1995 - Taliban rise to power

Afghan Taliban fighters pose on their military tank 25 kms north of Kabul. AFP
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Updated 19 April 2025
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1995 - Taliban rise to power

  • From madrassas to military dominance, the rise of the Taliban reshaped Afghanistan and the world

KABUL: The emergence of the Taliban in the mid-1990s reshaped the political and social landscape of Afghanistan. What began as a movement of religious students seeking to restore order in a war-torn country quickly morphed into an uncompromising force that dominated the country for five years before being ousted by a US-led invasion in 2001. 

The origins of the Taliban can be traced to the discontent that followed the Soviet withdrawal in 1989 after a decade of conflict. As warlords and other factions vied for control, Afghanistan descended into lawlessness and violence. 

The power vacuum left by Russia’s departure led to intense infighting among former mujahideen groups, particularly between factions loyal to regional warlords such as Burhanuddin Rabbani and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. 

In response to this anarchy, students from madrassas (Islamic religious schools), many of whom had fought in the anti-Soviet jihad, began organizing themselves as the “Taliban,” the Pashto word for “students,” under the leadership of Mullah Mohammed Omar, an Islamic scholar. 

Inspired by a vision of strict Islamic governance, the Taliban emerged as a movement that promised to end the cycle of warlordism and corruption that had gripped Afghanistan. This commitment to law and order helped the Taliban rise to power in less than two years. 

How we wrote it




Arab News reported the Taliban’s takeover of Herat, delivering a major blow to President Burhanuddin Rabbani.

The movement first gained traction in southern Afghanistan, particularly in the provinces of Paktika, Ghazni and Zabul. Early supporters included traders and civilians who had suffered under the unchecked violence of local warlords. 

The group undertook their first significant military action in late 1994, when they captured key checkpoints between Helmand and Kandahar, an area plagued by lawlessness. 

A turning point came in October 1994 when the Taliban seized Spin Boldak, a key border town near Pakistan and close to Kandahar, which would become their power base in the years that followed. This victory provided them with financial resources and a strategic recruitment base, and madrassa students arrived in droves from Pakistan to join the movement. 

These students from seminaries in Pakistan played a crucial role in the capture of Kandahar on Nov. 15, 1994. The Taliban met with little resistance and their victory established the group as a formidable force, allowing them to expand their influence rapidly. 

By early 1995, the Taliban had taken the city of Ghazni and the province of Maidan Wardak as they moved ever-closer to Kabul. Their swift and ruthless military strategy allowed them to seize the Afghan capital on Sept. 27, 1996. Once in power, the Taliban declared Afghanistan an Islamic Emirate and implemented a strict interpretation of Shariah. 

Key Dates

  • 1

    Taliban attack a checkpoint near Kandahar, marking their first military engagement.

    Timeline Image Sept. 29, 1994

  • 2

    The group seize Kandahar, establishing a base for expansion.

    Timeline Image Nov. 15, 1994

  • 3

    Herat city, Afghanistan’s gateway to Iran, falls to the Taliban with little resistance from its governor, Ismail Khan of the Jamiat-e-Islami party.

  • 4

    Taliban capture Kabul and declare Afghanistan an Islamic Emirate.

    Timeline Image Sept. 26, 1996

  • 5

    Al-Qaeda attacks America.

    Timeline Image Sept. 11, 2001

  • 6

    US forces launch Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

    Timeline Image Oct. 7, 2001

  • 7

    Kandahar falls, marking the end of Taliban rule.

    Timeline Image Dec. 9, 2001

  • 8

    US forces withdraw from Afghanistan, clearing the way for Taliban’s return to power.

Between 1997 and 2000, they extended their rule over 90 percent of Afghanistan. Their governance was marked by extreme restrictions on the rights of women, public executions and the suppression of cultural heritage, culminating in the destruction in 2001 of two massive 6th-century Buddhist statues in central Afghanistan’s Bamiyan valley. 

By then, the Taliban’s rigid and ruthless ideology had alienated much of the international community. 

Although some argue the rise of the Taliban was entirely indigenous, external influences certainly played a part. 

The Pakistani government of the time, led by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, viewed a stable Afghanistan as essential for regional trade. Bhutto publicly denied supporting the Taliban but admitted that ensuring stability in Afghanistan was a priority. “Whatever the people of Afghanistan decide is the best form of government for them, it will be acceptable to us,” she said. 

