After 20 years of war and occupation, it was a chaotic departure from Afghanistan for the United States.

152,000 Afghans who worked alongside U.S. forces remain trapped in the country. About 100,000 more – refugees in the United States – their status caught in a web of internal politics. Promises made but not kept – at least for now.

Meanwhile, the Taliban marked the second anniversary of their return to power, celebrating the creation of a sectarian Islamic state.

Zmaryalai Abasin filed this report from Kabul.

To discuss:

• Brian Becker is the Executive Director of the ANSWER coalition.
• Ahmad Shah Mohibi is the Founder and Director of Rise to Peace
• Sanam Naraghi Anderlini heads the International Civil Society Action Network
• Omar Sadr previously worked at the Afghanistan Institute for Strategic Studies and served as an Assistant Professor at the American University of Afghanistan. He’s currently a Senior Research Scholar at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Governance and Markets.

For more:

Families who lost loved ones in Afghanistan in the final days of U.S. operations in that country will meet this week in Washington to mark two years since the fall of Kabul. https://t.co/1tCKOJ0rFu

— Scripps News (@scrippsnews) August 28, 2023

2 years after the #Taliban took over #Afghanistan, Afghans reveal their thoughts on the restrictions on #womensrights. pic.twitter.com/mswwOpNHIN

— The Foreign Desk (@ForeignDeskNews) August 23, 2023