Today - 15th August 2022 – a national holiday has been declared to mark one year since the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan when they seized the capital, Kabul as the Afghan military collapsed.
Following this a hurried withdrawal of Western forces took place with thousands of civilians and western backed government members fleeing the country.
Despite promises to the contrary conditions for women in terms of girls’ education; women’s employment; the forced reintroduction of the veil and overall freedom of choice have not improved in what many reference as a ‘gender apartheid’.
The Afghanistan humanitarian crisis has worsened over the past year with a return to the strict Islamic rule seen when the Taliban were first in power from 1996 to 2021. Overall people are poorer and hungrier since the Taliban’s return to power however the country in general is safer with less blood shed from military conflict. Risks still remain from ISK and rogue former regime groups.