Her interior minister, Maj. Gen. Naseer Ullah Khan Babar, openly admitted that Pakistan supported the Taliban, referring to them as “my boys.” 

Amid the religious community, Maulana Sami Ul-Haq, one of Pakistan’s leading scholars, claimed to have contributed significantly to the Taliban movement. 

An analysis of his 2015 book, “Afghan Taliban: War of Ideology – Struggle for Peace,” reveals that while he denied allegations of providing military support or training, he proudly referred to himself as the “father of the Taliban.” He claimed that nearly 20,000 Afghan students graduated from his seminary over 50 years. 




Man from an aid-distribution team uses a stick to control crowd of Afghan women who gather to get relief in Kabul. AFP

“According to an estimate, about 90 percent of the Taliban in the Afghan government are graduates of Darul Uloom (the Islamic seminary he founded in northwestern Pakistan),” he wrote, adding: “It would not be wrong to say that (Darul Uloom) Haqqania is the nursery of the Taliban.” 

However, closer analysis of events — which were mostly documented as a first-hand account in the book “Taliban: A Critical History from Within,” written by Abdul Mutma’in, personal secretary to leader Mullah Omar — suggests that domestic conditions, primarily created by former warlords and Jihadi groups, along with the Taliban’s own military strategy and strength were the key factors in their rise to power. 

The Taliban’s first period of rule would be short-lived, however. Following the 9/11 attacks on the US in 2001, Washington issued an ultimatum demanding the extradition of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who had been sheltered by the Taliban since 1996. The group refused, US troops invaded Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, and the American-led coalition, in collaboration with the Northern Alliance, rapidly dismantled the Taliban’s military strongholds. 

By December 2001 Kandahar had fallen and the Taliban leadership, including Mullah Omar, were in hiding. A regime that rose so rapidly from the chaos of post-Soviet Afghanistan collapsed just as swiftly. 

Time, however, and patience were on the side of the Taliban. After two decades of conflict, the US grew weary of what had become its longest war, and in August 2021 it pulled out of the country, leaving the Taliban free to swiftly reclaim power. 

  • Naimat Khan is a Pakistani journalist based in Karachi with more than two decades of experience covering militancy, human rights and politics. He currently reports for Arab News. 


Aid cuts fuel fears on jihadist-hit Lake Chad’s shores

Updated 9 min 58 sec ago
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Aid cuts fuel fears on jihadist-hit Lake Chad’s shores

  • Chad’s Lac region is one of many around the world to be hit by cuts in the United States’s foreign aid budget ordered by President Donald Trump

BAGA SOLA: Jihadists surrounded Ahmat Moussa’s isolated village on Lake Chad’s shores in the dead of night and then attacked — with devastating consequences for the fisherman and many of his neighbors.
Boko Haram jihadists have sowed terror among those living around Lake Chad for some 15 years, disrupting the fishing, farming and herding on which millions depend.
“I heard the first blasts and I left without looking back,” 42-year-old Moussa said, of the raid on Balangoura nine months ago.
He has a scar where a Kalashnikov’s bullet hit him in the right leg. And while he escaped, his 16-year-old son was abducted in the raid.
Neighbour Baya Ali Moussa also suffered horror and loss that night.
While she also escaped Balangoura, the body of her 23-year-old son was discovered three days later, floating in the lake.
Both villagers found refuge elsewhere on the lake, but they depend on dwindling help from NGOs and aid organizations battling massive foreign cuts to humanitarian budgets.
Surrounded by Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, Lake Chad’s countless islets serve as hideouts for the Islamist militants, whose violent campaign began in Nigeria’s northeast before spilling into its neighbors.
Jihadist attacks have surged in the wider Sahel region, though Boko Haram has lost ground to the army in the Lake Chad area.
The insurgents have nevertheless remained a constant threat, carrying out frequent kidnappings, executions, rapes and lootings.
In Chad’s Lac province alone, more than 250,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, says the United Nations.
Tipping people further into poverty in one of the world’s most impoverished nations only helps turn the area into a recruiting ground for the jihadists.


