After the last flight carrying United States forces departed Afghanistan, the country entered a new era as the 20-year war with the U.S. came to a close. There was celebratory fire across Kabul as the Taliban took control of the airport, the site of a mass evacuations and deadly attack last week.
Among the pockets of resistance against the Taliban following their takeover of Afghanistan, the biggest is in the Panjshir Valley. What’s next for Afghanistan? How will other regional and global powers shape the country the United States leaves behind?
What’s happening?
The Taliban are yet to form a government. Their leaders, including Amir Khan Muttaqi, a former Information Minister, are currently holding talks with former President Hamid Karzai, top government negotiator Abdullah Abdullah and Hezb-e-Islami leader and former warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar on transition.
Currently, Afghanistan is an Islamic Republic, where President is the head of state. As the transition process is under way, the Taliban have moved to assure the foreign diplomatic missions as well as the public that they would not target anybody.
On August 17, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s spokesperson, held a press conference in Kabul where he said the new government would respect Afghan women’s rights “within the framework of the Islamic law”.
Mujahid also said the Taliban would not target anyone who worked with the fallen government or foreigners, and asked government employees, including women, to continue to go to work.
Media houses continued to allow female journalists to work, while the streets of Kabul were patrolled by Taliban militants in military vehicles abandoned by government soldiers.
IS terror threat
The Taliban may have taken control of Afghanistan, but the threat of terror attacks in the country has not ended with their insurgency.
Their jihadist rival, the regional chapter of the Islamic State group, has already carried out a deadly suicide attack in Kabul, killing more than 100 people at the airport during the evacuation operation last week.
IS has said it will continue to fight in Afghanistan, and its statements have described the Taliban as apostates. The Taliban now face a sharp role reversal: they have to defend the Afghan people from the attacks.
Economic, humanitarian catastrophe
Afghanistan is one of the poorest nations in the world. After the Taliban were toppled in 2001, huge amounts of foreign aid flowed into the country. International assistance was more than 40% of GDP in 2020.
Most of it is now suspended. The Taliban should figure out how to pay government employees and keep running critical infrastructure such as water, power and communications.
The United Nations has also warned of a humanitarian catastrophe, with food stocks running low because of disruptions caused by conflict as well as a severe drought.
Panjshir Valley
One of the biggest challenges for Taliban is Panjshir Valley. Comprising anti-Taliban militia fighters and former Afghan security forces, they vowed to resist as the Taliban sends fighters to surround the area.
Both sides have said they want to resolve the standoff through talks but there has been no breakthrough on the fate of the strategic area. The valley has limited entry points and its geography offers a natural military advantage — defending units can use high positions to effectively target attacking forces.
The most revered figure in Panjshir is Ahmad Shah Massoud. Known as the “Lion of Panjshir”, Massoud made his name leading mujahideen fighters against the Soviet military in the 1980s.
