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Talib an The Taliban’s meteoric rise from humble origins in the city of Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 1994 is legendary in the annals of Islamism. Starting with only a few dozen men, Mullah Mohammed Omar’s movement, composed of madrassa (Islamic theology school) students, soon spread and seized control of most of Afghanistan within two years. Once in power, the Taliban brought a semblance of order to the war-ravaged country and implemented an austere program of puritanical Islam. Putting into practice a strict interpretation of sharia (Islamic law) endeared the Taliban with the most radical elements of the Salafi movement (a strand of Islam that seeks to emulate the generation of Muslims that lived during the life of the Prophet Muhammad), most notably Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, who found Afghanistan-a landlocked country beyond the long arm of international law-a congenial sanctuary and base from which to launch a global jihad (holy war). The Taliban’s alliance with al-Qaeda ultimately exposed Afghanistan to a fi erce U.S. military response that nearly destroyed the movement. The Taliban has been resilient, however, revitalizing its military campaign and reemerging as a major threat to the government.