Pictured: Taliban police recruits displaying their skills at passing out ceremony

On August 15 2021, the Taliban stunned the world by marching into the Afghan capital, after a lightning offensive that capped a 20-year insurgency against the Western-backed government and the US and allied forces that propped it up.

Since the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan has plunged into financial chaos, with inflation and unemployment surging, while the halting of international aid has triggered a humanitarian crisis in a country already devastated by decades of war.

Now, six months after the fall of Kabul, the Taliban are attempting to bring a semblance of order to the country, despite the imposition of international sanctions which are crippling the country.

A graduation ceremony on Wednesday, saw Taliban police recruits show off their skills in Kandahar, wearing uniforms captured from their predecessors. 

Some 300 members of the Taliban received their training from a police training school for the first time.

The new graduates received one month of professional military training, as well as training in faith, traffic, and interacting with people, according to officials at the Islamic Police Training Centre