‘Itching’ for new battles

Two women walking along a gravel road in Chak, in Wardak province, Afghanistan. Residents in this stretch of central Afghanistan that harboured deep support for the Taliban say decades of war transformed the young generation. — © 2023 The New York Times Company

AS a child studying in a madrassa in Afghanistan, Mohammad Khalid Tahir dreamed of waging war. By the time he was a teenager, he had joined the Taliban and celebrated when they seized power from the US-backed government two years ago.

But the high from that victory did not last. Reassigned as a soldier in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital, he frequently complained that he was bored and longed to return to his life’s purpose, according to his family.