Talibans

The Taliban, alternative spelling Taleban,[4] (ṭālibān, meaning "students" in Arabic) is an Islamist militant terrorist and political group that ruled large parts of Afghanistan and its capital,Kabul, as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from September 1996. It gained diplomatic recognition from only three states: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
After the attacks ofSeptember 11, 2001 the Taliban was overthrown by Operation Enduring Freedom. It mostly fled to neighboring Pakistan where it regrouped as an insurgency movement to fight the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan(established in late 2001) and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).[5]
Most Taliban leaders were influenced by Deobandi fundamentalism. Many also strictly follow the socialand cultural norm called Pashtunwali. The Taliban movement is primarily made up of members belonging to Pashtun tribes, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.[6] The main leader of the Talibanmovement is Mullah Mohammed Omar.[7] Omar's original commanders were "a mixture of former small-unit military commanders and madrassa teachers."[8]
While in power, the Taliban enforced one of the strictestinterpretations of Sharia law ever seen in the Muslim world,[9] however most of their criticism came from leading Muslim scholars.[10] They became notorious internationally for their treatment ofwomen.[11]
The Taliban's allies include the Pakistani army as well as Arab and Central Asian militants.[12][13][14] Al Qaeda supported the Taliban with regiments of imported fighters from Arab countriesand Central Asia. In the late period of the war, of an estimated 45,000 force fighting on the side of the Taliban, only 14,000 were Afghans.[13][15] Today the Taliban operate in Afghanistan andnorthwest Pakistan. US officials say one of their headquarters is in or near Quetta, Pakistan.[16] The Taliban engage in attacks against the civilian population. According to a report by the United...