Encyclopedia of Islam

Afghan mujahidin

---

defeat, but they ended up fighting against each 

other as well as other groups for control of the 

country. From bases in Pakistan and central and 

southern Afghanistan, the Taliban took advantage 

of this chaotic situation to make their own play 

for power in 1994–96. Mujahidin continues to be 

a term used by various armed factions that are 

contending for power and influence in the coun-

try since the United States overthrew the Taliban 

regime in December 2001.

See also 

Jihad

 

movements

; 

mujahid

; q

aida

, 

al

-.

Caleb Elfenbein

Further reading: M. Hassan Kakar, Afghanistan: The 

Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979–1982

(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995); Gilles 

Kepel,  Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam (Cambridge, 

Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2002); Ahmed Rashid, 

Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia (New 

Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2002).

Africa

  See  a

lgeria

;  e

ast

  a

frica

;  e

gypt

;  l

ibya

; 

m

orocco

; s

udan

; t

unisia

; w

est

 a

frica

.