BAGRAM: Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers celebrated three years in power on Wednesday with a military parade paying homage to their homemade bombs used in war, fighter aircraft and goose-stepping security forces.

The Taliban’s armed forces towed Soviet-era tanks and artillery pieces through the former US air base in Bagram, where Chinese and Iranian diplomats were among hundreds who gathered for the parade and speeches.

The former Bagram base once served as the linchpin for US-led operations against the Taliban for two decades.

A swarm of motorbikes strapped with yellow jerry cans, often used to carry homemade bombs during the fight against international forces, also rumbled past assembled officials. There were US-made armoured personnel carriers, the black-and-white flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan — the Taliban government’s formal name for the country — fluttering above them.

Helicopters and fighter aircraft flew over the base, where Taliban fighters were once imprisoned, about 40 kilometres north of Kabul.

Taliban forces seized the capital on Aug 15, 2021, after the US-backed government collapsed and its leaders fled into exile. The anniversary is marked a day earlier on the Afghan calendar. Their government remains unrecognised by any other state, with restrictions on women, who bear the brunt of policies the United Nations has called “gender apartheid”, remaining a key sticking point.

“Three years have passed since the dreams of girls have been buried,” Madina, a 20-year-old former university student in Kabul, said.

“It’s a bitter feeling that every year, the celebration of this day reminds us of the efforts, memories, and goals we had for our future.”

Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund, who had been scheduled to appear at Bagram, praised the Taliban authorities’ victory over “Western occupiers” in a statement read by his chief of staff.

The Taliban government has “the responsibility to maintain Islamic rule, protect property, people’s lives and the respect of our nation”, he said.

IS threat Security has been a priority for Taliban authorities as they consolidated their power over the past three years, implementing laws based on their strict interpretation of Islam.

However, attacks by the militant Islamic State group remain a threat and extra security was deployed in Kabul and in the Taliban’s spiritual home of Kandahar ahead of the “day of victory”.

A convoy of military vehicles and arms also paraded near the southern city. Helicopters flew over the Ghazi stadium in Kabul, where hundreds of men gathered to watch speeches and an exhibition of athletics and performances of Taliban anthems.

Rugby player Samiullah Akmal praised the day’s events, saying it was “better than other years”.

“As a young man, I see Afghanistan’s future is bright... we are independent and the people surrounding us are our own.”

The stadium was full of people from surrounding provinces, Noorullah Noori, Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs, said, adding that there was a feeling of “unity”.

“Whether people are members of Islamic Emirate or not... they should be grateful for this blessing from God, they should stand behind the Islamic Emirate.”

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2024