The Rise and Fall of Afghanistan’s Taliban
Uploaded by srheric on Apr 23, 2007
The Rise and Fall of Afghanistan’s Taliban
Afghanistan, or Land of the Afghan, as it is known by its people, is a mountainous land-locked country in Central Asia. Though only slightly smaller than Texas, Afghanistan is estimated to have a population of around 21-26 million people. Its history and culture can be traced back over 5000 years. Afghanistan is home for four major ethnic groups: the Pashtoons, Tajiks, Hazaras, and the Uzbeks, with the majority of Afghans belonging to the Islamic faith. In 1979, Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviet Union--10 years later, the Soviet Union was forced to withdraw by anti-communist forces that had been trained and equipped by the US, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and other nations. Following the 1989 withdrawal of the Soviets, there emerged a highly secretive and heavily armed group of Sunni Muslim fundamentalist known as the Taliban. Since that day, the Taliban has seized most of the country and represented a very troubling development of Islamic radicalism.
Even though the Taliban, and their current leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, have declared themselves the legitimate government of Afghanistan; the United Nations stills recognizes the government of Burhanuddin. Only three nations, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates recognize the Taliban and their leader as the legitimate government. The Taliban first came to the attention of the rest of the world in 1994, when Pakistan recruited them to protect their trade convoys. After the capturing of the Afghan capital of Kabul in 1996 and, by 1998, virtually eliminating their only opposition, the Northern Alliance; the Taliban have seized and controlled over two-thirds of Afghanistan. Most recently, the Taliban have been known for their campaign to wide out the Shiite Muslims and for the harboring of the international terrorist and criminal mastermind Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.
As Sunni Muslims, the Taliban have been able to suppress all other ethnic groups--one of these groups is the Shiite Muslims. Shiite Muslims account for about 15 percent of the world’s Muslims. Shiites can be found throughout the world, not only are they the dominate ethnic group in Iran, but they are also found throughout Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. One major conflict between the Sunni and the Shiites is the Shiite Muslims insist that a true leader of Islam must be a descendant of Ali. ...