Like 2,000 others, Baya Ali Moussa and Ahmat Moussa have taken refuge in Yakoua, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Lac region’s capital, Bol, on the banks of a branch of the lake.
“Here we’ve nothing to eat or drink, we survive only thanks to community togetherness and to humanitarian workers,” said Baya Ali Moussa.
For three months, the ACTED humanitarian organization has distributed emergency aid to the displaced people in Yakoua.
“Attacks continue, kidnappings continue, camps for displaced people turn into villages, but the humanitarian momentum we saw from 2015 to 2019 has waned,” said Togoum Atikang, who heads ACTED’s rapid response projects.
“Some donors are pulling out their funding,” he added.
“Wherever we pull out, the population will suffer even more,” he warned.
Chad’s Lac region is one of many around the world to be hit by cuts in the United States’s foreign aid budget ordered by President Donald Trump.


Having accounted for half of the World Food Programme’s funding, the United States was the UN food agency’s top bankroller followed by Europe.
“With funds declining, we have to cut back,” said Alexandre Le Cuziat, WFP deputy director in Chad.
At the beginning of July, the WFP suspended its flight service between the Chadian capital N’Djamena and Bol.
So where previously it took less than an hour to fly in goods and people, now the journey will have to be made by road — a whole day along an unsafe route.
The WFP and the UN refugee agency are also shuttering several offices in the Lac region.
“The US financing freeze has hit some seven percent of the humanitarian aid here in Chad since January,” said Francois Batalingaya, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in the country.
“But the problem is that we have no idea of what the rest of the year will bring.”
He worried that aid groups would leave “from the month of October onwards.”
Funding for the humanitarian response plan for Chad is “only at 11 percent” of the 1.45 billion dollars required, he said.
At the same time last year, it was 34-percent funded, he added.
As the international climate for humanitarian funding has gone cold, at the national level Chad has also prioritized sending emergency aid to its eastern border with war-torn Sudan.
More than a million Sudanese have fled to Chad since the civil war began in April 2023.
“As a result, Lake Chad no longer captures the world’s attention,” Batalingaya said.
“If we forget the people of the region, there will be more people displaced and more people will join these armed groups.”


On the front lines in eastern Ukraine, peace feels far away

Updated 19 min 2 sec ago
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On the front lines in eastern Ukraine, peace feels far away

  • Diplomatic peace efforts feel so far removed from the battlefield that many soldiers doubt they can bring results
  • Few believe the current talks can end the war; more likely, they say, is a brief pause in hostilities before Russia resumes the assault with greater force

