The Taliban declared Monday a public holiday to celebrate the one-year anniversary of its return to power in Afghanistan, a year that witnessed a major humanitarian crisis and a sharp decline in women’s rights, at a time when the United States seeks to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for terrorism again.
Meanwhile, the network revealedCNNAl-Ekhbariya on a new US intelligence assessment prepared after the killing of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Dhaheri shows that the terrorist organization “has not reconstituted its presence in Afghanistan” since US forces left last year.
The assessment summary stated the consensus view of the US intelligence community that while fewer than ten “core members” of al-Qaeda remain in Afghanistan, al-Zawahiri was the only major figure to have attempted to re-establish himself in the country after US forces left.
The United States assesses that these remaining members are not involved in planning an external attack and that the organization as a whole “has no ability to launch attacks against the United States or its interests outside Afghanistan.”
National Security Council spokeswoman Adrian Watson said the United States “will remain vigilant, along with our partners, to defend our nation and ensure that Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for terrorism,” according to CNN.
Days after Washington announced that he had been killed by a drone strike in the capital, Kabul, in early August, the Taliban announced that it had “no information” about the presence of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan.
Al-Zawahiri’s killing was the biggest blow to al-Qaeda since the assassination of Osama bin Laden by US special forces in 2011.
“Moments of Joy”
On August 15, 2021, the Taliban movement took control of the capital, Kabul, without facing any resistance, after a lightning attack on government forces throughout the country, in light of the exit of American and NATO forces after twenty years of military presence in Afghanistan.
“We fulfilled the duty of jihad and liberated our country,” said Nimatullah Hikmat, a Taliban fighter who entered Kabul that day, a few hours after former president Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
The exit of foreign forces continued until August 31, while tens of thousands of civilians were rushing in panic to the only airport in the capital, seeking to leave on any available plane.
And the world discovered in astonishment the scenes of crowds rushing to planes parked on the runway, climbing on them, or clinging to a US military cargo plane during takeoff.
With the exception of Monday, which was declared a holiday, no official celebration has been announced so far, but state television indicated that it would broadcast special programs, without further details.
A year on, Taliban fighters are glad to see their movement in power, while humanitarian agencies warn of extreme poverty affecting half of the country’s 38 million people.
“When we entered Kabul, and when the Americans left, those were moments of joy,” added Nematullah Hikmat, who is today a member of the Special Forces in charge of guarding the presidential palace. But for ordinary Afghans, especially women, the return of the Taliban has only added to the hardships.
Despite their initial promises, the country’s new rulers quickly re-imposed their strict interpretation of Islamic law that marked their previous rule between 1996 and 2001 and severely restricted women’s rights.
“Everything was taken away from us”
Women were largely excluded from government jobs and were prohibited from traveling alone outside the cities in which they lived.
And in March, the Taliban prevented girls from enrolling in middle and high schools, just hours after they reopened, under a decision that was announced some time ago.
In early May, the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hebatullah Akhundzada, ordered women to wear the niqab in public. The Taliban have made clear that they prefer women to wear the burqa, but will tolerate other forms of veiling that expose only the eyes.
“From the day they arrived, life lost its meaning,” says Ogai Amail, a Kabul resident. “Everything was taken away from us, they even entered our personal space.”
On Saturday, Taliban gunmen with rifle butts and live bullets dispersed a demonstration organized by about forty women to demand the right to work and education.
On Sunday, the European Union expressed its deep concern at the deteriorating living conditions of women and girls in Afghanistan, following the violent suppression of a women’s demonstration in Kabul.
“The European Union is particularly concerned about the fate of Afghan women and girls, who are absolutely deprived of their freedoms, rights and access to basic services such as education,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.
Although Afghans acknowledge the decline in violence with the end of the war since the Taliban came to power, many of them are suffering severely as a result of a severe economic and humanitarian crisis.
“People who come to our stores complain so much about the high prices that we shopkeepers start to hate what we’re doing,” said Noor Muhammad, a shopkeeper from Kandahar, the Taliban’s historic cradle and power center in the south of the country.
But for the Islamist fighters, the joy of victory overshadows the current economic crisis.
One of these fighters says: “We may be poor, we may be facing difficulties, but the white flag of Islam will forever fly high in Afghanistan.”