Al Jazeera visualises Afghanistan – a mostly mountainous country of 38 million people – which has suffered decades of war. Over the past few days, the Taliban has taken 26 of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals. The armed group now controls an estimated 65 percent of the country’s territory, as the …

The billions spent by the US and NATO on the Afghan military could not fix major internal flaws. On August 15, the Taliban captured the Afghan capital Kabul and declared the war in Afghanistan over. The lightning speed with which the group made major territorial gains as the Afghan National …

Six important figures lead the Taliban movement, which has been fighting the Western-backed government since 2001. The Taliban has been fighting the Western-backed Afghan government in Kabul since it was removed from power in 2001. It originally drew members from so-called “mujahideen” fighters who, with support from the United States, …