For 20 years, the area where he lives was considered one of the least safe and least developed in the country, despite being located only a 40-minute drive south of Kabul. Like other young Afghans The New Humanitarian spoke to, Saboor came of age during the US-led occupation. Several young men from the provinces bordering Kabul told The New Humanitarian that the change in power in the capital has brought an unprecedented feeling of safety.Ībdul Saboor, 22, spent the majority of his life in Pol-e Alam, the capital of Logar province. That is a sharp reduction from the first six months of 2021, when 5,183 civilian casualties, including 1,659 deaths, were recorded. Between 15 August 2021 and 15 February 2022, the UN documented at least 1,153 civilian casualties, including 397 deaths. Overall, however, there has been a steep decrease in general violence since Western troops withdrew from the country and the Taliban assumed power.
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Though no one has yet taken responsibility, it follows a series of attacks in recent months – many claimed by the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, a hardline militant group at odds with the Taliban government. Last week, a bombing at a Kabul mosque killed at least 21 people and wounded 33 others. “There can be a thousand advances, but they will hone in on a single flaw.”
“The world turns a blind eye ,” Hemayatullah Ahmadi, a 26-year-old Afghan, told The New Humanitarian. They also credit the Taliban for bringing long-absent security to the country and putting an end to the street harassment of women – although human rights groups note that there has been a significant backsliding in women’s rights when it comes to access to education, economic rights, freedom of expression, freedom of movement, and more. And supporters commend the Taliban’s economic moves as a step toward building the country’s economy despite the difficult financial environment. Some observers argue that Afghanistan’s humanitarian and economic crises cannot be alleviated without the removal of sanctions and the unfreezing Afghanistan’s foreign reserves. Supporters of the Taliban say that these are the struggles of a nascent government operating in a difficult environment, cut off from global support, and that the Taliban deserves credit for introducing anti-corruption efforts, levying new taxes, and boosting coal exports to generate much-needed revenue. According to the US government, more than 900,000 people have lost their jobs in the past year, and many of those who are still employed have seen major pay cuts as the government and private companies struggle to stay afloat. Now, 70 percent of Afghan households are unable to provide for their basic needs, and around 90 percent of the population – including 3.2 million children at risk of malnutrition – is suffering from food insecurity. In the year since, international sanctions on senior Taliban leadership, significant aid cutbacks, and the freezing of billions of dollars of Afghanistan’s national reserves in banks overseas have all contributed to making the situation considerably worse. And it is a viewpoint that is often absent in Western media narratives focusing on deteriorating human rights and living conditions in the year since the Taliban returned to power.Įven before last August, Afghanistan was facing overlapping humanitarian crises fuelled by decades of war, and the country’s economy – heavily reliant on foreign aid – was on shaky ground.
The perspective they shared may not reflect the majority view, but it is hardly niche. The New Humanitarian recently spoke to three young Afghans from three different provinces who were glad that what they saw as the corrupt rule of the country’s Western-backed government had ended and who were hopeful for a more peaceful era ahead. A year after the Taliban returned to power, not all Afghans are fearful of their future under the group’s Islamic Emirate.
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