Panic sets in Kabul as the Taliban take over, what you need to know

Twenty years after they were removed from power by the US, the Taliban rose again to cement their rule over Afghanistan.

Here’s what you need to know:

The first signs of the Taliban emerged in Afghanistan in 1979 as an insurgency fighting against the Soviet Union’s invasion. In an effort to aid the anti-Soviet rebellion, the US government covertly provided schoolbooks promoting Islamic teachings and included imagery of weapons and soldiers to inculcate hatred of foreign invaders, while also offering aid and military training in Pakistan.

Civil war erupted between Afghan factions after the Soviet-backed government collapsed in 1992. The Taliban was then officially formed by Mullah Mohammed Omar in September of 1994 along with 50 students. The movement then began expanding from their base in Kandahar to establish their rule over the country.

After years of clashes with Taliban guerilla fighters, Afghan authorities retreated from Kabul in 1996, leaving the capital free for the Taliban to claim and establish the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. From then on, the Taliban worked on implementing a strict interpretation of Sharia law in accordance with the Hanafi school of Islamic jurisprudence and Mullah Omar’s religious edicts, and by 1998, the Taliban controlled 90% of Afghanistan. Two years later, the UN Security Council accused the movement of training “terrorists” and providing safe haven to al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

In 2001, one month after the September 11 attacks on New York’s World Trade Center and the Taliban’s refusal to extradite Osama bin Laden, the US and its allies initiated military action and began bombing Taliban and Al Qaeda-related camps in Afghanistan.

The following 20 years were marked by deadly clashes between the US-led coalition and Taliban guerilla fighters, which culminated in US troops’ withdrawal in 2020.

Without the support of the US military, government forces collapsed rapidly as the Taliban seized the opportunity and conducted a large sweeping military offensive all over the country, eventually taking the capital Kabul.

Panic erupted in Kabul as Taliban fighters patrolled the city in victory on Monday, while thousands mobbed Kabul’s airport in attempts to flee the city. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the Taliban and all parties to “exercise restraint” and said the rights of women and girls must be protected.

The Taliban imposed an ultra-strict interpretation of sharia law during their 1996-2001 rule. This included banning girls from schools and women from working, while people were publicly stoned to death for adultery.