TL;DR
Get everyday essentials delivered free — and shop member deals
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Access to Prime Big Deal Days deals on October 6–7
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
A report published by Meduza on October 2, 2026, draws on scholar Ruslan Suleymanov’s August visit to three Afghan cities, five years after the Taliban returned to power. It describes safer travel and a major Taliban campaign against opium, alongside persistent poverty, unemployment, restrictions on women and concerns about political and ethnic exclusion.
Meduza has published a report on life in Afghanistan five years after the Taliban seized power, describing improved security on major roads and an apparently successful campaign against opium alongside mass poverty, unemployment and severe restrictions on women’s rights. The account is based on Middle East scholar Ruslan Suleymanov’s August 2026 visit to three cities and dozens of conversations with Afghans.
Suleymanov’s reporting describes travel on the roughly 500-kilometer Herat–Kandahar highway as comparatively safe, though roads are often in poor condition and Taliban checkpoints appear frequently. A commander at one checkpoint welcomed the Russian reporter after seeing his passport. Meduza notes that Russia is the only country to have officially recognized the government formed by the Taliban in September 2021.
The report presents improved security as one of the authorities’ few achievements. Afghanistan ranked 11th for terrorism risk in 2026 on the Global Terrorism Index compiled by Australia’s Institute for Economics and Peace, its first time outside the index’s top 10 since the ranking began. The threat has not disappeared: U.N. experts estimate that the Islamic State group’s Afghan affiliate, ISIS-K, still has about 2,000 fighters.
Meduza also describes the Taliban’s restrictions on women and its creation of a Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. The authorities have tried to block internet access nationwide and prohibit officials from using smartphones, the report says. It portrays the opium crackdown as apparently effective, but the supplied report material does not provide production figures or other measures to quantify its results.
Security Gains, Unequal Daily Life
The report highlights the gap between reduced fighting and safer travel and the conditions shaping daily life. Greater security can matter to people moving between cities after decades of conflict, but it does not resolve the economic hardship and limits on personal freedoms described by Meduza’s interviewees.
Restrictions on women affect access to education, work and public life, while poverty and unemployment constrain households more broadly. Meduza’s account also raises questions about who benefits from Taliban rule: the government is described as almost entirely Pashtun, and members of several minority communities told the outlet they lacked equal rights and opportunities. These are interviewees’ accounts, not a nationwide survey of public opinion.
indoor security camera with pan tilt
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
From 2021 Takeover to 2026
The Taliban seized power in August 2021, following the withdrawal of U.S. troops. Active fighting has since ended, but the report describes a country where political authority and social rules have been reshaped under the movement’s government. Its Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is one instrument of the restrictions placed on women.
Afghanistan remains divided across ethnic and geographic lines. Meduza cites an estimate that at least 74% of Afghans live in rural areas or are nomads, while 26% live in cities. Its reporting says village elders and mullahs often hold substantial local influence. The country’s last presidential election, in September 2019, had turnout below 20%, according to the report; it says the Taliban had urged a boycott and threatened voters.
The threat from ISIS-K remains part of the security picture. Meduza reports that the group has recruited at least 600 people from Central Asia over the past five years, mainly from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The group became widely known in Russia after the March 2024 attack at Crocus City Hall, which killed 145 people, as stated in the source report.
“We remain a deeply divided community, but we are not yet a nation. Everyone understands the word ‘Afghan’ differently.”
— Amin, a 31-year-old Salam Watandar radio employee, speaking to Meduza
Limits of the Field Report
The report offers a journalist’s observations from three cities and dozens of conversations; it is not a representative national survey. The material provided does not specify the full range of interviewees, document the methodology behind claims about public support, or establish how typical the accounts of discrimination and hardship are across Afghanistan.
The opium campaign is described as apparently successful, but no figures are supplied here on cultivation, production, enforcement or effects on farmers’ incomes. The report also gives no detailed economic data on poverty or unemployment. The long-term durability of the security gains is uncertain, given the continued presence of ISIS-K and the country’s ranking for terrorism risk.
Questions Beyond the Five-Year Mark
The Meduza report is a snapshot of conditions during Suleymanov’s August 2026 visit, rather than a forecast or a record of a new policy announcement. The next developments to watch include whether the Taliban maintains security outside major routes, whether ISIS-K remains able to recruit and carry out attacks, and how authorities enforce their restrictions on women and communications.
Further reporting and reliable data will be needed to measure the opium crackdown’s effects and track poverty, employment and access to rights. The source material does not identify a forthcoming Taliban policy change, an announced review or a specific next milestone.
Key Questions
What is the news development?
Meduza published a field report on October 2, 2026, about Afghanistan five years after the Taliban took power. The account draws on scholar Ruslan Suleymanov’s August visit to three cities.
What does the report say has improved?
It describes long-distance travel as relatively safe compared with the years of fighting and says active fighting has ended. It also reports that Afghanistan ranked 11th for terrorism risk in the 2026 Global Terrorism Index, while warning that ISIS-K remains active.
What problems does the report describe?
Meduza reports poverty, unemployment and severe curbs on women’s rights. It also describes restrictions on internet access and officials’ smartphone use, and says members of minority groups interviewed privately reported unequal rights and opportunities.
How effective has the Taliban’s opium crackdown been?
The report characterizes the campaign as apparently successful, but the supplied material includes no figures measuring changes in opium production or describing the campaign’s economic effects.
Does the report establish how most Afghans view Taliban rule?
No. It includes contrasting comments from an unnamed government employee and people from six minority groups, but its three-city reporting is not a national opinion survey.
Source: rss
Fall Picks
fall essentials
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
