Why do the Taliban fear educated women?published at 17:05 British Summer Time 15 August 2022

17:05 BST 15 August 2022

Yogita Limaye
Reporting from Kabul

Brian in Calgary, Canada, asks: why do the Taliban have such a fear of educated women?

From our conversations with Taliban members, it’s quite clear that women’s education is a divisive topic even within the group. Some leaders have been quite overt in saying that girls need to be educated.

But one Taliban leader also told us that there are extremely hardline elements in Afghanistan, who even today disapprove of girls stepping out of their homes unescorted after they hit puberty.

A lot of the Taliban’s support comes from these ultra-conservative religious scholars and tribes, and the Taliban fear that any move that goes against these beliefs might push their supporters towards other groups like the Islamic State group, which could eventually lead to the Taliban losing their hold on power.

In a broader sense, while women’s rights are sometimes seen by outsiders as a secondary issue in Afghanistan, the reality is that they have been integral to the conflict that has plagued the country for decades.

The push and pull between Afghanistan’s more modern and conservative sides has for more than a hundred years always been centred around what women and girls can and cannot do.

Secunder Kermani
Reporting from Kandahar

Image source, EPA

I've spent the past week travelling around the Taliban's heartlands in southern Afghanistan. Kandahar is where the group first emerged and where its reclusive supreme leader still lives.

This has always been the most conservative part of Afghanistan, and many here - particularly in rural areas - either supported the Taliban insurgency or are simply now grateful the violence has come to an end.

However, visiting remote, ultra-conservative villages in places like Helmand province I was struck by how everyone we spoke to was also in favour of girls' education.

It shows how the Taliban leadership, reluctant to allow girls secondary schools to reopen, are out of touch even with their own base.

I also spoke secretly to some critics of the Taliban, who face arrest and torture for their social media activity. It's a reminder that even in the areas most closely associated with the Taliban, they have their opponents.

Image source, .

Image source, Reuters

The world must not forget the plight of Afghanistan's women and children, the United Nations warns a year to the day since the Taliban seized power.

The UN says the world faces "multiple, overlapping crises", but Afghanistan remains "in the throes of a deep economic and humanitarian crisis".

An estimated 95% of the population - and nearly all female-headed households - do not have enough to eat, says UN population fund executive director Natalia Kanem.

"When women's and girls' basic rights are denied, we are all diminished," she adds, condemning the "continuous erosion" of female access to education and healthcare.

Gem O’Reilly
BBC News

Image source, .

When Taliban fighters started appearing in the streets of Kabul on this day last year, it was a surprise to many in the capital that they had arrived so quickly.

Batool, 26, decided she had to get out of the country.

She had a place on a Masters programme at Bangladesh’s Asian University for Women (AUW), but was studying in Afghanistan, and given the Islamist group’s views on female education, felt there was a narrow window to get out of the country and secure her future education.

And she wasn’t alone - hundreds of other young Afghan women like her had places in foreign universities through a programme organised by AUW.

Kamal Ahmad, the founder of the university, said a team working around the clock organised the evacuation of nearly 150 of them in the final days before US and Nato forces completed their withdrawal from the country and stopped protecting the airport.

Batool was one of those who had a chance to go to the US, where she was able to resume her studies.

Image source, .

Seven coaches made the treacherous journey to Kabul airport three times before the women were able to get in.

They were in the area when a suicide bomb blast ripped through the crowd outside one of the airport’s gates on 26 August, killing more than 150 people.

Batool, who is now studying public health at Brown University in Rhode Island, says she’s still processing the trauma of what happened.

And she dwells on the fact that her younger female cousins back in Afghanistan won’t have the same opportunities she did.

"They’re in grade seven, eight and 11 and now they can’t go to school. They had dreams and now they’ve all stopped," she says.

"They had us as role models and that’s important for their future but now they don’t know where that will go."

How can there be future female doctors if girls are denied education?published at 16:20 British Summer Time 15 August 2022

16:20 BST 15 August 2022

Lyse Doucet
Chief International Correspondent, in Kabul

Vicky Bullard from Oxford asks: do supporters of the Taliban want female family members to see a doctor when they are sick? Presumably they would prefer a female doctor. How will such doctors exist if women are denied further education?

That’s exactly what we hear from so many Afghans, Vicky.

If girls can't go to high school, graduate, and go on to university, Afghanistan will be robbed of the women doctors, teachers, and other professionals it desperately needs.

