History of the Taliban: Who They Are, What They Want

The Taliban's 2001 Downfall

A Taliban militant sporting the beard required by Taliban edict contributes money at a table for 'mujahideen' in the village of Koza Bandi in the Swat Valley, Pakistan, a tribal area controlled by the Taliban.

John Moore/Getty Images

The Pakistani Taliban is just as powerful. It now controls Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas, virtually immune from Pakistani law and authority. Mullah Omar and bin laden are believed to be hiding in those tribal areas—and planning strategy against the NATO-American presence in Afghanistan, against Pakistan’s secular rulers, as well as tactically directing al-Qaeda attacks elsewhere in the world. In 2007, al-Qaeda was responsible for close to 30 attacks, the most, for a single year, in its history.

• The Taliban: An Introduction
• The Taliban's Origins
• Mullah Omar and the Taliban's Rise in Afghanistan
• Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's Intelligence Services and the Taliban
• The Taliban and the Clinton Administration
• The Taliban's Repressions and Regressions: A War on Women
• The Taliban's 2001 Downfall