By Ali Ahmadi
In Afghanistan, the story of youth is not only a tale of growing up in the shadow of war but also one of systematic indoctrination. The Taliban’s grip on young minds is growing stronger, reaching from traditional religious schools called madrassas to social media platforms aiming to create a new generation of radicals committed to the Taliban’s extremist ideas.
Since the Taliban emerged in the 1990s, madrassas have been the cornerstone of their strategy to indoctrinate the youth. These institutions, particularly in rural areas, often provide the only accessible and free education for children from impoverished families. Parents believe it’s a safe haven for learning, however, it is also the centre of grooming the next generation of Taliban fighters.
With a curriculum narrowly focused on religious texts, taught without critical engagement or interpretation, students are often isolated from the outside world, which they’re encouraged to view with suspicion and hostility. The Taliban’s influence ensures that these schools teach a version of Islam that is rigid, exclusionary, and openly antagonistic to anything perceived as Western or modern, thereby, shaping a worldview that is deeply aligned with their extremist ideology.
According to the Taliban’s Ministry of Education, there are an estimated 20,000 of these madrassas across Afghanistan, 13,500 of which are government-controlled. Since their return to power in August 2021, they have also established the Directorate of Jihadi Seminaries, overseeing the construction and operation of three to ten madrassas in each of Afghanistan’s 364 districts, a project vast and ambitious enough to radicalise an entire generation.
However, the Taliban’s grip on education extends further with the systematic transformation of secular schools and teacher training centres into madrassas. Universities have not been spared either, as the Taliban have introduced ideological courses to replace secular education. For example, they have tripled the mandatory credits in Islamic Studies, and both teachers and students are required to study a glorified rendition of the Taliban’s evolution as achievements.
The group also appoints Taliban loyalists, often former fighters, to key academic positions, including university leadership. One striking example is Herat University where the head was replaced with a Taliban fighter known for persuading young recruits to carry out suicide missions, as reported by Times Higher Education. Similarly, the Taliban Ministers of Education and Higher Education are two mullahs with basic religious studies, highlighting their mission to reshape education into a mechanism of ideological conformity.
While traditional madrassas, universities, and schools remain powerful tools for the Taliban, the digital age has opened new avenues for spreading their ideology. Social media platforms like TikTok, X (formerly twitter), and Facebook, which are wildly popular among young Afghans, have become the latest battleground for the Taliban’s propaganda machine.
This video features a teenage Afghan boy on TikTok promoting religious schools (madrasas).
Between April and mid-September 2021, the Taliban posted over 100,000 tweets, while a network of at least 126,000 X accounts “retweeted” their contents nearly 1 million times, according to a report by the Toda Peace Institute.
Following the fall of Kabul, the Taliban stepped up their social media campaign to project themselves as capable ruler of the country. They launched targeted hashtags like #KabulRegimeCrimes, accusing former Afghan government of war crimes, and #WeStandWithTaliban to build an illusion of widespread public support. Another hashtag, #ﻧَﺼْﺮٌ_ﻣٌﻦَ_اللهِ_ (“Victory is from God and God’s help is near”), appealed to religious sentiment, utilizing the concept of jihad to rally support, as detailed by Zafar Iqbal, a columnist and author of ‘The Troubled Triangle: US – Pakistan Relations under the Taliban Shadow.’
A report analysing Taliban activity on X revealed that by May 8, 2022, their content had reached over 3.3 million accounts. This highlights the vast scale of their online influence and the effectiveness of their digital propaganda strategies in spreading their narrative.
The Taliban’s social media strategy allows them to bypass traditional gatekeepers of information, reaching directly into homes and phones around the world. This capability presents a new challenge for those who seek to counter extremism, as it’s no longer about combating an ideology rooted in remote villages but one that’s disseminated across the globe in real-time.
This digital presence is not just about spreading propaganda; it’s about creating an alternative reality where the Taliban’s worldview is the norm. As they appeal to religious and ethno-national sentiments, young people, both in Afghanistan and globally, are particularly vulnerable to this type of manipulation.
The consequences of this strategy are far-reaching. Within Afghanistan, it will lead to a generation that is less educated, more isolated from the rest of the world, and more susceptible to radicalization. Beyond Afghanistan’s borders, the spread of Taliban ideology through social media could inspire and radicalize individuals across the globe, leading to an increase in extremism and terrorism.
The impact of the Taliban’s decades-long indoctrination efforts is evident in the statistics. Over the past 20 years, nearly 33,000 children have been killed or maimed in Afghanistan – a shocking average of one child every five hours, according to Save the Children.
Afghanistan’s children were not merely collateral casualties in the conflict. Many were directly involved as combatants, coerced into becoming suicide bombers and fighters. The European Union Agency for Asylum reports that thousands of children were recruited into the Taliban’s ranks, often trained in madrassas and recruited through force, manipulation, or false promises.
Even after the Taliban takeover of the country, sources suggest that child recruitment continues, with estimates that thousands of children may still be part of their forces.
The process of turning children into weapons of war often begins at a very young age. Reports from various sources including Al Jazeera and CNN indicate that children as young as six years old have been recruited by the Taliban, brainwashed into believing that martyrdom in the name of jihad is their destiny. The psychological manipulation employed by the Taliban is chillingly effective, using promises of heavenly rewards and the glorification of violence to erase the innocence of childhood.
The Taliban’s efforts to radicalize the youth of Afghanistan represent not just a threat to the current generation, but a looming danger for the future of the entire nation. The systematic brainwashing of children ensures that the cycle of violence and extremism will continue, with each new generation more deeply entrenched in the Taliban’s radical worldview.
The international community must recognize the gravity of this situation and take action to counter the Taliban’s influence. This requires not only political strategies but also educational reforms and support for alternative narratives that promote peace and tolerance. Social media platforms must also take responsibility for the content they host, implementing stronger measures to prevent the spread of extremist propaganda.
As the world watches the unfolding situation in Afghanistan, it is imperative that we do not turn a blind eye to the war being waged on the minds of its youth. The battle against extremism must be fought not only with guns and diplomacy but with ideas, education, and truth. Only by countering the Taliban’s narrative can we hope to protect the next generation from the destructive ideology that seeks to define their future.
Ali Ahmadi is a Researcher and a graduate of MSc Development Studies from the University of East Anglia, UK
