Taliban at five |
AS the Taliban marked the fifth anniversary of their takeover of Afghanistan on Saturday, ordinary citizens — particularly the country’s women — had little to celebrate. Kabul’s relations with most of its neighbours are also strained, mainly because Afghanistan, under Taliban 2.0, remains a safe haven for some of the world’s deadliest terrorist groups that pose a direct threat to regional states, including Pakistan. While the widespread internal violence of the civil war years has decreased, stability and economic prosperity elude Afghanistan, because of the stubborn attitudes of its rulers. The Kabul regime has been recognised only by Russia; most of Afghanistan’s neighbours maintain de facto ties. The vast majority of the international........