As 'Taliban 2.0' joins competing peace talks with various stakeholders, archival photos paint a stark image of life in Afghanistan under the radical Islamic group's 1996-2001 rule.
Afghanistan Under The Taliban
- By RFE/RL
1
Taliban fighters prepare to pray at Kabul's presidential palace, known as the Arg, in the autumn of 1996. In September, the Islamic militant group captured the city from mujahedin factions who had once fought against the Soviet invasion but by the 1990s were battling each other.
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Afghanistan's Soviet-backed ex-president, Mohammed Najibullah (left), and his brother were strung up after being captured and killed inside a UN base in Kabul in September 1996. The gruesome display was the Taliban's first public act after seizing power in the capital.
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Afghanistan's Soviet-backed ex-president, Mohammed Najibullah (left), and his brother were strung up after being captured and killed inside a UN base in Kabul in September 1996. The gruesome display was the Taliban's first public act after seizing power in the capital.
Afghanistan's Soviet-backed ex-president, Mohammed Najibullah (left), and his brother were strung up after being captured and killed inside a UN base in Kabul in September 1996. The gruesome display was the Taliban's first public act after seizing power in the capital.
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A member of the Taliban beats a man caught with half a kilogram of opium. The hard-line Sunni group vowed to restore order and eradicate corruption in war-ravaged Afghanistan.
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Men in northern Afghanistan hack up old Soviet shell cartridges to melt into household objects. Although open warfare stopped in most of the country after the Taliban seized control, the group's rigid enforcement of Islamic law and tribal traditions perpetuated the suffering of many ordinary Afghans.
