Recognition of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in the context of Panjshir Province

⭐ Core Definition: Recognition of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

The Taliban has ruled Afghanistan as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan since taking control by force in 2021, overthrowing the internationally recognized Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The takeover was widely criticized by the international community. As of July 2025, only one member state of the United Nations, Russia, has extended diplomatic recognition to the new regime, even though many states maintain nominal relations with Afghanistan.

The Taliban previously ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 and received limited diplomatic recognition, with the United Nations and most countries continuing to recognize the Islamic State of Afghanistan. The Taliban has campaigned for international recognition since the takeover, gradually taking over the Islamic Republic's foreign diplomatic missions. Ousted president Ashraf Ghani has largely remained silent since the takeover, and has not formed a government-in-exile. Ghani's vice president Amrullah Saleh declared himself caretaker president and relocated to Panjshir Province after the Taliban takeover with the support of the National Resistance Front (NRF). However, he fled Afghanistan after the Taliban quickly captured the province. Although the NRF continues to wage a guerrilla insurgency, it has failed to take any territory and neither Saleh nor the NRF have received any international support, leaving the Taliban as the only viable claimant to Afghanistan's government.

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Recognition of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in the context of Taliban

The Taliban, which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is an Afghan political and militant organization with an ideology comprising elements of the Deobandi movement of Islamic fundamentalism and Pashtun nationalism. It ruled approximately 90% of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, before it was overthrown by an American-led invasion after the September 11 attacks carried out by the Taliban's ally al-Qaeda. Following a 20-year insurgency and the departure of coalition forces, the Taliban recaptured Kabul in August 2021, overthrowing the Islamic Republic, and now controls all of Afghanistan. The Taliban has been condemned for restricting human rights, including women's rights to work and have an education, and for the persecution of ethnic minorities. It is designated as a terrorist organization by several countries, and the Taliban government is largely unrecognized by the international community.

The Taliban emerged in 1994 as a prominent faction in the Second Afghan Civil War (1992–1996) and largely consisted of warlords from the Pashtun areas of eastern and southern Afghanistan. Under the leadership of Mullah Omar, the movement spread through most of Afghanistan, shifting power away from the Islamic State of Afghanistan, as well as other Mujahideen militants. The Taliban seized Kabul in 1996 and established the First Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan that was opposed by the Northern Alliance, which maintained international recognition as a continuation of the Islamic State.

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