Afghans fear rise in violence as US announces to slash troop levels

Every weekend, fighters from around Afghanistan gather on a public field in the capital to pit their skills against each other in a sport that is a mix of judo and wrestling.

Traders of carpets, antiques and souvenirs on Kabul's famed Chicken Street say business has completely dried up since the vast majority of foreigners left the Afghan capital as the Taliban took over.

Taliban supporters and senior figures hold their first mass rally outside Kabul, in a show of strength as they consolidate their rule of Afghanistan. No foreign government has yet recognised the Islamist former rebels' rule, but their hold on power within the country is all but unchallenged seven weeks after they took the capital. The official victory gathering in Kohdaman township, in the hilly outskirts of the capital, was attended by 1,500 men and boys.

Marines from the battalion that suffered ten casualties - nine marines and one sailor - in the August 26 Kabul airport terrorist attack return to their home base of Camp Pendleton, California.

Hundreds of drug users shelter in squalid conditions under a bridge in western Kabul synonymous with hard drugs and violent crime - and since the Taliban came to power, raids on areas where addicts gather have become more frequent. With poppies cheap and easy to grow, Afghanistan provides around 90 percent of the world's production of heroin, but since retaking power the Taliban have pledged to ban narcotics production.

Before the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan, Kabul was a city with a vibrant nightlife and arts scene. But since then, there has been a radical transformation. Thousands of longtime Taliban fighters have poured into the capital, now working in round-the-clock security patrols. Meanwhile, financial disputes and quarrels between neighbours are being settled by Islamic judges. FRANCE 24's Catherine Norris-Trent and Roméo Langlois report from Kabul.

In Kabul's main children's hospital, the crumbling of Afghanistan's health system can be seen in the eyes of the exhausted staff who have remained in the city, ekeing out their fast-diminishing stocks of medicines. As crowds of mothers and sick and malnourished children fill the waiting rooms of the Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital, medical staff are squeezing three babies into a single incubator and doubling up in infant warmer beds. Nurses who once took care of three or four babies each, are now having to look after 20 or more to make up for the absence of staff who fled the country when the Taliban seized power in August.

After taking power in August, the Taliban now need to put in place a functioning state in Afghanistan. Official declarations and policies are scarce for now, but no doubt the most tangible sign of the Taliban takeover are the security patrols of thousands of former fighters who have poured into the capital. They're now police officers who are enforcing a strict interpretation of Sharia law. Our reporters Catherine Norris-Trent and Roméo Langlois were able to follow Taliban fighters on patrol in Kabul and also gain access to a hearing of an Islamic court.

Local traders and residents reacted to the Taliban ban of foreign currencies for trade, at the Sarai Shahzada market in Kabul on Wednesday after the Taliban made the announcement on Tuesday. The US dollar has been used widely in Afghanistan’s markets before the ban.

Kabul residents on Tuesday said the first 100 days after the Taliban takeover had been difficult, expressing ongoing concerns about security and girls' education.

In Afghanistan, women have now been waiting for three months for their fate to be decided by the Taliban government. One key question is whether older schoolgirls will be able to return to high school. With winter school holidays coming up, women in Kabul fear that the Taliban will simply play for time and postpone any decision on the issue. In the meantime, some Afghan provinces have been able to reopen their schools, but not others. Our team on the ground reports from Kabul.

At least one person has been killed in an explosion in Kabul. The largely Shiite neighborhood has previously been targeted by attacks by the Islamic State-Khorasan group.