The Fort Worth Press - Taliban declare Soviet exit holiday, six months after seizing power

USD -
AED 3.673042
AFN 68.112673
ALL 94.198378
AMD 389.366092
ANG 1.801814
AOA 913.000367
ARS 1003.735016
AUD 1.538462
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.70397
BAM 1.877057
BBD 2.018523
BDT 119.468305
BGN 1.877057
BHD 0.376794
BIF 2953.116752
BMD 1
BND 1.347473
BOB 6.908201
BRL 5.801041
BSD 0.99976
BTN 84.384759
BWP 13.658045
BYN 3.27175
BYR 19600
BZD 2.015164
CAD 1.39805
CDF 2871.000362
CHF 0.89358
CLF 0.035441
CLP 977.925332
CNY 7.243041
CNH 7.25914
COP 4389.749988
CRC 509.237487
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 105.825615
CZK 24.326204
DJF 178.031575
DKK 7.158304
DOP 60.252411
DZD 134.221412
EGP 49.650175
ERN 15
ETB 122.388982
EUR 0.95985
FJD 2.27595
FKP 0.789317
GBP 0.798053
GEL 2.740391
GGP 0.789317
GHS 15.795384
GIP 0.789317
GMD 71.000355
GNF 8617.496041
GTQ 7.717261
GYD 209.15591
HKD 7.78445
HNL 25.264168
HRK 7.133259
HTG 131.234704
HUF 395.000354
IDR 15943.55
ILS 3.70204
IMP 0.789317
INR 84.43625
IQD 1309.659773
IRR 42075.000352
ISK 139.680386
JEP 0.789317
JMD 159.268679
JOD 0.709104
JPY 154.770385
KES 129.468784
KGS 86.503799
KHR 4025.145161
KMF 472.503794
KPW 899.999621
KRW 1404.510383
KWD 0.30785
KYD 0.833149
KZT 499.179423
LAK 21959.786938
LBP 89526.368828
LKR 290.973655
LRD 180.450118
LSL 18.040693
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.882192
MAD 10.057392
MDL 18.23504
MGA 4666.25078
MKD 59.052738
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3397.999946
MOP 8.015644
MRU 39.77926
MUR 46.850378
MVR 15.460378
MWK 1733.576467
MXN 20.428504
MYR 4.468039
MZN 63.910377
NAD 18.040693
NGN 1696.703725
NIO 36.786794
NOK 11.072604
NPR 135.016076
NZD 1.714237
OMR 0.384846
PAB 0.99976
PEN 3.790969
PGK 4.025145
PHP 58.939038
PKR 277.626662
PLN 4.16352
PYG 7804.59715
QAR 3.646048
RON 4.778204
RSD 112.294256
RUB 104.308748
RWF 1364.748788
SAR 3.754429
SBD 8.383555
SCR 13.699038
SDG 601.503676
SEK 11.036204
SGD 1.346604
SHP 0.789317
SLE 22.730371
SLL 20969.504736
SOS 571.332598
SRD 35.494038
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.748021
SYP 2512.529858
SZL 18.034455
THB 34.480369
TJS 10.647152
TMT 3.5
TND 3.17616
TOP 2.342104
TRY 34.552504
TTD 6.790153
TWD 32.583504
TZS 2659.340659
UAH 41.35995
UGX 3694.035222
UYU 42.516436
UZS 12825.951341
VES 46.55914
VND 25419
VUV 118.722009
WST 2.791591
XAF 629.547483
XAG 0.031938
XAU 0.000369
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.760497
XOF 629.547483
XPF 114.458467
YER 249.925037
ZAR 18.15566
ZMK 9001.203587
ZMW 27.617448
ZWL 321.999592
  • BCC

