A suicide bombing has killed at least 63 people and injured 151 others in the centre of Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, officials say. Attackers drove an ambulance laden with explosives past a police checkpoint into a street that was only open to government workers. It happened near the old interior ministry ...
Who are the Taliban?
The hardline Islamic Taliban movement swept to power in Afghanistan in 1996 after the civil war which followed the Soviet-Afghan war, and were ousted by the US-led invasion five years later
In power, they imposed a brutal version of Sharia law, such as public executions and amputations, and banned women from public life
Men had to grow beards and women to wear the all-covering burka; television, music and cinema were banned
They sheltered al-Qaeda leaders before and after being ousted - since then they have fought a bloody insurgency which continues today
In 2016, Afghan civilian casualties hit a new high - a rise attributed by the UN largely to the Taliban
Civilian casualties remained at high levels in 2017, the UN said