Afghanistan between defiance and despair | All media content | DW | 20.08.2021

Visit the new DW website

Take a look at the beta version of dw.com. We're not done yet! Your opinion can help us make it better.

Go to the new dw.com

We use cookies to improve our service for you. You can find more information in our data protection declaration.

More info OK
  1. Inhalt
  2. Navigation
  3. Weitere Inhalte
  4. Metanavigation
  5. Suche
  6. Choose from 30 Languages

Asia

Afghanistan between defiance and despair

After the Taliban takeover, people in Afghanistan are still trying to leave the country in droves. But there's resistance, too: Many Afghans have taken to the streets to protest against the militant Islamist group.

  • Afghans in Kabul holding up their national flag in the street

    Independence Day protests

    After the initial shock, people across Afghanistan have started going out into the streets to protest against the Taliban regime. On Afghanistan's Independence Day (19.08.), Afghans in Kabul and eastern Afghanistan celebrated the end of British rule 102 years ago ― and showed defiance in the face of the Taliban's return to power by holding up Afghanistan's national flag.

  • Afghan waving a large black, red and green national flag

    Rallying around the flag

    The black, red and green of Afghanistan's national flag was a strong symbol in the Independance Day protest, as it stands in strong contrast to the Taliban's white flag. "Hundreds of people came out on the streets," Mohammad, one of the protesters, told Reuters. "At first I was scared and didn't want to go but when I saw one of my neighbors joined in, I took out the flag I have at home."

  • A group of Taliban and their supporters on cars in Kabul

    Victory over the foreign occupier

    Taliban fighters and supporters also took to the streets to celebrate Independence Day, with the militant Islamist group proudly declaring they beat the United States. They did this not bearing the black, red and green, but their own flag.

  • Taliban fighters with guns and their flag in Kabul

    The Taliban flag: White and black

    Raising a white flag means anything but surrender in Afghanistan these days. Instead, it's a sign the Taliban are back in power. Their ensign is white and bears the Shahada, the Islamic profession of faith. The militant fighters have been displaying it prominently since taking back Afghanistan, for example on street patrols.

  • A man carrying a boy at the border crossing of Chaman

    Crossing into neighboring countries

    Countless Afghans have been trying to leave the country since the Taliban's return to power. One way out is to cross into Pakistan. The Afghan families pictured here made their way into the neighboring country on Thursday, at the key border crossing of Spin Boldak/Chaman. The crossing was also open for trade, with trucks carrying agricultural produce crossing in both directions, Reuters reported.

  • Crowds line the road to Kabul's airport

    Desperate to escape

    Scores of people lined a Kabul road Friday (20.08.), waiting to board a US military plane leaving Afghanistan. At the city's Hamid Karzai Airport, the situation is still tense. The Taliban are trying to keep people from reaching the airport, while US troops attempt to keep order. Earlier, several people died when crowds ran onto the tarmac and clung to planes that were taking off.

  • Destroyed cars in front of Kabul airport

    Left behind

    Those who had made it past Taliban checkpoints on the streets of Kabul left their cars behind when they made it to the airport ― in hopes that they would make it onto one of the flights and out of the country. The cars were later destroyed by those who were denied access to the airport and thus to safety.

  • US soldiers at the airport in Kabul

    Scrambling to evacuate

    The US military is trying to keep the situation at the airport in Kabul under control. Washington, along with other Western powers, has been criticized for failing to start evacuation of embassy personnel and Afghan locals who helped their military earlier. Now it's far from certain whether all vulnerable persons, including local journalists, can still be brought to safety.


  • Afghans in Kabul holding up their national flag in the street

    Independence Day protests

    After the initial shock, people across Afghanistan have started going out into the streets to protest against the Taliban regime. On Afghanistan's Independence Day (19.08.), Afghans in Kabul and eastern Afghanistan celebrated the end of British rule 102 years ago ― and showed defiance in the face of the Taliban's return to power by holding up Afghanistan's national flag.

  • Afghan waving a large black, red and green national flag

    Rallying around the flag

    The black, red and green of Afghanistan's national flag was a strong symbol in the Independance Day protest, as it stands in strong contrast to the Taliban's white flag. "Hundreds of people came out on the streets," Mohammad, one of the protesters, told Reuters. "At first I was scared and didn't want to go but when I saw one of my neighbors joined in, I took out the flag I have at home."

  • A group of Taliban and their supporters on cars in Kabul

    Victory over the foreign occupier

    Taliban fighters and supporters also took to the streets to celebrate Independence Day, with the militant Islamist group proudly declaring they beat the United States. They did this not bearing the black, red and green, but their own flag.

