The Taliban have taken over Kabul, completing their takeover of Afghanistan. The militant group are very likely to proclaim it an Islamic state. And while the Taliban promises peace in Afghanistan, with amnesty, those who remember what it was like to live under their brutal rule 20 years ago, are wary.
The recent takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban is being called a bloodless coup by experts and editors. The last ten days, during which, the Taliban very decidedly took control of the country, too many loss of lives wasn’t reported. In the months leading up to the departure of the foreign troops, however, countless civilians and Afghan forces, including foreign troops have lost their lives in bombings and shooting incidents.
It makes one wonder—is the coup really bloodless.
Going by the Taliban's past, in the coming months, hundreds, if not thousands will lose their lives— merely for defying any norms set by the outfit—and that would just be the tip of the iceberg. Crowds thronged the Kabul airport as planes carrying US troops left. Desperate people tried to hang on to aircrafts as they taxied—this is proof that the people simply dread the horrific times they fear lie ahead.
President Ashraf Ghani, who fled the country soon as the Taliban closed in on Kabul, said he left to avoid violence and bloodshed. "If there were still countless countrymen martyred and they would face the destruction and destruction of Kabul city, the result would have been a big human disaster in this six million city. The Taliban have made it to remove me, they are here to attack all Kabul and the people of Kabul. In order to avoid the bleeding flood, I thought it was best to get out," he wrote in a Facebook post, citing the reason for him leaving the country.
Ghani was probably right in leaving the country, than be the cause of violence at the presidential palace. The Taliban, after taking over Kabul, announced that the fighters have been ordered to exercise restraint.
On December 24 1979, Soviet forces took over Afghanistan under the pretext of upholding the Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaty of 1978. At around midnight, the Soviets conducted a mass air invasion of Kabul. They took over the capital with the help of 280 transport aircraft. They were met with brief resistance by the Afghan army.
The Taliban comprises of mujahideen fighters who fought off Soviet invaders in the 1980s. In the ten years that the Soviets occupied Afghanistan, at least 1 million people were killed. Under the communist regime of the Soviets, entire villages were wiped out. According to the UN, the Red Army between January and September of 1985 killed 33,000 civilians. Eventually in 1989, after the Geneva Accords were signed, the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan.
Before the Soviet invasion in 1979, Afghan saw communist dictators like Noor Mohammad Taraki and Hafizullah Amin and their successors Babrak Karmal and Mohammad Najibullah, who were mass torturers and murderers.
Taraki considered traditional mullahs to be an obstacle to ‘the progressive movement of the homeland’. He shot several of them and buried alive several others.
In 1992, army general Abdul Rashid Dostum mutinied against the government of Mohammed Najibullah and took over the city of Mazar-e-Sharif . In 1997, Dostum was betrayed by one of his generals, warlord Abdul Malik Pahlawan. Pahalwan allied himself with the Taliban. In 1996, the Taliban captured Kabul and in 1997, they captured Mazaz-e-Sharif. Pahlawan then mutinied against the Taliban and killed thousands of Taliban prisoners. In 1998, the Taliban retaliated by killing about 8,000 non-combatants.
The toll of 3,035 civilian lives since the peace talks began in 2020 due to atrocities by the Taliban pale in comparison to the numbers above. Since 2001, however, about 47,000 Afghan civilians have died and since 2012, about five million citizens have fled the country and have not been able to come back.
Activists and analysts have in recent days have voiced concern for the safety of women in an Afghanistan ruled by the Taliban. But, a Taliban who seeks recognition from the West, wishes to present themselves in a different light. Taliban spokesman Sohail Shaheen said women would still be allowed to continue their education from primary to higher education, a contrast from their stance from 1996-2001, a CNN report reads.
"That is our commitment, to provide a secure environment and they (diplomats, non-profits and journalists) can carry out their activities for the people of Afghanistan," he said.
Afghanistan’s history is chequered with severe bloodshed. With a wish to be presented in a different light and in seeking Western recognition, could things be different with the Taliban at the helm this time?
