Afghanistan is a land-locked, arid country that shares borders with China, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It is often referred to as the 'crossroads of Cental Asia.' Afghanistan is a poor country with a very turbulent history. Khaled Hosseini 'wanted to write about Afghanistan before the Soviet war because that is largely a forgotten period in modern Afghan history. For many people in the west, Afghanistan is synonymous with the Soviet war and the Taliban.' I have put some information about Afghanistan's recent history below.
In April 1978 Afghan President Daoud was murdered when there was a communist coup. The communist government removed the constitution and banned all Islamic rites and traditions. The Communist government then launched what they called an intensive modernisation programme. Resistance to this began and the country was plunged into civil war. In December 1979, Soviet military units marched into the country believing that they could quickly stop the unrest in the country. This move was not looked on favourably by the West and they wanted to ensure that the Soviets did not extend their sphere of influence. They financed the resistance armies known as Mujaheddin. The war in Afghanistan lasted ten years, at the end of which the USSR withdrew and left.
A civil war continued between the Afghan communist government and the Mujaheddin. The government was eventually overthrown by the Mujaheddin which were mainly non-Pashtun factions who joined forces and formed the Northern Alliance. In September 1996 the Taliban, mainly Pashtun from the South, took Kabul from the Northern Alliance.

The Taliban



The Taliban emerged in 1995 in response to the anarchy that arose after the withdrawal of Soviet forces. The name 'Taliban' means 'those who study the book.' They were thought to come from Sunni Muslim Pashtun students, intellectuals and mujaheddin. They were trained in Koranic schools in Pakistan and recruits were found in the refugee camps on the Pakistani border. The Taliban is committed to fundamentalism, to implementing Sharia law and preaches basic Koranic values. When they took Kabul, strict Islamic law was immediately imposed, girls’ schools were closed and women ordered to stop working. On Radio Sharia in September 1996 they gave out decrees outlying the prohibitions of the Taliban which included female exposure, playing music, shaving, kite-fighting, gambling, dancing at weddings, playing drums and having Western hairstyles.
In 1997 the Taliban failed to capture the north of the country and anti-Taliban counterattacks on Kabul intensified. A civil war between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance continued, but by the end of that year the Taliban controlled 90% of the country. When they captured Mazar-i-Shariff they killed 4000 Shi’a Hazaras at Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998. In 2001 Taliban officials severely enforced dress codes for women and imposed regulations which forced men to wear beards. The Taliban also virtually eliminated the huge production of opium in Afghanistan. The Taliban forces also destroyed unique historical statues, including the world’s largest standing Buddha in Bamiyan because they had been decreed idolatrous by Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.