Taliban erases signs of ex-government from Kabul streets
(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on January 23, 2022 shows schoolgirls walking past a portrait of late Afghan commander Ahmad Shah Massoud (top) hanging on the facade of a workshop selling clay ovens in Kabul on June 30, 2021; and (bottom) the same view of the workshop without the portrait on January 23, 2022, following the Taliban’s takeover of the country on August 15, 2021. – The Taliban stunned the world by marching into the Afghan capital on August 15, 2021, after a lightning offensive that capped a 20-year insurgency against the Western-backed government and the US and allied forces that propped it up. (Photo by Mohd RASFAN and Adek BERRY / AFP)
by Mohd RASFAN Agence France-Presse
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) – In the six months since taking back control of Afghanistan, the Taliban have erased all visible signs of the former government from the capital.
Gone are flags of the former republic, murals of national heroes, and memorials honouring those killed in Taliban attacks.
(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on January 23, 2022 shows a Taliban fighter (top) standing guard at Massoud Square in Kabul on August 16, 2021; and (bottom) the same square deserted on January 23, 2022, following the Taliban’s takeover of the country on August 15, 2021. – The Taliban stunned the world by marching into the Afghan capital on August 15, 2021, after a lightning offensive that capped a 20-year insurgency against the Western-backed government and the US and allied forces that propped it up. (Photo by Mohd RASFAN and Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)
Blast walls are now covered with slogans of the new Islamic Emirate. “With the help of God, our nation defeated the Americans,” reads one.
The owners of many beauty salons in central Kabul have removed posters of women in full make-up and fashionable hairstyles once displayed on their doors.
(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on January 23, 2022 shows a couple walking past images of women outside a beauty parlour in Kabul on June 10, 2021; and (bottom) the same view with the images of women removed on January 20, 2022, following the Taliban’s takeover of the country on August 15, 2021. – The Taliban stunned the world by marching into the Afghan capital on August 15, 2021, after a lightning offensive that capped a 20-year insurgency against the Western-backed government and the US and allied forces that propped it up. (Photo by Mohd RASFAN and Adek BERRY / AFP)
Iconography of the slain anti-Taliban commander Ahmad Shah Massoud in his trademark Pakol cap that adorned almost every neighbourhood of the city has been covered up.
(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on January 23, 2022 shows a Taliban fighter (top) standing next to a poster bearing the image of late Afghan commander Ahmad Shah Massoud at Massoud Square in Kabul on August 16, 2021; and (bottom) the same view with the poster removed on January 23, 2022, following the Taliban’s takeover of the country on August 15, 2021. – The Taliban stunned the world by marching into the Afghan capital on August 15, 2021, after a lightning offensive that capped a 20-year insurgency against the Western-backed government and the US and allied forces that propped it up. (Photo by Mohd RASFAN and Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)
Fewer women and girls are seen moving between markets and cafes, many too afraid to leave the house after the takeover, or with no money to spend after losing their jobs.
Vehicles all but vanish after dark, as extra Taliban checkpoints spring up.
And on a hilltop overlooking Kabul, the black, green and red flag of the former regime has been taken down.
(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on January 23, 2022 shows an Afghan national flag fluttering (top) as youths stand at Wazir Akbar Khan hilltop in Kabul on September 29, 2019; and the same view (bottom) with an empty flag pole on January 20, 2022, following the Taliban’s takeover of the country on August 15, 2021. – The Taliban stunned the world by marching into the Afghan capital on August 15, 2021, after a lightning offensive that capped a 20-year insurgency against the Western-backed government and the US and allied forces that propped it up. (Photo by Mohd RASFAN and Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)
The flagpole now stands bare in the middle of a snowy garden.