A focus of the initiatives sponsored by the International Monetary Fund, USAID and a joint project unveiled by the Burberry Foundation and Oxfam in 2018, Afghanistan’s budding cashmere industry is in a state of limbo following the Taliban’s takeover. As per a Business of Fashion report, with chaotic evacuations currently underway and Taliban directing working women to stay at home, the future of the cashmere industry seems uncertain.

The silk sector also seems to be at risk as a EU-funded project launched by the International Trade Centre’s Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) to promote silk cultivation, has been suspended. Afghans fear the US withdrawal will spark a wave of terror that effectively erodes the civil liberties gained during the period that the hardline Islamist group was not in power.

Despite the Taliban’s claims it has changed, a senior United Nations’ human rights official has said there is credible evidence that executions are being carried out by the group against civilians and Afghan security forces. The Kabul airport is now closed to Afghan nationals, and there are reports that would-be refugees desperate to leave the country are now being turned back.