After 20 years of conflict, the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan. Many people in the country are worried about their safety and livelihood. There are also serious concerns about further humanitarian crises in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Historically, the Taliban opposed vaccines. It is no secret that Taliban commanders are known to block access to polio vaccines, and even kill medical personnel in charge of injecting vaccines.
Initially, the Taliban took a different approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. The group actually helped domestic and international efforts to control the spread of the virus in the territory of Afghanistan it controlled at the time.
However, that good intention seems to be over. The Afghan news agency Shamshad News reported that the Taliban had banned the use of the COVID-19 vaccine in Paktia, one of the country's 34 provinces located in Eastern Afghanistan.
According to the local provincial Director of Public Health, Walayat Khan Ahmadzai, the Taliban have asked them to stop distributing the vaccine and have since closed the COVID-19 vaccine ward at regional hospitals.
In fact, as quoted from IFL Science, Afghanistan has experienced more than 150,000 cases of COVID-19 and nearly 7,000 deaths. The cessation of distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine is of course worrying and contributes to hampering efforts to build herd immunity globally.
For the record, the military organization has been one of the main factions in the Afghan Civil War, which ruled the country between 1996 and 2001 after the Soviet withdrawal.
They were removed from power in 2001 when the United States and Britain invaded Afghanistan. For the past two decades, they have continued to wage insurgency throughout the country. On Sunday, August 15, the capital Kabul fell to the Taliban as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country and his government collapsed.
Many western countries that took part in the war in Afghanistan, such as Germany and Britain, are currently busy evacuating their diplomatic personnel from the country, although the U.S. and Canada have promised to resettle vulnerable Afghans. It is unclear whether plans to continue the deportation of migrants back to Afghanistan by the six EU countries will go ahead or not.