Taliban triumphs: History turns full-circle in Afghanistan

It remains to be seen whether the Taliban forces today, which control all Kabul's exits and entrances, will restrain themselves any better

As dawn broke on November 13, 2001 – 20 years ago, almost to the day – a Northern Alliance army raced across the Shamali Plain, southwards towards Kabul, just a couple of hours away.

Accompanying these grizzled fighters was a small battalion of journalists, all of us acutely aware that this was an exceptional moment in history. I was amongst them – the only Indian journalist to have remained in Afghanistan during those momentous months, reporting the build-up of anti-Taliban militias, the capture of Kabul, Osama bin Laden’s escape into Pakistan and the scattering of the Taliban into Afghanistan’s southern