Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001)

TheIslamic Emirate of Afghanistan(Pashto:د افغانستان اسلامي امارت,Da Afġānistān Islāmī Amārāt), also referred to as theFirst Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, was atotalitarianIslamic stateled by theTalibanthat ruled most ofAfghanistanfrom 1996 to 2001. At its peak, the Taliban government controlled approximately 90% of the country, while remaining regions in the northeast were held by theNorthern Alliance, which maintained broadinternational recognitionas a continuation of theIslamic State of Afghanistan.The Taliban referred to the government as interim throughout the entire period of its existence, despite the strong and permanent role of Mullah Omar in the government.
After theSeptember 11 attacksand subsequent declaration of a "War on Terror" by the United States, international opposition to the regime drastically increased, with diplomatic recognition from theUnited Arab Emiratesand Pakistan being rescinded. The Islamic Emirate ceased to exist on 7 December 2001 after beingoverthrownby the Northern Alliance, which had been bolstered by theISAF coalitionestablished after aU.S.-led invasion of the countrytwo months prior. The Taliban continued to refer to itself as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in official communicationswhen it was out of power from 2001 to 2021.
The Taliban and its rule arose from thechaosafter theSoviet–Afghan War. It began as anIslamicand Pashtun politico-religious movement composed ofmadrasastudents in southern Afghanistan. Overwhelmingly ethnicPashtuns, the Taliban blendedPashtunwalitribal code with elements ofSalafistteaching to form ananti-Westernand anti-modernIslamistideology with which it ruled.It began to receive support from neighboring Pakistan as well as fromSaudi Arabia, and theUnited Arab Emirates. A small Taliban militia first emerged near Kandahar in the spring and summer of 1994, committing vigilante acts against minor warlords, with a fund of 250,000 USD from local businessmen.They soon began to receive backing from local Durrani Pashtun leaders.
The first major military activity of the Taliban was in October–November 1994 when they marched fromMaiwandin southern Afghanistan to captureKandahar Cityand the surrounding provinces, losing only a few dozen men.Starting with the capture of a border crossing and a huge ammunition dump from warlordGulbuddin Hekmatyar, a few weeks later they freed "a convoy trying to open a trade route from Pakistan to Central Asia" from another group of warlords attempting to extort money.In the next three months this hitherto "unknown force" took control of twelve of Afghanistan's 34provinces, with Mujahideen warlords often surrendering to them without a fight and the "heavily armed population" giving up their weapons.The Taliban initially enjoyed enormous good will from Afghans weary of the corruption, brutality, and the incessant fighting ofMujahideenwarlords. However, reactions and resistance would vary and increase among non-Pashtunpeople.
The Taliban considered many of Afghanistan's other ethnic communities as foreign.Pashtunpeople are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and comprised the vast majority of the Taliban movement. As the Taliban expanded from their southern and south-eastern strongholds, they encountered more resistance; their brand ofDeobandism, incorporated with thePashtunwalitribal code, was viewed as foreign by the other ethnic groups of Afghanistan.TheBattles of Mazar-i-Sharifillustrated this ethnic tension.
Spreading fromKandahar, the Taliban eventually capturedKabulin 1996. By the end of 2000, the Taliban controlled 90% of the country, aside from the opposition (Northern Alliance) strongholds found primarily in the northeast corner ofBadakhshan Province. Areas under the Taliban's direct control were mainly Afghanistan's major cities and highways. Tribal khans and warlords hadde factodirect control over various small towns, villages, and rural areas.The Taliban sought to establishlaw and orderand to impose a strict interpretation of IslamicSharia law, along with the religious edicts of MullahMohammed Omar, upon the entire country of Afghanistan.
