Replacement of the Taliban Regime

Many Western nations were highly critical of the Taliban's disdain for human rights. After the Taliban closed all private schools for women in June, 1999, the European commission suspended financial aid to the country. In the eyes of most of the world, moreover, Burhanuddin Rabbani continued to be the nation's legitimate leader. The Taliban government, under the leadership of Supreme Leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and a council of ministers led by Mullah Mohammad Rabbani, was recognized only by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The Taliban government also began to receive criticism for its close ties to the al-Qaeda organization, a network of Islamic radicals devoted to pushing the United States and other non-Muslim powers out of the Middle East, especially out of the Muslim holy land of Saudi Arabia. Al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, had been living in Afghanistan since 1996 and the politically isolated Taliban were dependent on the financial support provided by bin Laden. On August 7, 1998, terrorists bombed U. S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The American government believed that Osama bin Laden had planned and financed these bombings and the United States maintained that bin Laden had organized terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. On August 20, 1998, U. S. ships in the Arabian sea fired missiles at suspected al-Qaeda training camps south of Kabul.

Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar appalled many people around the world in March, 2001, when he announced that immense statues of the Buddha cut in rock in Bamiyan and dating from the fourth and fifth centuries of the common era would be destroyed. Despite international outcry, explosives were used to obliterate the historical treasures.

Within Afghanistan, the Taliban appeared to be on the verge of complete victory. Ahmad Shah Masoud, leader of the opposition Northern Alliance, was killed by suicide bombers on September 9,2001, leaving the anti-Taliban forces in an even weaker position. Two days later, on September 11, terrorists hijacked passenger planes in the United States and flew the planes into the World Trade Center in New York and into the Pentagon in Washington, D. C. The U. S. government maintained that the al-Qaeda group was responsible.

After the Taliban once again refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, on October 7, American and British forces began air strikes on Taliban positions, and the Americans and British assisted a Northern Alliance offensive. By November 12, the Northern Alliance had retaken Kabul and ground forces of the Americans and the British were in the country. The al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders and fighters were believed to have fled into the mountainous region of Tora Bora on the Pakistani border. Although American aerial bombing and a coordinated ground attack by American and Northern Alliance ground forces took control of this region, Osama bin Laden and Mullah Mohammad Omar were not captured and they were believed to be still living.

With the ouster of the Taliban, the people of Afghanistan and international organizations faced the problem of establishing a

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New, stable government. On November 27, 2001, representatives from Afghanistan met in Bonn, Germany, under the direction of the United Nations to establish the framework for a new government. The Bonn Agreement, reached in December, concluded that Pashtun leader Hamid Karzai would head a six-month interim government. The agreement further established that a Loya Jirga, or traditional grand council, would be called together to elect a head of state for a transitional government in Afghanistan.

A special independent commission was established by the Bonn Agreement to oversee the election of delegates to the Loya Jirga. On March 31, 2002, the commission announced that 1,501 delegates from tribal and regional groups had been elected. The Loya Jirga was scheduled to take place from June 11 to June 16.

Among the nation's pashtuns there was some support for the election of Afghanistan's elderly ex-monarch, Zaher Shah, but ethnic Tajiks opposed the former king and on June 10, Zaher Shah announced that he would not be a candidate. The next day, Burnahuddin Rabbani, former head of government and leader of the National Alliance, announced that he would also not participate in the election. On June 13, 2002, the head of the Loya Jirga announced that Hamid Karzai, already in charge of the nation's administration, had been elected president with 1,295 votes.

Although many had high hopes for the future under Karzai, the nation continued to be unstable and deeply troubled. Some Afghans believed that Karzai owed his election to American influence. Internal conflict continued to result in repeated acts of violence, such as the July 6, 2002, assassination of Afghan vice president Abdul Qadir. On September 5, 2002, two assassins attempted to kill Hamid Karzai, who was saved by the U. S. special forces troops guarding him.

Although the Taliban had been defeated, many of its leaders and fighters were still operating across the border in Pakistan or in remote parts of the country. Warlords were in effective control of many regions and distrust among different ethnic groups posed serious problems for the nation. Afghanistan's war-torn, primarily agricultural economy was weak and the country was heavily dependent on foreign aid.

Karan A. Berryman Updated by the Editors