A map of Afghanistan showing the 2021 Taliban offensive. In mid 2021, the Taliban led a major offensive in Afghanistan during the withdrawal of US troops from the country, which gave them control of over half of Afghanistan's 421 districts as of 23 July 2021.

Aug 16, 2021 · Formed in 1994, the Taliban were made up of former Afghan resistance fighters, known collectively as mujahedeen, who fought the invading Soviet forces in the 1980s. They aimed to impose their...

Jan 19, 2023 · The Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, twenty years after their ouster by U.S. troops. Under their harsh rule, they have cracked down on women’s rights and neglected basic...

Jan 27, 2025 · Taliban, ultraconservative political and religious faction that emerged in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s following the withdrawal of Soviet troops, the collapse of Afghanistan’s communist regime, and the subsequent breakdown in civil order.

On 7 October 2001, a US-led military coalition launched attacks in Afghanistan: by the first week of December, the Taliban regime had collapsed. The group's then leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar,...

Sep 19, 2024 · Afghanistan has a façade of domestic stability, with armed conflict decreasing since the U.S. withdrawal. But dire economic, humanitarian and human rights conditions and Taliban violence build pressure on the population. The international community remains vexed over how to engage the Taliban.

Aug 14, 2024 · A bare-knuckles party system thrived in Kabul after foreign troops helped depose the first Taliban regime in 2001, with Afghan factions jostling for power in corrupt elections and occasional firefights between rivals.