A Closer Look: What next for Afghanistan?

In A Closer Look, The National provides an in-depth take on one of the biggest stories of the week.

After two years of Taliban rule, Afghanistan is in economic ruin.

Shunned by the international community for its laws against women and freedoms, the regime has no clear path to getting the country back on its feet.

The streets of Kabul may be safer. But that's because the Taliban were behind the bombings and killings that plagued the fallen republic, critics say.

This week, Sulaiman Hakemy, who worked on this week's special report on the Taliban takeover: two years on, discusses the future of the country and its people with presenter Anjana Sankar.

Podcast: How sanctions crippled all of Afghanistan

This combination of photos shows women posing for portraits in different cities in Afghanistan. Since their takeover two years ago, the Taliban have squeezed Afghan women out of public life, imposing suffocating restrictions on where they can work, how they can travel and what they can wear. All photos by AFP

Updated: March 06, 2024, 7:55 AM

A Closer Look: What next for Afghanistan?

With its economy in ruins and millions of women locked out of the workplace, we look at what the future may hold for its people