The Taliban Seizes Afghanistan

     On August 15, chaos erupted in Afghanistan when the Taliban seized the capital, Kabul. The Taliban ruled over Afghanistan from 1996 until the United States put them out of power in 2001, but they have returned to power. The Taliban's authoritarian government in the 1990s instilled fear in the country through public displays of violence such as flogging, amputations, and mass executions. Afghans who lived through the Taliban's previous rule worry that the current situation will deteriorate into a situation akin to the 1990s. 

    The Afghans who worry about the Taliban's plans for the future of the country certainly have reasons to be nervous. The Taliban has promised amnesty to government security forces who lay down their defenses, but according to the New York Times, "A number of government officials have complained that even after they cooperated with the Taliban in handing over their weapons and vehicles, the Taliban have continued to harass them." 

    The Taliban has also broken their further promise to not conduct door-to-door searches or other methods of targeting citizens as there have been a number of detentions, disappearances, and executions of the Taliban's enemies. Clearly, the Taliban want to diminish the threat of opposition on their way toward a new future for Afghanistan.

    The U.S. has also been involved in the conflict, as it has had a military presence in Afghanistan for the past two decades. Today, August 29, 2021, the U.S. hit a suspected ISIS-K suicide bomber in a neighborhood near the Kabul airport; they targeted a vehicle in which the suicide bomber was. According to the Guardian, the strike likely killed three children. On the Thursday before that, a suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. service members along with close to 200 Afghans. President Joe Biden was planning to attend a memorial service for the U.S. service members killed by the suicide bomber.

    However, President Joe Biden intends to end the U.S.'s military involvement in Afghanistan by August 31. Despite pressure from Congress to extend the deadline to ensure the evacuation of all Americans, Biden reassures the U.S. that his deadline will be met. After witnessing the events of the past few weeks, though, the future is anything but certain.

Sources

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/29/world/asia/afghanistan-taliban-revenge.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/08/29/afghanistan-live-updates-taliban-and-kabul-news/5619916001/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/aug/29/afghanistan-live-news-terror-attack-highly-likely-in-next-24-36-hours-says-biden-last-uk-troops-leave-kabul

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/08/24/world/afghanistan-taliban-kabul-news