25 September 1996: the Taliban reach Kabul

Share

• Copy link
• Facebook
• X
• Linkedin
• Whatsapp
• Pinterest

Share this article

Join the conversation

Follow us

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Newsletter

Get the MoneyWeek Newsletter

Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.

Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors

---

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful

---

Want to add more newsletters?

Twice daily

MoneyWeek

Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.

Signup +

Four times a week

Look After My Bills

Sign up to our free money-saving newsletter, filled with the latest news and expert advice to help you find the best tips and deals for managing your bills. Start saving today!

Signup +

---

An account already exists for this email address, please log in.

Subscribe to our newsletter

In December 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, leading to a brutal war over the next decade. The US, Pakistan and others provided the resistance with logistical and financial support, forcing the Soviet Union to withdraw by early 1989.

This defeat helped convince the Soviets not to intervene forcibly in various Eastern European revolutions, aiding the demise of the USSR. But the conflict took a huge toll on Afghanistan; up to 1.5 million Afghans died.

After the Soviet withdrawal, the puppet regime was expected to collapse. But Russian financial support saw it cling on until 1992. The opposition, never united, fractured further. By the early 1990s, swathes of the country were run by warlords and bandits.

MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up

In 1991 a group of students in religious schools joined refugees from camps on the Pakistan border to form the Taliban under Mullah Mohammed Omar. By 1994 they had taken Kandahar, Afghanistan's second city. By 25 September 1996 they reached the suburbs of Kabul, the capital. The main anti-Taliban opposition retreated, and they took power.

Over the next five years, the Taliban imposed Islamic rule, banning education for women and imposing draconian punishments for minor crimes. They allowed the terrorist group al-Qaeda to establish bases that were used to organise the September 11th attacks.