Taliban rule in Afghanistan: Key moments and turning points

Here is a look at key dates since the Taliban returned to power four years ago, as United States and NATO forces withdrew from the country:

2021

Aug. 15: The Taliban march into Kabul, returning to power after two decades as internationally backed President Ashraf Ghani flees the country.

Aug. 26: Islamic State group suicide bombers and gunmen kill over 170 Afghans and 13 US troops in an attack on the crowds trying to be evacuated at Kabul’s airport.

2022

March 23: On the day high schools are opening, the Taliban abruptly reverse a promise to allow girls above the sixth grade to attend school.

May 7: The Taliban Virtue and Vice Ministry says women in public must wear all-encompassing robes and cover their faces except for their eyes. It advises them to stay home unless they have important work outside the house.

Nov. 10: A nationwide ban on women using gyms and parks comes into force. The Taliban say they imposed the ban because women allegedly disobeyed gender segregation rules or didn’t cover themselves properly.

Nov. 20: The Taliban lash 19 people, including alleged adulterers, in the first public flogging since their return to rule.

Dec. 8: The Taliban execute a convicted killer before hundreds of spectators, the first public execution since the takeover.

Dec. 21: The Taliban bar female students from attending university.

Dec. 24: The Taliban bar Afghan women from working with national and international nongovernmental groups.

2023

July 4: The Taliban order beauty salons to shut down for offering allegedly un-Islamic services like eyebrow shaping. The decision affects as many as 60,000 female entrepreneurs.

Sept. 13: The Taliban hail China’s new ambassador with fanfare. Months later, the Taliban officially send their new ambassador to Beijing.

Oct. 4: Pakistan announces a major crackdown on foreigners living in the country illegally, including millions of Afghans.

Oct. 7: A 6.3 magnitude earthquake in western Herat province kills thousands. More quakes follow, bringing further devastation to the area.

2024

Jan. 4: The Taliban arrest women in Kabul for wearing “bad hijab,” the first official dress code crackdown since they returned to power.

May 17: Shooters open fire in Bamiyan, killing six people, including three Spanish vacationers. It’s a blow to the Taliban’s plans to woo tourists. IS claims the attack.

June 4: The leader of the United Arab Emirates meets a Taliban official facing a US bounty over his involvement in deadly assaults. It highlights the growing divide on how to deal with the Taliban.

July 30: The Taliban say they no longer recognize Afghan diplomatic missions staffed by diplomats from the former Western-backed government.

Aug. 13: The Taliban celebrate the third anniversary of their return to power at a former US air base that was once the center of Washington’s war to unseat the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaida perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks.

Aug. 21: The UAE accepts the credentials of the Taliban’s ambassador to the Gulf Arab state.

Aug. 22: Authorities ban women’s voices and bare faces in public under new laws approved by the supreme leader in efforts to combat vice and promote virtue.

Sept. 13: IS militants kill 14 people in a Shiite-majority area of central Afghanistan, gunning them down as they returned from visiting shrines in Iraq.

Sept. 16: The Taliban suspend polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, one of two countries in which the spread of the potentially fatal, paralyzing disease has never been stopped.

Oct. 15: Taliban run-media stop showing images of living beings in some Afghan provinces to comply with morality laws. That same month, the southern province of Helmand bans all media from showing images of living beings.

Nov. 10: The Taliban confirm they will attend a U.N. climate conference. The head of the country’s national environment agency says Afghanistan needs international support to deal with extreme weather.

Dec. 4: There is widespread condemnation after reports that the Taliban’s leader has ordered private and public institutions to suspend medical courses for women.

Dec. 11: A suicide bombing in the Afghan capital kills the refugee minister. The funeral for Khalil Haqqani, the paternal uncle of acting interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, is held the following day.

Dec. 24: Airstrikes by Pakistan target suspected Pakistani Taliban hideouts in Afghanistan. Afghan officials say the airstrikes killed 46 people, mostly women and children.

2025

Jan. 22: A prisoner swap with the US frees two Americans in exchange for a Taliban figure imprisoned for life in California on drug trafficking and terrorism charges. The Taliban free more Americans months later.

Jan. 24: The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor requests arrest warrants for two top Taliban officials for the repression of women.

Feb. 24: The Taliban confirm the arrest of two elderly British nationals, Peter and Barbie Reynolds.

March 5: A suspect in the 2021 suicide bombing at Kabul airport appears in a US court following his capture in Pakistan.

March 23: The US lifts bounties on three senior Taliban figures, including the interior minister.

June 5: US President Donald Trump bans entry for citizens from 12 countries, including Afghanistan.

July 4: Russia becomes the first country to officially recognize the Taliban government.

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