The US Armed Forces left Afghanistan in August 2021 after failing to stabilize the country’s political core. Amidst the chaos, Taliban guerrillas took Kabul and ousted then-President Ashraf Ghani.
With the capital in hand, it was time for the group’s leaders to assemble the government that would run the country. Many of the Taliban soldiers were chosen for administrative posts, but the lack of emotion of bureaucratic work left the jihadists bored.
“The Taliban used to have no restrictions, but now we sit in one place behind a computer desk 24/7. Life has become so tiring, you do the same things every day,” complained a soldier in the group to the research agency Afghanistan Analytics Network, in an article published by the Jerusalem Post.
A Taliban sniper explained that before the group members only needed to plan attacks against enemies. Now, however, they are directly responsible for Afghanistan’s problems, such as starvation.
“People didn’t expect much from us and we had few responsibilities towards them (the people), when now, if someone is hungry, they blame us directly for it”, vents the sniper.
The reports and complaints do not stop there. Another Taliban, aged 25, says that in the ministry where he works, there isn’t much to do. To kill time at the office, the young man browses Twitter.
“Sometimes I miss the jihad life for all the good things we had. In our ministry, there is little for me to do. Therefore, I spend most of my time on Twitter. We are connected on fast wifi and internet. Many warriors, myself included, are addicted to the internet, especially Twitter.”
The concept of business hours and work obligation also seems to be a bit confusing for Taliban soldiers.
“You have to go to the office before 8 am and stay there until 4 pm. If you are not, you are considered absent and [o pagamento daquele] day is cut from your salary,” protests the Taliban.