groups is the 6a??ani networ&, a "#S#-desinated terrorist
orani$ation that is closel' affiliated with the Taliban but operates with relati"e
autonom' from its base in %a&istan4s Eederall' Administered Tribal Areas
,EATA0 6a??ani operations straddle the 9urand $ine, the border that cuts
through %ashtun and 7aluch tribal areas between Afghanistan and %a&istan, and
ha"e included ma+or attac&s on 5AT# forces 9uring the So"iet occupation, the
United States and Saudi Arabia pro"ided the group4s founder, %alaluddin
&a''ani, with considerable materiel to fight the So"iets 7' the end of the
decade, he had culti"ated close ties to %a&istan4s ISI, wealth' donors in the =ulf,
and bin $aden :hile ser"ing in the Taliban4s go"ernment, he came to be al!
Aaeda4s 3Afghan patron,3 New Yorker staff writer Ste"e 1oll told Frontline
(an' e;perts suspect the (a)istani security establishment continues to
support the Taliban to counter India4s influence in Afghanistan b' pro"iding
militants safe ha"en in its western tribal areas :hile Islamabad dismisses
charges of official support, tribes ha"e pro"ided sanctuar' to Taliban fighters, in
part out of obligations of hospitalit' under the %ashtunwali code ,Tehri)-i-
Taliban (a)istan, commonl' &nown as the %a&istani Taliban, is distinct from its
Afghan namesa&e2 it emerged in 2002 in response to the %a&istani militar'4s
incursions into that countr'4s tribal areas, and see&s the destruction of the
%a&istani state The Afghan Taliban, b' contrast, "iews %a&istan as a benefactor0
The Taliban4s post!2001 resurgence has partiall' been financed b' narcotics
production and traffic&ing, though (ullah #mar issued in+unctions against
opium production and the Taliban eradicated much of the popp' crop during its
rule Insurgents and other strongmen often e;tract ushr, an agricultural tithe,
from farmers, and le"ies at roadside chec&points
(ublic *pinion of the Taliban
(ore than a decade since its fall from power, the Taliban en+o's continued, if
declining, support The Asia +oundation found that in 201D, a third of Afghans
Fmostl' %ashtuns and rural AfghansFhad s'mpath' for armed opposition
groups ,A#=s0, primaril' the Taliban 5earl' two!thirds of Afghans, the sur"e'
found, belie"ed that reconciliation between the go"ernment and A#=s would
stabili<e the countr'
Afghan support for the Taliban and allied groups stems in part from grie"ances
directed at public institutions :hile the Asia Eoundation sur"e' found the
Afghan 5ational Arm' and Afghan 5ational %olice garner high public confidence,
man' ci"ilians see go"ernment institutions such as the militia!li&e Afghan $ocal
%olice as predator', e;tracting rents and intimidating the local populace
(an' rural Afghans trust the Taliban4s e;tensi"e ,udicial net!or), rather than
go"ernment courts, to 3sol"e disputes in a fair war, without tribal or ethnic bias,
or more commonl', without ha"ing to pa' bribes,3 sa's -raeme Smith, a )abul!
based senior anal'st at the International 1risis =roup
An .lusive .ndame in Afhanistan
US strateg' in Afghanistan is 3to den' safe ha"en to AA and den' the Taliban
the abilit' to o"erthrow3 the =o"ernment of the Islamic 8epublic of Afghanistan,
the %entagon stated in its November /012 proress report G%9EH to
1ongress
The post!201* mission will li&el' entail se"eral thousand troops if :ashington
and )abul agree to a bilateral securit' agreement ,7SA0 that %resident 7arac&
#bama has lon pushed for 7ut Afghan president 6amid )ar<ai has put off
signing the agreement, sa'ing it shouldn4t be finali<ed until his successor has
been chosen Though elections are scheduled for April 201*, aruno3 "ote is
li&el', so a new go"ernment ma' not be formed until August
Some militar' anal'sts see the %entagon4s complete withdrawal from Ira? in late
2011 as a cautionar' tale for Afghanistan Two 'ears later, a re"i"ed al-Qaeda in
Ira' gained territorial control in parts of Anbar pro"ince and unleashed on
7aghdad le"els of "iolence not seen since the height of the ci"il war se"eral 'ears
prior
7ut e"en if )ar<ai and #bama sign a 7SA and international forces remain in
Afghanistan after 201*, the %entagon is set to end combat operations against the
Taliban In his 201* State of the "nion address, %resident #bama articulated a
narrow post!201* mission for US forces that e;cludes counterinsurgenc',
limiting it to 3training and assisting Afghan forces and counterterrorism
operations to pursue an' remnants of al Aaeda3 The United States sees political
reconciliation with the insurgenc' as 3the solution to endin the !ar,3
according to the August 201D +oint US @mbass', )abul.US Eorces!Afghanistan
strategic framewor&
The potential for bac&sliding on human rights under a go"ernment that includes
the Taliban has raised ob+ections from ci"il societ' :omen4s rights acti"ists ha"e
been particularly concerned that progress made in the past decade would be
sacrificed under such a reconciliation agreement2 201D alread' saw
rights setbac)s as :estern attention flagged, 6uman 8ights :atch said
Tal&s between the Afghan Taliban and the se"ent'!member Afghan 6igh %eace
1ouncil, which )abul established in 2010 to bro&er peace, ha"e suffered repeated
setbac&s o"er the past three 'ears (ost notabl', in September 2011, )abul4s chief
peace negotiator, former president 8abbani, was assassinated
Some anal'sts sa' 6e<b!i!Islami, a %ashtun insurgent group led b' former
mu+ahideen commander =ulbuddin 6e&mat'ar, sets a precedent for the
Taliban to enter politics (embers of 6e<b!i!Islami4s political wing are acti"e at
the hihest levels in )abul while its militant wing continues to fight
international forces The group endorsed a presidential candidate in earl' 201*
7ut the failure of negotiations and the Taliban4s calculation that elections are an
unli&el' pathwa' to power seem to preclude the possibilit' of it competing in the
elections, which hold out the promise of the countr'4s first peaceful transition of
power The Taliban4s central leadership re+ects the elections4 legitimac', but has
delegated to its local commanders broad discretion as to how the'4ll disrupt the
vote, wrote 6ar"ard )enned' School4s (ichael Semple
8ural Afghanistan remains di"ided between go"ernment and insurgent spheres
of influence, and the upcoming elections won4t disrupt entrenched patronage
structures, the I1=4s Smith sa's 3A lot of people, in rural areas especiall', do not
belie"e that democrac' will deli"er meaningful change,3 he sa's 5oting the
increase in "iolence in the most recent fighting season, he adds, 3So people "ote
with bullets3