The Taliban,which also refers to itself by its state name,the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,is an Afghan political and militant movement with an ideology comprising elements of Pashtun nationalism and the Deobandi movement of Islamic fundamentalism. It ruled approximately 75% of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001,before it was overthrown by an American invasion after the September 11th attacks carried out by the Taliban's ally al-Qaeda. The Taliban recaptured Kabul in August 2021 following the departure of coalition forces,after 20 years of Taliban insurgency,and now controls the entire country. The Taliban government is not recognized by any country and has been internationally condemned for restricting human rights,including women's rights to work and have an education.
Mullah Muhammad Omar was an Afghan mujahideen commander,revolutionary,and the cleric who founded the Taliban. During the Third Afghan Civil War,the Taliban fought the Northern Alliance and took control of most of the country,establishing the First Islamic Emirate for which Omar began to serve as Supreme Leader in 1996. Shortly after al-Qaeda carried out the September 11 attacks,the Taliban government was toppled by an American invasion of Afghanistan,prompting Omar to go into hiding. He successfully evaded capture by the American-led coalition before dying in 2013 from tuberculosis.
Mullah Mohammad Rabbani Akhund was one of the main leaders of the Taliban movement who served as Prime Minister of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. He was second in power only to the supreme leader,Mullah Mohammed Omar,in the Taliban hierarchy.
Nimruz or Nimroz is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan,located in the southwestern part of the country. It lies to the east of the Sistan and Baluchestan Province of Iran and north of Balochistan,Pakistan,also bordering the Afghan provinces of Farah and Helmand. It has a population of about 186,963 people. The province is divided into five districts,encompassing about 649 villages.
Mullah Mansoor Dadullah was the Taliban militant commander Mullah Dadullah's younger half-brother who succeeded him as a senior military commander of the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. He came from the Arghandab district of Kandahar province,and belonged to the Kakar Pashtun tribe.
Abdul Karim Brahui is a former politician in Afghanistan. He last served as Governor of Nimroz Province from 2010 to 2012,and before that he served as a minister in the Cabinet of Afghanistan. From February 2009 to August 2010,Brahui served as Minister of Refugees. In 2004,Brahui was appointed as Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs.
Mullah Sher Mohammad Malang was a Taliban governor of Nimruz Province,Afghanistan under the Taliban government. He is a Popalzai. After the Taliban took control in the south in the mid-1990s,he was appointed governor of Nimruz and then later served with the military.
Mullah Ghani served briefly as the Taliban-appointed governor of Nimruz Province,Afghanistan in 1995. Ghani was culturally similar to his predecessor,Hamidullah Niyazmand. Ghani was removed from power when Jamaat forces counter-attacked the capital city of Zaranj later in 1995.
The Mullah Dadullah Front was an insurgent group in Afghanistan that claimed responsibility for a series of bombings and assassinations centered in Kabul.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar was a terrorist organization that split away from Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in August 2014. The group came to prominence after it claimed responsibility for the 2014 Wagah border suicide attack. In August 2020,it merged back to TTP.
Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was the second supreme leader of the Taliban. Succeeding the founding leader,Mullah Omar,he was the supreme leader from July 2015 to May 2016,when he was killed in a US drone strike in Balochistan,Pakistan.
The Sacrifice Front,more commonly known as Fidai Mahaz,was a Taliban splinter group and faction in the War in Afghanistan. It was led by Mullah Najibullah,also known as Omar Khitab,a former Taliban commander.
Najibullah,often referred to as Mullah Najibullah or Hajji Najibullah,and also known by the pseudonym Omar Khitab,is an Afghan militant leader who is the head of the Taliban splinter group Fidai Mahaz in Afghanistan.
Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada,also spelled Haibatullah Akhunzada,is an Afghan cleric who is the supreme leader of Afghanistan in the internationally unrecognized Taliban regime. He has led the Taliban since 2016,and came to power with its victory over U.S.-backed forces in the 2001–2021 war. A highly reclusive figure,he has almost no digital footprint except for an unverified photograph and several audio recordings of speeches.
Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid is an Afghan militant commander and cleric who is the second deputy leader of Afghanistan and the acting defense minister in the internationally unrecognized Taliban regime since 2021. He has been a deputy leader of the Taliban since 2016,and was additionally appointed to his ministerial role after the Taliban's victory over Western-backed forces in the 2001–2021 war. He has been the Taliban's military chief since 2020.
The Islamic State–Taliban conflict is an ongoing insurgency by the Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-KP) against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The conflict initially began when both operated as rival insurgent groups in Nangarhar;since the formation of the Taliban's state in 2021,IS-KP members have enacted a campaign of terrorism targeting both civilians and assassinating Taliban members using hit-and-run tactics. The group have also caused incidents and attacks across the border in Pakistan.
Abdul Hakim Haqqani,also known as Abdul Hakim Ishaqzai,is an Afghan Islamic scholar and writer who has been the chief justice of Afghanistan since 2021 in the internationally unrecognized Taliban regime. He has also served as chief justice of the Supreme Court in the 1996–2001 Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. He was the chairman of the Taliban negotiation team in the Qatar office. He is one of the founding members of the Taliban and was a close associate of the late leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.
The Supreme Leader of Afghanistan,officially the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and also styled by his religious title Amir al-Mu'minin,is the absolute ruler,head of state,and national religious leader of Afghanistan,as well as the leader of the Taliban. The supreme leader wields unlimited authority and is the ultimate source of all law.
High Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (HCIEA) (Pashto:دٙاَفغانِستاناِسلامياِمارَتعاليشوریٰ,romanized: DəAfġānistān IslāmīImārat ĀlīŠūrā ;Dari:شُورٰایِعٰالئِاِمٰارَتِاِسلٰامئِاَفغٰانِستٰان,romanized: Šūrā-yi Ālī-yi Imārat-i Islāmī-yi Afġānistān) was a breakaway Taliban faction active in Afghanistan since 2015. The faction broke away from the Taliban in 2015 following the appointment of Akhtar Mansour as the leader of the Taliban and elected Muhammad Rasul as its leader. The faction was involved in deadly clashes with mainstream Taliban in southern and western Afghanistan,leaving scores of dead on both sides. The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan allegedly provided financial and military support to the faction,however,both the Islamic Republic and the faction denied this. Following the Taliban offensive of 2021 and the fall of Afghanistan to Taliban forces,the group dissolved,and its leaders pledged allegiance to the new government.
Mullah Abdul Manan Niazi was an Afghan politician and military commander. In the 1990s,he was the governor of the Herat and Balkh provinces. He was one of the famous commanders of the splinter group of the Taliban led by Mullah Rasool,and one of the helpers of the Taliban group led by Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada. He was also a critic of the policy of regional countries,especially Iran and Pakistan,towards Afghanistan.
