Afghanistan: 'We have won the war, America has lost', say Taliban

Around 30 minutes from the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, passing large craters left by roadside bombs, we meet our host: Haji Hekmat, the Taliban's shadow mayor in Balkh district.

The Taliban have arranged a display of force for us.

It's a similar picture across much of Afghanistan: the government controls the cities and bigger towns, but the Taliban are encircling them, with a presence in large parts of the countryside.

As Taliban members stop and question passing cars, Aamir Sahib Ajmal, the local head of the Taliban's intelligence service, tells us they're searching for people linked to the government.

Sitting over a cup of green tea, Haji Hekmat proclaims, "we have won the war and America has lost".

The decision by US President Joe Biden to delay the withdrawal of remaining US forces to September, meaning they will remain in the country past the 1 May deadline agreed last year, has sparked a sharp reaction from the Taliban's political leadership.

"We are ready for anything," says Haji Hekmat.

For the past year, there has been an apparent contradiction in the Taliban's "jihad".

Haji Hekmat, though, insists there is no contradiction.

On whether or not the Taliban would be willing to share power with other Afghan political factions, Haji Hekmat defers to the group's political leadership in Qatar.

The Taliban don't see themselves as a mere rebel group, but as a government-in-waiting.

Haji Hekmat, the Taliban mayor, takes us on a tour.

"As long as they wear hijab, it's important for them to study," says Mawlawi Salahuddin, in charge of the Taliban's local education commission.

The government pays the salaries of staff, but the Taliban are in charge.

When we drive past a crowd of schoolgirls making their way home, Haji Hekmat gestures excitedly, proud to be contradicting our expectations.

Haji Hekmat insists there is no ban on them, though in a conservative society he says they generally wouldn't attend in any case.

"When the government were in control, they used to jail our people and demand bribes to free them," says one elderly man.

The Taliban's ultra-conservative values do clash less with those in more rural areas, but many, particularly in the cities, fear they want to resurrect the brutal Islamic Emirate of the 1990s, undercutting freedoms that many young people have grown up with over the past two decades.

Haji Hekmat was part of the Taliban in the 1990s.

So comparing that time and now - nothing has changed," says Haji Hekmat.

Haji Hekmat is unperturbed?

"It's far away, don't worry," he says?

The US already drastically cut back its military operations after signing an agreement with the Taliban last year, and many fear that following their withdrawal the Taliban will be placed to launch a military takeover of the country?

Haji Hekmat derides the Afghan government, or "Kabul administration" as the Taliban refer to it, as corrupt and un-Islamic?

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