Taliban takes over Afghanistan: What led to this, and how is the international community responding?
Global News
On July 16, Afghanistan saw its President Ashraf Ghani fleeing the country, fighters seizing the presidential palace, its capital Kabul descending into chaos as citizens and foreign nationals began escaping the country. Afghanistan was rechristened the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
As these scenes unfolded, a Taliban spokesperson announced, "the war is over."
How did Afghanistan get here?
On April 14, US President Joe Biden announced that the US forces would withdraw by September 11.
In May 2021, as foreign forces started to withdraw from the country, the Taliban stepped up its campaign to defeat the Western-backed government.
Although it was expected that the Taliban had the potential to take over the government, no one expected it to happen at this speed.
One leaked US intelligence report estimated that the government could collapse within 90 days once the troops pulled out. Taliban captured 26 out of the country’s 34 provincial capitals in just 10 days while Kabul fell in 1 day.
The President’s escape
Ashraf Gani, the US-backed President, resigned and fled to Oman on Sunday, saying he wanted to have peace and avoid bloodshed. As per reports, the Taliban allowed him to flee Afghanistan after the US negotiated safe passage for Ghani after discussions in Doha where the three parties - Taliban, the Afghan government, and the US - negotiated the transfer of power.
On a Facebook post, Gani stated, “If I had stayed, countless countrymen would have been martyred and Kabul city would have been ruined.”
Soon after Ghani escaped, the Taliban entered Kabul.
Joe Biden’s defense to withdraw the troops is that he could not justify "endless American presence in the middle of another country's civil conflict".
In a conflict that began 20 years ago when the US invaded Afghanistan, the US and its NATO allies have spent the last 20 years and USD 2 trillion in training and equipping the Afghan security forces. They claimed to have created a more powerful and capable Afghan army. This army lost to the Taliban in a matter of months, leaving the citizens of Afghanistan more vulnerable than ever.
Taliban’s statement
Taliban has claimed that it is looking for a peaceful transition of power and does not want to rule the country in isolation. They have also stated that they will respect women’s rights and freedom for minorities under sharia law.
While this is being met with a sigh of relief by some part of the international community, the others fear that this statement might be a ruse to avoid international condemnation and an emergency resolution at the UN Security Council.
Despite the statements today, the Taliban's cruel and repressive practices that defined their previous period in power between 1996 and 2001 cannot be forgotten.
The chaos
As Kabul fell to the insurgents, chaos ensued with the airport, and ATMs were mobbed with thousands of people trying to escape the country. It was also reported that five Afghan civilians had died after shots were fired at the terminal.
A deeply distressing video shows how three people held on to a wheel of a US plane flying out of Kabul to escape Taliban rule.
The world reacts
United Nations: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the Taliban to exercise utmost restraint to protect lives
China: Released a statement that it is looking to deepen "friendly and cooperative" relations with Afghanistan
Pakistan: Imran Khan said that “The Afghans broke shackles of slavery” as the Taliban seized power
Germany: Released a statement that US Troop Withdrawal 'Biggest NATO Debacle'
India: Union Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi said that India wants peace all over the world as India continues evacuation exercises to rescue Indians from Afghanistan
What’s next?
While a lot is changing every hour as events unfold, what can be said for sure is that the people who will suffer the most will be
The Afghan youths who make up 63% of the country’s population
The women of Afghanistan who might see their human rights get thrown out of the window
The press will lose whatever power it had in Afghanistan and freedom of speech will be curbed moving forward
The progress made against global terrorism might also get derailed if immediate actions are not taken by the international communities.
Women in Taliban’s Afghanistan: Misogyny, abuse, and no access to education
Global News
On the 15th of August, as the Taliban stormed the gates of Kabul to reclaim Afghanistan, Nobel peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai tweeted this:
Her concern isn’t unwarranted. The world has been witness to the extent of abuse against women the Taliban is capable of- sexual enslavement, rape, forced child marriages. Scars from their previous regime haven’t healed Afghan women yet.
Taliban rule 1996 to 2001: Harshest of Islamic Sharia laws imposed on women
Complete isolation from society: Women weren’t allowed to step outside the house without a male escort and a burqa, covering them entirely from head to toe
No access to education and employment
Women were subjected to harsh punishments for breaking any of these laws- public beatings or even being stoned to death
Witness testimonies account for them being shot at, their eyes gouged out and then being forced upon multiple times by Talibani terrorists.
What will they do now?
Currently, in their public statements, the Taliban spokesperson has suggested that things will be different from last time. Women can work “where they so choose” within the bounds of Shariah law, according to a Taliban official. Those jobs could be in government, the private sector, trade, and elsewhere, he said.
“We will respect rights of women… our policy is that women will have access to education and work, to wear the hijab"
But what is actually happening?
In early July, Taliban gunmen entered a bank in Kandahar and ordered nine women working there to leave and not to return. The women were told that their jobs could be resumed by male relatives.
As per Human Rights Watch reports, “‘morality’ officials — known as ‘vice and virtue’ police continue to operate in districts under Taliban control" to ensure people are obeying “Taliban-prescribed social codes regarding dress and public deportment.”
In early July, after Taliban leaders who took control of the provinces of Badakhshan and Takhar issued an order to local religious leaders to provide them with a list of girls over the age of 15 years and widows under the age of 45 years for “marriage” with Taliban fighters.
The Taliban, however, has called the claims of girls being forced to marry its fighters "baseless". The insurgent group also accused the Afghanistan government of running "poisonous propaganda".
Furthermore, the Taliban have signalled their intention to deny girls’ education past the age of 12, to ban women from employment, and reinstate the law requiring women to be accompanied by a guardian.
Recently, female students and professors were denied entrance into Herat University by Taliban soldiers, while male students were allowed to enter.
Aftermath
In an interview, Afghanistan’s Minister of Education Rangina Hamdidi under Ashfar Ghani’s cabinet - said she cannot believe the President she trusted has fled the country.
Stranded in Afghanistan, several women journalists, diplomats, and women with employable higher degrees await what they’re calling “a knock on the door” by Taliban soldiers carrying out door-to-door searches.
Interview statement by Mehbooba Seraj, activist and founder of Afghan Women’s Network:
How can we possibly help?
@AfghanAidHQ is an NGO working with people on the ground. Check this for donations and other help
@unicefafghanistan is still present in Afghanistan
@TOLOnews is live and still reporting in Afghanistan- with women anchors delivering the news. Follow them and show them some support.
The Canadian embassy is still working on evacuating people. They could use all the help and support they need
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