The document provides background information on the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan. It discusses how the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979 to establish communism, which led the US to help the Afghan mujahideen resistance with weapons during the Cold War. After the Soviets withdrew in 1989, a civil war broke out. The Taliban gained control in 1994 and took over Kabul in 1996, establishing a strict interpretation of Sharia law that oppressed women and banned things like music. They provided safe haven for Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. After 9/11, the US invaded and removed the Taliban from power for sheltering Al-Qaeda.

1. Who Are
the
Taliban?

2. Before the
Taliban
The rise of
the Taliban
started in
1979 when
troops from
the Soviet
Union, an
area that
consisted of
Russia and
15 other
countries,
invaded
Afghanistan
to attempt to
set up
communism.

3. Communism Communism is
something that
we will talk a lot
more about later
this year.
In short, it is an
economic system
where everyone
gets paid the
same amount of
money
regardless of
what jobs they
have.
A doctor gets
paid the same as
a street sweeper.

4. The Strong
Soviets
Over 100,000
soviet troops
were sent in to
control the
cities and
towns.
The people
and army of
Afghanistan
did not have
the
appropriate
means for
defeating the
Soviet Union
without some
help.

5. Help Comes
The help came
in the form of
the United
States.
The United
States did not
actually come
to fight the
Soviets, they
provided the
Afghani
soldiers, the
Mujahideen,
with weapons,
especially Anti-
Aircraft
weapons.

6. United States Helps Afghanistan

7. Cold War
The reason the
United States
helped
Afghanistan was
because the U.S.
and the Soviet
Union were
enemies and
were involved in
the Cold War.
This was a long
on-going political
and military
tension between
the two countries.

8. The Cold War

9. Soviets Leave
Afghanistan With the
help of the
U.S.
weapons,
the Soviets
withdrew
their forces
on
February
15, 1989
after nine
years of
Soviet
occupation

10. An End to the War

11. Civil War
After the Soviets left,
the Mujahideen set up a
new government.
However, a civil war
broke out between
many of the different
political and military
groups of the country.
The Taliban, religious
scholars, made their
move to power in 1994
Page 13 “After the
Soviets left, the people
who had been shooting
at the Soviets decide
they wanted to keep
shooting at something,
so they shot at each

12. The Taliban
Take Charge
The Taliban
continued to
get stronger
and stronger
and in 1996,
captured
Afghanistan’s
capital city,
Kabul.
The Taliban
had success
in eliminating
corruption,
fixing the
economy, and
restoring
peace.

13. Very Strict
Government
The Taliban
however brought
this about through
a very strict
interpretation of
the Sharia, Islamic
Law.
Public executions
and punishments
became regular
events.
Television, music,
and the Internet
were all banned
and all men were
ordered to grow
beards.

14. Omar’s Rules

15. Women and
the Taliban
Most shocking to the west
was the Taliban’s treatment
of women.
 Women were not allowed
to go to school.
 Women were not allowed
to work outside of the
house.
 Women were prohibited
from leaving the house
without a male relative as
a chaperone. This is
known as Purdah (the
practice of keeping
women secluded so that
they can’t be see by
men.
 Women were not allowed
to go into shops.
Page 44: “Mother hadn’t
been out of the house since
the Taliban had taken over
Kabul a year and a half
before.”

16. Punishment
Women who
disobeyed would
be beaten or killed.
A women caught
wearing fingernail
polish would have
her fingers
chopped off!
The Taliban said
that this was all to
safeguard the
honor of women.

17. Women and the Taliban

18. Poor
Conditions
Although the
Taliban
managed to
reunite most of
Afghanistan,
they could not
completely end
the civil war and
the conditions
worsened. All of
the following
things were very
scarce and hard
to come by.
 Food
 Water
 Jobs

19. Hiding
Terrorists
The Taliban allowed
terrorist organizations
to run training camps
within Afghanistan.
They allowed Osama
bin Laden and his Al-
Qaeda organization to
be very close to the
Taliban.
Bin Laden supported a
global jihad (holy war)
and spoke out in favor
of attacks against the
United States and its
allies.
After September 11,
2001 the United States
invaded the country
and dismantled the
Taliban.

20. The Taliban Defeated

21. Important
pieces of
Social Studies
information
about The
Breadwinner
by Deborah
Ellis

22. Women wear different kinds of robes. Here are a few that you will
hear about in The Breadwinner.

23. Land Mines
Page 109:
“‘Kabul has more
land mines than
flowers,’ her
father used to
say. ‘Land mines
are as common
as rocks and can
blow you up
without
warning’…All she
could remember
was that some
were disguised
as toys- special
mines to blow up
children.”

24. A victim of a
landmine
explosion in
Afghanistan

25. Public Beatings
and Punishments
Page 120-121: “Several
men were brought in with
their hands tied behind their
backs. A heavy looking
table was carried out by two
soldiers… Several soldiers
held them down, his hands
stretched out across the
table-top… All of a sudden
one of the soldiers took out
a sword, raised it above his
head and brought it down
on the man’s arm… ‘These
men are thieves,’ the
soldiers called out to the
crowd. ‘See how we punish
thieves? We cut off their
hands!”

26. Arranged Marriages
Page 158: “‘My
grandfather has
started to look for a
husband for me,’
Shauzia replied. ‘I
overheard him
talking to my
grandmother, He
said I should get
married soon, that
since I’m so
young, I’ll fetch a
good bride-price,
and they will have
lots of money to
live on.’”

27. Taliban Cruelty
Page 151: “The
Taliban has
captured Mazar,…
They came to my
house. They came
right inside! They
grabbed my father
and my brother
and took them
outside. They shot
them right in the
street. My mother
started hitting
them and they
shot her, too..
There were bodies
all over the street.”

28. Afghanistan 20th
-21st
Century Time line Assignment
Students will construct a timeline on the given 11x17 paper which highlights important
events in Afghanistan’s recent history (1950-Present) in chronological order on the
timeline. Students must include at least 8 different events on their timeline from
Afghanistan’s history and must use fairly accurate spacing to show the period of time
between their selected events. Students should neatly construct the timeline on the
paper given, and must have at least two sentences of information for each of the 8
different events in Afghanistan’s history. Students must also draw and color a small
picture for each of the 8 events. You must use TWO sources to explain where you
received your information, so please remember our rules on plagiarism!!! You must give
me all of the information for your sources on the attached Source tracker. If you do not
turn in your source tracker, 20 points will be subtracted from your final score.
1950
Present
Day