On 9/11 Anniversary, Afghans Blame Departed US Forces for their Woes

Taliban soldiers are seen in a street in Herat, Afghanistan September 10, 2021. (West Asia News Agency via Reuters)
Taliban soldiers are seen in a street in Herat, Afghanistan September 10, 2021. (West Asia News Agency via Reuters)
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On 9/11 Anniversary, Afghans Blame Departed US Forces for their Woes

Taliban soldiers are seen in a street in Herat, Afghanistan September 10, 2021. (West Asia News Agency via Reuters)
Taliban soldiers are seen in a street in Herat, Afghanistan September 10, 2021. (West Asia News Agency via Reuters)

War-weary residents of Kabul expressed anger and feelings of betrayal by the United States on Saturday, as the world marked the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that prompted a US invasion of Afghanistan and the toppling of its Taliban rulers.

After a two-decade occupation, US forces abruptly pulled out of Afghanistan last month, triggering the collapse of its Western-backed government and the Taliban’s dramatic return to power.

“The misfortunes we are currently experiencing are because of America,” said Abdul Waris, a Kabul resident, as the white flags of the Taliban emblazoned with lines from the Koran hung from nearby lampposts.

Some of the mostly young men who spoke to Reuters complained that US forces had not tried to help the Afghan people.

“After the September 11 events took place, the Americans were in our country for 20 years for their own benefit,” said Jalil Ahmad.

“They took the benefits they had in mind for 20 years while we did not get any benefit from them. They have left the country in a state of confusion.”

Bearded Taliban fighters with guns slung over their shoulders were visible around the capital but the mood was quiet and calm following the dramatic changes of recent weeks.

“Now there is security and security is good... May God give the Taliban more strength to maintain this (calm) forever,” said resident Gul Agha Laghmni.

‘A lot of commotion’
US forces toppled the Taliban after the 9/11 attacks because they had provided sanctuary to Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda, which carried out the attacks.

Since returning to power last month, the Taliban has appointed an acting cabinet including several former militants held by the United States in Guantanamo Bay.

Western leaders have expressed concern over the outlook for human rights, especially for women, under Taliban rule. Several street protests led by women have been broken up in the past two weeks, and some people have been detained and beaten. The Taliban have promised to investigate such incidents.

When they were last in power from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban imposed their strict interpretation of Islamic law. Women’s rights to work and education were severely restricted.

There were relatively few women on the streets of Kabul on Saturday, and all those who were out had their heads covered - a fact welcomed by residents such as Shah Raoof.

“In the presence of America, there was a lot of commotion in our country. Women were unveiled,” he said.

“The majority of our youth fled, a number were martyred and a number of others were afflicted by America through war and misery.”



Gazans’ Daily Struggle for Water After Deadly Israeli Strike

 Palestinians wait for donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians wait for donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
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Gazans’ Daily Struggle for Water After Deadly Israeli Strike

 Palestinians wait for donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians wait for donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, July 14, 2025. (AP)

The al-Manasra family rarely get enough water for both drinking and washing after their daily trudge to a Gaza distribution point like the one where eight people were killed on Sunday in a strike that Israel's military said had missed its target.

Living in a tent camp by the ruins of a smashed concrete building in Gaza City, the family say their children are already suffering from diarrhea and skin maladies and from the lack of clean water, and they fear worse to come.

"There's no water, our children have been infected with scabies, there are no hospitals to go to and no medications," said Akram Manasra, 51.

He had set off on Monday for a local water tap with three of his daughters, each of them carrying two heavy plastic containers in Gaza's blazing summer heat, but they only managed to fill two - barely enough for the family of 10.

Gaza's lack of clean water after 21 months of war and four months of Israeli blockade is already having "devastating impacts on public health" the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA said in a report this month.

For people queuing at a water distribution point on Sunday it was fatal. A missile that Israel said had targeted fighters but malfunctioned hit a queue of people waiting to collect water at the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Israel's blockade of fuel along with the difficulty in accessing wells and desalination plants in zones controlled by the Israeli military is severely constraining water, sanitation and hygiene services according to OCHA.

Fuel shortages have also hit waste and sewage services, risking more contamination of the tiny, crowded territory's dwindling water supply, and diseases causing diarrhea and jaundice are spreading among people crammed into shelters and weakened by hunger.

"If electricity was allowed to desalination plants the problem of a lethal lack of water, which is what's becoming the situation now in Gaza, would be changed within 24 hours," said James Elder, the spokesperson for the UN's children's agency UNICEF.

"What possible reason can there be for denying of a legitimate amount of water that a family needs?" he added.

COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last week, an Israeli military official said that Israel was allowing sufficient fuel into Gaza but that its distribution around the enclave was not under Israel's purview.

THIRSTY AND DIRTY

For the Manasra family, like others in Gaza, the daily toil of finding water is exhausting and often fruitless.

Inside their tent the family tries to maintain hygiene by sweeping. But there is no water for proper cleaning and sometimes they are unable to wash dishes from their meager meals for several days at a time.

Manasra sat in the tent and showed how one of his young daughters had angry red marks across her back from what he said a doctor had told them was a skin infection caused by the lack of clean water.

They maintain a strict regimen of water use by priority.

After pouring their two containers of water from the distribution point into a broken plastic water butt by their tent, they use it to clean themselves from the tap, using their hands to spoon it over their heads and bodies.

Water that runs off into the basin underneath is then used for dishes and after that - now grey and dirty - for clothes.

"How is this going to be enough for 10 people? For the showering, washing, dish washing, and the washing of the covers. It's been three months; we haven't washed the covers, and the weather is hot," Manasra said.

His wife, Umm Khaled, sat washing clothes in a tiny puddle of water at the bottom of a bucket - all that was left after the more urgent requirements of drinking and cooking.

"My daughter was very sick from the heat rash and the scabies. I went to several doctors for her and they prescribed many medications. Two of my children yesterday, one had diarrhea and vomiting and the other had fever and infections from the dirty water," she said.