Days after enjoying rides, Taliban burn down amusement park in Afghanistan's Sheberghan

The Taliban insurgents have reportedly set an amusement park on fire, days after a video showed them enjoying rides in Kabul. A 2-minute video clip that surfaced online late Thursday shows blazes burning at the Bokhdi Amusement Park in the northern city of Sheberghan. As per activist Ihtesham Afghan, the reason behind the act is that statues /idols standing in public access are illegal in Islam. The Taliban, which took over Afghanistan on Sunday, have announced that they will rule the country in accordance with austere Sharia law.

The Taliban have pledged to forgive those who fought against them and to restore security and normal life to the country after decades of war. But many Afghans fear a return to the Taliban’s harsh rule in the late 1990s, where they banned films and music, restricted women to their houses, chopped off hands of suspected thieves and held public executions. 

Earlier on Monday, the Taliban were seen enjoying at amusement parks and working out at gyms in the Palace. The Taliban were seen laughing and riding electric bumper cars at the parks while touting assault rifles and weapons. These videos, however, came in sharp contrast to the heart-wrenching clips of thousands of civilians who are desperate to leave the war-torn country since the Taliban took control of the city. At least 10 people have been killed and several are left wounded as a result of chaos and gunfire at the passenger terminal of the Kabul international airport, where thousands of Afghans are hoping of getting an evacuation flight

Rise and Resurgence of Taliban 

Taliban, officially known as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is an insurgency movement that gained ground in the late 1990s. Throughout their five year regime, the Sunni Pashtuns ruled with an iron fist and imposed an ultra-austere brand of rules. In addendum, they also provided a safe haven to Al Qaeda and other terror outfits. It was only in 2001 after Al-Qaeda perpetrated the September 11 attacks that the US decided to interfere. Along with NATO allies, it stationed thousands of troops in Afghanistan. Now, two decades later, a tripartite pact between Kabul, Washington and the Taliban led to the pullout of all foreign troops prompting an eventual fall of Kabul. 

(Image: IhteshamAfghan/Twiiter/AP)