From claiming victory to Donald Trump puppet on Taliban shoulders in Kandahar city.
In one of the recent symbolic and humorous scenes in Kandahar city, local sources have reported that an allegorical puppet of US President Donald Trump is somehow mounted on the shoulders of the Taliban and the group’s fighters are showing their obedience and submission to it in their movements.
The images, filmed by local people, are a humorous and at the same time bitter reflection of the current political reality in Afghanistan: Despite claims of power and victory, the Taliban are relying on a symbol of foreign influence in a dramatic scene and showing themselves in a position of submission.
Analysts say this symbolic behavior is a combination of a show of authority and a demonstration of dependence on world powers.
Domestically, the Taliban try to instill a sense of victory and dominance in their supporters with such displays, but in reality, the group’s weak legitimacy, economic problems, limited freedoms, and international pressure call into question its true status.
This act is also a symbol of political satire that the local community follows with widespread filming and distribution; an act that can have a dual message: on the one hand, it shows the symbolic foreign domination of the Taliban, and on the other, it reflects the real weakness of the group’s power to manage the country and gain independent legitimacy.
According to experts, such theatrical displays, although they create a short-term sense of power, further expose the gap between reality and the Taliban’s claims, and weaken the legitimacy of this government in the eyes of the people and the international community.
