The Taliban at War: 2001-2018How does the Taliban wage war? How has its war changed over time? Firstly, the movement's extraordinary military operation relies on financial backing. This volume analyses such funding. The Taliban's external sources of support include foreign governments and non-state groups, both of which have affected the Taliban's military campaigns and internal politics. Secondly, this is the first full-length study of the Taliban to acknowledge and discuss in detail the movement's polycentric character. Here not only the Quetta Shura, but also the Haqqani Network and the Taliban's other centers of power, are afforded the attention they deserve. The Taliban at War is based on extensive field research, including hundreds of interviews with Taliban members at all levels of the organization, community elders in Taliban-controlled areas, and other sources. It covers the Taliban insurgency from its first manifestations in 2002 up to the end of 2015. The five-month Battle of Kunduz epitomized the ongoing transition of the Taliban from an insurgent group to a more conventional military force, intent on fighting a protracted civil war. In this latest book, renowned Afghanistan expert Antonio Giustozzi rounds off his twenty years of studying the Taliban with an authoritative study detailing the evolution of its formidable military machine. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
1 The Collapse of the Emirate and the Early Regrouping 20024 | 17 |
2 The Apogeum of the Quetta Shura 20059 | 43 |
3 The Emergence of Alternative Centres of Power to Quetta | 77 |
4 The Crisis of the Quetta Shura 200913 | 109 |
5 The Talibans Tactical Adaptation | 133 |
6 Organisational Adaptation | 159 |
7 The Troubled Comeback of the Quetta Shura 2014 | 197 |
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Common terms and phrases
Abdul Afghan Afghanistan Akhtar Mohammad Mansur April August Baghlan elder Baghlan Taliban Baradar Mahaz Bati Kot Dadullah Mahaz Dandi Ghori December dilghays district Faryab Faryab Taliban February fighting former commander former Taliban funding Ghazni Taliban governors group commander Haqqani network Helmand Herat Taliban insurgency Interview with Baghlan Interview with cadre Interview with commander Interview with fighter Interview with former Interview with group Interview with member Interview with senior Interview with Taliban Iranian ISAF January jihad July Jundullah Kabul Kandahar province Kandahar Taliban Kunduz layha Logar loy mahazes madrasas Mansur Mahaz March Mashhad Mashhad Office Maywand member of Peshawar Miran Shah Shura Mullah Nangarhar Taliban organisation Paktia Panjwai Pashtun Peshawar Military Commission Peshawar Shura province Qari Quetta Shura Rahbari Shura senior member September 2014 Leadership Shindand Spin Boldak structure in Pakistan suicide bombing tactics Taliban 11 Taliban cadre Taliban commanders Taliban leadership Taliban sources Taliban structure Toor-e Pagri Wardak Taliban Zherai