Kabul’s paved streets were lined with tall apartment blocks, glass office buildings, and shopping malls. The interior ministry’s plush furniture was “something I dreamed of in a nightmare,” said the 22 year-old fighter from the country’s mountainous east.
He stated that he would ask his commander to allow him to stay. He said, “I don’t want to go.”
This encounter shows how far Kabul and other Afghan cities has come a long way since the Taliban, who mostly hail from rural areas in Afghanistan, ruled the country 20 years ago. A modernizing, Western-backed government has brought an entire Afghan generation to maturity. It is now awash with development aid.
Many are concerned that these gains may be reversed now the Taliban have returned to power and that the last U.S. soldiers are leaving.
Thousands have flocked to the airport trying to flee, most of them men unaccompanied by families. The Taliban’s rule is long forgotten by younger Afghans, but they fear that it will return to take away their freedoms. From 1996 to 2001, the militants had a strict interpretation of Islamic law. They were driven from power by a U.S-led invasion.
The Taliban, who largely hail from Afghanistan’s conservative countryside, have signaled moderation in recent days — offering amnesty to those who fought them, inviting women to return to work and pledging to restore normal life after decades of war. But many Afghans, particularly women, remain deeply skeptical of the group’s intentions.
Ezanullah was shocked when two women said hello on the street to him.
He said, “They said they were afraid of your and thought that you were terrible.” “But they said that you were like my sisters and that we would let you go to school, continue your education, and provide security.”
He said, “Just take care of your hijab,” in reference to the Islamic headscarf which covers the hair but does not cover the face.
The Taliban may not have changed but the country they now control is light years ahead than the one they seized in 1996, after four years civil war and the collapse of a procommunist government.
The city was then in ruin, destroyed by warlords who would eventually ally themselves with the U.S. The rutted roads of Kabul were ridden by most Afghans on bicycles or in beat-up yellow taxis. The country had only one computer, and that was owned by Mullah Mohammed Omar the Taliban’s reclusive leader. He didn’t know how to turn it off.
Television and music were banned under Taliban rule. Women were forbidden from working outside of the home or attending school. They had to wear the full-body burqa when they went out in public.
Today, the country has four mobile companies as well as several satellite TV stations that have female anchors. One of these anchors interviewed a Taliban official Monday. As they marveled at their victory, the Taliban fighters were seen using smartphones to take selfies.
Online videos show bearded Taliban fighters laughing, horsing about on amusement park rides or in an indoor gym.
Since the Taliban’s last time in power, many things have become worse.
Since years, the city has been plagued by a criminal wave. Many fear that it will worsen after the Taliban’s advance. Their strict Islamic rule had one benefit: suspected thieves were beaten to death, while other criminals were executed in public.
Although the Taliban have promised to restore law order, it could take some time before they resort to more brutal measures. Over the past two decades, the city’s population has quadrupled to 5,000,000. Since 2001, the Taliban have not been a major presence in Kabul. They have been visiting doors to register names and collect weapons in recent times.
According to Saad Mohseni (owner of Tolo TV, a popular network that broadcasts in Afghan), many Afghans fear looters pretending to be the Taliban. He chose to remain in Kabul after the Taliban tookover.
He said, “These fake Taliban could be very dangerous, because they’re just hoodlums.”
