Six months of Taliban: Afghans safer, poorer, less hopeful

By KATHY GANNON
Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan has undergone a dramatic transformation in half a year of Taliban rule. The country feels safer and less violent than it has in decades, but also even poorer as the once aid-fueled economy barrels toward collapse. Tens of thousands of Afghans have fled, including members of the educated elite. They either fear for their economic future or lack of freedom under a group that ascribes to a harsh interpretation of Islam and during its previous rule in the late 1990s barred girls and women from public life. Tuesday marks six months since the Afghan capital of Kabul was ceded to the Taliban with the sudden and secret departure of the country’s U.S.-backed president.