DONETSK REGION: In a dugout where each nearby blast sends dirt raining from the ceiling and the black plastic lining the walls slipping down, Ukrainian soldiers say peace talks feel distant and unlikely to end the war. Explosions from Russian weapons — from glide bombs to artillery shells — thunder regularly overhead, keeping them underground except when they fire the M777 howitzer buried near their trench.
Nothing on the Eastern Front suggests the war could end soon.
Diplomatic peace efforts feel so far removed from the battlefield that many soldiers doubt they can bring results. Their skepticism is rooted in months of what they see as broken US promises to end the war quickly.
Recent suggestions by US President Donald Trump that there will be some ” swapping of territories” — as well as media reports that it would involve Ukrainian troops leaving the Donetsk region where they have fought for years defending every inch of land — have stirred confusion and rejection among the soldiers.
Few believe the current talks can end the war. More likely, they say, is a brief pause in hostilities before Russia resumes the assault with greater force.
“At minimum, the result would be to stop active fighting — that would be the first sign of some kind of settlement,” said soldier Dmytro Loviniukov of the 148th Brigade. “Right now, that’s not happening. And while these talks are taking place, they (the Russians) are only strengthening their positions on the front line.”
Long war, no relief
On one artillery position, talk often turns to home. Many Ukrainian soldiers joined the army in the first days of the full-scale invasion, leaving behind civilian jobs. Some thought they would serve only briefly. Others didn’t think about the future at all — because at that moment, it didn’t exist.
In the years since, many have been killed. Those who survived are in their fourth year of a grueling war, far removed from the civilian lives they once knew. With mobilization faltering and the war dragging on far longer than expected, there is no one to replace them as the Ukrainian army struggles with recruiting new people.
The army cannot also demobilize those who serve without risking the collapse of the front.
That is why soldiers wait for even the possibility of a pause in hostilities. When direct talks between Russia and Ukraine were held in Istanbul in May, the soldiers from 148th brigade read the news with cautious hope, said a soldier with the call sign Bronson, who once worked as a tattoo artist.
Months later, hope has been replaced with dark humor. On the eve of a deadline that US President Donald Trump reportedly gave Russia’s Vladimir Putin — one that has since vanished from the agenda amid talk of a meeting in Alaska — the Russian fire roared every minute for hours. Soldiers joked that the shelling was because the deadline was “running out.”
“We are on our land. We have no way back,” said the commander of the artillery group, Dmytro Loviniukov. “We stand here because there is no choice. No one else will come here to defend us.”
Training for what’s ahead
Dozens of kilometers from Zaporizhzhia region, north to the Donetsk area, heavy fighting grinds on toward Pokrovsk — now the epicenter of fighting.
Once home to about 60,000 people, the city has been under sustained Russian assault for months. The Russians have formed a pocket around Pokrovsk, though Ukrainian troops still hold the city and street fighting has yet to begin. Reports of Russian saboteurs entering the city started to appear almost daily, but the military says those groups have been neutralized.
Ukrainian soldiers of the Spartan brigade push through drills with full intensity, honing their skills for the battlefield in the Pokrovsk area.
Everything at the training range, only 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the front, is designed to mirror real combat conditions — even the terrain. A thin strip of forest breaks up the vast fields of blooming sunflowers stretching into the distance until the next tree line appears.
One of the soldiers training there is a 35-year-old with the call sign Komrad, who joined the military only recently. He says he has no illusions that the war will end soon.
“My motivation is that there is simply no way back,” he said. “If you are in the military, you have to fight. If we’re here, we need to cover our brothers in arms.”
Truce doesn’t mean peace
For Serhii Filimonov, commander of the “Da Vinci Wolves” battalion of the 59th brigade, the war’s end is nowhere in sight, and current news doesn’t influence the ongoing struggle to find enough resources to equip the unit that is fighting around Pokrovsk.
“We are preparing for a long war. We have no illusions that Russia will stop,” he said, speaking at his field command post. “There may be a ceasefire, but there will be no peace.”
Filimonov dismisses recent talk of exchanging territory or signing agreements as temporary fixes at best.
“Russia will not abandon its goal of capturing all of Ukraine,” he said. “They will attack again. The big question is what security guarantees we get — and how we hit pause.”
A soldier with the call sign Mirche from the 68th brigade said that whenever there is a new round of talks, the hostilities intensify around Pokrovsk — Russia’s key priority during this summer’s campaign.
Whenever peace talks begin, “things on the front get terrifying,” he said.


Leaders of Indonesia and Peru hold talks on trade and economic ties

Updated 27 min 42 sec ago
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Leaders of Indonesia and Peru hold talks on trade and economic ties

  • Peruvian President Dina Boluarte has met his Indonesian counterpart, Prabowo Subianto, on Monday on a visit aimed at strengthening economic ties as the two countries look to expand into new markets am
  • The two-day visit is expected to deepen Peru’s ties with Indonesia, after the two nations concluded negotiations which began in May on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement

JAKARTA: Peruvian President Dina Boluarte met his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto on Monday during a visit aimed at strengthening economic ties as the two countries for new markets amid geopolitical challenges and rising trade barriers.
The signing came just four days after the US President Donald Trump began imposing higher import taxes on dozens of countries on Thursday, including a 19 percent rate on Indonesia. Imports from Peru are paying the 10 percent baseline rate Trump set in April.
Boluarte arrived in Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta on Sunday afternoon, following an invitation President Prabowo extended when the two leaders met at the APEC Summit in Peru in November 2024.
The two-day visit is aimed at deepening Peru’s ties with Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, after the two nations concluded negotiations which began in May on a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement or CEPA.
Subianto hosted Boluarte with a ceremony at Merdeka palace in Jakarta before the two leaders lead a closed-door bilateral meeting.
The two leaders are expected to witness the signing of CEPA that could be a major booster to bilateral trade, said Indonesia’s trade minister Budi Santoso ahead of the visit.
“The CEPA deal with Peru is a potential gateway for Indonesian goods and services to enter markets in Central and South America,” Santoso said, “We hope the deal can strengthen Indonesia’s trade presence in the region.”
His ministry’s data showed the country’s total trade with Peru went down from $554.2 million in 2022 to $444.4 million the following year, while Indonesia enjoyed a $290.4 million trade surplus in 2023, driven by major exports including vehicles, footwear and biodiesel.
Indonesia is currently seeking membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Peru is part of, to boost export growth.


