The Taliban is a Sunni Islamist fundamentalist religious and political movement that governed Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001. Its leaders were removed from power by NATO forces. Since 2004 they have regrouped, revived as a strong insurgency movement. They're governing at local rate and fighting a guerrilla war against the governments of Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Under the Taliban regime, Sharia law has ban a wide variety of activities hitherto lawful in Afghanistan. One Taliban list of prohibitions included: pork, pig, pig oil, anything made from human hair, satellite dishes, cinematography, and equipment that produces the joy of music, pool tables, chess, masks, alcohol, tapes, computers, VCRs, television, anything that propagates sex and is full of music, wine, lobster, nail polish, firecrackers, statues, sewing catalogs, pictures, Christmas cards. Men had to have breards longer than a fist at the base of their chin, they had to have short hair and wear a head dress. Possesion of things was forbidden.
Comments