Bearded Taliban fighters, some hoisting rifles or their movement’s white banners, staged small victory parades on foot, bicycles and motorbikes through the streets of the capital. A small group marched past the former US Embassy, chanting “Long live Islam” and “Death to America”. A year after that dramatic day, much has changed in Afghanistan. The former rebels struggle to govern and remain internationally isolated. The economic downturn has pushed millions more Afghans into poverty and even hunger as the flow of foreign aid has gradually slowed. Meanwhile, hardliners appear to dominate the Taliban-led government, which has imposed severe restrictions on access to education and jobs for girls and women, despite initial promises to the contrary. A year on, teenage girls are still excluded from school and women must be covered from head to toe in public, with only the eyes visible. Some are trying to find ways to prevent education from ceasing because a generation of young women and underground home schools have sprung up. A year ago, thousands of Afghans rushed to Kabul International Airport to flee the Taliban amid the chaotic withdrawal of the US military from Kabul after 20 years of war – America’s biggest conflict. Some flights resumed relatively quickly after those chaotic days. On Monday, a handful of commercial flights were scheduled to land and take off from a runway that last summer saw Afghan men cling to the wheels of planes taking off, some falling to their deaths. Schoolyards were empty on Monday as the Taliban declared a holiday to mark the day, which they call “Proud August 15 Day” and “First anniversary of return to power”. “Trust in God and the support of the people brought this great victory and freedom to the country,” wrote Abdul Wahid Rayan, head of the Taliban-run Bakhtar news agency. “Today, August 15, marks the victory of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan against the occupation of America and its allies in Afghanistan.” On the eve of the anniversary, former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani defended what he said was a split-second decision to flee, saying he wanted to avoid the humiliation of surrendering to the insurgents. He told CNN that on the morning of August 15, 2021, with the Taliban at the gates of Kabul, he was the last person in the presidential palace after his guards disappeared. Tomas Niklasson, the European Union’s special envoy to Afghanistan, said the bloc of nations remains committed to the Afghan people 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,” Niklasson wrote. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that international responsibility for Afghanistan remains after the withdrawal of NATO. “A regime that violates human rights cannot be recognized under any circumstances,” she said in a statement. “But we must not forget the people in Afghanistan, even a year after the Taliban took over.”
Faiez reported from Islamabad.
