Sardar Ahmad Shakeeb, the Taliban’s ambassador to Islamabad, claimed this week that citizens of Afghanistan can now “freely move around the country.” But his vision of “freedom” does not include women—who remain barred from public life under the group’s repressive rule.
Shakeeb made the statement during an event commemorating Afghanistan’s Independence Day, hosted by the Islamabad Institute for Strategic Studies. The panel, titled “Four Years of the Islamic Emirate: Governance, Domestic Trends, and International Engagement,” also featured Mansoor Ahmad Khan, former Pakistani ambassador to Kabul, and Malick Ceesay, UNAMA’s representative in Islamabad.
Painting a rosy picture, Shakeeb declared that security had been restored, economic activity was thriving, and Afghans could now participate in commerce and public life. But that narrative collapses under scrutiny. Under the Taliban’s so-called Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, women are banned from traveling alone, working, attending school, or participating in public affairs. Shakeeb’s “freedom of movement” applies only to men.
He also claimed that armed opposition groups had been dismantled. In reality, the Taliban continues to report operations against Islamic State (ISIS) cells, while resistance movements like the Resistance Front and Freedom Front have claimed dozens of attacks across several provinces—some of which have been confirmed by the United Nations.
Shakeeb further praised the Taliban for preserving “national unity” and healing ethnic divisions. Yet, four years into their rule, Afghanistan remains fragmented, economically collapsed, and diplomatically isolated. Taliban governance has delivered no meaningful progress—only intensified repression, especially for women and ethnic minorities.
For the Taliban, “freedom” is not a right—it is a narrative tool. And as long as women remain invisible in that narrative, Afghanistan’s claim to unity and independence remains hollow.
