Afghan Taliban

Taliban طالبان (Pashto)
Participant in the War in Afghanistan and the War on Terror
Flag of the Taliban
Active	1994–1996 (militia) 1996–2001 (government) 2002–present (insurgency)
Ideology	Deobandi fundamentalism Pashtunwali Religious nationalism
Groups	Primarily Pashtuns;Tajiks, Uzbeks and Turkmens
Leaders	Mohammed Omar (Founder, 1994–2013) Mullah Akhtar Mansour (2015–2016) Hibatullah Akhundzada (current leader, 2016–present) Mullah Muhammad Rasul (splinter faction, 2015–present)
Headquarters	Kandahar, Afghanistan (1996–2001)* Quetta, Pakistan* Peshawar, Pakistan
Area of operations	Under control of the Afghan Government, NATO, and Allies   Under control of the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and Allies   Under control of the Islamic State (ISIL) and Allies
Size	45,000 (2001 est.) 11,000 (2008 est.) 36,000 (2010 est.) 60,000 (2014 est.)
Originated as	Students of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam
Allies	State allies  Qatar (alleged)  Pakistan  Russia (alleged) since 2014 Non-state allies Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan Haqqani network al-Qaeda Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi Caucasus Emirate Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin (until 2016) Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (anti-ISIL faction)
Opponents	State opponents Islamic Republic of Afghanistan NATO ISAF Non-state opponents Khorasan Province Jamiat-e Islami Junbish-i-Milli Hezbe Wahdat
Battles and wars	Afghan Civil War (1992–96) Afghan Civil War (1996–2001) War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
Website	shahamat-english.com

State allies

Non-state allies

State opponents
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
NATO
ISAF

The Taliban (Pashto: طالبان‬‎ ṭālibān "students"), alternatively spelled Taleban, which refers to itself as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), have been described as a movement of religious students (talib) from the Pashtun areas of eastern and southern Afghanistan who had been educated in traditional Islamic schools in Pakistan, and as a Sunni Islamic fundamentalist political movement in Afghanistan currently waging war (an insurgency, or jihad) within that country. Since 2016, the Taliban's leader is Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada.