The growing popular opposition began in May and has been detected taking root in eight provinces in the northeast and eastern parts of the country. It is being driven in part by Afghan nationalism and opposition to foreign terrorist support for the Taliban, an Islamist extremist group that took over the country in 1996 and backed the al Qaeda terror group in its attacks against the Untied States…

An uprising leader, Ghulam Mohammad, was quoted in local press reports as saying the residents are opposing the Taliban because they are “tired of the armed Taliban’s tyranny and oppression.”

The residents were angered by the Taliban practice of burning schools and killing and poisoning students and teachers. The Taliban also have attacked medical doctors and blocked reconstruction efforts.