It doesn’t take much to get to Taliban-controlled territory in Afghanistan.
After departing from the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif and driving a few 30 minutes down a road full of craters left by bombs, we meet our host: Haji Hekmat, the mayor of the Taliban (a parallel post to the official) in the Balkh district.
This well-scented man, with a black turban that adorns his head, is a veteran. Joined the militants in the decade of 1990, when they controlled the majority of Afghanistan.
The same week that the Biden administration announced that it will complete the withdrawal of US troops that remain deployed in the country the 11 September – thus delaying the deadline agreed by his predecessor Donald Trump with the Taliban, May 1 – the Taliban have organized for us a demonstration of power .
Several heavily armed men flank the street, one of them with a grenade launcher, another with an M4 assault rifle that belonged to a American soldier.
Balkh , once one of the most stable districts in the country, is now one of the most violent .
Baryalai, a local commander with a fierce reputation, points to the other side of the reel ra: “The government forces are just there, near the central market, but they cannot leave their bases. This territory belongs to the Mujahideen. ”
The picture is similar in much of Afghanistan: the government controls the main cities and towns, but the Taliban surrounds them, with a large presence in the countryside. .
The militia group asserts its authority with sporadic checkpoints along key highways. As the Taliban detain and question motorists, Aamir Sahib Ajmal, the local leader of the Taliban intelligence service, tells us that they are looking for people with ties to the government.
“We arrest them and take them prisoner,” he says. “Then we leave them to our courts and they decide what happens next.”
Sitting with a cup of green tea, Haji Hekmat proclaims: “ H We won the war and the United States has lost ”.
President Biden’s decision to delay the withdrawal of his forces to September , which means their permanence in the country beyond the term agreed last year, has provoked a strong reaction from the Taliban’s political leadership.
However, the situation seems to be on the side of the militiamen.
“We are ready for anything,” says Haji Hekmat. “We are fully prepared for peace and we are fully prepared for jihad” .
Sitting next to him, a military commander adds: “The jihad is an act of worship. Worship is something that, no matter how much you do it, you don’t get tired. ”
Over the last year, there has been an apparent contradiction in the Taliban’s “jihad.”
They stopped attacks against the forces international organizations after signing an agreement with the US, but they continued to fight against the Afghan government.
However, Haji Hekmat insists that there is no contradiction: “We want an Islamic government centered on the law. shar i to. We will continue our jihad until they accept our demands. ”
On whether the Taliban would be willing to share power with other Afghan political factions, Haji Hekmat differs from the position of the group’s political leadership in Qatar. “Whatever they decide, we will accept,” he repeatedly says.
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The Taliban do not see themselves as a simple rebel group, but as the future government.
The militants s and refer to themselves as the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” , the name they used when they were in power since 1996 until they were deposed after the attacks of the 11 September 2001.
Now, they have a sophisticated est “shadow” structure, parallel to the official one, with officials in charge of supervising day-to-day services in the regions they control. Haji Hekmat, the Taliban mayor, takes us on a tour.
They show us a primary school, with boys and girls writing in texts donated by the UN. When they were in power in the 1990, the Taliban banned female education , although it has frequently denied it.
Even now, several reports indicate that in certain areas older girls are not allowed to attend classes. But at least here, the Taliban assures that they actively promote it.
“As long as they wear the hijab, it is important that they study,” says Mawlawi Salahuddin, head of the local Taliban education commission .
In secondary schools, she indicates, only female teachers are allowed and the veil is mandatory. “If they follow the law shar i a , No problem”.
Local sources informed us that the Taliban canceled art and civics classes, replacing them with Islamic subjects, but otherwise follow the national educational program.
So do the Taliban send their own daughters to school?
“My daughter is very young, but when she grows up, I will send her to school and to the madrasa – Muslim center of higher education—, as long as the hijab and the law are implemented shar i a “, says Salahuddin.
The government pays the salaries of the staff, but the Taliban is in charge. It is a hybrid system that is applied throughout the country.
In a nearby health center, managed by a humanitarian organization, the story is
The Taliban allow female staff to work, but they have to have a male companion at night, and patients are segregated according to sex.
Contraceptives and information on family planning are available.
It is clear that the Taliban want us to see them with different, more positive eyes.
When we drive near A schoolgirl on her way home, Haji Hekmat begins to gesticulate animatedly, proud that he has contradicted our expectations.
However, the Taliban’s opinion on women’s rights continues to worry. The group does not have any female representation , and in the 1990 prevented women from working outside the home.
Passing by Through the villages of the Balkh district, we come across several women and not all of them wear burqas.
But in the local market there is not a single one. Haji Hekmat insists that they do not have access banned, but explains that, in a conservative society, it is normal that they do not attend.
The militants accompany us all the time and the few local residents with whom we speak declare their support for the group and are grateful for the improved security and crime reduction.
“When the government was in control, they used to imprison our people and demand bribes to free them”, tells an old man. “Our people suffered a lot. Now we are happy with the situation. ”
The ultra-conservative values of the Taliban are less shocking in the most rural regions, but many, particularly in the cities, fear that it will be wanted resurrect the brutal Islamic Emirate of the 1990 and the freedoms that many young people have grown up with in the last two decades are undermined.
A local resident who spoke to us later, Under anonymity, he told us that the Taliban are much stricter than they acknowledged in our interviews.
The man assured that they slap and beat locals for shaving their beards, or destroy their stereos for listening music.
“People have no choice but to do what they say,” he told the BBC. “Even for minor issues they become violent. People are afraid”.
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Haji Hekmat was part of the Taliban in the 1990.
While the Younger fighters around us are happy to take photos and selfies , he tends to cover his face with his turban when he sees our camera.
“Viejas costumb res, ”he says with a smile, before allowing us to film his face. Under the old Taliban regime, photography was banned.
I ask if they made mistakes when they were in power. Would they behave the same way again?
“The Taliban from before and the Taliban from now are the same. So comparing that time and now … nothing has changed “, explains Haji Hekmat.
” Although naturally there are personnel changes, “he adds. “Some people are stiffer and others are calmer. That’s normal. ”
The Talibá seem to be deliberately imprecise with which means the “Islamic government” that he wants to create.
Some analysts interpret this as an attempt to avoid internal friction between the hard line and the more moderates.
Will they be able to accommodate those with different points of view without alienating their own base? The takeover could be the acid test.
During a chicken and rice lunch, we heard the roars of at least four airstrikes in the distance.
Haji Hekmat remains undaunted. “It’s too far, don’t worry,” he says.
The air force, particularly the one provided by the Americans, has been crucial over the years in stopping the advance of the Taliban.
USA. It has already drastically cut its military operations since it signed the agreement with the group last year.
And many fear that by the time the US troops fully withdraw , the Taliban will be already positioned for a military takeover of the country .
Haji Hekmat mocks the Afghan government or “Kabul administration”, as the The Taliban refer to this, calling it corrupt and non-Islamic.
It is difficult to imagine men like him reconciling with others, unless it is under their own conditions.
“This is jihad,” he says. “It is worship. We do not do it for power but for Ala and it is his law. (To) Bring Sharia law to this country. We will fight against whoever opposes it ”.
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