Violence, hunger and fear: Afghanistan under the Taliban

It was a stunning rout.  

A year ago Monday, a ragtag army of extremists swept into Kabul without firing a shot after having seized most of Afghanistan. After spending trillions on military and humanitarian aid, the two-decade U.S.-led international campaign to remake the desperately poor and violence-ridden country was over.

Western nations raced to depart in a largely chaotic and embarrassing exit, and the victorious Taliban, whose previous government was toppled in the aftermath of 9/11 after refusing to hand over the author of the attack, Osama bin Laden, promised to form an “open, inclusive Islamic government.” 

Instead, after the collapse of the U.S.-backed administration of Ashraf Ghani, the Taliban introduced policies that “form a system of repression that discriminates against women and girls in almost every aspect of their lives,” according to a recent report from Amnesty International that said the “suffocating crackdown against Afghanistan’s female population is increasing day by day.”