Ian Patrick, FISM News
Only weeks after U.S. forces began to officially withdraw from Afghanistan, the Middle Eastern nation now belongs to the Taliban. The terrorist group declared their war to be over, and issued multiple statements calling for peace and cooperation from the Afghan people as they wait to set up a new regime.
Notably, the Taliban had been issuing multiple attacks at least since September of last year, when the terrorist group and the Afghanistan government attempted to negotiate a peace deal. As negotiations continued, the group still issued attacks even amidst multiple warnings from the government and abroad. With the U.S. withdrawal of forces, the Taliban advanced and took over multiple provinces and cities and, on Sunday, took the capital city of Kabul.
FDD’s Long War Journal chronicles the slow advancement of Taliban forces from April until July in the first graphic. The second shows the total control of the Taliban as of today.
Even the President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, fled in the crisis to Tajikistan which further cemented the Taliban’s reign in the nation. The Taliban continues to try and ensure the nation and the world that the new regime will be a peaceful one dedicated to protecting women’s rights.
There was a strong Taliban presence on the streets of Kabul after Taliban officials declared the war over and foreign embassy staff were being evacuated from the capital https://t.co/xKfk1e3asP pic.twitter.com/lfENOav2cw
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 16, 2021
However, not everyone in Afghanistan believes this to be the case. The Taliban previously ran the country under an extreme and brutal Islamic rule from 1996 until the U.S. drove the Taliban out of powers n 2001 after the September 11 terrorist attack. Many of the citizens believe the Taliban’s well-wishes are a farce and their true intent to put the nation under strict and deadly rule once again.
In anticipation of such rule, citizens have been hiding in their homes to avoid confrontation with the Taliban. The Associated Press reports that a photo circulating through social media also showed the owner of a beauty salon trying to paint over images of women, as the previous Taliban government would not allow any such depictions. Men were also changing out of their casual apparel “into the traditional shalwar kamiz outfit” for fear of upsetting the terrorist group.
The Taliban has also reportedly carried out “revenge killings and other brutal tactics,” especially against women, as they moved further into the nation and its capital.
The most telling incident that highlighted the fear of the people culminated in a tragic incident at an airport in Kabul. Thousands of citizens plunged into the airport and onto the tarmac of the airport as the U.S. continued to evacuate government officials still located in Afghanistan. The evacuation has since been stalled with the storming of the airport by the Afghan people.
One troubling video shows people trying to board a U.S. Air Force jet as it is taking off, with many others running around the tarmac.
People are literally sitting on the outside of c-17 plane as it taxiing to take off from #Kabul – later reports two or three people who clung to the wheels fell off mid flight, plunging to their deaths pic.twitter.com/Hn0pr03PUg
— Bel Trew (@Beltrew) August 16, 2021
Reuters reports that five people have died so far from the airport chaos.
Multiple nations and organizations are calling on the Taliban to be peaceful and to maintain human rights. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he is “particularly concerned by accounts of mounting human rights violations against the women and girls of Afghanistan.”