During the five-year history of theIslamic Emirate, the Taliban regime interpreted theShariain accordance with theHanafischool of Islamic jurisprudenceand the religious edicts of Mullah Omar.The Taliban forbade pork and alcohol, many types of consumer technology such as mostmusic,television,andfilm,as well as most forms of art such aspaintingsorphotography,male and female participation insport,includingfootballandchess;recreational activitiessuch askite-flyingand keepingpigeonsor otherpetswere also forbidden, and the birds were killed according to the Taliban's ruling.Movie theaterswere closed and repurposed asmosques.Celebration of theWesternandIranian New Yearwas forbidden.Taking photographs and displaying pictures or portraits was forbidden, as it was considered by the Taliban as a form ofidolatry.Women werebanned from working,girls wereforbidden to attend schools or universities,were requested to observepurdah(physical separation of the sexes) andawrah(concealing the body with clothing), and to be accompanied outside their households by male relatives; those who violated these restrictions were punished.Men were forbidden to shave their beards and required to let them grow and keep them long according to the Taliban's liking, and to wear turbans outside their households.Communistswere systematically executed.Prayerwas made compulsory and those who did not respect the religious obligation after theazaanwere arrested.Gamblingwas banned,and thieves were punished byamputating their hands or feet.In 2000, the Taliban leader Mullah Omar officially bannedopium cultivationanddrug traffickingin Afghanistan;the Taliban succeeded in nearly eradicating the majority of the opium production (99%) by 2001.Under the Taliban governance of Afghanistan, both drug users and dealers were severely prosecuted.The Afghan custom ofbacha bazi, a form ofpederasticsexual slaveryandpedophiliatraditionally practiced in various provinces of Afghanistan, was also forbidden under the six-year reign of the Taliban regime.
Cabinetministers and deputies weremullahswith a "madrasaheducation". Several of them, such as the Minister of Health and Governor of the State bank, were primarily military commanders who were ready to leave their administrative posts to fight when needed. Military reverses that trapped them behind lines or led to their deaths increased the chaos in the national administration.At the national level, "all seniorTajik,UzbekandHazarabureaucrats" were replaced "with Pashtuns, whether qualified or not". Consequently, the ministries "by and large ceased to function".
Rashid described the Taliban government as "a secret society run byKandaharis... mysterious, secretive, and dictatorial".They did not hold elections, as their spokesman explained:
They modeled their decision-making process on the Pashtun tribal council (jirga), together with what they believed to be the early Islamic model. Discussion was followed by a building of a consensus by the "believers".Before capturing Kabul, there was talk of stepping aside once a government of "good Muslims" took power, and law and order were restored.
As the Taliban's power grew, decisions were made by Mullah Omar without consulting thejirgaand without consulting other parts of the country. One such instance is the rejection of Loya Jirga decision about expulsion ofOsama bin Laden. Mullah Omar visited the capital, Kabul, only twice while in power. Instead of an election, their leader's legitimacy came from an oath of allegiance ("Bay'ah"), in imitation ofthe Prophetand thefirst fourCaliphs. On 4 April 1996, Mullah Omar had "theCloak of Muhammad" taken from its shrine,Kirka Sharif, for the first time in 60 years. Wrapping himself in the relic, he appeared on the roof of a building in the center of Kandahar while hundreds of Pashtun mullahs below shouted "Amir al-Mu'minin!" (Commander of the Faithful), in a pledge of support. Taliban spokesman Mullah Wakil explained:
The Taliban were very reluctant to share power, and since their ranks were overwhelmingly Pashtun they ruled as overlords over the 60% of Afghans from other ethnic groups. In local government, such as Kabul city councilor Herat,Taliban loyalists, not locals, dominated, even when thePashto-speaking Taliban could not communicate with the roughly half of the population who spokeDarior other non-Pashtun tongues.Critics complained that this "lack of local representation in urban administration made the Taliban appear as an occupying force".
The rule of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan came to an end in 2001 following theUnited States invasion. In May and June 2003, senior Taliban officials proclaimed the Taliban regrouped and ready for guerrilla war to expel US forces from Afghanistan.In late 2004, the then hidden Taliban leaderMohammed Omarannounced an insurgency against "America and its puppets" (i.e.transitional Afghan governmentforces) to "regain the sovereignty of our country".Following a long insurgency, the Taliban once again took control of Afghanistan in 2021.
