Reliable sources in Kabul have confirmed to Future Afghanistan that the Taliban have been spending large sums of money to invite a number of foreign influencers and YouTubers to visit Afghanistan. According to these sources, the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has prepared a list of influencers particularly women and directly contacts them with official invitations.
The Taliban not only cover round-trip tickets and accommodation costs but also assign special security teams to escort the guests throughout their stay. In some cases, provincial trips are arranged so that the influencers can produce videos portraying Afghanistan as peaceful, hospitable, and free of violence.
The Taliban instruct these influencers to focus on natural landscapes, local markets, handicrafts, and the hospitality of the people while avoiding any mention of the harsh realities, including the ban on women’s education and work, arrests and torture of opponents, and the suppression of media freedom.
One informed source told Future Afghanistan:
“These videos are essentially part of the Taliban’s whitewashing project. The world should see how they are spending millions of Afghanis to welcome foreign influencers while millions of families in Afghanistan cannot even afford bread for dinner.”
This campaign comes at a time when Afghanistan is facing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. According to UN reports, more than half of the country’s population is in need of urgent food assistance, and widespread poverty threatens millions. Yet, the Taliban continue to divert resources—much of it derived from foreign aid and heavy domestic taxation—into propaganda efforts.
Sources further revealed that the Taliban are particularly focused on inviting female influencers. Analysts argue this is part of an effort to normalize their misogynistic policies. By showcasing a few foreign women in Kabul or Herat, the Taliban attempt to portray Afghanistan as a safe and open country for women, even while Afghan women remain stripped of their most basic rights.
The invitation and luxurious hosting of foreign influencers is therefore not a cultural or tourism initiative, but rather a calculated propaganda strategy to mislead global audiences. Behind the curated travel videos lies the grim reality of Afghanistan: a country suffering from hunger, repression, and systemic discrimination.
The money funneled into this whitewashing project could have saved thousands of impoverished families—but instead, it has been invested in a media charade designed to hide the Taliban’s true face.
