The Taliban is an ultraconservative political and religious faction that emerged in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s. It originated from Afghan religious students and scholars mainly from Pashtun areas, who sought to confront crime and corruption amid the civil war following the Soviet withdrawal. The group quickly grew in power, seizing Kabul in 1996 and controlling much of Afghanistan until 2001. It combined a strict interpretation of Islamic law, a mixture of Deobandi traditionalism and Wahhabi puritanism, with a conservative Pashtun social code. The Taliban is known for its brutally repressive regime, including near-total exclusion of women from public life and harsh criminal punishments. After being ousted by the US-led invasion in 2001, the Taliban waged a 20-year insurgency before regaining control of Afghanistan in August 2021. Their government is largely unrecognized internationally and condemned for severe restrictions on human rights, especially women’s rights.
