THE GLOBAL TERROR GROUPS - Al-qaeda,Taliban,Is-war on terrorism

AUTHOR, GAYATHRI. M

Penguin books Published by the penguin group Penguin Books, Ltd, plt no: 5 vishanthi nagar, kovil street, madurai, india. www.penguin.com First published in madurai, by penguin Books publishing group 2022. Copyright c gayathri. M, 2022 All rights reserved The moral right of the author has been asserted

PREFACE

This book has been prepared as part of An assignment, it contains all the Detailed events of the global terror groups, which includes al- qaeda, taliban, Is-war on terrorism. Gone through some of the books of the wars on the given topics. The book contains the background,social Conditions lead to war emergence, course,Result of the terror groups war,

CONTENTS AL-QAEDA Background & Emergence ,Events and weapons, coverage ,Course and result and current status

TALIBAN Events and weapons, current status, background, leadership, how Taliban’s emerged, attacks on Taliban’s.

IS – operations, expansions.

territorial

….

AL-QUAEDA At all relevant times from in or about 1989 until the date of the filing of this Indictment, an international terrorist group existed which was dedicated to opposing non-Islamic governments with force and violence. This organization grew out of the “mekhtab al khidemat” (the “Services Office”) organization which had maintained offices in various parts of the world, including Afghanistan, Pakistan (particularly in Peshawar), and the United States. The group was founded by Usama Bin Laden and Muhammad Atef, a/k/a “Abu Hafs al Masry,” together with “Abu Ubaidah al Banshiri,” and others. From in

or about 1989 until the present, the group called itself “al Qaeda” (“the Base”). From in or about 1989 until the present, the group called itself “al Qaeda” (“the Base”). From 1989 until in or about 1991, the group (hereafter referred to as “al Qaeda”) was headquartered in Afghanistan and Peshawar, Pakistan. In or about 1991, the leadership of al Qaeda, including its “emir” (or prince) Usama Bin Laden, relocated to the Sudan. Al Qaeda was headquartered in the Sudan from approximately 1991 until approximately 1996 but still maintained offices in various parts of the world. In 1996, Usama Bin Laden and other members of al Qaeda relocated to Afghanistan. At all relevant times, al Qaeda was led by its emir, Usama

Bin Laden. Members of al Qaeda pledged an oath of allegiance (called a “bayat”) to Usama Bin Laden and al Qaeda. Those who were suspected of collaborating against al Qaeda were to be identified and killed. Bin Laden and al Qaeda violently opposed the United States for several reasons. First, the United States was regarded as an “infidel” because it was not governed in a manner consistent with the group’s extremist interpretation of Islam. Second, the United States was viewed as providing essential support for other “infidel” governments and institutions, particularly the governments of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the nation of Israel, and the United Nations organization, which were regarded as enemies of the group. Third, al Qaeda

opposed the involvement of the United States armed forces in the Gulf War in 1991 and in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia in 1992 and 1993. In particular, al Qaeda opposed the continued presence of American military forces in Saudi Arabia (and elsewhere on the Saudi Arabian peninsula) following the Gulf War. Fourth, al Qaeda opposed the United States Government because of the arrest, conviction and imprisonment of persons belonging to al Qaeda or its affiliated terrorist groups or those with whom it worked. For these and other reasons, Bin Laden declared a jihad, or holy war, against the United States, which he has carried out through al Qaeda and its affiliated organizations.

One of the principal goals of al Qaeda was to drive the United States armed forces out of Saudi Arabia (and elsewhere on the Saudi Arabian peninsula) and Somalia by violence. Members of al Qaeda issued fatwahs (rulings on Islamic law) indicating that such attacks were both proper and necessary.Al Qaeda functioned both on its own and through some of the terrorist organizations that operated under its umbrella, including: Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which was led by Ayman al-Zawahiri, and at times, the Islamic Group (also known as “el Gamaa Islamia” or simply “Gamaa’t”), and a number of jihad groups in other countries, including the Sudan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bosnia,

