Life under the Taliban: ‘Herat is now like a ghost city’

The text message filled Saeed with dread. Widely shared in the civil service department where he works, it said all male staff must wear traditional clothes and that their pay would be suspended indefinitely.

“No women were around, and we were asked by the Taliban where the office money was,” said Saeed, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, describing his return to the office.

It was just one of the signs of how life has changed in Herat, Afghanistan's third-largest city, since the Taliban took control on August 12th.

Such glimpses provide an early indication of how the militant group could rule Afghanistan following their takeover – and whether they will stick to assurances to be more moderate than the repressive theocratic Taliban regime that governed the country 20 years ago.

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Residents who spoke to the Financial Times by phone said most of the shops in the city’s old bazaar opened up again soon after the city was captured.

Yet despite such signs of a gradual return to normality, locals also describe a widespread sense of unease. Women, in particular, now live in fear. With the exception of those working in the health sector, most have stayed at home since the city fell.

“Herat is now like a ghost city. Women hardly commute and Talibs patrol with guns which people find intimidating,” said a journalist whose father was killed by the Taliban this year. “The parks that were established in recent years are now deserted.”

All of Afghanistan faces an uncertain future. The former central bank chief has warned that its financial prospects are "dire". The World Bank this week halted funding to the country and the IMF has suspended access to its resources.

Prices rising

Rumours have swirled around Herat all week that wages are to be halved, even as food and energy prices are rising.

Herat’s banks are yet to reopen and there is only one cash machine in the city of 600,000 inhabitants. “When it works, you can see long lines of people,” said a journalist.

Public baths and barber shops have opened although, according to one resident, barbers now cut hair only in styles deemed acceptable by the Taliban.

Schools have restarted, but male and female students who once attended mixed classes must sit in separate classrooms and wear Islamic clothing. Herat University, one of Afghanistan's most prestigious higher education institutions, remains closed.

The Taliban leadership has taken pains in public pronouncements to strike a more moderate tone than when it ruled Afghanistan from 1996-2001 and imposed a brutal interpretation of Islam that drew international condemnation for its treatment of women and use of cruel punishments such as public executions.

Still, people in Herat say they remain sceptical about the possibility of a more permissive Taliban.

“I don’t think we’re the only people who are totally confused about our future. Even the Taliban are. They’re strangers to life in a big cultural city such as Herat. They have no clue what working in a system means,” said a female doctor, who is allowed to travel around freely.

She said that immediately after they took Herat, about 100 armed Taliban were stationed inside the hospital where she works, making it “look like a war zone”, although the number has since dropped to about 20.

“The Taliban have designated a woman with Islamic covering to monitor female staff and ensure they don’t mingle with men and that they observe Islamic hijab coverings,” she added.

Fearful atmosphere

Aware that many young Afghans are looking for ways to flee the country, a Taliban official said in a video circulated widely on social media this week that the youth were the country’s “asset” as he urged them not to leave.

Educated Heratis are often surprised to bump into each other since the Taliban returned and ask: “How come you have not left?” another doctor said.

Some have left to settle in the capital Kabul, about 650km to the east. Others, seeking to leave the country altogether, have joined the chaotic scenes at Kabul's international airport.

Those who remain in Herat have to endure a fearful atmosphere.

Another journalist told how he witnessed a group of Taliban fighters with rifles and whips in the bazaar on Friday last week telling the men there they could no longer wear jeans and T-shirts.

One young man was beaten because he was not wearing traditional clothing, the journalist said, and a photographer had his camera seized. “When we go out, we don’t know if we will face a Taliban who is harsh or one who is not,” he said.

Among the positives, Heratis say they have noted improvements in security. Residents say theft and pickpocketing have come down markedly, most likely because the Taliban is known for a medieval system of justice that can include cutting off the hands of offenders.

A rumour circulated last week that a group of thieves was to be punished in the city’s main sports stadium by having their hands amputated. Hundreds of people rushed to watch the drama unfold, only to hear it was not going to happen.

Saeed, the civil servant, was stuck in traffic near the stadium when a militant struck his car with a whip and ordered him to move on.

“It’s been 20 years since Herat saw such scenes,” he said, adding “I’m ready to give my life to have my wife and kids out of the country.

“I don’t want my children to be raised under the Taliban flag.” – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2021