who trained the taliban armywho trained the taliban army

After 9/11, Massoud's United Front troops and United Front troops of Abdul Rashid Dostum (who returned from exile) ousted the Taliban from power in Kabul with American air support in Operation Enduring Freedom. A full quarter of all children died before they reached their fifth birthday, a rate several times higher than most other developing countries. Already in 1999, he started the training of police forces which he trained specifically in order to keep order and protect the civilian population in case the United Front would be successful. [321], The Taliban, being largely Pashtun tribesmen, frequently follow a pre-Islamic cultural tribal code which is focused on preserving honour. Resentment was increasingly gathering against Taliban rule from the bottom of Afghan society, including the Pashtun areas. On April 30, a Revolutionary Council declared Afghanistan to be a Democratic Republic. In July 2001, several countries, including the United States, accused Pakistan of being "in violation of U.N. sanctions because of its military aid to the Taliban". In The New York Times, the Finance Minister of the United Front, Wahidullah Sabawoon, declared the Taliban had no annual budget but that they "appeared to spend US$300 million a year, nearly all of it on war." (37) While the United States budgeted $250 million for the mujahidin in 1991, the following year the Bush administration allocated no money for military assistance. If the foreign NGOs leave then it is their decision. The Mazar, Herat, and Shomali valley offensives displaced more than three-quarters of a million civilians, using "scorched earth" tactics to prevent them from supplying the enemy with aid. "[483] They did not hold elections, as their spokesman explained: The Sharia does not allow politics or political parties. We believe that this is in line with the Sharia. By Kori Schake Shah Marai / AFP / Getty August 17, 2021 Saved Stories The United States has spent. Many of the volunteers originated in the Muslim Brotherhood or other radical Islamist organizations. For their leadership, rigid fundamentalism was a matter not only of principle, but also of political survival. 7, No. In December 1979, Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev, not willing to lose the tenuous Soviet advantage in Afghanistan, sent the Red Army pouring into the country. Some women preferred to commit suicide over slavery, killing themselves. Mort Rosenblum, "Bin Ladin once thought of as 'freedom fighter' for United States." Simultaneously, the American defeat in Vietnam had emboldened the Soviet Union to push harder and compromise less.(20). [276], On 27 February 2018, following an increase in violence, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani proposed unconditional peace talks with the Taliban, offering them recognition as a legal political party and the release of the Taliban prisoners. On 4 October, the Taliban agreed to turn bin Laden over to Pakistan for trial in an international tribunal that operated according to Islamic Sharia law, but Pakistan blocked the offer as it was not possible to guarantee his safety. 'students' or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,[81][82][a] is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist and Pashtun nationalist[85][15] militant political movement in Afghanistan. There, according to eyewitnesses, the women were penned up inside Sar Shahi camp in the desert. However, the old rivalries between the Khalqis, who dominated the new government, and the Parchamis, crippled the regime. He retired from the FBI and was offered the position of director of security at the World Trade Center (WTC). [166], Afghan traditions would need a generation or more to overcome and could only be challenged by education, he said. [228][229][230][231], With the fall of Kabul to anti-Taliban forces in November 2001, ISI forces worked with and helped Taliban militias who were in full retreat. [259], On 7 August 2015, the Taliban killed about 50 people in Kabul. Nov. 7, 2021 As Kabul was falling to the Taliban in August, the young Afghan Air Force pilot flew his PC-12 turboprop from Afghanistan to neighboring Tajikistan to escape. The Taliban and Usama bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida network retained distinct identities. [322][323], According to Ali A. Jalali and Lester Grau, the Taliban "received extensive support from Pashtuns across the country who thought that the movement might restore their national dominance. In 2009, Colonel Richard Kemp, formerly Commander of British forces in Afghanistan and the intelligence coordinator for the British government, drew parallels between the tactics and strategy of Hamas in Gaza to those of the Taliban. The Taliban curbed the atrocities and excesses of the Warlord period of the civil war from 19921996. [350][351], During the period of the first Taliban rule (1996 to 2001), the Taliban attempted to sway Shias, particularly Hazaras, to their side, making deals