Today, August 15, marks four years since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan. However, Afghans continue to view the Taliban regime as foreign and illegitimate, refusing to recognize it as a formal or lawful government.
The Taliban took control of Afghanistan through war and violence, and over the past four years, their rule has been marked by repression, fear, and exclusion. They have systematically deprived Afghans of their fundamental rights—banning girls from schools and universities, imposing restrictions on men’s appearance including hair and beards, intensifying extrajudicial punishments and retaliatory actions, censoring media, and torturing and imprisoning soldiers of the former government.
Despite four years of governance, the Afghan population continues to reject the Taliban, widely perceiving them as agents of Pakistan’s intelligence services and consistently calling for their removal.
Four Years of Taliban Rule by Force, Still Rejected by Afghans
