The Taliban: from AD 1994
In 1994 the most significant group in present-day Afghanistan emerges unheralded and without fanfare. A mullah in Kandahar, Mohammad Omar Akhund (commonly known as Mullah Omar), forms a group which he calls Taliban, meaning 'students' - in this case Sunni students of the Qur'an. In the violence and chaos of Afghanistan, the Taliban inevitably become a guerrilla group; and, compared to the blatant self-interest of certain other mujaheddin, the Taliban's simple message of Muslim fundamentalism proves immensely attractive.
Recruiting mainly among Pathan tribesmen in the east of the country and from refugee camps in Pakistan, the Taliban gain rapidly in numbers and in strength.
After Kandahar itself, Herat falls to Taliban militiamen in September 1995 - to be followed by Jalalabad at the other extreme of the country a year later. Within weeks of taking Jalalabad, the Taliban achieve the ultimate success. They have been besieging Kabul for twelve months and more, while at the same time fighting other guerrilla groups engaged in the same activity. Now, in September 1996, with surprising suddeness they burst into the city.
Their first act is go to the UN compound and seize the ex-president Najibullah. Within hours he and his brother are swinging from a concrete structure, among grinning tribesmen, at Kabul's main traffic intersection. |
