Afghan children, today’s pawns and tomorrow’s players
Children who entered high school in 2021 are now adults. On the eve of Taliban takeover, tens of thousands of these youth were starting to take on more responsibilities within their families and were struggling with internal tensions over choosing fields of study and their future paths. They were discussing and debating these issues with their relatives and teachers. After the return of the Taliban, some of these teenagers were deprived of education and have spent these three valuable years of their lives enduring severe psychological crises, while others have suffered to the extent that they have died by suicide. More have given up on their childhood dreams and turned to pushing carts, doing labour, becoming apprentices, or even begging to survive. Some have ended up working long hours for minimum wage in factories, farms, homes, workshops, and shops in Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkey, and other countries. This large population has lived during two very different eras, and the sudden collapse of the political system has left them in deep shock, a wound that will last a lifetime.
A group of these adolescents now train in Taliban institutions of war and jihad. Some are unwilling brides of Taliban commanders. The voices of this large population are rarely heard. News and reports are published about the deprivation of women and girls, and some analyses echo with general references to the difficult conditions imposed on children, however the crisis faced by the youth of Afghanistan during these years has not been sufficiently addressed. Ten years from now, this generation, deprived of education and deeply shocked by Taliban rule, will form the bulk of the country’s population, and they will be present in everything from the battlefield to mosques, media, and politics.
Even before the Taliban takeover, the situation was extremely difficult for the youth of Afghanistan. Children were not safe in schools, playgrounds, on their way to school, or at home. Millions of children, especially in areas under Taliban control, had already been deprived of schooling, and war had made life miserable for the majority of the population, including children. The number of orphaned children increased every day, and poverty was hurting most children. Yet, in most parts of the country, hope was still alive, and millions of children and adolescents were engaged in education and training for a better future. Now, Afghanistan is a complete educational quagmire for its children and adolescents, who make up more than half of the country’s population.
The lives of children
We do not have exact population statistics for the country, but there are surveys available regarding the number and age composition of the population. The 2023 yearbook of the Taliban-run National Statistics and Information Authority states that Afghanistan’s population is 35 million and that 16.6 million Afghans are under the age of 15. In 2016, the United Nations Population Fund reported that 63 percent of Afghanistan’s population was under the age of 25. Based on these statistics, nearly 60 percent of the population is either school or university age. These individuals will be the most influential members of society in the coming decades and are now bearing the irreparable damage of the Taliban’s anti-education policies.
The restrictions imposed on girls and women are accelerating population growth, as the age of marriage has significantly dropped, awareness of family planning measures has decreased, and access to medical facilities for birth control has become more limited. Poverty and the crisis of Taliban rule are also contributing to societal collapse, in part because of uncontrolled population growth and the inability to properly raise children. The more society distances itself from modern practices and urban life, the more family planning breaks down.
As well, traditional relationships have been severely damaged by war and the displacement of the population. This has further heightened the vulnerability of children. Journalists and YouTubers reports about the living conditions of marginalized and remote populations show the crisis of population growth. Here, we look at some of these images.
A) In May, reports were published about a man asking for help to take care of his children in Uruzgan. Mohammad Sadiq, a 57-year-old man, lives with his four wives and 48 children in a multi-room house in the city of Tarinkot, the provincial capital. Four of his daughters are married, and nine of his children have passed away. His surviving children lack necessities such as food, education, shelter, and clothing. Although this family might seem exceptional, it serves as a caricature that represents the broader crisis of child upbringing in the country. There are many families struggling with a dozen or more children and sinking in the mire of hunger and homelessness.
Also this year, media outlets reported the story of Ahmad Agha and his 52 children in Herat province. That 52-year-old man lives under the same roof with his three wives and their children. Although he seems more successful in managing the family’s finances, and some media have promoted him as an example of a man with multiple wives leading a “good” life, the challenges faced by this family were repeatedly highlighted in the same interviews. Ahmad Agha does not know the names of some of his children and admits that he cannot provide for their healthcare and education. He and his older children are asking for financial support to buy clothes, educational resources, food, and to help with the marriages of the family’s young adults. In one video, a reporter appeals to charities and kind-hearted individuals to support these children, one by one, or in groups.
Eldest son Waheed Ahmad Wasiq says in the video that he and his brothers are unable to pay the rent for their bakery shop and asks for help from charity organizations to support the education of his brothers and sisters. Another son, Farhad Wasiq, protests his father’s desire to marry for the fourth time, stating that his father cannot afford the clothing needs of his existing wives and children, while another young son, Parviz, mentions that he and two of his brothers are engaged and need assistance to cover the costs of their weddings.
B) Reports from Bamyan also tell of the extremely difficult conditions faced by children in the province. Last month, a YouTube channel called “Village of Bamyan” published a report about several families living in caves, showcasing a bitter example of the suffering and hunger of children and their mothers. One woman named Soghra is seen in front of a cave, busy with traditional embroidery. She says that sewing a single curtain takes at least a month and earns her only a few thousand afghani. Soghra has 11 children — five daughters and six sons — and is struggling to provide for them. In front of Soghra’s cave, like the homes of fellow villagers, a swarm of children can be seen. Their clothes, faces, shoes, and surroundings all clearly show their extreme poverty and deprivation. Later in the video, Soghra invites the reporter into her cave. The floor is covered with old rugs, tarps, and a worn-out carpet, and a few of her young boys are lying there, weak and lethargic. The back room of the cave — used to store the family’s blankets, dishes, and food — was dark and empty. Tearfully, Soghra opens an empty tablecloth in front of the camera and says, “We are on the brink of death.” Pointing to her sons, she explains that they have fallen ill due to hunger. Soghra says that her labourer husband might work one day but then can’t find work for several days after.