with a number of Shia political figures, as well as securing the support of some Shia religious scholars. [508][509] In 2009, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the "protection money" was "one of the major sources of funding for the Taliban. The UN secretary-general implicitly criticized Pakistan for its military support and the Security Council stated it was "deeply distress[ed] over reports of involvement in the fighting, on the Taliban side, of thousands of non-Afghan nationals". soon." For the group in Pakistan, see, Toggle Leadership and organization subsection, Toggle International relations subsection, Soviet intervention in Afghanistan (19781992), Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (19962001), Pakistani military's role during Taliban rule, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (2021present), Attitudes towards other Muslim communities, Ban on entertainment and recreational activities, Forced conscription and conscription of children, Deobandi Islam: The Religion of the Taliban U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps, 15 October 2001. See: John Burns. Both the Soviet Union and the United States increasingly plied Afghanistan with economic and technical assistance. In hindsight, and especially after the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, it is easy to criticize Washington's shortsightedness. Since becoming a loanword in English, Taliban, besides a plural noun referring to the group, has also been used as a singular noun referring to an individual. [10] There were also Tajik and Uzbek students, demarking them from the more ethnic-centric mujahideen groups "which played a key role in the Taliban's rapid growth and success. The Taliban arose in madaris on Pakistani territory. (62), Ahmed Rashid comments that the mullahs running most of the religious schools were but semi-literate themselves, and blindly preached the religious philosophy adopted by the Taliban. Due to this sudden initiation of civil war, working government departments, police units or a system of justice and accountability for the newly created Islamic State of Afghanistan did not have time to form. Many Taliban were opposed to the human trafficking operations conducted by al-Qaeda and other Taliban commanders. The Taliban are supported by several militant outfits which include the Haqqani network, Al-Qaeda and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. [145], Around 2000, the UN drew up sanctions against officials and leaders of Taliban, because of their harbouring Osama bin Laden. Ahmad Shah Massoud remained the only major anti-Taliban leader inside Afghanistan who was able to defend vast parts of his territory against the Taliban. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, The Science Behind the Drama of Oppenheimer, Risks of Maritime Escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, Egypt Has Not Revealed Any Workable Plan for Sudan. On 9 September 2001, Massoud, then aged 48, was the target of a suicide attack by two Arabs posing as journalists at Khwaja Bahauddin, in the Takhar Province of Afghanistan. [137][138][139][140], Taliban decision-makers, particularly Mullah Omar, seldom if ever talked directly to non-Muslim foreigners, so aid providers had to deal with intermediaries whose approvals and agreements were often reversed. Former members of the security forces were also killed by the Taliban within days of registering with them to receive a letter guaranteeing their safety. Finally, in early December, the Taliban gave up Kandahar, their last stronghold, dispersing without surrendering. According to the report, the Taliban identified targets for arrest and execution through intelligence operations and access to employment records that were left behind. On 8 February 2009, US commander of operations in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal and other officials said that the Taliban leadership was in Quetta, Pakistan. In 2011 alone, they killed notable anti-Taliban leaders, such as former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, the police chief in northern Afghanistan, the commander of the elite anti-Taliban 303 Pamir Corps, Mohammad Daud Daud, and the police chief of Kunduz, Abdul Rahman Saidkhaili. 114, June 1999. Tribal khans and warlords had de facto direct control over various small towns, villages, and rural areas.[482]. The victims were six Americans, one Briton, one German and two Afghanis, working for a self-proclaimed "non-profit, Christian organization" which is named 'International Assistance Mission'. Who Is Responsible for the Taliban? Two Taliban combatants from Kandahar confidently responded that worshiping anything outside of Islam was unacceptable and that therefore these statues had to be destroyed. Others were taken to Khost, where bin Laden had several training camps." It had an estimated turnover of 2.5billion dollars with the Taliban receiving between $100 and $130million per year. Even after the stalemate ensued between the Taliban and Ahmad Shah Masud, Pakistan provided the Taliban with a constant flow of new recruits. The Taliban also obtained financial resources from Pakistan. In at least two known instances, Massoud personally intervened against cases of forced marriage. We want to recreate the time of the Prophet, and we are only carrying out what the Afghan people have wanted for the past 14 years.