I've heard this from educated Afghans in the capital and illiterate men and women in the villages who never had access to education but don't want their boys and girls to suffer the same fate.

In this traditional society there is a huge need for women doctors to treat women and girls.

And a generation of girls who grew up under two decades of international engagement dream bigger than ever of being pilots, politicians, and of playing public roles now being denied by the Taliban.

How is Taliban rule affecting women and children?published at 16:08 British Summer Time 15 August 2022

16:08 BST 15 August 2022

Yogita Limaye
Reporting from Kabul

We're asking how the Taliban rule is affecting women and children, and what’s behind maternal mortality rates and child deaths?

In one province in Afghanistan, we found the number of miscarriages and newborn deaths had almost doubled over the last year.

Doctors told us the main triggers were hunger and stress. Almost everyone we spoke to told us they could only afford to eat one meal a day.

One woman said she drank tea for breakfast and lunch, and had rice or bread for dinner.

Access to health services has rapidly deteriorated as well.

Foreign funds given to the Afghan government almost entirely funded this country’s healthcare infrastructure. Those were frozen in August last year. This means there is a shortage of medicines, beds and staff at hospitals, even as the number of sick people is growing.

In many parts of Afghanistan only women are allowed to treat women, and with secondary schools for girls closed, the worry is that there will be no new female doctors joining the workforce, which will further reduce women’s access to health services.

Image source, Reuters

Afghan citizens have been contacting the BBC's Afghan service to talk about their experiences since the Taliban takeover last year.

Elnaz from Kabul says she and her fellow Afghans are living in a "very disappointing situation":

Abdullah, also from Kabul, considers how life has changed for ordinary Afghans over the last year:

Frank Gardner
Security Correspondent

Alan Goldberg asks what sanctions the West has applied to Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover. What impact have the sanctions had on the economic development of the country and the well-being of its people?

The entire Western world placed sanctions on Afghanistan after the Taliban overthrew the elected government a year ago.

These have had a catastrophic effect on the economy and the livelihoods of millions, with an estimated 55% of the population now in need of humanitarian aid.

Frozen funds included more than $9bn (£7.4bn) held in the US, and aid agencies have been calling for money to be released urgently to ease the poverty and economic hardship.

Conditions for the lifting of these sanctions comprise guaranteeing the rights of Afghan women, which the Taliban have reneged on, forming an ethnically inclusive government, which the Taliban are reluctant to do, and not allowing Afghanistan to again become a base for international terrorism.

On the latter, a White House intelligence report concludes that al-Qaida has not been able to reconstitute itself in the country - so that at least is good news.

Russia, China, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and some of the Arab Gulf states all have closer relations with the Taliban than the West does and a Taliban delegation recently visited Moscow.

Secunder Kermani
Reporting from Kandahar

Image source, Getty Images

Vicky Bullard from Oxford, England, asks if the Taliban have had any positive impact in Afghanistan apart from ending the war. Ludovico Alcorta from Mozambique notes the media narrative seems largely negative and asks if there has been an improvement to the country's security situation, governance systems and initiatives against corruption.

There are nuances to the situation in Afghanistan and it’s important to try and understand them.

The biggest improvement to the lives of ordinary people is undoubtedly the end of the war.

Image source, .

Bombings by the Islamic State group are continuing – but it was the Taliban’s insurgency, and attempts by the previous government and international forces to repel it, that were responsible for the majority of casualties.

Despite the humanitarian crisis, there are Afghans, particularly in rural areas in the south and east of the country which used to see heavy fighting - and where many already live by deeply conservative values - who now feel better off under the Taliban.

But even in Taliban strongholds, there’s disappointment at the policy on girls’ secondary schools.

Similarly, the Taliban have clamped down on corruption, but everyone has been affected by the dire economic situation.

It’s important not to oversimplify things, but amongst many in urban areas, there’s resentment at growing restrictions on personal freedoms, whilst in more rural places there’s relief that life is now more peaceful. Different people have had very different experiences over this past year of Taliban rule.

Kasra Naji
Special Correspondent, BBC Persian TV

Image source, Getty Images

Gregory Campbell, 64, from California, USA, asks how the Taliban plans to enforce a ban on opium poppy cultivation.

The Taliban Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada as recently as last month issued another edict banning the production and sale of opium poppies.

This has reassured the international community to some extent about the illegal trade of drugs from Afghanistan.

And in recent months, the Taliban have announced the destruction of poppy fields in the south.

