The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) soon began to support the insurgency through Pakistan. Main articles: Inter-Services Intelligence activities in Afghanistan and Operation Cyclone After the Soviet Union intervened in Afghanistan in 1979, Islamic mujahideen fighters engaged in war with those Soviet forces. Eventually, a larger insurgency by the mujahideen began. This gave rise to a spreading rebellion in the western countryside. In March 1979, the Herat uprising began in response to the announcement of a compulsory literacy program for girls. Nevertheless, the communist government continued to campaign against traditional and Islamic practices.

Supporters of it started spreading their ideas across the desert, especially to the accessible Herat, which also had many Shia Muslims like Iran. Meanwhile, the Iranian Revolution was spreading militant Islamism from the neighbouring country through underground networks. Backed by the Soviet Union, the new regime subsequently unleashed a Marxist campaign against religious leaders. In 1978, the Saur Revolution brought the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan into power. This provided a form of Islamic civil service in absence of state. After they completed their religious studies, they could become mullahs, the 'givers' of knowledge. They would also study in madrasas, living off donations. They were teachers, dispute mediators, and comforters of the dying.

Taliban, whose name literally means the 'students of Islam' or the 'seekers of knowledge', have been part of Kandahar's ' Quran Belt' for centuries.

Train to pakistan movie