The Difference Between the Taliban, Al-Qaida and the Mujahideen

Every day we hear news reports coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan. We hear names like the Taliban, al-Qaida and the Mujahideen. Sometimes it's easy to confuse these groups. The three groups have different origins all though they may share some of the same goals. The origins of all three can be traced back to the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980's.

The Soviets withdrew the last of their troops in February of 1989. Following the Soviet withdrawal a destructive civil war broke out as Afghan Mujahideen warlords competed for political control of Afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands of Afghan children were left orphaned and homeless because of the fighting. These children sought safety in the refugee camps across the border in Pakistan. These children were educated in Pakistan's religious schools called mandrassas. These schools were financed by the governments of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The goal of these schools was to develop a corps of militant minded Islamists.

The Afghan people were desperately looking for a group that could put an end to the devastating civil war. The Taliban was formed primarily from students at the madrassas. The name Taliban came from the word "talib" for student. They chose this name to distance themselves from the Mujahideen whose name stems from the word "mullah" for knowledge giver. The original goals of the Taliban were to restore peace, disarm the population and enforce Sharia law.

The Taliban chose Mohammed Omar as their leader in Afghanistan. Omar had fought against the Soviets and had been wounded four times. Omar ordered a group of Taliban militants to attack a warlord who had abducted and raped two teenage girls. According to the story the Taliban freed the girls and hung the commander in public.

The Taliban rose to power in 1994 and established a brutal totalitarian regime. The Taliban waged a genocidal war against the Afghan Hazara population. The Taliban enforced their own interpretation of strict Sharia law.
Al-Qaida is an international terrorist organization created by Osama bin Laden sometime in 1988. Since 1988 al-Qaida has recruited, trained and financed thousands of fighters from dozens of countries worldwide. The al-Qaida organization relies on centralized planning and decentralized execution of its terrorist operations. Al-Qaida tactics include assassinations, kidnapping and bombings. Simultaneous bombings of several different targets and suicide bombing are favored tactics.

Osama bin Laden used the thousands of fighters he recruited in 1988 to fight against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan. After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan bin Laden expanded his "jihad" or holy war. The goals of al-Qaida's jihad are to establish the rule of God on Earth, to cleanse Islam of depravity and to become martyrs to the cause. In 1998 al Qaida issued a statement claiming it was the duty of all Muslims to kill U.S. citizens including civilians.

The Mujahideen were loosely associated groups of fighters that fought against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan. A mujahid is a "struggler" or "freedom fighter. In the late 1970's the Mujahideen fought against the pro Soviet, Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. After the Soviet troops left in 1989 the Mujahideen fought each other for control of Afghanistan in the Afghan Civil War. The seven main Mujahideen groups later joined together to form the Islamic Unity of Afghanistan Mujahideen.

The Mujahideen were financed and armed by the United States Central Intelligence Agency during the Carter and Reagan administrations. The CIA provided billions of dollars in arms to the Mujahideen to aid them in their fight against the Soviets.

The Taliban, Al-Qaida and the Mujahideen all have their origins in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the subsequent Afghan Civil War.

Sources and References

middleeast.about.com

wikipedia.org