Which group has been involved in militant campaigns and political authority in Afghanistan since the 1990s?

Which group has been involved in militant campaigns and political authority in Afghanistan since the 1990s?

• A. Taliban
• B. Al-Qaeda
• C. Doctors Without Borders
• D. World Health Organization

Answer: (A)

The Taliban is the group that fits these two roles. They rose in the 1990s, waged military campaigns to seize and expand control, and then established formal political authority in Afghanistan as the ruling entity in the mid-to-late 1990s, governing through the Islamic Emirate and running ministries, courts, and local administration. They continued to fight as an insurgent force after 2001 against the Afghan government and foreign troops, and they again became the dominant governing power in many areas after 2021. Al-Qaeda operated as a militant network with sanctuary in Afghanistan but did not run the country; Doctors Without Borders and the World Health Organization are humanitarian organizations, not political or insurgent actors.

The Taliban is the group that fits these two roles. They rose in the 1990s, waged military campaigns to seize and expand control, and then established formal political authority in Afghanistan as the ruling entity in the mid-to-late 1990s, governing through the Islamic Emirate and running ministries, courts, and local administration. They continued to fight as an insurgent force after 2001 against the Afghan government and foreign troops, and they again became the dominant governing power in many areas after 2021. Al-Qaeda operated as a militant network with sanctuary in Afghanistan but did not run the country; Doctors Without Borders and the World Health Organization are humanitarian organizations, not political or insurgent actors.