KABUL — Normalcy has been seemingly returning to Afghanistan’s capital Kabul amid political uncertainty and instability in the prices of kitchen items.
“It is almost one week since the capital Kabul fell to the Taliban hand and no government has been formed yet,” a Kabul resident Mukhtar Hayat told Xinhua.
However, Hayat expressed delight over the security situation, saying the situation is much better than the past as few criminal activities such as theft and robbery have been reported and there has been no bomb blast or suicide attack recently.Taliban fighters poured into the Afghan capital on Aug. 15.
“Security situation is better than the past but fluctuation in the prices of food items in market is a matter of concerns for the people and the Taliban has to check the prices as the people are poor and can’t afford,” Hayat said.
The prices of some basic items are reasonable but some other items are beyond the reach of ordinary people, Hayat said, adding that the prices of flour and cooking oil have come down but patrol, diesel and gas are skyrocketing.
He expressed concerns over the vacuum of power, calling on the Taliban leadership to form a government as soon as possible.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said a couple of days ago that the leaders of the group are in talks with politicians to form a broad-based administration acceptable to all Afghans. Since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban on Sunday, all education institutions, including schools and universities, have remained closed and pedestrians, women in particular, and vehicles are not seen on the streets of Kabul city as much as they were a week ago.
“I see the security situation getting better after the Taliban took over control of the capital. But fear remains about our future,” another Kabul resident Ataullah said, adding that thousands of people are leaving the country and the crowd of thousands of Afghans around Kabul’s airport demonstrates concerns about uncertainty.
Since the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, thousands of people including men, women and children have rushed to the Kabul airport without travel documents to foreign countries and many are still there. “The government offices should be reopened, employees should return to their work, the prices should be controlled,” an Afghan woman named Shiva Mahbuba said.
Expressing joy over the return of security to Kabul, she suggested that the Taliban in addition to ensuring security has to respect human rights, women’s rights and the rights of all Afghans to have access to education, business and work.