However, there is no clear policy as such that I can decipher other than an outright opposition to the production of opium poppies.

For many years, there have been reports, denied by the Taliban, that they have funded their movement through the sale of opium and other drugs. And it is not clear how extensively the religious edict against poppy cultivation is enforced.

Read more: The BBC's Reality Check team looked at opium production in Afghanistan in 2021

Frank Gardner
Security Correspondent

Image source, AFP

Ahmad Jawad Ghafori, 44, in Germany asks why are the Taliban being treated as a political group by many countries when, he says, the whole world knows that they are not?

Most of the world, and especially the West, may not like it but the fact is the Taliban are in charge now in Afghanistan and almost nobody wants to see another civil war kick off in an effort to remove them.

Russia, China, Pakistan and Turkmenistan all have close relations now with the Taliban but full, wide scale international recognition, coupled with the release of frozen funds, is unlikely to happen as long as the Taliban renege on their promises not to mistreat women and discriminate against ethnic groups like the Hazara.

Ironically, Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers are facing their own low-level insurgency from the Islamic State group, which is even more extreme than al-Qaida and which has been attacking places it considers idolatrous, like a Sikh temple.

Yogita Limaye
Reporting from Kabul

Duncan Sculpher in Kamakura, Japan, asks how Yogita and other journalists keep their composure when talking to those who are ultra-religious with, he says, the most unrealistic notions about how their society should be run. Do you just have to let it be like water off a duck's back?

As journalists, our job isn’t to argue against their point of view.

Our job is to challenge them and hold them to account on their commitments, on matters like women and human rights, as we would do with governments or people in power in any country.

So we keep our personal opinions aside when we do such interviews.

Lyse Doucet
Reporting from Kabul

Image source, Getty Images

Colin Hannan in West Sussex in the UK asks about the security of BBC journalists in Afghanistan, especially given their reports of Afghanistan under the Taliban are often unflattering. Do the authorities review your reports before being aired? Have there been any repercussions?

Taliban officials have put journalists under pressure, especially local Afghan journalists.

Human rights groups and media watchdogs have published multiple reports on the harassment and abuse of Afghan media.

Foreign media, including the BBC, are able to travel across the country much more freely than our Afghan counterparts.

But we’ve all had warnings from Taliban officials not to publish reports critical of the Taliban - when journalists do so, the Taliban often ask about their sources.

A few western journalists have been deported. Some have been held for hours after filming events like protests by Afghan women.

This one year anniversary of Taliban rule has brought many foreign journalists back to Afghanistan. On our travels in the past three weeks, we have not been stopped from doing our work.

But Taliban responses to our reports , and those of our colleagues, will be seen as a test of their tolerance of independent media.

Two people have been injured in an explosion in Kabul, a spokesperson for the Taliban Kabul police chief says.

Explosives were planted in a wheelbarrow in front of a hotel in District 3, to the west of the city centre.

Security forces have started an investigation into the incident.

Secunder Kermani
Reporting from Kandahar

Image source, Reuters

John Morsey, 42, from Huddersfield in the UK, asks whether the values of the average Afghan align more closely with the fundamentalist Islam of the Taliban, or with the liberal democracy of the West.

This is a deeply conservative country, and Afghanistan’s previous government was tainted by allegations of corruption and voter fraud.

But whilst there certainly are some Afghans who support the Taliban, if - hypothetically - they ever stood in free and fair elections as a political party, it’s very unlikely they would ever win.

So far, the Taliban are relying more on the acquiescence of a war-weary population than on their active support. For some Afghans, being ruled by the Taliban is still better than living in conflict, and there is currently no realistic alternative.

Those who have lost the most under the Taliban come from more socially liberal backgrounds, often in more urban areas, or from ethnic groups like the Hazara population, which has placed a large emphasis on education.

In the Pashtun-dominated south and east of the country, many families do already follow patriarchal values closely resembling those the Taliban adhere too.

However, even in rural areas, the overwhelming majority of Afghans are now in favour of girls' education and resent the current closure of schools.

How can we help Afghan women?published at 14:18 British Summer Time 15 August 2022

14:18 BST 15 August 2022

Lyse Doucet
Chief International Correspondent, in Kabul

A number of readers have got in touch to ask what they can do to help women and girls in Afghanistan. Jennifer in Oxford asks which charities are still operating in the country, and Louise in Macclesfield asks if there is anything else people in the UK can do.

