#7 1997 article
http://www.d-n-i.net/fcs/soldiers_of_islam.htm
Creation of the Taliban
They emerged from anonymity in 1993 and in the span of four years have radically changed the complexion of the Afghan civil war by becoming the notable political elite. Essentially, the Taliban grew out of the turf battle between the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Interior Ministry in Islamabad during Benazir Bhutto's second term. The Establishment had resisted their creation and reportedly criticised Benazir Bhutto for the use of the Taliban for their November 1994 operation in rescuing the trade caravan on its way to Central Asia that had been captured by the local warlord of Kandahar. The ISI which had run the Afghan operations with complete autonomy since the late 1970s, was averse to the Taliban because they had continued to pin faith on the Hizb-i-Islami under Hikmatyar to dislodge the Rabbani government. More importantly, the ISI viewed the Taliban as yet another Benazir Bhutto ploy to reduce its role in Afghan affairs. But Maj. Gen.(Retd) Nasrullah Babar who had assumed a mandate from the Bhutto government to attempt a parallel track, which offered the possibility of opening new options in Afghanistan, relentlessly pursued the Talib option, which initially led to the weakening of the hold of the ISI on the conduct of Islamabad's Afghan policy. Eventually, the remarkable success of the Taliban forced the ISI to co-opt itself into training and guiding the Taliban ranks. Despite persistent denials by the Benazir Bhutto government, there is little doubt that the Taliban have been created, trained and equipped by the ISI and Interior Ministry special forces. According to some estimates, the Taliban require $70 million on a monthly basis to keep the militia in functional order and a 'major part of this money is provided from across the Afghan-Pak border. Recent purchases by the Taliban of tanks, artillery pieces and armoured personnel carriers ( APC ) have come from illegal tax checkpoints that have been raised along the trade routes linking Pakistan to the Central Asian Republics. The Taliban have become a more cohesive force, stocked with adequate weapons, including an Air Force, as a result of the ISI's vigorous assistance. There have also been reports that Pakistani Army personnel are already present in Taliban ranks, taking part in operational and tactical missions. Today the Taliban are over 50,000 strong, with 300 tanks, APCs and a squadron of MiG aircraft.1 |
Osama Bin Laden, an Afghanistan-based American journalist and writer believes, "went out through Iran and is probably in Saudi Arabia or Sudan or somewhere like that". He left moving westwards, not eastwards, she said.