Croatia, Albania, Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, the Philippines, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, and the Kashmiri region of India and the Chechnyan region of Russia. Al Qaeda also maintained cells and personnel in a number of countries to facilitate its activities, including in Kenya, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Malaysia, and the United States.Al Qaeda had a command and control structure which included a majlis al shura (or consultation council) which discussed and approved major undertakings, including terrorist operations. Al Qaeda also had a “military committee” which considered and approved “military” matters. Usama Bin Laden and al Qaeda also forged alliances with the National Islamic Front in

the Sudan and with representatives of the government of Iran, and its associated terrorist group Hizballah, for the purpose of working together against their perceived common enemies in the West, particularly the United States. Since at least 1989, until the filing of this Indictment, Usama Bin Laden and the terrorist group al Qaeda sponsored, managed, and/or financially supported training camps in Afghanistan, which camps were used to instruct members and associates of al Qaeda and its affiliated terrorist groups in the use of firearms, explosives, chemical weapons, and other weapons of mass destruction. In addition to providing training in the use of various weapons, these camps were used to

conduct operational planning against United States targets around the world and experiments in the use of chemical and biological weapons. These camps were also used to train others in security and counterintelligence methods, such as the use of codes and passwords, and to teach members and associates of al Qaeda about traveling to perform operations. For example, al Qaeda instructed its members and associates to dress in “Western” attire and to use other methods to avoid detection by security officials. The group also taught its members and associates to monitor media reporting of its operations to determine the effectiveness of their terrorist activities.Since in or about 1996, Usama Bin Laden and others operated al

Qaeda from their headquarters in Afghanistan. During this time, Bin Laden and others forged close relations with the Taliban in Afghanistan. To that end, Bin Laden informed other al Qaeda members and associates outside Afghanistan of their support of, and alliance with, the Taliban. Bin Laden also endorsed a declaration of jihad (holy war) issued by the “Ulema Union of Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attacks was the deadliest ever on American soil, killing nearly 3,000 people. Since the fall of the Taliban, alQaeda has established operations worldwide, including in Syria, the Gulf, North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, and the Indian subcontinent.

Events and weapons The Provision of Guesthouses and Training Camps At various times from at least as early as 1989, Usama Bin Laden, and others known and unknown, provided training camps and guesthouses in Afghanistan, including camps known as Khalden, Derunta, Khost, Siddiq, and Jihad Wal, for the use of al Qaeda and its affiliated groups.

The Training At various times from at least as early as 1990, unindicted co-conspirators, known and unknown, provided military and intelligence training in various areas, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Sudan, for the use of al Qaeda and its affiliated groups, including the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.

The Efforts to Obtain Nuclear Weapons and Their Components

At various times from at least as early as 1992, Usama Bin Laden, and others known and unknown, made efforts to obtain the components of nuclear weapons. The Fatwahs Against American Troops in Saudi Arabia and Yemen At various times from in or about 1992 until the date of the filing of this Indictment, Usama Bin Laden, working together with members of the fatwah committee of al Qaeda, disseminated fatwahs to other members and associates of al Qaeda that the United States forces stationed on the Saudi Arabian peninsula, including both Saudi Arabia and Yemen, should be attacked.

The Fatwah Against American Troops in Somalia At various times from in or about 1992 until in or about 1993, Usama Bin Laden, working together with members of the fatwah committee of al Qaeda, disseminated fatwahs to other members and associates of al Qaeda that the United States forces stationed in the Horn of Africa, including Somalia, should be attacked. The Fatwah Regarding Deaths of Nonbelievers

On various occasions, an unindicted coconspirator advised other members of al Qaeda that it was Islamically proper to engage in violent actions against “infidels” (nonbelievers), even if others might be killed by such actions, because if the others were “innocent,” they would go to paradise, and if they were not “innocent,” they deserved to die. The August 1996 Declaration of War On or about August 23, 1996, a Declaration of Jihad indicating that it was from the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan entitled, “Message from Usamah BinMuhammad Bin-Laden to His Muslim Brothers in the Whole World and

Especially in the Arabian Peninsula: Declaration of Jihad Against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Mosques; Expel the Heretics from the Arabian Peninsula” was disseminated. The February 1998 Fatwah Against American Civilians In February 1998, Usama Bin Laden endorsed a fatwah under the banner of the “International Islamic Front for Jihad on the Jews and Crusaders.” This fatwah, published in the publication Al-Quds al‘Arabi on February 23, 1998, stated that Muslims should kill Americans – including civilians – anywhere in the world where they can be found.