  • Taliban fighters with guns and their flag in Kabul

    The Taliban flag: White and black

    Raising a white flag means anything but surrender in Afghanistan these days. Instead, it's a sign the Taliban are back in power. Their ensign is white and bears the Shahada, the Islamic profession of faith. The militant fighters have been displaying it prominently since taking back Afghanistan, for example on street patrols.

  • A man carrying a boy at the border crossing of Chaman

    Crossing into neighboring countries

    Countless Afghans have been trying to leave the country since the Taliban's return to power. One way out is to cross into Pakistan. The Afghan families pictured here made their way into the neighboring country on Thursday, at the key border crossing of Spin Boldak/Chaman. The crossing was also open for trade, with trucks carrying agricultural produce crossing in both directions, Reuters reported.

  • Crowds line the road to Kabul's airport

    Desperate to escape

    Scores of people lined a Kabul road Friday (20.08.), waiting to board a US military plane leaving Afghanistan. At the city's Hamid Karzai Airport, the situation is still tense. The Taliban are trying to keep people from reaching the airport, while US troops attempt to keep order. Earlier, several people died when crowds ran onto the tarmac and clung to planes that were taking off.

  • Destroyed cars in front of Kabul airport

    Left behind

    Those who had made it past Taliban checkpoints on the streets of Kabul left their cars behind when they made it to the airport ― in hopes that they would make it onto one of the flights and out of the country. The cars were later destroyed by those who were denied access to the airport and thus to safety.

  • US soldiers at the airport in Kabul

    Scrambling to evacuate

    The US military is trying to keep the situation at the airport in Kabul under control. Washington, along with other Western powers, has been criticized for failing to start evacuation of embassy personnel and Afghan locals who helped their military earlier. Now it's far from certain whether all vulnerable persons, including local journalists, can still be brought to safety.


More in the Media Center

In Afghanistan, a mass wedding underscores how much Kabul has changed since the Taliban took over.

Taliban take joy out of weddings in Afghanistan 21.06.2022

Kabul, Afghanistan, 24.05.2022+++Munesa Mubarez is fighting for women's rights, organizing demonstrations on the streets of Kabul. She continues her activism even as the Taliban introduces ever-stricter regulations controlling the lives of women.

Afghan activist fights for women's rights under Taliban rule 24.05.2022

The Taliban say they are searching homes to track down suspected criminals.

Taliban conduct sweeping house-to-house searches 16.03.2022

An Afghan drug addict huddles as he smokes heroin alongside the river in the old part of Kabul on October 23, 2013. Afghanistan produces 90 percent of all opiate drugs in the world, but only recently became a major consumer - out of a population of 35 million, more than a million are addicted to drugs today. AFP PHOTO/Noorullah SHIRZADA (Photo credit should read Noorullah Shirzada/AFP via Getty Images)

Heroin use in Kabul grows under Taliban, say locals 10.02.2022

Read also

ARCHIV - 08.12.2015, Afghanistan, Kabul: Der damalige deutschen Botschafter in Afghanistan, Markus Potzel, am Flughafen in Kabul. (zu Deutscher Diplomat wird stellvertretender UN-Afghanistan-Beauftragter) Foto: Kay Nietfeld/dpa Pool/dpa +++ dpa-Bildfunk +++

German diplomat named deputy UN Afghanistan envoy 18.06.2022

Markus Potzel will be the United Nations' new deputy representative to Afghanistan. Between 2014 and 2016 he was Germany's ambassador to Kabul.

An Afghan boy flies a kite on hilltop overlooking Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Afghanistan: Deadly attack hits Kabul Sikh temple 18.06.2022

An attack on a Sikh temple in the Afghan capital has claimed two lives plus those of the attackers, officials say. Sikhs form a tiny minority in the country.

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / This picture taken on November 22, 2021 shows a staff member for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) checking a child for signs of malnutrition at a camp of internally displaced people on the outskirts of Herat. - The UN's children's agency UNICEF estimates that some 3.2 million Afghan children under the age of five will suffer from malnutrition this winter. - TO GO WITH Afghanistan-children-hunger,FOCUS by Caroline TAIX (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) / TO GO WITH Afghanistan-children-hunger,FOCUS by Caroline TAIX (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)

Indian officials travel to Kabul for talks on aid distribution 02.06.2022

India had supported Afghanistan's previous, Western-backed government. Since the Taliban took over, Afghanistan's humanitarian crisis has left millions of people at risk of hunger.

A female presenter for Tolo News, Sonia Niazi, covers her face in a live broadcast at Tolo TV station in Kabul on May 22, 2022. - Women presenters on Afghanistan's leading news channels went on air May 22 with their faces covered, a day after defying a Taliban order to conceal their appearance on television. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP) (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Afghanistan: Women TV presenters cover faces one day after defying edict 22.05.2022

The Taliban has made face veils mandatory for all Afghan women appearing in public, including those on television. This edict was ignored by presenters on Saturday, but they relented a day later.