The Taliban is a predominanthly Pashtun, Islamic fundamentalist group that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, when a U.S.-led invasion toppled the regime for providing refuge to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. The Taliban regrouped across the border in Pakistan, where its central leadership, headed by mullah Mohammed Omar, leads an insurgency against the Western-backed government in abul. Both the United States and Afghanistan have pursued a negotiated ...
