Taliban face challenges in governing Afghanistan following US withdrawal

The Taliban have sought to reassure Afghans that they have changed from 1996, when they ruled with a heavy hand.

Taliban special forces fighters (Khwaja Tawfiq Sediqi/AP)

Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers face tough economic and security challenges as they step back into power in a country that is vastly different from the one they left 20 years ago.

When they last ruled in the late 1990s, Afghanistan was a poor agricultural nation, and the Taliban were preoccupied with imposing their harsh brand of Islam on an already deeply traditional and largely compliant population.