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The Taliban – Students of Islamic Knowledge

© Rick Francona

The Taliban, or "Students of Islamic Knowledge," much in the news following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, is a conservative Islamic movement mostly composed of Afghans educated at religious schools in Pakistan. The movement was founded by elements of the Pakistani government to serve as guards for convoys of goods transiting Afghanistan to Central Asian markets.

Members of the movement were well received in Afghanistan. The Taliban, mostly made up of ethnic Pushtuns, were a sharp contrast to the warring mujahidin militias and Uzbek or Tajik warlords. Opting to remain in their native Afghanistan, the Taliban fighters soon seized control of Kandahar, the second largest (and second most important) city in the country. Kandahar remains their stronghold.

In September 1996, Taliban forces took control of Kabul, the capital city. Their stated goal is to establish a pure Islamic state. In doing so, they have alienated many governments and religious groups around the world. Television, movies, music and internet access are forbidden to the population. The Taliban instituted the Shari'a, Islamic law. This includes draconian punishments such as public executions, by rifle or stoning, and amputations.

Regulations forbidding girls from attending schools or holding jobs and restricting women's access to health care has raised concerns throughout the rest of the world, including other Muslim and Islamic nations.* Perhaps some the Taliban's most internationally despised acts were the destruction of several pre-Islamic Buddha statues in the country.

The Commander of the Faithful: Mullah Muhammad 'Umar

Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad 'Umar is about 40 years old, and is rumored to have lost an eye in combat againt the Soviets during the 1980's. There are no available photographs of the reclusive cleric. He prefers to be addressed as the Commander of the Faithful.

After Islamic schooling in Pakistan, the mullah joined the mujahidin forces of the Harakat-i-Inqilab-i Islami (Islamic Revolution Movement). He was most likely trained to fight by Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence Directorate (ISID), the intelligence arm of the Pakistani armed forces.

Muhammad 'Umar has strong ties to indicted terrorist Usamah Bin Ladin. The mullah has alternately refused to turn over Bin Ladin to the United States, claimed that he did not know exactly where the terrorist's whereabouts, and more recently claimed that the Taliban was in control of Bin Ladin.

There are cracks in the movement. Some senior Taliban commanders have deserted the "Commander of the Faithful" and defected to the Northern Alliance, bitter enemies of the Taliban. Effects of United Nations sanctions for not turning over Bin Ladin are taking their toll, and the threat of substantial American military action mount daily.