Afghanistan is a geographically diverse country, home to the beautiful blue city of Mazar-i-Sharif, wild slopes of the Hindu Kush mountains, and the Hazarchishma Natural Bridge, among other attractions.
A good place to vacation with family? One verified — albeit parody — Twitter account labeling itself as the PR team for the Taliban thinks so.
“Visit the magnificent nation of #Afghanistan, the real land of the free and the home of the brave, unlike the Americans,” tweeted Taliban Public Relations Department, Commentary. “A rugged country inhabited by muscular men and traditional women. You will be 100% safe since the war is over and we no longer capturing tourists for ransom.”
While the Taliban is in fact opening the country to tourism, it has made no such promises as the ones contained in this spectacularly satirical tweet.
“Bridging the divide between the East and the West, and aiming to create a harmonious society in Afghanistan for all ethnic groups,” reads the biography of the account, which has been on the trolling path since early 2023.
To be clear, the threat of capture in Afghanistan is still very real. Per the U.S. State Department’s travel advisory system, Afghanistan is still set at Level 4 — Do Not Travel.
“Do not travel to Afghanistan due to armed conflict, civil unrest, crime, terrorism, and kidnapping,” it says. “Travel to all areas of Afghanistan is unsafe and the risk of kidnapping or violence against U.S. citizens in Afghanistan is high.”
As lovely as it would be to one day take a Panj River Viking Cruise, that opportunity is unlikely to arrive any time soon.
Sarah Sicard is a Senior Editor with Military Times. She previously served as the Digitial Editor of Military Times and the Army Times Editor. Other work can be found at National Defense Magazine, Task & Purpose, and Defense News.