INSIDE AFGHANISTAN

As the Soviet-Afghan War came to a close in the early 1990's, there was chaos in Afghanistan.  The mujahideens (holy warriors) returned to their villages and many tried to exert power by forming mini factions.  None of the factions were able to cooperate and infighting began.  The word taliban means religious scholars.  Mullah Omar was a religious scholar who lived in the Pashtun region of Afghanistan.  He was frustrated with the lawlessness of Afghanistan.  He felt many were losing their Islamic values.  Mullah Omar decided to form the Taliban to restore order.  The Afghan people were tired of the constant fighting and initially supported the Taliban's goal of neutralizing all the violent factions that had popped up.  Things sure changed though. 

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 In 1994, the Taliban took control of Kandahar.  Many Afghan & Pakistani students began to join the Taliban.  By 1996 they took over Kabul and by  1998 they were in control of over 90% of Afghanistan.  There was a small group called the Northern Alliance in northeast Afghanistan that continued to fight the Taliban.

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The Afghan people realized very quickly that the Taliban was very extreme in their religious beliefs.  They made very strict laws and brutally enforced them.  Petty crimes could lead to public execution.  Woman lost all their rights.  They were no longer allowed to go to school or hold jobs.  They were only allowed out with a male relative.  Woman weren't allowed outside without a burqa.  Woman were beaten if they didn't follow the rules. 

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The Taliban allowed a terrorist network called Al-Qaeda to have its headquarters and training centers in Afghanistan.  On September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda attacked the United States.  The Taliban would not cooperate with the U.S. in capturing Al-Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden so in October 2001, the U.S. led an invasion to drive the Taliban from power.  The Taliban lost control of Kabul and since then, Afghanistan has slowly been trying to rebuild their government and country.

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It is amazing to see how resilient the country of Afghanistan is.  They are slowly rebuilding and working towards a democracy, but the years of war and instability will make this a difficult task.  It will be interesting to see how Afghanistan will continue to evolve in the future.