KABUL, September 9: As a nurse at one of Kabul's main hospitals, Latifa Alizada was the breadwinner for her family, providing for her three young boys and unemployed husband.
Now -- since the Taliban rolled into Afghanistan's capital -- she too is jobless, and worried about the future.
The 27-year-old left her role at Jamhuriat Hospital because the hardline Islamist group said salaries would not be paid, and imposed rules that would force her to wear a face veil and be segregated from male colleagues.
"I have left my job because there is no salary. There is no salary at all," she said, holding the hands of two of her boys who chewed on sweetcorn cobs.
"If I go there, they say 'do not work with this style of dress. Do not work with men. Work with women'. This is impossible," she told AFP at a street market in Kabul.
"For us, there is no difference between men and women, because we are medical workers." Afghans like Alizada worry about what lies ahead under the Taliban.
Food prices have gone up at markets, the cost of fuel has risen and there are fewer opportunities to make money.
The United Nations this week warned prices for essential goods were soaring in Afghanistan, adding: "There are fears of food shortages, higher inflation, and a slump in the currency all resulting in an intensification of the humanitarian emergency across the country."
Many government services are no longer functioning, while the international community -- which has long propped up the aid-dependent economy -- hesitates over funding Afghanistan.
- Cash in short supply -
In some sectors that are operating, the Taliban have offered wildly different salaries.
A former customs official, who did not want to be named for security reasons, told AFP he had worked at the Spin Boldak border crossing with Pakistan for more than seven years.
Under the previous government he earned about $240 per month, but the Taliban said they would pay him just $110.
"It is up to you if you want to continue your job, or quit," the Taliban told him. The official said he resigned after weighing up his salary against the cost of the long commute to work.
The sight of big crowds queueing to get into banks to access cash is now commonplace across Afghanistan.
The country's central bank only has access to a fraction of its usual financing, cut off from the international banking system and access to the country's foreign currency reserves.
It means cash is in short supply and the Taliban are enforcing a withdrawal limit of $200 per person each week.
In the capital on Wednesday about 150 men jostled in the midday sun outside a branch of Kabul Bank, where government employees under the last administration held accounts.
An armed security guard clutched an electric cable to use as a whip in case the crowd grew too boisterous as they queued for one of the two ATMs.
Abdullah told AFP he travelled overnight from the northeastern province of Takhar, which borders Tajikistan, to get to the branch at the crack of dawn -- and he was still at the back of the queue at noon.
- Worried about the future -
"The problem is that after the collapse of the government, all the banks were closed," the 31-year-old former army commando said.
He told AFP that some soldiers like him could not access their salaries in the months leading up to the Taliban takeover in mid-August.
"I was at my post for three or four months. My salary was in the bank and I couldn't get it," he said.
Other members of the security forces complained of not getting paid at all in the months leading up to the Taliban takeover. A kitchenware shopkeeper in the capital, who did not want to give his name for security reasons, told AFP had no customers.
"Since the changes, all business has stopped," he said, sitting on a stool in front of his empty store.
"We are facing lots of problems. People are staying in their homes because there are no jobs. There is no-one to buy from us."
With high rents and next-to-no income, he worried about looking after his family of five. "We cannot find the money to feed ourselves. People are concerned about how to find their meals, morning and night. Everyone is worried about their future."
KABUL, Sept. 8 : The Taliban announced on Tuesday an interim government drawn exclusively from their own loyalist ranks, with established hardliners in all key posts and no women -- despite previous promises to form an inclusive administration for all Afghans.
But as the Taliban transition from militant force to governing power, they face a growing number of protests against their rule, with two people attending a demonstration shot dead in the western city of Herat.
The government announcement was the latest step in the Taliban's bid to cement their total control over Afghanistan, following a stunning military victory that saw them oust the US-backed government on August 15, days ahead of the chaotic pullout of American troops.
The Taliban, notorious for their brutal and oppressive rule from 1996 to 2001, had promised a more inclusive government this time.
However, all the top positions were handed to key leaders from the movement and the Haqqani network -- the most violent faction of the Taliban known for devastating attacks.
- 'Same as old Taliban' -
Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund -- a senior minister during the Taliban's reign in the 1990s -- was appointed interim prime minister, the group's chief spokesman said at a press conference in Kabul.
Mullah Yaqoob, the son of the Taliban founder and late supreme leader Mullah Omar, was named defence minister, while the position of interior minister was given to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of the feared Haqqani network.
Co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar, who oversaw the signing of the US withdrawal agreement in 2020, was appointed deputy prime minister.
None of the government appointees were women. "We will try to take people from other parts of the country," spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said, adding that it was an interim government.
Hibatullah Akhundzada, the secretive supreme leader of the Taliban, released a statement saying that the new government would "work hard towards upholding Islamic rules and sharia law".
The Taliban had made repeated pledges in recent days to rule with greater moderation than they had in their last stint in power.
However, analysts said the new lineup indicated little had in fact changed. "The new Taliban, same as the old Taliban," tweeted Bill Roggio, managing editor of the US-based Long War Journal.
"It's not at all inclusive, and that's no surprise whatsoever," said Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
In a further sign that the movement had little intention of carrying out any meaningful reform, Zabihullah also announced the reinstatement of the Taliban's feared Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
The ministry had, under the Taliban's former rule, been responsible for arresting and punishing people for failing to implement the movement's restrictive interpretation of sharia law.
- 'Actions, not words' -
Even as the Taliban consolidate power, they face the monumental task of ruling Afghanistan, which is wracked with economic woes and security challenges -- including from the Islamic State group's local chapter.
A growing number of protests have emerged across the country over the past week, with many Afghans fearful of a repeat of the Taliban's previous reign. Hundreds gathered at several rallies in Kabul on Tuesday, where Taliban guards fired shots to disperse the crowds.
In Herat, hundreds marched, unfurling banners and waving the Afghan flag -- a black, red and green vertical tricolour with the national emblem overlaid in white -- with some chanting "freedom".
Later, two bodies were brought to the city's central hospital from the site of the protest, a doctor in Herat told AFP on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
"They all have bullet wounds," he said. Demonstrations have also been held in smaller cities in recent days, where women have demanded to be part of a new government.
The Taliban spokesman on Tuesday warned the public against taking to the streets, adding that journalists should not cover any demonstrations.
The group -- which executed people in stadiums and chopped the hands of thieves in the 1990s -- has said it would not stand for any resistance against its rule. Washington, which has said it is in "no rush" to recognise the new government, expressed concern Tuesday about its members but said it would judge it by its actions.
"We note the announced list of names consists exclusively of individuals who are members of the Taliban or their close associates and no women. We also are concerned by the affiliations and track records of some of the individuals," a State Department spokesperson said.
"We understand that the Taliban has presented this as a caretaker cabinet. However, we will judge the Taliban by its actions, not words."
Educated young women, former U.S. military translators and other Afghans most at-risk from the Taliban appealed to the Biden administration to get them on evacuation
Afghans rushed onto the tarmac of the capital’s airport on Monday as thousands tried to flee the country after the Taliban seized power with stunning speed.
1629337528_1200.jpeg)
