Afghanistan one year later: How daily life in the war-torn country has changed since the Talibans takeover – Fox News
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
This article is part of a Fox News Digital series examining the consequences of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan one year ago this week.
Decades of progress for Afghan women's rights rolled back in a matter of months. Widespread hunger and malnutrition exacerbated by an international freeze on aid. A draconian crackdown on any public expression that doesn't conform with a hard-line interpretation of Islam. Violent attacks that have rocked the capital of Kabul.
This is day-to-day life one year after the Taliban entered Kabul and took Afghanistan back following the withdrawal of U.S. troops last August.
Women and girls have been especially hard hit by the Taliban's rise to power. The country's new religious rulers have restricted women from working outside the home aside from a few sectors, banned girls from attending secondary school, ordered women to cover their faces in public, and implemented rules that limit a woman's ability to travel without a male chaperone.
Widespread hunger has also increased drastically amid a worsening economic crisis, with about half of Afghanistan's 38 million people experiencing acute food insecurity.
These two issues the revocation of women's rights and a cratering economy have compounded to create one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world right now, according to Phillipe Kropfe, a spokesperson who is based in Kabul for the United Nations World Food Program.
"After four decades of conflict, many households are led by widows, and they are the only breadwinner. Without the full participation of women and girls in all aspects of public life there is little chance of achieving lasting peace, stability and economic development," Kropfe told Fox News Digital.
ONE YEAR AFTER TALIBAN TAKEOVER, AFGHAN RIGHTS LEADER SIMA SAMAR STILL HEARTBROKEN
An Afghan man with a family of 12 people and lost his job at a local NGO last August said he has struggled to bring food home on a daily basis since the Taliban took over, but his more pressing concern is for the future of his daughters.
"My biggest worry right now is uncertain future of my children, especially girls," the man, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal from the Taliban, told Fox News Digital. "My eldest daughter is in 7th class and whenever she asks me about when she will return to school it makes my heart full of pain because no one has the answer."
The Taliban's takeover last year is not the first time that women in Afghanistan have seen their hard-fought rights rolled back.
The 20th century saw steady progression of basic rights for women, but that came to an abrupt halt when the Taliban first rose to power in 1996; a rule that would continue until the United States and allies launched Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001.
"Women of Afghanistan were able to take advantage of the opportunities offered to them following the 2001 removal of the Taliban to continue their democratization efforts of the earlier decades, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s, which included extensive gender equality provisions, like womens greater access to higher education," Mona Tajali, a professor of international relations and women's studies at Agnes Scott college and an executive board member for Women Living Under Muslim Laws, told Fox News Digital.
TALIBAN CLAIMS IT WAS UNAWARE AL QAEDA CHIEF AL-ZAWAHRI WAS IN AFGHANISTAN BEFORE US DRONE STRIKE
Women inside and outside of Afghanistan voiced their concerns when the Trump administration began negotiating with the Taliban in 2019 and 2020.
"Womens warnings, however, fell on deaf ears, and the Biden administration implemented the Trump administrations timeline of troops withdrawal, while neither administration had reached any safeguards on human rights, peace, security or even girls education," Tajali said.
"Many Afghan women activists and leaders feel betrayed by the U.S government, since addressing their rights served as a justification for the occupation in 2001 only to be fully ignored in 2021."
While women and other Afghans have protested for their rights over the last year, the Taliban has cracked down on freedom of expression with extrajudicial killings and detainment of activists.
The Taliban's Government Media and Information Center issued an order in September 2021 that prohibited journalists from publishing stories "contrary to Islam" or "insulting to national figures," leading to the arrest and torture of more than 80 journalists over the past year, according to a report this month by Amnesty International.
The Afghan father who expressed fear about the future of his children also said that his ability to discuss his country's challenges has been severely curtailed by the Taliban.
"I could talk and write about situation, problems and solutions of politics, economy and country. Now I am deprived of all [those] rights and privileges," he said. "The Taliban can arrest, torture and even kill me any moment for any reason or without a reason, and there is no one [asking] them why you arrest or kill a human being."
