Kabul: After 20 years of awesome war, Afghans in cities far from the capital Kabul felt a mixture of relief and fear of what awaits them under the Taliban.
The victory of the hardline Islamic group and the mass surrender of the government forces has brought the desired break from the battle, which has left tens of thousands of dead and millions of homeless people since 2001.
“His people are very happy.
There will be no more corruption, and maybe no more bombings , “A journalist in the southern city of Lashkar Gah, in Helmand Province, told AFP.
But whether women can work, get education at all levels and can get along with men are some of the most urgent questions.
A principal in the northeastern city of Kunduz, where the Taliban traditionally has fewer influences, telling AFP the group allows the education of girls from all ages, but under strict segregation.
“The Taliban said if the woman taught girls, there was no problem,” he said in Whatsapp.
“Women can go to school but they can’t work with men.” In other dictates, the Taliban tells him there is no music or songs permitted.
But on the market and at a health clinic, women can still be seen without a male companion, he observes.
The Taliban they talk to does not say whether new rules come from above or are implemented locally.
Militants repeatedly promised different types of governments with their brutal regime in the 1990s who saw women limited to their homes, most entertainment was prohibited, and punishment including stonings and public executions.
They have promised to respect the progress made in women’s rights, but only according to their intense interpretation of Islamic law.
Taliban rebranding was treated with skeptics, with experts questioning whether it would be a short-term effort to seek international recognition and continuation of vital assistance.
A midwife who worked for foreign NGOs in Lashkar Gah said he was told to stay at home until there was more clarity from the Taliban.
“I’m really not happy because I need money,” he said.
The Taliban has not formed a government, leaving room for the difference in how they confirmed their authority in the newly confiscated area.
An employee at the University of Lashkar Gah, who said many of his women’s colleagues were still attending work this week, meeting with Taliban officials after they asked about the next semester curriculum.
“It’s only for them.
They are only villagers,” he told AFP for Whatsapp.
Some women in the city, because of fear, have returned to wearing a comprehensive burqa – it’s common in the very conservative southern, he observed this week.
But he tells how militants – who have arrested men because they did not let their beard to grow – did not disturb when he went to the barber to shave this week.
At Herat, a cosmopolitan city is only 150 kilometers (100 miles) from the Iranian border and influenced by Persian culture, men and women who previously walked together in the park at night.
No longer.
An employee from a local university, worried about his professional future, said that he must now work without men, and worried about receiving his salary.
In the second largest Kandahar city in Afghanistan – the capital of the first Taliban regime – the owner of a trendy cafe has remained open.
“The Taliban has so far not created a problem,” he said.
But customers no longer come.