Taliban celebrates three years of return to power in Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s rulers celebrate the anniversary of their return to power amid a worsening humanitarian crisis.

Afghanistan’s Taliban has celebrated three years in power with a military parade, paying homage to its homemade bombs, fighter aircraft and goose-stepping security forces.

The Taliban’s armed forces towed Soviet-era tanks and artillery pieces through Bagram, the former United States airbase, where Chinese and Iranian diplomats were among hundreds who gathered for the parade and speeches on Wednesday.

The airbase served as the lynchpin for the US-led operations against the Taliban for two decades.

Taliban forces seized Kabul on August 15, 2021, after the US-backed government collapsed and its leaders fled into exile. The anniversary is marked a day earlier on the Afghan calendar.

The Taliban government remains unrecognised by any other state, with restrictions on women, who bear the brunt of policies the United Nations has called “gender apartheid”, remaining a key sticking point.

“Three years have passed since the dreams of girls have been buried,” Madina, a 20-year-old former university student in Kabul, told AFP news agency.

“It’s a bitter feeling that every year, the celebration of this day reminds us of the efforts, memories, and goals we had for our future.”

Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund, who had been scheduled to appear at Bagram, praised the Taliban authorities’ victory over “Western occupiers” in a statement read by his chief of staff.

The Taliban government has “the responsibility to maintain Islamic rule, protect property, people’s lives and the respect of our nation”, he said.

Security has been a priority for Taliban authorities as they consolidated their power over the past three years,