If you have heard anything about Afghanistan recently it was likely related to the Taliban and how their rule is affecting the country, in particular the women who live there. Undeniably, Afghanistan is one of the most restrictive countries for women globally; Amnesty International has described the restrictions placed on the women there as draconian. So, how does a country of over 43 million people with a rich cultural heritage become reduced to an existence described as “gender apartheid”? I’m going to do my best to give a succinct and slightly simplistic outline of the history of the country, and how it came to be where it is today in 2024.
Let’s start with a timeline beginning with the declaration of Afghanistan as an independent country:
1747 – Ahmad Shah Durrani of the Abdali Pashtun confederacy declared an independent Afghanistan.
1838 -1842 – The first Anglo-Afghan War took place, beginning with an invasion by British and Indian troops (on behalf of the British Empire).
1878 – 1880 – The second Anglo-Afghan war, fought between the Afghan troops and British Raj.
1893 – Abdur Rahman and British representative Mortimer Durand signed an agreement establishing the Durand Line. At the time this served as a border between the Afghan land and the British empire, it is now the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
1919 – In May the third Anglo-Afghan war began when Afghan troops invaded British territory. In August Afghani and British representatives signed the Treaty of Rawalpindi, re-affirming the Durand Line.
1964 – A new constitution instituted democratic legislature for the country.
1965 – The Marxist People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) held its first congress.
Now, it is important to remember what is going on globally at this time – the Soviet Union and the USA are in the middle of the Cold War. While attitudes were not as strict as they had been during the height of McCarthyism a decade before, there was still plenty of scepticism about communism.
1973 – Mohammad Daoud Khan declared himself President in a military-backed coup against the king. Khan then instates autocratic rule. Khan was known for his reasonably progressive reform; however, he was not a fan of communists and kicked a lot of them out of government. US = happy, Communists = not.
1978 – In April the Saur Revolution took place after military units loyal to the PDPA killed President Khan and his family. The following month, the PDPA leader, Nur Muhammad Taraki, was announced as President of Afghanistan. The peace didn’t last long, and in July, rebellion against the new government began. In December a treaty is signed permitting deployment of the Soviet military at the request of the Afghan government. US = unhappy, Communists = sort of happy.
1979 – President Taraki is murdered by supporters of Prime Minister Hafizullah Amin. On December 24 the Soviet-Afghan War began when the Soviet Army invades. Everybody = unhappy.
Soviet War: 1979-1989 – Now, remember what I said earlier about the Cold War and how that made some countries feel? Well, you can bet your boots they weren’t too please about a Soviet occupation in Afghanistan. In fact, the United States, alongside Pakistan and Saudi Arabia started backing an anti-Soviet military group known as the mujahideen. The US is doing this on an anti-communist basis, whereas Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are in it for the pro-Islam stance the group takes; the classic common-enemy-to-allies development. The mujahideen were using Islam as their unifying cause, which then drew in some foreign fighters. In 1986 one foreign fighter, Osama bin Laden, decided to create his own group within the mujahideen called al-Qaeda.
1988 – After almost 10 years of fighting the Soviet government signed the Geneva Accords, agreeing to leave Afghanistan and providing a timeline for the withdrawal of their troops.
1989 – The last Soviet troops left the country, the same year the Afghan Civil War began. Still no peace for the people of this place.
1992 – The Afghan Civil War ended when Afghan political parties sign Peshawar Accord. Jamiat-e Islami (Afghan paramilitary group) instate a leader as agreed.
1994 – The Taliban government began to form in a small village near Kandahar. The Taliban is a group who hold ultraconservative views (read more here).
1996 – Political unrest allowed the Taliban to take over the government. Another Afghan Civil War (1996-2001) begins. Osama bin Laden, who had previously been in Sudan, flees to Afghanistan where he and al-Qaeda are now protected by the Taliban due to the alignment of the worldviews held by both groups.
2001 – Two major events occur in 2001.
The first, lesser-known event is the assassination of Ahmad Shah Massoud, famed mujahideen leader, by two al-Qaeda members. At the time of his death Massoud was leading the Northern Alliance, a group of Afghan militias who opposed the Taliban rule. Massoud had previously requested assistance from the US but had been denied further help. It was thought he was another potential leader of Afghanistan instead of the Taliban.
Then of course, on the 11th of September the attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon took place. President George W. Bush demanded the Taliban hand over bin Laden and close ‘terrorist training camps’. The Taliban refused his request. Less than a month later the USA and UK combine to launch ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’: an aerial bombing campaign against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
The Afghanistan campaign of the ‘War on Terror’ ensues, spanning almost 20 years. This is the longest war the USA has ever engaged in and it resulted in the deaths of at least 169,319 Afghan people (though this is likely to be a large underestimation) and 6,665 US or allied troops and contractors. It’s estimated that an additional almost 67,000 people were killed in Pakistan as a result of this war.
2020 – The USA signed a peace agreement with the Taliban, agreeing to decrease troop presence and a (conditional) full withdrawal by 1 May 2021.
2021 – It is agreed the final US troops will be withdrawn by August 31st. By mid-August Kabul, as well as much of the rest of the country, has fallen to the Taliban.
2021 – 2024 – The Taliban maintain rule of Afghanistan. They have sent an ambassador to China and, as of 2023, three airlines fly in and out of the country. However, thousands of people are reported to be trying to flee the country but restrictions on citizens make it difficult for many to do so. Even once people leave, in multiple countries they face the threat of being deported back to Afghanistan despite Amnesty International’s stance against repatriation of any Afghani national.
