The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was an Islamic state ruled by the Taliban which governed Afghanistan through strict sharia law from 1996 to 2001 and from 2021, with the capital being located at Kabul and the spiritual center at Kandahar. The emirate was announced after the Taliban entered Kabul, dissolving Burhanuddin Rabbani's Emirate of Afghanistan and establishing a sectarian Pashtun-ruled state. Shi'ites and minority ethnic groups were persecuted, and religious shrines such as the Bamiyan Buddhas were destroyed by the Taliban.
The Taliban controlled 90% of the country with assistance from 40,000 Pakistani troops, and the Taliban was known for its cruelty towards women as well as its support for foreign terrorist groups. al-Qaeda rented out Afghanistan for $2,000,000 each year during the 1990s, allowing for them to establish training camps such as Khalden, Kandahar Airport, and al-Farouq that processed several fighters to join the jihad; the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan was also based in Afghanistan under the emirate. In 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan in response to Mullah Mohammed Omar's refusal to hand over al-Qaeda leaders after the 11 September 2001 9/11 attacks, and the USA helped the Northern Alliance in seizing power from the Taliban, ending the emirate and leading to the formation of an Islamic republic led by Hamid Karzai in 2004. The Taliban leaders escaped to Pakistan, however, and in 2002 they began a renewed offensive funded by opium sales. The Taliban insurgency escalated into a blitzkrieg offensive in 2021 as the US-led coalition finally withdrew from the country, and Kabul's fall to the Taliban on 15 August 2021 led to the re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate a day later.
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