On September 11, 2001, a terrorist attack occurred against the United States by “The Taliban is a Sunni Islamic fundamentalist group that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, when a US-led invasion overthrew the regime for providing sanctuary to al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden.” (“The Taliban”). The Taliban originally began as a group of students at an Islamic school for Afghan refugees. These students presented themselves as a political group, although they had a very small population. The rise of the Taliban was mainly due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, as many Afghans fled their homeland in search of a safer place to live. Along with the journey of Afghans to Pakistan, Afghans had the opportunity to give vent to their bitter resentment towards the Soviet Union by joining the Taliban (Stanford). The Taliban's base was based primarily on Shariah law, which is the Islamic moral code and religious law. In founding the Taliban, students mainly focused on the strict meaning and prosecution of this law (Stanford). Along with this continuation of Shariah, many violations soon began, especially against women. Some of the violations that began involved banning women from attending educational associations, working outside the home, and having their bodies completely hidden outside the home. Anyone who did not comply with these requirements could be punished in various ways, such as a public hanging or execution (Azzi). Most of the male population met the standards and, surprisingly, most of them supported the Taliban. Support for the Taliban was strong because of ethnic and religious ties between Pakistanis and the Taliban and the Taliban assistant... middle of paper ......01 in the United States, because of the United States' persistence in arresting Osama Bin Laden. Four planes were hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. This act increased America's hostility towards the Taliban and the search for Laden became more important ("History"). Following the Taliban's terrorism against the United States in 2001, the United States and NATO invaded Afghanistan. NATO deployed nearly fifty thousand soldiers and launched an operation against the Taliban. This operation was a valuable success, because the Taliban lost their fortifications in Afghanistan and quickly prepared to move to a more favorable area. Almost all of the remaining Taliban in Afghanistan were quickly exterminated (“History”). The NATO invasion of Afghanistan finally ended the Taliban's brief five years in power, from 1996 to 2001 (“The Taliban”).