So what’s it actually like to live in a country under Taliban rule?
Previously a fashion-forward holiday destination, Afghanistan now ranks as the worst place in the world to live as a woman. Since takeover in 2021, the Taliban have reversed agreements made prior to US departure in order to create an oppressive system of rule. Girls above 6th grade are not allowed to attend any form of education, beauty salons were forced to close (affecting approximately 60,000 female entrepreneurs), women are not allowed to use gyms or parks, and are required to have a male chaperone whenever they leave the house. It has reached such extremes that it has been determined that refugee status should be granted to Afghan women on the basis of nationality and gender alone.
Yet it is not only women who are suffering under Taliban rule. In the three years they have been in power there have been multiple suicide-bombing attacks against civilians. There have also been multiple reports of public floggings and executions carried out by the Taliban themselves. In addition to inhumane punishment tactics, the Taliban do not have the money, experience or resources to successfully lead a country. There have been two large-scale earthquakes and one flood that they were underprepared for, meaning they were reliant on foreign aid assistance to deal with the aftermath. While it is not uncommon for countries to require foreign aid after natural disasters, it’s not so straight-forward when you are viewed by the majority of the global-north as, at worst, a terrorist organisation or, at best, a highly oppressive regime.
So, while the Taliban are clearly now the main source of problems within Afghanistan, it must be acknowledged that the group didn’t simply fall into their position of power. If it wasn’t obvious from the timeline above, the west, more recently mostly the USA, played a huge role in bringing Afghanistan to the state it’s in now. How so? Well, initial colonisation and continuous warfare set them up poorly from the get-go. The more recent trouble then began with the backing of the mujahideen back in the 80s – the USA was providing weapons to this group, as well as training and tactics. Meddling in foreign affairs rarely (if ever) turns out well for anyone involved and this was no exception. The USA helped create the political turmoil that enabled the rise of extreme political factions. Not only this, but they unwittingly trained and armed the very people they would be fighting against just a couple of decades later.
Throughout the early 90s the Taliban were doing quite well in the midst of chaos – while the rest of their country was distracted by yet another war, they were gathering and forming a government. We could highlight here that, as soon as the Soviets backed off, US input was nowhere to be found. In fact, the USA was quite happy to leave multiple political factions, some of which they’d played a part in bolstering, to fight amongst themselves. “So long as the communists aren’t involved, nothing to see here folks!” This would of course come back to bite them when the Taliban take control and start harbouring bin Laden, who quite quickly made himself global-enemy number one.
So, the USA took a backseat for a while – so what? They stepped in in 2001 and did their best right? Well… yes and no.
Sure, the USA and UK took it upon themselves to bomb the shit out of the middle east, but by all accounts, they did what could be kindly described as a pretty shoddy job of trying to obtain peace. The objection of the ‘War on Terror’, in Afghanistan at least, was to win. As anyone who has watched any American film will know – it’s not over until the good guy comes out on top! What the west didn’t factor in was the fact that this was not Hollywood but instead a real-life war zone in which you are up against people who are not just fighting for a win, but fighting for their country, their freedom, and the right to live life the way they want. The west underestimated their opponents, going as far as to deny peace offerings from the Taliban in exchange for amnesty, as they were so hell-bent on “defeating the terrorists”. They piled troops into the region and spent billions only to end up withdrawing 20 years after they started things with pretty much nothing to show for their efforts other than death and destruction. Even the US withdrawal was done in a way that confirmed to the Taliban that they just wanted to leave as soon as possible, putting the remaining Afghan government in no position to come to any sort of agreement with the advancing Taliban forces. The Taliban ruled Afghanistan the same month western troops retreated. Thanks to the USA and their allies, the people of Afghanistan endured years of war and uncertainty, and ended up in a worse position than when it started.
What now? From what I’ve written above you would be forgiven for thinking that the situation is hopeless for the people of Afghanistan. However, let’s not underestimate the resilience of the Afghan people as has been done so many times before.
One of the things that prompted this post was a visit I took to a photography exhibition in Paris; Prix Carmignac du Photojournalisme – 14th edition: ‘No Woman’s Land’. While many of the stories shared by the women who had been interviewed and photographed were desperate and harrowing, what stood out to me more was how strong, determined, and defiant these women were. The exhibition was full of stories of women creating their own secret communities to educate themselves and one another, to continue political discussions, and to find joy in each other’s company. Some women spoke of their hopes for themselves and their families outside of Afghanistan, seeing no hope within the country in the near future. However, many women talked of their plans for a free Afghanistan, and what they hoped to do within the country they loved. What was so important for these women was that Afghanistan was so much more than a war zone – it was a country with a rich history, beautiful landscapes, and a vibrant culture. It is an amazing place currently dominated by a group of extremists who in no way represent the Afghan people as a whole. For the women and any Taliban non-supporters in Afghanistan, the fight continues. Those of us lucky enough to be on the outside must do what we can to support them. Where you can; hold your government to account, not only in relation to Afghanistan but to all conflicts they are involved in (directly or non-directly). Volunteer with groups who support refugees, donate where you can, support any Afghan-run businesses, and keep talking about Afghanistan and the people who wish to live in their home country with real peace and freedom.
Photo | Original: Taken at Prix Carmignac du Photojournalisme 14e: No Woman’s Land exhibition