Who are the Taliban and what are they planning?

The Taliban have seized control of Afghanistan two weeks before the United States was due to completely withdraw its troops after a 20-year military presence in the war-torn country.

Chaotic scenes erupted after Taliban insurgents retook the capital, Kabul, on Sunday with thousands of panicked Afghans rushing to flee the country, including some who were desperate enough to cling to US military aircraft as the planes taxied down the runway.

US officials have already claimed they miscalculated the speed with which the Taliban were able to storm across the country and capture all major...