
ALMOST EXACTLY A YEAR AGO, THE LAST AMERican troops left Afghanistan and the Taliban regained full control of the country. Since then, Afghanistan has descended into worsening poverty, repression, particularly of women and girls, and international isolation, underscored by the killing last week of Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri by an American drone strike in Kabul.
Azra Jafari, an Afghan politician and human rights activist, who was the sole woman co-author of the country's 2003 constitution and in 2008 became her nation's first female mayor, has watched all this from exile in the U.S. with growing despair. "We were a working democracy for 20 years and during this 20 years we were hopeful," she tells Newsweek. "Now, we have nothing. What we worked on for 20 years is reduced to nothing."
Despite an initial public relations push to depict themselves as more moderate than during the 1990s, since retaking power the Taliban have banned women and girls from schools and most workplaces outside their homes. Their dress, speech and movements are tightly restricted. In the worsening economic situation, some poor families have resorted to selling their young daughters into arranged marriages. Arbitrary arrests, disappearances, torture and killings of men and women are widespread. Without an organized pressure campaign from the United States and its allies, Jafari says, nothing will change. "In Afghanistan, I don't see any group that could control the Taliban," she says. "The Taliban will never change their ideologies and the international community needs to make a plan." So far, she says, there has been nothing substantial from the West, besides statements condemning the crackdown.
In January, António Guterres, United Nations secretary-general said, "For Afghans, daily life has become a frozen hell."
This story is from the August 19, 2022 edition of Newsweek US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the August 19, 2022 edition of Newsweek US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In

Asahi Shokuhin: Think Local, Share Global
Asahi Shokuhin are bringing Japanese food culture to international markets and introducing people to local specialties.

Kawasho Foods Global Mission
With demographic challenges affecting industry and society worldwide, Kawasho Foods is providing solutions and contributing to a better tomorrow through its diverse range of products.

Standout Treatment
Newsweek CONNECTED WITH THE LEADERS OF SOME OF THE TOP U.S. Health Care Systems TO IDENTIFY KEY FEATURES THAT MAKE A HOSPITAL GREAT

BRINGING WASABI BACK TO IT ROOTS
KINJIRUSHI BRINGS AUTHENTIC WASABI, STRICTLY CONTROLLED FROM HARVEST TO END-PRODUCT TO NEW MARKETS THROUGH ITS INNOVATION-LED GROWING AND PROCESSING TECHNIQUES.

Musk Makes His German Mark
AfD's rise to become the second-largest party in Bundestag is a boost to the country's conservative movement—and Elon Musk

Driven To Succeed
One of the best female drivers of her generation, Jamie Chadwick is now helping other women thrive in the male-dominated arena of single-seat racing

Jack Quaid
WITH NOVOCAINE (MARCH 14), JACK QUAID IS STEPPING INTO HIS LEADing man era. \"It's the first time I've seen my face prominently featured on a billboard or a poster, and that is so surreal.\"

White-Collar Recession
Why unemployed Americans in the professional and business service sector are struggling to find new jobs

Vincent D'Onofrio
THE PATH TO GET MARVEL'S DAREDEVIL: BORN Again made was a \"wild\" journey, says Vincent D'Onofrio, who plays Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin, the supervillain at odds with Matt Murdock aka Daredevil (played by Charlie Cox), a lawyer by trade fighting for justice.

In at the Deep End
Playing real-life commercial divers in the thriller Last Breath took Woody Harrelson and co-stars to new depths