Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Group Taliban continue to carry out attacks to seize territory in Afghanistan. They claim to control 85 percent of the territory in Afghanistan.
Afghan government troops were even pushed back and fled to Tajikistan.
Many experts fear the strength of the Taliban after US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) coalition forces withdrew troops from Afghanistan, ending nearly two decades of war.
The Taliban group was formed in the early 1980s to fight the Soviet Union’s occupation of the country from 1979 to 1989.
They carry an Islamic ideology and are often labeled as a fundamentalist movement in Afghanistan, as quoted from Council Foreign Relation.
Literally the Taliban means the santri. This group is dominated by ethnic Pashtuns, one of the tribes in Afghanistan. They were joined by young Pashtuns studying at the Darul Uloom Islamic boarding school in Haqqania, Pakistan.
The Taliban group was inspired by the idea of a Sunni Islamic revival movement, namely Deobandi, at the Darul Uloom Islamic Boarding School, Deoband, India. The movement was also one of the supporters of India’s independence from Britain.
Pashtuns are the ethnic majority in parts of southern and eastern Afghanistan. They are also the main ethnic group in northern and western Pakistan.
When fighting the Soviet Union, the Taliban and Northern Alliance militias in Afghanistan received assistance from the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The Taliban movement and the ideas they advocate drew the support of the Afghan people after the Soviet Union withdrew its troops, on the promise of stability and the rule of law. The Taliban then engaged in a civil war in Afghanistan for power for four years, from 1992 to 1996.
In November 1994, the Taliban took control of Kandahar province. then in September 1996, the Taliban succeeded in capturing the capital Kabul and overthrowing the then president, Burhanuddin Rabbani.
Rabbani comes from a Tajik tribe who is considered anti-Pashtun and corrupt.
The Taleban’s Footsteps Against the Soviet Union to the US in Afghanistan
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