<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The Taliban (Pashto: طالبان ‎ ṭālibān "students"), alternatively spelled Taleban, which refers to itself as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), is a Sunni Islamic fundamentalist political movement in Afghanistan currently waging war (an insurgency, or jihad) within that country . Since 2016, the Taliban's leader is Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada . </P> <P> From 1996 to 2001, the Taliban held power over roughly three quarters of Afghanistan, and enforced there a strict interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law . The Taliban emerged in 1994 as one of the prominent factions in the Afghan Civil War, and largely consisted of students recently trained in madrassas in Pakistan . Under the leadership of Mohammed Omar, the movement spread throughout most of Afghanistan, sequestering power from the Mujahideen warlords . The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was established in 1996 and the Afghan capital transferred to Kandahar . It held control of most of the country until being overthrown by the American - led invasion of Afghanistan in December 2001 following the September 11 attacks . At its peak, formal diplomatic recognition of the Taliban's government was acknowledged by only three nations: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates . The group later regrouped as an insurgency movement to fight the American - backed Karzai administration and the NATO - led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). </P> <P> The Taliban have been condemned internationally for the harsh enforcement of their interpretation of Islamic Sharia law, which has resulted in the brutal treatment of many Afghans, especially women . During their rule from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban and their allies committed massacres against Afghan civilians, denied UN food supplies to 160,000 starving civilians and conducted a policy of scorched earth, burning vast areas of fertile land and destroying tens of thousands of homes . According to the United Nations, the Taliban and their allies were responsible for 76% of Afghan civilian casualties in 2010, 80% in 2011, and 80% in 2012 . </P>

The taliban emerged at least in part out of which of the following