Prime Minister Mohammad Hasan Akhund raised the Taliban flag at 11:00 a.m. local time at the Afghanistan presidential palace today. Ahmadullahh Muttaqi, multimedia chief of the group’s cultural commission said a brief ceremony marked the official start of work by the 33-member caretaker government.

Imagine being an American or Afghan helper stuck in Afghanistan today, the 20th year after the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01. Instead of a primitive 7th-century country making some inroads in a freer, more educated society, now its citizens find themselves going back to their dark past. Americans and Afghan helpers face likely violence, torture, and death if they are not able to find a way out of the country. The ludicrous claims coming from the Biden administration that the Taliban are professional and business-like will be of little comfort to those now fearing imminent death.

The raising of the Taliban flag at the presidential palace is a continuation of the group taking control of the government. The flag was raised at the palace on Friday, too. The Taliban also painted their banner on the entry gate to the U.S. Embassy. It was previously reported that today would likely be the day the Taliban chose to inaugurate the new government.

Meanwhile, the Twitter account of Ahmadullahh Muttaqui focuses on showing the good works of a kinder, gentler Taliban, in case you wish to fall for that propaganda. The Taliban must hope that all Americans are as gullible or callously indifferent to the plight of Afghans now as the Biden administration has proven to be. Take, for instance, a tweet from earlier today showing the government cleaning up a part of Mazar-e-Sharif. No word, though, on the Americans and Afghan helpers trying desperately to get out of the country from there. Are the private charter planes still stuck on the tarmac there? Are the people still alive?

The cleaning and greening of Mazar-e-Sharif municipality is underway.
The municipality of Mazar-e-Sharif in Balkh province has been cleaned of garbage in different parts of the city by cleaning and greening workers.
The cleaning staff of Mazar-e-Sharif Municipality assures that they are doing their job well.

د مزار شریف د ښاروالۍ تنظیف او سرسبزۍ چارې دوام لري.
د بلخ ولایت مزارشریف ښاروالۍ د تنظیف او سرسبزۍ کارکونکو لخوا د یاد ښار بېلا بېلې سیمې د کثافاتو له شتون څخه په ټولییزه توګه پاکې شوې.
د مزارشریف ښاروالۍ د تنظیف کارکونکي ډاډ ورکوي چې خپلې چارې په ښه توګه ترسره کوي. pic.twitter.com/4HCzWgVBwd

— RTA Pashto (@rtapashto) September 11, 2021

Food was provided for eight poor families today, too. The economic hardships for Afghans are only beginning. Food shortages and hunger are already big problems.

In Rabatak area, the capital of Samangan province, the IAA Institutional Commission provided food aid to eight poor families and each was given 2 kg of chickpeas and 2 bags of flour.

د سمنګان ولايت مرکز رباتک سيمه کې د ا.ا.ا د مؤسيساتو کميسيون لخوا ۲۴۳ غریبو کورنیو سره د خوراکي توکو مرسته وشوه او هر کس ته ۱۶ کيلو دال نخود او ۲ بوجۍ اوړه ورکړل شول. pic.twitter.com/MPBt9apBQl

— Ahmadullah Muttaqi (@Ahmadmuttaqi01) September 11, 2021

Don’t bother looking for women in any of the photos. They’ve been banished back to their homes. Soon the bad old days will be a way of life again for them.

When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan before 9/11, their policies regarding women were clear, barbaric, and brutal. Women were effectively imprisoned in their homes. They were denied education and access to health care. They could not work. Women were required to be covered at all times outside the home. They were forced into “marriage” to Taliban fighters.

The Taliban also required that windows of houses be painted over to prevent outsiders from seeing women inside homes. The rates of depression and suicide among Afghan women skyrocketed. One European physician reported frequent cases of burns to the esophagus as the result of women swallowing battery acid or household cleaners in an attempt to kill themselves.

Makeup and nail polish were prohibited. White socks were also prohibited, as were shoes that made noise as it was required that women walk silently.

Even when dressed in a heavy burqa according to Taliban rules, women were severely restricted in their movements. Women were permitted to leave the home only when accompanied by male relatives. Women violating these rules were beaten and, in some instances, killed.

The Taliban’s favorite method of execution for women violating its rules was stoning. This involves forcing a woman into the center of a circle of people who then kill her by hurling large stones at her. It is a prolonged, horrifying, and almost unbelievably brutal method of execution. Women violating Taliban rules also were whipped or disfigured by having the tips of their fingers, their ears or their noses cut off.

The Taliban shot and killed Rohullah Azizi, the brother of Amrullah Saleh, the former vice president of Afghanistan. He was an anti-Taliban fighter. He and his driver were killed at a checkpoint on Thursday by Taliban fighters according to a report published today by his nephew.

Amrullah Saleh led forces resisting the Taliban in Panjshir, which was the last holdout province to be overrun by Afghanistan’s new rulers.

Videos circulating on social media purportedly show Taliban opening fire on anti-Taliban fighters in Panjshir whom they have arrested.

Kabul is on high alert for terrorist attacks today from ISIS-K militants.

This threat has come a little after sources had warned authorities against a possible truck suicide attack in a protest that took place on Thursday.

An attack can take place in some crowded place by ISIS-K on the anniversary of the 9/11 attack.

Meanwhile, posters of Mullah Omar and Jalaluddin Haqqani have started popping up across Kabul now, a little after the new government was announced by Taliban.

Jalaluddin Haqqani was the founder of the Haqqani network, who died in 2018 in his home country, Afghanistan due to an unspecified terminal illness.

Mohammed Omar, also known as Mullah Omar, was the mastermind behind the establishment of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in 1996 and was a commander of the Taliban. He died in 2013 but was declared dead in 2015. Sources had claimed he died of tuberculosis.

Heckuva job, Joe.