Abstract
Like genies of the tales of the Arabian Nights they sprang forth from the wasteland of the post-Russian Afghan civil war. Early one morning in the autumn of 1994 about forty long-bearded mullahs gathered in a tiny mosque in Sangisar of Kandahar known as the White Mosque to found a new religious movement. They had no car or money. An old and noisy Russian motorbike with no exhaust-pipe was their only means of transport. The bike was nicknamed 'Tank of Islam' as a reward for its service. Then an unknown man barged into their checkpoint and donated a sack filled with 90 million Afghanis (about A$2 million). "I have donated this money for the sake of God alone. I don't need anyone to know about it," this man insisted, "there is no need for a receipt, or for my name to be known." The following evening the BBC spread the word around the world about the birth of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Original language | English |
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Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Huffington Post |
Volume | 40294 |
Publication status | Published - 2010 |