The country launched a probe in March 2021 into WhatsApp's privacy policy, which allowed data sharing with Facebook and its units, sparking global backlash
world3 days ago
Afghanistan's Taliban rulers celebrated three years in power on Wednesday with a military parade paying homage to their homemade bombs used in war, fighter aircraft and goose-stepping security forces.
The Taliban's armed forces towed Soviet-era tanks and artillery pieces through the former US air base in Bagram, where Chinese and Iranian diplomats were among hundreds who gathered for the parade and speeches.
The former Bagram base once served as the linchpin for US-led operations against the Taliban for two decades.
A swarm of motorbikes strapped with yellow jerry cans, often used to carry homemade bombs during the fight against international forces, also rumbled past assembled officials.
There were also US-made armoured personnel carriers, the black-and-white flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan -- the Taliban government's formal name for the country -- fluttering above them.
Helicopters and fighter aircraft flew over the base, where Taliban fighters were once imprisoned, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Kabul.
Taliban forces seized the capital on August 15, 2021, after the US-backed government collapsed and its leaders fled into exile. The anniversary is marked a day earlier on the Afghan calendar.
Their government remains unrecognised by any other state, with restrictions on women, who bear the brunt of policies the United Nations has called "gender apartheid", remaining a key sticking point.
"Three years have passed since the dreams of girls have been buried," Madina, a 20-year-old university student in Kabul, told AFP.
"It's a bitter feeling that every year, the celebration of this day reminds us of the efforts, memories, and goals we had for our future."
Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund, who had been scheduled to appear at Bagram, praised the Taliban authorities' victory over "Western occupiers" in a statement read by his chief of staff.
The Taliban government has "the responsibility to maintain Islamic rule, protect property, people's lives and the respect of our nation", he said.
Security has been a key priority for Taliban authorities as they consolidated their grip on power over the past three years, implementing laws based on their strict interpretation of Islam.
However, attacks by the Daesh group remain a threat and extra security was deployed in Kabul and in the Taliban's spiritual home of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan ahead of the "day of victory".
Helicopters also flew over the Ghazi stadium in Kabul, where hundreds of men gathered to watch an exhibition of athletics and performances of Taliban anthems.
The Taliban takeover is marked both in mid-August around the date Kabul fell and at the end of the month, when the last foreign troops left Afghanistan after a chaotic withdrawal.
The black-and-white standard decorated streets and trucks full of young men that choked Kabul streets.
Happy young boys carried a large flag in the Green Zone, once a secure enclave of foreign embassies, saying "We're ready to do a suicide attack!"
While many Afghans expressed relief at the end of 40 years of successive conflicts, the economy remains stagnant and the population mired in a worsening humanitarian crisis.
A joint statement from international non-governmental groups warned of the growing aid funding gap, with 23.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
Women have been squeezed from public life -- banned from many jobs as well as parks and gyms -- and barred from secondary and higher education.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reiterated calls for pressure on the Taliban government to lift restrictions on women.
"The third anniversary of the Taliban's takeover is a grim reminder of Afghanistan's human rights crisis, but it should also be a call for action," said Fereshta Abbasi, HRW's Afghanistan researcher.
The country launched a probe in March 2021 into WhatsApp's privacy policy, which allowed data sharing with Facebook and its units, sparking global backlash
world3 days ago
This time around, Trump wants the Senate to give up that gatekeeping role and allow him to make 'recess appointments'
world3 days ago
Police allege the offences took place between 2001 and 2019 against 8 victims; the youngest was 17 at the time of the offence
world4 days ago
The two countries have a mutual defence treaty dating back to 1951, which could be invoked if either side came under attack, including in the South China Sea
world4 days ago
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu conferred the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger on Narendra Modi in Abuja on Sunday
world4 days ago
The titleholder's winning answer focused on using each individual's strengths
world5 days ago
The suspects would be interrogated jointly with the Shin Bet internal security agency, police said
world5 days ago
The attack took place at the Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology in Jiangsu province
world5 days ago