[484]. For example, describing a 1987 mujahidin raid on a division garrison in Kandahar, Commander Akhtarjhan commented, "We had some Arabs who were with us for jihad credit. Some were trucked to Peshawar with the apparent complicity of Pakistani border guards. Tribal divisions further compound the Afghan vortex. [106] Iran assisted the Hezbe Wahdat forces of Abdul-Ali Mazari. Less than a month later, on November 3, the Taliban attacked Kandahar, the second-largest city in Afghanistan. Ahmed Rashid recounted what he deemed the most credible: Neighbors of two girls kidnapped and raped by Kandahar warlords asked the Taliban's help in freeing the teenagers. House Republican Research Committee. Defense Intelligence Agency (2001) report. According to the United Nations, the Taliban and their allies were responsible for 76% of Afghan civilian casualties in 2010, and 80% in 2011 and 2012. [459], On 11 August 1998, the Taliban destroyed the Puli Khumri Public Library. See: Robert Kaplan, "The Lawless Frontier; tribal relations, radical political movements and social conflicts in Afghanistan-Pakistan border," The Atlantic Monthly, September 1, 2000. A stalemate ensued for almost eight months, but shattered when General Malik rebelled against Dostum, allowing Taliban forces into the north. Humanitarian agencies frequently found their offices stripped of all equipment, their vehicles hijacked, and their staff threatened. Afghanistan: Crisis of Impunity, Human Rights Watch, July, 2001, Vol.13, No. By David Eshel", "Communism, Rebellion, and Soviet Intervention", "The Economic Plight of the Afghans in Australia, 18602000", "Sikhs set example for getting along with the Taliban", "Christians in Afghanistan: A Community of Faith and Fear", "Ten killed in Afghanistan worked for Christian group", 'Hizb-i-Islami, Taliban both claim killing 10 medical workers in northern Afghanistan', "Gunmen kill 4 female polio workers in Pakistan", "Taliban stopping polio vaccinations, says Afghan governor", "Taliban renounces war on anti-polio workers", "Taliban pledge support for Afghan polio campaign", "'Last Afghani Jews' kicked out of Taliban prison for being too annoying. (31) Upon the weapons' arrival at the port of Karachi or the Islamabad airport, the ISI would transport the weapons to depots near Rawalpindi or Quetta, and hence on to the Afghan border.(32). Barry Shlachter, "Inside Islamic seminaries, where the Taliban was born," The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 25, 2001. Throughout their essays, various commanders make reference to the presence of Afghan Arabs, often in ways which indicate their combat role was marginal at best. The ISI helped with the construction of training camps for both the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. "These are the same type of war crimes as were committed in Bosnia and should be prosecuted in international courts", one UN official was quoted as saying. Afghanistan: Crisis of Impunity, Human Rights Watch, July, 2001, Vol. They also said, that "[t]hese have been highly systematic and they all lead back to the [Taliban] Ministry of Defense or to Mullah Omar himself." Afghanistan's infant mortality was the highest in the world. This followed the announcement by the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee that the committee would extend a travel ban exemption until 21 March 2022 for 14 listed Taliban members to continue attending talks, along with a limited asset-freeze exemption for the financing of exempted travel. [86][8][9] It ruled approximately three-quarters of the country from 1996 to 2001, before being overthrown following the American invasion. [125], On 26 September 1996, as the Taliban prepared for another major offensive, Massoud ordered a full retreat from Kabul to continue anti-Taliban resistance in the northeastern Hindu Kush mountains instead of engaging in street battles in Kabul. On 4 April 1996, Mullah Omar had "the Cloak of the Prophet Mohammed" taken from its shrine for the first time in 60 years. When he was wounded, he got medical attention in a Pakistani hospital. The 1907 Anglo-Russian Convention that formally ended this "Great Game" finalized Afghanistan's role as a buffer between the Russian Empire's holdings in Central Asia, and the British Empire's holdings in India. 