Three years after they took power and the chaotic and hasty evacuation of Western powers from Afghanistan, the Taliban staged a military parade in Kabul on Wednesday, despite ruling a country with a collapsed economy dependent on foreign aid and without having won international recognition from any other state.
Agencies reported that the parade – attended by Chinese and Iranian diplomats – at the former US military base at Bagram featured Soviet-era tanks and US-branded armoured vehicles abandoned by the coalition of countries that once propped up the corrupt government of former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani, as well as a large number of modest motorbikes with jerry cans, which during the fight against the international coalition forces were used to carry out homemade bomb attacks. All adorned with the new flag of the now called Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Afghan Prime Minister Hassan Akhund ultimately did not attend the ceremony, but in a statement read by the army chief praised the Taliban for their victory over the ‘occupying forces of the West’ when the Taliban insurgency occupied the capital on 15 August 2021 following the flight into exile of the top leaders of the US-backed government. One of the reasons Akhund may have decided not to attend is the concern about security, which has had to be tightened in Kabul due to increasing attacks by Daesh, a group that proclaims an even more radical application of the Sharia law.
Three years after the Taliban came to power, their government is still not recognised by any other state and women have been excluded from political and social life in large cities such as Kabul, although in most of the rest of the country they never ceased to be – even during the years of heavy international military presence.
Economically, although the Taliban have improved tax collection and corruption is no longer rampant, Afghanistan suffers from a severe economic crisis that has sent food prices soaring; 1 in 3 of Afghanistan’s 40 million people depend on foreign aid for food, unemployment is massive, and the economy is paralysed and is expected to remain so for the coming years. Despite enormous mineral wealth and agricultural potential, the country faces a lack of infrastructure and investment and a severe shortage of expertise.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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