In an address in or about 1998, Usama Bin Laden cited American aggression against Islam and encouraged a jihad that would eliminate the Americans from the Arabian Peninsula.

Bin Laden Endorses the Nuclear Bomb of Islam On or about May 29, 1998, Usama Bin Laden issued a statement entitled “The Nuclear Bomb of Islam,” under the banner of the “International Islamic Front for Fighting the Jews and the Crusaders,” in which he stated that “it is the duty of the

Muslims to prepare as much force as possible to terrorize the enemies of God.” Usama Bin Laden Issues Further Threats in June 1999 In or about June 1999, in an interview with an Arabic-language television station, Usama Bin Laden issued a further threat indicating that all American males should be killed. Usama Bin Laden Calls for “Jihad” to Free Imprisoned Terrorists In or about September 2000, in an interview with an Arabic-language

television station, Usama Bin Laden called for a “jihad” to release the “brothers” in jail “everywhere.” Leadership AQ’s leader, or emir, is Ayman al Zawahiri, an Egyptian who succeeded Bin Laden. Some attribute purported AQ struggles (including its failure to strike inside the United States) to what they describe as Zawahiri’s understated leadership, as compared to Bin Laden’s charisma. Others

argue that Zawahiri’s more restrained approach is an asset that has created space for AQ affiliates to pursue regionally tailored strategies and make inroads into local communities. Widespread reports that Zawahiri (70) has been ill have raised questions about the group’s future leadership. Zawahiri’s former deputy, Abu Khayr al Masri, was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Syria in 2017; Al Masri’s successor was killed in Iran in August 2020, reportedly by

Israeli agents. Their deaths, and that of Bin Laden’s son Hamza (whose killing in the AfghanistanPakistan region was announced by President Trump in 2019), leave Saif al Adl as Zawahiri’s likely successor. Al Adl is reported to reside in Iran, which has allowed some AQ figures to operate in its territory despite historic enmity between Sunni Al Qaeda and Iran’s Shia Islamic Republic government. AQ leaders may view Iran as relatively safe

from U.S. counterterrorism pressure, while Iran may view AQ’s presence as leverage against the United States, as well as an opportunity to support another U.S. adversary.

Structure Al Qaeda once had a hierarchical organization, a relatively small and geographically contained membership, and claimed to be the vanguard and global leader of Islamist terrorism. The attenuation of AQ core leadership, the

growth of regional affiliates, and the rise of the Islamic State have changed Al Qaeda greatly. For years, analysts have debated how to characterize the shifting ties between AQ leaders and groups that have pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda, and among these selfdescribed affiliates. Some contend that Al Qaeda remains essentially a centrally governed organization, with the group’s leaders providing marching orders to its various affiliates; others describe a “hub and spoke” model in

which leaders provide inspiration, strategic vision, and some financial support but little in the way of direct tactical supervision. In 2022, the analytical consensus appears to view AQ as having “devolved operational responsibility to regional affiliates as it has shifted away from centrally directed plotting,” per the 2022 annual threat assessment. Al Qaeda may persist as a group that inspires ideologically motivated terrorism against U.S. interests around the world

and opportunistically enters (or secures the allegiance of participants in) local conflicts. Changes in the relative balance of these elements of the group’s identity and structure may in turn spur changes in the focus of U.S. counterterrorism efforts over time.

Status in Afghanistan The Taliban’s August 2021 return to power in Afghanistan gave Al Qaeda a “significant boost,” per United Nations sanctions monitors, and traditional AQ allies (such as

figures linked to the Haqqani Network) have prominent roles in the Taliban government. Since congratulating the Taliban in August 2021, AQ “has maintained a strategic silence, likely an effort not to compromise Taliban efforts to gain international recognition and legitimacy,” in light of counterterrorism commitments made by the Taliban to secure the withdrawal of U.S. forces. While AQ currently lacks an operational capability in Afghanistan, U.S. officials assess that AQ has the intention to reconstitute the

ability to conduct external attacks and could do so in one to two years in the absence of CT pressure. The U.S. intelligence community assesses that AQ “will gauge its ability operate in Afghanistan under Taliban restrictions” as the two groups recalibrate their relationship and activities. Affiliates Regional developments, notably the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and the post-2011 instability that engulfed some states after Arab Spring-inspired protests, created opportunities