53. "(15), In 1973, Daoud overthrew his cousin Zahir Shah and declared Afghanistan a republic. Zahir Shah took the throne of Afghanistan in 1933 after the assassination of his father, Nadir Shah. Accordingly, he was not considered a Pushtun nationalist by his Pakistani benefactors (or most Afghans). The resolutions called on all states to "[increase] cooperation and full implementation of the relevant international conventions relating to terrorism" and specified consensus recommendations for all countries. [134][135][136] The historical Buddhas of Bamiyan were destroyed on Omar Mujahid's orders. Share Published: August 30, 2021, 11:27 am The Badri 313 Battalion is currently the elite military unit of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. For an optimal experience visit our . While Malkasian thinks that "oppressive" remains the best word to describe them, he points out that the Taliban managed to do what multiple governments and political players failed to: bring order and unity to the "ungovernable land". Ideas Why the Afghan Army Folded America has historically struggled to train foreign militaries. [298][299], In September 2021, the government ordered primary schools to reopen for both sexes and announced plans to reopen secondary schools for male students, without committing to do the same for female students. After several frantic months, they made it out of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and eventually . [240] The Taliban were not invited to the Bonn Agreement of December 2001, which many cite has been the cause of the Taliban's battlefield resurgence and the continuation of conflict. The Taliban seemingly arose from thin air. Teaching was one of the last few remaining professions open to women. 26.08.2021 Author: Viktor Mikhin US was the One That Ultimately Armed the Taliban It is paradoxical, but true: the billions of dollars spent by the United States on the Afghan army ultimately brought distinct benefits only to the Taliban's militants (a terrorist group that is banned in the Russian Federation). There was no running water, little electricity, few telephones, functioning roads or regular energy supplies. [250] Because of the Taliban's leadership structure, Mullah Dadullah's assassination in May 2007 did not have a significant effect, other than to damage incipient relations with Pakistan. No large Army or Marine force was employed.[217]. Pakistan, still reeling from the secession of Bangladesh, feared a return of the fierce Pushtun nationalism of Daoud's first term. [393] The UN said the Taliban were starving people for their military agenda and using humanitarian assistance as a weapon of war. Interview with Taliban spokesman Mullah Wakil in Arabic magazine, ISAF has participating forces from 39 countries, including all 26 NATO members. Despite about $89 billion budgeted for training the Afghan army, it took the Taliban little more than a month to brush it aside. Unlike Masud's men, the Taliban simply were incapable of fighting at night. Sayyaf preached a strict Salafi version of Islam critical of manifestations of both Sufism and tribalism in Afghanistan. Among the Qarabaghi tribe of Shia Hazaras, a number of fighters voluntarily joined the Taliban, due to their close relations with the nearby Taliban-supporting Sunni Pashtun population. [361] After the 2021 Taliban offensive, which led to the restoration of the Islamic Emirate, senior Taliban officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Abdus-Salam Hanafi and Foreign Minister Amir-Khan Muttaqi, have stressed the importance of unity between Shiites and Sunnis in Afghanistan and promised to protect the Shiite community. Meanwhile, in Pashto, a determiner is normally used and as a result, the group is normally referred to as per Pashto grammar: (Da Taliban) or (Da Talibano). Human Rights Watch labeled the situation in Kandahar "particularly precarious," and noted that, "civilians had little security from murder, rape, looting, or extortion. Ripe for Taliban-style revolution," The Hindu, February 24, 2000. Khalid in a special interview with TOLO News said that he has the documents that show . Zahir was not a strong leader, though. Will you also try to get rid of the sun and drop darkness over the Earth? [10], When the Taliban took power in 1996, twenty years of continuous warfare had devastated Afghanistan's infrastructure and economy. The Taliban entered Mazar-i-Sharif, capital . He added that the Taliban had come to increasingly rely on three sources of money: "poppy, the Pakistanis and bin Laden. [464][469][470][471] However, the daf, a type of frame drum, wasn't banned.[382]. Rumors spread throughout the city while I was there that 5,000 new 'Punjabis' were on their way into Afghanistan to supplement the fight against Masud. Not only could Pakistan deter Afghan expansionism by pressuring Afghanistan from within, but also a religious opposition would have broad appeal in an overwhelmingly Muslim country without the implicit territorial threat of an ethnic-nationalist opposition. by Michael Rubin Mar 1, 2002 About the Authors Michael Rubin Michael Rubin is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Hosseini was motivated to write a 25-page short story about two boys who fly kites in Kabul that he later developed into his first novel, The Kite Runner. In 1992, ethnic Tajik mujahidin forces captured Kabul and unseated the communist president. Kuperman, "The Stinger missile and U.S. intervention in Afghanistan". 