Photo: Al-Hajj Chairman Kooks
If the world hasn’t gone wild enough for you lately, feel free to enjoy the scene of Taliban fighters taking a little break from returning Afghanistan to the Dark Ages by - and this is truly surreal - relaxing with a bit of a spin in bumper cars.
A security and terrorism expert who specializes in Islamist ideology, Sajjan M. Gohel, told VICE World News that videos of Taliban fighters cruising around in what looks to be a theme park is indicative of how “sheltered” those fighters have been from western influence over the last decade.
Gohel says that the Taliban are now “media savvy” and their increasing exposure to technology and ongoing interactions with the West have benefitted their propaganda efforts and are aimed at showing “a softer, perhaps more clownish side” of the strict and dangerous organization.
But Gohel warns that it would be a mistake to think the members of this hardcore Islamist group that was driven from power in 2001 are just a bunch of fun-loving rascals having a run in their off-hours from plunging their nation back into darkness.
According to Suhail Shaheen, a member of the Taliban Negotiations Team and Polit and spokesman for International Media, “Mujahideen should pay utmost attention to the treasury, public facilities, gov. offices, equipment of gov. offices, parks, roads, bridges. These are the trust and property of the nation; no personal tampering and negligence should be done with them but be strictly guarded.”
Taliban fighters overwhelmed the Afghan capital Sunday, sowing panic and chaos, and their return marked a stunning and sudden end to the Afghan government - and the 20-year long tenure of American influence in Afghanistan.
As former President Hamid Karzai fled, insurgents all but sealed their control of the entire country.
And took over the operation of all bumper cars, it appears.
It is a frightening moment for modern Afghans and a wretched end to a decade of American involvement there.
Gohel says that the Taliban are now “media savvy” and their increasing exposure to technology and ongoing interactions with the West have benefitted their propaganda efforts and are aimed at showing “a softer, perhaps more clownish side” of the strict and dangerous organization.
But Gohel warns that it would be a mistake to think the members of this hardcore Islamist group that was driven from power in 2001 are just a bunch of fun-loving rascals having a run in their off-hours from plunging their nation back into darkness.
According to Suhail Shaheen, a member of the Taliban Negotiations Team and Polit and spokesman for International Media, “Mujahideen should pay utmost attention to the treasury, public facilities, gov. offices, equipment of gov. offices, parks, roads, bridges. These are the trust and property of the nation; no personal tampering and negligence should be done with them but be strictly guarded.”
Taliban fighters overwhelmed the Afghan capital Sunday, sowing panic and chaos, and their return marked a stunning and sudden end to the Afghan government - and the 20-year long tenure of American influence in Afghanistan.
As former President Hamid Karzai fled, insurgents all but sealed their control of the entire country.
And took over the operation of all bumper cars, it appears.
It is a frightening moment for modern Afghans and a wretched end to a decade of American involvement there.
Me and the boys after the revolution pic.twitter.com/brUbMOPk1h
— Al-Hajj Chairman Kooks|????| ? ????????| (@shawarmacommie) August 16, 2021
Google News