‘Whatever horrors they do, they do in secret'

Mazar-i-Sh arif was the most secular and liberal of Afghan cities. But 20 years of corruption and misrule left it ripe for retaking by the Taliban. Will anything be diff erent this time?

- Ghaith Abdul-Ahad

At the police headquarters compound in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sh arif, a large crowd waited in front of a wire mesh door. The entrance was guarded by a young Taliban fighter with long shaggy hair and a beard, who sat on a broken plastic chair. Beside him was a large pile of shoes and flip-flops belonging to those who had been admitted to meet the newly appointed Taliban police chief.

It was mid-October 2021, seven weeks since the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the Taliban were in charge. In a large office, Abu Idrees, the police chief – who has since been promoted to deputy governor of Balkh province, of which Mazar is the capital – sat on a sofa, shunning the large desk that stretched nearly the width of the room, which had been a symbol of authority of the previous regime. Short and stocky, with broad shoulders and a big head wrapped in a black turban, he was flanked by his deputies and sub-commanders.

Throughout the day, men – and there were only men – entered the room, to squat on the floor in front of Abu Idrees. In hushed voices, they pleaded their cases, answered summons or pledged their undying support to the Taliban. In theory, anyone could demand an audience, something unheard of under the previous government, when people had to pay bribes and pull strings to see even a low-ranking police officer, let alone the chief.