6:29 6-Minute Listen Playlist Download Embed Transcript Enlarge this image Taliban fighters mobilize to control a crowd during a rally for Afghanistan's. "[496], In an economic sense it seems he had little choice, as the war of attrition continued with the Northern Alliance the income from continued opium production was all that prevented the country from starvation. The root of the Pushtunistan problem begins in 1893. The Afghan Ministry of Education cited the lack of an acceptable design for female student uniforms. [332][333] Prayer was made compulsory and those men who did not respect the religious obligation after the azaan were arrested. Other than the closure of the music department, few changes to the curriculum were reported. As Louis Dupree, the preeminent anthropologist of Afghanistan observed, "King Mohammed Zahir Shah reigned but did not rule for twenty years. Islamist commanders like Hikmaytar, upset with the U.S.-led coalition in the Persian Gulf, broke with their Saudi and Kuwait patrons and found new backers in Iran, Libya, and Iraq. "George Washington Ayub," The New Republic, October 30, 1961, p.7. [445], In August 2010, the Taliban claimed that they murdered 10 medical aid workers while they were passing through Badakhshan Province on their way from Kabul to Nuristan Province but the Afghan Islamic party/militia Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin has also claimed responsibility for those killings. "(39) Indeed, Washington's lack of engagement created a policy void in which radical elements in the ISI eagerly filled. [213][214][215], On 7 October 2001, less than one month after the 11 September attacks, the US, aided by the United Kingdom, Canada, and other countries including several from the NATO alliance, initiated military action, bombing Taliban and Al-Qaeda-related camps. On one hand, the Taliban, recognized as the government of Afghanistan by only Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, sought to break its isolation. The first attempt on Massoud's life had been carried out by Hekmatyar and two Pakistani ISI agents in 1975, when Massoud was only 22 years old. TOLO News is an Afghan news channel broadcasting from Kabul. Rather, as Red Army crack soldiers flew on Aeroflot planes into Kabul, and as Soviet tanks rolled across the Friendship Bridge from what is now Uzbekistan, a cadre for the enlargement of the Afghan mujahidin already existed. [340] Under the rule of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, bacha bazi, a form of child sexual abuse between older men and young adolescent "dancing boys", has carried the death penalty.[341][342]. [271] Further attempts to resume talks were canceled in March 2012,[272] and June 2013 following a dispute between the Afghan government and the Taliban regarding the latter's opening of a political office in Qatar. The Taliban controlled 96% of Afghanistan's poppy fields and made opium its largest source of taxation. Throughout the country millions of acres were denuded to supply timber to the Pakistani markets, with no attempt made at reforestation, which has led to significant environmental damage. The surrounding crowd got angry and a riot arose, lasting all day ending with 20 dead and 160 injured. A major component of American policy is to categorize the Muslims in Iraq with the labels of Shah and Sunn, and in Afghanistan with the labels of Pashtun, Tjk, Hazrah and Uzbek, in order to decrease the severity and strength of the popular uprisings and the accompanying armed resistance. On 22 September, the United Arab Emirates, and later Saudi Arabia, withdrew recognition of the Taliban as Afghanistan's legal government, leaving neighbouring Pakistan as the only remaining country with diplomatic ties. Pakistani mobs retaliated by sacking the Afghan consulate in Peshawar. [89], "Hazara farmers being forced from their land by ethnic Pashtuns, of raids of activists' homes, and of extrajudicial executions of former government soldiers and intelligence agents". [421][422] Those women who were accused of disobedience were publicly beaten. 54. In 2014, the amount of external support was close to $900 million. 1999 had yielded a record crop and had been followed by a lower but still large 2000 harvest. Many countries thrive on diversity. On 14 October, the Taliban offered to discuss handing over Osama bin Laden to a neutral country in return for a bombing halt, but only if the Taliban were given evidence of bin Laden's involvement. The roots of the Afghan civil war and the country's subsequent transformation into a safe-haven for the world's most destructive terror network began in the decades prior to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. [347] The US military responded by claiming the abuse was largely the responsibility of the "local Afghan government". [141] Around September 1997 the heads of three UN agencies in Kandahar were expelled from the country after protesting when a female attorney for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees was forced to talk from behind a curtain so her face would not be visible.