Afghanistan: The Taliban’s victory - the end of freedom | DW Documentary

15 August 2021 marked a turning point for Afghanistan. That was the day of the final withdrawal of western troops. It’s also when the Taliban entered Kabul. Protest movements were crushed. Twenty years of hope and effort - gone, in one fell swoop. After the 9/11 attacks on the United States and the ensuing “war on terrorism“ declared by George W. Bush, Afghanistan had changed. Now, the Taliban are back in charge and the country has slipped back into the past. As the undisputed rulers of the country, the Taliban satisfy their thirst for revenge and behave as “victors“ over the U.S., the “greatest military power“ in the world. Their goals can be summed up in a few words: Restoration of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan“ and the introduction of “genuine Sharia law.“ The new Taliban leaders continue to rely on international donors. As a result, they are trying not to offend them too openly. But they are tightening the noose. The few protest movements that have started have been nipped in the bud. Reprisals are handled discreetly. Civil society, which has been abandoned by the West and no longer receives financial resources, is helpless in the face of the new circumstances. Twenty years of hopes and efforts have been dashed. What do the Taliban want for their country? “The future is in Allah’s hands,“ says the new refugee minister, Chalil Hakkani, on whom the U.S. has meanwhile placed a five-million-dollar bounty. Patrick de Saint-Exupéry and Pedro Brito da Fonseca toured Afghanistan in 2021 before, during and after the arrival of the Taliban. This film documents what they saw.