Who are the Taliban?

Among the Mujahideen were a group of students of Islam known as the Taliban (the plural of 'talib', meaning student) many of whom had grown up in the refugee camps of Pakistan. In 1994, despairing of the chaos in their country, they came together under Mullah Mohammed Omar. They planned to restore peace and to build an ideal Islamic society.

By 1996 they had seized the capital, Kabul, and two-thirds of the country, and were enforcing the strictest interpretation of Islamic religious Shari'ah law ever seen.

Many of the trappings of modern life were outlawed. Women, the regime's chief victims, were banned from working outside the home, which meant they often lost their very means of survival, as well as access to health and education. Public executions and amputations became regular occurrences. Today's Afghanistan had arrived.

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