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Flag of the Islamic Emirate Afghanistan (1997-2001).

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan ^[1] was the name given to the nation of Afghanistan by the Taliban during their rule, from 1996 to 2001. At the peak of their influence the Taliban never controlled the entire area of Afghanistan, as about 10% of the country in the northeast was held by the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Taliban. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Taliban. ... The Taliban (Pashto: , students or seekers of knowledge) are a fundamentalist Sunni Muslim and ethnic Pashtun movement that ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, when their leaders were removed from power by American aerial bombardment and Northern Alliance ground forces. ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Flag flown by the UIF (Northern Alliance). ...

History

The Taliban and its rule arose from the chaos and corruption of post-Soviet Afghanistan. It began as an Islamic fundamentalist politico-religious movement composed of madrassa students in the Helmand and Kandahar region of Afghanistan. Overwhelmingly local ethnic Pashtuns, the Taliban blended Pashtunwali tribal code with elements of Deobandi Islamic teaching to form an anti-Western, anti-modern, and highly restrictive Islamic fundamentalist ideology with which it ruled.^[2] The Taliban (Pashto: , students or seekers of knowledge) are a fundamentalist Sunni Muslim and ethnic Pashtun movement that ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, when their leaders were removed from power by American aerial bombardment and Northern Alliance ground forces. ... Fundamentalism is a movement to maintain strict adherence to founding principles. ... A Madrasah complex in Gambia Ulugh Beg Madrasa, Samarkand, ca. ... Helmand (Balochi/Pashto: هلمند) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. ... Kandahar or Qandahar (Pashto: قندھار) is one of the largest of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... The Pashtuns (also Pushtun, Pakhtun, ethnic Afghan, or Pathan) are an ethno-linguistic group consisting mainly of eastern Iranian stock living primarily in eastern and southern Afghanistan, and the North West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Baluchistan provinces of Pakistan. ... Pashtunwali or Pakhtunwali or Pathanwali is the indigenous pre-Islamic honour code and religion of the Pashtun people. ... The Deobandi (Hindi: देवबन्दि, Urdu: دیو بندی) is an Islamic revivalist movement in South Asia which has more recently also spread to other countries, such as Afghanistan, South Africa and the United Kingdom. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... Fundamentalism is a movement to maintain strict adherence to founding principles. ... Political Ideologies Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. ...

Spreading from Kandahar, the Taliban eventually seized Kabul in 1996. By the end of 2000, the Taliban were able to capture 95% of the country, aside from the opposition (Afghan Northern Alliance) strongholds primarily found in the northeast corner of Badakhshan Province. The Taliban sought to impose a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law and were later implicated as supporters of terrorists, most notably by harbouring Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network. This article is about the city in Afghanistan. ... For other places with the same name, see Kabul (disambiguation). ... The Northern Alliance is a term used by the western media, Taliban and Al Qaida to identify the military coalition of various Afghan groups fighting the Taliban. ... Sharia (Arabic: transliteration: ) is the body of Islamic law. ... Osama bin Muhammad bin Awad bin Laden (Arabic: ‎; born March 10, 1957[1]), most often mentioned as Osama bin Laden or Usama bin Laden, is a Saudi Arabian militant Islamist and is widely believed to be one of the founders of the organization called al-Qaeda. ... Al-Qaeda (Arabic: القاعدة, the foundation or the base) is the name given to a worldwide network of militant Islamist organizations under the leadership of Osama bin Laden. ...

During the seven-year history of the Islamic Emirate, much of the population experienced restrictions on their freedom and violations of their human rights. Women were banned from jobs, girls forbidden to attend schools or universities. Those who resisted were punished instantly. Communists were systematically eradicated and thieves were punished by amputating one of their hands or feet. Meanwhile, the Taliban managed to nearly eradicate the majority of the opium production by 2001.^[3]

Renegade rule

Only Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates ever recognized the Taliban government. Turkmenistan also de facto recognized the Taliban government, as it had official meetings and agreements with Taliban government ministers.

One reason for this lack of international recognition was the Taliban's disregard for international law. One of the first acts of the Islamic Emirate was the killing of the former President of Afghanistan, Mohammad Najibullah. Before the Taliban had even taken control of Afghanistan's capital they sent out a squad to arrest, torture, mutilate and kill Najibullah, leaving his body hanging from a street lamp outside the presidential palace for two days. As Najibullah was staying in the the United Nations compound in Kabul, this was a violation of international law.^[4] The Taliban regime was also heavily criticised for the murder of Iranian diplomats in Afghanistan^{[4] [5]} in 1998. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Afghanistan has only intermittently been a republic - between 1973-1992 and from 2001 onwards - at other times being governed by a variety of kings, emirs and (under the mujahideen and Taliban regimes in the 1990s) Islamist rulers. ... Dr. Mohammad Najibullah (Pashto/Persian: ‎ ; born 1947, died September 27, 1996) was the fourth and last President of the communist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. ... The foundation of the U.N. The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress and human rights issues. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

See also

• Taliban
• Islamic Emirate of Waziristan
• Life under Taliban rule
• History of Afghanistan since 1992

The Taliban (Pashto: , students or seekers of knowledge) are a fundamentalist Sunni Muslim and ethnic Pashtun movement that ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, when their leaders were removed from power by American aerial bombardment and Northern Alliance ground forces. ... Area controlled by the Islamic Emirate of Waziristan shown in dark green The Islamic Emirate of Waziristan (Urdu: اسلامی امارات وزیرستان ) is a rebel organization in Waziristan, Pakistan that some commentators claim gained de facto recognition from the Government of Pakistan when it was named as party to the Waziristan Accord, the agreement... This article needs to be wikified. ... After the Soviets withdrew completely from Afghanistan in February 1989, fighting between the communist backed government and mujahideen continued. ...

References and notes

External links

• CIA worked in tandem with Pakistan to create Taliban, The Times of India, 7 March 2001
• 2001 - Interview with Mullah Omar, 14 June 2001
• Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2000, Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, February 23, 2001 for Afghanistan