The goal of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan during the period 1996 to 2001 was to return the order ofAbdur Rahman(the IronEmir) by the re-establishment of a state withPashtundominance within the northern areas.The Taliban sought to establish an Islamic government throughlaw and orderalongside a strict interpretation ofIslamic law, in accordance with theHanafischool of Islamic jurisprudenceand the religious guidance ofMullah Omar, upon the entire land of Afghanistan.By 1998, the Taliban controlled 90% of Afghanistan under their interpretation ofSharia.
The Taliban modelled their decision-making process on the Pashtun tribal council (jirga), together with what they believed to be the early Islamic model. Discussion was followed by a building of a consensus by the "believers". As the group's power grew, decisions were made by Mullah Omar without consulting thejirgaand without consulting other parts of the country. He visited the capital, Kabul, only twice while in power. Instead of an election, their leader's legitimacy came from an oath of allegiance ("Bay'ah"), in imitation of the Prophet and the first fourCaliphs. On 4 April 1996, Mullah Omar had "the Cloak of the Prophet Mohammed" taken from its shrine for the first time in 60 years. Wrapping himself in the relic, he appeared on the roof of a building in the center of Kandahar while hundreds of Pashtunmullahsbelow shouted "Amir al-Mu'minin!" (Commander of the Faithful), in a pledge of support.
During the Taliban's period of rule,brutal repression of womenwas widespread in the Emirate.Abuses were frequently and violently enforced by thereligious police.For example, the Taliban issued edicts forbidding women from being educated, forcing girls to leave schools and colleges.Women leaving their houses were required to be accompanied by a male relative and were obligated to wear theburqa, a traditional dress covering the entire body except for a small slit out of which to see.Those accused of disobeying were publicly beaten. In one instance, a young woman named Sohaila was charged with adultery after walking with a man who was not a relative; she was publicly flogged inGhazi Stadium, receiving 100 lashes.Female employment was restricted to the medical sector, where male medical personnel were prohibited from treating women and girls.This extensive ban on the employment of women further resulted in the widespread closure of primary schools, as almost all teachers prior to the Taliban's rise had been women, further restricting access to education not only to girls but also to boys. Restrictions became especially severe after the Taliban took control of the capital. In February 1998, for instance, religious police forced all women off the streets ofKabuland issued new regulations ordering people to blacken their windows so that women would not be visible from outside.
During the Taliban rule of 1996–2001, they banned many recreational activities and games, such as football, kite flying, and chess. General entertainment such as televisions, cinemas, music with instrumentalaccompaniments,VCRsandsatellite disheswere also banned.Also included in the list of banned items were "musical instrumentsand accessories" and all visual representation of living creatures.
It was reported that when Afghan children were caught kiting, a highly popular activity, they were beaten.WhenKhaled Hosseinilearned through a 1999 news report that the Taliban had banned kite flying,a restriction he found particularly cruel, the news "struck a personal chord" for him, as he had grown up with the sport while living in Afghanistan. Hosseini was motivated to write a 25-page short story about two boys who fly kites in Kabul that he later developed into his first novel,The Kite Runner.
Regarding its relations with the rest of the world, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan held apolicyofisolationism: "The Taliban believe in non-interference in the affairs of other countries and similarly desire no outside interference in their country's internal affairs".Despite these isolationist policies, the Taliban entered in a deal for oil, electricity, and gas withTurkmenistanas part of theTurkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India Pipeline.
While initially maintaining a friendly relationship, relations between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan andIrandeteriorated in 1998 after Taliban forces seized the Iranian consulate inMazar-i-Sharifandexecuted Iranian diplomats. Following this incident, Iran threatened to invade Afghanistan by massing up military forces near the Afghan border but intervention by theUnited NationsSecurity Council and the United States prevented the war.
Turkmenistanadopted a position of "positive neutrality" and limited cooperation with the Taliban.
Chinafirst initiated contact with the Taliban in 1998.In November 2000, China's then-ambassador to Pakistan, Lu Shulin, became the first senior representative of a non-Muslim country to meet with Mullah Omar.
