What’s going on in Afghanistan? Who are the Taliban and how were they able to take over so quickly?

Right now the capital of Afghanistan Kabul is in chaos. People are desperately trying to flee the country. There are huge traffic jams as people race to get to the airport. We’ve even seen people trying to grab onto the outside of departing planes. The Afghan government has just fallen, the President has fled the country and a group known as the Taliban has just taken over. The Taliban which translates to The Students. are extremist Islamist militants. One of their primary goals is to bring their strict interpretation of religious law to Afghanistan. And many worry this will lead to harsh restrictions on the lives of Afghans.

While the Taliban didn’t officially form until 1994 experts say the group had its origins in the Mujahedin Who were fundamentalist Islamic guerilla fighters who were actually backed by the United States as they fought Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1970s and 1980s.

You see Afghanistan has basically been in a non-stop state of war since the 1970s. During a period of Civil War in the 90s between the Afghani government and militias led by local warlords a group known as the Taliban made up of many former Mujahedin fighters began seizing territory.

By 1996 the Taliban were the dominant force in Afghanistan. However a small part of the country remained outside of the Talibvan’s control and most of the international community refused to recognise the Taliban as a legitimate government.

The Taliban led a brutal regime that killed political opponents allied with terrorist groups, oppressed women, destroyed important cultural sites and engaged in violent, public punishments. Then came the September 11 attacks in the US. In 2001.

The US believed those responsible for the attacks were being sheltered in Afghanistan by the Taliban and sent in troops along with Australia and its allies. The Taliban were quickly toppled but the group didn’t disappear.

They fled to remote parts of the country and continued to wage guerilla warfare against the US, its allies and the Afghan army. The Taliban were able to keep control of some remote areas as well as support from some of the population.

In the decades that followed, trillions of dollars have been spent by the US and its allies fighting the Taliban training the Afghan military rebuilding parts of the country and trying to establish democracy.

Thousands of US troops have died along with tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and soldiers.

Support for US involvement has been gradually declining in the States and many including President Biden have labelled the conflict “the forever war”.

In April this year President Biden announced the US would be pulling out.Taliban fighters swept across the country, seizing a string of cities without facing too much resistance. The Afghan government and security forces would be able to defend themselves

But many members of the Afghan army, which was largely equipped and paid for by the US, simply fled and escaped to neighbouring countries.

After taking Kabul the Taliban has claimed control of most of the country and the government of Afghanistan has collapsed. President Biden has been criticised by some for pulling out American troops. Biden has dismissed that argument saying that the recent events actually reinforces his decision.

The Taliban say they will hold talks to create an "open, inclusive Islamic government". However many are worried especially the women and girls in Afghanistan that we will see a return of some oppressive policies.
Under the first period of Taliban rule, women were not allowed to leave home without a man and were required to be clad head to toe in a burqa.
Women were also not allowed to work and girls weren’t allowed to pursue education.
Non-Islamic music and television were banned and corporal punishments like cutting off thieves' hands and public beatings were in place.
Today shop fronts in Kabul featuring women are being painted over in

Female presenters on TV are already disappearing from people’s screens

And there are fears that females who have risen to positions of power or advocating for women's rights will be punished.
Right now countries including Australia are desperately trying to evacuate nationals stuck in Afghanistan as well as locals who have been helping them over the past decades.
Australia has joined with more than 60 countries calling for foreign officials and Afghans alike to be granted safe passage out of the country if they wish to leave.

But for those left behind in Afghanistan, an uncertain future awaits.

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