Kabul: The roads that were once crowded with life had fallen silent.
Some women dare to leave their homes.
Fighters patrol in the environment.
Welcome to Kabul Baru, a city ruled by fear of the Taliban.
“It’s like zombie apocalypse,” a 20-year-old women’s rights activist told AFP with anonymity requirements.
Around Kabul Airport, the chaos ruled as thousands of people’s masses, desperate to escape ahead of the August 31 deadline for US withdrawal.
But everywhere else, the streets are very calm.
“People hardly go outside and (when they do it) they are in a hurry,” said an activist.
“People come home as soon as possible.” Under the rule of being overthrown, more and more women adopted Western clothes, attending universities, and work.
Now, even in Kabul, women hardly dare to get out of their homes.
Burqa’s sales have skyrocketed.
Many Afghans were afraid of repetition of the brutal interpretation of the Islamic law which was applied by the Taliban when the first time in power from 1996-2001.
The Taliban has sworn the regime that is softer and more inclusive this time, offers guarantees rights to women.
However, activists said that he could not return to the university since the amazing Taliban military victory on August 15.
He said hard lines did not want women to attend classes until they could separate the gender lines.
“I think it’s an idiot decision,” he said, because there are only quite a number of female university teachers.
The bank that he did also had forbidden it back, quoted concerns for his safety.
On the city wall, the poster of the ad that displays a female model has been damaged or torn down.
Pop music, is prohibited directly under the former Taliban regime, no longer can be heard in Kabul.
Only the sounds of children who play – do not realize the depth of transformation is taking place in their homeland – breaking the silence.
Widespread fear, said a Kabul banker, works for the benefit of Taliban when they try to build their dominance.
“They don’t have troops to control people but that fear control everyone,” he said with anonymous requirements.
While the Taliban leadership seeks to project an organized movement that is able to regulate, the reality in the field is that militant behavior varies greatly from one place to another.
“Some groups acted well and good but some of them went to the restaurant without paying,” Bankers said.
In the southeast city of Khost, a long time a conservative city was captured by the Taliban shortly before Kabul fell, militants appeared to have adopted a softer approach.
“After a few days, the situation returned to normal.
The flow of the city has slowed but many stores and small businesses have been reopened now,” said a local aid worker.
“Boys and girls go to school like before,” he said.
“The Taliban’s attitude towards people is far softer than those who think about,” he added, he danced with friends at a wedding held last week.
However, some citizens are afraid of economic misery, especially with government services stalled.
“Many people lose their jobs, they are afraid of a bad economic situation,” he said.
On the market in the northern city of Kunduz, Taliban guerrillas use loudspeakers to announce their new rules to residents.
Based on Sundays the battle leads to the Taliban victory, the city is now beginning to see rebuilding – even though the progress is slow.
“People start rebuilding their shops but not home because people run away and don’t return, or don’t have money to rebuild,” said local business owners to AFP.
Some poorer occupants are very afraid of the impact of regime changes may have stopped buying fruit and even using soap, he said.
“They think they have to save because in the future, there is no way to get money.”