Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 15
Taliban Mark 5 Years of Rule in Kabul as U.S. Withdrawal Anniversary Returns
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 15

Taliban Mark 5 Years of Rule in Kabul as U.S. Withdrawal Anniversary Returns

3 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 15

Summary

  • Kabul gatherings and street celebrations marked five years since the Taliban returned to power after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
  • AP’s latest report frames the anniversary through images, pairing flag-waving supporters with scenes of hardship, including a Kabul grandmother mourning her six-month-old granddaughter who died during winter.
  • That contrast comes as the Taliban remain internationally isolated and under renewed scrutiny over Afghanistan’s human rights crisis.
  • UN reporting cited in earlier coverage said 2.4 million girls are still excluded from secondary education, underscoring the wider toll since the Taliban seized power on Aug. 15, 2021.

Insights

How has an internationally isolated regime managed to survive and even secure unlikely diplomatic alliances over the past five years?
Could rising internal resistance and border conflicts finally fracture the carefully projected image of absolute control?
Are global sanctions inadvertently strengthening the regime's grip while pushing millions of ordinary citizens toward starvation?