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Despite the daily challenges that women, girls and other Afghans face one year after the Taliban's takeover, the country is anything but a lost cause, according to Zuhra Bahman, the Afghanistan director for Search for Common Ground who is based in Kabul.
"There are women who work in ministries resisting from within, there are women marching for their rights, and most importantly, there are women who are leading humanitarian efforts and making a change in their community," Bahman told Fox News Digital.
Paul Best is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Paul.best@fox.com and on Twitter: @KincaidBest.
- Iowa General who led 'dirt warriors' in Afghanistan to speak in Ames for Memorial Day - The Ames Tribune - May 19th, 2025 [May 19th, 2025]
- More than 318 dead as infectious diseases surge in Afghanistan, WHO says - Amu TV - May 19th, 2025 [May 19th, 2025]
- Afghanistan hit with fourth earthquake in as many days - Times of India - May 19th, 2025 [May 19th, 2025]
- UK Special Forces personnel give eyewitness accounts of officially sanctioned assassinations and war crimes in Afghanistan - World Socialist Web Site - May 19th, 2025 [May 19th, 2025]
- Double Game in Diplomacy: Afghanistan Courts India While Secretly Aligning with China and Pakistan - MSN - May 19th, 2025 [May 19th, 2025]
- India to do whatever is necessary to build ties with Afghanistan: officials - The Hindu - May 19th, 2025 [May 19th, 2025]
- From Soviet trap to US exit: The full circle in Afghanistan - theweek.in - May 19th, 2025 [May 19th, 2025]
- Decorated Australian veteran loses his defamation appeal over killings in Afghanistan - ABC News - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- DHS Claims Tourism To Afghanistan Reason To End Immigration Protection - Forbes - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- The India-Pakistan Clashes Took an Economic Toll on Afghanistan - The Diplomat Asia-Pacific Current Affairs Magazine - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- Higher Education and Authoritarianism: Lessons From Afghanistan for the US - The Diplomat Asia-Pacific Current Affairs Magazine - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- DHS Announces Termination of Afghanistan TPS Effective July 2025 - NatLawReview.com - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- Funding cuts in Afghanistan mean lives lost and lives less lived - Welcome to the United Nations - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- Afghanistan Delivers White Marble to Uzbekistan for Imam Bukhari Complex - The Times Of Central Asia - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- Andrew Saberton (UNFPA) on his Recent Trip to Afghanistan - Press Conference - UN Media - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- In call with EAM Jaishankar, Afghanistan FM firmly rejects attempts to create distrust with India - Social News XYZ - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- Another Chapter in Americas Afghanistan Shame - Daily Kos - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- Violence Masked by Law: Rereading In Defence of the Terror and Its Lessons for Afghanistan - 8am.media - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- Taliban adds chess to ever-growing list of things banned in Afghanistan - Global News - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- Murder in Uniform: Britains Special Forces and Their Killings in Afghanistan - Byline Times - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- UK military war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan - PressTV - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- As a teen, he and his brothers fled Afghanistan. At OCC, he found his accent was his power - Syracuse.com - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- 'Welcome his rejection of attempts to create distrust between India, Afghanistan': EAM Jaishankar speaks - Times of India - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- WHO: Decades of War and Economic Hardship Take Heavy Toll on Mental Health in Afghanistan - 8am.media - May 15th, 2025 [May 15th, 2025]
