By RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal
August 28, 2022

The Taliban rulers of Afghanistan have shown no signs of moderation since taking over the country a year ago and the situation for people in the country remains “dire,” the EU’s top diplomat said in an analysis on the European Commission website.

“Afghanistan may have dropped from the headlines. However, the situation for its people is dire,” Josep Borrell wrote in his commentary dated August 27.

“In the past year, the Taliban have shown no sign of moderation, quite the contrary: All girls, despite earlier promises, are banned from education; huge swathes of the country are gripped by hunger (70 percent of the population); and many Afghans live in fear or exile.”

He said that “understandably,” despite pleas from the Taliban, “no government, not even Pakistan or Qatar, has officially recognized” its government in the war-torn country.

The Taliban captured Kabul on August 15, 2021, bringing the hard-line movement back into power in Afghanistan nearly 20 years after it was toppled by the U.S. invasion following the attacks of September 11, 2001.

After initially signaling they would be more moderate than in their previous time in power, the Taliban rulers turned to a hard line, crushing women’s rights, allowing little criticism, and imposing greater control over the press.

Borrell, in his analysis, said, “The Afghan people pay a heavy price for their country’s isolation: Humanitarian aid levels are tiny compared to the needs.”

Earlier this month, three UN agencies responsible for improving the lives of women and children around the world hit out against the Taliban, saying the past 12 months have dealt a blow to “all aspects” of their rights.

The warning echoed criticisms by Western leaders and international rights advocates that coincided with the anniversary of the Taliban grabbing control after two decades of war.

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