The Taliban

Kabul, Afghanistan

Untitled By early 1996, the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross warn of imminent starvation and the flight of hundreds of thousands of people from Kabul, which suffers under continued rocket attacks by the Taliban. Apparently, the Pakistani government belatedly realizes that it can no longer control the Taliban and has alienated Iran, an important neighbor with whom Pakistan, for both international and domestic reasons, seeks and needs good relations. Pakistan's Shi'a population, which constitutes perhaps a quarter of the population, both regards Shi'ite Iran as a kind of spiritual homeland and has formed a significant support base of Prime Minister Bhutto and the Pakistan People's Party.

by Jeff Moran