Taliban Declare National Holiday To Mark First Anniversary Of Their Return To Power In Afghanistan

Exactly a year ago, hardline Islamists took Kabul after a statewide lightning onslaught against government forces brought an end to 20 years of US-led military operations.

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Following a traumatic year in which women's rights were crushed and a humanitarian catastrophe worsened, the Taliban commemorated the first anniversary of their return to power in Afghanistan with a national holiday on Monday, news agency AFP reported.

Exactly a year ago, hardline Islamists took Kabul after a statewide lightning onslaught against government forces brought an end to 20 years of US-led military operations.

Taliban mark turbulent first year in power.

Exactly a year ago, the hardline Islamists captured Kabul after their nationwide lightning offensive against government forces ended 20 years of US-led military interventionhttps://t.co/SY2VSA95MX pic.twitter.com/ARvO81zlfv

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 15, 2022

"We fulfilled the obligation of jihad and liberated our country," said Niamatullah Hekmat, a fighter who stormed Kabul on August 15, last year, only hours after then-President Ashraf Ghani departed the country.

Foreign soldiers continued to leave in a haphazard manner until August 31, with tens of thousands of Afghans flocking to Kabul's airport in the hopes of being evacuated on any flight out of Afghanistan.

Images of protesters swarming the airport, leaping onto planes, and some clinging to a departing US military cargo jet as it rolled down the runway aired on Television worldwide.

Authorities have not yet announced any formal commemorations on the anniversary, although state television has stated that it will carry special program.

Taliban warriors, on the other hand, expressed joy that their organization was now in control, despite the fact that relief agencies estimate that half of the country's 38 million inhabitants live in terrible poverty.

"The time when we entered Kabul, and when the Americans left, those were moments of joy," Hekmat, now a member of the special forces guarding the presidential palace, was quoted by AFP in its report.

'Life Has Lost Its Meaning': Taliban Imposed Various Limitations On Women

However, the return of the Taliban has exacerbated challenges for ordinary Afghans, particularly women.

The Taliban initially promised a gentler version of the brutal Islamist rule that characterised their first tenure in office from 1996 to 2001.

However, various limitations have been enforced on women in order to conform to the movement's austere view of Islam.

Tens of thousands of girls have been prevented from attending secondary school, and many women have been barred from returning to government positions.

In May, they were instructed to totally cover up in public, preferably with a burqa.

"From the day they have come, life has lost its meaning," said Ogai Amail, a resident of Kabul.

"Everything has been snatched from us, they have entered even our personal space," she said.

To disrupt a gathering in Kabul on Saturday, Taliban fighters battered women demonstrators and fired rifles into the air.

While Afghans recognise that violence has decreased since the Taliban took power, the humanitarian catastrophe has rendered many helpless.

"People coming to our shops are complaining so much of high prices that we shopkeepers have started hating ourselves," said Noor Mohammad, a shopkeeper from Kandahar, the de facto power centre of the Taliban.

(With Inputs From AFP)