1996–2001: The Taliban take Kabul & close public life

A war-weary country

Afghanistan’s communist government, sustained for years by Soviet troops, fell in 1992. Factions that had fought the Soviet occupation then struggled against one another. Shelling and lawlessness devastated Kabul and sent civilians fleeing. The Taliban movement grew in southern Afghanistan under Mullah Mohammed Omar, promising security and an end to militia abuses. Its members came largely from religious schools and armed networks shaped by decades of conflict.

The Taliban captured Kabul in September 1996 and declared an Islamic Emirate. Some residents welcomed relief from factional fighting, while others feared the new rulers’ strict enforcement of social rules. The movement’s political authority rested on armed control and religious leadership, not competitive national elections.

Rules enforced at school and home

Taliban officials severely restricted women’s employment and girls’ education, especially beyond early schooling. Women who had worked as teachers or civil servants lost livelihoods. Families seeking medical treatment faced additional obstacles when restrictions on women’s movement and work collided with the need for female healthcare professionals. Enforcement differed across locations, but the restrictions were widespread and serious.

The regime used public punishment to enforce its rules and limited media, music and other cultural expression. In March 2001, Taliban authorities destroyed the giant Buddha statues at Bamiyan. Muslim scholars and communities outside Afghanistan did not all accept the Taliban’s interpretations. Describing the government’s decisions as those of all Muslims would conceal those differences.

Foreign ties and the collapse of the first regime

Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden found sanctuary in Taliban-held Afghanistan. After the attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States, a U.S.-led military operation and Afghan opposing forces drove the Taliban from Kabul. The movement did not disappear; it continued an insurgency and later returned to power. For residents whose schools, jobs and relatives had been affected by successive regimes, a change of armed rulers did not automatically mean peace or recovery.