My initial feeling when faced with a title that includes the words "Taliban" and "poetry" is that it is oxymoronic; indeed several pieces, through their inflammatory call to arms, seem stereotypically subservient to an ideology at the expense of artistic subtlety. The Taliban poets persistently invoke God, mujahideen and Afghan martyrs, a typical sentiment being: "I have come out to sacrifice myself to God; / I am pleased to burn." Declarations of defiance become vivid through cinematic images, with one portrait reminiscent of Clint Eastwood's spaghetti western cowboy (patu is the blanket Afghans wear): "Under the patu it reveals / The black barrel of his gun. / He bows down with pride, / Then looks up and straightens his back." It is the upward gaze that takes the poem into the field of the spiritual battle which overwhelms this anthology.

The 235 poems focus on life in Afghanistan among the Taliban Pashtuns. The opening section, "Before September 11", refers frequently to the Soviet occupation, but the rest of the book focuses on the impact of British and American aggression. It is unfortunate, but perhaps not surprising, that there is just one poem by a woman; Asefi Nasrat mocks the man who would stay in bed: "Give me your turban and take my veil, / Give me the sword " She complains the land "is ablaze" and full of widows and orphans while "the enemy of my religion" prevails. Here, although the themes are consistent with the other poems, the woman's voice offers a different perspective. The spirit of Malalai, the 19th-century Afghan warrior woman who rallied troops in the Anglo-Afghan war, is invoked in many of the poems. Asefi Nasrat's call to arms can also be read as an attempt to embody Malalai's spirit.

The poems use both traditional eastern and western forms such as the elegy, epistle, ghazal and landay. The symbolism is repetitive, with frequent references to the rose and the turban. Personifications abound, and abstract statements prevail over elaboration of concrete detail. The modern Taliban mindset is largely explored through mythic and historical references such as to the well-known Afghan and Persian story of star-crossed lovers Laila and Majnun: a poem by Reshaad begins: "What is the good of Majnun alive when Laila dies? / What is the good of a hollowed-out body when someone's heart dies? / The heart is a lamp inside a muddy frame." Opening a poem with such a well-established literary image demonstrates a desire to place the poem, and the cause, within a tradition and to offer readers familiar with the story a way into this cause.

A few of the more interesting poems use gothic imagery to promote that cause: "There were red red wolves. / They didn't know Pashtu; / Their eyes were closed; they bit everybody." Satire is also used in a number of poems, including a dialogue between President Bush and President Karzai. Karzai says: "Life is tough without you my darling; / I share in your grief; I am coming to you." Bush replies: "Sorrow takes over and overwhelms me; / My darling! Take care of yourself and I will take care of myself."

This collection poignantly juxtaposes brutal anthems with victim poems. A speaker lists a bride and bridegroom and the congregation being killed by an air-attack, "But the news brings press releases from Bagram, / Saying that 'we have killed the terrorists'." In another poem, British soldiers rejoice, "At your Christmas, Bagram is alit and bright; / On my Eid, even the rays of the sun are dead. / Suddenly at midnight, your bombs bring the light." Domestic light is contrasted with spiritual light; the light of Christianity implicitly the Crusaders' source of destruction. The simplicity of the diction, the emotionally bare narration often makes for heart-breaking poetry; a poet named Watanyar writes: "I am falling in every direction; I live in the dark. / I am Watanyar, in mourning for my country, / I am awake each night until dawn." Individuals such as the harrowed, insomniac Watanyar become everyman figures.

The most provocative section is perhaps the final one: "The Human Cost". These most recent poems, dating from 2008, portray a country and a people who are under attack from a foreign invader. There are frequent references to burning villages, imprisonment and terrorised women and children. Titles of poems in this section are consistent with this shift in focus: "The Young Bride Was Killed Here", "I Live in Flames", "Scream", "The Burning Village", "Graveyard". Amid the chaos of this final section, the editors have placed a poem by Sa'aad. "London Life" is the only poem not set in Afghanistan and the contrast is striking. It bemoans the lack of happiness, warmth and spiritual heart in London: "They walk around with ironed cleaned clothes and suits, / But they are not pure and clean on the inside."

The book is beautifully produced; the introduction, glossary and footnotes are clear and informative. The translations from Pashtu, by Mirwais Rahmany and Abdul Hamid Stanikzai among others, are close to a mannered Asian-English register. However, the reader will come away with a complex picture of the Taliban. This is a revelation of the rebel's perspective, the attitudes towards the enemy and the deep cultural history that led to an extremist organisation. As such, it is a welcome addition to the growing, largely non-fiction, archive about the Taliban. Much of the poetry here appeals to the heart rather than the head, engendering sympathy for the speakers' plight. That these poems put us in this uncomfortable place is the most impressive achievement of the anthology.

 Daljit Nagra's Tippoo Sultan's Incredible White-Man-Eating Tiger Toy-Machine!!! is published by Faber.