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Taliban
Facts
for kids
The following fact
sheet contains interesting facts and information on the
Taliban.
Taliban
Facts for kids
Taliban
Facts - 1:
The Taliban consists of a jihadist group of Sunni Muslims who
practice Wahhabism, which is considered to
be the most extreme form of Islam, the religion of
Muslims.
Taliban
Facts -
2: The Taliban is an
Islamic fundamentalist political movement that was
primarily made up of members belonging to Pashtun
tribes, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan. The
Taliban engage in terrorism against the civilian
population of Afghanistan.
Taliban
Facts -
3: History: The 1979
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan led to the emergence of
different factions of anti-communist Muslim Afghan
fighters who opposed the Soviet occupation of
Afghanistan. In 1980 the Soviets installed of a puppet
regime in Kabul, the largest city and capital of
Afghanistan.
Taliban
Facts - 4: History: By 1982, 2.8 million
Afghans had fled from Afghanistan to Pakistan, and another 1.5
million had fled to Iran. During the Soviet-Afghan War the Insurgent
groups ("the Mujahideen") received aid from the United States,
Pakistan, Iran, China and Saudi Arabia.
Taliban
Facts - 5: History: In 1988 the radical
Islamic group
Al-Qaeda encouraged jihad (holy war) by Muslims to
help the Afghan Mujahideen fight the Soviets. The Soviet-Afghan War
lasted over nine years and finally ended in February 1989 when the
Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan.
Taliban
Facts - 6: History: A Muslim cleric
called Mullah Mohammed Omar encouraged Islamic students to take up
arms during the Soviet-Afghan War and founded the movement known as
the Taliban. The word 'Taliban' derives from the Arabic word 'talib'
meaning "student or pupil" as the group first originated amongst
students in the Pakistani-trained mujahideen (Muslim followers engaged in
Jihad holy war).
Taliban
Facts - 7: History: In 1992
Mujahideen forces, led by a powerful resistance leader
called Ahmed Shah Massoud, the "Lion of Panjshir",
ousted the Soviet-backed government of Mohammad
Najibullah, sparking rivalry and fighting among militias
to gain power in Afghanistan.
Taliban
Facts - 8: Most Taliban
leaders were strongly influenced by Deobandi
fundamentalism and 20% of Pakistan's Sunni Muslims
consider themselves Deobandi and 70% of Madrasah
(religious schools or colleges for the study of the
Islamic religion) are run by Deobandis.
Taliban
Facts -
9: In 1994 Mullah
Mohammed Omar became the supreme commander and the
spiritual leader of the Afghan Taliban's supreme
council, the Quetta Shura, that consisted of military
commanders and madrassa teachers.
Taliban
Facts - 10: In September 1996
the Taliban, under the leadership of Mullah Muhammad
Omar, seized control of Kabul, assumed power in 12 of
the 34 Afghan provinces promising peace to the
inhabitants.
Taliban
Facts - 11: The Taliban
implemented and enforced a strict interpretation of
Islamic (Sharia) law, stringent codes of behavior and
the suppression of women's rights. Women caught breaking
codes of conduct or dress codes were subjected to harsh
public punishment.
Taliban
Facts -
12: Suppression of
women's rights: Women were required to wear the
all-covering burqa outer garment when they left home as
part of the Islamic dress code, and windows needed to be
covered so that women could not be seen from the
outside. The dignity and chastity of women was
sacrosanct. Forced marriages were the norm.
Taliban
Facts - 13: Suppression of women's rights:
Women lacked equality with men, faced segregation and were banned
from public life.
Taliban
Facts - 14: Suppression of women's rights:
Women lacked equality with men and were banned from public life and
females over the age of eight were denied access to education, than
than studying the Quran.
Taliban
Facts - 15: Suppression of women's rights:
Women were banned on radio, television or at public gatherings.
Freedom of movement or travel was limited. A male chaperone, called
a Mahram (non-marriageable man), was required accompany and guard
women outside the home.
Continued...
Taliban
Facts for kids
Facts
about the Taliban for kids
The following fact
sheet continues with facts about the Taliban for kids.
Taliban
Facts for kids
Taliban
Facts - 16: In 1996 Mullah Muhammad Omar
offered backing and refuge for Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden that
led to the US-led campaign to oust the Taliban.
Taliban
Facts - 17: In 1998 Osama Bin Laden published a Fatwah
against American civilians, and United States embassies
in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed. Osama Bin Laden also
made the chilling declaration that it was his Islamic
duty to acquire weapons of mass destruction (WDM's) -
nuclear, biological and chemical weapons - to overthrow
apostate regimes throughout the Islamic world and to
launch attacks on the United States and its allies in
the western world. Following the declarations and
US embassy attacks, President Bill Clinton
ordered cruise missile attacks against Osama Bin Laden’s
training camps in Afghanistan.
