San Francisco Frontiers - Flags, music as Taliban authorities mark five years ruling Afghanistan

Afghans riding rickshaws and motorbikes decorated with flags drove around Kabul on a day that government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said "will be written in golden lines in the history of Afghanistan".

Hundreds of Afghans gathered around a square beside the former US embassy, with men, boys and young girls packed into pickup trucks and waving white Taliban government flags.

Others took selfies and posed for pictures, while new murals around the city declared: "Independence is a sign of dignity, pride and identity."

Men wearing white or red headbands joined the festive crowd as religious and patriotic music blared, five years to the day since Taliban insurgents entered the city.

Dozens of flag-decorated vehicles and motorbikes drove around the square, while security forces stood in the crowd with AK-47 rifles. Military helicopters flew over the capital.

The authorities will host a cricket match and other sports events, which girls and women are banned from attending.

Taliban fighters took Kabul unopposed on August 15, 2021, after a lightning offensive that swept across Afghanistan, toppling government forces in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of US-led troops.

Some of the vehicles abandoned by foreign forces, such as Humvees, were driven in convoy through the city, where there was an increase in the number of checkpoints.

University student Pirooz Mirzaie said this week the government has brought security, infrastructure projects and "plenty of opportunities for entrepreneurs".

"The biggest challenge for young people is that there aren't many jobs," the 20-year-old told AFP beside vendors selling flags.

Mujahid, the government spokesman, said this month that the authorities were laying the "foundations of the economy" and that patience was needed.

GDP per capita is in decline, due to more than six million Afghans arriving from neighbouring Iran and Pakistan in three years, while the World Bank estimated real growth reaching 4.8 percent.

- 'Suffocating restrictions' -

Although Taliban officials have forged ties with multiple countries, including in Europe, their government is still only recognised by Russia.

Relations with neighbouring Pakistan have plummeted and the two countries went to war this year, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan when people were already hit hard by international aid cuts.

Some countries have opted to limit their relations with the Taliban authorities until there are changes in Afghanistan, where people are suffering "very real harm" according to the United Nations.

Fiona Frazer, the human rights director for the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), told AFP that people have endured the "consolidation of suffocating restrictions that intrude on almost every aspect of their daily lives, and their human rights".

The Committee to Protect Journalists criticised the authorities' "brutal repression of the press", which has seen media workers "surveilled, detained, beaten, censored, or driven into exile".

Women have been particularly affected by Taliban government measures, being banned from public places including parks and from most jobs, while education for girls beyond age 12 is outlawed.

A 23-year-old woman said she felt a "profound sense of suffocation", speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

"The five years have been so gruelling that I feel like a 500-year-old woman, one who cannot die."

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G.Miller--SFF