The members of the Taliban Islamic Movement of Afghanistan (TIMA) were originally mostly Pashtuns from Kandahar in Southern Afghanistan and were led by the village religious leader Mullah Mohammad Omar. The Taliban advocated an ‘Islamic Revolution’ in Afghanistan, proclaiming that the unity of Afghanistan should be re-established in the framework of the Islamic law known as the Sharia.

At the time, their fighting ranks were mostly filled with former veterans of the war against Soviet forces. On September 11, 1996 the Taliban captured Jalalabad, and on September 27, 1996 captured the city of Kabul, ousting the existing government.

By the beginning of June 1997, the Taliban effectively controlled two-thirds of the country. Applying a strict interpretation of the Sharia, the new government was administered.

In October 1997 the Taliban changed the name of the country to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, with Mullah Omar, who had previously assumed the religious title of Emir of the Faithful, as head of state. With a six-member ruling council in Kabul, the Taliban rule rested in their inner Shura Council, located in the southern city of Kandahar, and in Mullah Omar.

Supporters of the Taliban regime claim many achievements in only five years of government including the unifying the fragmented Afghanistan, disarming 95% of the population ( many had previously tried to do this but failed), the establishment of a single administration and the eradication of 75% of world's opium cultivation that was ultimately reduced to zero.

The Taliban have been harshly criticized for violating women's rights. Its worth noting that their supporters claim that prior to their government, women were actually sold, had no say in the selection of their husbands, and were often exchanged as gifts. They also defend the requirement to wear a Burqa as protection for women rather than oppression and that women were asked to stay at home not regulated to - again for their own safety. And what the Taliban also point out is that women under the Taliban did work in Afghanistan.

Although these concepts are obscure and considered oppressive by western standards, the Taliban’s treatment of women is probably part and parcel of a general disagreement with their application of Sharia law. Through their "Department for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice.", soldiers patrolled for violations of Taliban religious-based decrees, including TV’s, inappropriate dress, length of beards and women being in the company of men when outside the home.

At the end of 2001, the Taliban government was toppled by US and coalition forces in Operation Enduring Freedom however they remain an ongoing presence in Afghanistan and currently waging guerilla warfare against coalition forces in an effort to regain control of the country.