for AQ affiliates throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Affiliates have also exploited local conflicts and political crises in Somalia and the Sahel region. In 2004, the Iraq-based Jordanian national Abu Musab al Zarqawi formed the first AQ affiliate, Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). AQI was the first AQ affiliate to be designated as an FTO (in 2004). In 2006, AQI renamed itself the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), which in 2011

expanded to Syria and later declared a “global caliphate” as the Islamic State. U.S.-backed Saudi efforts dismantled an AQ branch in the country by 2005, leaving only scattered cells remaining. In 2009, these cells united with Yemeni AQ operatives to form Al Qaeda in the Arabia Peninsula (AQAP), designated as an FTO that year. AQAP grew rapidly in the context of Yemen’s post2011 instability and civil war. AQAP has attempted, perhaps more than

any other AQ affiliate, to carry out and inspire attacks in the United States and Europe, but as of 2022 is “suffering setbacks caused by both internal divisions and military offensives,” per U.N. sanctions monitors. As its international reach grew with affiliates like AQI and AQAP, Al Qaeda also attracted interest from other likeminded groups. Al Shabaab, a Somali group designated as an FTO in 2008 whose founders had ties

to Al Qaeda, formally pledged allegiance to AQ in 2012. Al Shabaab, which took over territory in central and southern Somalia in the mid-2000s as an offshoot of Somalia’s Council of Islamic Courts, has carried out attacks against domestic and international targets in Somalia, as well as in Uganda, Djibouti, and Kenya. In March 2022, a DOD official described Al Shabaab as “the largest, wealthiest, and most lethal Al Qaeda

affiliate in the world today,” having grown “due to a lack of effective governance and counterterrorism pressure.” Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) first emerged as a faction in Algeria’s 1990s civil conflict. It pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda and rebranded itself as AQIM in 2006-2007. AQIM’s center of gravity moved southward and eastward after 2011, spawning a number of splinter factions and local affiliates. Even as AQIM

activity in North Africa has waned, some of those offshoots have strengthened. The most prominent is the Group for Supporting Islam and Muslims (or JNIM, in Arabic), which was formed in 2017 as a merger of AQIM’s Sahel branch and several Malibased groups. Designated as an FTO in 2018, JNIM is most active in Mali and Burkina Faso, where it has expanded despite a nearly decade-long U.S.-backed French CT mission;

France announced plans in February 2022 to withdraw its forces from Mali. JNIM has also made inroads into coastal West Africa. A Nigeria-based group known as Ansaru has also pledged allegiance to AQIM. As security conditions in Syria deteriorated in 2011, AQI/ISI began operations there as the Nusra Front. The Nusra Front did not initially acknowledge ties to AQI/ISI but was designated by the State Department as

an alias of AQI/ISI in 2012. The Nusra Front soon became one of the most powerful armed groups in Syria, and rejected AQI/ISI leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s 2013 attempt to subsume it under his leadership as part of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS or ISIL, later the Islamic State). In 2017, the Nusra Front merged with other Syrian factions to become Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS). HTS leaders, who control most of the

northeastern Syrian province of Idlib, have distanced themselves from AQ. An HTS breakoff group, Hurras al Din, is seen as closer to AQ but weaker than HTS. Relation to the Islamic State While there are some ideological and tactical similarities between IS and AQ, their relationship is mostly adversarial. AQ and IS affiliates operate in many of the same conflict zones (such as in Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, and the Sahel) where they appear to compete for resources and

recruits, and often clash militarily. U.S. Policy Responses The U.S. campaign against Al Qaeda, now in its third decade, spans a wide array of policy areas. The United States has conducted airstrikes on AQ targets in at least seven countries since 2012, though the United States in 2021 removed military forces from Afghanistan and repositioned military forces from Somalia, where they were supporting counterterrorism operations, to neighboring

countries. Beyond direct military action, the United States seeks to combat Al Qaeda and other terrorist threats “by, with, and through” local partners, including through the provision of security assistance and, in some cases, logistical and/or advisory support. U.S. policymakers also seek to combat Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups by addressing the drivers of extremist recruitment, by blocking the financing of Al Qaeda and its affiliates through sanctions and other tools, and by

prosecuting individuals in the United States for providing support to the group and its affiliates. Congress has addressed the enduring presence of AQ affiliates through the oversight of executive branch counterterrorism policies and practices and the authorization and appropriation of U.S. funds for counterterrorism activities. Ongoing deliberations in Congress about repeal or revision of the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF,

P.L. 107-40) may also have implications for U.S. efforts against Al Qaeda and its affiliates.

