Kabul: Ten years have passed since the Taliban were driven out of Afghan capital Kabul, and the NATO's ambassador to Afghanistan has said life has become better, with some big improvements.
On Nov 13, 2001, the West-backed Northern Alliance swept into Kabul virtually unopposed, says the BBC.
But Simon Gass says plenty of things still need to be done.
After the liberation of Kabul, the city is growing fast, but it still has the facade of a war -- with checkpoints, damaged walls and heavily fortified buildings.
Though poverty is still there, there has been progress, like electricity supply round the clock in most areas.
Gass said the city has changed beyond recognition.
"When you walk around in Kabul, this is now a bustling lively city with women on the streets, people able to go to hospitals, schools open where girls can go to as well as boys and it feels very very different to how it did 10 years ago," he said.
Analysts, however, say people still fear the Taliban may come back and bring death into the capital after the withdrawal of foreign combat forces.
IANS
First Published: Sunday, November 13, 2011, 16:45