Afghanistan, and their pattern of rule was one of the strangest to
be witnessed in the modern world, perhaps because it was so deter-
minedly anti-modernist. The Taliban found themselves increasingly
at odds with the world, and the final, cataclysmic clash of late
2001, which saw them driven from office and crushed into frag-
ments, was perhaps unavoidable. But it has left Afghanistan deeply
scarred, and defined an agenda of responsibilities for the interna-
tional community which it will take years properly to discharge.
This chapter deals with the rise and rule of the Taliban, and is
divided into four sections. The first deals with the origins and
spread of the Taliban movement, together with their campaigns to
subordinate the north of Afghanistan to their rule. The second dis-
cusses the objectives and policies of the Taliban. The third deals
with the human rights record of the Taliban, which rapidly became
the focus of global attention, and the fourth deals with the
Taliban’s troubled relations with the wider world
THE ORIGINS AND SPREAD OF THE TALIBAN
Pakistan’s search for clients
In 1994, with the failure of the Shura-i Hamahangi’s attempt to
oust Rabbani, Pakistan found itself in an awkward position.
Hekmatyar had proved incapable of seizing and controlling defend-
ed territory: in this respect he was a bitter disappointment to his
patrons. There had also been a change of government in Pakistan,
with Benazir Bhutto returning to the Prime Ministership in 1993.
On resuming office, she installed as her Interior Minister the retired
Major-General Naseerullah Babar, who had been her father’s
adviser on Afghanistan. If anyone deserved the dubious title of
‘Godfather’ of the Taliban, it was he. At odds with ISI, and keen to
assert control over Afghanistan policy, he activated a cell within his
own Interior Ministry to advance his stratagems. Bhutto, whose
own responsibility for the rise of the Taliban should not be under-
estimated, later stated that ‘We have striven for an Afghanistan that
The Rise and Rule of the Taliban, 1994-2001 219