Kabul (AFP)

Less than three weeks after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, the Afghan national flag and the white flag of the Islamist movement flew side by side in Kabul on Friday for a cricket match.

The meeting, won by the "Defenders of Peace" against the "Heroes of Peace", is the first organized since the arrival of the Taliban on August 15 in the capital, twenty years after being driven out by an international coalition led by the United States.

Their return to power had made the organizers of the match fear for a time the cancellation of the match, all still remembering the strict application of Sharia law in force under the first Taliban government (1996-2001).

A Taliban provides security during the cricket match in Kabul on September 3, 2021 Aamir QURESHI AFP

Entertainment, sporting or otherwise, was then prohibited.

Some sports were allowed, but they were strictly controlled: only men could play or attend matches.

The stadiums were used a lot as places of executions.

In Kabul, no woman was present among the approximately 4,000 cricket fans on Friday.

But the enthusiasm was real to encourage the teams, in which several Afghan internationals played, just before the time of the big prayer.

"It's great to be able to be here and watch cricket," Hamza, a Taliban commander, with the rest of his contingent, told AFP, watching over the crowd that came to watch the match.

A bi-partisan hat in the stands, in Kabul on September 3, 2021 Aamir QURESHI AFP

- No women -

"I play myself," he said, an American assault rifle to his shoulder.

Cricket was, until the early 2000s, virtually unknown in Afghanistan before Afghans, formerly refugees in Pakistan, brought a fever for the sport to their country.

The national team have since experienced a meteoric rise, reaching the top ten in the world for one-day matches and in the Twenty20 format.

Children in the stands of the stadium, in Kabul on September 3, 2021 Aamir QURESHI AFP

On Friday, we could see in the stands "Baba cricket", a fan of a certain age dressed from head to toe in the national colors.

But also supporters of both teams wave Afghan and Taliban flags.

All had been searched by Taliban guards before entering the stadium, with the new leaders fearing another attack by the Islamic State group, after the one on the airport last week which left more than 100 people dead.

"It's unity," enthuses, despite this, the executive director of the Afghan cricket committee, Hamid Shinwari, seeing these flags as a positive sign for the country.

Spectators pose alongside a Taliban who ensures the security of the match, in Kabul on September 3, 2021 Aamir QURESHI AFP

The joy expressed on Friday, however, contrasted with the fate of the Afghan women's cricket team whose members have, according to several media, left the country or remain in hiding, fearing for their future under the new regime.

"We have a group on WhatsApp and every night we talk about our issues and share plans on what we should do," one player told the BBC this week.

"We are all desperate."

© 2021 AFP