The U.S. Department of State couldn't be clearer — it warns Americans not to travel to Afghanistan "for any reason".
The U.S. Embassy in Kabul suspended operations in 2021 and U.S. citizens are "targets of kidnapping and hostage-taking", the government advisory notes.
Still, a bizarre, seemingly promotional video emerged this past weekend on Taliban-linked social media accounts that appears to be an attempt to overturn Afghanistan's reputation as a dangerous destination, with Americans invited to treat the country as a vacation spot.
Or maybe it is merely meant to further mock the U.S.
The 50-second clip, originally posted by the account @afghanarabc on X, begins with an eerie tableau akin to a hostage video, the type of beheading scene that Americans became all-too-familiar with after the 2002 Taliban execution of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
Armed, scowling men stand behind three people with bags over their heads and one says ominously: "We have one message for America."
But then, he pulls the bag off the figure in front of him to reveal a grinning man who gives the camera a thumbs-up and says: "Welcome to Afghanistan!"
After this comes a bizarre montage of what appears to be Westerners and Afghans having laughter-fueled fun that plays on the types of scenes previously found in Taliban execution videos of fighters training with weaponry from Kalshnikov rifles to cannons in the effort to bring jihad to the U.S.
But in this new version, a man with a rifle slung over his shoulder gives the peace sign and stands on one leg. Another uses the barrel of a tank in a field to do chin-ups; and the next stands in a waterfall and pans the camera around to reveal a stunning mountain landscape.
In the next shot, he's treading water while holding his machine gun in the air.
Then we see a man diving into clear-blue water while an armed friend watches on.
In another segment, the camera zooms in on an M4 rifle to reveal that this "souvenir" is the property of the U.S. Government, as what seems to be an American man laughs that "it's not even on safety".
In subsequent scenes, restaurant-goers flick through a menu on a tablet and eat huge watermelons. A man sits eating a meal with a parrot on his head; a flower is pushed into the barrel of a machine gun; and a smiling local shows the camera a raging river flowing past dramatic peaks.
It's not clear if the video was made by the Taliban, but the militant group has been trying to make Afghanistan more appealing to tourists since it took power in 2021.
In that year, there were 691 tourist visitors, with that number soaring to 7,000 in 2023. Instagrammers, such as U.S. porn actor Whitney Wright and Somali-American influencer Marian Abdi, have promoted their visits to Afghanistan on their social media feeds.
However, influencers have been accused of whitewashing the suffering that has in the past and continues to take place under Taliban rule. Nazifa Haqpal, a British-based Afghan researcher, told rferl.org that Taliban rule is "dark, bleak, and ugly".
Ross Thomson, CEO of evacuation specialist Covac Global, told The Independent that Afghanistan is "only for advanced travelers that are well prepared and well versed of the risks involved".
He continued: "While security in the region is arguably less volatile than in recent years, it remains a deeply complex environment — technically, geographically, and politically.
"The risks begin the moment you enter Afghan airspace.
"After the U.S. and its allies withdrew, they left behind a massive cache of military hardware. While headlines focused on abandoned tanks, helicopters, and aircraft, it's the smaller components that pose a far greater and longer-lasting danger.
"Scattered across the country is a treasure trove of military-grade materials — seemingly innocuous on their own, but collectively capable of forming sophisticated weapons systems, including IEDs and surface-to-air missile launchers.
"Make no mistake, the Taliban, along with support from across the Pakistani border, are fully capable of turning readily available advanced military components into deadly threats.”
Thomson added: "The country is governed by the Taliban — yes, and you will technically be their guest. Not long ago, that status alone would have put you in a very bad spot.
"Today, their desire for international legitimacy, along with pressure from countries like China, has created a thin layer of restraint.
"But they remain volatile and unpredictable. Afghan politics are tribal, and power shifts are common.
"The threat isn't just the Taliban — it's who might replace them in a region where there's always someone more radical waiting in the wings."
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