The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 2021 for the second time. Since then, the former insurgents have consolidated their grip on power, excluded women and girls from public life, stamped out internal dissent and external challengers, and gained debut recognition as the country’s official government from Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council. The Taliban govern through decrees, but Afghans have aspirations and needs that cannot be fulfilled through edicts and ideology.

The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 2021 for the second time. Since then, the former insurgents have consolidated their grip on power, excluded women and girls from…

epa12302328 People wave flags of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan as supporters of Taliban mark fourth anniversary of the Taliban takeover, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 15 August…

KABUL: Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the Taliban, has ordered his ministers to remove the “acting” designation from their titles, a move experts say…