|
Name of Organization |
Taliban |
Formation |
The
group emerged in the early to mid 1990s, by an
Afghan faction of the mujahideen who fought
against the Soviet forces in Afghanistan from
1979 to 1989 and were joined by younger Pashtun
tribesmen from madrassas in Pakistan. |
Leadership |
·
Mullah
Mohammad Omar:
Mullah Omar
Mullah
Omar was the cleric and Ameer-ul-Momineen
(Commander of the Faithful) of the Taliban in
Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. He was titled the
Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Islamic
Emirate of Afghanistan in 1996. He is wanted by
the US State Department Rewards of Justice
Department for giving refuge to the
Al-Qaeda
leaders after the 9/11 attacks. After the
dismantling of the group in 2001, he
reconstituted and relocated it in 2002.
·
Mullah
Abdul Ghani Baradar:
Baradar was the deputy to Mullah Omar and the
co-founder of the Taliban Movement in
Afghanistan. He was a member of the Taliban’s
leadership council. He was in command of the
military operations of the Taliban and was in
charge of the financial affairs.
He was captured by intelligence services in
Pakistan in February 2010
and was released in 2013.
·
Mullah
Obaidullah Akhund:
Mullah Obaidullah
Akhund
Akhund
was the member of the leadership council of the
Taliban and was the Defense Minister during the
Taliban Government in Afghanistan (1996-2001).
He was the third highest-ranking commander in
the Taliban regime. Akhund was detained in 2002
and released on an agrrement shortly. He was
later arrested in 2007 and was released later
that year in exchange for the release of
prisoners held by the Taliban. Akhund, after his
arrest in 2008, died of a heart disease in
Pakistan.
·
Arsala
Rahmani Daulat:
Arsala Rahmani
Daulat
served as the Deputy Minister for Higher
Education during the Taliban rule in Afghanistan
in 1998. He was enlisted as a member under the
UNSCR 1267. He was the first one to accept
reconciliation offer from the Coalition forces
after the NATO invasion in Afghanistan. In 2010,
he served in the Afghan High Peace Council which
attempted to negotiate with the Taliban. He was
removed from the UNSCR 1267 designation list in
2011. He was shot dead in Kabul in May 2012. |
School of thought/ Classification |
Deobandi |
Ideology |
The
Taliban’s ideological foundation was laid upon
imposing radicalized Deobandi interpretations of
the
Shariah
law with an influence of the
Wahabi
doctrine of the madrassas in Afghanistan. The
Taliban regime considered any social activity as
un-Islamic. Al-Qaeda’s pan-Islamist views are
also indoctrinated in the Taliban ideology. |
Framework |
The
current Taliban leadership structure is known as
the Quetta Shura which was established after the
leadership escaped to Pakistan in 2001 after the
US and
Northern
Alliance
offensive against the Taliban. The group was
reconstituted as an insurgent movement post-2001
in Quetta, Pakistan led by Mullah Omar. It is
the leadership council of the Taliban and
maintains an operational authority over the
Afghan Taliban. |
Financial resources
|
During
it early emergence (1996-1998), the Taliban’s
activity in the region was funded by the
taxation created on poppy/drug trade.
However, Mullah Omar later issued a ban on the
opium production and the poppy crop was
eradicated by the Taliban. After the
reconstitution of the Taliban movement in
post-2001 era, the Taliban relied on extortion
of agricultural tithe from the farmers and
levies. Income from illicit mining also
contributes to the Taliban’s activities.
They also rely on funds from the Middle Eastern
Arab countries to gain support and resources.
The Taliban release videos of their attacks to
gain support from their sympathizers throughout
Middle East and Asia. The Haqqani Network has
been providing training and weapons to the
Taliban since the mid-1990s.
|
Recruitment tools & demographics |
In the
initial stages of the emergence of the group, it
constituted of the mujahideen fighting against
the soviet forces. They were joined by young
Pashtun students (talibs) who studied at
madrassas in the tribal belt of Pakistan.
Their recent strategy of recruitment is not
known. |
Connections & linkages |
The
Taliban are linked to:
·
Islamic
Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
·
Haqqani
Network
·
Al-Qaeda
·
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan |
Areas of Operation |
The
Taliban carry their operations in the southern
provinces of Afghanistan i.e. Helmand, Zabul and
Kandahar and the northern provinces of
Afghanistan i.e. Laghman, Baghlan, Kunar, Kipsa
and Kunduz. Operations in the tribal belt of
Pakistan across the border also influence the
activity of Afghan Taliban. |
Tools |
N/A |
Name Variations |
The
Afghan Taliban |
Status |
The
group was enlisted under UNSCR 1267 in November
1999.
|
Who they are:
The Taliban
are a strict Islamist militant group which emerged in
the early 1990s in the post-cold war era. The group took
control of Kabul in 1996 and was the political
leadership of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The
Taliban gave refuge to the Al-Qaeda leaders after the
9/11 attacks after which the regime was toppled by the
coalition of the US and Northern Alliance in October
2001. The group was reconstituted by Mullah Omar, the
founder, and was relocated under the leadership council
“Quetta Shura” in 2002. The prominent attacks of the
Taliban are the September 8, 2006 suicide bombing
outside the US Embasy in Kabul, February 27, 2007
suicide attack on the then Vice President Dick Cheney
outside Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, the attacks in
Kandahar in May 2011 after they announced the “Spring
Offensive” and the attack across Afghanistan including
the bombings and gun attacks on the Parliament building
in April 2011.
