Taliban attempting to portray 'good image' but fundamentals still same: Experts
Aug 30, 2021
Kabul [Afghanistan] August 30 : The Taliban after the siege of Afghanistan is trying to deliver a moderate image to the world in an attempt to gain international confidence but experts say that the scenes at the Kabul airport were proof that the terrorist group has returned with the same radical and violence mindset.
Empty coffers amidst scenes of chaos and bloodshed beamed into drawing rooms across the world have their own sobering effect on the Taliban. So much so, a photograph that showed a Taliban spokesman being interviewed by a woman reporter of local TV is nothing short of a PR coup, Author Sergio Restelli reported on the InsideOver news website.
The Talibs trained in Pakistani Islamist schools, rooting for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, are not emphasised to respect the 'Pakhtoon code of honour' which restricts targeting women. These 'trainees' have been breaching their agreements with impunity, the 'peace agreement' signed in Doha two years ago is an example of such agreements as the terrorists have returned to their violent ways shortly after.
Meanwhile, Islamabad has also played an important role in the formation of the Taliban, "Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is their creator and supporter," author Restelli said.
The creation of the Taliban was Islamabad's attempt to gain hold in Kabul as a part of its strategic plan to gain hold in the region.
There are several reports that also claim that ISI had deployed its 'cooperation agents' with the Taliban who have been involved in the hostile takeover of Afghanistan.
Violence was an integral trait of the Taliban even in their previous term. The so-called transfer of power exercised in Kabul without any bloodshed, was nothing but a part of 'good image plan', Inside Over reported.
As the Taliban took control of Afghanistan once again after 20 years, experts also believe that Afghan women are most likely to face an uncertain future under the terrorist group regime.
Earlier, Sajjan Gohel, a security and terrorism analyst said that women are scared out of their (Taliban) minds, according to Four Nine, a prominent women's magazine in the West.
"From the Afghan women I've spoken to, it's incredibly traumatic. You're looking at an entire generation who only read about the Taliban in books. Now, they're having to live side-by-side with what is effectively a misogynistic cult." Gohel added.
He also said that he believes we are going to see a return "to some degree of what we saw in the 1990s".
According to the international security director at the Asia-Pacific Foundation: "Women's lives [from 1996 to 2001] were very bleak and severely repressed by the Taliban. You're looking at an era where every aspect of a woman's life was controlled, contained, and confined." reported Four Nine.
The Taliban has proposed a ban on coeducation. Terrorist group's officials in Herat province had last week ordered that girls will no longer be allowed to sit in the same classes as boys in universities, Khaama Press report.