How Much Support Does The Taliban Have In Afghanistan?

[dave50]

Judging by the numbers wanting to leave, not a lot.

[dannyk13]

Unfortunately the Taliban have said that they will not allow any Afghans to leave.I hate to think what the Taliban might do to anyone they identify as wanting to leave.

[douglas9401]

Some say most of the support is from wild-eyed Pakistani empire builders hell-bent on causing mayhem for a stoneage dream.

Any normal, sensible person would get far, far away as soon as possible.

[Gromit]

There are 31 million people in Afghanistan, and about a thousand at the airport in Kabul.
The Government was a puppet of the US invaders and was rife with corruption, nepotism and sectarianism. It was very unpopular, it rigged the elections.

Normal Afghans are always pleased to see invaders leave their country. The people wanting to leave now are the people who helped the Americans and British occupy their country. They will be treated as collaborators by the new regime, and will be rightfully be concerned for their own safety.

[archibaldy]

//Any normal, sensible person would get far, far away as soon as possible.//

By far away do you mean Shepherds Bush?

[davebro]

Possibly not a lot of support but certainly a great deal of acquiescence as the consequences of opposition will be fatal.

[Untitled]

We will see in the coming weeks/months… even with the power of terror no regime can hold on based on fear alone… they all need some degree of support. I suspect that the taliban have the “glow of victory” about them right now… and let’s face it they have won at least for now… that alone will attract some supporters as well as people who agree with their fundamentalist religion.

[mushroom25]

the taliban may well be talented at driving Toyota Hilux-es, armed mopeds and encouraging the enemy to leave, which will undoubtedly make them popular with the locals.

whether they can maintain that support depends on whether they are just as talented at emptying the bins and keeping the mobile phone network running.

[ToraToraTora]

"How Much Support Does The Taliban Have In Afghanistan?" - well I'd say quite a lot but It's more a sort of general tacit approval especially among the men.

[Peter Pedant]

just about the whole country ( support them)
The unelected elders in around half the cities invited them in with please not to shoot

not much opposition there then.

[Peter Pedant]

// The Government was a puppet of the US invaders and was rife with corruption, nepotism and sectarianism. It was very unpopular, it rigged the elections.//

yup - always seemed rather obvious to me

the ones at the airport have taken the american buck

(Burgos after Franco's victory ( er in Thpain that ith!) - the first edict of liberation was: 24 h curfew. People allowed out of their houses after the household had been inspected and given an account of their actions during the communist rule....bet they liked that)

[Gromit]

After the Russians were defeated and their Soviet puppet Government collapsed in 1992, a civil was ensued. The Taliban were victors and ran the country from 1995 until the American invasion.

By 1997 the Taliban were being courted by US big business to sign valuable contracts.

// The Taliban, Afghanistan's Islamic fundamentalist army, is about to sign a £2 billion contract with an American oil company to build a pipeline across the war-torn country.

The Islamic warriors appear to have been persuaded to close the deal, not through delicate negotiation but by old-fashioned Texan hospitality. Last week Unocal, the Houston-based company bidding to build the 876-mile pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan, invited the Taliban to visit them in Texas. Dressed in traditional salwar khameez, Afghan waistcoats and loose, black turbans, the high-ranking delegation was given VIP treatment during the four-day stay.

The Taliban ministers and their advisers stayed in a five-star hotel and were chauffeured in a company minibus. Their only requests were to visit Houston's zoo, the Nasa space centre and Omaha's Super Target discount store //

Alas war intervened. No doubt the contracts are already being dusted off.

[archibaldy]

// No doubt the contracts are already being dusted off. //

Or translated into Chinese.

[naomi24]

I think the Taliban has enormous support in that area of the world.

[Khandro]

We are where, but it need not have been like this if we had followed Donald Trump's plan, : accept that the show is over, & follow his negotiated, orderly withdrawal process. It wouldn't have been completely neat & tidy, but it would have been far better than the instant withdrawal disaster which this clown Biden has administered.

[ichkeria]

That’s complete nonsense khandro.

Trump started all this with his hopeless “deal” with the Taliban.
His deadline for leaving was end May!
Biden actually extended it by 3 and a half months.
Biden has paid the price for continuing Trump’s disastrous policy. More fool him.

[davebro]

The main (material) support for the Taliban comes from Pakistan!

[jno]

I think most of their money comes from opium. Which is just as likely to come from British users as from Asian ones, I suppose.

[davebro]

that's why I said destroy the poppy crop - I'm sure the US have plentiful supplies of Agent Orange.

[Khandro]

ichi //Trump started all this with his hopeless “deal” with the Taliban.
His deadline for leaving was end May!//

Why was trying to negotiate a deal for an orderly withdrawal, "hopeless" ?
It appears clear that it was the most sensible method to leave. Or is it that you can't abide anything initiated by Donald Trump?

[sevenOP]

jno - "I think most of their money comes from opium."

Drugs/mining/extortion and taxes/Charitable donations/exports/real estate/specific countries in descending order, if this rather depressing article is true:

https://theconversation.com/the-taliban-are-megarich-heres-where-they-get-the-money-they-use-to-wage-war-in-afghanistan-147411