TALIBAN 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 services.

Image: Taliban fighters hold a flag for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in August 2022.

The Taliban are a predominantly Pashtun, Islamic fundamentalist group that returned

to power in Afghanistan in 2021 after waging a twenty-year insurgency. Following the U.S.-led invasion that toppled the original regime in 2001, the Taliban regrouped across the border in Pakistan and began taking back territory less than ten years after their ouster. By August 2021, the Taliban had swept back into power. The group’s swift offensive came as the United States withdrew its remaining troops from Afghanistan as outlined in a 2020 peace agreement with the Taliban. The Taliban have imposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law despite pledges to respect the rights of women

and minority communities and provide amnesty for people who supported U.S. efforts. Meanwhile, as they have transitioned from an insurgent group to a functional government, the Taliban have struggled to provide Afghans with security, adequate food, and economic opportunities. The Taliban threaten Afghans’ civil and political rights enshrined in the constitution created by the U.S.-backed government. Since regaining control, the Taliban have taken actions reminiscent of their brutal rule in the late 1990s. The UN mission in Afghanistan has documented numerous human rights violations. The Taliban have intimidated journalists and

restricted press freedoms, leading dozens of news organizations to shut down Protesters and activists have been monitored and forcibly disappeared. The Taliban also re established their Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which under previous Taliban rule enforced prohibitions on behavior deemed un-Islamic. Women have seen their rights obliterated. The Taliban have prohibited most girls from attending secondary school and prevented women across the country from working. Amnesty International reports a drastic increase in the number of women arrested for violating discriminatory policies, such as rules requiring women to

only appear in public with a male chaperone and to completely cover their bodies. The rates of child marriage have also increased.

Image:

Afghanistan at glance area: 652,230 square kilometres (slightly smaller

Religion Than Texas), Religions Islam 99.7% (Sunni 85–90%, Shia 10–15%), other

0.3% (2009),

The Taliban also threaten gains made in Afghans’ standards of living over the two decades after the U.S. invasion. The country’s economic situation has worsened since their takeover, with the United Nations estimating that almost all Afghans could be living in poverty by mid2022. More than 90 percent of the population has been suffering from some form of food insecurity. Exacerbating the crisis is a pause in aid by some countries and international organizations, which had been the lifeline of the economy and public health sector. Moreover, international observers remain concerned that the Taliban support

terrorist organizations, particularly alQaeda, posing a threat to regional and international security. The United States invaded Afghanistan after it refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. Under the Taliban’s rule, Afghanistan could become a safe haven for terrorists capable of launching attacks against the United States and its allies, experts say, despite Taliban statements that “Afghanistan’s soil will not be used against the security of any other country.” In its April 2022 report, the UN team that monitors the Taliban said the group “remains close” with al-Qaeda and that “al-Qaeda has a safe haven under the

Taliban and increased freedom of action.” Indeed, in August, a U.S. drone strike killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul. Reports suggested that Zawahiri was living in the home of a Taliban aide, and other al-Qaeda leaders are believed to be based in the country. The UN report said that al-Qaeda is likely using Afghanistan as a “friendly environment” to recruit, train, and fundraise, although it is unlikely to launch an international attack before 2023 at the earliest. Following Zawahiri’s killing, a leaked U.S. assessment said that al-Qaeda has not reconstituted its presence in Afghanistan, though some experts disagreed. How has the world responded to the Taliban?

