Over the past three years, the Taliban have convincingly demonstrated their lack of understanding of providing services, governance, and the requisites of a modern society. As prominent examples of societal regression, they have failed to deliver essential services to the people, which was expected. A governance system preoccupied with archaic measures, while the world progresses with artificial intelligence and chip implantations, cannot meet the basic expectations of its populace. Consequently, such governance, devoid of a modern outlook, fails to fulfill even the most minimal expectations of the people, much like the Taliban’s lack of achievements in any domain. To assert their relevance and portray themselves as different from the destructive Taliban era under Mullah Omar, they undertake minor actions. They commission a legion of affiliated media outlets and hire YouTubers to propagate their agenda, often resorting to deceptive practices, such as glorifying trivial projects like repainting the Pul-e Sukhta area in Kabul and the Kota Sangi overpass while coercively extracting funds from the public.
The Taliban cannot continuously sustain their media outlets and cyber army with just a few minor and superficial projects. Therefore, they frequently make grandiose and false claims. Hence, they make numerous grandiose and deceitful claims, prominently among them being their fight against drugs and their provision of security. Recently, Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting Foreign Minister of the Taliban, asserted during a meeting with the head of the Indonesian Mosque Council that they have been successful in ensuring security and combating drugs. These two claims, besides serving the purpose of diverting domestic attention from the core issue of a terrorist group governing the country, also target external audiences. The Taliban are well aware of the severe drug-related and insecurity issues plaguing regional countries, with Afghanistan being perceived as a major source. Thus, they harbor serious concerns in this regard. By making such claims, the Taliban falsely reassures external audiences. However, reality starkly contradicts the assertions made by the Taliban.
Above all, the Taliban’s definition of security is crucial. Security, according to the Taliban, entails absolute silence from the people and the imposition of fear and terror upon society to prevent anyone from speaking or even thinking contrary to what the Taliban government desires, let alone taking any action. However, the perspective of the people differs significantly. For the people, security means much more than mere silence; it encompasses protection from thieves and kidnappers lurking in alleyways, shielding against suicide and explosive attacks on roads, and safeguarding their mosques and educational centers from suicide bombings. Furthermore, they do not feel any sense of physical or psychological security when subjected to various forms of abduction, torture, and killings by the Taliban under different pretexts.
Every few months, reports of massacres of both military personnel and civilians across the country surface, indicating a substantial toll that would shake any society other than Afghanistan. While these reports cannot cover all instances of slaughter and murder, they still highlight hundreds of casualties. A recent report by the Hasht-E-Subh newspaper reveals that in 70 days, 94 individuals were killed, with 30 of them directly targeted by Taliban gunfire during protests in Badakhshan and at inspection checkpoints in several provinces. Additionally, alongside the direct killings perpetrated by the Taliban, mysterious murders occur daily across the country, mostly involving firearms. Given the Taliban’s possession of weapons, the group is often the primary suspect in these killings, demonstrating a long-standing history of such actions.
On the other hand, even the Taliban themselves do not enjoy security. While the ISIS group launches significant attacks, smaller-scale assaults also occur. For instance, just yesterday, two Taliban commanders were killed in a five-hour interval in the city of Ferozkoh.
Another aspect of security is mental well-being, which remains elusive under Taliban rule. In a situation where some people, due to economic pressures and the inhumane constraints imposed by the Taliban, resort to suicide, and the suicide rate has steadily risen over the past three years, psychological security cannot be found. The Taliban employ informants and mercenaries within society to identify dissenters and targets, even turning brother against brother. This tactic mirrors the practices of the Communist Party government of Afghanistan. Back then, Khadamat-e Aetla’at-e Dawlati (KHAD) or State Intelligence Agency agents infiltrated communities and even families, continually ensnaring one another. Now, the Taliban have adopted this approach. In such circumstances, there is no mental tranquility. When someone lacks basic rights such as the right to work, to dress as they please, to choose, to receive education, and many other fundamental rights, alongside enduring economic pressures and the looming threat of suicide attacks, abductions, and ransom, even fearing one’s own shadow lest it betrays them and leads them into a trap, discussing psychological security becomes meaningless. No one can maintain their mental and spiritual peace while death shadows their every move. Therefore, the concept of psychological security is nonexistent in Afghanistan.
On another facet of security lies economic security. A portion of Afghanistan’s urban population relies on street vending and shopkeeping for their livelihoods. Shopkeepers and street vendors have been harassed and extorted by the Taliban under various pretexts multiple times. For instance, they collected vendors’ carts and sold them back at several times the original price, or forcibly reclaimed the carts without returning the money months later. Or, for example, news surfaced yesterday that, under Mullah Hibatullah’s orders, women working under Taliban rule must all receive uniform salaries, reduced to a mere 5000 Afghanis. This amount barely covers the monthly rental of a motorbike for a female employee to commute to and from work, let alone providing for their households and possibly having lunch. These schemes are designed to drive the last remaining female employees out of government offices. Alongside this, abductions and ransom demands by the Taliban occur frequently. This jeopardizes the financial security as well as the job security and lives of people in Afghanistan’s cities.
In rural areas, most people are involved in agriculture. Even their lives are not spared by the Taliban. The group targets certain ethnic groups and demands ownership documents for ancestral lands. They reject the customary documents provided by the people and confiscate their properties. Furthermore, the job market in Afghanistan is dormant. Therefore, there is no job security or financial security under Taliban rule. When Amir Khan Muttaqi claims, “We have ensured security,” I wonder which security he is referring to. People lack not only physical security but also mental and emotional well-being, as well as job and financial security.
Another claim made by Muttaqi is their fight against drugs. However, this claim is contradicted by the fact that the Taliban are the main orchestrators of Afghanistan’s drug production and trafficking. Some notorious traffickers, such as Haji Bashar Noorzai, are close associates of the Taliban leadership. Even during the Republic era, most opium was cultivated in areas beyond government control and under Taliban influence. To avoid delving into a lengthy discussion, let’s cite a recent news report that exposes the falsehood of the Taliban’s claim to combat drugs: Iran detained two armed bands smuggling drug shipments from Afghanistan. In this operation, Iranian security forces seized at least five tons of drug cargo, including heroin and crystal meth. Just as the Taliban’s claim about security is false, their assertion of fighting drugs is also sheer deception.
You can read the Persian version of this analysis here:
تامین امنیت و مبارزه با مواد مخدر؛ ادعاهای کاذب طالبان | روزنامه ۸صبح