Sardar Ahmad Shakib, the Taliban’s ambassador in Islamabad, said Afghans today can “move freely” across the country—despite the group’s Amr bil Ma’ruf law, which denies this very freedom to women, who make up half the population.
Shakib made the remarks on Friday during an event marking Afghanistan’s Independence Day, titled “Four Years of the Islamic Emirate: Governance, Domestic Dynamics, and International Engagement,” organized by the Islamabad Policy Research Institute. Former Pakistani ambassador to Kabul Mansoor Ahmad Khan and Malick Cisse, head of UNAMA’s office in Islamabad, also attended.
He claimed that “security has been established” and that economic activity has “increased,” adding that people can travel freely, engage in trade, and participate in economic and social life. The picture he paints aligns with reality only if one treats men as synonymous with the Afghan population.
The Taliban official also insisted that armed groups have now been “eliminated.” This comes as the group regularly announces operations against ISIS-K across the country, while the National Resistance Front and the Freedom Front continue to claim attacks in various provinces—some of which have been verified by the United Nations.
Shakib further stated that “protecting national unity and preventing division” is another achievement of the Taliban over the past four years, saying efforts have been made to resolve ethnic and tribal disputes and reduce the gap between “state and nation.”
Four years into Taliban rule, the country has seen no meaningful economic, social, or political progress. Women and girls remain barred from education, employment, and free movement, and Afghanistan has once again become a haven for extremist groups.
