Image source, AFPI image caption, Protests took place in the capital last spring, demanding the reopening of secondary schools for girls A year ago, the Taliban stormed the Afghan capital of Kabul as foreign forces hurriedly completed their withdrawal. Speaking on behalf of the Taliban at the time, Zabihullah Mujahid made a series of promises for the new government. So did the regime keep its promises?

“We will allow women to work and study … women will be very active, but within the framework of Islam.”

The previous Taliban regime in the 1990s severely restricted women’s freedom – and after the Taliban took power last year, a number of restrictions have been reimposed on women in Afghanistan. Dress codes and laws prohibiting access to public places without a male guardian have been enforced.
In March, schools reopened for a new academic year, but the Taliban reversed an earlier promise and girls are currently not allowed to attend high school. The Taliban have blamed a lack of female teachers and the need to address the segregation of facilities. This has affected around 1.1 million students, according to the UN, and has drawn widespread international criticism. Primary education of girls is allowed. Image source, AFPI image caption, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid addressing reporters last year in Kabul Some public universities reopened to men and women in February. But women’s labor force participation has declined since the Taliban took over last summer, according to the World Bank. Women’s labor force participation had risen from 15% to 22% in just over a decade, between 1998 and 2019. However, with the Taliban imposing more restrictions on women’s movement outside the home since returning to power, the proportion of women working in Afghanistan has shrunk to 15% in 2021. An Amnesty report in July said the Taliban had “decimated the rights of women and children” in Afghanistan. He highlighted the abuse and torture meted out to some women who had taken part in protests against the new restrictions imposed on them.

“We will work…to revive our economy, to rebuild, to prosper.”

In June, the United Nations Security Council reported that the Afghan economy had shrunk by an estimated 30%-40% since the Taliban takeover in August last year. An assessment by the official body overseeing US-funded reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan concluded that although some international aid continues to flow into the country, economic conditions remain “difficult”. Image source, AFPI image caption, Taliban guards at the border crossing with Uzbekistan The suspension of most international aid and the freezing of access to Afghanistan’s foreign exchange reserves had severe economic consequences for the country. To compensate, the Taliban sought to increase tax revenue, as well as increase coal exports to take advantage of higher global prices.
A three-month budget announced in January this year showed the Taliban had collected nearly $400 million in domestic revenue from September to December 2021. But experts have raised concerns about a lack of transparency in how it was raised. these elements. Loss of international support, security challenges, climate-related issues and global food inflation are contributing to a rapidly deteriorating economic situation.

“There will be no narcotics production in Afghanistan … we will zero opium production again.”

The Taliban’s promise to crack down on opium poppy cultivation reflects a policy they introduced with some success when they were last in power more than two decades ago. Opium is used to make heroin – and Afghanistan has been, by far, the world’s largest source of opium for many years. In April this year, the Taliban announced a ban on poppy cultivation. There is no firm evidence of how the crackdown has progressed, although reports from some poppy-growing areas in Helmand province in the south suggest the Taliban are forcing farmers to destroy poppy fields. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Opium production increased during the main harvest of 2021 A US official report in July noted that although the Taliban were at risk of losing support from farmers and others involved in the drug trade, they “appear committed to drug interdiction”. However, Dr David Mansfield, an expert on Afghanistan’s drug economy, points out that the main opium poppy crop would have already been harvested by the time the ban was imposed. “The second [annual] The crop in south-west Afghanistan is usually a small crop… so its destruction… would not have a significant impact,” says Dr Mansfield. It is also worth noting that the production and manufacture of other drugs, such as crystal meth, has increased, although the Taliban have banned a wild plant (ephedra) used to make it.

‘We [the Taliban] are committed to ensuring safety’.

Although the conflict that brought the Taliban to power is largely over, more than 2,000 civilian casualties (700 deaths and over 1,400 injuries) were reported between August last year and mid-June of this year, according to UN figures. current year. However, these numbers are much lower than in previous years, when the conflict was at its height. About 50% of the casualties since August 2021 have been attributed to the actions of the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) group, an offshoot of the Islamic State group still active in Afghanistan. In recent months, there have been several attacks by IS-K targeting civilians, especially in urban areas with Shia Muslims or other minorities. Image source, AFPI image caption, A man mourns after an attack on a Shiite mosque in Kandahar last October The presence of other anti-Taliban forces, such as the National Resistance Front (NRF) and the Afghan Freedom Front (AFF), has also increased.
“The overall security environment is becoming increasingly unpredictable,” the UN said in June, citing the presence of at least a dozen separate anti-Taliban fighters present in the country. There has also been a significant increase in human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, detentions and torture by the Taliban, according to the UN.
Between August 2021 and June 2022, it recorded at least 160 extrajudicial killings of former government and security officials.