    3.4200

    143.78

    +2.38%

  • RBGPF

    59.2400

    59.24

    +100%

  • GSK

    0.2600

    33.96

    +0.77%

  • RIO

    -0.2200

    62.35

    -0.35%

  • CMSC

    0.0320

    24.672

    +0.13%

  • NGG

    1.0296

    63.11

    +1.63%

  • CMSD

    0.0150

    24.46

    +0.06%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    6.79

    -0.15%

  • AZN

    1.3700

    65.63

    +2.09%

  • RELX

    0.9900

    46.75

    +2.12%

  • BCE

    0.0900

    26.77

    +0.34%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.21

    -0.15%

  • VOD

    0.1323

    8.73

    +1.52%

  • BTI

    0.4000

    37.38

    +1.07%

  • BP

    0.2000

    29.72

    +0.67%

  • SCS

    0.2300

    13.27

    +1.73%

Taliban declare Soviet exit holiday, six months after seizing power
Taliban declare Soviet exit holiday, six months after seizing power

Taliban declare Soviet exit holiday, six months after seizing power

The Taliban on Tuesday declared February 15 a national holiday to mark the anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan -- six months after they stormed into Kabul to topple the US-backed government.

Text size:

After invading on Christmas Eve in 1979, the Red Army pulled out a decade later having lost nearly 15,000 troops fighting Western-backed Mujahideen forces, precipitating a civil war that gave rise to the Taliban and their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001.

Forty years of conflict has left Afghanistan one of the world's most impoverished nations, and the Taliban's return on August 15 plunged the country deeper into a humanitarian crisis the United Nations says threatens more than half its 38 million population.

Thousands marched through Afghan cities on Tuesday to protest against President Joe Biden's decision last week to seize almost half the country's overseas assets -- about $3.5 billion -- as compensation for victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks carried out by Al-Qaeda that prompted the US-led invasion later that year.

"If someone wants compensation, it should be Afghans," said Mir Afghan Safi, the chairman of the country's forex traders association, as he marched in Kabul.

"Their two towers have been destroyed, but all our districts and all of our country have been destroyed."

The Taliban, who said they wanted good relations with Washington after the US withdrawal in August, called the asset seizure "theft".

Many Afghans have agreed, including those in exile after fleeing the country to avoid the Taliban's hardline rule.

Some in the crowd chanted "death to America", and "death to Joe Biden".

The Taliban warned late Monday they would be forced to reconsider their policy towards the United States unless Washington releases the assets.

"The 9/11 attacks had nothing to do with Afghanistan," the group's deputy spokesman said in a statement.

- Rights eroded -

It is not clear what action the Taliban could take, but they have previously said they would allow thousands of Afghans who worked for the United States and other Western powers to leave the country for promised sanctuary abroad.

The Soviets introduced laws giving women rights in education, work and marriage, benefiting mainly those in cities. The United States introduced similar measures over the last 20 years, but these have been drastically eroded since the hardline Islamists' return.

Women are effectively barred from most government employment, while schools for teenaged girls are shut across much of the country.

The Taliban have also cracked down hard on protests against their rule, including detaining women activists, prompting strong protests from the United Nations and rights groups.

"The Soviet withdrawal was not an achievement but only the start of crises," said exiled Afghan analyst Ahmad Saeedi.

"Afghanistan is again at the brink of failure with challenges only increasing," he told AFP.

He said the Taliban had "lost a lot of time" in the six months since taking power.

"Because of this situation they are also not able to form an inclusive government... and that is expected to increase pressure on them from within the country and outside."

While signs of the US-led occupation are still starkly apparent on the streets of Kabul -- from the weapons the Taliban plundered as they swept to victory, to the concrete barriers erected to try to stop their 20-year insurgency -- there is little evidence of the Soviet era.

Still, veteran Hayatullah Ahmadzai, who fought with the Mujahideen against Moscow's might, says the Taliban are a direct consequence.

After the Soviets left, the 74-year-old told AFP, the situation "ended up in disorder, giving birth to the Taliban".

C.M.Harper--TFWP