Even by the CIA’s most pessimistic assessments, no one predicted the scale and pace of the Taliban’s resurgence in Afghanistan. Two weeks ago, Kunduz was the only major city in Taliban hands. Now, the group has taken the entire country after the Americans frantically evacuated their diplomatic mission in Kabul, whilst President Ashraf Ghani negotiated his surrender and fled the country. Even for seasoned observers of the region, recent days have been dizzying.
Throughout these events, Taliban forces have been keen to portray themselves as reformed and responsible actors. This is a supposedly “new” Taliban; one in which “women can have access to education”, its spokesman, Suhail Shaheen, reassured the BBC in a televised interview on Sunday.
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