Taliban marks three years of rule and sharia law in Afghanistan

By Mohammad Yunus Yawar and Charlotte Greenfield

KABUL (Reuters) - The Taliban's supreme spiritual leader said the group had transformed Afghanistan into an Islamic sharia-based country, as the former insurgents marked three years of rule with a huge military parade at the Bagram Air Base near Kabul.

"The system is Islamic and sharia-based, sharia is being implemented," said supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, in a speech shared by the administration spokesman late on Wednesday.

"As long as we are alive, we will uphold and apply Allah's (God's) faith and sharia upon ourselves and others," he said.

Foreign diplomats, advocates and many Afghans have blamed Akhundzada's strict interpretation of sharia law for a slew of restrictions on women's education, attire and travel that have steadily been introduced in the last three years.

After a lightning offensive as U.S.-led foreign forces were withdrawing following 20 years of inconclusive war, the Taliban entered Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021, as Afghan security forces, set up with years of Western support, disintegrated and U.S.-backed President Ashraf Ghani fled.

The Taliban carried out a military parade a day before the anniversary on Wednesday, including marches by its security forces showcasing tanks and weapons at Bagram, once the largest military base of the U.S.-lead coalition. Much of the equipment was once held by the Afghan military and provided by foreign forces, but seized by the Taliban after they took over.

Three years on, the Taliban have improved some economic indicators such as exports and widespread fighting has stopped, although attacks, including those claimed by Islamic State radicals, continue in urban areas.

But a huge cut in development funding and restrictions on the banking sector led by Washington have contributed to the country's massive humanitarian crisis with more than half of the population in need of aid to survive.

Western governments have said that any path to recognition and a rollback of sanctions are stalled until the Taliban changes its course on women's rights.

Girls above the age of around 12 are barred from formal education, women are not usually allowed to travel long distances without a male guardian and have been banned from visiting gyms and parks.

The Taliban say they respect women's rights in accordance with their interpretation of Afghan culture and Islamic law.

"Three years on, the absolute absence of any concrete measures in addressing the human rights catastrophe in Afghanistan is a source of shame for the world," said Samira Hamidi, Regional Campaigner for South Asia at Amnesty International, in a statement.

(Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar in Kabul and Charlotte Greenfield in Islamabad; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)