Fault Lines

This is Taliban Country

Fault Lines reports from a Taliban stronghold just an hour outside Kabul, where armed fighters openly patrol streets.

A Taliban stronghold in the Charkh District, just an hour outside Kabul, has become a microcosm of Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

Though only an hour from Kabul, armed Taliban patrol the streets openly and have built a parallel administration in Charkh, including Islamic law courts and girls schools.

So what is it like to live under Taliban rule?

Nagieb Khaja reports from the Taliban stronghold of Charkh, Logar Province. Khaja bears witness to the parallel administration the Taliban have built in Charkh, and hears testimony from the population – including from the families of civilian casualties of Afghan National Army bombings.

Khaja is the first Western journalist to film a Taliban Islamic law court where he witnesses a case in which the defendant is a Taliban member. The outcome is surprising.

Khaja also visits local boys and girls schools run in concert with the Taliban.

This is Taliban Country shows a defiant Taliban determined to continue attacking the Afghan National Army bases and keep control of the region.