"The heartland of Salafism in Afghanistan is the eastern province of Kunar, near Pakistan. During the resistance against the Soviets it was the power base of local Salafis who were joined by insurgents from abroad. Today, Mutawakil views that conflict as a defining moment. “Besides all the destruction, it was training for us too — especially when our Arab brothers came to do jihad,” he said.
A civil war developed after the Soviet withdrawal and then the Taliban later seized power, banning music and ordering women to be accompanied by a male relative when in public. The Taliban are not a Salafi movement, but Afghanistan is a deeply conservative country. Huge cultural changes in cities during the last decade have helped encourage the current Islamist backlash, with everything from foreign television programs to Western-style clothing subjected to hostility."
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