Between 1996 and 2001, only three widely recognized countries;Pakistan,Saudi Arabia, and theUnited Arab Emirates(UAE) declared the Islamic Emirate to be the rightful government of Afghanistan.The Islamic Emirate would also receive recognition from the partially recognizedChechen Republic of Ichkeria;though Chechen presidentAslan Maskhadovwould later describe the Islamic Emirate as an "illegitimate" government.The Taliban government additionally received support fromTurkmenistan, though the country did not provide the Emirate with formal recognition.
The Taliban government was not recognized by the United Nations, which instead continued to recognize theIslamic State of Afghanistanas being the legitimate government of Afghanistan.
Following the declaration of a "War on Terror" by the United States after the September 11 attacks byal-Qaedain 2001, international opposition to the Taliban regime running the Islamic Emirate drastically increased, and the only remaining diplomatic recognition by Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates was rescinded under growing pressure.
On 15 October 1999, theUN Security Councilestablished a sanctions regime to cover individuals and entities associated with Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and/or the Taliban.Since theUS Invasion of Afghanistanin 2001, the sanctions were applied to individuals and organizations in all parts of the world; also targeting former members of the Taliban government.
On 27 January 2010, a United Nations sanctions committee removed five former senior Taliban officials from this list, in a move favored by Afghan presidentKarzai. The decision means the five will no longer be subject to an international travel ban, assets freeze and arms embargo. The five men, all high-ranking members of the Taliban government:
All had been added to the list in January or February 2001.
TheBuddhas of Bamiyanwere two 6th-centurymonumental statues carved into the side of a cliff in theBamyanvalley of centralAfghanistanthat were destroyed in March 2001,after theTaliban governmentdeclared that they wereidols.International and local opinion strongly condemned the destruction of the Buddhas.
AfterBattles of Mazar-i-Sharif (1997-98), the Bamyan valley came into Taliban control,and Abdul Wahed, a local Taliban commander announced his intentions to destroy the Buddhas.Initially in July 1999,Mohammed Omardecreed in Favour of preserving the statues, with plans to establish a tourism circuit.
But in March 2001, the statues were destroyed by the Taliban following a decree issued by Mullah Omar. In a subsequent interview,  Mullah Omar said: "I did not want to destroy the Bamiyan Buddha. In fact, some foreigners came to me and said they would like to conduct the repair work of the Bamiyan Buddha that had been slightly damaged due to rains. This shocked me. I thought, these callous people have no regard for thousands of living human beings – the Afghans who are dying of hunger, but they are so concerned about non-living objects like the Buddha. This was extremely deplorable. That is why I ordered its destruction. Had they come for humanitarian work, I would have never ordered the Buddha's destruction."
However, during another interview on 13 March 2001, the then Taliban Foreign MinisterWakil Ahmad Mutawakelstated that the destruction was not a retaliation against the economic sanctions by the international community: "We are destroying the statues in accordance with Islamic law, and it is purely a religious issue." A statement issued by the Ministry of religious affairs of the Taliban regime justified the destruction as being in accordance with Islamic law".
This prompted an international outcry from nations such as Japan, India, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Nepal, Iran, Qatar, and Russia. Even Saudi Arabia and the UAE, both of which were among only three nations to recognize the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, voiced their opposition. The Arab branch ofUNESCO, a cultural and educational agency of theUnited Nations, labelled the destruction as "savage".
The Taliban maintained 400 Soviet-built T-54/T-55 and T-62 tanks and more than 200 armored personnel carriers.The Taliban began training its own army and commanders; some were even trained by Pakistan'sInter-Services Intelligence.Islamabad continued to support the Taliban, as Pakistani allies, in their push to conquer Afghanistan in the 1990s.The Islamic Army used child soldiers, many of them under 14 years old.
The air force under the Taliban maintained 5MIG-21 MFsand 10Sukhoi-22fighter bombers.They held sixMil-Mi 8helicopters, fiveMi-35s, fiveAero L-39C Albatrossess, sixAn-12stransport aircraft, among others. Their civil air service containedBoeing 727A/Bs, aTu-154, fiveAn-24s, and aDHC-6. All of these aircraft were destroyed by US forces during the war in Afghanistan in 2001. Most of the MIG-21 fleets ended up in an Afghan junkyard.
