Five years ago, the Taliban entered Kabul, ending two decades of war after the collapse of the Ashraf Ghani government and the chaotic withdrawal of US and NATO forces. The Taliban declared victory and promised that this time their rule would be different. Five years on, they have achieved one undeniable feat: they have consolidated control over virtually the entire country. But the more important question is whether they have succeeded in governing Afghanistan better. That record remains deeply contested.

Afghanistan is certainly quieter today. The large-scale war that defined the country for two decades has ended. But there is an important caveat to the Taliban's claim of having delivered peace: they themselves were the insurgency fighting the Afghan government and foreign forces. Taliban suicide attacks, roadside bombs and armed assaults killed thousands of Afghan civilians and security personnel during those years. Today, those attacks against the Afghan state have largely disappeared because........

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