II.

Origins and Rise to Power

The Taliban movement emerged out of the chaos and uncertainty of the Afghan-Soviet War (1979-1989) and subsequent civil war in Afghanistan. During the 1980s Afghanistan was occupied by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and ruled by a Soviet-backed government. Afghanistan’s long war with the USSR was largely fought by mujahideen (Islamic guerrilla) factions with assistance from the United States; Pakistan also provided places of refuge, military training, and other support. After the Soviets completed their withdrawal in 1989, civil war broke out between the mujahideen factions and the central government. Afghanistan’s central government had long been dominated by the country’s majority ethnic group, the Pashtuns, but after the Soviet withdrawal a coalition government that included Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, and other minority groups came to power. The Taliban emerged as a faction of mujahideen soldiers who identified themselves as religious students. The Taliban consisted mostly of Pashtuns intent on once again dominating the central government in Kābul. They were trained and armed by the Frontier Constabulary, a quasi-military unit in Pakistan, which also has a significant Pashtun population. The Taliban actively recruited thousands of young men in the Afghan refugee camps and the madrasas in Pakistan. Many war orphans also joined the movement. The Taliban promoted itself as a new force for peace and unity, and many war-weary Afghan people, particularly Pashtuns, supported the Taliban in hopes of respite from years of war.

In late 1994 and early 1995 the Taliban moved through the south and west of Afghanistan, taking control of Kandahār and many other towns and cities dominated by fellow Pashtuns. Herāt and most of the other towns along the main southern and western highway soon followed. In February 1995 the Taliban reached the outskirts of Kābul but was ousted by government forces in March. Again it advanced to the capital in October. While continuing to assault Kābul with rockets and bombs, Taliban soldiers advanced and took control of eastern Afghanistan, as well as the country’s central area. The Taliban continued its siege of Kābul off and on throughout 1996 until it was able to advance and capture the city in September. Government troops and officials, including President Burhanuddin Rabbani and Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, fled to the northern part of the country. Shortly after the capital fell to the Taliban, the country’s last Soviet-backed president, Mohammad Najibullah, and his brother, security chief Shahpur Ahmadzai, were seized and publicly hanged.