In this episode of Zoom-In Imtiaz Gul reviews key developments in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover on August 15, 2021, ahead of the complete withdrawal of the US and NATO forces. The world had anticipated that the Taliban government may not last long, yet quite contrary to the expectations, the Taliban regime has survived and largely brought an end to violence. Although issues such as denial of education for women remains a sticking point, yet most of the world continues to engage with the regime informally. The economy faces big challenges but the expected implosion has not happened. Corruption has declined, government revenues gone up, with coal exports emerging as huge source of income. At the same time the assassination of Al-Qaeda founder al-Zawahiri in a drone strike, and death of TTP Omar Khorasani leader have raised question about the Taliban commitments on counter-terrorism.
