afghanistanThe fall of Kabul and the Taliban’s Islamization programmeThe fall of Sarobi created panic in Kabul for it was now a matter of hours
before the Taliban reached the outskirts of the city. Fearing a bloodbath,
the un and International Committee of the Red Cross (icrc) hastily evacu-
ated all foreign aid workers, while Kabulis grabbed what possessions they
could and fled north in fleets of buses, cars and taxis. Mas‘ud, though,
decided it would not be possible to defend the capital and during the night
of 26/27 September he successfully withdrew his Panjshiris to Charikar.
On the afternoon of 27 September the Taliban entered the capital almost
unopposed. One of their first acts was to break into the United Nations
Development Programme (undp) compound in violation of its diplomatic
status, seize ex-President Najib Allah Khan and his brother and driver,
whom they proceeded to torture, castrate and drag through the streets
behind pickups, They were finally shot and their battered corpses hung
from the traffic lights in Shahr-i Nau. After several days they were cut
down, handed over to the icrc and eventually buried in Najib’s home town
of Gardez. A few days later the Taliban issued death sentences in absentia
on Dostam, Mas‘ud and Rabbani.
Once in control of the capital the Taliban imposed an even more rigor-
ous version of Islamic law than that introduced under President Rabbani
and ruled Afghanistan as if it were a Frontier madrasa. The ‘Amr b’il Ma‘ruf
wa Nahi ‘An al-Mankar, or the Office for the Enforcement of Virtue and
the Prevention of Vice, an institution originally established by Mujadidi
in 1992 and which was modelled on Saudi Arabia’s Ha’y ah religious police,
roamed the streets enforcing the draconian rules, forcing attendance at
prayers and whipping violators of the new code. Television and music was
banned, with the exception of n a’a t, or a cappella religious chants, while
Radio Kabul was renamed Radio Shari‘a. Most sporting pastimes were
outlawed, along with the celebration of the New Year festival of Nauroz,
since the Taliban deemed it un-Islamic.
Both males and females were required to conform to a strict deport-
ment code. Adult males had to grow full beards, while trimming them
was punishable by whipping. The wearing of any form of Western cloth-
ing by Muslims was banned and foreigners were forbidden to wear local
dress. Inevitably, these regulations hit women the hardest. Veiling was
strictly enforced and women were not allowed out of the house unless they
were accompanied by a mahram. Girls’ schools were closed, women were
dismissed from the civil service and there was strict segregation between
sexes. Foreign aid agencies had to make complex arrangements to comply