Rule of Taliban in Afghanistan Patricie Sušovská April 2021 IPT Today • Afghanistan • Origin of Taliban • Religious background • Was a state? • Legitimacy, functional aspects • Life under Taliban • Current Situation Timeline 1979 Soviet intervention 1989 Soviet withdrawal 1992 collapse of Najibullah regime 1994 complete control over Kandahar and Helmand province Sep. 1996 Taliban capture Kabul 9 Nov. 2001 US troops 2006 neo-Taliban Afghanistan before Taliban • Civil war • three principal militias led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Rashid Dostum and Ahmed Shah Masood. • Parties held together by charismatic leaders and warlords rather than organization • Pashtun area – vacuum, lack of leaders • No possible political challenges within the Pashtuns Origin of the Taliban • Taliban = "students" • Taliban = Sunni Muslim Pashtuns • Afghanistan´s civil war; 1994; southern province of Kandahar • Supported by Pakistan in the fight against Masud´s Mujaheedin • Mujaheedins are "redundant and corrupt" Origin of the Taliban: Religion • Deobandi • Seeks to emulate the life and times of Prophet Mohammad • Prophet Mohammed rebelled against corrupt Arab society he was living in • Rejects all forms of ijtihad • Deobandi interpretation of sharia reflected in legislation, policies and procedures • "The Taliban’s ideology has been described as combining (…) of sharia Islamic law based on Deobandi fundamentalism and the militant Islamism and Salafi jihadism of Osama bin Laden with Pashtun social and cultural norms known as Pashtunwali, as most Taliban are Pashtun tribesmen." Origin of the Taliban – Political ideology • March/April 1996 – shūra assembly -> Mullah Mohammad Omer as Amir al-Momenin; the Commander of the Faithful • Rejection of Afghan intellectuals and technocrats - "swamp of Western or Soviet-style education" Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Is it a state? Is it a proto-state? Is it just Taliban? • Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Pashto: ‫د‬‫افغانستان‬‫اسالمي‬‫امارات‬ , Da Afġānistān Islāmī Amārāt) • 1996-2001 • But what is state? • Internally supreme and externally independent • Weber: monopoly of legitimate physical violence within a particular territory State structure • Two-track government • The Supreme council – leadership council in Kandahar • Six - ten members ( Omar friends and colleagues, mainly Durrani Pashtuns) • Based on Pashtun jirga • Council of Ministers - the Kabul Council • Mullah Omar acted as a head of the state. Functional aspects - Legitimacy • Poor internal, lack of external • Internal • Islam, Pashtuns • Rabbani´s government? Functional aspects – Legitimacy throught religion • Mullah Mohammad Omer as Amir al-Momenin (amīr al-mu'minīn) -> legitimate authority over people living in territory -> obeying is fardh (law of God) • Dissobeying = rebelion = execution Functional aspects - Legitimacy • Poor internal, lack of external • Internal • Islam, Pashtuns • What about Rabbani´s government? Functional aspects - Legitimacy • By Taliban itself: ‘The Islamic Movement of the Taliban is a revolutionary and religious movement … One can only expect from the Islamic Movement of the Taliban which is sprouted of the Islamic madrasas … the creation of a Sharia-based Islamic regime. (Sharia 1(1), January 1, 1995, pp. 1, 2., according Ibrahimi 2017) Functional aspects - Legitimacy • External • Not recognized by the international community • Why? • The violation of the women and human rights • Associations with al-Qaeda • Mullah Omar refused to extradate Usama Bin Laden after 9/11 • Constant emphasis on resolving Afghanistan problem by military means • Recognized by: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates Functional aspects - Legitimacy • "It has been years since Rabbani’s regime is toppled. Nevertheless, Afghanistan’s seat in the UN is still assigned to the toppled regime … as long as Afghanistan’s seat is dominated by Rabbani, his regime will claim legitimacy and receive weapons and military support from abroad … Despite its claim of supporting the peace process in Afghanistan, the UN officially recognizes an illegitimate regime and assigns Afghanistan’s seat in the United Nations to it." • (Sharia 4(64), September 2, 1999, pp. 1, 2.) Functional aspects - Authority • No monopoly over use of force in Afghanistan • Not capable of providing a secure environment to clients • Unending armed combat with internal rival -> massive investment in "war making" with the purpose of "state making" • More of a Lashkar, rather than regular army • Military council supervision • individual commanders, mainly