Similar heartbreaking images of children’s deprivation have been shared from cities like Kandahar, Kabul, Nangarhar, and Balkh as journalists, Youtubers, charity organizations, and reports from orphanages, shelters, and religious schools document the lives of millions of children. The videos reveal the harsh lives of children involved in street vending, scavenging, and begging, as well as showing the emaciated faces, shabby clothes, and bare feet of these suffering children at aid distribution centres. For example, in one video — apparently recorded at the charity office of Sayed Ahmad Sialab, a former representative of the Wolesi Jirga in Kandahar — warm jackets are distributed to a group of half-naked children during the cold season. The children put on the jackets but many remain barefoot. Their deprivation is so deep and widespread that it cannot be alleviated through seasonal aid or charity work. If you cover their heads, their feet remain bare; if you cover their feet, their stomachs remain hungry; and if you feed them, they still lack beds and proper shelter. Even if a roof is provided, they still lack access to proper education.
The Taliban’s instruments of war
This final image was captured a few months after the fall of the Republic. What is happening to children under the Taliban’s rule didn’t occur overnight — it is the product of decades of war and destruction. Warlord commanders, and profiteering technocrats have all played a part in creating this situation. However, the Taliban, the primary negative force in this destructive saga, bear the major responsibility. For 20 years, they waged war against nation-building, education, and the people’s efforts to escape hunger and backwardness, and challenged Afghanistan’s integration into the caravan of modernity. Now, by closing the doors of education to women and dismantling modern educational systems in favor of madrasas, they are worsening the crisis. The Taliban exploit the swamp of suffering they’ve created for children, collectively pulling them into jihadism and terrorism.
Taliban-run schools, orphanages, and shelters have rapidly expanded across Afghanistan in the past few years. Some of these institutions are funded by the Taliban but most are established by clerics and Taliban commanders with the support of local businessmen and organizations in Pakistan, Arab countries, and other regions. These facilities attract financial aid from around the globe while training children to be obedient followers, ready to be used for the Taliban’s political and financial ambitions in the future.
Children have become tools of the Taliban’s terrorist policies, as well as pawns in internal power struggles. Every Taliban strongman tries to control a school or an orphanage, and at times, serious tensions erupt over control of these centres. Recently, the newspaper Etilaat Roz reported on a fight between two Taliban commanders from Takhar, Mawlawi Nooruddin Umer and Mawlawi Zia-ul-Rahman Madani, over the control of jihadist orphanages. These two commanders had taken in 1,136 orphans and deprived children across five orphanages and were scheming against each other.
These power struggles are happening all across the country. Even Taliban ministers and leaders are competing with each other over creating schools, orphanages, and even suicide bomber training centres. Mullah Hibatullah, Sirajuddin Haqqani, and Mawlawi Yaqoob each have their own suicide bomber units and sometimes publicly flaunt their human bombs to intimidate rivals.
Under the Taliban’s rule, diseases and calamities have also increased. While there are no exact figures on child mortality, heart-wrenching reports of children’s health struggles continue to emerge. On September 9, the BBC published a report from a hospital in Jalalabad, Nangarhar, describing the “horrifying” situation of children and their families. In the report, a mother named Amina said that six of her children had died from malnutrition, and what she had experienced in recent years “felt like doomsday.” According to Amina, her children were dying from poverty, and all she could provide was dry bread and water heated under the hot sun. Amina is not alone. Dozens of other families are fighting for their children’s survival in that hospital.
Though aid organizations estimate that 3.2 million children in Afghanistan suffer from severe malnutrition, the actual number is likely much higher. The Taliban, with their jihadist worldview, refuse to take responsibility for alleviating the people’s suffering. They refer to health and sustenance as divine blessings and do not “promise bread” to the people while Taliban leaders are consumed by greed.
Beyond making excuses and engaging in misdeeds, the Taliban also obstruct even minimal efforts to save children’s lives. They have repeatedly blocked polio vaccination campaigns, leading to a rise in polio cases, including several cases in Nangarhar last year. In 2024, news of polio outbreaks came from Herat, Kandahar, and Nangarhar; the World Health Organization has confirmed 18 cases of polio in Afghanistan so far this year. In non-Taliban systems, such news would be taken very seriously and sparked nationwide campaigns, but in the Taliban’s emirate, such information is met with denial and obstruction. Despite repeated warnings about the increase in polio cases, the Taliban have refused to cooperate with this year’s vaccine campaign, claiming they are searching for a “legitimate way” to vaccinate the population.
The most tangible signs of the future
Children are the most tangible signs of the future. To understand what will happen in Afghanistan, one can turn to history, evaluate the policies and behaviors of active groups and forces, and analyze the role of influential countries. However, none of these offer as clear a picture of the future as the current state of children and teenagers.
What is happening today to those we expect to carry the flag of freedom and prosperity tomorrow? Those we hope will become equals to their regional peers and gain the capacity to compete on the international stage — how much access do they have to the necessary food, education, and health to participate in those competitions? Will the children who are being manipulated by the Taliban become constructive players in the future?
Despite everything, there are still sparks of hope. Young girls who attend school for half the day and spend the other half selling goods on the streets have likely heard that secondary schools and universities are closed to girls. Yet, they still dream of becoming doctors, journalists, teachers, or engineers. We also have boys who are aware of the Taliban’s war against education, freedom, and work. Nevertheless, they strive to continue their education and pursue their dreams with persistence. They refuse to believe that the Taliban’s inhumane policies will last forever.
For all those who understand the danger of this situation continuing, there is a responsibility not to surrender or accept the illusion that the Taliban’s rule is our inevitable fate.
Younus Negah is a researcher and writer from Afghanistan who is currently in exile in Turkey.
