Many female students in Kabul university preferred to stay back home than attend classes. Multiple social media posts complained that women in the city received threats from Taliban in some cases, their male friends sought help from international communities on their behalf for their safe exit from Afghanistan. A group of Talibs carrying AK-47s roamed on the premises of a top city hotel, where many officials of the ministry of foreign affairs of the dissolved Ashraf Ghani government took refuge, fearing for their lives after the collapse of the Afghan government. On Monday, all checkpoints in the city, once guarded by Afghan police and security forces, were patrolled by the Taliban forces. Most business centres and shops were shut even as Taliban forces insisted there should be “business as usual” and ordered its men to allow locals to resume daily activities and not “scare” them. People who once took pride in saying “no matter what happens, life goes on in Kabul”, mostly locked themselves up in their homes. That’s how Kabul changed in less than a week.įear, panic, uncertainty and hopelessness gripped Kabul on Monday as Kalashnikov-carrying men, dressed in shalwar kameez, roamed the streets on foot and in open vehicles. “The international community should open their embassies in Kabul,” he said.Last week, my local Afghan friends checked my whereabouts as I was moving around the city alone now I write to them: “Stay safe”. Mujahid told the journalists at the press conference that “Afghanistan has the right to be recognized”. Since their sweep to power last month, the Taliban have been met with widespread condemnation from the international community, with many fearing the government will be similar to the brutal regime of 1996 to 2001 when they were first in power. “Technical teams from Qatar, Turkey and UAE are working hard to repair the equipment,” he said, adding international flights would resume “soon”.
Qatar has been working with the Taliban on getting the airport back up and running, and Mujahid said “serious efforts” were under way to restore operations. “We will announce the new government as soon as the technical issues are resolved.”Ī key issue for the Taliban is the reopening of the airport in Kabul, which was the scene of a massive US-led evacuation plan that ended last week. “Final decisions have been taken, we are now working on the technical issues,” he said. Three weeks after seizing power but with no government so far announced, the spokesman said an “interim” system would first be announced to allow for changes. It is now time for peace and reconstruction. “The war has ended, the country is getting out of the crisis. “Anyone who picks up arms and start another resistance, without any doubts, will be our enemy.” We will not allow another,” Mujahid said. Anyone who tries to start an insurgency will be hit hard. “The is very sensitive about insurgencies. The spokesman added that any insurgency against their rule would be “hit hard”, after earlier saying they had captured the Panjshir Valley - the last pocket of resistance. For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.