Who Is the Taliban?
The word Taliban comes from the Arabic word for student, “taleb.” These people are fundamentalist Sunni Muslims who come mostly from Afghanistan’s Pashtun tribes. Before Afghanistan’s civil war when the Soviets withdrew in 1989, there was actually no such thing as the Taliban. When the final troops withdrew in February of 1989, they left a vacuum of social and economic issues. Many warlords attempted to fill this vacuum.
Afghans were desperate for someone to stabilize the country – and the Taliban stepped up at that time. They wanted to restore their own version of peace, enforce Sharia law and defend the integrity and Islamic character of Afghanistan.
