Meet the Taliban
Eight years ago, when Afghanistan's Taliban government was ousted, people thought their whole movement was destroyed. They were wrong.
Words and photography by Chris Sands / Makoto.
A MONTH AFTER THE 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, Mullah Mohammed Omar gave a long-since forgotten interview to the BBC Pashto service.
“This is not a matter of weapons,” he said. “We are hopeful for God’s help. The real matter is the extinction of America.”
Washington and London wrote the Taliban off regardless. Victory was declared and Iraq was next on the agenda.
Today, US and British troops are being drawn deeper into a war that seems increasingly unwinnable. So far, 2009 has been the deadliest year for international forces since the occupation began, raising the specter of a new Vietnam.
More than 400 foreign soldiers have been killed so far this year, compared to 294 in the whole of 2008. The rebels have shown a remarkable ability to adapt their tactics and stage the kind of high-profile attacks they know will gain the world’s attention.
In October alone, two incidents clearly illustrated just how far they have progressed. First, a massive raid on an outpost in the northeastern province of Nuristan left eight Americans dead. Then, for the second time in recent memory, a suicide attacker targeted the Indian Embassy, in one of Kabul’s most heavily guarded areas.
More often than not, however, the insurgents are hiding in the shadows and using roadside bombs—striking with brutal precision against an enemy that would ordinarily have the upper hand in any face-to-face battles.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the head of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, worries the war could soon be lost unless tens of thousands more soldiers are deployed. Describing the situation as “serious” and “deteriorating,” he believes the rebels’ primary objectives are “controlling the Afghan people and breaking the coalition’s will.”
On the ground, the Taliban appear to be successfully moving toward both goals. Nostalgia for the tight security that existed under their regime is common, and disillusionment with the occupation continues to spread. The government of President Hamid Karzai was seen as corrupt and incompetent even before this summer’s disputed election, creating a power vacuum that Mullah Omar and his followers have already started filling.
In Europe and America, meanwhile, there are growing doubts about what the soldiers are doing here.
The Taliban never actually went away. Now they are well and truly back and the worst may still be ahead.
MULLAH WAKIL AHMAD MUTAWAKIL
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In the early to mid-1990s, Mujahideen warlords ruled Afghanistan. Still high on the euphoria of their CIA-backed victory over the Soviets, they had ended one period of bloodshed and started another. Civilians were raped and murdered as militias acted with impunity in their own personal fiefdoms.
The Taliban's emergence in the south of the country in 1994 was a direct response to this lawlessness. They were initially seen as saviors, and by 1996 they had seized Kabul from the Mujahideen factions that had torn it apart. Mullah Wakil Ahmad Mutawakil, a former spokesman for Mullah Omar and foreign minister in the Taliban government, has great memories of those early days.
"We had no other purpose, it was just to give the country freedom," he said. After arriving in the capital they hung the mutilated corpses of Mohammed Najibullah, the president of the old communist regime, and his brother on public display. It was an act of relief, anger and celebration—and a warning of things to come.
CAR SCRAP HEAP, KABUL
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In the first few years after the US-led invasion, the Taliban opted to fade away and bide their time. With the Mujahideen back in power, corruption rife in government offices, criminality spreading and foreign soldiers arresting and killing civilians, it didn't take long for many people in the south and east to want their return. An influx of alcohol, prostitution, drug addiction and Western-style fashions also caused resentment among some sections of Kabul society.
AFTERMATH OF SUICIDE BOMB ATTACK, KABUL, JUNE 17, 2007
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In the summer of 2005 the insurgency effectively began, and by the winter religious leaders across Kandahar were declaring jihad. A few months later, some imams in Kabul were expressing similar views.
"The only thing people can do is fight against the government, and I am telling them they can do that. They can pick up a gun and fight against the government," declared Abdullah, a cleric in the city. "Real mullahs, imams and anyone with a knowledge of Islam has to say it's time for jihad."
By 2007 the capital was under siege and suicide bombings were commonplace. This attack on a bus carrying police recruits killed more than 30 people.
