On Tuesday as the U.S. markets began their biggest one-day point drop in five years—largely due to a 9% plunge in the Shanghai stock market—a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan was reportedly targeted at visiting Vice President Dick Cheney.

At least that’s what the Taliban says, who claimed responsibility for the explosion. Remember the Taliban?

What’s happening?
Suicide bombings in Afghanistan increased significantly between 2005 and 2006 to 139. And a Taliban leader says an army of suicide bombers is ready for a spring attack against NATO forces there.

So, five years after the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, let’s revisit the Taliban.

But first… why was Cheney in Afghanistan?
Rising concern about the Taliban’s resurgence and belief that the group and al Qaeda are using Pakistan as a training ground sent Cheney first to Pakistan, then to Afghanistan. In his surprise stop in Pakistan on Monday, he urged President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to crack down on these groups. Then he headed to Afghanistan to meet with President Hamid Karzai to discuss the Taliban’s plans.

Remember the Taliban?
The Taliban in Afghanistan are a group of Muslim extremists that ruled the country from 1996 to 2001—until the United States pushed them out. They rose to power in 1996, helping to quell tribal in-fighting that was rampant after the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan ended in 1989.

The Taliban imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic law and forced women to stop working and cover themselves in full-body veils called burkas. After September 11 they helped hide Osama bin Laden, whose daughter married a Taliban ruler.

The big picture
Given the growing threat of violence in Afghanistan, Great Britain says it will add to the 35,500 NATO troops already stationed there. And while the focus of U.S. military power has been on Iraq over the last four years—some say to the detriment of international efforts to fight global terrorism—the resurgence of the fundamentalist Taliban, the rise in the level of violence in Afghanistan, and Cheney’s visit all suggest the country is likely to become a flashpoint yet again.