The Taliban rulers of Afghanistan marked Wednesday three years on the helm of the nation with an elaborate army parade.
The Taliban’s armed forces towed Soviet-era tanks and artillery items by means of the previous U.S. air base in Bagram, the place Chinese and Iranian diplomats have been additionally current.
The former Bagram base as soon as served because the linchpin for U.S.-led operations towards the Taliban for 20 years.
A swarm of motorbikes strapped with yellow jerry cans, typically used to hold improvised explosive gadgets (IED) throughout the struggle towards worldwide forces, additionally rumbled previous assembled officers.
There have been additionally U.S.-made armored personnel carriers, the black-and-white flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan – the Taliban authorities’s formal identify for the nation – fluttering above them.
Helicopters and fighter plane flew over the bottom, the place Taliban fighters have been as soon as imprisoned, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Kabul.
Taliban forces seized the capital on Aug. 15, 2021, after the U.S.-backed authorities collapsed and its leaders fled into exile. The anniversary is marked a day earlier on the Afghan calendar.
Their authorities stays unrecognized by another state, with restrictions on girls, who bear the brunt of insurance policies the United Nations has referred to as “gender apartheid,” remaining a key sticking level.
“Three years have passed since the dreams of girls have been buried,” Madina, a 20-year-old college pupil in Kabul, informed AFP.
“It’s a bitter feeling that every year, the celebration of this day reminds us of the efforts, memories, and goals we had for our future.”
Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund, who had been scheduled to seem at Bagram, praised the Taliban authorities’ victory over “Western occupiers” in a press release learn by his chief of employees.
The Taliban authorities has “the responsibility to maintain Islamic rule, protect property, people’s lives and the respect of our nation,” he mentioned.
‘Victory’
Security has been a key precedence for Taliban authorities as they consolidated their grip on energy over the previous three years, implementing legal guidelines based mostly on their strict interpretation of Islam.
However, assaults by the Daesh terrorist group stay a menace and further safety was deployed in Kabul and the Taliban’s religious dwelling of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan forward of the “day of victory.”
Helicopters additionally flew over the Ghazi stadium in Kabul, the place lots of of males gathered to look at an exhibition of athletics and performances of Taliban anthems.
The Taliban takeover is marked each in mid-August across the date Kabul fell and on the finish of the month, when the final overseas troops left Afghanistan after a chaotic withdrawal.
The black-and-white normal adorned streets and pleased younger boys carried a big flag within the Green Zone, as soon as a safe enclave of overseas embassies.
While many Afghans expressed aid on the finish of 40 years of successive conflicts, the financial system stays stagnant and the inhabitants mired in a worsening humanitarian disaster.
A joint assertion from worldwide non-governmental teams warned of the rising support funding hole, with 23.7 million folks in want of humanitarian help.
Women have been squeezed from public life – banned from many roles in addition to parks and gymnasiums – and barred from secondary and better schooling.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reiterated requires stress on the Taliban authorities to carry restrictions on girls.
“The third anniversary of the Taliban’s takeover is a grim reminder of Afghanistan’s human rights crisis, but it should also be a call for action,” mentioned Fereshta Abbasi, HRW’s Afghanistan researcher.
Source: www.dailysabah.com