KABUL —
Taliban fighters chanted victory slogans next to the US embassy in Kabul Monday
as they marked the first anniversary of their return to power in Afghanistan
following a turbulent year that saw women’s rights crushed and a humanitarian
crisis worsen.
اضافة اعلان
Exactly a year
ago, the hardline Islamists captured Kabul after a nationwide lightning
offensive against government forces just as US-led troops were ending two
decades of occupation in a conflict that cost tens of thousands of lives.
“This great
victory came after countless sacrifices and hardships,” Abdul
Ghani Baradar,
deputy prime minister and co-founder of the Taliban movement, said on Twitter.
“On this day ...
the Islamic emirate brought the world’s superpower and its allies to their
knees and Afghans gained their independence,” added Baradar, who in 2020 signed
a deal with Washington offering security guarantees in return for the
withdrawal of foreign forces.
The last
American troops left on August 31, ending a chaotic evacuation of tens of
thousands of Afghans who had rushed to Kabul’s airport in the hope of boarding
a flight out of the country.
Images of crowds
storming the airport, climbing atop aircraft — and some clinging to a departing
US military cargo plane as it rolled down the runway — aired on news bulletins
around the world.
“We fulfilled
the obligation of jihad and liberated our country,” said Niamatullah Hekmat, a
fighter who entered the capital on August 15 last year just hours after
then-president Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
“The time when
we entered Kabul, and when the Americans left, those were moments of joy.”
‘Life has lost its
meaning’
Many Taliban fighters gathered in Kabul’s central Massoud Square, where
they displayed the regime’s white banners and performed a traditional victory
dance, some holding weapons and others taking pictures on their mobile phones.
“We all are
happy that we are celebrating our independence in front of the US embassy,”
fighter Aminullah Sufi Omar told AFP.
However, for
many ordinary
Afghans — particularly women — the return of the Taliban has only
increased hardships, with aid agencies saying that half the country’s 38
million people face extreme poverty.
Initially, the
Taliban promised a softer version of the harsh Islamist rule that characterized
their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001.
But many
restrictions have been imposed on women to comply with the movement’s austere
vision of Islam.
Tens of
thousands of girls have been shut out of secondary schools, while women have
been barred from returning to many government jobs.
And in May, they
were ordered to fully cover up in public, including their faces, ideally with a
burqa.
“Since the day
they have come, life has lost its meaning,” said Ogai Amail, a resident of
Kabul.
“Everything has
been snatched from us, they have even entered our personal space,” she added.
Top Taliban
officials in Kabul gathered at the auditorium of the state television channel
to mark the anniversary, while in the movement’s power base in Kandahar, a
small group of women dressed in burqas and supportive of the new regime marched
in the streets.
‘Facing hardships’
Taliban fighters on Saturday dispersed a rare women’s rights rally by
firing gunshots into the air and beating some protesters.
“Our call for
justice was silenced with gunfire, but today we are pleading from inside our
home,” Munisa Mubariz said on Monday.
She was among
about 30 women who gathered at an undisclosed location to stage an indoor
protest.
The women, who
mostly had their faces uncovered, posted photographs online of themselves
holding banners, including one that read: “Afghanistan’s history is tarnished
with the closure of girls’ schools.”
While Afghans
acknowledge a decline in violence since the Taliban seized power — barring some
deadly attacks by Daesh — the humanitarian crisis has left many helpless.
“People coming
to our shops are complaining so much of high prices that we shopkeepers have
started hating ourselves,” said Noor Mohammad, a shopkeeper from Kandahar.
The country is
in economic crisis, with its overseas assets frozen by Washington and aid
curtailed in order to keep funds out of the Taliban’s hands.
No country has
officially recognized the new government.
“All those
powers who came here have lost here, but today we want good relations with
everybody,” said fighter Hazi Mubariz.
For Taliban
fighters, the joy of victory overshadows the current economic crisis.
“We might be poor, we
might be facing hardships, but the white flag of Islam will now fly high
forever in Afghanistan”, said a fighter guarding a public park in Kabul.
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