https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgvk9p2n7ko
Governor Abdullah Sarhadi gives money to treat a boy's broken arm and hands out funds for a local mosque - then, in his office in northern Afghanistan, an astonishing exchange unfolds. A young woman tells the grey-bearded former Taliban commander that she wants to divorce her husband, who she accuses of months of abuse and beatings. She will not take no for an answer. In a country where girls are banned from secondary education, the 18-year-old argues her case calmly and confidently, her face completely hidden behind a full-face veil and sunglasses. "If there was any chance to live together, I wouldn't be here… I have taken my decision," she says. After trying to persuade her to avoid divorce, the governor later comments that women are "mindless" and "deficient in intellect", to laughter from the male officials, bodyguards and elders around him. The moment gives a rare glimpse into the day-to-day realities of the Taliban's rule, five years after they swept aside the US-backed government in 2021.
But in other ways his worldview seems largely unchanged from the Taliban's position 25 years ago. Then, he was a military commander in Bamiyan, where the Taliban blew up ancient giant Buddha statues, triggering international shock and condemnation. He initially tries to avoid our questions about the archaeological site, but eventually, he says: "I destroyed it with my own hands. "Whatever we did and we do is in accordance with the guidance and God's law… We smash idols rather than sell them. Why should I regret? It was God's will."
