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Today, public sentiments
in Kabul and other Afghan cities toward the Taliban takeover, as reflected in
citizens’ reporting, is a mix of panic, shock, helplessness, anger,
uncertainty, and relief. The memories of the Taliban’s brutal rule in the
1990sand the stories of its conduct in recent years have fed into widespread
fears and anxieties among many Afghan citizens. Women, ethnic and religious
minorities, intellectuals, and the political and security cadre of the collapsed
Afghan government have the most to lose from Taliban rule as the group is
expected to impose their own strict reading of the Islamic Sharia law on
society and to punish the collaborators of the ancien regime. The flood of many
thousands of Afghan people to the Kabul airport in recent days and their
frantic attempts to flee their country by any means reflect this dominant mood
among these segments of Afghan society.
Afghans’ weariness and
frustration over four decades of foreign occupation and civil wars, daily
scenes of violence and bloodshed, and the incompetence and corruption of their
government have ironically led some of them to see the Taliban as their
saviors. Thus, some Afghans welcomed the Taliban’s entry into Kabul and other
major cities. These Afghans see the Taliban’s victory and dominance as
heralding the end of insecurity, instability, and corruption. But for other
Afghans, the future is simply fraught with uncertainties as they wonder how the
Taliban may rule and how other actors will react to that. Continue reading on National Interest