from Pashtun areas, were responsible for recruiting men, paying them and looking after their needs in the field. Functional aspects - Authority • Providing security by coercion • Department for the Prevention of Vice and Fostering of Virtue • Army, security – dependent on foreign fighters/support • Pakistan • Muslim jihadist equipped and trained by al-Qaeda • Integration of the 055 Brigade of al-Qaeda – 2 000 soldiers • Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan • Chechen and Uyghur jihadi networks • American estimation: 60 000 – 150 000 Functional aspects • Capacity • Depends on size of the economy, extraction of resources • IEA -> very small economy and the low administrative capability for acquiring resources and providing basic services. • Collapsed state, destroyed infrastructure • Financing • Opium • Foreign donations, illegal gem mining, lumber trade, kidnapping, and extortion • Taxes Life under Taliban Life under Taliban • Blockade of Kabul - starvation, random rocked launches • Afghan capital was transferred to Kandahar • Amr-e-Bil Márouf Wa Nahi Anil Munkar -> The General Department for the Preservation of Virtue and the Elimination of Vice • Implementation of hardline version of Sharia • Islamic punishments such as public execution, amputation, stoning • Men are required to grow beards, but cannot have long hair Life under Taliban • most sporting events were banned, so was entertainment • TV, video, photography banned • Music was banned • Forbidding filming animals and humans Life under Taliban • Women must be completely covered by the burka, prohibited from appearing in public or working • All girls’ schools were closed • Influence of Pashtun tradition • Nowdays: religious schools open, TustLaw: Afghanistan one of the most dangerous countries fo women Life under Taliban • cultural genocide, destroying numerous monuments including the famous 1500year old Buddhas of Bamiyan Life under Taliban End of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan • Fighting Northern Alliance • Death of Masood • 9/11 and Usama Bin Ladin • Intervention • Taliban leaving Kabul Taliban nowadays Currently • Re-opening sharia courts since 2008 • “I don’t like our current government at all, and I don’t really like the Taliban, either. But I can either spend months in the government court and pay bribes, or I can go to the Taliban and have the matter settled in one day.” • Propaganda operation • Social media (Twitter, Telegram), Al-Emarah Media (website), Al-Samud Magazine • UNAMA: 10,392 civilian deaths and injuries in 2019 • Connection and cooperation with other groups: al-Qaeda, Haqqani network • Doha talks • Biden – withdrawal 9/11 Currently • Re-opening sharia courts since 2008 • “I don’t like our current government at all, and I don’t really like the Taliban, either. But I can either spend months in the government court and pay bribes, or I can go to the Taliban and have the matter settled in one day.” • Propaganda operation • Social media (Twitter, Telegram), Al-Emarah Media (website), Al-Samud Magazine • UNAMA: 10,392 civilian deaths and injuries in 2019 • Connection and cooperation with other groups: al-Qaeda, Haqqani network • Doha talks • Biden – withdrawal 9/11 Current structure • Quetta Shura (or Rahbari Shura) Pakistan; 23-46 members • After Mullah Omar death -> Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour -> Haibatullah Akhundzada • Deputy emir • Nine commissions; three administrative organs • judges https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/taliban-afghanistan Haibatullah Akhundzada Current structure • Quetta Shura (or Rahbari Shura) Pakistan; 23-46 members • After Mullah Omar death -> Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour -> Haibatullah Akhundzada • Deputy emir • Nine commissions; three administrative organs • judges https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/taliban-afghanistan Conclusion Sources • Movies • The Breadwinner (2017) • Podcast • https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/18/podcasts/the-daily/afghanistan-taliban-us-withdrawal.html?showTranscript=1 • Angry Planet: Taliban Memories • Youtube • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6usr-C3lcQ • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzPcMB9SQz0 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJs2DQ-Ecno • Literature • Pray for the Rain (Modlitwa o deszcz) - Wojciech Jagielski • Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia - Ahmed Rashid • Photography • https://en.radiofarda.com/a/afghanistan-under-the-taliban-in-photos/29764243.html • Paula Bronstein's photography