Afghanistan: intimacies of the Taliban seizure of power | Bumper cars, presidential gymnasium and breakthrough in television

Taliban occupation of Kabul shook the global geopolitical chessboard. Thousands of people are trying escape the afghan capital amid the chaos and women’s rights are again clearly threatened by the return to power of the insurgent force.

This is the context that was experienced in Afghanistan for 24 hours, to which is added that the United States reaffirmed its withdrawal from Kabul. This Monday Joe Biden confirmed the “end of the American presence in Afghanistan” and at the same time suggested that the local authorities – funded for decades by the United States – they had not had the will to face the Taliban“We have given them every chance to determine their own future,” he told a press conference.

But, in addition to the images of despair sparked by the fall of Ashraf Ghani’s government, Other videos have been shown in which the contrast between the insurgent force and the daily activities recorded in Afghanistan is highlighted.. This is the case of a home recording that shows armed Taliban in a childish demeanor, playing with bumper cars in an amusement park.

As chroniclers covering the war in Afghanistan report, these images correspond to seizure of power in the province of Herat, days before arrival in Kabul. In another of the videos, the guerrillas They appear playing in a kind of carouselthe.

Presidential Palace and public television

This Sunday, through social networks, images of Taliban fighters proclaiming “victory” were broadcast inside the presidential palace in Kabul. The photos went around the world: militiamen entered the building and toured the main rooms, including the office of former President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, who fled the country to allegedly “avoid a bloodbath. “.

Twenty-four hours later, material of the arrival at the official residence continues to be broadcast, for example, a video where theThe Taliban themselves try their hand at the gymnasium of the presidential palace, with various physical exercises. The Taliban’s eruption was also observed on the public channel, where the guerrillas intervened, who gave a strange opening speech without looking at the camera.