Sir: The cycle of violence, destruction and chaos of the Mujahideen era created the conditions for the rise of the puritanical Taliban. There are several versions of how a small group of Taliban, led by Mullah Muhammad Omar, took control of areas around Kandahar in 1994. According to the most widely circulated account amongst the residents of Kandahar, a group of madrasee (belonging or originating from a madrassa) taliban (students), headed by Mullah Mohammad Omar arrived in Afghanistan with the intent to re-establish law and order and to reorganise themselves. They took residence in a school near Dand in Kandahar. On September 20, 1994, an Afghan family on its way to Herat from Kandahar was looted, its male members molested, and its female members raped by gangs operating one of the so-called ‘check points’ along the route. One of the victims escaped and reached the newly established Taliban compound. The story goes that Mullah Omar and his followers rushed to the scene, captured the perpetrators, executed them on the spot and then collected and buried the bodies of the victims. It is this ‘faithful’ incident that the Taliban claim marked the beginning of their campaign in Afghanistan. The Taliban then moved in and disarmed other groups in the area. They began consolidating their position and procuring weapons by winning the allegiance of several local military commanders. Among the groups who surrendered to the Taliban (through a peaceful arrangement) was that of Mullah Naqib, who along with a group of other warlords, had divided the province amongst themselves. One of these warlords was Lalai, a former thief, and ‘Sarbaz’ (of a communist militia) who had defected to the Mujahidin during the Jihad era and had now become a post-Jihad era warlord of a sector of Kandahar. While there is no consensus about the triggering events that would mark the rise of the Taliban, it is clear that the initial popularity of the Taliban was due to the complete collapse of law and order under the so-called Mujahideen era, which had officially begun in 1992. LANDAY JONATHAN Via e-mail