UN General Assembly
1996

by another neighbour. The force occupying parts of our homeland today is known as the Taliban — a name that became very familiar to the General Assembly at the previous session. 3 What was the Taliban’s first act when it captured Kabul? It was to attack not a military garrison, but the United Nations office in Afghanistan. Its first act was to breach the sanctity of the United Nations compound, in violation of all accepted international norms and laws. That is the Taliban. As European Commissioner, Emma Bonino, said yesterday, the Taliban is a force that threatens to take Afghanistan back to the dark ages. Numerous international media reports from Kabul draw a picture of an organization supported from abroad, imposing a draconian system on a terrified people. The Taliban have ordered schools and universities to close and stopped all education and employment for women. There are numerous reports from the media, the United States authorities and the United Nations on the role of the Taliban in a $75 billion heroin export industry in Afghanistan.