Afghanistan: Taliban celebrate turbulent first year in power

The Taliban chanted victory cries this Monday in Kabuloutside the former US embassy to celebrate the first anniversary of his return to power in Afghanistan after a turbulent year marked by a severe setback for women’s rights and a deepening humanitarian crisis.

On August 15, 2021, radical Islamists captured Kabul after a lightning offensive against government forces, at the end of a 20-year international military intervention led by USA.

“We fulfill our obligations jihad and we liberated our country,” said Niamatulah Hekmata fighter who entered Kabul on August 15 last year.

“Today is a day of victory and happiness for Muslims and afghan people. This is the day of the conquest and victory of the white flag of the Islamic Emirate,” Afghan government spokesman Bilal Karimi said on Twitter.

The chaotic withdrawal of foreign troops continued until August 31, when tens of thousands of people rushed to the Kabul airport in the hope that they would be evacuated by flight from Afghanistan.

Images of the crowd storming the airportboarding planes, some of which were hung on military transport aircraft as they were about to take off, made headlines around the world.

On this Monday, declared a day off, many Taliban the selfie was taken at Massoud Square, a large roundabout adorned with the white flags of the Islamic Emirate, in front of the old embassy USAAFPTV journalist confirmed.

“Long live the Islamic Emirate! Allah is great!” Taliban in this spontaneous concentration.

on the streets of Kabulunder the gray skies, traffic was light, although, as usual, patrols Taliban armed in vans and at checkpoints.

fighters Taliban they expressed their joy that their movement is in power, despite aid agencies saying that half of the country of 38 million faces extreme poverty.

“When we entered Kabul and the Americans left, those were moments of joy,” said Hekmat, a current member of the special forces guarding the presidential palace.

meaningless life

But for Afghans generalespecially women, the return of the Taliban only exacerbated the difficulties.

Initially, Taliban they promised a milder version of their first government’s harsh Islamist rule from 1996 to 2001. But they quickly placed a number of restrictions on women in order to realize their harsh vision of Islam.

Tens of thousands of girls have been excluded from secondary education, and women have been barred from many government positions. In addition, they are forbidden to travel alone outside their city.

In May, they were ordered to cover themselves from head to toe in public, ideally with a veil.

“Since the day they arrived, life has lost its meaning,” laments Ogay Amail, a resident Kabul. “They took everything from us, they even infiltrated our personal space.”

Last Saturday at Kabul, Taliban With rifle butts and shots in the air, they dispersed a gathering of about forty women who stood up for the right to work and education.

This Monday, about thirty people gathered at the house of one of them and posted photos on social networks with slogans like “history Afghanistan ashamed to close schools” for girls.

“Our defense of justice has been silenced by gunfire, but today we continue to ask for it from our home,” the protester said in a press release. Munisa Mubariz.

Although the Afghans acknowledge that with the advent of Taliban, the humanitarian crisis has caused many to despair. International aid, which financed 80% of the Afghan budget, is just beginning to resume after being completely interrupted.

“People who come to our stores often complain about high prices,” says Nur Mohammad, a store manager in Kandahar, the center of power Taliban.

So far, no country has recognized the regime Taliban.

AFP