Taliban

(proper noun)

A far-right Islamist militant movement that ruled large parts of Afghanistan and its capital, Kabul, as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from September 1996 until October 2001. After the attacks of September 11, 2001 the Taliban was overthrown by the American-led invasion of Afghanistan. Later it regrouped as an insurgency movement. The Taliban has been accused of using terrorism as a specific tactic to further its ideological and political goals.

Related Terms

Examples of Taliban in the following topics:

  • The War on Terror

    • In May 1996 the group World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders (WIFJAJC), sponsored by Osama bin Laden and later reformed as al-Qaeda, started forming a large base of operations in Afghanistan, where the Islamist extremist regime of the Taliban had seized power that same year.
    • The strikes failed to kill any leaders of WIFJAJC or the Taliban.
    • Bush delivered an ultimatum to the Taliban government of Afghanistan to turn over Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda leaders operating in the country or face attack.
    • Subsequently, in October 2001, US forces (with UK and coalition allies) invaded Afghanistan to oust the Taliban regime .
    • The remaining al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants fell back to the mountains of eastern Afghanistan, mainly Tora Bora.

  • The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

    • When it became clear that the person behind the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentegon was Osama bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi Arabian national who led the Islamic militant group al-Qaeda from Afghanistan, the full attention of the United States turned towards Central Asia and the Taliban.
    • In his address to a joint session of Congress on September 20, President Bush had declared war on terrorism, blamed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden for the attacks, and demanded that the radical Islamic fundamentalists who ruled Afghanistan, the Taliban, turn bin Laden over or face attack by the United States.
    • Ironically, both bin Laden and the Taliban received material support from the United States at that time.
    • The Taliban refused to turn bin Laden over, and the United States began a bombing campaign in October of 2001, allying with the Afghan Northern Alliance, a coalition of tribal leaders opposed to the Taliban.
    • By November of 2001, the Taliban had been ousted from power in Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul, but bin Laden and his followers had already escaped across the Afghan border to mountain sanctuaries in northern Pakistan.

  • September 11th and the War on Terror

    • The United States responded to the attacks by launching the "War on Terror" and invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, who were accused of harboring al-Qaeda.
    • On September 20, in an address to a joint session of Congress, Bush declared war on terrorism, blamed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden for the attacks, and demanded that the radical Islamic fundamentalists who ruled Afghanistan, the Taliban, turn bin Laden over or face attack by the United States.
    • Internationally, the U.S. government's War on Terror was used to justify an invasion of Afghanistan in October of 2001, under the expressed purpose of ousting the Taliban.

  • Policy in the Middle East

    • Other Pakistani militant groups, including the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, also vowed retaliation against the U.S. and against Pakistan for not preventing the operation.

  • The George W. Bush Administration

    • In October of 2001, he ordered an invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban, destroy Al-Qaeda, and capture Osama bin Laden on the pretense that "weapons of mass destruction" were being hidden by these groups.