Taliban

The Taliban (literally, "students") are a fanatically intolerant Islamic fundamentalist movement which exercised rule over most of Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, when United States forces invaded Afghanistan and overthrew them. The Taliban allowed al-Qaeda (a militant Sunni Islamist organization) use of Afghan territory to plot, train, and conduct terrorist activities across sovereign international borders.

The Taliban had close links to separatist terrorists in Chechnya, and this resulted in two bloody wars since 1994, as the Russian government fought to suppress the terrorists. Chechen terrorists also fought for the Taliban against U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The Chechens also had links to Al Qaeda.[2]

The Taliban retain control of substantial tracts of Afghanistan to this day, and continue to co-ordinate attacks against the Afghan government and supporting coalition forces. Many of the Taliban leaders and foot-solders are now believed to be based in Pakistan where they can launch attacks into Afghanistan or train for attacks elsewhere.

Taliban rule was characterized by a fanatical intolerance for other religions, and women could not be educated or attend most hospitals. They required all men to grow beards and banned television along with all forms of imagery, music and sports, resulting in Afganistan being suspended from the 2000 Olympics.

According to the International Socialist Review, the Taliban started as the one of the armed Afghan factions funded by the CIA during the Afghan conflict against Soviet Union.

According to the BBC, the Taliban were also strongly against drugs; since their overthrow heroin production in Afghanistan has increased massively and the country is now once again the world's largest producer However, another possible cause of this increase is the uncertainty that comes from the period in which a country is going through a governmental transition.