- FIFA sanctions creation of Afghanistan womens refugee team - The Athletic - The New York Times - May 10th, 2025 [May 10th, 2025]
- Voices of Afghanistan Interview Series: 'We, the female doctorsonce symbols of womens progress, ability, and independenceare now facing barriers,... - May 10th, 2025 [May 10th, 2025]
- FIFA OKs creation of Afghanistan womens refugee team - Field Level Media - May 10th, 2025 [May 10th, 2025]
- Journalist Kim Cross on reconstructed narratives and the women who led a cycling revolution in Afghanistan - Nieman Storyboard - May 10th, 2025 [May 10th, 2025]
- Taliban Earning Billions, Giving American Weaponry to Terrorist Groups as Afghanistan Once Again Becomes Jihadi Hotbed: Report - freebeacon.com - May 10th, 2025 [May 10th, 2025]
- Gender Apartheid And Mental Health Crisis In Afghanistan - Forbes - May 10th, 2025 [May 10th, 2025]
- BEHIND THE BADGE: Jonathan "Joey" Jones Previews New Book, Weighs in on Biden's Gaza Pier and Afghanistan Withdraw Disasters - FOX News... - May 10th, 2025 [May 10th, 2025]
- Afghanistan: Suspended/Closed Health Facilities due to the U.S. Government Work-Stop Ban (Update as of 6 May 2025) - ReliefWeb - May 10th, 2025 [May 10th, 2025]
- Muhajira: A Girl Born on the Border Between Afghanistan and Pakistan - ReliefWeb - May 10th, 2025 [May 10th, 2025]
- Commentary: Trump caved to the Taliban in Afghanistan. Will he repeat in the Russia-Ukraine talks? - Yahoo - May 10th, 2025 [May 10th, 2025]
- Lavrov Warns NATO Of 'Time Bomb' in Afghanistan Over Military Redeployment Attempts | Watch - Times of India - April 25th, 2025 [April 25th, 2025]
- MTN leaves Afghanistan, hands over to M1 Group - Developing Telecoms - April 25th, 2025 [April 25th, 2025]
- Governments of Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan to sign railway project - AzerNews - April 25th, 2025 [April 25th, 2025]
- Afghan-American appointed to lead U.S. policy on Afghanistan at the State Department - ASIA-Plus - April 25th, 2025 [April 25th, 2025]
- Veterans who each lost part of a leg in Afghanistan try for new world record with Grand Canyon hike - Stars and Stripes - April 25th, 2025 [April 25th, 2025]
- Afghanistan: Suspended/Closed Health Facilities due to the U.S. Government Work-Stop Ban (Update as of 22 April 2025) - ReliefWeb - April 25th, 2025 [April 25th, 2025]
- On This Day in 2008, a Mortar Attack Halts Toby Keiths USO Concert in Afghanistan - American Songwriter - April 25th, 2025 [April 25th, 2025]
- Pakistan, Russia agree to boost cooperation on terrorism threats in Afghanistan - MSN - April 25th, 2025 [April 25th, 2025]
- US weapons left behind in Afghanistan now with Taliban: Why is Pakistan ringing alarm bells? - Firstpost - April 14th, 2025 [April 14th, 2025]
- Afghanistan womens team gets funding from the International Cricket Council - AP News - April 14th, 2025 [April 14th, 2025]
- Trump administration ending temporary protected status for nationals from Afghanistan and Cameroon - Scripps News - April 14th, 2025 [April 14th, 2025]
- US restores urgent food aid, except in Afghanistan and Yemen, two of the worlds poorest countries - AP News - April 14th, 2025 [April 14th, 2025]
- Afghanistan women's team gets funding from the International Cricket Council - MSN - April 14th, 2025 [April 14th, 2025]
- Afghanistan: Has Taliban Handed Over Bagram Airbase to US? | Vantage with Palki Sharma | N18G - Firstpost - April 14th, 2025 [April 14th, 2025]
- Terrorists used US weapons abandoned in Afghanistan in Jaffer Express attack: report - Dawn - April 14th, 2025 [April 14th, 2025]
- Anti-US banner appears on former embassy in Afghanistan - Caliber.Az - April 14th, 2025 [April 14th, 2025]
- Afghanistan women's team gets funding from the International Cricket Council - The Derrick - April 14th, 2025 [April 14th, 2025]