During the U.S. war in Afghanistan, governments and international bodies joined U.S.-led efforts to oust the Taliban and bolster Afghanistan’s government, democratic institutions, and civil society. They have taken various actions since 2001: Military force. U.S. troops quickly overthrew the Taliban after they invaded Afghanistan in October 2001. The Taliban then waged an insurgency against the U.S.backed Afghan government. The group withstood counterinsurgency operations from the world’s most powerful security alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and three U.S. administrations over the course of a war

that killed more than 6,000 U.S. troops and contractors and over 1,100 NATO troops. Some 47,000 civilians died, and an estimated 73,000 Afghan troops and police officers were killed between 2007 and 2021. Tens of thousands of Taliban fighters are also believed to have died. The number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan peaked at around 100,000 in 2011. NATO assumed leadership of foreign forces in 2003, marking its first operational commitment outside of Europe. At its height, NATO had more than 130,000 troops from fifty nations stationed in Afghanistan. In the 2020 U.S.-Taliban agreement, the United States committed to withdrawing all U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan if the Taliban carried out commitments that

included cutting ties with terrorist groups. The United States completed its troop withdrawal in August 2021. The UN Security Council first imposed sanctions on the regime for harboring alQaeda in 1999 and expanded the sanctions after 9/11. They target Taliban leaders’ financial assets and ban them from most travel. The Security Council also imposed an arms embargo on the Taliban. The United States and the European Union maintain additional sanctions, which have hindered aid deliveries since the Taliban’s takeover. Meanwhile, the United States has blocked the Taliban from accessing billions of dollars in assets.

Aid. For years, the Afghan government depended on assistance from dozens of countries; 75 percent of the government’s public expenditures were covered by grants from international partners, according to a 2019 World Bank report. Many of these countries suspended aid after the Taliban took over, sparking concerns of further economic turmoil. But in 2022, aid picked up, with donors providing over $2 billion by July. Still, UN officials said an additional $2 billion was required by the end of the year to meet the country’s humanitarian need. Diplomatic ties. Many Western countries, including the United States, shut down their diplomatic offices in Afghanistan

after the Taliban took over. They have refused to recognize and establish diplomatic ties with the Taliban government, which calls the country the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. (A handful of states, including China and Russia, have accredited Taliban-selected diplomats.) In addition, the UN General Assembly has indefinitely postponed a vote on who can represent Afghanistan at the United Nations. Investigation. The Taliban are now under investigation by the International Criminal Court for alleged abuses of Afghan civilians, including crimes against humanity, carried out since 2003. U.S. and

Afghan forces are also being investigated for alleged war crimes. Who leads the Taliban? The Taliban have been led for decades by a leadership council, called the Rahbari Shura. It is better known as the Quetta Shura, named for the city in Pakistan where Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban’s first leader, and his top aides are believed to have taken refuge after the U.S. invasion. (Omar died in 2013 and was succeeded by Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, who was killed in a 2016 U.S. air strike in Pakistan.) Today, the Rahbari Shura is thought by analysts to oversee the Taliban government’s work, though its precise role is unclear. It is led by Mawlawi

Hibatullah Akhundzada, who has not been seen publicly in years. (Taliban officials claimed in 2021 that Akhundzada visited an educational institution, but no photos or videos of such an appearance were made public.) The government is led by a thirty-threemember caretaker cabinet. All ministers are men and are former Taliban officials or individuals loyal to the group. A majority are ethnic Pashtuns, and some are considered terrorists by the United States and are sanctioned by the United Nations. Mohammad Hassan Akhund, who was close with Omar, is acting prime minister. Taliban cofounder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who led peace negotiations with

the United States, is Akhund’s deputy. Sirajuddin Haqqani—who is acting head of the Haqqani Network, a militant group in Afghanistan’s southeast and Pakistan’s northwest with close ties to the Taliban, alQaeda, and Pakistan’s intelligence services—is the acting interior minister. Mullah Muhammad Yaqoub, Omar’s son, is acting defense minister. Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi is the acting foreign minister, and Zabihullah Mujahid is the government’s spokesperson. How were the Taliban formed? The group was formed in the early 1990s by Afghan mujahideen, or Islamic guerrilla fighters, who had resisted the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (1979–89) with

the covert backing of the CIA and its Pakistani counterpart, the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate (ISI). (Pakistan is thought to have provided financial and logistical support to the Taliban during the U.S. war, though Islamabad denies this.) They were joined by younger Pashtun tribesmen who studied in Pakistani madrassas, or seminaries; Taliban is Pashto for “students.” Pashtuns comprise a plurality in Afghanistan and are the predominant ethnic group in much of the country’s south and east. They are also a major ethnic group in Pakistan’s north and west. The movement attracted popular support in the initial post-Soviet era by promising

