This week the international troops have definitely left Afghanistan, so that the almost 40 million inhabitants of the country have been left in the hands of the Taliban, who have returned to power after almost 20 years of war. The talians have an extreme and strict interpretation of sharia, Islamic law, and women are the most affected population group with rules such as the prohibition to leave the house if they are not accompanied by their “guardian” or the inability to study. In addition to the Taliban, the Islamic State and Al Qaeda are also on the scene. But what is the difference between them?
International experts fear a possible “new era” of jihadism in Central Asia and the Middle East . It is true that both the Islamic State and Al Qaeda have lost steam in recent years, but they remain active and could now grow stronger.
Last week, a suicide bombing took place at the Kabul airport , killing nearly 100 people. ISIS-K, a branch of the Islamic State, was the terrorist group that claimed responsibility for the explosions.
History
Both the Taliban and Al Qaeda emerged in the late 1980s as resistance against Soviet investment . The Islamic State was born later, during the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.
Osama Bin Laden was the one who created Al Qaeda, which translated into Spanish means “the network” or “the base .” When the Soviets were defeated, students and young Gerreros of the Pashtun ethnic group, known as Taliban, became increasingly popular.
Many Afghans supported them, and by 1996 they had practically the entire country in their power. By then, Al Qaeda had become a global jihadist organization that was welcomed by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
In 2006, Al Qaeda joined other extremist groups and took the name of the Islamic State of Iraq. In 2011, when the Islamic State came to Syria and seized more and more power, it called itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant . From this moment on, he distanced himself from Al Qaeda.
Both the Taliban and the Islamic State and Al Qaeda have an extremist view of Islam and all three practice the Sunni branch . They are firmly convinced that social, religious and political life must go hand in hand and they believe that if violence is exercised in the name of faith, it is justified.
