Six months of Taliban rule leaves Afghans safer, poorer and less hopeful

In just half a year of Taliban control, Afghanistan has experienced a tremendous metamorphosis.

The country seems safer and less violent than it has in decades, but the once-aid-fueled economy is collapsing. Tens of thousands of Afghans, including many educated elites, have fled or been evacuated. They are concerned about their economic future or a loss of freedom under a group that follows a strict interpretation of Islam. During its previous regime, which ended in the late 1990s, the Taliban prohibited girls from attending school and women from working.

Tuesday commemorates six months since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, following the abrupt and covert departure of the country’s US-backed president. The Taliban’s seizure of Kabul was preceded by a months-long military effort to seize control of provincial districts, many of which fell without a struggle.

Residents are still shocked and alarmed when they see armed Taliban insurgents wandering the streets nowadays. Women, on the other hand, have returned to the streets, and many young men have returned to wearing Western attire after originally abandoning them in favour of the Taliban’s preferred shalwar kameez, a long shirt and baggy pants.

In contrast to the 1990s, the Taliban now allows some women to work. Women are returning in the health and education ministries, as well as at Kabul International Airport, often working alongside men. Women, on the other hand, are still waiting to return to work in other ministries. Thousands of jobs have been lost as a result of the economic downturn, with women bearing the brunt of the burden.

The Taliban have repressed women’s marches and harassed journalists, temporarily detaining two international journalists working with the United Nations refugee agency last week.

The imprisonment of three young men selling heart-shaped flowers in honour of Valentine’s Day on Monday was a strong reminder that the new all-male religion-driven leadership has no tolerance for Western notions of romance.