AS the Taliban marked the fifth anniversary of their takeover of Afghanistan on Saturday, ordinary citizens — particularly the country’s women — had little to celebrate. Kabul’s relations with most of its neighbours are also strained, mainly because Afghanistan, under Taliban 2.0, remains a safe haven for some of the world’s deadliest terrorist groups that pose a direct threat to regional states, including Pakistan. While the widespread internal violence of the civil war years has decreased, stability and economic prosperity elude Afghanistan, because of the stubborn attitudes of its rulers. The Kabul regime has been recognised only by Russia; most of Afghanistan’s neighbours maintain de facto ties. The vast majority of the international community maintains very little formal contact with the regime.
Despite getting a second chance in the driving seat, the Taliban have learnt nothing from their earlier stint in power. In fact, the hard-line group has continued its war on women, reinforcing stringent restrictions on their rights that no other country on earth applies. Education for girls is limited to the primary level. Some 2.5m girls and women are denied access to secondary school and university. Women’s mobility outside their home, too, is severely limited. The UN says that the restrictions have “triggered a mental health crisis” and that “women have been erased from public life”. The UN also says that Afghanistan faces “one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises”, with millions requiring assistance.
Externally, the Taliban’s refusal to break off relations with terrorist groups such as the TTP and AQIS have strained ties with neighbours. There had been great expectations within Pakistan’s ruling circles at the time that the removal of the US-backed Afghan government, and the return of the Taliban to the saddle, would work in this country’s favour. These hopes have been proven woefully misplaced, as the Taliban have given shelter to groups that have been responsible for mass-scale terrorism in Pakistan. In fact, several rounds of negotiations have failed to convince the Taliban to stop providing refuge to their terrorist allies, and Pakistan has had to take kinetic action to get its message across. Both the Afghan people and Afghanistan’s neighbours deserve better. Afghanistan’s poverty and isolation will not end unless the Taliban grant women their fundamental rights. The group should at least grant women the rights they enjoy in other Muslim states, specifically freedom of education, movement etc. As for the terrorism threat emanating from Afghanistan, de jure recognition of the Taliban regime will be impossible unless it ceases to give a free rein to violent actors within the country’s borders. Kabul’s neighbours have been urging it to ‘do more’ on this front for years, yet the Taliban remain obstinate. Unless this attitude changes, the Afghan people’s miseries are likely to compound.
Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2026
