Many senior Taliban leaders reportedly took refuge in the Pakistani city of Quetta, from where they guided the Taliban. But the existence of what was dubbed the "Quetta Shura" was denied by Islamabad. Despite ever higher numbers of foreign troops, the Taliban gradually regained and then extended their influence in Afghanistan, rendering vast tracts of the country insecure, and violence in the country returned to levels not seen since There were numerous Taliban attacks on Kabul and, in September , the group carried out a high-profile raid on Nato's Camp Bastion base.
Hopes of a negotiated peace were raised in , when the Taliban announced plans to open an office in Qatar. But mistrust on all sides remained high and the violence went on. In August , the Taliban admitted they had covered up Mullah Omar's death - reportedly of health problems at a hospital in Pakistan - for more than two years. The following month, the group said it had put aside weeks of infighting and rallied around a new leader in the form of Mullah Mansour, who had been the deputy of Mullah Omar.
At around the same time, the Taliban seized control of a provincial capital for the first time since their defeat in , taking control of the strategically important city of Kunduz. Mullah Mansour was killed in a US drone strike in May and replaced by his deputy Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, who remains in control of the group. In the year following the US-Taliban peace deal of February - which was the culmination of a long spell of direct talks - the Taliban appeared to shift their tactics from complex attacks in cities and on military outposts to a wave of targeted assassinations that terrorised Afghan civilians.
The targets - journalists, judges, peace activists, women in positions of power - suggested that the Taliban had not changed their extremist ideology, only their strategy. Despite grave concerns from Afghan officials over the government's vulnerability to the Taliban without international support, the new US president, Joe Biden, announced in April that all American forces would leave the country by 11 September - two decades to the day since the felling of the World Trade Center.
Having outlasted a superpower through two decades of war, the Taliban began seizing vast swathes of territory, before once again toppling a government in Kabul in the wake of a foreign power withdrawing. They swept across Afghanistan in just 10 days, taking their first provincial capital on 6 August. The group that sheltered Osama bin Laden as he planned the Sept. They pledged to end the civil war between rival mujahedeen factions that followed the ouster of Soviet-backed President Mohammed Najibullah in and to restore security across the country.
You may change your billing preferences at any time in the Customer Center or call Customer Service. You will be notified in advance of any changes in rate or terms. You may cancel your subscription at anytime by calling Customer Service. As the U. Last year, then-President Donald Trump announced a plan to pull out and signed a deal with the Taliban that limited U.
President Joe Biden then announced that the last troops would leave by the end of August. As the final deadline drew close, the Taliban began a lightning offensive, overrunning city after city. But the Western-backed government was rife with corruption. Commanders exaggerated the number of soldiers to siphon off resources, and troops in the field often lacked ammunition, supplies or even food.
Their morale further eroded when it became clear the U. As the Taliban rapidly advanced in recent days entire units surrendered after brief battles, and Kabul and some nearby provinces fell without a fight.
President Ashraf Ghani hunkered down and made few public statements as the Taliban swept across the country. On Sunday, as they reached the capital, he left Afghanistan , saying he had chosen to leave to avoid further bloodshed. It became an enduring symbol of defeat after thousands of Americans and their Vietnamese allies were airlifted out of the city on helicopters.
They are holding negotiations with senior politicians, including leaders in the former government. They have pledged to enforce Islamic law but encouraged women to join their government and say they will provide a secure environment for the return of normal life after decades of war. The Taliban also appeared to moderate its tone, at least when addressing the international community.
In an English-language press release following the anti-Muslim terror attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, the Taliban called for investigation—not jihad. Its words contrasted sharply with statements from al-Qaeda and ISIS leaders, who called for bloody vengeance against the West. In , the United States entered formal peace talks with the Taliban. A year later, US and Taliban representatives reached a formal settlement, agreeing to the withdrawal of all US and international forces by May in return for a Taliban guarantee that Islamic terror groups would not operate from Afghan soil.
The Taliban also ceased attacks on US personnel following the February settlement, marking the end of US combat deaths in Afghanistan. A separate intra-Afghanistan peace process proved fruitless. By late , it was clear that the Afghan government was losing the information war, thanks to faltering institutions and relentless Taliban pressure. In October , local officials reported that an errant Afghan air strike on a rural religious school had killed eleven children and their prayer leader.
But the Afghan government contradicted the reports, insisting that no civilians had died. The spread of this attitude would mark the death knell for the Afghan government. For two decades, the Taliban had cast itself as the legitimate claimant to Afghanistan—no more corrupt or violent than the US-backed administration in Kabul. A growing number of Afghans came around to this view of the US-backed government, and by the time the Taliban began its blitzkrieg offensive in August , many defenders had run out of reasons to fight.
The beliefs and objectives of the Taliban militants who streamed into Kabul this August are little changed from those held by the members of the group who fled the city twenty years earlier.
Instead, what has changed is their willingness to use modern technology to realize their medieval ends. Already, anti-Taliban fighters are appealing to the West for military aid. The months ahead will bring a flurry of competing online narratives around Afghanistan, spanning numerous social media platforms and drawing in actors from around the world. New Atlanticist Aug 15, By Benjamin Jensen. The Taliban of is not the same as the Taliban of the s.
This Taliban is now adept at integrating military and non-military instruments of power in pursuit of its political objectives.
New Atlanticist Aug 17, By Alex Zerden. The reality of a strengthened Taliban running the Afghan government creates substantial and imminent economic policy challenges for the United States and the international community.
New Atlanticist Aug 24, A photograph of Jadayi Maiwand, a major Kabul thoroughfare, already decimated by years of infighting.
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