Taliban Fighters, Kabul Residents Seek Normalcy at Zoo

Twenty years after the fall of their regime in 2001, the Taliban, back in power in Afghanistan, are encountering a new and far more advanced nation with paved roads, tall buildings, and various attractions -- including a zoo.

Armed with their rifles, Taliban members gather around the cages housing lions, monkeys and other animals in Kabul Zoo.In another cage, a wandering leopard is a target of attraction for many fighters."We have come to Kabul after 20 years, we are very happy and feel very comfortable and feel very secure, with the grace of God. After a long time, we are witnessing this happiness that Kabul is secure, and it is under control of the Islamic Emirate's mujahideen," said Taliban commander Mulla Munib Ahmad.

Ahmad was roaming around the zoo with his men on Tuesday, as they sought to project a sense of normalcy in the Afghan capital.

The Taliban were among many others who visited Kabul Zoo.Abdul Rahim, a former prisoner, who was released after the Taliban took over Kabul, said he too was enjoying his first visit to the zoo with his children.The Taliban, who largely hail from Afghanistan's conservative countryside, had signalled signs of moderation in the early days of their rule. They have tried to present a new image, promising amnesty to former opponents and saying they would form an inclusive government.

Many Afghans don’t trust those promises, fearing the Taliban will quickly resort to the brutal tactics of their 1996-2001 rule, including barring girls and women from schools and jobs.The Taliban's encounter with the urban Afghanistan of 2021 highlights how much the country has changed in the last 20 years since they last ruled the country.An entire generation of Afghans has come of age under a modernizing, Western-backed government flush with development aid, and now many people fear that those gains will be reversed.

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