Taliban fighters chanted victory slogans subsequent to the US embassy in Kabul Monday as they marked the primary anniversary of their return to energy in Afghanistan following a turbulent 12 months that noticed girls’s rights crushed and a humanitarian disaster worsen.
Precisely a 12 months in the past, the hardline Islamists captured Kabul after a nationwide lightning offensive in opposition to authorities forces simply as US-led troops have been ending 20 years of intervention in a battle that value tens of hundreds of lives.
“It is the day of victory and happiness for the Afghan Muslims and folks. It’s the day of conquest and victory of the white flag,” authorities spokesman Bilal Karimi mentioned on Twitter.
Photographs of crowds storming the airport, climbing atop plane — and a few clinging to a departing US army cargo aircraft because it rolled down the runway — aired on information bulletins all over the world.
Many Taliban fighters gathered in Kabul’s Massoud Sq., adjoining to the now-shut US embassy, the place they displayed the regime’s white banners.
Taliban flags fluttered from lamposts alongside the highway to the airport.
“The time after we entered Kabul, and when the Individuals left, these have been moments of pleasure,” mentioned Hekmat, now a member of the particular forces guarding the presidential palace.
For a lot of peculiar Afghans, nonetheless, the return of the Taliban has solely elevated hardships — particularly for girls.
However many restrictions have been imposed on girls to adjust to the motion’s austere imaginative and prescient of Islam.
And in Might, they have been ordered to completely cowl up in public, ideally with an all-encompassing burqa.
“Every part has been snatched from us, they’ve even entered our private house,” she added.
Whereas Afghans acknowledge a decline in violence for the reason that Taliban seized energy, the humanitarian disaster has left many helpless.
The nation is in financial disaster, with its abroad property frozen by Washington and assist curtailed with a view to preserve funds out of the Taliban’s fingers.
For Taliban fighters, nonetheless, the enjoyment of victory overshadows the present financial disaster.
bur-jd-fox/smw
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Initially revealed as ‘Day of conquest’ as Taliban mark turbulent first 12 months in energy
