The Taliban is primarily made up of fighters from the Pashtun ethnic group that makes up a large share of the population of both Afghanistan and Pakistan. After the USSR invaded Afghanistan in late 1979, various forces within Afghanistan spent the next decade fighting against the Soviet troops.

Many Afghan Pashtuns also fled to Pakistan as refugees, while Pashtuns also comprised the bulk of the armed Afghan resistance to Soviet occupation. Because these fighters were generally Muslims who were inspired to fight against the atheistic Soviet Union, they were referred to as the mujahideen, a generic word for people who engage in any type of struggle, or jihad, in the name of Islam. They were supported by officials and wealthy individuals from countries such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia who opposed the Soviet invasion on strategic or religious grounds.

After the Soviets withdrew and the local communist government collapsed, Afghanistan fell into a period of civil war. A group of Pashtun fighters who had fought the Soviets and studied in extremist religious schools in Pakistan formed, calling themselves the Taliban; as the BBC notes, the name is a Pashto word for “student.” The Taliban defeated rival factions to take control of Afghanistan in the 1990s. They ruled the country based on a very strict interpretation of Islamic law, or sharia. Under their ideology, the rights of women are heavily restricted; activities such as dancing and listening to secular music are forbidden, and violations of religious law are harshly punished.

After being overthrown in 2001, the Taliban has continued to control large portions of Afghan territory in defiance of the American-backed government that ruled from Kabul. It has also operated as an insurgency in Afghanistan, attacking U.S. troops and the American-backed Afghan government that collapsed in recent weeks as American troops left the country.

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