What message are the Taliban trying to send to the world?
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(CNN Spanish) -
The return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan, 20 years after being overthrown after the US invasion in October 2001, has generated a wave of concern and uncertainty in the world.
Founded in 1994 by the veteran Muhammad Muhammad Mohammed Omar, the Taliban are a Sunni Islamist organization operating primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan, mostly made up of members of the Pashtun ethnic group.
Afghanistan under the Taliban: again a sanctuary for al Qaeda?
In 1996 they seized power in Afghanistan and imposed their strict interpretation of Islamic law - or sharia -, which included heavy restrictions on women, within the framework of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
They also established links with Osama bin Laden, then al Qaeda leader and mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.
They were overthrown in 2001 by a coalition made up of the United States, other NATO member countries, and local tribes of the Northern Alliance, but have now again established dominance over most of the territory, including major cities, after the start of the withdrawal of American troops.
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The following is a list of some of the main extremist Islamist groups in the world, which like the Taliban seek to impose their interpretation of Islamic law in different countries, based on information from the Rand corporation, the Center for International Security and the Cooperation from Stanford University (CISAC), the Tony Blair Institute for Social Change, the Office of the US National Director of Intelligence, the Council of Foreign Relations, the UN and the Wilson Center.
Some of these groups are also considered terrorists by various governments, including the United States.
Algeria
-Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb: it
emerged in 1998 as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, during the civil war in Algeria, and in 2006 it formally affiliated with Al Qaeda and changed its name, according to CISAC.
It is one of the richest Islamist organizations, whose fortune is based on drug, arms and human trafficking in the region, as well as extortionate kidnapping.
Afghanistan
-Taliban
-Red Haqqani: it
is a powerful family clan, loyal to the Taliban, that operates in northern Afghanistan.
-ISIS Greater Khorasan:
affiliate of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in Afghanistan, also known as ISIS-K.
-Lashkar-e-Toiba:
formed in the early 1990s, it maintains its focus on the Kashmir region and its bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and has launched numerous attacks on India.
-Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent:
this al Qaeda affiliate operates since 2014 based in the Afghan provinces of Helmand and Nimruz, and carrying out actions in India and Bangladesh.
ISIS-K: the terrorist group that keeps the US on alert 1:47
Bangladesh
-Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh:
began operations in the early 2000s, carrying out attacks against religious minorities, and maintains ties with ISIS, according to the Tony Blair Institute.
-Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent
Benin
-Boko Haram:
Formed in the 1990s with headquarters in Nigeria, Boko Haram seeks to impose a regime based on Islamic law in several West African countries, according to the office of the National Director of Intelligence of the United States.
Since 2013 it is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, and in 2015 the group joined ISIS.
Cameroon
-Boko Haram
Chad
-Boko Haram
China
-Islamic Party of Turkestan:
formed in the late 1990s as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, it is based in the federal tribal areas of Pakistan and seeks to establish a caliphate in Uzbekistan and the regions of the so-called "Turkestan", a region between the Caspian Sea and the Chinese Autonomous Territory of Xinjiang.
Taliban fighters in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, after taking power.
Egypt
-Hasam Movement:
The Harakat Sawa'd Misr group, known as the Hasam Movement, was formed in 2015 and has been responsible for numerous attacks in Egypt.
It was designated as a terrorist organization in 2021.
-Shura Council of the Mujahideen in the Jerusalem Surroundings
: Founded in 2012, it was designated a terrorist by the US in 2014 and operates in the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
-Al Gama'a al Islamiyya:
Created in the 1970s, it was one of the largest extremist organizations in Egypt and designated a terrorist by the US in 1997.
Philippines
-Abu Sayyaf / ISIS:
formed in the early 1990s as an Islamist separatist group, promotes the formation of an Islamic state in Mindanao and Sulu, Philippines.
Loop
-Hamas: it
was formed in 1987 during the first Palestinian intifada, with bases in the Egyptian organization Muslim Brothers.
Since 2006, he has governed the Gaza Strip and has ongoing conflicts with Israel.
-Palestinian Islamic Jihad:
formed in 1979 in Egypt by Palestinian students, it seeks to establish an Islamic state in Palestine and destroy Israel.
US warns about risk of violence around 9/11 0:47
Indonesia
-Mujahideen of East Indonesia:
this group, operating in Java and Sulawesi, maintains ties with ISIS and began its actions in 2012.
-Jemaah Islamiya:
formed in the 1990s with the intention of imposing an Islamic state in Southeast Asia, its first attacks occurred in 1999.
India
-Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent:
-Lashkar-e-Toiba
Iran
-Jundallah:
Created in 2003, the group operates in Sistan and Baluchistan province, in Iran, and was classified as a terrorist organization by the US State Department in 2010. It regularly clashes with the armed forces of Iran.
Iraq
-ISIS:
the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria emerged in the early 2000s with the intention of founding an Islamic caliphate in these territories, which it achieved in 2014, before being expelled in 2019.
-Al Qaeda:
Osama bin Laden created the group in 1988 with fighters who had participated in the fight against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
They seek to create a caliphate throughout the Islamic world and have staged numerous high-profile terrorist attacks, including the one on September 11, 2001. With numerous affiliates around the world, al Qaeda has also participated in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.
A member of an ISIS affiliate in Iraq displays the group's flag (AFP / Getty Images).
Kenya
-Al Shabbaab:
considered a terrorist organization by the US since 2008, al Shabbaab came to control large portions of Somalia in 2006 and then began to carry out attacks in Kenya as well.
Lebanon
-Hezbollah: It
was formed as an extremist group in 1982 during Israel's invasion of Lebanon, and promotes Shiite Islam on its political platform.
Since 1992, he has participated in the Lebanese government.
In recent years it has extended its influence in Syria, mired in a civil war.
Libya
-Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
-Ansar al Sharia:
formed after the civil war of 2011 that overthrew Muammar el-Qaddafi, tries to implement Islamic law -the sharia-.
Mali
-Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
-Boko Haram
Boko Haram claimed responsibility for kidnapping school children in Nigeria 3:28
Mauritania
-Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
Nigeria
-Boko Haram
Niger
-Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
-Boko Haram
Pakistan
-Tehrik-i-Taliban:
alliance of militant networks loyal to the Taliban and operating in Pakistan.
-Lashkar-e-Toiba
Members of the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an affiliate of Al Qaeda in Syria, celebrate the arrival of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan on August 20, 2021.
(Credit: OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP via Getty Images)
Russia
-Imam Shamil Battalion:
Founded in 2017, the group is a suspected al-Qaeda ally in the Caucasus.
-ISIS of the Caucasus:
affiliate of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in the Caucasus region.
Somalia
-Al Shabbaab
Syria
-Imam Bukhari Jamaat:
designated a terrorist organization in 2018 by the United States Department of State.
-ISIS
-Hay'at Tahrir al Sham (al Qaeda):
formerly known as Frente al Nusra, it is an extremist group created in 2011 that has participated extensively in the civil war in Syria and maintains ties with al Qaeda.
Tunisia
-Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
Uzbekistan
-Islamic Party of Turkestan (former Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan)
Yemen
-ISIS-Yemen:
affiliate of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in Yemen.
-Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula:
emerged in 2009 after the union of different Yemeni and Saudi extremist groups, under the umbrella of al Qaeda.
Following the outbreak of civil war in Yemen in 2015, the group has been fighting both the Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government.
extremism
