Trey Yingst reports from Kabul one year since Taliban takeover: 'Women are not free and it's getting worse'
Estimated 97% in Afghanistan at risk of falling below poverty line, according to UN
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On the one-year anniversary of the takeover in Afghanistan, the Taliban hosted a celebratory parade as citizens starve under the regime.
Fox News’ Trey Yingst reported live from Kabul as Taliban members rode through the city in the back of trucks waving flags with guns in hand to commemorate their takeover of the country after the U.S. pulled all troops out in August 2021.
Yingst reported that the Afghan people are now suffering under Taliban rule.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He spoke with a 35-year-old woman named Fatima, who lost three children to malnourishment. Her 11-month-old son may face the same fate.
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"The United Nations now estimates 97% of Afghans are at risk of falling below the poverty line," Yingst said on "Fox & Friends" Monday. He explained that more than one million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished in the Taliban-controlled country.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Yingst noted that women in Afghanistan can’t be out alone at night, must be covered when in public, and can’t serve in senior government roles. He said most teenage girls are barred from secondary education.
Taliban spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi, however, told Yingst that women are still free.
"The laws of the country regulate how people conduct themselves when in the public. That does not in any shape, way or form mean that someone is free or is not free," Qahar Balkhi said.
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"They are not free," Yingst contended. "And it is only getting worse as the days go on."
Yingst said there’s a sense of normalcy in the streets of Kabul as vendors try to sell food. But residents can’t afford the food, Yingst reported, and there is fear and anxiety behind the facade.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"What we see happening here in Kabul is only the tip of the iceberg," he said. "When you go to more rural parts of Afghanistan, the beating of women, the oppression that these women are facing is even worse."
Taliban fighters stand guard during women's protest in Kabul, Afghanistan, Oct. 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Ahmad Halabisaz)
Yingst said the Taliban is presenting a "sterilized" image to the world, hiding the true nature of their rule.
"These Taliban fighters are in control of Kabul, and they are calling the shots here," Yingst said.
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"And for the civilians who were left behind, those who helped the Americans, they are left fending for their lives."