History:
The group
emerged in 1994 under Mullah and Mullah Baradari. It was
formed by the Afghan faction of mujahideen who fought
against the Soviet forces during their invasion in
Afghanistan. Pashtun students from the madrassas in the
tribal belt of Pakistan constituted of the supporters of
the Taliban. Initially taking control of the Kandahar
city, in 1996 they overthrew the Rabbani regime to
assume power in Afghanistan. They established the
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and imposed a
fundamentalist interpretation of the Shariah law. Mullah
Omar, the Amir of the Taliban, gave refuge to Osama Bin
laden and the Al-Qaeda leaders after the attacks of
9/11. As Mullah Omar refused to hand over Bin Laden to
the US, a coalition between the US and the Northern
Alliance toppled the Taliban regime in October 2001.
Mullah Omar and other prominent leaders of the Taliban
escaped to Pakistan. The group was reconstituted under
the leadership of Mullah Omar in the capital city of the
province of Balochistan, Quetta in 2002. A leadership
council was formed under Mullah Omar, the Quetta Shura,
which now administers the operations of the Taliban in
Afghanistan.
Organization’s
Message:
The Taliban
sought to strictly impose the Wahabi interpretations of
the Shariah law in Afghanistan, neglecting any social
activity as un-Islamic. The Taliban believing in an
orthodox interpretation of Islam, they required the
women to cover themselves in full veils and forbade them
from coming to public place without a male guardian,
they shut down the girls’ schools, required men to wear
a turban and have long beards, jailed men for short
beards and banned music on the basis that it is against
the Islamic code.
Target Audience:
The Taliban
emerged, with the Afghan faction of the mujahideen who
fought the Soviet forces in Afghanistan and young
Pashtun tribesmen who were students at the madrassas in
FATA.
Tools:
N/A
Splinter Groups:
N/A
Annexure
Al-Qaeda:
The organization
was formed in late 80s by Osama Bin Laden who had come
to Afghanistan to fight against the Soviet forces. The
literal meaning of Al-Qaeda is “The Base”. Al-Qaeda’s
network includes outfits which are operating in
estimated 65 countries worldwide. The group propagates
armed militancy against Western countries and their
allies in the Muslim World.
Deobandi:
These are a
significant group of Muslims present in the
sub-continent, who adhere to the Sunni sect and follow
the ideology of Imam Abu Hanifah. The school of thought
is named after University of Deoband Dar-ul-Aloom in
India. They believe in safeguarding the teachings of
Islam, while spreading the religion through preaching. TTP
has its own extremist version of this ideology, where it
justifies the use of force and violence to enact Shariah
law within the country. It also demands Pakistani
state’s disassociation from the coalition for war on
terror.
Wahabi:
They are also
termed as Ahle-Hadiths/Salafis. They belong to the
larger group of Sunni Islam. They adhere to the
teachings of Islam enshrined by the Quran and Sunnah and
reject what has not been enjoined by the Islamic Shariah.
They do not believe in sectarian jurisprudence.
Northern
Alliance:
The Northern Alliance is an anti-Taliban non-Pashtun
political forces that aligned against the Taliban in
1996. This alliance is headed by ethnic Tajik president,
Burhuddin Rabbani, and composed of Jamiat-i-Islami
forces and ethnic Uzbek Junbish-i-Milli party.
They, with the coalition of the US forces toppled the
Taliban reign in 2001.
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU):
IMU is an Islamic militant group that seeks to install
the Shariah law in Uzbekistan. It operates in Uzbekistan
and Afghanistan and has been linked to the Al-Qaeda
training camps, financial bodies and weapons exchange.
Haqqani Network:
The Haqqani
Network is an insurgent group using guerrilla warfare to
fight the US-led NATO forces and the government of
Afghanistan. It operates from its strategic havens in
Afghanistan and Pakistan. It has been involved in
various high-profile attacks in Afghanistan. Shortly
before the Taliban gained power in Kabul, the network
aligned itself with them.
Tehrik-i-Taliban
Pakistan:
TTP is a South
Waziristan based conglomerate of various militant
outfits. Various tribal affiliations makeup for a
considerable strength within the organization, however
due to tribal frictions the relations with local
commanders remain volatile.
It has established chapters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and
tribal areas, which are led by local commanders. The
organization is believed to have created cross-sectional
working groups with other violent extremist
organizations throughout Pakistan. These groups consist
of 10 – 15 members each and have assisted in expanding
the operations of the outfit. TTP has its own extremist
version of Deobandi ideology, where it justifies the use
of force and violence to enact Shariah law within the
country. It also demands Pakistani state’s
disassociation from the coalition for war on terror.
Shariah:
Shariah which
is the body of Islam is actually "way" or "path". It is
the lawful skeleton within which the both the public and
private aspects of life are monitored for those
following Islam as their religion. Shariah deals with
all aspects of day-to-day life, including politics,
economics, banking, business law, contract law,
sexuality, and social issues. There is not a strictly
codified uniform set of laws that can be called Shariah.
It is more like a system of several laws, based on the
Qur'an, Hadith and centuries of debate, interpretation
and precedent.
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