The Taliban on Monday marked a yr since they seized the Afghan capital in a fast takeover that triggered a hasty escape of the nation’s Western-backed leaders, despatched the economic system right into a tailspin and essentially reworked the nation.
Bearded Taliban fighters, some hoisting rifles or the white banners of their motion, staged victory parades on foot, bicycles and bikes within the streets of Kabul. One group marched previous the previous US Embassy, chanting “Long live Islam” and “Death to America.”
A yr after the dramatic day, a lot has modified in Afghanistan. The previous insurgents battle to manipulate and stay internationally remoted. The financial downturn has pushed hundreds of thousands extra Afghans into poverty and even starvation, because the move of overseas help slowed to a trickle. The UN humanitarian chief for Afghanistan warned that until donors present $2.6 billion very quickly the nation faces “pure catastrophe” over the approaching winter with hundreds of thousands of lives at stake.
Ramiz Alakbarov informed a digital information convention from Kabul that the UN’s $4.4 billion humanitarian enchantment for Afghanistan this yr has acquired solely about $1.8 billion, leaving a $2.6 billion hole in funding for desperately wanted meals and different help.
He stated over 90 million individuals in Afghanistan are “food insecure,” round 35 million reside in poverty, and 6.6 million are categorized within the emergency degree only one step from famine.
Alakbarov stated he simply visited a number of hospitals and noticed “heartbreaking scenes” of malnourished kids who won’t survive the winter with out extra assist.
Whereas the Afghan individuals are identified for his or her resilience and talent to outlive, he stated, sadly “negative coping strategies” together with the promoting of organs and the promoting of kids will probably be seen once more “if support is not provided.”
A Taliban supporter holds an Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan flag on the primary anniversary of the autumn of Kabul on a road in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 15, 2022. (REUTERS/Ali Khara)
In the meantime, hard-liners seem to carry sway within the Taliban-led authorities, which imposed extreme restrictions on entry to training and jobs for women and girls, regardless of preliminary guarantees on the contrary. A yr on, teenage women are nonetheless barred from faculty and girls are required to cowl themselves head-to-toe in public, with solely the eyes exhibiting.
Some are looking for methods to maintain training from stalling for a era of younger ladies and underground faculties in houses have sprung up. Natalia Kanem, govt director of the UN’s sexual and reproductive well being company, stated in a press release that Afghan females should not be forgotten. “As the world faces multiple, overlapping crises, we must not forget the women and girls of Afghanistan. When women’s and girls’ basic rights are denied, we are all diminished,” she stated.
A yr in the past, 1000’s of Afghans had rushed to Kabul Worldwide Airport to flee the Taliban amid the US navy’s chaotic withdrawal from Kabul after 20 years of struggle — America’s longest battle.
Some flights resumed comparatively shortly after these chaotic days. On Monday, a handful of economic flights have been scheduled to land and take off from a runway that final summer time noticed Afghan males clinging to the wheels of planes taking off, some falling to their dying.
Schoolyards stood empty Monday because the Taliban introduced a public vacation to mark the day, which they discuss with as “The Proud Day of Aug. 15″ and the “First Anniversary of the Return to Power.”
“Reliance on God and the support of the people brought this great victory and freedom to the country,” wrote Abdul Wahid Rayan, the pinnacle of the Taliban-run Bakhtar News Company. “Today, Aug. 15, marks the victory of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan against America and its allies occupation of Afghanistan.”
Throughout a gathering to mark the anniversary, the Taliban deputy prime minister, Abdul Salam Hanafi, supplied congratulations to “the entire nation on the day of the conquest of Kabul, which was the beginning of the complete end of the occupation.”
In remarks broadcast dwell by state radio and TV, he boasted of what he described as “great achievements” beneath the Taliban, similar to an alleged finish of corruption, improved safety and banned poppy cultivation. On the eve of the anniversary, former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani defended what he stated was a split-second choice to flee, saying he needed to keep away from the humiliation of give up to the insurgents. He informed CNN that on the morning of Aug. 15, 2021, with the Taliban on the gates of Kabul, he was the final one on the presidential palace after his guards had disappeared. Tomas Niklasson, the European Union’s particular envoy to Afghanistan, stated the bloc of countries stays dedicated to the Afghan individuals and to “stability, prosperity and sustainable peace in Afghanistan and the region.”
“This will require an inclusive political process with full, equal and meaningful participation of all Afghan men and women and respect for human rights,”
