The U.S. withdrew its last troops from Afghanistan in August 2021. As they left, the Taliban retook power.
Taliban leaders promised global officials they would set up less restrictive policies than during their previous rule. But within months, the group went back on its word.
Under the Taliban’s leadership, Afghanistan is also struggling with economic and humanitarian emergencies. According to U.N. officials, 95 percent of the country’s 39 million people are undernourished, and 6 million are at risk of starving.
Before the 2021 Taliban takeover, about 80 percent of Afghanistan’s budget was funded by foreign aid, says Athena Rayburn, who works in the capital city of Kabul for the aid group Save the Children.
Because most Western nations consider the Taliban to be a terrorist organization, they’ve cut off aid to the country. They have also frozen billions of dollars’ worth of assets from Afghanistan’s central bank. That has destroyed the country’s fragile economy and left the Taliban government without money to pay salaries. With a growing number of Afghans unable to find work, more families are going hungry.
“The situation in Afghanistan is not sustainable,” Rayburn says. “One of the most heartbreaking things is the level of food insecurity.”