*Million more in Afghanistan have been driven into poverty
The Taliban on Monday marked a year of their stunning return to power in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on August 15 last year, two decades after first removing the regime.
The Taliban announced a public holiday to mark the day, which they refer to as “The Proud Day of Aug. 15″ and the “First Anniversary of the Return to Power”.
They stormed back to power a year ago as the United States-led forces withdrew from the country. In August 2021, the group seized a string of cities in a lightning 10-day sweep across the country that culminated with the fall of the capital, Kabul.
After the Taliban’s took over, thousands of terrified Afghans and foreigners rushed to Kabul airport in a frenzied scramble to board the last flights out of the country. When they were rushing to the airport, several people were crushed to death while trying to get onto the tarmac as the US and its allies evacuated their citizens.
The former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani flees to Abu Dhabi, admitting the “Taliban have won”. On the eve of the anniversary, Ashraf Ghani defended his action, he told CNN it was a split-second decision to flee as he wanted to avoid the humiliation of surrender to the insurgents
Since their take over, the Taliban has yet to be recognized by a single country in the world, with international funding still largely frozen and this has driven more people into poverty.
According to a May report by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), 43% percent of Afghanistan’s population is living on less than one meal a day, with 90% of Afghans surveyed reporting food as their primary need
According to CNN, as the US and its allies left the country, they imposed sanctions, froze $9 billion in central bank funds, and halted the foreign aid that once constituted nearly 80% of Afghanistan’s annual budget.
