Add Category
It’s a sight that many Kabul residents thought would never come: Taliban fighters, relaxed and jubilant, standing outside the US embassy and presidential palace.
Eerie, bizarre and surreal scenes are unfolding across the Afghan capital on Monday, which fell to the militant group in just a matter of hours the day before.
The Taliban are now omnipresent, walking the streets with ease – and with American weapons in tow. CNN spoke with a handful of self-assured Taliban fighters in Kabul on Monday morning, who said that their current focus is to ensure a smooth transition of power. They said they are there to provide security and to ensure there is no looting or criminality.
Yet outside the embassy, some were chanting death to America -- with smiles on their faces.
Across the city, the Taliban’s influence on the city has already become visible, with men proactively painting over images of uncovered women outside of several beauty salons. Still, several others had not yet been painted over yet.
CNN asked the Taliban fighters whether they will ban smoking, or make men grow their beards, as they did during their previous five-year-rule.
The Taliban fighters said that nothing will be implemented drastically or immediately, but that Afghans are Muslim people and want to live under Muslim law.
How society will fare under their leadership however, feels bleak to many, especially women and girls. Women’s rights have advanced over the last 20 years across the country.
But overnight, women who have previously had some level of bodily autonomy have been told the only way to ensure they won’t have any problems with the Taliban is to cover up.
One Taliban fighter said female journalists would still be able to practice their profession as long as they adhered to these rules. Female journalists, he said, will be expected to wear the niqab, and should not engage with men outside of their family.
Outside of the palace, Kabul residents rushed to talk to the CNN team, with many struggling to process the dizzying speed of the capital’s fall.
One man said he felt numb.
“Actually, I feel nothing right now,” he said. “We want peace. We are tired of this ongoing war which is imposed by foreign countries on us for the last 45 years. So that’s why all Afghans are tired.”
He is unsure of what the future holds.
“You know I cannot predict even in seconds right now and I can’t predict even minutes right now. So that’s why I don’t know what will happen tomorrow and what will happen after,” he said.