TALIBAN FIGHTER FROM HELMAND
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The south was once again the Taliban's heartland, with Helmand witnessing fierce battles between insurgents and foreign troops. It was, according to the most senior British commander in Afghanistan, worse than anything UK soldiers had seen since the Korean War.
"In the daytime we are farmers, at night we are Taliban," this insurgent from Helmand said.
MULLAH ABDUL SALAM ZAEEF
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While the West continues to portray the Taliban as a group of extremists and terrorists, the view here is markedly different. Among Pashtuns in particular, there is often widespread support for a movement regarded as defending their country, culture and Islam.
To understand why that is, it's necessary to talk to men like Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, who served as the Taliban regime's ambassador to Pakistan before being detained at Bagram Air Base and Guantanamo Bay. As far as he is concerned, the US and its allies are being faced with mass, popular resistance.
"I do not believe they are fighting the Taliban. They are fighting with the nation of Afghanistan now. If they want to defeat all the nation, kill them, it is not possible," he said.
ZAHIR JAN, TALIBAN FIGHTER FROM HELMAND
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Zahir Jan is only a young man, but already he talks like a veteran of guerrilla warfare. He comes from Garmsir in Helmand, and is determined to fight until he is in paradise or he and his colleagues are victorious.
"You know, the Taliban and the Americans are as different as fire and water. Maybe the water will kill the fire or the fire will kill the water, but one of these things has to happen," he said.
"If the foreigners did not have their planes, then within five days I guarantee we would be in the avenues of Kabul."
SUSPECTED TALIBAN FIGHTER FROM URUZGAN
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The struggle against occupation is passed on like a family heirloom, often going from generation to generation. Fathers prepare for death by telling their sons to continue the jihad. Brothers vow to avenge the killing of brothers. The more the Taliban are hit with force, the more they seem to respond in kind.
LETTER TO AN AFGHAN POLICEWOMAN
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The Taliban are not the only insurgents. Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former prime minister of Afghanistan and the CIA's favorite client during the Soviet occupation, is now leading the militant wing of his Hizb-e-Islami party against the government and foreign troops in parts of the north and east.
Despite persistent rumors that he is trying to negotiate a return to politics, he has vowed to continue fighting until US and NATO forces leave the country. His group delivered this letter to a policewoman in Kapisa province; a couple of the lines say: "If we catch her we will kill her and we will bury her children alive. It should be a lesson for her and for others."
ABED, THE SUICIDE BOMBER WHO STOPPED
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The Taliban's leadership, including Mullah Omar, is widely believed to be living in Pakistan. The movement also uses recruits from across the border to bolster its numbers. They are men like Abed, who came all the way from the Punjab to be a suicide bomber here.
He was told he would be able to kill Americans, but instead he was sent on a mission to blow up Afghan soldiers. He turned himself in and is now in Pul-e-Charkhi prison, Kabul.
The US has put increasing pressure on Islamabad to deal with militancy in the region, with only limited success. During October insurgents carried out a series of deadly attacks, even raiding the headquarters of the Pakistani army in Rawalpindi.
MULLAH ABDUL GHAFAR, TALIBAN COMMANDER IN HELMAND
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Mullah Abdul Ghafar, a Taliban commander in Helmand's Sangin district, summed up the situation in today's Afghanistan well.
"We will kill anyone, even if he is my brother, if he is working with the foreigners," he said.
MULLAH ABDUL SALAM ROCKETI
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Mullah Abdul Salam Rocketi is a former Taliban commander and now an MP. He believes there must be negotiations with senior insurgent leaders including Mullah Omar, Hekmatyar and Jalaluddin Haqqani.
"If the Americans send some engineers, we know they are here for reconstruction. If they send some doctors we know they are here to work in hospitals. If they send some soldiers then we know they are here to fight," he said.
DESTROYED AMERICAN MRAP (MINE RESISTANT AMBUSH PROTECTED) VEHICLE
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Improvised explosive devices are increasingly the insurgents' weapon of choice, rather than suicide attacks or ambushes. The sheer power of some of these bombs is enough to destroy even the most heavily armored military vehicles.
The Taliban are now stronger than ever. American and NATO soldiers are dying at record rates and there's still no end to the war in sight. If anything, the fighting appears destined to intensify in the weeks and years ahead.
