Bini Dahal

The uprising of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan is a strong force to reckon with. In recent days, the Muslim fundamentalist militant group has been turning more violent. Afghan civilians, especially women and girls, are now getting panicked with the flare-up of attacks across Afghanistan by this terrorist outfit.
The Taliban's level of confidence seems to have enhanced after the United States decided to draw down forces from Afghanistan. While the US believes the Afghan government is capable on its own to handle the situation, the data and pictures speak of agonising tales within the Afghan territory.
Videos circulated online have shown 22 surrendered Afghani commandos being executed by the terrorist group. Many soldiers have fled the country and the number of territories controlled by the Taliban is rising day by day. A recent development is the terrorist group’s control over an important trade route that links Afghanistan's southern region with Pakistan. This comes hours after the Afghan forces left the transit point. The Taliban are reported to have seized significant borders with Iran, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan as well.
Besides scaring innocent people, this group has been highly successful in its mission of violating human rights and terrorising people. The Taliban believe in the strict Sharia law and the idea of Islamic punishments like the execution of convicted murderers, banning of televisions, music and cinemas. One of the major concerns is that the militant group has been in favour of restricting women from a lot of things. Compulsory wearing of Hijab, coming out of the house only with a male companion and banning women from getting education or joining the workforce are some of them.
When the security forces deployed by the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) were actively fighting against the Taliban militants, such restrictions were lifted. During the Western world's two-decade long intervention in Afghanistan, the situation of girls and women is reported to have improved considerably. But now that the Afghanistan government's security forces are becoming weaker with the start of the process of withdrawing the US and other forces, women are likely to suffer from the Taliban's restrictions.
In his latest speech, US President Joe Biden stated that the reason for the withdrawal of his country's soldiers was that he did not want more American soldiers to die in the civil war. Since every human life is equally important, this perspective has to be respected. But the weakening Afghan military and government puts a big question on everyone’s mind: how can the Taliban be brought under control? The international community must extend their support to the Afghan government in fighting the terrorists. A strong alliance at this critical juncture is the only way to prevent any further damage.
The Taliban's insurgency may lead Afghanistan to violence, poverty and backwardness. The Afghani people are in dire need of freedom and stability. The Taliban should come to peaceful mainstream politics to win the hearts and minds of people. Otherwise, weakening this group could be the only way out of this longstanding problem. But now what remains for us to see is how far things will escalate and what efforts the Afghan government will make to protect the country and its people from those militants.