[142]. After much discussion, they created their movement based on a platform of restoration of peace, disarmament of the population, strict enforcement of the shari'a, and defense of the "Islamic character" of Afghanistan. The Washington Institute seeks to advance a balanced and realistic understanding of American interests in the Middle East and to promote the policies that secure them. The Holy Koran cannot adjust itself to other people's requirements, people should adjust themselves to the requirements of the Holy Koran. They are just waiting. ", "Afghan president latest leader on the run to turn up in UAE", "Leaders in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley defy the Taliban and demand an inclusive government", "On Patrol: 12 Days With a Taliban Police Unit in Kabul", "Executions and Enforced Disappearances in Afghanistan under the Taliban", "Why is the world not recognizing the Taliban government? 29. The blame cannot be placed only on outside interference in Afghanistan, though, for the Afghan government has a long though often forgotten history of interfering with the ethnic minorities in surrounding countries and especially Pakistan. Seeking to recalibrate Afghanistan's neutrality, Daoud sought closer relations with the Soviet Union. The southern Pushtun warlords and bandits continued to fight each other for territory, while continuing to sell off Afghanistan's machinery, property, and even entire factories to Pakistani traders. Instead, the millions appropriated went to purchase Chinese, Warsaw Pact, and Israeli weaponry. [359], In reaction to the 2011 Afghanistan Ashura bombings, which targeted Shia Afghans in Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif, the Taliban published "Sectarian Killings; A Dangerous Enemy Conspiracy" by Taliban official Abdul-Qahhar Balkhi, in which he stated:[360], "In Afghanistan, Sunnis and Shias have co-existed for centuries. One local observer (Sayed Hamid Gailani) has argued the Taliban have not killed "a lot" of people after returning to power. The more desirable among them were selected and taken away. [187][189][190][191][192], In early 2001, Ahmad Shah Massoud with ethnic leaders from all of Afghanistan addressed the European Parliament in Brussels asking the international community to provide humanitarian help to the people of Afghanistan. Despite the oversimplifications of some in academe and opponents of the military campaign against the Taliban, the mujahidin was not simply created by the CIA in the aftermath of the Soviet invasion. [citation needed], The Taliban have also used targeted killings. Barnett Rubin explains that Soviet policy toward the Third World underwent a fundamental shift in the 1970s. [163][164], During 2001, according to several international sources, 28,00030,000 Pakistani nationals, 14,00015,000 Afghan Taliban and 2,0003,000 Al-Qaeda militants were fighting against anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan as a roughly 45,000 strong military force. The library contained a collection of over 55,000 books and old manuscripts, one of the most valuable and beautiful collections of Afghanistan's cultural works according to the Afghan people. This is different in Afghanistan, where a member or a supporter of the group is referred to as a Talib () or its plural Talib-ha (). The Kharijites were particularly noted for adopting a radical approach to takfir, whereby they declared that other Muslims were unbelievers and deemed them worthy of death.[377][378][379]. In October 2001, the United States, with allies including the Afghan Northern Alliance, invaded Afghanistan and routed the Taliban rgime. There will not be a head of state. The Washington Post stated in an editorial by John Lehman in 2006: What made the Afghan campaign a landmark in the US Military's history is that it was prosecuted by Special Operations forces from all the services, along with Navy and Air Force tactical power, operations by the Afghan Northern Alliance and the CIA were equally important and fully integrated. IAM contended that they "were not missionaries". "[131], Following the Taliban victory, a nationwide campaign was launched against influential Salafi factions suspected of past ties to the IS-KP. In the mid-2000s, there were numerous reports of bodies of slain Pakistani Taliban fighters being brought back from Afghanistan to be buried. T.H. [390][391][165][392], In 1998, the United Nations accused the Taliban of denying emergency food by the UN's World Food Programme to 160,000 hungry and starving people "for political and military reasons". [232][233][234][219][235][236][237][238][239], Pashtun tribal chief Hamid Karzai was elected as the national interim leader, and the Taliban had surrendered Kandahar following an offer of amnesty by Karzai. Merchants in the book market in central Kabul talked about seeing many Pakistanis "here for jihad."