to impose stability and rule of law after four years of conflict (1992–96) among rival mujahideen groups. The Taliban entered Kandahar in November 1994 to pacify the crime-ridden southern city, and by September 1996 seized the capital, Kabul, from President Burhanuddin Rabbani, an ethnic Tajik whom they viewed as anti-Pashtun and corrupt. That year, the Taliban declared Afghanistan an Islamic emirate, with Mullah Mohammed Omar, a cleric and veteran of the antiSoviet resistance, leading as amir almu’minin, or “commander of the faithful.” The regime controlled some 90 percent of the country before its 2001 overthrow.

The Taliban imposed a harsh brand of justice as they consolidated territorial control. Taliban jurisprudence was drawn from the Pashtuns’ pre-Islamic tribal code and interpretations of sharia colored by the austere Wahhabi doctrines of the madrassas’ Saudi benefactors. The regime neglected social services and other basic state functions even as the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice required women to wear the head-to-toe burqa, or chadri; banned music and television; and jailed men whose beards it deemed too short. Do any groups threaten the Taliban’s power?

The Islamic State in Khorasan, a terrorist group with up to four thousand members in Afghanistan, has emerged as the Taliban’s main military threat. Analysts say that the security situation has generally improved throughout Afghanistan, with fewer civilian casualties in 2022. But the terrorist group has continued to launch attacks, particularly against minority communities such as the Hazaras, even as the Taliban work to eradicate it. Amid the U.S. troop withdrawal, the Islamic State in Khorasan claimed responsibility for an attack near the Kabul airport that killed 13 U.S. service members and at least 170 Afghan civilians. According to the UN monitoring team, that attack elevated the group’s status and led the self-declared

Islamic State to provide an additional half a million dollars in funding for the group. In addition, a resistance movement of former officials, local militia members, and Afghan security forces who call themselves the National Resistance Front formed to oppose the Taliban’s rule, though analysts say the group is currently not strong enough to threaten the Taliban’s control. It is based in the mountainous, northern Panjshir Province and has launched guerrilla-style attacks in several other provinces. The group has called for external support, but U.S. officials have said that Washington does “not support organized violent opposition” to the Taliban.

Is- ISLAMIC STATES Islamic State pledged allegiance to AlQaeda, and participated in the Iraqi insurgency following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a multi-national coalition led by the United States. In 2014, the group proclaimed itself to be a worldwide caliphate and began referring to itself as the Islamic State.

The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL),Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). was founded by Abu Musab alZarqawi in 1999 and gained global prominence in 2014, when it drove Iraqi security forces out of key cities during the Anbar campaign, which was followed by its capture of Mosul and the Sinjar massacre .

Dates of operation 1999: Established under the name of Jama’at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad October 2004: Joined al-Qaeda

13 October 2006: Declaration of an Islamic state in Iraq 8 April 2013: Claim of territory in the Levant 3 February 2014:Separated from al-Qaeda: 29 June 2014: Declaration of caliphate 13 November 2014: Claim of territory in Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen 29 January 2015: Claim of territory in South Asia 12 March 2015: Claim of territory in Nigeria 23 June 2015: Claim of territory in North Caucasus 20 July 2017: Recapture of Mosul by Iraqi forces

17 October 2017: Capture of Raqqa by SDF forces 23 March 2019: Loses all of its territory in Syria 27 October 2019: Killing of Abu Bakr alBaghdadi 3 February 2022: Killing of Abu Ibrahim alHashimi al-Qurashi.

ISIL's claims to territory have brought it into armed conflict with many governments, militias and other armed groups. International rejection of ISIL as a terrorist entity and rejection of its claim to even exist have placed it in conflict with countries around the world As a self-proclaimed worldwide caliphate, ISIL claims religious, political and military

.

authority over all Muslims worldwide, and that “the legality of all emirates, groups, states, and organisations, becomes null by the expansion of the khilāfah’s [caliphate’s] authority and arrival of its troops to their areas”.

AUTHOR'S REFERENCE

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_ State https://www.britannica.com/topic/alQaeda https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl ine/shows/network/alqaeda/indictment. html https://www.counterextremism.com/thr eat/al-qaeda https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/tali ban-afghanistan

Gayathri m