THE TALIBAN’S LEGACY IN KANDAHAR
A EurasiaNet Photo Essay by Ed Grazda: 10/10/03

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Kandahar served as the spiritual center for the Taliban movement, whose radical Islamic fighters conquered most of Afghanistan before being driven from power in 2001 by the US-led campaign against terrorism. Evidence of the Taliban’s legacy abounds in and around Kandahar, as this photo essay by Edward Grazda shows.

After the Taliban gained control of the Afghan capital Kabul in 1996, the movement authorized a large number of public works projects in Kandahar. The first order of business was improving the main transport link between the country’s seat of political power, Kabul, and its new religious center, Kandahar. Over 40 miles of road, linking Kabul with the large town of Maidan, were paved.

Along the roads to Kandahar, the Taliban built mosques to help believers fulfill their Islamic obligation of praying five times daily. There is also an abundance of road signs featuring sayings from Islam’s holy book, the Koran.

In the city itself, the Taliban erected a lone street light at a central intersection. These days the light does not work. Many of the projects launched under the Taliban, including the Mullah Omar Mosque and Shopping Complex, remain unfinished. Another project that was remains to be completed is a mausoleum for Mullah Omar, the Taliban’s top leader, who remains at large.

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Posted October 10, 2003 © Eurasianet
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