The Taliban were founded in 1994 to impose a puritanical Islamic order on Afghanistan. Exact numbers of the Taliban’s membership size have remained limited since their 2021 takeover of Kabul. A 2021 estimate by U.S. officials gauged that the Taliban included at least 70,000 fighters. After the fall of Kabul, the Taliban have reinstated fundamental Islamist policies, severely compromising the rights and freedoms of Afghans. Upon the Taliban’s return to power, women, girls, and minorities have been stripped of critical developments in schooling and employment.
Reported deputy emir; head of the Quetta Shura; interior minister of the Taliban government
Operational commander
Afghanistan—officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan—has a tumultuous history of uprisings against the government, guerilla warfare, and foreign occupation dating back to the 19th century, and now faces violent insurgencies by the Taliban and ISIS.
The Taliban are the predominant umbrella group for the Afghan insurgency, and remain a credible fighting force with the ability to win and hold territory.
Al-Qaeda, founded by Osama bin Laden in 1988 with the goal of waging global jihad, has long pledged allegiance to the Taliban.
Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the movement claimed it would take on a more moderate and inclusive approach in their ruling of the country.
The Counter Extremism Project Presents
Marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Counter Extremism Project's ARCHER at House 88 presents a landmark concert of music composed in ghettos and death camps, performed in defiance of resurgent antisemitism. Curated with world renowned composer, conductor, and musicologist Francesco Lotoro, the program restores classical, folk, and popular works, many written on scraps of paper or recalled from memory, to public consciousness. Featuring world and U.S. premieres from Lotoro's archive, this concert honors a repertoire that endured against unimaginable evil.
