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The '''Taliban''' is an Islamist terrorist and political group that governed Afghanistan from 1996 until it was overthrown in late 2001. It regrouped in 2004 as an insurgency movement governing local Pashtun areas and fighting a guerrilla war against the governments of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). They seized control of Afghanistan in 2021 again as soon as the ISAF started withdrawing from there. The Washington Post claimed that the Taliban seizure was "inextricably linked to Pakistan".<ref name="WaPoPak">{{cite news|title=Pakistan’s hand in the Taliban’s victory |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/18/pakistan-hand-taliban-victory/ |work=Washington Post |location=Washington, D.C. |date=18 August 2021 |access-date=27 August 2021}}</ref> According to the New York Times, "Afghan tribal leaders said that the Pakistani military waved a surge of new fighters across the border from sanctuaries inside Pakistan".<ref name="NYTPak">{{cite news|title=The Real Winner of the Afghan War? It’s Not Who You Think |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/26/world/asia/afghanistan-pakistan-taliban.html |work=The New York Times |location=New York |date=26 August 2021 |access-date=27 August 2021}}</ref> Many Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) cadres were released after the Taliban seizure of Afghanistan, the JeM and Taliban have held meetings and the JeM has been assured of all support in carrying out its terrorist activities in India.<ref>{{cite news|title=JeM planning attacks in India, say reports |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/jem-planning-attacks-in-india-say-reports/article36120687.ece |work=The Hindu |location=New Delhi |date=26 August 2021 |access-date=27 August 2021}}</ref> Pakistan, "supported the Taliban when the latter was being hounded in Afghanistan, the militants said they would return the favour by helping Pakistan in making Kashmir a part of its country", according to a Government of Pakistan person.<ref>{{cite news |title=‘Taliban with us to free Kashmir from India’: Pak govt leader on TV news debate |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/taliban-with-us-to-free-kashmir-from-india-pak-govt-leader-on-tv-news-debate-101629818453064.html |work=The Hindustan Times |location=New Delhi |date=24 August 2021 |access-date=27 August 2021}}</ref> Pakistan's Prime Minister, Imran Khan, said that the Afghans have broken the "shackles of slavery" after the Taliban seized Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1640988|title=PM Imran talks about overpowering 'shackles of slavery' at Single National Curriculum launch|work=Dawn|date=16 August 2021|access-date=17 August 2021|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816164203/https://www.dawn.com/news/1640988|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/afghans-have-broken-shackles-of-slavery-pak-pm-imran-khan/article35939794.ece|title=Afghans have broken 'shackles of slavery': Pakistan PM Imran Khan|work=The Hindu|date=16 August 2021|access-date=17 August 2021|archive-date=16 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816230623/https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/afghans-have-broken-shackles-of-slavery-pak-pm-imran-khan/article35939794.ece|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/south-asia/taliban-pakistan-imran-khan-afghanistan-b1903821.html|title=Taliban have broken 'the shackles of slavery,' says Pakistan PM Imran Khan|work=The Independent|first=Maroosha|last=Muzaffar|date=17 August 2021|access-date=17 August 2021|archive-date=17 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817223340/https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/south-asia/taliban-pakistan-imran-khan-afghanistan-b1903821.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The chief of Pakistan's Intelligence Agency (ISI), Faiz Hameed, visited Kabul and met with the Taliban leadership as well as other Afghan leaders including former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. The meeting was seen as an unconventional means of contact between the two countries in the absence of a government in Afghanistan.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Reporter|first=The Newspaper's Staff|date=2021-09-06|title=ISI chief’s visit to Kabul: Fawad sees ‘unconventional contacts’ imperative|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1644708|access-date=2021-09-15|website=DAWN.COM|language=en}}</ref> The visit was purportedly to get berths for the Haqqanis in the new Government, demonstrating their, "clout" over the Taliban.<ref>{{cite news |title=As Taliban factions bicker, ISI chief in Kabul to find berths for Haqqanis |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/world/pakistan-powerful-intel-chief-arrives-in-kabul-7488925/ |work=Indian Express|location=Kabul |date=5 September 2021 |access-date=10 September 2021}}</ref> According to the Carnegie Endowment Center, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate shares an undeniable link with the Taliban, especially the Haqqani group.<ref>{{cite news |title=Dealing With the Taliban - India’s Strategy in Afghanistan {{!}} After U.S. Withdrawal |url=https://carnegieendowment.org/files/Chaudhuri_Shende_-_Afghanistan.pdf |work=Carnegie Endowment |location=India |date=June 2020|access-date=17 September 2021}}</ref> The movement is primarily made up of members belonging to ethnic Pashtun tribes, along with volunteers from nearby Islamic countries such as Uzbeks, Tajiks, Chechens, Arabs, Pakistanis and others. It operates in Afghanistan and Pakistan, mostly around the Durand Line regions. United States officials say their headquarters is in or near Quetta, Pakistan, and that Pakistan and Iran provide support, although both nations deny this.

The founder of the movement was Mullah Mohammed Omar. Its rank-and-file are made up mostly of Afghan refugees who have studied at Islamic religious schools in Pakistan. According to the London School of Economics, the Taliban received training, supplies and arms from the Pakistani government, particularly the Inter-Services Intelligence agency.<ref>Alison Chung - [http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Pakistan-Intelligence-Agency-Helping-The-Taliban-London-School-Of-Economics-Report-Claims/Article/201006215648422?lpos=World_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15648422_Pakistan_Intelligence_Agency_Helping_The_Taliban%2C_London_School_Of_Economics_Report_Claims Pakistan Intelligence 'On Taliban's Side'] - Sky News Online, June 13, 2010</ref>

The Taliban enforced a strict interpretation of [[Shari'ah (Islamic Law)|Shari'ah]]. One Taliban list of prohibitions included "pork, pig, pig oil, anything made from human hair, satellite dishes, cinematography, and equipment that produces the joy of music, pool tables, chess, masks, alcohol, tapes, computers, VCRs, television, anything that propagates sex and is full of music, wine, lobster, nail polish, firecrackers, statues, sewing catalogs, pictures, Christmas cards."

They also prohibited employment, education, and sports for women, dancing, clapping during sports events, kite flying, and depictions of living things, whether drawings, paintings, photographs, stuffed animals, or dolls. Men were required to have a beard longer than a fist placed at the base of the chin, they had to wear their head hair short, and were required to wear a head covering. Adapting terms stipulated by the [[Pact of Umar]], the Hindu minority were also required to wear [[Yellow Badge|yellow badges]] (zunar) to segregate "un-Islamic" and "idolatrous" communities from Islamic ones.<ref name="Hindus1">[{{Reference archive|1=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/fyi/news/05/22/taleban.hindus/index.html|2=2012-05-14}} Taliban to mark Afghan Hindus] - CNN, May 22, 2001</ref><ref name="Hindus2">Jack Kelley - [{{Reference archive|1=http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2001-05-22-talibanids.htm|2=2012-05-14}} Taliban: Hindus must wear identity labels] - USA TODAY, June 19, 2001</ref><ref name="Hindus3">T.C. Malhotra - [{{Reference archive|1=http://cnsnews.com/news/article/us-lawmakers-condemn-taliban-treatment-hindus|2=2012-05-14}} US Lawmakers Condemn Taliban Treatment Of Hindus] - CNS News, July 7, 2008</ref>

==References==
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[[Category:Modern movements]]
[[Category:Caliphate]]
[[Category:Jihad]]
[[Category:Jihadists]]
[[Category:Islamic History]]