There is a good article written by a Pakistani communist commenting on the situation in Afghanistan in the 80s, that I'm having trouble finding rn on JSTOR. He mentioned that western observers, even on the left, fail to understand the nature of ultra reaction in Afghanistan. It's not that they're fascist-- it's worse than that. They are literally medieval, in a way that's hard for people outside the area to comprehend. For all the faults of the Afghan communists (they were arrogant and launched a coup without significant support outside of Kabul), their struggle against the warlords in the countryside was truly noble, even though the people themselves were deeeeply imbedded in feudal ideology which made the project nearly impossible. There was no state presence or modern economic development of any kind in some areas.

That being said, the fact that china looks like it's going to willingly trade with and develop a Taliban controlled Afghanistan means that the material conditions in the countryside may be vastly improved in a generation, something that was completely ignored under US occupation. Hopefully, the violently reactionary nature of the Taliban combined with their strategic value to BRI will create the conditions for a more proper revolution. It's tragic that it's taken this long, it's truly a beautiful country with a lot of potential