Witness History
Witness History
The rise of the Taliban
Up next
September 27, 2021
10 minutes
Available for over a year
The Taliban first started to gather support in the south of Afghanistan in the early 1990s. By September 27th 1996 they had taken control of the country's capital Kabul. Journalist and writer Ahmed Rashid watched their rise, from the religious schools in refugee camps on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, to their ultimate victory over the American-led coalition forces. He's been speaking to Zak Brophy.
Photo:Taliban fighters on the back of a vehicle in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 2021. Credit: EPA/STRINGER