Afghanistan in the hands of the Taliban, 2021
On 15 August 2021, the Taliban entered Kabul. The Afghan capital has returned to the hands of the insurgent group after 20 years of American presence, after a rapid advance that nothing and no one was able to stop.
Following an agreement with the Afghan government, President Ashraf Ghani stepped down and transferred power to the Taliban leadership.
A few days later, on the night of August 26, suicide attacks claimed by the Islamic State killed more than 100 people, including 13 American soldiers.
The week the Afghan people have just lived through, under the monitoring of the international community, is the conclusion of a cycle that began in February 2020 with the signing of the Doha agreements that ratified the withdrawal of American troops.
The first clear signs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s re-establishment : on motorbikes, on foot or in pick-ups, fighters are fraternizing with the inhabitants and the white flags of the Islamic fundamentalist movement are beginning to be displayed in the streets and on the walls of official buildings.
On 20 August 2021, Khalil ul Rahman Haqqani, brother of Haqqani network founder and notorious Taliban ally Jalaluddin Haqqani, speaks to worshippers in the Pul-i Khishti mosque after Friday prayers.On 9 February 2011, the US Treasury Department designated Khalil al Rahman Haqqani as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224.
Loya Jirga (Traditional Assembly) Conference in Kabul, August 23, 2021, organized by the Taliban’s Preaching and Guidance Commission. Media and religious leaders were among the participants.
On August 24, at the gates of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, hundreds of Afghans wait in hopes of being evacuated by air convoys.
Even with valid travel documents, the gates of the airport are very difficult to enter and access is controlled by Taliban fighters, U.S. Marines, British soldiers and Afghan paramilitary units.
At the end of the day, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, said that Afghans wanting to flee the country would be denied access to the airport.
Kabul, 26 August. Dead and wounded arrive at the emergency hospital for the war-wounded in the centre of the city, after a double suicide bombing set off in the middle of a crowd trying to reach Hamid Karzai International Airport.
The tragedy comes just 11 days after the Taliban came to power and began a mass evacuation of foreigners and Afghans deemed at risk of reprisals.
Since the Taliban took power on 15 August, the United States and other international militaries have been engaged in a massive evacuation operation that was to end on 31 August, the date of the US withdrawal.
The mission, led by members of Sayara International, a research organisation operating in Afghanistan, and the Rockefeller Centre, involved several journalists on the ground in Kabul. Among the 109 evacuees were Afghan journalists and a UNESCO field officer, as well as their families.
The evacuees were assembled at the Serena Hotel in Kabul and driven in a convoy of minibuses through checkpoints manned by Taliban fighters and Afghan paramilitaries, which were required before they could enter the airport. They were then escorted to the tarmac and taken to a new holding area before boarding the plane.
The police and military having deserted, the Taliban have taken their place and are now imposing a new order on the capital.
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