Thank you for asking.

There are many British and other international and local charities still operating in Afghanistan.

All of them have websites so do check online. The improved security situation means they now have more access to all 34 Afghan provinces and can reach people who were previously too hard to reach.

Britain's Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) brings together 15 leading UK charities.

There are also many women’s groups on the ground which are trying to provide assistance. Ask questions before you donate to make sure your money goes to those who need it the most.

Has the Taliban's position on girls’ education changed?published at 14:05 British Summer Time 15 August 2022

14:05 BST 15 August 2022

Yogita Limaye
Reporting from Kabul

There's a lot of interest in girls' access to schools. We asked Yogita if the Taliban's position on girls’ education has changed over the past year, and if so, how?

During the talks in Doha in 2020 with the US, Taliban leaders had made public statements that girls would be allowed to attend school and university.

But in September last year, after they took over Afghanistan, they announced that secondary schools for boys were opening, but not for girls. At the time, they cited security reasons.

They then announced girls' schools would open in March. On 23 March, teenage girls went to school, only to be sent home in less than an hour. No explanation was given.

But now the Taliban are more clear about where the problem lies.

The Taliban’s main spokesman told us that religious leaders in some rural areas have objections to girls going to school. These leaders are part of the Taliban’s support base, and the group fears going against their beliefs and losing their support.

Primary schools and universities are open, but without secondary schools, in the future, girls would never make it to university.

When did the Taliban group form?published at 13:54 British Summer Time 15 August 2022

13:54 BST 15 August 2022

Yama Bariz
Afghan Service Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

John, 17, from Kenya wants to know when the Taliban group formed.

The Taliban movement started in 1994, when Afghanistan was in a turmoil due to fighting between Mujahideen groups who fought against the former Soviet Union and toppled the pro-Soviet government headed by President Mohammad Najibullah.

The movement, started by Mullah Mohammad Omar, a cleric in Kandahar, claimed it would put an end to the Mujahideen groups, who were fighting each other, and bring stability to the country.

This idea gained support for the group, as Afghans were fed up with chaos.

The Taliban captured the capital Kabul three years later, called their government the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and declared Mullah Omar as Amir-ul Momineen, a title which translates as "leader of the faithful".

They implemented their own harsh interpretation of Islam. Girls were not allow to go school and women were banned from working apart from a limited presence in the health sector.

Frank Gardner
BBC News, Security Correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Jason Carter asks about 20 years of war, referring to the length of the US presence in Afghanistan after the Taliban were removed from power by a US-led coalition in 2001. Given the immeasurable amount of lives lost, and billions of dollars spent, he asks, was it worth it?

This is a really important question Jason, thank you for asking it. It really depends on what measure you want to use.

Has it left Afghanistan a safe, happy and prosperous place? Obviously not.

Did it stop Afghanistan from being a base for international terrorism - bearing in mind that the 9/11 attacks of 2001 were planned and directed from there? Yes.

For those 20 years, not a single significant international terrorist plot was hatched from Afghan soil.

Did it create the conditions for an entire generation of young women and men to reach their full potential, both professionally and socially? Yes.

Tragically though, the Taliban takeover has meant that many of Afghanistan's brightest and best have left the country and see no hope of returning while the Taliban are in power.

Why did UK, US and European forces leave Afghanistan behind?published at 13:33 British Summer Time 15 August 2022

13:33 BST 15 August 2022

Secunder Kermani
Reporting from Kandahar

Image source, Getty Images

Ajmal Hasas asks: Why did UK, US and European forces leave Afghanistan behind?

For years the war in Afghanistan was a bloody stalemate, with the Afghan government, supported by US-led international forces, in control of cities and towns, but the Taliban in large parts of the countryside.

Thousands were dying every year, and millions of dollars were being spent, but on the battlefield there seemed no realistic prospect of outright victory for either side.

When Donald Trump became US president, he initiated talks with the Taliban, seeking a way out from the conflict.

Those negotiations, which the Afghan government was not part of, lead to a US-Taliban agreement in Doha in 2020. It outlined a plan for all foreign forces to withdraw from the country, as long as the Taliban prevented groups like al-Qaeda threatening the West, and began talks with the Afghan government.

The withdrawal never depended on those talks reaching a conclusion, however, and they made barely any progress.

Instead, as international troops began departing, the Taliban began capturing more and more of the country, culminating in the fall of the capital Kabul on 15 August.