Taliban
Facts - 18: In 2000 the United
States demanded that Osama bin Laden be extradited from
Afghanistan to stand trial for the US embassy bombings.
The Taliban refuse the extradition request and the
United Nations
(UN) punished Afghanistan with sanctions restricting trade and
economic development.
Taliban
Facts - 19: On September 11,
2001 members of Al Qaeda hijack four planes and flew
them into the World Trade Center in New York, the
Pentagon in Washington, and a field in Pennsylvania
killing over 3000 people.
Taliban
Facts - 20: Days after the
9/11 terrorist attacks U.S. officials state that Osama bin
Laden, believed to be hiding in Afghanistan, was the
prime suspect in the attack and once again demand the
extradition of Osama bin Laden.
Taliban
Facts - 21: The Taliban ignore
the request and on October 7, 2001 combined U.S. and
British forces launch air strikes against targets in
Afghanistan and the
War in
Afghanistan begins. Kabul is captured on November 13, 2001 and
the retreating Taliban fled south towards Kandahar.
Taliban
Facts -
22: On December 9, 2001, Taliban leaders
surrender the province of Zabul, the group’s final
territory in Afghanistan.
Taliban
Facts -
23: The Taliban
insurgency, that had been promised during the Taliban's
last days in power, began shortly after the group's fall
from power following the 2001 War in Afghanistan.
Taliban
Facts -
24: The International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was established and
deployed in 2001, on the request for assistance by the
Afghan authorities, and a United Nations (UN) Security
Council issues a mandate to assist the Afghan government
in the maintenance of security.
Taliban
Facts -
25: The Taliban
immediately started to raise finances obtained from
opium revenues. Before 2001 the Taliban suppressed opium
production and Afghanistan produced only 11% of the
world's opium. The insurgency encouraged the production
of opium and Afghanistan now produces 93% of the global
opium crop.
Taliban
Facts -
26: In 2002 the movement spread south
into the neighboring country of Pakistan. However, the
Pakistani Taliban is distinct, and not directly
affiliated with the Afghan Taliban, having different
history, structure and strategic goals, targeting
elements of the Pakistani state. On occasions the two
movements provide support for each other.
Taliban
Facts -
27: The Taliban
insurgency, joined by smaller Al Qaeda groups,
uses terrorist attacks in which their victims are
usually Afghan civilians who support the Afghan central
government. Major bases of insurgents were created in
the mountainous tribal areas of Pakistan by the summer
of 2003.
Taliban
Facts -
28: The ISAF military
mission in Afghanistan was a partnership between the 49
nations. On 11 August 2003 North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) assumed leadership of ISAF directing
offensive operations and supporting the Afghan National
Drug Control Strategy.
Taliban
Facts -
29: State-Sponsored
Terrorists: Countries, particularly Pakistan and Iran,
have been accused of funding and supporting the
insurgent groups, secretly providing the Taliban with
safe havens, money, training and weapons.
Taliban
Facts - 30: In 2009 President
Barack Obama announced a new strategy for the
Afghanistan war dispatching more US military to the
country, in addition to the 17,000 more combat troops he
had previously authorized.
Taliban
Facts - 31: On May 2, 2011
U.S. forces overtook a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan
and Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was killed - refer
to the
Death of Osama bin Laden.
Taliban
Facts - 32: After 13 years of
conflict during the War in Afghanistan the United States
and Britain officially ended their combat operation in
Afghanistan on October 26, 2014 and NATO ended combat
operations on December 28, 2014.
Taliban
Facts - 33: The unexpected
resilience of the Taliban left insurgents in control of much of
Afghanistan and President Obama announced that the US
would delay its troop withdrawal and the 2015 war in
Afghanistan began.
Taliban
Facts -
34: The Taliban and its affiliated
insurgent groups are still deeply entrenched in
Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan. New international
jihadi groups, such as the
Islamic State (IS) are also be trying to establish
themselves in Afghanistan.
Taliban
Facts -
35: In 2016 the
Taliban controls more territory in 2016 than when it was
ousted from power in 2001.
Taliban
Facts for kids
Taliban
for kids
● Facts about the Taliban for kids and schools
● Summary of the Taliban in US history
● The Taliban in
Afghanistan and Pakistan
● Taliban
- the people, places, dates and events
● Fast, facts about the
Taliban
● Al Qaeda and the Taliban
for kids
●
Facts and history of the
Taliban for schools,
homework, kids and children |
