Printed On 16 Aug 2026
Hundreds of Taliban supporters have poured into central Kabul, waving white flags and chanting spiritual slogans, as authorities marked 5 years because the group swept again into energy and introduced an finish to the Western-backed republic.
Convoys of vehicles and pick-up vans festooned with Taliban banners rolled by the streets on Saturday in direction of a major gathering exterior a compound housing key ministries. Closely armed fighters stood guard across the space as senior officers addressed the group, praising what they referred to as the “victory of the Islamic Emirate” and promising to proceed imposing their imaginative and prescient of governance.
Taliban leaders used the anniversary to say credit score for restoring safety and nationwide sovereignty, pointing to the absence of large-scale preventing since international troops withdrew and the earlier authorities collapsed in August 2021. Officers repeated longstanding calls for for worldwide recognition, arguing that engagement slightly than sanctions and isolation is required to stabilise the nation.
Afghanistan’s financial system stays fragile. Billions of {dollars} in state reserves stay frozen overseas, banking restrictions have squeezed companies and support businesses warn that thousands and thousands of Afghans nonetheless depend on humanitarian help to outlive. Many Kabul residents who stayed away from the rally mentioned unemployment, rising costs and shrinking freedoms overshadow any sense of safety they might really feel.
On the gathering, nevertheless, attendees voiced a special narrative. Supporters credited the Taliban with ending what they see as international occupation, decreasing crime and holding main roads open. For them, the anniversary was a second to rejoice what they view as a governing system lastly freed from exterior interference – even because the nation stays divided over what that system has delivered and what it has taken away within the 5 years because the Taliban’s return.
UNESCO estimated that 2.4 million ladies have been excluded from secondary schooling. One other United Nations company, the World Meals Programme, mentioned baby malnutrition has reached crucial ranges in a 3rd of Afghanistan’s provinces and is predicted to worsen resulting from funding shortfalls.
