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This is Steve Emberwith the VOA Special English Program IN THE NEWS.
Afghanistan is one of the world's least developed countries. Ithas been the hiding place of suspected terrorist leader, Osama binLaden.
About twenty-seven-million people live in the south Asiancountry. They come from as many as twenty different ethnic groups.The two largest groups are the Pashtun and Tajik who make up morethan sixty percent of the population.
Most Pashtuns live in the southeastern part of the country.Tajiks are mainly in central and northeastern Afghanistan. The twogroups speak the two official languages of the country, Pashtu andDari.
Ninety-nine percent of Afghans are Muslim. Islam came toAfghanistan when Arab armies invaded more thanone-thousand-three-hundred years ago. Mongols, Persians and Indiansinvaded Afghanistan at different times over the next several hundredyears.
In the middle Seventeen-Hundreds, Afghan tribes united. Theyruled until the British invaded in Eighteen-Thirty-Nine. A series ofwars between Britain and Afghans followed. Afghanistan won completeindependence in Nineteen-Nineteen and created a constitution.
The former Soviet Union began occupying Afghanistan inNineteen-Seventy-Nine. Afghans considered the Communist ideasopposed to Islam. They started a jihad, a holy struggle or holy war,against the Soviet Union. The United States and several othercountries helped train and finance Afghan fighters, calledmujaheddin. The Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan inNineteen-Eighty-Nine.
The communist government fell in Nineteen-Ninety-Two. In thatyear, the Mujahedin groups seized power. Ethnic Tajik BurhanuddinRabbani became the new president. A period of lawlessness anddisorder followed in Afghanistan until Nineteen-Ninety-Six. At thattime, a group of mostly Pashtun fighters, known as the Taleban,seized power.
Taleban is a word meaning "students." Some Taleban members weretrained in Islamic religious schools in Pakistan.
The Taleban now controls about ninety percent of Afghanistan. Itrules by an extreme version of Sharia, or Islamic law. It bannedmusic, television and the internet. Taleban officials also orderstrong punishments for crimes, including public executions and thecutting off of body parts.
The Taleban greatly restricts women in Afghanistan. Women arebarred from working outside the home. They also must completelycover themselves from the top of their head to their feet. Afghangirls are not permitted education.
Pakistan now is the only government in the world that recognizesthe Taleban. President Rabbani continues to hold Afghanistan's seatat the United Nations.
This VOA Special English program IN THE NEWS was written by CatyWeaver. This is Steve Ember.