The Myth Of Taliban Unity: Afghanistan's Complex Reality

The Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist group, returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021 after being overthrown by US troops in 2001. Since then, the Taliban has imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic law, severely restricting the rights of women and religious and ethnic minorities. The Taliban has also struggled to manage the country's economy, with Afghanistan's GDP potentially losing up to 5% due to restrictions on women's employment. The Taliban's takeover has resulted in a humanitarian crisis, with rising malnutrition, unemployment, and poverty rates. Additionally, the Taliban faces internal challenges, with different factions holding varying ideological views, and external pressure from the international community, particularly regarding women's rights and ties with terrorist organisations.

The Taliban's impact on women's rights

In the years following the Taliban's ouster in 2001, Afghan women made significant progress in regaining their rights. They fought for equality and improved access to education, healthcare, and political participation. The post-Taliban constitution of 2004 granted women's rights, and by 2020, women made up 21% of Afghan civil servants and 27% of members of parliament. However, this progress was threatened when the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August 2021.

Since their return to power, the Taliban have once again imposed restrictive policies on women. They have banned girls from attending secondary school and university, blocked women from most sectors of employment, and prohibited them from appearing on television or entering parks and other public spaces. Women have been ordered to wear face coverings in public and are barred from travelling without a close male relative. The Taliban's policies have effectively reversed the gains made by Afghan women over the past two decades and have had a devastating impact on their lives and opportunities.

The treatment of women by the Taliban has been widely condemned by the international community and human rights organisations. Despite some variations in the strictness of enforcement across different regions, the overall impact of the Taliban's rules has been to severely restrict women's rights and freedoms. The lack of female representation in the Taliban's governing structures and their negotiating teams has also been noted as a cause for concern.

The Taliban's relationship with Al-Qaeda

The Taliban and Al-Qaeda have a long history of cooperation. The Taliban, a predominantly Pashtun Islamic fundamentalist group, emerged in the early 1990s in northern Pakistan following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. They were educated in traditional Islamic schools, or madrassas, and mixed the pre-Islamic Pashtun tribal code with Wahhabism, a strict form of Sunni Islam.

Al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri pledged allegiance to Taliban leader Mullah Omar, accepting Omar as Amir al-Mu’minin (Commander of the Faithful) of all Sunni Muslims. In return, al-Qaeda doled out money to the Taliban. Al-Qaeda was also allowed to operate in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, and was even allowed use of national resources for their activities.

However, there were some tensions when al-Qaeda was becoming blatant in its attacks and statements. Mullah Omar shifted bin Laden to Kandahar to keep him under observation. In 1998, Omar even went as far as to promise the chief of the Saudi intelligence agency that the Taliban would not shelter bin Laden after al-Qaeda threatened the Saudi royal family.

Despite these tensions, the Taliban did not give up bin Laden and al-Qaeda after 9/11 to the United States, even at the risk of being bombed out of power. The Taliban's refusal to hand over bin Laden led to the United States’ invasion and the downfall of the Taliban régime.

The Taliban and al-Qaeda have since then survived almost 20 years of a U.S.-led Global War on Terror. The Taliban remains solely focused on Afghanistan and has never accepted al-Qaeda’s global jihadist ambitions. Their mutual interest in expelling U.S. forces and retaking Afghanistan has kept them together.

In recent years, the Taliban has praised Mullah Omar's defense of al-Qaeda and bin Laden after 9/11. They have also justified the 9/11 attacks and denied reports of meetings with al-Qaeda.

The Taliban's current leader, Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada, has not publicly acknowledged al-Zawahiri's pledge of allegiance, but there is also no indication that it was rejected.

The Taliban's governance and leadership

The Taliban's governance is characterized by a heavy-handed approach to matters of justice and dispute resolution, with a focus on morality. They have reinstated the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which acts as a morality police enforcing strict dictates on social behavior, including gender integration, dancing, music, TV, and radio. The Taliban have also imposed severe restrictions on women's rights, prohibiting most girls from attending secondary school and banning women from working in almost all sectors. They have cracked down on free speech and political opposition, with journalists, activists, and intellectuals facing detention, beatings, and coercion.

The Taliban's leadership is composed of a thirty-three-member caretaker cabinet, with all ministers being former Taliban officials or individuals loyal to the group. A majority of the ministers are ethnic Pashtuns, and some are considered terrorists by the United States. The Taliban's governance has been marked by internal dissent and power struggles, with some leaders criticizing the emir's draconian policies and advocating for a more pragmatic approach. The group's future appears bleak, with growing opposition from both within and outside the country.

The Taliban's impact on the economy

The Taliban's takeover has also wiped out gains in Afghans’ standards of living that were made over the two decades after the U.S. invasion, according to the UNDP. In an October 2022 report, the agency said that almost all Afghans were living in poverty. The economy has shrunk by up to 30% since the takeover, and an estimated 700,000 jobs have been lost. More than 90% of the population has been suffering from some form of food insecurity.

The Taliban's harsh interpretation of Islamic law has also negatively impacted the economy. For example, the group has banned most women from working, which the UNDP estimates could cost up to 5% of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product (GDP). The Taliban has also reinstated its Ministry of Vice and Virtue to oversee matters of 'morality', which range from severe restrictions on women's role in society to a ban on music and a dress code for men and women.

The Taliban's complete lack of transparency on budget expenditures is unacceptable and may mask irregularities or more likely allocation of large amounts of funds to the security sector and other priorities. Their ban on opium, if implemented, would further shock the Afghan economy and take away the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of rural people.

However, the Taliban has taken a more positive approach to the Afghan private sector than the previous government. Private firms have sometimes negotiated successfully with the Taliban over tax rates and other business issues. Taliban actions have also greatly reduced corruption in customs and at road checkpoints, reducing the overall burden on the private sector.

The Taliban's impact on human rights

Women's Rights

The Taliban have imposed draconian restrictions on the rights of women and girls, pushing them out of public life. Women have been prohibited from working in most sectors, banned from attending and teaching at universities, and prevented from appearing in public or travelling without a male chaperone. Beauty salons have been forcibly closed, and women have been banned from participating in sports activities or visiting public parks. Girls have been denied access to secondary education, and international NGOs providing community-based education have been banned. These restrictions have had a severe impact on women's livelihoods, with thousands of women losing their jobs.

Public Executions and Corporal Punishment

The Taliban have enforced public executions and corporal punishment, including stoning and flogging.

Religious Minorities

Religious minorities, including Shia, Sikhs, Hindus, Christians, Ahmadiyya, and Ismaili, have faced marginalization, prejudice, discrimination, and violence. The Taliban have imposed restrictions on religious events and celebrations, and excluded Shia jurisprudence from the education system.

Healthcare

The healthcare system in Afghanistan remains dependent on international aid and is fragile due to a lack of infrastructure and resources.

Economic Impact

The Taliban's takeover has had a catastrophic impact on the economy, with mass unemployment, a collapse of the housing market, and increased malnutrition. The banking sector has been paralysed by sanctions, and Afghanistan has been cut off from the international financial system. The civilian government institutions that were previously the country's largest employer are now unable to pay salaries.

Overall Impact

The Taliban's human rights abuses have brought widespread condemnation and imperilled international efforts to address the country's dire humanitarian situation. Afghans are trapped in a human rights crisis, with severe rollbacks of the rights of women and girls, reprisals against critics, and a clampdown on freedom of expression.

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