“This is for you and the West,” one senior official told us. “Our celebration is for the 31st of August, the day we drove out the foreign forces.” Organized or not, the Taliban took to the streets early in the morning. From the rooftop where I first saw their arrival exactly a year ago, I could see their white and black flags stuck to trucks, cars and motorcycles, careering down the road, honking. This was supposed to be a day of celebration for the Taliban, but I didn’t see huge crowds on the streets to applaud their 12-month success. Just convoys of their loyal supporters and too many heavily armed fighters. A year ago, the Taliban could not believe that they had captured Kabul so easily. They celebrated then and they celebrate now. The day was declared a new public holiday, Independence Day as they called it, and they took to the streets in their famous trucks and seized armored vehicles left behind by the United States and its NATO allies. For this conquering army, NATO’s biggest failure was never in doubt. We met a group of men who had traveled to the capital from Helmand province, they told us they always knew this day would come. “Yes, we were 100% sure that this would happen, that we would take Kabul and Afghanistan,” they told me when I asked them what the anniversary meant to them. “The foreign army was fighting us, but we always knew that one day we would win again and celebrate.” Exactly one year on the Taliban continued a new tradition of a televised media event. It was open to the international media, but overwhelmingly high-ranking officials and loyalists. Image: A group of men traveled from Helmand province to mark the one-year anniversary Special forces soldiers manning the doors and conducting security checks tried to hold back people who wanted to enter the packed auditorium next to the United States embassy in the heart of the Green Belt, built by foreign powers. 20 years. This overwhelmingly male gathering was marred by a handful of mostly foreign reporters, producers and photographers. At first my producer, Dominique Van Heerden, was told that the women should go up and watch from a balcony, within minutes we realized that was nonsense and she came down and joined a small group of women in the main room. Image: The Taliban held a televised media event a year after seizing control of Afghanistan The Taliban guards seemed somewhat indifferent as to what to do with them, especially since they couldn’t touch them and throw them out – so they simply refused to leave and the Taliban gave up. In the audience are some of the movement’s big names, key members of the Taliban royal family, including Anas Haqqani, a powerful 28-year-old leader and negotiator with the United States in Doha. His arrival sparked a flurry of activity from the press corps eager for pictures of him. By chance he sat right behind me. Image: Special forces soldiers out in Kabul as the Taliban mark one year since they seized the city The Flunkies begged him to go to the front of the gathering, to the VIP seats reserved for people like him. The Afghan producer told me he wanted to stay where he was because he wasn’t going to stay for the whole event. At that point I suggested to my producer that we ask him for an interview. He swallowed hard and said “Stewart, you better ask him and I’ll translate for you.” Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 0:36 Taliban official on girls’ education The Haqqani family is very powerful, and for all Afghans, very scary. So I went back to my seat, introduced myself and asked if we could have an interview. He looked at me carefully and asked “what’s going on?”. I said the importance of the day perhaps, and the economic and human rights problems his government faces in the eyes of the West. He said, “You have two questions and then I’m off.” After about 45 minutes he tapped me on the shoulder and indicated that I needed to get out. Subscribe to Out Of Afghanistan on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Spreaker The Sky News team moved en masse out of the auditorium. In his interview with Sky News he hinted at a compromise on the issue of girls’ education, but explained that it takes time. “There is no politics involved with this and over time this matter will be resolved,” he told me. “We want the international community and other institutions not to use it negatively or use it against us and it should not be a condition for aid.” That’s something different, but for a member of the Haqqani family — an ultra-conservative group — that’s a big deal. Read more: ‘Don’t use restrictions on girls’ education against us’, says senior Taliban leader Kabul evacuation had ‘tragic but preventable results’, says damning report Former British army chief Lord Danat calls for aid to Afghanistan rather than human rights violations For Western governments to go along with this would be a huge leap of faith. But there is a growing consensus among some governments and NGOs that doing nothing and letting thousands die of starvation, lack of medical facilities and the freezing cold of winter here would be unacceptable. But back on the streets, to the pedestrians celebrating outside the US embassy, a symbol of the failed campaign to change Afghanistan, none of these complicated issues really matter. In fact, many of these Taliban were babies when the war began. A trillion dollars and 21 years later… they are in total control.
