One year of Taliban Rule in Afghanistan: An overview
On 15 August 2022, one year was completed since the Taliban had taken the control of Kabul (entire Afghanistan) after former president Ashraf Ghani fled from Afghanistan. This year was very challenging for the Taliban to maintain their control all over the country because initially, they faced strong opposition and resistance from Punjsher, a huge migration of Afghani people, the Covid-19 Pandemic, dire economic conditions in the country, and issues of Women's rights and education, inclusive government and acceptability and legitimacy from the International community.
The economic situation of Afghanistan during the last year of the Taliban rule was also alarming. As the fiscal budget of Afghanistan was given by international donations and aid but when the Taliban came into power, The US and international community abruptly cut off aid and donations and freeze the reserves of $7 billion in banks. They continuously demanded the release of their assets but failed. Due to food insecurity and natural disasters like floods and earthquakes. Recently around one thousand Afghani died due to an earthquake.
Today 20 million Afghanis are facing the problem of food shortage that comprises more than half of the country’s 38.9 million population. Millions are also facing malnutrition and as per the UN report Afghanistan is in "survival mode".
There is no doubt the first time, a single authority ruled in Afghanistan after a very long time of four decades in the war-torn country, they improved the physical security of the country, but ISSI is the primary threat to them as the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (IS-KP) is attacking and targeting especially the Shia community and other minorities in the country. Only minorities are not targeted, the high-profile members (like Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani reportedly died in a suicide bomb blast in Kabul) and supporters of the Taliban had been attacked and killed in suicide bombings.
As per the UN data, there were still over 2,000 civilian casualties (700 deaths and over 1,400 injuries) reported between August last year to mid-June this year.
On the diplomatic front, they have regularly engaged with an international community for legitimacy and recognition but failed to gain their recognition, even from their close countries like Pakistan, China, Russia, etc. All countries are urging them for inclusivity and ensuring women's rights and their education.
They have been invited by various countries for bilateral talks including Pakistan, China, Iran, Qatar, Uzbekistan, and other regional countries. At multilateral forums, they have been engaged by the International Community but major issues are women's rights, free media, and inclusivity in government but the Taliban is unable to fulfill the demands of the international community.
In the coming days, there are many challenges and hurdles in the way for the Taliban to face. One major challenge will be for their recognition from the international community but it seems that this will not be an easy job for de facto rulers. But one thing we should keep in mind is that today the Taliban is the reality of Afghanistan and the international community should not put them into isolation. One way is regular engagement because Afghan people are suffering a lot due to contention. They had also suffered a lot during four decades.