In recent weeks, the Taliban have won a series of battlefield victories, as the US-led foreign army is about to complete its withdrawal from Afghanistan in 20 years.

After attacking US territory on September 11, the armed group was dismissed in the 2001 US-led invasion, but it gradually regained strength and has conducted multiple attacks on foreign and Afghan forces in the past 20 years.

After the United States, led by then-President Donald Trump, signed an agreement with armed groups on February 29, 2020 to withdraw foreign troops in exchange for security guarantees, it managed to win some international legitimacy.

Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, did not change the withdrawal decision, but postponed it to September 11 to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. However, last month, he again revised the deadline to August 31.

Although the armed group has largely kept its promise not to target U.S. security interests, it continues to carry out deadly attacks on Afghan troops and civilians, saying that the Western-backed Kabul government is not an agreement signed in the capital of Qatar in February 2020 The party, Doha.

The agreement reached between the United States and the Taliban paved the way for peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan leaders. However, the Doha talks failed to make progress because local violence continued.

Since the Taliban launched a full-scale offensive against government forces in May, the armed group has controlled important border crossings with Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan.

The Taliban have as many as 85,000 full-time fighters across the country and now claim to control about half of the country’s 400 regions. However, it is difficult to verify such claims.

On Wednesday, the top US military general stated that the Taliban appeared to have “strategic momentum” on the battlefield.

General Mark Milli, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon: “Now this will be a test of the will and leadership of the Afghan people, the Afghan security forces and the Afghan government.”

As a result of the fighting, hundreds of people were killed and tens of thousands of people were displaced. Because Afghans feared that the country might fall into a civil war, the peace talks were deadlocked, and the government accelerated its push to arm local civilians directly against the Taliban.

The government accelerates its push to arm local civilians against the Taliban [File: Reuters]

On Friday, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen stated that his organization does not want a civil war. He then insisted that President Ashraf Ghani must resign in order to succeed the Doha talks.

“I want to make it clear that we don’t believe in power monopolies,” Shaheen told the Associated Press, adding that armed groups will lay down their arms “after the establishment of a negotiating government acceptable to all parties to the conflict.” In Kabul”.

Last week, the Taliban leader Haibatullah Ahunzada called for a “political solution,” but his fighters continued to launch military offensives against government forces.

origin

The Taliban means “students” in Arabic, and they fought with Afghan rebels known as jihadists for nine years to oppose Soviet occupation.

The United States provided weapons and funds to the jihadists as part of its policy against the Cold War enemy, the former Soviet Union. At that time, the Soviet Union supported the communist leaders, who launched a bloody coup in 1978 against the country’s first president, Mohamed Daoud Khan.

After the Soviet Union withdrew in 1989, things became chaotic. By 1992, jihadist commanders fought for power and split the capital Kabul. There was a full-scale civil war, with hundreds of rockets flying from here every day. Different directions.

The Taliban militia became an important player in 1994. Many of its members studied in conservative religious schools on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

They quickly achieved military victory and took control of Kandahar, the largest city after Kabul, and promised to provide people with a safe city. Enough of years of war, people generally welcome them. Mujahideen commanders and their forces were accused of human rights violations and war crimes in their struggle for power.

By 1996, the Taliban had occupied the capital and hanged Najibullah Ahmadzai, the country’s last communist president, on the square in Kabul. They declared Afghanistan an Islamic emirate and began to impose their own strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Only three countries recognize them-Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Pakistan.

The ability of Afghan organizations to bring ostensible normality and decide to solve local corruption problems has won them some initial support.

Six years

However, they have never relaxed the restrictions, and they initially stated that they did so to ensure that civil war crimes would not continue. These restrictions include prohibiting women from receiving education and prohibiting all women from working except doctors. Under their rule, anyone who does not follow their strict guidelines could be imprisoned or beaten publicly.

Their six-year rule was characterized by abuse of ethnic and religious minorities, and restrictions on seemingly harmless activities and pastimes such as music and television. Even sports are strictly regulated because male athletes are told what to wear and the competition is suspended during five prayers a day.

Their decision to destroy the historic Buddha statues in Bamyan Province in 2001 drew global condemnation.

In 1999, the United Nations imposed sanctions on the Taliban because of the Taliban’s ties to Al-Qaida.

On October 7, 2001, after the Taliban refused to hand over Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, the United States invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001. Invited The former jihadist commander Abdul Rab Rasul Shayev returned to the country.

Before the US invasion, the organization asked the Bush administration to provide evidence of Bin Laden’s role in the 9/11 attacks, and then negotiated with Washington. Bush rejected both.

As the United States and its allies began bombing operations, the Taliban were forced to step down within a few months.

The new interim government led by Hamid Karzai was established in December 2001, and a new constitution was promulgated three years later, which borrowed from the reformed constitution of the 1960s when the country’s last government Officially granted rights to women and ethnic minorities. The king, Muhammad Zahir Shah.

Thousands of deaths have been caused by U.S. drones and air strikes in the past 20 years [File: Ghulamullah Habibi/EPA-EFE]

But by 2006, the Taliban had regrouped and were able to mobilize combatants to fight foreign occupiers and their allies.

20 years of conflict destroyed Afghanistan, and more than 40,000 civilians were killed in attacks by Taliban and US-led forces. At least 64,000 Afghan military police and more than 3,500 international soldiers were also killed.

The United States has spent nearly $1 trillion on wars and reconstruction projects, but the country is still poor and its infrastructure is dilapidated.

In 2011, the Obama administration allowed a group of Taliban officials to settle in Qatar. They will be responsible for laying the foundation for face-to-face negotiations with the government of then President Karzai.

In 2013, their Doha office was formally established OpenIn 2018, the Trump administration began formal face-to-face meetings with the organization, and the Afghan government did not intervene.

Parallel government

The Taliban established a parallel state, called it the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, with its own white flag. They also selected shadow governors who have their own administrative agencies in 34 provinces across the country.

The Taliban leader heads a committee that oversees more than a dozen committees in charge of finance, health, and education. They even run their own courts.

The Taliban armed groups have carried out multiple attacks since they stepped down in 2001, resulting in thousands of deaths, including civilians [File: Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency]

according to Taliban Members and a UN committee, their annual income is close to 1.5 billion U.S. dollars (PDF).

They also earn income by cooperating with local and regional mafia in the regional drug trade. Last year, they made millions of dollars by mining and trading minerals, and even cooperated with the regional mafia to produce methamphetamine (a stimulant widely used as a recreational drug).

They also have their own taxation system and receive funds from abroad-although dubious sources such as Pakistan and Iran deny this.

Peaceful prospects

The question now is-what will happen after the US and NATO soldiers leave? Can the Afghan government survive?

Although peace talks are still ongoing, nearly 1,800 Afghan civilians were killed or injured in the first three months of this year. This is an increase of nearly 30% over last year.

The Taliban have also been blamed for a wave of assassinations of journalists and activists-the organization denies this accusation.

According to a famous poll (PDF) Completed in 2019-85% of people said they have no sympathy for them.

The Afghans are already asking themselves what life would be like if the Taliban took over again. Will they tear up the constitution that protects basic human rights?

In the New York Times ColumnAfterwards, the Taliban tried to clarify the problem, saying that it wanted to “establish an Islamic system… to protect the rights of women given by Islam-from the right to education to the right to work-to be protected”.

Taliban representative Shahin reiterated earlier this week that “women will be allowed to work, go to school, and participate in politics, but they must wear a headscarf or headscarf,” which is commonplace in current Islamic countries. Republic.