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
| 1 | |
| 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 |
The Impossible Centralisation of an AntiCentralist Movement | 237 |
Epilogue | 251 |
Figures | 259 |
Maps | 271 |
Tables | 275 |
Notes | 279 |
Index | 355 |
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Common terms and phrases
Abdul According active adviser Afghan Afghanistan Americans areas attacks August authority Baghlan Taliban Baradar became contacted Dadullah December district early efforts elder established example February fighters fighting Figure forces foreign former commander funding Ghazni Taliban governors group commander Haqqani Helmand Herat Herat Taliban insurgency intelligence Interview with cadre Interview with commander Interview with fighter Interview with former Interview with member Interview with senior Interview with Taliban Iranian January joined July June Kabul Kandahar Taliban killed leaders Logar loy mahazes major Mansur March Mashhad Military Commission Miran Shah Shura mobile Mohammad Mullah Nangarhar Taliban networks October Office operations organisation Peshawar Shura political province Quetta Shura Rahbari Shura recruitment representative senior member September 2014 Source started structure in Pakistan suicide tactics Taliban 11 Taliban cadre Taliban commanders Taliban leadership Taliban structure village Wardak Taliban weapons Zakir