According to the testimony ofGuantanamo captivesbefore theirCombatant Status Review Tribunals, the Taliban, in addition to conscripting men to serve as soldiers, also conscripted men to staff itscivil service– both done at gunpoint.
According to a report fromOxford University, the Taliban made widespread use of the conscription of children in 1997, 1998 and 1999.
The Kabul money markets responded positively during the first weeks of the Taliban occupation. But theAfghanisoon fell in value.The Taliban imposed a 50% tax on any company operating in the country, and those who failed to pay were attacked.They also imposed a 6% import tax on anything brought into the country,and by 1998 had control of the major airports and border crossings which allowed them to establish a monopoly on all trade.By 2001, the per-capita income of the 25 million population was under $200,and the country was close to total economic collapse.As of 2007, the economy had begun to recover, with estimated foreign reserves of three billion dollars and a 13% increase in economic growth.
Under the Transit treaty between Afghanistan and Pakistan a massive network for smuggling developed. It had an estimated turnover of 2.5 billion dollars with the Taliban receiving between $100 and $130 million per year.These operations along with the trade from theGolden Crescentfinanced the war in Afghanistan and also had the side effect of destroying start up industries in Pakistan.Ahmed Rashidalso explained that the Afghan Transit Trade agreed on by Pakistan was "the largest official source of revenue for the Taliban."
Between 1996 and 1999 Mullah Omar reversed his opinions on the drug trade, apparently as it only harmedkafirs. The Taliban controlled 96% of Afghanistan's poppy fields and made opium its largest source of taxation.Taxes on opium exports became one of the mainstays of Taliban income and their war economy.According to Rashid, "drug money funded the weapons, ammunition and fuel for the war."InThe New York Times, the Finance Minister of the United Front, Wahidullah Sabawoon, declared the Taliban had no annual budget but that they "appeared to spend US$300 million a year, nearly all of it on war." He added that the Taliban had come to increasingly rely on three sources of money: "poppy, the Pakistanis and bin Laden."
In an economic sense, it seems, however, he had little choice, as due to the war of attrition continuing with the Northern Alliance, the income from continued opium production was all that prevented the country from starvation.By 2000 Afghanistan accounted for an estimated 75% of the world's supply and in 2000 grew an estimated 3,276 tonnes of opium from poppy cultivation on 82,171 hectares.At this juncture Omar passed a decree banning the cultivation of opium, and production dropped to an estimated 74 metric tonnes from poppy cultivation on 1,685 hectares.Many observers say the ban – which came in a bid for international recognition at the United Nations – was only issued in order to raise opium prices and increase profit from the sale of large existing stockpiles.The year 1999 had yielded a record crop and had been followed by a lower but still large 2000 harvest.The trafficking of accumulated stocks by the Taliban continued in 2000 and 2001.In 2002, the UN mentioned the "existence of significant stocks of opiates accumulated during previous years of bumper harvests."In September 2001 – before the 11 September attacks against the United States – the Taliban allegedly authorized Afghan peasants to sow opium again.
There was also an environmental toll to the country, heavy deforestation from the illegal trade in timber with hundreds of acres of pine and cedar forests inKunar ProvinceandPaktyabeing cleared.Throughout the country millions of acres were denuded to supply timber to the Pakistani markets, with no attempt made at reforestation,which has led to significant environmental damage.By 2001, when theAfghan Interim Administrationtook power the country's infrastructure was in ruins, Telecommunications had failed, the road network was destroyed and Ministry of Finance buildings were in such a state of disrepair some were on the verge of collapse.On 6 July 1999 presidentBill Clintonsigned into effect executive order 13129. This order implemented a complete ban on any trade between the US and the Taliban regime and on 10 August they froze £5,000,000 in Ariana assets.On 19 December 2000, UN resolution 1333 was passed. It called for all assets to be frozen and for all states to close any offices belonging to the Taliban. This included the offices ofAriana Afghan Airlines.In 1999 the UN had passed resolution 1267 which had banned all international flights by Ariana apart from pre-approved humanitarian missions.
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