What the Taliban achieved and failed to achieve in five years

Lecturer of Transitional Justice at the American University in Afghanistan.

Five years ago, the Taliban entered Kabul triumphant, almost 20 years after the collapse of its first government, triggered by the invasion of Afghanistan led by the United States. As US and other troops scrambled to leave, chaos and a bombing attack took the lives of nearly 200 Afghans.

Today, Kabul is no longer a chaotic city dotted with reinforced walls to protect from bombings or roamed by armed personal convoys blocking the traffic. It is a cleaner, calmer city that is learning to live again.

On this anniversary, it is worth looking back at what the Taliban has accomplished, where it has failed, and what the coming years may hold.

One of the Taliban’s major failures during its first reign between 1996 and 2001 was its inability to capture all of Afghanistan. The provinces that resisted its rule eventually became the bases from which the US and its allies fought it.

The Taliban appears determined not to repeat that mistake. It now controls all of Afghanistan and is able to maintain relative security and safety. This is quite remarkable considering the threat posed by the Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP) during the final years of the pro-US government.

The Taliban has significantly weakened the group and, for now, faces no major insurgent challenges. Afghans can travel to parts of the country that were once effectively inaccessible without fearing for their lives. For a country where even movement within the capital was dangerous, this is a significant achievement.

The economic picture is more complicated. For two decades before the return of the Taliban, economic activity in the country was largely sustained by international aid, while corruption and insecurity undermined it. An economy so dependent on foreign assistance was bound to suffer when much of outside support disappeared overnight.