- Afghanistan women's team gets funding from the International Cricket Council - Traverse City Record-Eagle - April 14th, 2025 [April 14th, 2025]
- Taliban carries out public execution of two men in western Afghanistan - Times of India - April 14th, 2025 [April 14th, 2025]
- 'Trump and Afghanistan are the perfect illustration of America withdrawing into itself' - Le Monde.fr - April 5th, 2025 [April 5th, 2025]
- A midwife says of the aid cuts in Afghanistan: 'No one prioritizes women's lives.' - NPR - April 5th, 2025 [April 5th, 2025]
- Banned from education: A review of the right to education in Afghanistan - UNESCO - April 5th, 2025 [April 5th, 2025]
- The Taliban leader says there is no need for Western laws in Afghanistan - AP News - April 5th, 2025 [April 5th, 2025]
- ACAPS Thematic report - Afghanistan: Implications of the US foreign aid cuts on the humanitarian response (01 April 2025) - ReliefWeb - April 5th, 2025 [April 5th, 2025]
- American woman held in Afghanistan by the Taliban has been released, AP source says - AP News - April 5th, 2025 [April 5th, 2025]
- India says it is monitoring reports of abuse against Sikhs in Afghanistan and Pakistan - Amu TV - April 5th, 2025 [April 5th, 2025]
- EU and Central Asian leaders urge inclusive government in Afghanistan - News.az - April 5th, 2025 [April 5th, 2025]
- About 140 years old: the oldest person on Earth lives in Afghanistan - EADaily - April 5th, 2025 [April 5th, 2025]
- Trump hands Taliban-controlled Afghanistan the same 'Liberation Day' tariff as the UK 'after terror group spen - Daily Mail - April 5th, 2025 [April 5th, 2025]
- China, Japan, India, Malaysia, Russia, Turkey, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan ,Italy, Poland, Spain, South Korea And More Countries Propel Gilans Tourism To... - April 5th, 2025 [April 5th, 2025]
- Afghanistan: Suspended/Closed Health Facilities due to the U.S. Government Work-Stop Ban (Update as of 1 April 2025) - ReliefWeb - April 5th, 2025 [April 5th, 2025]
- Bidens Failure in Afghanistan: Public Relations Was the Concern Not the Dissent Cable - American Center for Law and Justice - April 5th, 2025 [April 5th, 2025]
- TTP, BLA's armament: Pakistan urges UNSC to prevent weapons' access to terrorists in Afghanistan - Geo.tv - April 5th, 2025 [April 5th, 2025]
- Taliban frees an American man who was abducted while traveling in Afghanistan more than 2 years ago - The Associated Press - March 20th, 2025 [March 20th, 2025]
- American George Glezmann freed by Taliban more than 2 years after arrest in Afghanistan - CBS News - March 20th, 2025 [March 20th, 2025]
- George Glezmann, US man detained in Afghanistan in 2022, released by Taliban in goodwill gesture - The Times of India - March 20th, 2025 [March 20th, 2025]
- American detained by Taliban in Afghanistan is freed in deal mediated by Qatar - WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports | Fort Lauderdale - March 20th, 2025 [March 20th, 2025]
- Afghanistan: Security Council renews UN mission as WHO warns of health catastrophe - UN News - March 20th, 2025 [March 20th, 2025]
- American detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan has been released - AOL - March 20th, 2025 [March 20th, 2025]
- Taliban frees an American man who was abducted while traveling in Afghanistan more than 2 years ago - The Sun Chronicle - March 20th, 2025 [March 20th, 2025]
- American Detained In Afghanistan By The Taliban Has been Released - iHeart - March 20th, 2025 [March 20th, 2025]
- Afghanistan's school year begins without girls beyond sixth grade - News.Az - March 20th, 2025 [March 20th, 2025]
- American Detained In Afghanistan By The Taliban Has been Released - KLVI - March 20th, 2025 [March 20th, 2025]
- American Detained In Afghanistan By The Taliban Has been Released - WIMA - March 20th, 2025 [March 20th, 2025]
- Swiss government to deport rejected asylum seekers from Afghanistan - SWI swissinfo.ch in English - March 20th, 2025 [March 20th, 2025]
- US citizen George Glezmann released from detention in Afghanistan - Herald Palladium - March 20th, 2025 [March 20th, 2025]