Taliban in power

Feb 17th 2022

Here is a view from Mazar-i-Sharif in The Guardian

‘Whatever horrors they do, they do in secret’: inside the Taliban’s return to power

Two excerpts from the piece will give you the picture: this one by a woman in hiding:

“They are the same Taliban, but they are aware that if they try to implement any of their real policies, people will protest and post on social media. In their first government they didn’t care about what the international organisations or the media said, but now they are very sensitive about their public image. Activists and human rights workers are being disappeared in the middle of the night. The Taliban are desperate for recognition from the international community, so whatever horrors they do, they do in secret.”

And this one by the head of the Mazar branch of the Taliban’s religious and moral police:

“In my heart and soul, I love mujahideen of al-Qaida, and I tell my Muslim brother to carry your sword and fight the infidels, and to follow the saying of the prophet, that jihad will continue until judgment day.”