On August 15, the Taliban have been in power in Afghanistan for exactly one year. The "Anniversary of Victory" is to be celebrated regularly from now on. The grievances in the country, however, are piling up. Not only the rights of women are increasingly restricted.
The militant Islamist Taliban have declared a holiday to mark the anniversary of their return to power in Afghanistan. August 15 marks the "first anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan-led Afghan jihad over the American occupation and its allies," the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs wrote in a note announcing the holiday.
Last year, the Taliban met little resistance from Afghan forces as they gradually took control of the country and eventually captured the capital, Kabul. The Bundeswehr left Afghanistan in June 2021 faster than originally planned. In doing so, she followed the time specifications of the USA.
After the Taliban took over Kabul, an international military evacuation operation took place, in which Germany also took part. Dramatic scenes took place at the capital's airport when many people wanted to leave the country. So far, 15,759 Afghan local workers and family members have been brought to Germany, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told the "Bild" newspaper. She did not give an exact figure for how many more people are still planning to leave the country. The local staff used to work, for example, as civilian helpers for the German armed forces or as interpreters.
Since the Taliban seized power again, economic hardship has been greater than before. Almost half of the population is threatened by starvation. The UN children's aid organization UNICEF describes the supply in the country as catastrophic and laments the massive underfunding of aid for the population. "More than a million children are critically malnourished," wrote the Managing Director of UNICEF Germany, Christian Schneider, in the "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger".
The Taliban continue to restrict freedom of speech. Arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings of former Afghan officials and attacks by the Islamic State terrorist militia against religious minorities have increased. The Taliban broke up a peaceful protest by dozens of women for food, work and freedom in Kabul with warning shots. Footage on social media showed Taliban firing shots and physically attacking women.
The number of journalists who work in the media has also fallen by more than half to around 4,750 - women are particularly affected. Since August 2021, at least 80 media workers have been arrested for different lengths of time and some "in a very brutal way". In a "press freedom ranking," Afghanistan is ranked 156th out of 180 countries.
