Update on Extremism in Afghanistan

Extremism and Counter-Extremism in Afghanistan CEP today released a new report examining Afghanistan’s tumultuous history and current challenges from violent extremists like ISIS and the Taliban, who have stepped up the pace and lethality of their attacks against both civilians and the government. The report details the origins of al-Qaeda and the Taliban to the Soviet invasion and Afghan civil war in the 1980s and early 1990s, which brought thousands of Islamic fighters into the country, including al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, and led to the Taliban seizing control of the country in 1996. For the first time since their ouster in 2001, the Taliban in 2015 captured a major Afghan city--the northern provincial capital of Kunduz--while in the same year, violent extremist group attacks resulted in 3,500 civilian deaths and 7,500 injuries, a record according to the United Nations.