Pakistan begins second phase of receiving Hajj 2026 applications

Updated 36 min 49 sec ago
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Pakistan begins second phase of receiving Hajj 2026 applications

  • Pakistan’s religion ministry received over 71,000 applications in first phase of Hajj form submissions
  • Hajj 2026 applications containing first installment of expenses will be accepted until August 16

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government has started the second phase of receiving applications for Hajj 2026, the spokesperson of the religious affairs ministry said on Monday, as Islamabad undertakes preparations for next year’s annual Islamic pilgrimage. 

Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs received more than 71,000 applications in the first phase of Hajj form submissions, state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported on Saturday.

Pakistan has a Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims for 2026, with 129,210 seats allocated for the government scheme and the rest for private tour operators.

“The second phase of receiving Hajj applications has begun,” the religious affairs ministry spokesperson said. “Hajj applications are being accepted through the ministry’s online portal and designated banks.”

The spokesperson said applications containing the first installment of Hajj expenses will be accepted until August 16. He said unregistered Hajj pilgrims will also be allowed to submit their applications during the second round of submissions. 

“Overseas Pakistanis can also apply for Hajj through a close relative via designated banks,” the spokesperson said. “Medical fitness certificates for overseas applicants must be submitted upon arrival in Pakistan.”

The ministry said the government will stop accepting Hajj applications as soon as the quota for intending pilgrims is filled. 

Under the government scheme, Pakistani pilgrims can choose between a long Hajj package of 38 to 42 days or a short package of 20 to 25 days, with costs estimated between Rs1.15 million and Rs1.25 million ($4,050-$4,236).

Saudi Arabia approved the same overall quota for Pakistan in 2025, but a significant portion of the private allocation went unused due to delays by tour operators in meeting payment and registration deadlines, while the government fulfilled its share of over 88,000 pilgrims.

Private operators blamed the shortfall on technical issues, including payment processing and communication problems.
 


Philippines’ Marcos says China ‘misinterpreted’ his comments on Taiwan

Updated 37 min 54 sec ago
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Philippines’ Marcos says China ‘misinterpreted’ his comments on Taiwan

  • Philippine leader: ‘War over Taiwan will drag the Philippines kicking and screaming into the conflict. That is what I was trying to say’
  • Over a hundred thousand Filipinos live and work in Taiwan, according to Philippine government data

MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday that Beijing has “misinterpreted” his comments saying Manila will be inevitably drawn in to a conflict between China and Taiwan should one erupt.

China accused Marcos of “playing with fire” after the Philippine leader said during a visit to India that “there is no way that the Philippines can stay out of it” due to its proximity to the democratically governed island.

“We are, I think for propaganda purposes, misinterpreted,” Marcos told a press briefing.

“I’m a little bit perplexed why it would be characterized as such, as playing with fire,” he added.

Marcos said Filipinos working and living in Taiwan will have to be evacuated if a conflict does arise but maintained that he wishes to avoid confrontation and war.

Over a hundred thousand Filipinos live and work in Taiwan, according to Philippine government data.

“War over Taiwan will drag the Philippines kicking and screaming into the conflict. That is what I was trying to say,” Marcos said.

Marcos’ comments come at a time of heightened tensions between Manila and Beijing over territorial disputes in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway where the two countries have had a series of maritime run-ins over the past years.

On Monday, a Philippine vessel transporting provisions to Filipino fishermen in the Scarborough Shoal was sprayed at with a water cannon by a Chinese coast guard ship, the Philippine Coast Guard said. The vessel managed to evade being hit.

China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the president’s remarks.

Responding to the Monday incident, China’s coast guard said it had taken necessary measures to expel Philippine vessels from Scarborough Shoal, which China claims as its own territory.

It described the operation as “professional, standardized, legitimate and legal.”

A 2016 ruling of an international arbitral tribunal voided Beijing’s sweeping claims in the region, saying they had no basis under international law, a decision China rejects.