One year after the fall of Kabul, the people face both intensifying repression and mass hunger
On Monday it will be a year since the Taliban seized Kabul, marking “not the collapse of a regime, but the collapse of the dreams of a nation”, in the words of one Afghan interviewed by the BBC. Some welcomed the departure of foreign troops and the prospect of peace after two decades of appalling civilian casualties and corruption. But despite the violence and suicide bombings, for many others these years were shaped by increases in life expectancy and literacy, and new opportunities and aspirations: women in rural areas as well as big cities wanted education and freedom of movement.
The nightmare is deepening. Afghans are now living with both Taliban repression and mass hunger. The claim was that, 20 years after their overthrow by the US-led coalition, the world was likely to see a more moderate “Taliban 2.0” when they took power. It is true that the mass executions many feared did not materialise. But critics and opponents have been killed or arbitrarily detained and tortured, and media silenced. A struggle between pragmatists and hardliners is ongoing: in March, excited girls arrived at secondary schools to resume their studies – only to be told that classrooms remained closed to them after the central leadership overruled education officials. Women have been barred from many jobs, and prevented from travelling or going to work unless accompanied by a male guardian. Some have been threatened or beaten for ignoring the order to cover their bodies or faces in line with the Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic dress codes.
