How did the Taliban take over Afghanistan at lightning speed?

Jorrit Kamminga, Afghanistan follower at the Clingendael Institute, also said that victory was not won everywhere by “military force majeure”. “The Taliban negotiated the seizure of towns at the local level and succeeded in making deals with local leaders. This shows that local and provincial politics are more important than the centralizing model that we have been trying to promote for twenty years. food.”

Moreover, several media, such as The Washington Post, that these agreements were also accompanied by threats and promises of money and pardon.

International “failure”

According to Kamminga, a lot has happened in the country during its twenty years of Western presence in Afghanistan, but a large part of the supporters of the Taliban did not take advantage of it. “More than half of the population still lives below the poverty line, especially in areas outside the big cities, so the Taliban were able to pass quickly. “

They did it smartly, he said. “And this is where the failure of the international community lies. We did not negotiate with them ourselves. It only happened after 2018, when former President Trump decided to do so. We thought, the Taliban are no longer relevant. They have gone their own way. “

Women’s rights and sharia

The question is: what next? Taliban spokespersons have made statements on the matter to several media. For example, they say they want to connect with the international community and that Afghans do not have to fear retaliation. As well promise the Taliban to respect the rights of women and minorities and freedom of expression, but within the framework of the strict Islamic standards of the Sharia.

Afghanistan expert Van Bijlert assumes they think so, but may not be up to the task. “It is not clear what that will look like in concrete terms. A lot of the leaders are still the same and they have largely continued to think the same thing about the rules. They also did not specify what these rights look like.” under Sharia “.”