20 years since 9/11 attacks: Tracing the evolution of the Taliban – Times Now

The Taliban: then and now. The picture above shows the Taliban militants being trained in Afghanistan in the early 2000s. The picture below is of the Taliban after they took over the Kabul Presidential Palace on August 15, 2021. | Credits: Twitter; AP 

Following a twenty-year battle against US and NATO forces, the Taliban have risen once again, having carried out a sweeping offensive that saw them claim huge swaths of territory in mere days before ultimately seizing the presidential palace in the Afghan capital of Kabul.

The hardline Islamist group has already announced an interim government to be led by Mullah Akhund and by some accounts, were originally planning to carry out their oath-taking ceremony today the 20th anniversary of the catastrophic 9/11 attacks in what was surely a bid to twist the knife in US wounds.

Images coming out of Afghanistan have shown that, upon repossessing American tactical weaponry and equipment, the Taliban seemed to have transformed into a potent military force a far cry from the 'rag-tag' bunch of untrained warriors seen between 1996 and 2001 when the group was last in power. But the group's evolution runs far deeper than just appearance.

Image Credits: Twitter

After their ousting in 2001, the group's members most of whom were Pashtun in origin scattered, with a majority of their leaders fleeing to Pakistan. The US occupation of Afghanistan provided the Taliban with an ideal anti-colonialist platform upon which they could ground their recruitment campaigns. Subsequent efforts to include individual members of the Taliban into the Afghan-rebuilding process came to nought.

Over time, the group began to carry out a revival from Afghanistan's 'dusty districts,' both aided and legitimised by rampant corruption in the Afghan government and the political exclusion of the Pashtun community.

In 2003, the Taliban's leader Mullah Omar formed a new leadership council to consolidate Taliban forces and within the next three years, the group proved itself to be a formidable insurgent force to be reckoned with, specifically in southern Afghanistan. They soon began expanding into the north and for the first time began increasing their influence among non-Pashtun communities.

In the aftermath of former US President Barack Obama's failed 'surge' strategy, the US changed tact, paving the way for the first series of talks 'Doha-1' between 2009 and 2014. In 2012, the Taliban's political office in Doha was set up. The commencement of the 'Doha-2' talks in 2018 effectively legitimised the Taliban as a key internal political actor in Afghanistan.

The Bamiyan Buddha intact (c. 1980s); right: The statue being blown up by the Taliban in March 2001. Image Credits: Twitter

When the US invaded Afghanistan, the Taliban was led by Mullah Mohammad Omar one of its founders and its military chief who went into hiding. In 2015, it was revealed that Omar had died in 2013.

In the years that followed the US invasion, the Taliban transformed from a predominantly military outfit into more of a political organisation with the chief objective of establishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The group developed a vertical hierarchy with its leader (commander of the faithful), Hibatullah Akhundzada at the top.

Under him lies the Rahbari Shura (Leadership Council) which manages a range of commissions, not unlike the now-deposed Afghan government's ministries. These include a Military Commission and Political Commission. It has also established strong links with a range of informal networks, most notably the powerful Haqqani Network.

As its influence across Afghanistan grew, the Taliban also created a number of parallel government structures with individual military commanders tasked with exerting and maintaining control over designated territories.

The Taliban's new Badri 313 unit is, reportedly, tasked with securing the Afghan capital.ImageCredits:Twitter

According to a confidential NATO report obtained by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty citing information disclosed by Mullah Yaqoob, the son of the late Taliban leader, Mohammad Omar, in the fiscal year ended March 2020, the Taliban's revenues touched US$ 1.6 billion. Compare this with Afghanistan's total budget in 2020 of $5.5 billion of which under 2 per cent was allocated as defence expenditure.

The United Nation's World Drug Report 2020 showed that between 2015 and 2020, Afghanistan was responsible for 84 per cent of the world's opium production. A huge chunk of these revenues flowed directly to the Taliban who maintain control of opium fields and the entire drug supply chain.

As per a 2008 report from the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, the group is believed to set a 10 per cent levy at every stage of the drug production chain. The NATO report estimates that the group raked in $416 million in 2019-20 from the production and sale of narcotics.

Afghanistan is also a resource-rich country, and mining of marble, copper, gold, iron ore and other metals and minerals has proved lucrative for the Taliban. The Taliban's Stones and Mines Commission estimates that the insurgent outfit earned roughly $400 million from mining activities in 2019-20. NATO's estimates are even higher at $464 million.

As the Taliban's influence over Afghan territory grew, so did its 'tax' revenue. Reports indicate that taxed industries include mining, media, telecommunications and other infrastructural projects. Road taxes are also imposed on vehicles passing through Taliban-controlled regions, and brick-and-mortar shop owners are also required to pay the Taliban to do business. The NATO report states that these taxes that some would call revenues via extortion amounted to $160 million annually.

Over the years, the Taliban has attempted to limit its dependence on foreign contributions from anonymous donors and institutions worldwide. But the coffers have continued to swell from such donations.

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20 years since 9/11 attacks: Tracing the evolution of the Taliban - Times Now