For close to twenty years, Afghanistan has been backed by the US and other NATO nations recovering from the effects of the prior Taliban regime. However, that has all been reversed due to the Taliban’s recent seizure of power in Kabul.
While many efforts were made to help evacuate Afghanistan and escape the rule of the Taliban, there still are millions of Afghan citizens living under the rule of the Taliban whose lives have been drastically changed.
Shortly after the Taliban took over Kabul, the majority of government services stopped being available. Banks were closed leading many citizens to run out of cash while inflation still remained rampant, causing citizens to be in economic upheaval. The price of both food and gas skyrocketed with resources becoming much harder to access. Even Though Kabul was the wealthiest city in Afghanistan, the streets are now covered with beggars and civilians dressed in tattered clothes.
For women, life under the Taliban is significantly worse than under typical Afghani leadership. Despite promising to afford females more rights than in prior rule twenty years ago, the Taliban has curtailed womens’ rights, negating much of the progress in this area so far. While Taliban leadership said that they would allow females to attend schools in separate gender environments, secondary schools for girls have remained closed and a significant number of female teachers have been fired. Women also are forced to be fully covered in burqas and be accompanied by male relatives whenever leaving their house. The Taliban does not support women having jobs, thus thousands of women have already been fired from their jobs, becoming unemployed.
Overall civilians are worried about their safety as security presence has become high. The Taliban began carrying out “summary executions” in which they immediately kill suspects without any form of a fair trial. United Nations human rights experts reported that the Taliban is going door to door in Kabul searching and seizing property. There are also reports of child soldiers and quashing all peaceful protests and any statements against the current government.
Taliban control has especially left the LGBTQ population in immense fear. Even before the rule of the Taliban being gay in Afghanistan was punishable by was jail, however, now under the Taliban, it is punishable by death.
As the Taliban continues to maintain power over Afghanistan, the rights of citizens will be curtailed leaving them extremely vulnerable to the Taliban’s rule.